Cupcakes, Doughnuts & Love

Happy Mother's Day!  I haven't gone to sleep yet, so it still counts.  It's been a while since a crazy catch-up post and there's a lotta love here. The 2nd Avenue Deli spells it out in salmon where I took my Mom last year and she wanted to go back today, so love also means pastrami sandwiches and potato pancakes.

I also put some love into the 192 (yep, that's 16-dozen) strawberry lemonade cupcakes I made for the Vicious & Virtuous 2nd Annual Bake-Off Beat-Down to benefit Autism Speaks organized by CupcakeHussy.

This recipe by Annie's Eats was popular when I made 48 and this time the judges from SweeteryNYC, Paper Magazine and Dessert Buzz NYC awarded them "best unusual ingredient" for the edible flowers and....

Best in Show!  And I was very happy with my attire for the event, a special apron by Jessie Steele, so freakin' cute.

There were also edible flowers at a dinner for Cartier by Chef Sam Talbot: they topped yummy, little lemon soufflés.

I loved the day I had with wedding planner Kate Sullivan, who I've known since kindergarten and new friends event planner Tammy Golson and photographer Angela Gaspar: girly, event chat with jap chae, okonomiyaki, ramen and bibimbap.  Big thanks to Kerry from handmade Quade for bringing us together, can't wait for our next outing!

We also trekked out to The Brooklyn Lyceum's spring craft market and to the Smith Street Paper Source: "paper heaven!" sighed Kate.

I put my purchases to use for a congratulatory card

which went with a Lemon Infused Lemon Glazed Lemon Cake from Jon at Victory or Death in the Kitchen.  I added yet more strawberries since I'm on that kick these days and there was a yummy lemon syrup, which you brush on after baking and before pouring on the lemon glaze.

The Hester Street Fair opened yesterday and I met Angela and wore shorts for the first time this year.  The weather was so gorgeous I just wanted to stay outside all day.  Awesome coffee from Wonder City Coffee & Donut Bar.  I somehow resisted their donut holes with caramel sauce, but that will need to be remedied soon.

We saw adorable, little drawstring bags with felt appliqué by The Honey Pie Tree.

and had some spinach & ricotta and saffron & mozzarella arancini from Arancini Brothers...mmm...yes, more fried food in my life...bliss.

Sometime I have to go here when I'm on my way home so I can carefully buy a terrarium from Casa Helecho because aside from being beautiful I think echivaria and cacti are the only things I can keep alive, Mila excepted.

We snagged rose petal donuts at Doughnut Plant -- they're only made for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day -- wow, even MORE edible flowers!

And it was a great day just for lying around in the park.

But back to Mother's Day: how did I forget to take pictures of the gifts I picked up at the Spring Handmade Cavalcade from hycCreative and Wish By Felicity?  Too eager to get wrapping I guess.  Well, here's a pic from Felicity of a necklace similar to the one I bought my Mom, whose favorite color is blue.

[photo by Wish By Felicity]

Another perfect spring day: we went trolling through The Antiques Garage on 25th Street

and yes, over to the 2nd NYC Doughnut Plant location (hehe....more donuts in my life...)  This one is much bigger than the Lower East Side location, but not as large as the one I visited in the Myeongdong region of Seoul, South Korea.  Love these pillows on the wall on 23rd Street though.

Over in Madison Square Park I saw something that stopped me in my tracks: "Echo" by Jaume Plensa.

The artist says “Many times we talk and talk, but we are not sure if we are talking with our own words or repeating just messages that are in the air. My intention is to offer something so beautiful that people have an immediate reaction, so that they think, ‘What’s happening?’ And then maybe they can listen a little bit to themselves.”

This was my reaction to the piece exactly and I listened to myself quietly for a moment, then the sounds of the city came back and I looked around me at what's really important.  Love you, Mom, Dad & Emily.

(Another) Surprisingly Flowery Monday

Happy May!  Just a quick, little post today since I got surprised with another flower job this morning, yay!  I had a little more notice than last time...

Tools ready, go!

I had a few hours to figure things out, but it was for very VIP clients, including one of the foremost exclusive event designers in the business, no pressure...

It turned out to be a fun morning and the arrangements were ready just in time.

Two small and one large.

And a little bit left over to brighten my desk.

Easter Wrapup

It's already been almost a week since Easter so I figure it's time for a recap.  I made this basket from Martha Stewart's instructions for a pussy willow nest and then bent some stems into a handle and added a flower arrangement

made up of lilac

lily of the valley

and hellebores.

They all smelled so amazing together.

The basket actually took quite a while!

After starting with some older pussy willow branches that I tried soaking to soften them, I got some new ones instead and they were much easier.  Just a few little touchups...

and it was finally done.

