C'mon Down!

In an effort to tempt fate and further the game show winnings, Stephen and I are spending tonight at The Price is Right at Foxwoods Casino in Conneticut. It should be fun and we'll have the opportunity to gamble afterwards, as well as go on a hunt for Wilson's BBQ that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives the other night. Wish us luck - maybe one of us will be on TPIR!

So lovelies, what's on your agenda this weekend?

HOVA

A SUPER HUGE THANK YOU to PBS Gal for scoring my tickets to see only the hottest rapper March 11.

Jay-Z is playing at the TD Bank Garden and I am just so giddy at the thought of seeing him live!

Did anyone else notice the BP3 tour kicks off in Houston? Looks like Mr. Carter is giving a shout out to his wife, Beyonce.

Edible Arrangements

Here is the cake I made last week for the finale of my second course cake decorating lessons.
Have you ever seen something so pretty that you didn't want to eat it? Stephen hasn't; he cut into this cake the minute I brought it home.
Getting better, don't you think?

Each week we made different royal icing flowers for our basket. I won't lie, it feels pretty awesome knowing how to make fancy little flowers.

We learned the basket weave in the last class. A little practice on the boards, then onto the cake.
It takes a little skill (and a lot of luck) to make sure the frosting sticks to the cake.
Rim the edges with a rope design and voila!

Butterflies

My grandmother had the most amazing garden in her backyard - a beautiful reward for the hours she spent tending it. As a kid one of the best rewards for me was the butterflies that would flock to her oasis.

I would stand in the yard for hours, standing still like a statue with my hand out willing these butterflies to land on my hand for a close-up look. Often times they would. To this day it amazes my parents how an 8 year-old child could have such focus.

When my grandmother died and I flew back home for her funeral, I took a stroll through her backyard, not quite the oasis it was, but still lovingly cared for by my mom who had taken care of my sick grandmomther for years. No longer a child, but a grown woman stood in the same spots from 15 years before. As I walked through the garden, reminiscing on the memories, I thought about the butterflies. I stopped in my favorite spot where the tulips once grew. Thinking about how much I loved those tulips and how much I loved my grandmother, the most amazing thing happened.

A monarch butterfly landed on my hand. A gift from my grandmother to let me know that everything was, and would be, o.k. The kindest farewell to say she loved me too.

Today is the anniversary of my grandmother's death, and even though I haven't been grazed by a butterfly since, I know she is smiling down on me.

NieNie = Love

I've been wanting to write this post for a long time, but didn't know how to say it or where to start. Blogging is that weird mix for me of the personal and public. I love reading other people's blogs, but I feel like I'm breaking a secret if I talk about it. So I struggle when I find someone whose story deserves to be shared.

I don't know when I first got introduced to NieNie, but ever since my life has been impacted. If you're one of the few who hasn't been introduced to Nie, I highly suggest you jump on the train ASAP. I'm not going to recap Nie's story because she does that so brilliantly herself, but I want to talk about my experience with her.

Each of her entries is a reminder for me that love is real. I relish her posts about her and Mr. Nielson - a love so powerful you think you're seeing a movie. It's very rare that I don't leave her site with tears in my eyes. She's a brilliant writer and captures the daily routine of being a wife, mother and daughter so amazingly well. I guarantee that when you read Nie you will feel the same joy and hope that I do. I also guarantee that you will want to tell your significant other how much you love them, same with your parents; because Nie makes you realize how precious life really is.

So why write about her now? Well, because Nie was on featured on Oprah yesterday. I didn't get to see the episode, but the very lovely Joanna kindly posted a clip on her site. I will try to search for an actual clip on YouTube, but watch this clip for now.

Kids

I spend a lot of time talking about all the important things in my life... well, at least the things I consider important, but which most people would consider silly. But one of the things I've stayed away from has been my kids.

It's not that I'm ashamed of them. In fact, I'm actually proud to be their mom. Like any kids, they have good days and they have bad, but it's mostly good. And you should see how much they love Stephen, and the way he loves them back. We're a very happy family. I guess my problem with talking about them so much is that it will publicly seal my "crazy lady" status. But I've decided to admit what I really am and show off my kids.

Big brother Maxwell. He's definitely his mother's son. Loves: shoes, feet, shoes, laps and having his ears rubbed. He's easily embarrassed and knows when we're laughing at him.

Princess Maggie. She is the baby and she knows it. She loves everything and is set on permanent purr. Give her an open lap and she's on it - she wants attention and it doesn't matter where it comes from. She's the smart one in the group - she's been known to open sliding drawers to get what she wants - usually a hair tie.Dad loves his kids

Where in the World is Michele Moore-Diego?

Wow, can you believe it's already October? Where did September go? And more importantly, where did my posting go? Oh yeah, between cake decorating lessons, work kicking my butt and a semi-thriving social life, the month got away from me.

I'm through with course 1 of my cake decorating class. Below are the outcomes of 2 of the three cakes I made (the last one Stephen cut into before I could take a picture.) Here are some important lessons I learned:

1) Icing a cake is the bane of my existence. Seriously, mad props to professional decorators for the amazing work you do. It blows my mind how you ensure that no chocolate cake peeks through the frosting - I will master that one day (I hope)

2) Icing roses (what's supposed to be a very difficult task) is actually easier for me than drawing little sweet peas. How in God's green earth can I make roses but not 3 lines to form a sweet pea?

3) What goes into frosting is disgusting. I mean, it tastes delicious, but the ingredients used gross me out (and clean up afterward is even worse)

4) Cursive style vowels are just about as hard as icing a cake properly. I will eventually master this as well. Until then... at least it tastes good.

Week 2 - Cake #1 - Lettering is off-center, but so proud of what I did for the border!

Week 3 - my shell border looks great, but the swirl flowers turned out amazing - the frosting job wasn't so bad either.