Travel Plans

These last few weeks have been busy!  I got done interning in AZ on April 20th and started my next one in OR on April 30th!  That means... 10 days of relaxation, driving, friends, and family!

Before I even left Arizona, I got to visit with an old mission buddy named Guilian.  Turns out she had been living in AZ the whole time I was there, but we didn't know!  I got to practice my Portuguese and we went out to acai, the best Brazilian food ever!

Everything ended well at my internship and I think that I might even miss my co-workers and patients out in good ol' Apache Junction.  BUT... this didn't stop me from heading out as soon as possible!  I left at noon on Friday and went up to Las Vegas to meet Emily.  This was the greenest part of AZ I could find, the Joshua Tree Forest.

We went to the Stratosphere and rode the rides at the top.  If you are scared of heights, I wouldn't suggest it!  I've been to quite a few amusement parks in the US and the big shot literally took my breath away!

After a few days, I headed up to Provo and spent some time with Becca and her family.  We went to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point with Coreyann, Christy and all the little kiddos.  I also chopped all my hair off the day these pics were taken!

I drove up and spent a night with Mindy in Bountiful and then headed up to WA to stay with my aunt and uncle.  Family is awesome and we had a blast.  I ended up in Oregon on April 29th and the best news is... it got greener by the hour.  I don't think I'm a desert girl, and even the rain was a welcome change.  New internship... here I come.

AZ Cupcake Review

After much anticipation, I'm sure, I have come to post my review on cupcake shops in the greater Mesa area.  I'm expecting you all to be thrilled.

1.Sprinkles

4501 N Scottsdale Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Sprinkles is the original!  It's classy and cute and there are always fun flavors.  So.. the S'mores cupcake...this little beauty was a chocolate cupcake with some buttery graham cracker stuff in the bottom and some marshmallow stuff lightly toasted on the top.  The surprise came when I got to the middle and there was a dark chocolate truffle stuff in the middle.  Dang it was good.  The ambiance was lacking in that there was nowhere to sit inside.  It was busy and we ended up eating outside on the sidewalk by the bus stop.  Not too fun.  The upside is that across the street is Fashion Square, the sweetest mall around.  Among other things there is a Neiman Marcus, a HUGE Nordstrom, H&M, Bare Escentuals, you get the picture.

2. Caketini
2270 E. Williams Field Rd.
Suite 114
Gilbert, AZ 85295


Caketini is great fun in that all the cupcakes are big and fancy.  Chocolate cupcake, peanut butter frosting, chocolate and peanut butter chips, and topped off with a chocolate drizzle.  The Diet Coke didn't hurt either.  The people were super nice and the environment was cute.  There were plenty of seats inside and out.  This one is in San Tan Village with lots of fun, outdoor shops.

3. Top It Cupcakes
1030 S. Gilbert Rd.
Gilbert, AZ 85296


The cool thing about this shop is that you can buy a plain cupcake and "top it" yourself with frosting and candy and stuff.  This would be great for little kids and such.  I opted for the french toast cupcake.  Honestly, I've had better.  I didn't really taste anything besides a vanilla cupcake with a little cinnamon.  The frosting definitely had some shorting in there, which I do NOT like.  There was no shopping around and therefore, not a whole lot to bring me back.  

4. Sweet Cakes Cafe

21 W. Main Street

Mesa, AZ 85201

Well...as you see, there are no pictures of cupcakes here.  I'm not sure why you would call your place Sweet CAKES Cafe if there is no cake.  But, I still had to get something, so I settled for this peanut butter M&M cookie and cinnamon roll.  A big sacrifice right?  They were both good.  The cafe also had lunch food, which apparently is great, but I had no time for lunch that day.  There was seating outside on the street.  It is in the cute downtown area, which I like.  There was also seating inside, but it was too loud and noisy at the lunch hour to be very appealing.

5. The Coffee Shop at Agritopia

3000 East Ray Rd.

Gilbert, AZ 85296

I saved the best for last.  The Coffee Shop is right next to Joe's Farm Grill and is sort of a sister restaurant.  Ingredients are locally grown and wonderful.  I got a vanilla/strawberry vegan cupcake and it was grand.  There was coconut oil in the frosting and it added a great flavor dimension and texture.  The cupcake was one of the best I had in AZ and it was nice to know that it was sort of healthy too.

I also got a sandwich, which was wonderful.  It had mayo, fresh basil, provolone cheese, feta, avocado, and tomato.  SO GOOD.  The best part BY FAR was the beautiful surroundings.  Turns out, I'm not a desert girl.  I missed the green and flowers of home.  It's one of those things you don't notice until you see grass again and feel that void you didn't know was there being all filled up.  There were flowers galore and a little patio with roses all around.  There was grass and benches for sitting and watching kids play.  Even though it was a busy lunch hour, it was not too loud or crowded feeling.  I grabbed an outside table and enjoyed the shade and great weather.  Inside was cute too, with lots of places to sit.  Take a look inside and you'll see.  It's the kind of place I could write a book in.  

