The Hubby's Surprise Party

This weekend I threw a surprise party for Tom!
His birthday was on Friday, but he had class until late that night, so he thought we were going to celebrate the next day.
Little did he know that all his favorite people would be waiting when he got home at 10 pm!!

This is Tom's "surprised" face.
The theme of the party was "gun-totin' rednecks, so I made Tom put on his camo shooting hat as soon as he got home.

For Tom's birthday cake we made a giant shotgun shell. (There was icing sugar everywhere!)
Thanks to Mallory from Livin' Sweet for helping me put it together.
My friend Gaby did the writing for me.

I should also mention my friend Ashley (who's three months' pregnant) did all the cleaning and decorating for the party. Seriously. She was standing on chairs and doing everything I ran out of time to do.

Yay for preggo prictures!

So basically, this party wouldn't have happened without my amazing friends and family to help me out.

Here's Gaby helping make some dessert wontons. (Recipe from Studio 5.)

They're seriously super yummy and super easy if you want to make them.
They have cream cheese, raspberries and white chocolate on the inside.

This is Andrea's stamp of approval!

Me and Tom admiring the birthday cake.

Tom blowing out his candle.

So as part of the theme, I told people to dress in camo, plaid, overalls, or anything that said "I eat rabbit for dinner".
So here are my friends, Gaby, Mallory and Ashley showing off their redneck behinds!

Take a closer look at Gaby's butt.
She totally stuffed it!
I almost died laughing!

Some people really got into the theme.
I captured this shot of our friend Chris and just HAD to Photoshop in the straw. It was the perfect pose!

Here's another great outfit! This is my sister-in-law Andrea. Notice the front of her shirt.

And here's the back.
But my favorite part of her outfit was definitely the white trash nails!

Love them!

In an equally appropriate outfit was her husband Chris.
No, that is not his real hair.
Chris won third prize in our costume contest.

Second prize went to my sis-in-law Ashley.
This is Ashley and her husband Aaron doing their "redneck prom pose".
Take a closer look at Aaron's teeth.

First prize in the costume contest went to my brother-in-law Neil...For obvious reasons.
Check out the redneck tattoos on his arms!

The Nerf shotgun he's holding was one of the main attractions of the party.
We used it in a shooting contest to see who could aim the best.

This was our target. You can see by the names on it, the girls were doing WAY better than the boys.

Gunslinger Andrea WON the shooting contest.

Here are the other shooters:
Gaby, or should I say the "Hunting Princess".

Mallory, who would have would have hit the target no problem if she was shooting with a piping bag.

Chase, who you'd think would have an advantage since he's from Emery County.

Ashley, who's baby bump gave her super strength. She kept shooting both "shells" at the same time.

Thomas, the redneck with style!

Chris G, who showed off by shooting from the hip!

Can you even see Chris H in this pic? He's so camouflaged!

Don't let Holly's purdy outfit fool you! She's VERY experienced with a shotgun!

Ashley barely had to try. She has it in her genes. She's Tom's sister.

I don't have a picture of Nick shooting, but this one is just as good.
Him and his wife were the perfect redneck couple.
They were making out all over the place!
(Just kidding. I made them pose for this pic.)

I also don't have a picture of Tom or Robert taking their turn with the shotgun. Sorry guys!

Here's me getting ready for my turn.
(I didn't even hit the target.)

The reason for the whole "redneck" party was due to Tom's main gift.
I bought him a .22 rifle complete with a scope, a cleaning kit and a carrying case!

The hat on Tom's head was one of his gifts from a friend.
He got lots of cool things...

Including one present wrapped in toilet paper!!
(It was a banana clip.)

He also got a spy kit!

And tons of ammo!

But I must say the weirdest gift he got was this:

As my friend Mallory here so beautifully demonstrates, it's a tool for butts.
It's called Butt Out.

Go ahead and read the directions if you dare.

