The Terrific Two’s

Oh my pretzels, guys!

This, That, and the Other Thing turns the big 2 today!

It seems like just yesterday that I started this little passion project of mine. What at first started out as an online diary of sorts, chronicling all of my crazy, funny, and amazing life moments, has really turned into much more than that. Over the past two years, I have grown.

As a person.

As a writer.

As a friend, and a sister, and a student, and a dreamer.

I have gone through so much these last two years, the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, and all of the in-betweens. Looking back, I can’t believe how much has changed, how much I have changed. And you guys have been there with me, every step of the way!

To all of my friends, my family, my readers and fans.

Thank you for sticking with me, for inspiring me, for making me smile and laugh and strive to be better.

If the last two years are any indication, the next two years are sure to bring many surprises and I for one cannot wait to share them with you!

Now.

You can’t have a birthday without cupcakes, right?!

Right.

To celebrate This, That, and the Other Thang’s 2nd birthday (or the fact that it’s officially a week before the Brewer’s opening day, or that it’s Sunday, or that you successfully fulled off matching socks today, or, well, do you really have to have a reason to make cupcakes? I didn’t think so.), I decided to share with you one of my fav’s

Ahh, who can resist a cute mini cupcake with colorful confetti sprinkles?? A simple vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting is my absolute, 100%, no-holds-bar favorite kind of cupcake.

They’re cute and tiny and colorful and remind me of the Easter parties we used to have in elementary school. And…the good thing about making them pint-sized is that you don’t have to feel guilty about eating 2 5.

I used Sweetapolita’s Fluffy Vanilla Cake recipe for these cupcakes, and I’m going to just send you over there to get it. The cupcakes were gorgeous, light, airy, fluffy, and impossibly moist. Everything that this girl wants in a vanilla cupcake. Even when made mini — and that my friends is hard to do! A perfect vanilla cupcake.

I topped them with my new obsession: Cool Whip frosting, guys!

I am telling you, this stuff is lethal. I’m talking grab-a-spoon-and-go-to-town lethal!

It’s so light and fluffy and tastes ahhhmazing!

Once your cupcakes are cool (wait at least a half-hour to an hour to let your cuppycakes completely cool down), lather on some of that delicious frosting, making sure to lick the spoon once you’re done, and then sprinkle your, um, sprinkles on top

Pour yourself a big ‘ol glass of milk, plate up a couple of these diddies and ENJOY!

Have a great rest of your night everybody! And thank you again! You all are the bomb.com

 

Bittersweet

Hi guys.

I hope you are all having a great Thursday!

First of all, I wanted to thank all of my amazingly amazing friends and family for making my birthday super special. Your comments and well-wishes made turning 25 pretty darn spectacular. Another thing that made my day great? My momma came up from Warren Robins just for the day to help me celebrate…and surprised me with this…

I wasn’t excited at all. Not one bit

I think I should just own stock in B&N.

After spending the first part of my day pulling my hair out and struggling not to throw something, preferably very big and that would make an epic CRASH BOOM BANG sound upon hitting the wall/ground–in my opinion the IRS should have their own island, an island far, far away–my mom and I did a little retail therapy (and by retail therapy, I mean staring wide-eyed and drooling into the windows of stores that I wish I could purchase items from but couldn’t because of said IRS).

I may not have ended my shopping excursion arms laddended with bag upon giant shopping bag, but I just had to make a pit stop at Kilwins Chocolate & Ice Cream. Upon entering this quaint little shop, I was hit with the overwhelming aroma of sweet, sweet chocolate. My mouth starting watering and I knew, I just knew that I was not leaving this little shop without one (or three) treats. A gal’s gotta have a birthday treat after all

After what seemed liked hours trying to decide what I wanted to get, I finally chose a white chocolate-covered rice krispie treat with sprinkles. It. Was. D-lish! I think from now on, I will only make rice krispie treats that are dunked, dunked, and redunked in a pool of creamy, smooth and oh so sweet coating!).

Almost too cute to eat. Almost.

I also got this little gem, a big ‘ol hunk of white-chocolate Oreo bark. Oh yes. I went there. Talk about a party in my mouth! I may or may not have a slight white-chocolate obsession

And the good thing is that if you don’t have a Kilwins location near you, they ship nearly everywhere! Check their site out and just try not to start drooling! https://www.kilwins.com/

After my mom and I put ourselves in a very successful sugar coma, we naturally decided it was time to eat. Again. We headed on over to my most favorite of all burger joints, Yeah! Burger for some din-din and got our burger on! well, I did anyway, My mom got had a hankering for a grilled cheese (and after seeing it arrive all ooey and gooey at our table, I kinda wished I had gotten it too. Next time I’ll just get that as my side instead of fries).

Omnomnomnomnom

On a very different note, last night a dear friend, mother, wife, daughter and overall great person was called to our heavenly home. I was fortunate enough to get to know Miss Yvonne Anderson through church, working side by side with her during many a summer, teaching the kiddos all about Christ in vacation bible school. She was always so full of spirit and life, a smile never ceasing to take claim across her face. After just finding out three weeks prior that she had a form of back leukemia, our Father decided that he needed another angel to watch over all of us. She was such an amazing woman, beautiful on the inside as well as out, and will be forever loved and missed. I was fortunate enough to know her and look forward to the day when I can reunite, possibly over a glass of lemonade and a plate of cookies, just like those great vacation Bible school days. My heart goes out to her family and friends, to those who were blessed to have known her.

Something like this really makes you put things into perspective. You never know what the next day, what the next hour will bring. Spending each day, each moment with an intent to make it the best day, the best moment is how I really think the big man upstairs intended for us to live. Pay attention and focus on the important things; friends, family, love, and kindness and not focus on the things that are not so important; money, anger, regret and hate. You never know what could happen. What will happen.