And while we're talking about cupcakes, here are some I made for Easter.

Green Ombre

For a co-worker's birthday I decided to pull out the big guns and show off my cake skills to the people of Apache Junction.  I hardly ever get to bake these days so it was pretty darn fun.  

I started out with a double batch of white cake mix.  I just use good ol' Betty Crocker and didn't even add any pudding mix or anything.  I split this up into 5 bowls using a measuring cup and started dying away.

I used Wilton Kelly Green frosting dye.  I went for the darkest color first and then just tried for one in the middle.  This one ended up being the second darkest.  This allowed me to learn through trial and error.  Turns out you need VERY little dye to get the lightest green colors.  I baked each layer individually for about 15 minutes each.  This was a pain since I'm operating with only one 8" pan, but I eventually ended up with this:

I whipped up some vanilla buttercream.  This needed to be nice and thick for the frosting technique I wanted.  I bought a can of raspberry pie filling and made some whipped cream with cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla.  Turns out I love fruity fillings.  I started assembling and soon found out two things.  A) Two of my layers didn't look like two different colors.  B) My cake was going to be TALL.  I left one layer out and thoroughly enjoyed it later.  I started assembling with my darkest layer first.  I made a moat around the edge with buttercream and filled it first with a little layer of whipped cream and then a thin layer of raspberry.  When I got all four layers on there, I gave the whole thing a nice crumb coat.

I'm really into the messy buttercream look these days.  The layer of frosting on the top was nice and thick, but the sides were thin and don't really matter because I covered them with...

RUFFLES!

I did this once before with Emily's help for a party last summer and I have been in love with it ever since.  I added some glitter and pretty sprinkle balls on top and called it a day.

 I'm pretty sure everyone was happy!

Capris to Kilts

Last weekend my dear friend Katy came to visit me, ie help her grandma at the Highland Games in Phoenix.  I'm not sure what I expected my first Scottish festival to be like, but IT. WAS. AWESOME.  This may be due, in part, to the fact that I have done very few things in AZ for my own pure enjoyment.  Working in addition to my internship and taking classes has put a damper on my free spirit, so it was awesome to just relax.

There are a few essential parts to a ligit Highland games:

1. Representing your Clan

Katy is Clan Rose, and I therefore, also consider myself Clan Rose.  They are awesome.

2. Tartan

There are something like 5000 different clan tartan patterns.  That's just crazy.

3. Bag Pipes

They are not as loud as one might think, but their sound carries FOR-E-VER.  There were about 4 different groups and they were all good as far as I'm concerned.  AND, Katy bought a canter, the part of the pipe your fingers go on to make notes.  She will become an expert shortly.

4. And more bag pipes

5. Yummy Food

Go to the longest line with the most kilts and the food WILL be good.  We were rewarded with meat pies.

6. Caber Tossing

This was our favorite part.  They basically pick up this HUGE log, balance it for a while, and then attempt to toss it so it rotates in the air vertically and lands in a perfectly straight line.  If you don't get it all the way around, your score is measured in degrees, representing the highest angle your achieved.  If you do, your score is measured by the way it lands.  A perfect toss is a 12 o'clock.

This caber, Stewart Travel, was the big kahuna.  It was something like 18' 6" and 130 pounds.  Apparently, it has been around for 5 years and has never been tossed.  There is $300 prize for the first man who tosses it and the cash keeps accumulating from year to year until someone does.

This guy was in the light weight competition.  Not bad.  He turned it, but didn't get it to land straight.  

7. Throwing Other Heavy Things

This has to be dangerous.  They basically toss this VERY heavy weight directly over their heads and try to get it over the high bar.  I'm pretty sure that hiking up your kilt is essential to a good toss.

8. Good Friends

If you want to jump on the Scottish band wagon, might I suggest:

http://www.gmhg.org/

http://www.caledonian.org/

http://www.ceresgames.co.uk/

http://www.braemargathering.org/index.html

lemons to lemon drops

Yes, the first few weeks here in AZ were not all I dreamed them to be, but in the last few weeks, things have really turned around.


1. I got a job.  I'm now working part time at Macy's, selling women's shoes.  Suffice it to say, selling shoes is not my calling in life.  My own doctorate level pride screams to me that retail is for retards.  BUT... all things considered (ie. my love for shoes and shopping), it's basically my dream get-me-through-school part time job.  And the bottom line is, the crappiest job is not as crappy as living life under financial stress.  

