Burgers and Fries ( aka brownies inside of cupcakes and sugar cookies)

So for Father's Day I made my dad these delicious treats! The burgers are cupcakes split down the middle with brownies in-between. To represent the lettuce and ketchup I used green and red ( maybe a little pink...) icing. To fully capture the idea of a burger, I sprinkled cut up seeds on top.  To help the seeds stick dust a little water on top of the cupcake ( bun top).

To make the fries I made sugar cookies. Normal sugar cookie recipes aren't fitted for needing to cut or mold the dough, so once the regular recipe is complete roll the dough in some all purpose flour. The flour will allow more work to be done with the dough. Roll the dough out as thin as possible and cut the dough into really thin slices. Even the thinnest slices with expand and end up looking like steak fries, so don't worry if they look to thin before you make them! Once the cookies are finished baking if you feel the fries are too fat, while they are still warm you can cut them in half.

 Enjoy!

People Watching: an activity that some may find creepy but I regard as one of the best forms of entertainment

Quirky with Confidence: My dad has many strange friends, this might be because my dad is quite peculiar himself, and the other day I had the pleasure to spend time with one most bizarre ones by far. I must start off by saying that Burke, my dad's unusual friend, is a extremely kind and loving guy. However, some of his mannerisms are just off the chart abnormal. He walks into our house wearing an outlandishly bright pink colored shirt, an electric blue bow tie, khakis that cut off a little too short ( guy capris?), and too tightly tied oxford shoes - not exactly the typical outfit of an 65 year old. Right after he enters the house he turns to cat and in his cartoonish voice and says,"Hellloooo little doggie!" Now you might be thinking maybe he has some vision problems, I mean the guy is 65, but sadly no. I listen to Burke talk to my dad for a little while, picture a screaming old man who's constantly waving his hands, until Burke announces he must be on his way to save his dog. Save his dog from whom you might ask? - his wife. 

What Our Generation Has Come To: Traveling always presents great opportunities for observing people. While I was taking the Hampton Jitney into NYC I witnessed a spectacle that led me to understand why so many question what will become of the new generation. Five girls got on the the bus, all of the screaming and giggling like the just got asked out by rock stars. They sat in the row across from me and I cringed as I they continue to squeal and stomp their feet as they laughed uncontrollably. What in the world could be so funny? Apparently - boys. As they spoke in a decibels tens times too loud, I couldn't help but overhear as they gabbed on and on about prom. Who wore what, who said what, who went with who, and so on. I tried to keep my focus on my book until one of them turns to me and offers me some goldfish, a dare to entertain them of the long bus ride I'm sure. As I glance over to decline I couldn't help but notice the girl offering me the goldfish was dressed in red and black checkered shorts, a blue and yellow tribal shirt, globs of makeup in all colors of the rainbow, and very out of place stiletto heels. I don't even have a chance to say no thanks before she's back to screeching with her gal pals. I look around the bus and have to stifle a laugh after seeing the faces of everyone surrounding them - half of them purely annoyed and the other half just as horrified. After this experience I realized I'd been pretty wrapped up in my own nerdy world and had failed to notice the down hill spiral of my own generation. From now on instead of rolling my eyes when adults make comments like "kids these days," I'll nod my head right along with them wondering the same thing. 


The Hip Grandma: Today I attended my brother's award ceremony for his rugby season. While there we sat with one of his best friend's family, which included his grandparents who came out for the night. Halfway through the ceremony someone's phone began to go off and who's phone was that you might wonder. If you guessed his grandma you would be correct - but I'm not going to give you too much credit since the title kinda gives it away ;). Then about fifteen minutes after that her phone went off again! By this time I'm thinking wow this is one popular old lady! Then her daughter, my brother's friend's mom, starts scolding her! She continues by shaking her head and demanding to have her phone and says she will give it back at the end. Now I'm on the verge of hysterics, the little old lady is having her phone taken away by her daughter! Then the grandma shows her rebellious side by refusing to hand over her phone and texting ( yes, texting!) whoever was calling her. You go girl. 

