Monthly Archives: February 2012

Blowing Off Steam

Pants, Jacket, Hat, Scarf: Thrifted, Shoes & shirt: Target

Sometimes you have a bad day. It is inevitable, we’re all human. Curly-haired-boy and I have worked out a unique system that lets me yell all I want, and still maintain a relatively healthy relationship.

It involves yelling at him, but in a fun way. He will offer to do something nice for me, and I will sit in the kitchen (usually on top of our washing machine) and tell him what to do.

K: Loren would you like some ice cream?

L: NO!

L: BRING ME THE COOKIES!

K: Sure… but they are right here next to you on the counter…

L: MILK!

K: What was that?

L: BRING ME A MILK!

Kent opens refrigerator door.

L: FASTER!! I NEED MILK FOR MY COOKIES!!!

K: HOLD ON I’M POURING!

L: I’M SO THIRSTY!!!!!

K: Maybe  you shouldn’t have eaten 5 cookies already.

L: SHUT UP! YOU’RE NOT MY MOM!

However, he very rarely yells at me when he is in a bad mood so in return I don’t berate him when he leaves his mustache trimmings in the sink, or his socks miss the hamper.

Another Day, Another Dress with a Belted Blazer on Top

Dress & Blazer: Thrifted, Belt & Shoes: Target, Scarf & Hat: Just Creations

I’ve accidentally on purpose worn very similar outfit every day for the past week or so, dress + belted blazer. It’s a combination of trying to wear all my cute dresses, and trying to stay warm. I pass all of my ‘fashion credit’ to Caitlin, who I think is the queen of the belted blazer.

A lot of internet ladies LOVE their cardigans. I’ve just never figured out how to wear them. I just think I look kind of strange in a cardigan. I think it’s because I have smallish shoulders, and a lot of stuff going on in the… you know… chest area. Believe me I am not complaining, I’m pretty much totally happy with my figure. However I think it throws off the proportions of certain items of clothing, like cardigans. I think the extra definition, and width that a blazer gives me is just more flattering on my figure. But maybe I am wrong and the one & only cardigan I own should have more friends in the closet.

 

All Tuckered Out

Dress: Dorothy Perkins, Jacket: Thrifted, Boots: Etsy

We had a busy week last week, there were cupcakes to potentially ruin on Monday, a birthday to celebrate on Tuesday, a Dinner party on Wednesday, a Wine Tasting on Thursday, and a pizza & beer get together on Friday.

I had to officially bench myself on Thursday night. My introversion was starting to get the better of me. I love my friends and hanging out with them, but I cannot handle three nights in a row apparently. It just wears me out. I need a night to veg out, fold laundry, and not speak to anyone. I knew that if I went out I would be in a funky mood and no fun to be around the whole time. Sometimes a girl just needs some peanut butter crackers and a couple episodes of Park & Recreation.

The weekend led to a little more sitting at home, some volunteering at the fair-trade store, a full season of Futurama and a very long nap on Sunday afternoon. I don’t even know who won the Oscars. And that ladies & gentlemen are the very dull talking points of Loren’s week.

 

How-to: Potentially Ruin Cupcakes

Step 1: Friend is turning 22, miss her big blow-out going out party. Offer to have her over for wine & cupcakes.

Step 2: Look up some awesome cupcake recipes online.

Step 3: Remember that you are not a good baker.

Step 4: Remember that this lady is a very good baker. Ask boyfriend to pick up devil’s food cake mix on the way home.

Step 5: Realize you do not have 1/3 cup of vegetable oil other than olive oil (not cake friendly). So substitute butter instead, it will be fine you’ve done it before. Add those farm fresh eggs that mom keeps insisting that you should take even though she just gave you half a dozen last week.

Step 6: Realize that you do not have enough cupcake liners. So go out and pick some up, grab some chocolate chips to make it extra wonderful. (Don’t bother buying extra vegetable oil.)

Step 7: Come back, realize oven had been preheating the entire time you were gone and you almost burned down your home.

Step 8: Add all ingredients together. Reach for electric mixer. Remember that you threw away electric mixer after the last time you made cupcakes because you burned out the mixer while accidentally making a gallon of icing.

Step 9: Mix.By.Hand.

Step 10: Batter is lumpy.

Step 11: Keep.Mixing.

Step 12: Batter is still lumpy.

Step 13: Realize that you will never get the batter to be smooth because you used butter and not vegetable oil. Decide that butter is delicious and that  the little lumps will probably make tiny delicious butter spots in cupcakes and everything will be fine.

Step 14: Fill cupcake liners. End up with 21 instead of 24 cupcakes, realize you probably filled the other cupcakes to full.

Step 15: Decide it will be fine, extra big cupcakes are extra exciting and put cupcakes in oven.

Step 16: During clean-up find the chocolate chips that you forgot to add.

Step 17: Lick.Mixing.Bowl.Clean

Step 18: Pull cupcakes out of oven, they smell delicious but have weird little butter holes in them.

Step 19: Fill chocolate cupcakes with this amazing lime marmalade using this method.

Step 20:  On the way home the next day stop at Tar-jay to pick up a new electric mixer & discover that TARGET IS OUT OF ELECTRIC MIXERS!

Step 21: Briefly consider putting one of those $300 counter mixers on your credit card but nix the idea since you haven’t missed the hand mixer in the last 10 months and pick up a cheap blender instead. Because you need a new blender anyway and you are 63% sure that it will make the icing for you.

Step 22: Make homemade vanilla frosting in the blender. Nearly burn out the motor because it was a $16 dollar blender and really… did you expect it to be able to mix together butter and sugar?

Step 23: Ice cupcakes.

Step 23: When you only have two cupcakes left… run out of icing…

Step 24: Eat the dog gone cupcakes anyway. Because it will be delicious.

All the cupcakes we have left! Ultimately we had a fantastic time hanging out together. It was just five of us, we killed 3 bottles of wine, a dozen cupcakes, and a huge spinach salad I threw together last minute. To be fair the birthday girl took home some of the left over cupcakes, but these wouldn’t fit in her Tupperware.