Here is my favorite row of shoes in our stock room:

 Coach is my ticket to making sales goals and getting good commission.  And it's funny how much people will buy, as long as it has that big ol' C on it.

And these were my reward for being awesome and getting a job:

Jessica Simpson snake skin pumps, on clearance for like $20.  Not bad, not bad.


2. My internship no longer sucks.  I'm not sure how to describe the first few weeks while still being an optimist.  Let me just say that crying on the way to and the way home and sometimes during lunch and once in front of a patient all because your job is so stressful is not a good sign.

I saw this on pintrest and loved it.  It perfectly describes my past 

situation and what I hope to have learned from it:

 I don't exactly need my ego stroked or anything, but not being put down everyday is pretty awesome.  I am now working in another clinic near by.
    
Most of the patients are elderly and they are awesome!  I love listening to their stories and hearing their laughter.  My new co-workers are funny and kind.  We joke around a lot with each other and with patients.  The TVs are always on so I have brushed up on Sports Center and the Today show.  I have also not missed a March Madness game, which is awesome!  We also have XM radio and somehow I was blessed to work with 4 people who ALL LOVE EIGHTY'S MUSIC!!!!!  It's seriously a dream come true.  At any given moment, a Journey song comes on and sweeps me right out of my monotony.  We eat lunch together and have birthday parties for each other and chat about the Hunger Games. 


3. Speaking of Hunger Games... OH. MY. GOSH.  The Hunger Games movie comes out in about 36 hours!  AND... My friend Katy is coming in for the weekend so we get to see it together!!!!!  On Friday night!!!!! On IMAX!!!!!  I'm pretty stoked.  

In preparation for this blessed event, I got my t-shirt from Hot Topic:

Nail polish from ULTA, my new favorite store:

And I got my nails all painted:

And my tickets: 

Yeah, I'm excited.


4. I really hope I never lose this little pink notebook as it contains all of my notes on Harry Potter!  I finished reading all the books and I am now working on writing.  It is fun to write and to see some real progress, but it is slow going.  If you have any ideas on gospel symbolism in Harry Potter, please comment about it!  I have lots of ideas, but it is fun to see other people's perspective on things.  

5. ONLY 37 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS UNTIL GRADUATION!!!!  I made this awesome paper chain a few weeks ago.  It is pretty dang fun to take off the chains and see how quickly time is passing!  I am only 5 chains away moving to Oregon and seeing family!

I am doing all I can to enjoy the time I have here and not let life pass me by and all that, but I'm still exciting for graduating!
So there you have it!  Just when you think life has gone to pot, it swings for the better and there are a whole new set of things to celebrate.

Crabs to Cacti

In the last few weeks I have moved from this:

To this:

To this:

Sadly, I don't have a lot of optimistic or cake-related things to say about it, hence the reason for my lack of blogging, but I'm going to pull the few happy things out for you right now!

I am in the fourth long week of my second internship and lets just say that it is not exactly the same as my 8 weeks of interning/vacating in NY.  The clinic is different, the area is different, and my situation is just different.  Too much different at one time can be a little tiring and difficult.  A few good things remain the same however...

A. Ice Cream

One of the benefits of interning in Arizona instead of New York is BLUE BELL ICE-CREAM.  Unlike the creamy and thick ice-cream like Tillamook, this is more icy, like Breyer's natural vanilla, which happens to be right up my ally.  Let's just say that this 1/2 gallon did not last long.

2. Books

In my first week here, I finished the first three books of the Tiger's Curse series by Colleen Houck.  Dang she is good.  Better than Twilight, but not as deep as Hunger Games.  If you need a gripping romantic adventure fantasy tale, look no further.  The next book will come out Sept 2012.  My next adventure: (thanks to my wonderful friend Katy) the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold!

3. Temples

Peace and comfort are only 3.8 miles away!

4. Harry Potter

So books are currently two of my top five favorite things... that's probably not a good sign.  But, I'm currently in book 6 of my second time reading all of HP and IT IS AWESOME!!!  I'm getting loads of ideas for my Gospel Symbolism in Harry Potter book, coming out in 2013, by the way.  This image can also be an ode to my love of Pinterest, the ever present escape from reality that I've come to rely on.

5. iPhone

My favorite Christmas present, possibly of all time!  I seriously smile just about every time I look down and see that I am a proud owner of the iPhone 4s.  It just makes life so much more convenient and keeping in touch with my far away friends and family a lot more fun!  As icing on the cake, I just found about 20 Tommy Boy rings.  My current wake up alarm is David Spade saying, "Now I know you'd love to just sit there and keep being not slim, but we gotta work a little today, okay!"  Waking up laughing is a good way to start the day!

So, in all situations in life, there are things to be grateful for!  My next post is going to be on my cupcake tour of Mesa!  Sure to thrill readers of all ages.