There were some little pieces for leftovers, which I always love

and a little arrangement for another room.

Then time to use these candies, stickers and confetti 

for another Martha Stewart project:

crepe paper carrots.  And an egg-shaped strawberry lemonade cake with JELL-O beans.  

Such different size strawberries!

Confession: there was a cake toppling on the way to the party, but my Mom's Easter bread stayed intact until after the egg hunt

but Mila slept through dinner.

Night and Day

Night and day 

you are the one

only you 

beneath the moon or under the sun

whether near to me or far 

it's no matter where you are

I think of you day and night, night and day

why is it so that this longing for you follows where ever I go

in the roaring traffics boom, in the silence of my lonely room

I think of you

night and day, day and night

and this torment won't be through

Hop To It!

I am waaaay too hopped up on Easter ideas and Cadbury Eggs to focus today (sorry for the bad pun, but I was up til 2 a.m. last night wrapping these crepe paper carrots from Martha Stewart -- they all have treats inside!)  I've got about 48 hours before my family's Easter celebration so I'll be a busy bunny.  Here's a round-up of only some of the amazing things I've seen on the web today, 

wish I had time for them all!  

[by Ali-Bee's Bake Shop, seen on The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle 

from a Facebook post by Glorious Treats] 

-- phew, just want everyone to have credit!

Gorgeous upon gorgeous egg cookies from Alison of Ali-Bee's Bake Shop: these are all done BY HAND with a pastry bag and brush embroidery.  No stencil, no cookie press, just sunning.  My fave is the flowered one in the middle on the right, wow.

[by Stephaine Jessica Lau on All About Ami seen on Craftzine 

from a tweet by Whip Up retweeted by The Long Thread] 

-- really I just love how ideas are passed along

I so heart the expression on the faces of these amigurumi bunnies and the fabric that lines their ears. It's been a while since I did any crocheting, hmmm, maybe it's time to dig into the yarn stash.

[by Stitch Craft Creations seen on Pure Joy Events]

I haven't tried felting before, but this makes me want to!  I love the colors and the little chick peeping out.  Cute egg crate too.  

[from Southern Living also seen on Pure Joy Events]

I think these beautiful eggs are just the right shade and the speckles are very pretty.  Last year I dyed my eggs a little too dark since I went out to take a walk while they were in their little bath.  
Ah well, it was a really pretty day.

[by Nikki, In Stitches on the Pure Joy Events roundup]
Nikki says these are simple, but I'm so impressed.  Need a lotta patience here, but they're very interesting.

Hey, did you know you can print out this "Kawaii Easter Kit" from Creative Mamma for free?!  I already printed her Spring To Do List and even though I haven't crossed everything off, it's too adorable to take down from my cork board.

[from Martha Stewart Living]
And I started this Martha Stewart pussy willow nest last night, but the stems I had are a little dry since I got them a while ago.  
Have to find some that are more bendy.

Phew, ok, I think that's enough just for now.  Gotta get some lunch and finish the work day so I can power through tonight: floral arrangements, strawberry frosted egg cake (like the award-winning cupcakes!), cookies, jell-o eggs, etc. etc...
and maybe some laundry too...it's been a while.

Happy Easter prepping!

What Would You Do?

This pic is kinda pretty, kinda scary.  It's a lovely cherry tree on my walk to work that I've been watching bloom lately.  Wish we had some sunshine to help it along, but it's been kinda grey in NYC this week.  I want to get out to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden soon to see the trees at their peak, but for now here's a great time lapse video.

Speaking of kinda scary, this isn't really a craft post, but my subconscious crafted it last night: had a dream that the world was ending. People were scrambling and panicking and running around.

A lot of movies deal with this: The Road, Cloverfield, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, Deep Impact...I could go on and on since someone very special to me is constantly fascinated by this. I've never understood why, this would mean I would never see him again.

But back to the dream: I was desperate to find my sister, searching everywhere, asking if anyone had seen her. Finally upon finding her I couldn't convince her to join a group of us in our spaceship (weird, I know) and when she finally agreed to come with us I wept with relief. Then someone found out the world was ending in 50 days.  When he told us the mood instantly shifted.  It was sad but beautiful in a way, kinda like the picture of this tree.  Instead of simply surviving we started thinking of reminiscing, reflecting and making the most of the time we had left.  So, my question to you is, if you had 50 days left on this earth:

- where would you go? 
- who would you bring with you to spend that time with?  
- what would you do? 

Hopefully we won't need to make these choices anytime soon (2012, anyone...?) but it's definitely changing what I'm thinking about and how I'm spending my time today.  Have a good one, be safe.