Wednesdays...

I love Wednesdays. I look forward to them for sure. Most people hate them actually but I love them. Here is why:

-I work Mondays and Tuesdays so it's my first day to be able to sleep past 4:00 am.

-I only have one class and it's finished by 10:15 which means I pretty much have the whole day to do my own thing.

-It is becoming a trend that I meet with my friend Colleen either over coffee or lunch and I think she (and coffee and lunch) is (are) great! Today I had my first experience at Uprise Bakery and it was fantastic. My life was transformed upon tasting the best black bean quesadilla I've ever had.

-I have an excuse to bake because...

-I lead a Bible study with Colleen that meets on Wednesday nights and that's always a good time (I always bake something for the girls. Tonight's baked good: homemade cinnamon rolls pictured above.)

I guess that's it. I just love Wednesdays, that's all. (P.S. Last semester I wrote a post about how I loved Wednesday nights. I know this is very similar, but I thought I'd let everyone know that my love has extended to the whole entire day.)

Mistake turned Success!

I'm a big fan of journaling. I don't do it as often as I'd like, but that doesn't mean I'm not a fan. I only have two pages left in my current journal which means I had the fun task of buying a new one. I love new journals. I get a renewed excitement to write when I buy a new journal. I always want to think of something profound to write on the first page but everything I come up with is always cheesey like, well, no, anything I can think of is too cheesey to publish so you can just imagine...

Anyway, I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday to buy a new journal and I didn't find anything quite right. I lot of them had qualities that I liked but nothing was perfect. So I decided to buy a blank canvas, in this case, a Moleskine (my favorite) and design my own.

Surprise, surprise... it has a tree but it's a little different than something I would normally do. I messed up pretty hard core in one part but the mistake turned into the pattern which I ended up liking. So anyway... hurray for new journals and mistakes that turn into creativity.

(The back)

Happy Fall!

It's officially here. Today it the first day of fall! I plan to enjoy every minute of it for the next three months! Here are some pictures to get you excited for the beauty that is about to come upon on us...

P.S. I guess there is some dispute of when the first day of fall is. Some say it was yesterday, some say it's today. I've decided that it's today... you can choose what is right for you. :)

Pride & Prejudice

I have always said that The Sound of Music was my favorite movie... but I think it may have been surpassed by Pride & Prejudice. I have always loved Pride & Prejudice, but I was thinking today and the fact that it is prettier to look out, isn't 3 hours long, and doesn't include Nazis makes it take the cake.

Here is what I love about this movie:

-The cinematography is beautiful. The use of light in this movie is incredible. The majority of the movie looks like it is shot as the sun is setting (aka my favorite time of day.)

-The soundtrack is spectacular. I am automatically put in a better mood upon hearing it.

-The way they communicate things is awesome. Like in the scene below where they are in a fight, nowadays movies would use cuss words and insults, but this movie is intense and effective without the vulgarity.

-There is little PDA yet a lot of passion. It's rated PG and manages to convey one of the most passionate love stories ever with a single kiss... so great!

Alright, well, I suppose that's it. My favorite movie is now Pride & Prejudice.

A friend...

Today I had my first ever plans with a friend to just get together and bake. It was with my new friend Whitney and it was fantastic. We made some mocha cupcakes. They were goooood. And it was tons of fun. We ended up baking together for 4 hours (that's a long time...) because we made the cupcakes first and then I made a birthday cake for my friend Sarah.

The cake for Sarah was an interesting one... I asked her what her dream cake would be and she said something to do with Oreos. There are not many Oreo cake recipes that don't involve ice cream so I had to wing it. I made devil's food cake with white almond frosting (Sarah love's almond...) and Oreos mixed into the middle layer and sprinkled on the tops and sides. I was pretty happy with it in the end. There is a picture above (Thanks to my aunt Charlotte who bought me the piping bags and tips that I finally had an excuse to use. It was so fun!)

Anyway, it was so fun baking with someone else today. We talked about music, school, family, the future not to mention a lot of talk about baking. It was such a great time... I love baking, but I think I love baking with people even more.

Whitney looking at how we accidentally

made way too much frosting...

This isn't real, right?

Baker Tweet. Someone has invented a box, that is kitchen durable that allows people to tweet about what just came out of the oven. There's a video for how it works and everything. I'm still trying to figure out if this is a joke or not... because it's kind of ridiculous.

If you're interested in purchasing one (and if so, you and I need to talk about how you have too much money on your hands and should give it to the less fortunate... aka me) then go here to read more.

BakerTweet from POKE on Vimeo.