"Butts" was kind of a reoccurring theme of the party.
This was one of the prizes I gave away.

It's called "Anti-Monkey Butt".
It's a powder you use when you've been sitting on your butt all day waiting for a fish to bite or something like that.
It absorbs sweat and helps with friction.
Best line of the night was when Ashley said "We could have used that in Hawaii!"
Over all, the party was a huge success and Tom loved it!
Thanks to everyone who came!
Happy Birthday Tom!

LillyMae Giveaway Winner!

The flower LillyMae Bag was the clear front-runner with 11 out of 17 votes.
And the winner of the flower bag (as chosen by random.org) is...
Anne (Brent and Anne)!
Luckily she was one of the people who voted for the flower bag.
She said: "I love the flower bag!! So cute! I also love all your California pics... you met a ton of characters!"
Congratulations Anne!

Even if you didn't win, you're still a winner because you can still get get 15% off any LillyMae Bag you want from the website with the coupon code "15001".

Happy Shopping!

The Heart Cake on Studio 5

Yesterday I did my first real segment on Studio 5.
I was soooooo nervous, but everyone on the show was so nice and helpful!
Check it out!
(The original blog post is here. The heart cake on my blog actually looks better than the heart cake on the show.)

Please don't make fun of how many times I say "I know, right?" like a valley girl.

Please do make note of how awesome my nails look. Thanks to Ashley for the awesome french manicure!!
And thanks to Annie for teaching me how to curl my hair properly!

A few people have asked about my apron.
It's from Anthropologie.

Also, don't forget the purse giveaway closes Feb. 5th.
Enter here.

Heart Cake

This is a cake you can really put your heart into.

I wanted to do something cool for Valentine's Day like the 4th of July cake.

So I did a google search and found this cake from the blog I AM BAKER.
But I figured there must be a way to adapt it so the heart is on every slice, not just in the entire cake.

Wanna know how I did it?
Trust me, it's super easy.

What you need:
1. Three boxes of cake mix. Two white and one red velvet. (If you live in the Canada and can't find red velvet cake mix, just use a white cake mix and add a TON of red food coloring.) You also need any ingredients the cake mixes call for.
2. Three store-bought tubs of icing. Yes I said three.
3. 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans.
4. A metal heart-shaped cookie cutter. Plastic cookie cutters will NOT work.
Plus any other baking gadgets you like (i.e. cake leveler, bake-even strips, etc.)

Step 1. Make FOUR 8-inch or 9-inch round cakes. I used two boxes of white cake mix for this.

Step 2. When these cakes are cool, put them in the freezer for a few hours or overnight.

Step 3. Make a pan of red velvet cake. This does not need to be any shape or size.

Step 4. Use a fork to break up the red velvet cake. Add one tub of icing and mix it in. It should look like the picture above. Cover and put this mixture in the fridge for later.

Step 5. Layer your cakes on two plates with icing in the middle.

Tip: If you put saran wrap on the plates you can label one "top" and the other "bottom".

Step 6. Put a toothpick in the middle of one of the cakes. Put a second toothpick in the cake about a half-inch away from the edge. With floss or string, tie the toothpicks together. Hold the middle toothpick steady and drag the second one around the cake, making a circle indent all the way around. Using the same toothpicks, repeat this on the second cake.

Step 7. Draw a line with permanent marker in the center of your cookie cutter. Stick the cookie cutter right side up in the "bottom" cake so it barely covers the line. Using the circle indent as your guide, drag your cookie cutter around the cake until you complete your circle. (The shape will be much better if your cake is frozen at this point.) Remove the loose cake.

Step 8. For the "top" cake, turn your cookie cutter upside down and carve out cake the same way as in step 7. Remove the loose cake.

Your bottom cake should look like this.

Your top cake should look like this.
(I know, I know. They kinda look the same in these pictures, but trust me, they're different.)

