Tales of a Shoebox Princess

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm lucky I have a near professional cake decorator for a daughter who loves to make me laugh. And she loves to make me suffer. She's been teasing me about my cake, not telling me her decoration idea, which she claimed was perfect for me. For three days, she would refer to the cake in vague terms and not give me any hints. Well, actually, she did. She showed me a picture of some fondant. It was bland colored, ecru tan sort of yellowy skin tone. I guessed fortune cookie, but she said no. Then she showed me a bland side of more fondant but I could make out from it was that it seemed to have a wrinkle in it. And then some blobby parts. I had no idea. I had to wait all day to see the cake because I had to work and then go to dinner with Jim (Melting Pot downtown for fondue! So much fun!) and then to Sephora at Mall of America because they give out free stuff for birthdays! Finally got to see my cake at around 8:30 PM. IT WAS PERFECT. I have a

I love any reason to dress up in costume--if I were 30 years younger, I'd say I love to cosplay, but as I'm over 50, I need to use verbiage that reflects my age and not use language that the kids these days use, at peril of being made fun of. (Of course, I'd still get laughed at for using old-people-speak) When I was a kid we dressed up. Halloween conversation usually started with "What are you going to dress up as?" This year, my animation freak daughter designed a witch character named Brioche, and she told me she based it sort of on me. My vanity being piqued, I love Brioche! And my non-animation freak daughter suggested I dress up as said witch for a Halloween party. I had been having trouble deciding on a costume prior to Katie's suggestion, but once she said it, I was all "DUH. YES." For your reference, here is a picture of Brioche: Brioche likes to bake. Here's me as Brioche, who is somewhat based on me (so really, I'm dressin

Last weekend, Jim and I went on one last trip of the year to cross off some state parks from our list of state parks to be visited. (Halfway done with our state park passport, y'all!) We visited Split Rock Lighthouse, Temperance River, Cascade River, Judge CR Magney, and Grand Portage. 5 parks, two days. 25 or 26 parks this year alone. 36 total, 35 to go. There are so many pictures to choose from and I don't have the time to caption them all. Just enjoy. Peak fall color season up north, and we were treated to such color! Go visit your state parks if at all possible. There is so much to see. I had no idea this kind of Minnesota existed until we started visiting state parks.