The Pop-aholic's Coffeeshop

McAlister's... I've decided it's the pop-aholic's (I suppose tea-aholic works, too) coffeeshop and it's great. Here's why:

-You get flipping huge drinks for only $2.04 (with tax) and they walk around asking if you want refills about every 15 minutes. (This is great for a fast drinker of Diet Coke, like myself.)

-They have free wireless and multiple outlets for you to plug in your computer.

-It's quiet... well, it is if you are there not during a meal time rush.

-It's a great place to study because while I love to frequent friend sightings at Kaldi's, It's A Grind, Dunn Bros., and the Artisan (R.I.P.)... it's kind of nice to know that no one else is lame enough to come study here.

So anyway, it's 11:00 AM and I'm at McAlister's downing Diet Coke and doing homework. And it is great!

El otoño: mi estación preferida

Fall is my favorite season. It's not quite here yet, but I am beginning to see some signs of it and it's got me excited. Here are some things that I love about it:

-Pumpkin Spice lattes

-Changing leaves/leavings fall on the ground

-Football (even though I don't like football that much, I love the idea of it... strangely)

-Halloween

-Thanksgiving

-The perfect, cool weather

-The return of scarves and hats (you know how I love scarves)

-Candy corn

-Apple cider

-Pumpkins (and carving them when it's time)

-The abounding presence of red, orange, yellow, and brown

-The beginning of Christmas music the day after Halloween (although I've already started...)

Let's think of this post as a possible outline. These are my major points and I may choose to come back and expand on these things later in the fall. Luckily the season lasts three months so I will have a lot of time to enjoy it and blog about it and pass it on to you. Exactly a week from today the glorious season begins... Get excited!

(As I'm writing this I remembered that my lovely friend Colleen wrote a similar list last year. I suppose I'm a bit of a copier, but it's true that we both love fall so it makes sense that we both would make our love public, to the blog world at least. Anyway, here is her list if you want to check it out.)

You know you're a baker when...

-You are excited for the holidays because that will give you more of an excuse to bake.

-You have an opportunity to bake so you spend an hour reading blogs and cookbooks trying to find the perfect recipe.

-You read blogs about cupcakes.

-You make after school snacks like the splendid thing to your right. (It's an ice cream sandwich.) :)

-You want a new camera so you can take quality pictures of the things you bake.

-When packing to go home for the weekend, you include butter and sprinkles.

All of these things have been true of me this week. I am just so cool...

Free Fallin'

My brother Joel already blogged about this, but because we have a bit of a different audience, I thought I'd bring this on over here to my blog.

Ben Rector, a friend of Joel's, and a favorite musician of mine, is awesome. He's got a great voice and is just a really talented musician. From what I gather, he's pretty funny, too. All very great things... (I still think Joel should have introduced us, but he's married now, so what's the point. Jk, jk...) Anyway, here's a fun video that he made. It's kind of random in the beginning, but gets very good.

Ben Rector - Free from TK McKamy on Vimeo.

Music is home.

Last night I made the oh too familiar drive from Kansas City to Columbia. I go home about two times a month so I could probably make that trip with my eyes closed. I've been asked before if I get tired of driving I-70 so much. A lot of people hate it actually... but I love the drive.

I've mentioned before that it's hard for me to transition from life in Kansas City to life in Columbia and back again. When I arrive to my destination I am always happy to be with the people I'm with, but the getting there is always difficult. I know I've said this before, but I continue to be thankful that I have two places to call home. Some people don't even have one.

Anyway, last night was a great drive like many others. I turned my iPod up and got lost in the music. Some days I'll be in a thoughtful mood and listen to some instrumental (like Balmorhea, which I've mentioned oh so many times because they're great!) Some days I'll be in the mood to sing at the top of my lungs so I'll listen to my favorites (like my favorite band ever, Mute Math.) Some days I'll take the time to listen to something I've never listened to (like last night, I listened and fell in love with A Fine Frenzy.) Last night's drive consisted of: Taylor Swift, Balmorhea, The Glorious Unseen, Balomorhea, A Fine Frenzy, and Mute Math. It was great!

I love the drive because I love the music that accompanies the drive. The transition from life to life is hard, but the music makes it bearable. It's one of the constants between the two. No matter where I am, I will always love music and it will always be home.

Summer Sounds

My friend Corrie, who moved from Portland to suburban Kansas City this past year, has commented quite a few times about how loud KC is. She doesn't mean the hustle and bustle of the city, she means the bugs: specifically cicadas.

