Night Flight

In Vegas last weekend, I was introduced (by my cousin, Darci) to possibly the greatest game ever! (well, at least when you're in a hotel room). Basically, you turn out ALL the lights in your hotel room and you must have 2 beds. One (or more) person/s stands on the farther bed while the photographer crouches down low in front of the other bed. On the count of 3, the bed jumper leaps blindly into the air and bellyflops onto the bed towards the camera and a picture is snapped mid-air! The facial expressions are priceless and so are all the laughs that come from it.

My first jump....

and the second...

We somehow managed to convince my MOM to jump. She ended up ripping her dress across the front and had to change.

My cousin Sam's turn. Ha!

My cousin Darci gets major air. Obviously it's not her first time :)

Darci and her momma (Aunt)..who's 60!

This was too much fun. I'm getting double beds from now on when booking hotel rooms. Night Flight is a must.

Red, Red WINE....

...cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! Does it get any better than that? I've yet to come accross any. These cupcakes are the tastiest I've made. Click the title for a link to the site where I found the recipe. I'll add the recipe to this blog, too. They weren't too difficult to make but if you attempt them I recommend wearing an apron because as we all know, red wine stains, and it's easy to get carried away when using an electric mixer. The batter and wine is supposed to stay IN the bowl :)

What you’ll need for 24 cupcakes (see frosting recipe below):

• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 oz. chocolate chips
• 1/2 C boiling water
• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 C flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 3/4 C red wine (I chose a Shiraz, which I think worked really well)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 C butter, room temperature
• Salt, pinch
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 2 1/2-3 C confectioner sugar
• 1 T vanilla

I'm going to Santa Barbara tomorrow morning in a big fancy limo for a friend's 30th birthday party. Once we get there we'll be wine tasting for hours and will return nice and saucey in the late evening. I've decided to take it upon myself to provide the birthday girl and guests with an appropriate dessert...duh, red wine cupcakes! The site recommends a Shiraz wine, which I used, because of it's sweeter taste. I added some red sugar sprinkles to top them off and give them an extra sparkle. I about melted as soon as one of these treats touched my lips. Absolutely delicious.

I'm excited to get everybody's reactions and opinions.

Pictures from the wine tasting party will soon follow...

My latest art in progress...

I have the beginnings of this here giraffe drawn for a long time now. I recently just picked it up and finished the drawing and started to dive in with pastels. As of now, I'm most comfortable with pastels and charcoal and feel that the early stages of my "style" are expressed easily through this medium. Anyways, I'm still not finished with it but here are a few images of the process...

Of course, I'll post the finished product.