Step 9. Crumble your red velvet mixture into the holes. Be delicate when putting it in at first. Once you have them filled, you can pat them down a little. Put your cake back in the fridge or freezer for at least 15 minutes to let the cake set. Your cakes should look identical at this point. This is why it's important to label each plate.

Step 10. Ice the edge of the white cake and the middle part. Do not ice anything red!

Step 11. Flip the "top" cake onto the bottom cake. The easiest way to do this is just to use your hands.

Step 12. Use the rest of your icing to cover the entire cake. I like to make it look really plain so people will be EXTRA surprised when you cut into it.
Congratulations! You're done!!

When I gave my hubby a piece of cake, he said "Wow, this tastes really good."
Seriously?
Like I care how it tastes!!!

Purse Giveaway!

Remember when I blogged about my friend's LillyMae Bags?
Well she's made some improvements is letting me give a NEW one away to my lovely friends!


But first, let me tell you how much I LOVE them.

As much as I shudder to compare it to a fanny pack, it really is just as convenient, but ten-thousand times cuter. And unlike your 80's fanny pack, you can also wear the LillyMae Bag as a cross-body purse.

It's small and light so you barely know it's there, but it's big enough to hold your cards, money, and phone (or ipod).
Every purse has an adjustable strap and an eyelet for your headphones.

I know from my experience of having one for over a year, they are sooooo perfect for working out or traveling.

This is me and my LillyMae Bag in Mexico!
I had easy access to my money when the street children ran up to sell me "chiclets".

What to see what other memories I've made with my LillyMae Bag?
Me at a Mexican Walmart.

Me, my LillyMae Bag, and Viagra Man.

Me and my LillyMae Bag on Catalina Island.

Me trying to ride a bike on Catalina Island. I would have been doomed without my LillyMae Bag. Can you imagine trying to do that with a bulky purse? Not fun.

Sometimes I think the LillyMae Bag was invented just for amusement parks.
I took my first trip to Disneyland and California Adventure this year.
My LillyMae Bag was glued to my hip the entire time!

I'm sure you get the point by now.

LillyMae Bags ARE AWESOME!

So for the giveaway, all you have to do is visit the LillyMae Bag website and tell me in the comments section which purse you want me to give away between these two:

The Flower Bag?
or
The Butterfly Bling Bag?

The winning bag will be shipped to a random commenter.
(So make sure I know you or have your e-mail address to tell you if you won.)

And don't worry.
If you don't win, you can still get 15% off on the website with the coupon code "15001".

Good Luck!
Giveaway ends February 5th.

Family Photo Shoot

I've been meaning to post these pictures forever!
They're from our "family photo shoot" before Christmas.
All the pictures were taken by my sister-in-law Megan.
I wanted to post even the goofiest ones!

This is Tom gearing up for a "cheese-filled photo shoot".

My "candid" shot was not as attractive as I thought it would be.

It looks like Yoda is eating Tom's face.

Group hug!

Kissy Kissy!

Try to look natural Tom. Oh great. That's perfect.
Yoda was wearing the elf outfit Megan got him for Christmas. It had this adorable hood, but it kept covering his eyes.

We'll get the shot one of these days...

Doesn't Yoda look like he's having so much fun?!

More kisses from Yoda!

Both me and Yoda giving Tom some love!

I actually love this one, even with Tom's cheesy smile.

You think Yoda's getting tired?

This is definitely one of my favorites.

Yoda the elf.

This is the picture we ended up using for our Christmas Card.
(The post-Photoshop version.)

And here's our finished Christmas card!

New Shoes!

It doesn't take much to get me excited.
Like new shoes for instance!

When these came in the mail, I SQUEALED with joy!
I mean, come on, how often do people blog about new shoes?
It's the small things in life, right?

You know what makes this purchase even sweeter?
They were only $15, down from $80, with free shipping!!

This calls for a song!
This is one of my favs right now. I first heard it in Canada.
It's about new shoes!!