I am a person who hates little sounds. I can be driven crazy by the sounds of chewing, tapping, smacking, kissing, whispering... the list goes on (I really have a problem...) But I love the sound of cicadas. It reminds me of summers and my childhood (I know, I'm still young, but the truth is I don't go out and catch fireflies or play capture the flag anymore...) I know the summer is almost over, but the cicadas are still around so I'm happy...

Above is what I picture the setting of where beautiful cicada sound making occurs (taken by a random photographer named Harry Freeman.) I would have put a picture of cicadas on here, but they are absolutely disgusting looking. If you're curious, go here. Also, one of my favorite bands Balmorhea has a song that incorporates cicada sounds. If you want to listen, you can go here but you'll have to be patient because it isn't until the end of the song.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the last moments of the summery sounds of cicadas as much as I do. Hopefully Corrie will learn to appreciate it someday, too!

Ugly Cupcakes

So, I've realized something about my baking self... I hate ugly cupcakes.

Last week I made some decent tasting Devil's Food Cupcakes. I couldn't get the frosting to set up (Martha Stewart's frostings are pretty stinking impossible) so I googled some recipes for "easy chocolate frosting." I tried two batches and both were bad. The first was way too thick: when I piped it on a cupcake it looked like a wonderfully swirled piece of dog poop. The next batch was more runny but I felt like it was promising: when I woke up the next morning the frosting had melted and dripped all over the sides, it looked like the chocolate monster had dripped its saliva all over my cupcakes. I gave a few of these cupcakes to my friend Ben with the preface, "You can have these cupcakes, but they are the worst cupcakes I've ever made." The truth is, they tasted fine, they were just the ugliest cupcakes I've ever made. So I kept the rest of the batch around the house, thinking I'd eat them despite their hideousness... but I didn't. I ended up throwing away about 10 perfectly good, ugly cupcakes.

Tonight, I'm back at it, baking a new kind from Martha's cookbook called Brown Sugar Pound Cakes. They looked delicious in the book and they have lots of brown sugar (I love brown sugar, sometimes I sneak spoonfuls of it... no lie) and not too many expensive ingredients so I thought, "Let's go for it!" I did exactly what it said, the batter looked beautiful (in fact, I took a picture, because I'm lame and think batter is pretty) and put them in the cupcake cups just like it said. But they turned out ugly. Either Martha Stewart uses huge cupcake pans or she can't count, because I ended up putting too much batter in every cup and they overflowed to this ugly mess. I'm disappointed, really disappointed.

The good news is: they are delicious. The recipe is good and easy (it just makes about 35 cupcakes instead of 28 overflowing, ugly cupcakes like the book says). The bad news: I have to eat them or give them away ("These are the second ugliest cupcakes I've ever made.") So, if you are interested in some ugly cupcakes, I've got some. 28 of them, in fact.

Anyway, I've had more failures than successes lately. But I'll keep trying... don't you worry.

The ugly cupcakes and the ONE that got away.

The note I left for my family...

"Sorry" has been transformed!

Lately, every time I say "sorry" (not in the "I apologize for what I've done to you", serious kind of way, but in the "Woops, I just blocked your road in Settlers of Catan", casual kind of way) I start to laugh because I can't get Gilly out of my head. Who's Gilly, you ask? Well...

Anyway, this has been on my mind for a while now and has been adding comic relief to my days. Well this, and when my brother Joel imitates it... It's pretty stupid but anything that makes me smile I figure deserves a little spotlight. Hope you think it's as funny as I do!

Ahh....

I worked this morning. For those of you who don't know, or forgot, I am a baker and I have to be at work at 4:30... in the morning. I still don't know how I do it... I'm the girl who likes to take 3 hour naps and sleep in until noon or later. But I have managed to not sleep in or be late since starting this job a little less than a year ago (watch, tomorrow will be the day...) Anyway, working early has its ups and downs, and today the ups are for sure outweighing the downs.

On my drive here this morning I made a good play list of embarrassing songs that I love to sing loud to. A few songs that were included were Love Story by Taylor Swift, Crush by David Archuleta, It's Over by Jessie McCartney... all horribly awful, cheesey, amazing songs. It was just fun to sing my heart out at Kaldi's before everyone else got there.

Then my co-workers got there... And that was fun. They are just great people.

And then I got off work. And I have an hour and a half before class so it has caused me to take a second and breathe. Drinking coffee, eating a delicious Kaldi's quiche, listening to music, blogging, and I'm about to have a quiet time which is much needed. It's great to slow down...

Anyway, while I really love to sleep, I also really like to experience the morning. And this morning has been a great one. Hopefully the rest of the day will be as good as the beginning and hopefully my 4 hours of sleep won't catch up with me. I hope you're having a great day too...