Florence, Italy

If you didn't guess it from my teaser pics last week, I went on a Mediterranean cruise last month with my family for my brother's gradation. It was a seven day cruise starting in Rome and going to:
1. Florence/Pisa, Italy 
2. Marseille, France
3. Palma, Spain
4. Barcelona, Spain
5. Naples, Italy
6. Rome, Italy 

I took 880 photos during my trip and my brother's girlfriend took 1,500!!! This morning I would like to share a few from Florence, Italy.

Florence

The Duomo

Flags on a gov't building...left to right EU flag, Italy Flag and the flag of Florence

Side street in Florence

Storm rolling in

View from the old bridge

my brother's first real Italian pizza

Sugar Free Giant Cupcake with Roses

I finally made another giant cupcake!! A co-worker of mine asked if I could make a sugar free giant cupcake for her sister's 70th birthday. She let me have full control of how to decorate it and it probably took me about 2 days to figure out that I wanted to make the cupcake look like a bouquet of roses. I love the way it turned out. I sent a pic to my mom who showed my brother who came up with a business plan for me...Katy's Kakes: Making Small Dreams Delicious!

For the cake I used 2 boxes of Pillsbury Sugar Free Devil's Food cake and for the icing I used 3 cartons Pillsbury Sugar Free Vanilla Icing. I used a Wilton 2D tip to make the roses. You start in the middle of the rose and make 2-3 swirls. To fill in the gaps between the roses I pipped a single star using the same 2D tip. Before pipping the roses and stars, I iced the cupcake with a "crumb" layer and so that any gaps wouldn't be as noticeable.

With the leftover batter I was able to make 12 regular size cupcakes and pipped a single rose on each one.

I also used some of my fun cupcake wrappers that say eat more cake on the bottom. I also think the wrappers are pretty festive for a birthday party :)

When I was talking to my co-worker she mentioned that her and her daughter were thinking of trying to make cake pops for the party. When I told her I could make them, she added them to the "order". I used my Baby Cakes Cake Pop Maker for these since it takes less time. I dipped them in white candy melts and covered them with red sugar crystals.

A Vivid Memory

Completing this challenge! 31 posts in 31 days wow! While they might not have been the most exciting or pictured filled posts, each of them counted. Some topics were harder than others to find something to write about, but that's the beauty of a challenge.

With this challenge now behind me I will probably go back to my "whenever" posting schedule. I do have some exciting posts coming up that I think y'all will like. They will definitely be filled with pictures. 

Until next time...I'll leave you with a list of movies I've watched this month that I will review at a later date :)

Mud
Pain and Gain
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer
End of Watch
Broken City
Hansel & Gretel
Gangster Squad
Warm Bodies
Hyde Park on Hudson
The Great and Powerful Oz
Mama
Jack Reacher
The Hangover Part III
Star Trek: Into Darkness

Letting Go...

...of a balloon to watch it fly away

...of cancelled shows

...of celebrity obessions

...of a tug a war rope

...of finding that missing sock

...of disappearing bobby pins and hair ties

...of the handle bars on a bike

Songs That Make Me Happy

I have many songs that make me happy for many different reasons. Some because they take me back to my childhood. Some make me start dancing in my head. Or I just fall in love with the artist. Below are my top 5 to this day. Click the song/artist to take a listen.

1. Smoke a Little Smoke by Eric Church - For those of you who have been reading a while, have probably caught on by now that I'm a huge Eric Church fan. I was introduced to his music by my brother in 2008 and have been hooked ever since. Smoke a little smoke was the first song I heard by him. He is my go to music whether I'm baking in the kitchen or working at my desk.

2. Mr Hurricane by Beast - This was a free song of the week off of iTunes and the first time I heard it I just started creating dances in my head. It's also the first song I made Barrett listen to when we started dating and was nervous he would think I was weird (well he actually does think I'm weird ha ha), but to my surprise he liked it!

3. The Garden by Mirah - I fell in love with this song after seeing this dance performed to it on SYTYCD.

4.  Remember When by Alan Jackson - Ok I'm gonna get sappy for a moment...this song makes the list because it was the first song Barrett and I danced to and it just so happened to be at my friends wedding :)

5.  When it Comes by Tyler Hilton - In high school my friend asked me if I wanted to go to a little concert with her to see some guy named Tyler Hilton perform. I had no idea who he was, but was totally down for a concert. And it was indeed a little concert held in a small coffee house ha ha. His music was different from anything I had heard, but I liked it. I saw him several other times and have many many autographs from him. And then wouldn't you know years later he started appearing on one of my favorite shows, One Tree Hill. While this isn't my favorite song of his anymore, it is one of his first so I thought I would share it anyways. My favorite by him right now is Loaded Gun.

A Little Teaser

To You

Dear Readers,

Thank you for continually checking out my little space on the web. It means more to me than I ever imagined. Y'all keep me motivated to keep doing what I do. Thanks again for reading!

Sincerley,

K

p.s. If you ever find something you want me to try and make, bake or watch let me know...I'll take on the challenge :)