babies

Posted on February 3, 2012 by chloe elizabeth

In case you were wondering why I haven’t been blogging, it’s because I’ve been out of town helping with this little guy.

How cute is he? And how happy am I that I managed to get this shot and that my sister-in-law has such good editing skills. We make a pretty good team.

And now I’m in AZ to help with my sister’s newest. Lots of babies around these parts. And lots of quality time being an aunt.

a princess cake

Posted on February 2, 2012 by chloe elizabeth

When I was in fifth grade, I took my first cake decorating class. My mom was quite the baker, so I had been decorating under her tutelage for a while, but fifth grade was my first formal class. Through the years, I would occasionally use my skills, but then while living in Utah before grad school, I decided to take another class. Since then, I’ve done very little decorating of cakes…that is until last weekend when I took on a serious challenge: a princess cake for my niece’s fourth birthday.

My sis-in-law asked me if I would do it a few weeks out and then sent me an instructional YouTube video (that my niece watched several times…her job was quality control and she was serious about it). I watched it once and then we just went for it. And here’s what the process looked like:

I feel pretty good about the whole thing. My favorite part, by far, was my niece repeating to me parts of the video verbatim because seriously, is there anything cuter than a new 4 year old saying things like, “put a nice dollop on the top and then you’ll want to take an offset spatula…” Adorable!

because it was so overdue

Posted on December 14, 2011 by chloe elizabeth

One of the hard things about moving to a new city is finding your new “people” and by “people” I mean dentist, hair stylist,…okay, well, that’s all I mean. I love my dentist and my salon in AZ and so, even though I’ve lived here for well over a year now, I still wait for trips “home” to get those things taken care of. Normally, I’m out there every 3-4 months, so this works out well.

This time, though, it had been since June and while my teeth are fine with a cleaning every six months, my hair is not so fine waiting for a little bleachy-bleach. And so, with about three inches of regrowth, it was time. It was a short trip, so guess what didn’t happen. Form over function. Or in this case, pretty hair over healthy teeth. That’s how I roll.

Sadly, I don’t have a really good before…but here’s a during and an after. I’m very happy.

all decked out for christmas

Posted on December 5, 2011 by chloe elizabeth

With an impending holiday party, I finally got my crap together this week and decorated my apartment. And I must say, it’s pretty cute. And by “my apartment” I really mean “my entertainment center” because I can’t store anymore than what will fit there. So here are a some pics (mainly for my sis-in-law who wanted to see what it looks like decorated).

(the clutter on my counter is due to a party that was just about to start)

My itty bitty Christmas tree purchased at Walmart last year. Please note the “tree skirt” – I got creative with a placemat. And the nativity…well, it might actually be an ornament I purchased in Berlin. And there’s even an angel on top (another ornament).

Isn’t it cute? I actually bought it because I broke it in the store (nothing a little superglue couldn’t fix). Now I’m really glad I did.

And a shot from the other angle.

Okay, so this wasn’t a decoration, but I figured I might as well make the baked brie I was serving look nice and festive, too.

Not pictured: the gold bow I added to my eucalyptus wreath (I only have room for one wreath–and that’s the one on the door) and a really cute silk arrangement created by my favorite florist, Sydne. It’s out, but it needs a little sprucing. Just have to find my glue gun… Yes, even in a itty bitty apartment it’s still possible to lose things.