Cupcake Cobblers

We have worn many hats over the course of this past year and yesterday we got to add another to our arsenal - cobbler. We were up very late last night fashioning some cupcake high heels for a 30th birthday.  A "must" from the client was a few with cheetah print. Check. She also wanted some pale green and pink.  We added the bows to punch up the adorable and girly factor. Check the runway for this new brand, "Fab30"! So fun and mega cute!

Eat your heart out, Manolo Blahnik!
C.

Blasted Door Tag: Take 2

The signed door tag did the trick.  The package was delivered.  I should have known - the replacement phone is a refurbished one. And wouldn't you know it - it is WHACK!

I turned it on and it said there was about 70% battery.  In the middle of setting it up, it turned off. Completely.  I tried to turn it back on. No dice. I plugged it in. The charge said 70%. So I turn it on and get it going again. In the middle of setting it up, it turned off. Rinse and repeat.

This time there was suddenly no charge on the battery.  So while it is plugged in, I attempted again to set this thing up.  I was going to add our WiFi to it and since it is a completely nonsensical password,  I was planning to take the device with me to retrieve the password. Bam. Turned off. Keep in mind the battery icon on the screen says it was fully charged. So I plug back in.

Again, attempts were made to finish setting the dog-gone thing up...and again, it turned off completely.  I quit.  It is charging but I'm not going to hold my breath for anything. I mean if the phone isn't even sure of how much battery life it has, how can I? Makes me wonder if that is why they had the phone to give to schmuck #2 anyway.

At the rate this thing is going, I should probably start carrying quarters and get a map of payphones.

C.

A Blasted Door Tag

My phone bit the dust.  It decided not to turn on any more on Monday.  This comes after a couple of months of not being about to use my home buttons. I had to shut off the thing completely in order to get out of any app or screen.  Also, texting had been a little on the tricky side since menus would randomly pop up while in the middle of texting often deleting my message all together or sending me somewhere else on my phone...I cannot tell you how much cursing occurred while dealing with my POS. There were countless occasions where I wanted to throw the damn thing out the window and run it over about 24 times or let it sink to the bottom a lake. But I didn't...and then it died.

I finally called my phone company after finding out that I was still under warranty. Yay!  After speaking with a rep about the phone, she said they would send me a new one. Victory! I went ahead and paid for overnight shipping since it makes me a bit nervous being without a communication device working so far from my kiddo...and given my track record with my trusty ride. So I took half the day off from work yesterday to be home for the delivery (a signature was required) and also to be home in time for parent/teacher conferences. As I pull into my driveway, the explicatives started.  I saw this:

Are you effing kidding  me?! The one time, ONE TIME, I wanted FedEx to be late, they weren't. As I examine the door tag I see that I can pick up my package after 6:55p.  Hmmm, I probably won't be doing that but if I wanted to, the facility closes at 7p!  Really, FedEx? A 5-minute window? Stupid.

I signed the door tag and remembered to actually put it outside for the driver with a note as to where I would like him to leave the box. I hope he follows those directions because it is snowy out and I don't really want to have another damaged phone.  Someone might need to commit me.

Please don't steal my phone.

C.

Audrey

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.  I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything else seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." - Audrey Hepburn


The only thing I would change is kissing...I think hugs are more powerful. :)

C.

A. P.

Lots of times we say how we should do this,  want to do that. Going to do this, maybe I'll do that. But often times these things just become words. No meaning behind it. And most of those times friends just listen and that's about as far as it goes. Well, this time is different.

I have found myself smack dab in the middle of 3 A. P.s. What's an A.P.? Accountability Partner. These are people that either keep you in line to your goals OR join you in your goals and ask for you to keep their tabs too. I've got 3 of the latter.

There's the husband. Tonight we did a jiu jitsu workout. It was unlike anything else I've done but that's great! "So we do this 3x a week?" Oh sure....so we are now accountable to each other for getting these workouts in.

Second,  I'm on a program with the bestie. I need her for this! I think her support for me is more important that mine of hers but I'm just glad we're in it together.

And lastly, I've got a friend with whom we are working the marbles.  A marble for each workout...along with 'punishment' marbles for not making the minimum each week. This one outta get interesting.

Oh! And I a few months, I'll have a workout buddy after she gives birth to her little girl.

My point with it all is this - with 3 people on my behind, it is going to be tougher to just not do it. We all need support. We all need an A.P. Whether it is for getting a workout in, getting homework done, or just a shoulder to cry on because we are feeling weak, support systems are priceless. I consider myself lucky to have such souls around me.

Much love,
C.

Santa Fe Art District

Denver is culturally rich. You can find just about any kind of cuisine, art, music, and if you look hard enough, pastime. I have found myself enjoying some swell antique shopping on Broadway and on another day hitting the ballpark for some Colorado Rockies baseball. The two aren't terribly far from one another. Today, I was introduced to the Santa Fe Art District.  Jennifer brought us here to do our annual family photos.  This year we went urban and I couldn't be happier that we did.  We started off here...

There was this groovy little art gallery which happened to house some of the biggest, fattest, friendliest pack of bulldogs I've ever seen!  These were some cute little dudes.  And they flocked to Sloan. We weren't planning to shoot inside - but outside rather under a cool building sign but who can resist some grunty bulldogs that like to greet passersby? This was just a short distraction. Back to work...

We made our way down a back alley way that had tons of very cool commissioned graffiti art.  Mr. Modeltime, aka Sloan, took advantage of the camera time and came up with some cool spots of his own that he wanted to pose at. I'm so thankful that Jen and Lindy were willing to entertain the kid and indulge his need to "make love to the camera."

Along the way I snapped a few pictures of my own...some that I thought really spoke to the beauty of urbanism. This is a picture of a "film drop" in an old photography studio.  Now I guess it would be a disc drop or a memory card drop...does film even exist anymore? Sorry, Kodak, technology really jacked you.

Then I saw these...it caught my eye because these are usually on the side or backs of buildings. The age of this district really shows.

And more...

Free big marble anyone??

It was actually a marble block for free but I thought it was funnier this way...beware of editing! :) We visited some stoops, a bench, some modern metal art, and ended our time at another fantastic graffiti piece. Sloan really rocked it! It was a bit windy so I'm really unsure how any of the ones I'm in will look...hair. The boys are going to look mighty handsome because, well, they don't have to worry about hair placement.

C.

Pink Dolphins

It was bit of a lazy day after doing some work for that hobbyjob.  Here is what we, CLBS, made today for a little girl's 7th birthday.

We're talking strawberry cake filled with strawberry compote and strawberry/vanilla layered buttercream, pink and white sugar pearls, pink edible glitter, and a pink chocolate dolphin.  This ain't no Duncan Hines! Now I ask you, could this BE any more girly? I, for one, love how these little treats turned out. :)

The picture above is only posted because I took it.  Here is the good one - that John Karp Photography makes us look goooood!

 I have an extra.  I might eat it.

C.