The Ugliest Cupcake.

I had big plans to make my famous (not really) giant cupcake this weekend. I've been watching DC Cupcakes and had some new frosting ideas I was anxious to test out. 

I made up the cake in two different flavors because I was feeling a little frisky. Please ignore the lopsided-ness.

But my big attempt to frost the 'wrapper' didn't turn out so well...

Neither did the color. It sort of looks like intestines, doesn't it?

Even the sprinkles were a mess.

A hot mess. They were so embarrassed they jumped ship.

At least I only paid $0.29 for 5 years worth of sprinkles at my new favorite store, Bulk Barn.

And because they were so cheap I didn't feel bad about taking a handful...

And doing this. Sexy, eh?

Self portraits are much more exciting than cleaning up.

The results are just in. 
And the award for The World's Ugliest Giant Cupcake goes to...      
(drum roll)...me!


Thank you so much for being here to share in this special event with me. 
God bless.

Aftermath.

We got nailed last night. Almost two feet of snow. About twenty inches too many if you ask me.

My car got stuck at the end of the driveway last night and after an hour of digging and shoveling we finally abandoned it for the night. 

Three towropes and an old land rover later it finally moved from its icy grave this morning, leaving a five inch deep ice crevice behind.

The plows are in full force trying to dig out the pavement.

You better know where the turning lanes are because you sure as hell can't see them today.

The sidewalk plows are my favorite. They're so miniature and funny.

The big boys were working side by side with the dump trucks to haul the snow off to the ocean since we've clearly run out of room for it in the parking lots....

See? That used to be a parking lot for the grocery store.

Yup, I loooove winter.

Thank God It's Friday.

It's snowing. Again. Like, the biggest blizzard of the season. Like, 20 inches. Like 90 kph wind (translation: 56 mph).

This was yesterday, after a weeks worth of melting. I know you can see the sidewalk (that's not concrete, it's ice) but does it LOOK like we need anymore snow? Okay, no more talk about the weather. 


So, do you know what Maple spent her afternoon doing?

This. I was so angry I couldn't even hold the camera still.

That would be an entire box of chocolate muffin mix she found, destroyed and inhaled.

Who wants a dog? She's free to a good home. She even comes with her own fur coat. It only requires daily vacuuming.

I can't believe the little booger.

Look how sweet she was not 30 minutes before the muffin catastrophe.

Looks can be deceiving. Don't let that lazy dog exterior fool you.

And this mess? That came out of the bottom of my oven yesterday. Hello, mom? Why did you never tell me about the necessity of oven cleaning?

Seeing as I'm not at all interested in facing the blizzard I guess I'll be cleaning my oven and mopping my floor. Try not to be jealous of my fabulous life.

RRRRoll Up the Rim.

I loooove Starbucks. I was a twice a day kind of gal back when I resided in the USofA. These days Starbucks is a little difficult to find. Instead, I have joined the Canadian bandwagon and come to rely on the goodness of Tim Hortons. Picture Starbucks crossed with Dunkin Donuts. It's good stuff. What amuses me the most about Timmy Ho's (as I like to call it) is the way in which you order a coffee. For example, I order a medium double double which means medium sized coffee with double cream and double sugar. A triple triple would be triple cream and triple sugar. Did you figure that out all by yourself? Good job. 

Of course, orders don't have to be placed wtih equal amounts. The Canadian gets a 2 cream 1 sugar. And that's exactly what he says, I'll have an extra large 2 cream 1 sugar. And viola! They make it perfectly every time. No sugar and milk bar or anything. It's just standard ordering procedure.

This is an especially exciting time of year at Timmy Ho's. This week began the best part of the year. It's what gets Canadians through the last push of winter - RRRRoll Up the Rim. It's simple really, every coffee cup is a chance to win a prize. It makes getting coffee much more exciting.

Cars, cash, TVs and bikes are all up for grabs.

You can even win basic, yet equally exciting, donuts or coffees. Hey man, it's all about the simple things in life.

To find out if you're a winner you simply take your cup...

And roll up the rim. I use my teeth. I'm sure fingers would work too but mouthing the coffee cup is much more classy. 

I've had 4 coffees so far this week and have won nothing. n.o.t.h.i.n.g. 

Seriously, do you think it's karma's way of telling me something?

Because if so, The Canadian has already won two donuts. Then he gave them to me. Like my thighs need them. That's where his good karma comes from isn't it? What an ass kisser.

Don't worry, when I win something I'll be sure to let you know. Until then I'm going to work on amping up my karma...

An Evening in the Snow Fort.

What did you do last weekend? Something normal? Maybe went out to dinner or watched a movie or had drinks at a neighborhood establishment? Well, you're going to be awfully jealous when I show you how I spent my Saturday night. Actually, not so much how I spent the evening, but where I spent the evening.

My husband, The Canadian, is a man of many talents. He's creative, fun-loving, motivated, and smart.

It's a darn good thing he possesses these qualities...

Or else he wouldn't have been able to build this awesome snow fort.

I've mentioned it before on the blog, as he and his buddy Tyler built it a couple of weeks ago. But last weekend was the first time I experienced it.

Our town has received record amounts of snow this year requiring many people to shovel off their roof to avoid collapse or leaking. When Tyler decided his roof needed help he summoned The Canadian, his partner in crime, and together they set about shoveling.

Being the fun loving guys they are, it was much more exciting to make something out of all the snow they were piling.

They moved all the snow to one side of the yard and proceeded to spend hours digging out a fort.

The fort was designed to have a discreet entrance facing the front door. Wouldn't want the neighborhood hooligans taking up residence in their new hiding spot...

From the entrance, two snow stairs lead down to the snow floor.

When it was built there was plenty of room to stand. It's compressed under more snow storms so the ceiling is now around five feet high. However, the benches, seats and shelves are still intact.

The boys readily admit that most adults their age do not still build snow forts but it reminded them of their childhood and it made the torturous job of shoveling much more tolerable.

Plus, it gives them an exciting place to drink alcoholic beverages. I kind of expected them to hang a No Girls Allowed sign, but they haven't yet.

And if you light a candle the interior temperature will quickly rise above freezing and insulate the room. True story. I saw it on Discovery Channel. Okay, I didn't see it but Sally did and I always believe what she says.

It's kindda cool hanging out in a snow fort.

Drinking whiskey in a snow fort is the winter equivalent of drinking margaritas on a porch in the summer.

Right? Right.

Coolest Crayons Ever: Dry Erase.

Crayola has been around since the beginning of time. What a great company; they have inspired (I'm going to estimate) millions of young artists with their wide array of colors. Seriously, what kid hasn't started their artistic endevorers with Crayola crayons? Not only are the crayons quality, the colors are fantastic.

But Crayola has really out done themselves this time. Dry Erase Crayons? Amazing. Historic. Epic.

Gone are the days of pushing down on the marker so hard that the tip disappears.

Gone are the days of throwing the marker lid at the kid next to you.

 What we have here is every teacher/parent/grandparent/babysitter/aunt/ godparent/kid's dream.

They wipe off just like dry erase markers. They work on dry erase boards, mirrors, and even plastic plates. And they're washable. It's almost too good to be true.

Did I mention the package of 8 crayons comes with it's own mitten for cleaning? 

Oh, the back of the box has a handy sharpener too. What will they think of next?

Do you know any kids? I'm sure you do. Go out to your nearest WalMart, spend the $4 and you too can be a rockstar to all the kids in your life.