Mad Tea for Baby

              

It's been so quiet on the blog for awhile partially becuase I was getting ready for a Mad Tea party shower in honor of the adorable new mom up there, Amanda. I'm sure she's not glad I took this picture, but I am, becuase she is too cute. The morning of the baby shower this woman ran a half marathon. Yeah. I know. She is amazing. Or crazy, but mostly amazing ;)

She's 28 weeks along, which is traditionally early for baby showers (so I am told) but being one to buck the system (take that, system!) and the fact that her BFF Nikki was in town and could be my co-planner extraordinaire, well, we went for it. I am so glad we did, not only do Nikki and I work spectacularly well together, it was just a fun time. And we all know how much I love a fun time. (A lot in case you didn't know).

Nikki has much better photos than I do on her blog, A Revolution of Self, so definitely check them out. She also ran the half marathon with Amanda and Amanda's husband, Jasen.

Nikki is inspiring herself, as she has recently reached some lifelong health goals which included becoming a vegan. She and her husband, Jordan are leaving in August to begin a new life as missionaries in Manila, Philippines. I am so excited to follow their journey on her blog and Jordan's (the link of which I can't find. Help anyone?). God is doing truly awesome things in Manila and they get to be a huge part of that.

You can see Nikki's enthusiasm for what she and Jordan have been called to do whenever she talks about her future home. I love love love talking to her. I love having such inspirational friends. That's what friends are for right? To love you for who you are, while still inspiring you to be a better person. At least I really feel that way about mine.

Since Nikki is a vegan I tried to buy or make lots of vegan treats for the party. The biggest hit of all was the peanut butter fudge our friend Megan made. Amanda's favorite treat combo is chocolate and peanut butter, so we had plenty of that. She also loves almond macaroons, which I got her (and forgot to give her so they went stale in my purse. Very sad) and I made an Almond Amaretto cake, which is a favorite in my family.

Both these recipes are so simple it would be a crime for you not to try them out. I haven't yet attempted the Amaretto Cakeas vegan, so that was the normal recipe.

I didn't get any picture of the fudge, probably becuase I was too busy stuffing my face with it. There were leftovers but I was too consumed with hiding it from my family to think about taking pictures of it. 


Megan's So Good You Will Be Driven To Hiding It From Others Peanut Butter Fudge
Melt equal parts of (vegan)

Chocolate Chips
Peanut Butter
with 1-2 T Maple Syrup

Let set. Cut up into little delicious pieces and try not to eat it all at once.SO SIMPLE. Dangerously so.

Amaretto Cake
1 Yellow Cake Mix, prepared as directed on the box, but baked in a bundt pan
(I usually get Trader Joes or Bob's Mill cake mixes)
1/2 cup Slivered Almonds
1 cup of good quality Amaretto
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 water

Grease the bundt pan and spread the slivered almonds across the bottom of the pan (it will create a pretty crust) before pouring the cake into the pan for baking.

Over med/low heat bring the water and sugar to a simmer until the sugar dissolves. If you want to keep the kick of alcohol in the cake, add the amaretto after the sugar is dissolved and begins to become slightly syrupy. If you want to cook off all the alcohol, then add all the ingredients at once. Cook it all down until it covers the back of a metal spoon (sort of like pancake syrup).

When the cake is cooled, but still warm, take it out of the bundt pan and slowly begin brushing the cake with the syrup allowing it to soak in. When you finally get tired of that (usually about 30 minutes for me) just dump what's leftover over the top of the cake.It'll still be delish.

I'm not making resolutions...No really!

Let it be known here that I hate New Year's Resolutions. Hate. Them. No one keeps them, few actually mean them in the first place and even fewer can keep them past January 2nd. And really, by no one, I mean me. Other people probably make and keep resolutions all the time, I'm just not one of them. That being said here is my list of new years*ahem* goals. Call it a list of cool things I want to do, with a few good for me bits in there, too.

1. Make the shirt above. It was in the Anthropologie catalog over the summer and I couldn't in my wildest dreams afford it, but it is completely makeable. Maybe this year I'll get to!

2. Do something creative everyday

3. Do something for my business everyday

4. Journal my day in simple terms mostly for the sake of seeing how may days go when our kids are grown. So many funny little things happen and I don't want to forget.

5. Wear more hats. Especially if they look like this one

6. Buy something from Etsy every month. It's good to support fellow creatives and a small once of month purchase is easy to do and keeps the fun mail coming!

7. Write more letters - just because. And mail is very fun. If I can make someone's day then all the better.

8. Participate in more swaps. I like mail. I like presents. I like making presents. I like being directed creatively and a swap does just that.

And then this is the doozie.

9. Give handmade ALL. YEAR. LONG. So if you invite me to your birthday, expect me to make you something. That may get me kicked off a few birthday lists.