My birthday may have not come with a huge ranging party or a brand-spanking new car (however, for those of who reading this, I wouldn’t be opposed to a belated Cherry red 1960 Mustang convertible), but it was everything that I could have asked for. I spent it with my bestest friend in the world, my friends and family who, even though couldn’t be here to help me ring in the big 2-5, all surprised me with the most heart-felt and kind birthday wishes ever, and I ate my weight in chocolate. Sometimes it is the little things, a hug from my mom, a text from a friend, a sloppy kiss from my pup, and an exciting Brewer’s win that truly mean something, that take a regular day, or a birthday, and make it special.

To everyone who made that possible, a huge fist pump, high-five and THANK YOU! I love you all and am so very grateful to have such an amazing and wonderful group of people who I call friends, that I call family!

Remember to take the time to smile. To laugh. To let the ones you love know how much they mean to you. Don’t stress over the small things because it is often the small things that are gems in disguise.

Happy Happy Birthday!!

Oreos are old. So old that their grandchildren might post funny videos of them on YouTube.

So old that people in the grocery store don’t judge them for using an electric scooter.

They’re so old, Willard Scott could read their name and wish them a happy birthday from Smuckers on the Today Show.

That’s right, Oreos are 100-years-old today. 100 years!!

No matter how you eat them (eat the center first, lick it and put it back together, dunk it in milk or some sort of combination of the cookie-eating traditions), there is no denying that they are DELICIOUS! In fact, me and the Oreo go way, way back. Not quite 100 years, but close.

When I was 5, I got in trouble for sneaking into the kitchen before dinner and cracking open my mom’s Cow-shaped cookie jar where I proceeded to twist open all of the Oreos, lick the creamy frosting centers inside, and place the discarded and somewhat naked cookie shells back into the jar. When my mom found the ‘stuffless’ cookies moments later, she came to me to ask what I had done, which I replied with a solemn and straight-faced, “Nothing.” Unfortunately, despite being straight-faced, I was also chocolate-faced, evidence of my crime literally written all over my face. And hands. And hair? Man I must have went to town on those bad boys! Not my finest moment for sure.

Growing up, I reveled in the times I got to spend at my grandma and grandpa’s house, not just because they’re pretty darn amazing, but because they had a secret stash of sweets that I not so secretly indulged in. One of my greatest memories was sitting next to my Grandma Hansen on her big blue recliner, each with a glass of cold milk and a plate of Oreos between us watching shows like Walker Texas Ranger and The X-Files. Speaking of Walker Texas Ranger, I wonder how Chuck Norris eats his Oreos? I bet he can just think of them and they appear, Jedi-mind twisting the tops off. Or better yet, he just gets Oreos with just the cream, no cookie. Ahh to be the amazing Chuck.

When I was 10, I played a pretty epic (if I do say so myself) April Fool’s Day prank on my fifth grade class by replacing all of the cream in Oreos with toothpaste. If only you could have seen the look on their faces when they bit into my Crest-ified cookies. Priceless.

Oreos were the ice breaker at the lunch table in elementary school, bartering items that served along the likes of Twinkies, Ding-Dongs and Ho-Ho’s. They got me through some of my toughest all-night cram sessions in college, have raised my daily Calcium and Vitamin D intakes fourfold and are still my favorite go-to snack-a-roo.

Today and always, Oreo, thank you for being so sweet! I look forward to another 100 years of chocolately, milk-mustachey goodness. If there is any reason to try to live over 124 years old, it would definitely be to eat as many Oreos as possible, right?

In honor of Oreo’s big 1-0-0, Nabisco rolled out a limited-time, special edition Birthday Cake flavored cookie. Why it is limited-time only blows my mind because these are probably THE BEST OREOS I have ever eaten…and I have eaten a LOT of Oreos. Right when I opened the bag, the smell of birthday cake permeated the air and made my nose smile. There were also fun confetti sprinkles swirled into the amazing vanilla frosting that added a special festive touch. I am not ashamed to say that I may or may not have killed my package of birthday cookies in a mere four days. I am not ashamed to also say that I went to Target today to get more.

Whether you are an Oreo purist or like more tricked out flavors the Birthday Cake cookie, do yourself a favor and pour yourself a cold glass of milk, grab a cookie (or five) and dunk, twist, lick or crunch like you’ve never dunked, twisted, licked, or crunched before. After all, the Oreo only turns 100 once!

I also want to make sure I throw a special shout-out to one of my bestest friends, Chris who also has a birthday today. Just like the Oreo, he is super super sweet, always has the ability to put a smile on my, as well as anyone he meets’ face, is loved by everyone and goes well with a cold glass of milk. He has such a big heart and is one of the greatest people I know.  I am so very lucky to have such an amazing guy in my life, even if he consistently kicks my bum at Words With Friends and makes fun of my preference for swimming British style. I love ya, kid and hope you had the most fantabulous of days!

Question of the day: How do you ‘Oreo’?

Birthday Bash

Today is a very special day.

Not only is it National Cookie Day (which I fully intend to celebrate to the fullest with one (or five) giant white chocolate macadamia nut cookies that are currently baking up to perfection in my oven just for this very occasion…and, well, just because they are the most delicious things ever), but more importantly, it is a very special person’s birthday.

 

She is one of my heros.

She is my best friend.

She is my confidant and cheerleader and solver of all problems.

She can make one heck of a mean chili, can fashion anything out of a doily and some duct tape (Martha Stewart has nothing on this lady’s craftiness) and has one of the kindest and biggest hearts of anyone that I know.

She is my mom.

Happy birthday momma D!

I love you to Mars and back!