Happy 2011!

I can't believe it's already a new year. It feels like the past year has just flown by...in hyperspeed, since every year always seems to pass so quickly! I spent the first day of my year cleaning--got fresh sheets on my bed and put on a new duvet cover that I absolutely adore, rearranged my room a bit, knitted, and started learning how to crochet. I wanted to relax today; begin the new year by taking time for myself and just enjoying being with me. Plus, I wanted to be semi-productive while I watched Lifetime movies in the background (I really did just admit that...)

I've been thinking about what resolutions I want to make, and I've already made some. But I keep thinking of more and more things I want to do, so I'll share my list with you once it's finalized. I'm feeling ambitious, but not overly, because I know how that usually ends up: a list with a bunch of things that sound awesome, but all the boxes have no check marks in them. However, I am feeling hopeful that this year will be a productive year. Have you made any resolutions this year? I'd love to hear about them!

One of the things I want to accomplish this year is to successfully complete Project 365! I've attempted it in years past, but it always got so hard to keep going. After a few years of not even bothering to try, I've decided to take on the challenge again. I have a camera with me all the time (my phone), so there are no excuses! I'll most likely set up a place for that elsewhere and post an update here if you'd like to follow. :)

So, in closing: Happy New Year! Here's Day 1 of 2011!

Cupcake Wars!! ...with myself

A couple weeks ago, I was at TJ Maxx and I wandered into the home/kitchen section just to take a peek (or so I thought). I ended up leaving with a cupcake pan, among other things, but the cupcake pan is the culprit here. I ended up spending my Sunday afternoon-to-night baking cupcakes. Lots and lots of cupcakes. Well, at least it seemed like a lot to me (24), given that I'm a homemade cupcake newbie. I wanted to be ambitious and planned to make vanilla cupcakes with a jasmine whipped cream filling and topped with basil buttercream...AND chocolate cupcakes filled with peanut butter cream and topped with cream cheese frosting. Well, I made bits and pieces of the recipe. Let's begin:

Oh by the way, I was so glued to the recipe directions, since I had no clue what was supposed to go into these cupcakes, that I forgot to take pictures of my ingredients and steps along the way. OOPS!

I <3 my KitchenAid mixer



It starts with the butter...



...and then a whole bunch of steps...and then it goes into the oven!



Some cleaning since I only have one mixer so that I can start on the next "step"



Chocolate! Tip: add a bit of ground coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor!



Vanilla's out of the oven and just hanging around





The chocolate cupcakes went into the oven at some point too and I work on the whipped cream filling for the vanilla cupcakes. No jasmine flowers were blooming on our plant, so I settled for some strawberry jam with real strawberries in it



DING!



Did you know that cupcakes have cores too? :)



All done!



There was no peanut butter and I didn't like the cream cheese frosting...but it still doesn't give me an excuse to not photograph the choco cupcakes.

Anyway, I'll try to do next better next time at documenting! It was a bit difficult because my hands were constantly sticky, sugary, floury, or oily and I was already washing my hands like a million times in between things.

Either way, the cupcakes were absolutely delicious!! I brought them into work and everyone really liked them, at least that's what I was told..! :)

If you'd like the recipes, post a comment below!