Windy Sydney

Yesterday was my birthday.

Another year older and another year wiser?

My ordered this little cake for me as a surprise :) It was dark chocolate cake with a raspberry filling in the middle and buttercream frosting. Absolutely delicious!!

I don't know about you guys, but I am a frosting lover and always ask for a corner piece when I can. Lucky for me this is just a little cake and it's ALL MINE!!! *Insert picture of Andee walking around her apartment in flannel pajamas with a happy birthday tiara and eating cake here*

*Hugs* to all my internet buddies out there. I will be updating the blog more after I come down from my sugar high :)

Andee

When I walk to the grocery store or take a walk I always take my camera with me. Yesterday was no exception. I walked up to a beautiful bush with tiny red berries so I could get a close-up and when I got closer I realized a good photo was impossible due to the TRASH.

Seriously folks, the grocery store is less than 3 blocks from my apartment and everywhere I looked I saw litter. In the grass, on the sidewalks, the gutters, in the middle of the street. Everywhere.

Styrofoam cups, plastic bags, clothing, aluminum cans, condoms, bullets, even a syringe!!

It's disgusting!

I am willing to guess that at least 80% of the people in my town are believers of a higher power. They think God created this wonderful world just for us humans to destroy! Who cares? Jesus is coming to take us away anyway, right?

Once I started paying attention to the trash I saw it everywhere.

Halfway to the store I decided to snap a photo of every piece of trash I saw lying around to see how many photos I had.

Any wagers on the number of digital images I downloaded from Henrietta (yes, I named my camera)?

187.

One hundred and eighty seven separate photos. Here are a few of them.



What is so fucking hard about walking to a trash can to throw stuff away??? AGH!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I have been going through some things on the personal front. Don't worry, I'm fine.

This morning I woke up at 3 am and could not fall back asleep. I have been suffering from insomnia for about 10 years now, to the point that taking Tylenol PM before bedtime is pretty much habit. This, of course, is horrible for my liver, but no sleep is horrible for Andee. If anyone has any suggestions on cheap remedies to fall fast asleep, I am all ears!!!

Around 6 am I decided to go for a long walk... and I took my camera with me. I thought I would share some of the photos I took and get feedback on them as well. I will throw in some photos I took during the week, too. Roomie says my photos have taken a "dark" turn. Is he right? Hmm... maybe.

Oh, and I save my favorites for last...

My favorite pizza joint.

Brick. I love brick. When I am wealthy (I can dream, right) I want to have a brick wall in my kitchen.

Same photo but two different edits... I couldn't decide.

The Logan River

I wanted to buy this trunk, but they were closed. Shame for them (and for me).

My favorite antique shop! Of course it's closed on Sunday. Stupid religion ruining everything!!! :)

Yet another brick building photo with a window. I take lots of these, don't I? It's a sickness.

This is an old photo, but important because it's showing you the exterior of the "White House."

This is the inside of the "White House." When I walked by this morning I was shocked to see that one of the windows was bashed in. I took a good look through the window, snapped this photo and then left. Last thing I want is someone to assume I am the one who broke into the place!

I drive by this building nearly every day. The blue window is awesome. I love it.

I love it when the sprinklers help you out with the whole morning dew look...

Abbey Road is in charge. Just so you know.


I took this photo back in October, but just recently found it buried in my computer's hard drive. This is my sister-in-law, Charity. Isn't she pretty?

The sun was so bright in this shot! I really like it.

Vintage Spring Flowers...
I was playing around with editing tricks.


This is so beautiful. It would be cool to have a bunch of kids running down the street with balloons or something to really make a statement... where am I going to find a bunch of kids like that? Hahaha... certainly can't pay 'em!


I don't know why I buy the cats toys. They prefer stuff that can easily be found for free. Take this, for instance. Spooky Bear prefers this plain old cardboard box to the kitty cat tree we bought her from PetSmart. She even eats in her box. I am thinking of painting something on the outside of it and naming it the "Kitty Cat Hotel."

Look at those eyes!!! So blue! No camera tricks or editing AT ALL!!! I was so surprised when I met this little creature. She's beautiful :)

This guy lives on the second floor and he likes to hang out like this and meow at people. He's so cool... He looks like he is stuck there, huh?

Here are some of the things I have been working on...

The first set is some cupcakes I made with leftover fondant. I was inspired by a photo I saw on WeeLoveBaking, and decided to do my own take on the idea. Mine turned out okay, but not even close to the wonderful work done by the original baker. Be sure to check out her stuff!!



It was time for me to try a new chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I knew I couldn't go wrong if I went with Martha Stewart. I was right. The cookie recipe was delicious, and unfortunately I don't have time to search for the link... just look up "chewy chocolate chip" on her recipe info and it should be there for you. For the chocolate cookies I added melted bakers chocolate to the batter and used white chocolate chips.



This set of cupcakes were inspired by Mother's Day. They were really good, and I took a lot of time on them. I really like the quilted design of the first one..

I created these for Earth Day!


In honor of Earth Day I made a vow to make sure none of these cupcakes go to waste. Hehe...

I have never made homemade french toast before. Can you believe that? It's always been the store-bought-nuke-in-the-microwave type. I found this french toast casserole on one of the many food websites I frequent and I decided to give it a try. I am glad I did!!

First steps is to line your dish with a lot of butter. In the same casserole dish, mix three scrambled eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon (or any other spices you might enjoy... I hear banana extract is a nice touch, or maybe chocolate chips!) and then stir lightly so you don't really mess up the butter coating on the bottom. Add the bread of your choice... all I had was plain old white sandwich bread, it would have been a LOT better with cinnamon bread or maybe even left over pound cake! Let everything sit in the fridge for a few hours (some say overnight) and then pop it into the oven at 350 degrees until the the top of the toast is a golden brown (about 38 minutes in my case).


I added a few more pats of butter, a dusting of powdered sugar, and a light drizzle of maple syrup. Give this one a shot! It's great!

Andee

I was busy in the kitchen on my days off:


So full. So. Very. Full.

Andee