The Ladies at the Square: The other night I was enjoying dinner with my mother, something I have become to cherish as I realize I'll be leaving the nest soon, and overheard a conversation that caused both my mother and I's jaws to drop. A middle-aged to older women who was dressed in the typical style of a women who has money and wants to flaunt it was informing her three friends, all who were dressed to the T in their gaudy jewelry and overly priced designer clothes, that the school she fundraisers for just doesn't have the resources to deal with such "problematic cases." Intrigued to hear more I began to pay closer attention to what she was saying and was shocked as she explained she believed kids with disabilities or financial issues should not be let into the school. Her opinion was that "they probably don't want to come anyways, you know how kids from those types of homes are." I was about to jump out of my seat, but I restrained myself because I needed to know more. She continued to tell her friends how she just doesn't think its fair to make all the "normal" children suffer just because the school is trying to look good. After hearing her explain how she plans to use the money she raised for extra field trips and rewards for thenormal children instead of assisting those "problematic children" she mentioned before, I had to tune out before I snapped. It made me think of how that is exactly what would have happened in the movie the Blind Side if kick-ass Sandra Bullock hadn't fiercely shot down all the derogative comments of the ladies she was sharing her "overpriced salad" with. 

Quote Painting!

This craft is actually quite simple! Supplies needed include a blank canvas, multiple colors of paint, paint brushes, and two inch sticky letters. Start off by choosing which color(s) you would like for the letters. Using these colors paint the entire canvas and try to make sure you have all the colors represented in all sections. This way you don't have one color overloading one side. Once the paint dries apply the sticky letters to spell out the quote you want. It's really important the paint is completely dry, because if the paint isn't dry then when you go to paint over it the colors will mix. So once you have ensured the paint is dry and you've stuck all your sticky letters on, paint over the entire canvas in a new color. It helps if when picking you colors you have a color theme such a light colors verses dark colors. This way the words will stand out more clearly. For mine I chose a light blue, a lilac purple, and a baby pink for the words and painted over the canvas with a plum purple and dark blue. Once you've painted over the canvas wait for the paint to dry, and then you can peel the sticky letters off and whalla a beautiful, unique quote painting!

                                                                                

Decorating a Fabric Chair!

For the craft you will need: an inexpensive fabric chair ( this one came from IKEA for $100), fabric markets, fabric paint, paint brushes, paper towels, and water. I made this chair with three other friends of mine and we decided we wanted the chair to be themed around friendship. So we found a bunch of friendship quotes online and we also included a bunch of our own inside jokes. Once we had our concept we just started painting! Our initials are M, A, K, E so we also found a lot of quotes with the word make in it, such as we can MAKE it through anything and MAKE it last forever friendship never ends ( courtesy of the Spice Girls). The craft can be changed to fit a lot of different ideas, so just go crazy with it. Anything fabric will work and any theme will be perfect because all that counts it that it means something to you. So you can use this idea, choose another theme, or just draw random things - anything works! Most importantly relax and let it be one of those moments you remember being purely happy.

Ever since I realized that I needed to focus more on the moment and less on the end result, crafts have been a really big part of my life. It's a great way to spend time with friends or family because it's something that's enjoyable. Also since it's just for you it doesn't have to be perfect and that takes away a lot of the stress I think people associate with social situations. The night I made this chair with three of my best friends is a night that I will always remember because while I don't remember exactly what we talked about or what exactly we were laughing at, I do remember having an amazing night full of laughter and smiles.

Enjoy!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! My blog focusses on finding happiness in all the small moments. Sometimes people, myself included, get so wrapped up in the outcome of something we forget to take joy in the moment. After a long time struggling with the concept of why I felt constantly out of place I realized I needed to take a second and figure out what I truly enjoy. After coming to this realization, I set out to rediscover myself. Through this I learned I love crafts, baking, reading, running, people watching, fashion, little kids, and many other things that might not typically be used to describe a 16 year old. This blog is going to an assortment of everything I love, which I hope you find useful for entertainment and inspiration.

Crafts is full of DIY projects that are tons of fun and are easy to do! 

Have a Laugh...Or one of those moments where you are laughing so hard there's no sound so you sit clapping like a retarded seal. If you are anything like me it will be the latter. "Have a Laugh..." is a  page full of things I find funny, entertaining, or just feel like sharing with you! 

Enjoy!