1.5 weeks 'til beaches

No, not this Beaches:

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These beaches!

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That's right, in a week and a half I will be headed to beautiful Naples, Florida. Some close friends are getting married, and it's going to be an awesome weekend.


Naturally, I've been thinking of what to pack. Instead of going through my real closet, I found it much more entertaining to create a mood board, featuring items I'd like to pretend I own.

beach 2011 by lauramke

Ventura Beach, $35
Rosa Chá Striped bikini top, $150
Rosa Chá Striped bikini briefs, $125
Aeropostale - Curvy Destructed Dark Wash Denim Shorts, $30
Steve Madden Bride, $78
kate spade nylon karen, $295
DEROVON, $12

Too bad the bikini is $275, right? Like I'd ever spend that kind of $$ on a swimsuit. Oh well, a girl can dream!

Tastes like cookie. Looks like cake.

Hola, friends on the Internets - 

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Hope that everyone out there had a great week and an even better start to the weekend. Today, I was TGIF'ing every five minutes.


After fighting a headache all morning -I blame a certain radio station's local music awards party last night, though I only had one Flaming Damsel, they made it count- a packed day at work, and 'forgetting' to eat lunch until after 3PM, I was relieved to relax at home. So far, my night has involved reruns of Beverly Hills: 90210 and making an epic dessert.

COOKIE. CAKE. COOKIE CAKE!

Inspired earlier in the week by Paige's hilarious frown-y face cookie cake, and Diana's cute creation, I have had cookie cake on the brain. 


I followed Diana's recipe and added a touch more granulated sugar, mostly because I was too lazy to find the appropriate measuring spoon.  My cake wasn't as pretty as Diana's (since I don't have a heart-shaped pan), however if I do say so myself, I sculpted a pretty kickin' heart. 

Who needs a fancy pan?

After baking, this evened out nicely and tasted fantastic. 

What's not to love... the buttery, velvety crumb, the melty chocolate chips, the crisp edges? 

My piece of this heart was enjoyed with some cake batter ice cream and dark chocolate hot fudge. Cause, you know, I just needed it that way. It's been a long week!

I'm off for more 90210 and hitting the hay, for an early morning workout. Ciao! 

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Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011

The past 24 hours have been pretty incredible, thanks to the massive Groundhog Day Blizzard of '11 that passed through Milwaukee. Last night, I experienced things I had only read about in history books... high winds, snow that blew up instead of down, whiteout conditions and thunder snow. It was Nature in all of its power and glory. Destructive, yet beautiful. I could barely peel myself away from the window to get some sleep, and in the morning I awoke to bright sunshine and stark white.

Our backyard looked like it had whipped frosting poured over it an unevenly swirled about.
And yes, I just compared a blizzard to frosting. This is a food blog, folks.

The drift to the right of my car was about 5 feet high!

Even our covered front porch (1/2 level up from our driveway, and a full story up from the street) had drifts!

 It was quite a bit to take in. Zak and I were grateful that everyone we knew had spent the night at home and safe from the storm. I was pleased with our two kind neighbor men who came over to help Zak finally fix our snowblower, which he hadn't figured out how to get started since we purchased it in September. Today was definitely the day to get it operating!


Our dog Blue loved the snow, and Zak even brought out Rufus the cat to try it out.

Snow Cat?

He looks pretty hesitant...

Time to head back indoors. Brr!

The whole ordeal was pretty hilarious. Surprisingly, Rufus didn't mind going in the snow. Perhaps we'll try again tomorrow!


The killer icicles continue to grow and become more sinister-looking...

How's the weather where you live? Did you experience any bit of this crazy, region-wide storm? Have you experienced a "Storm of the Century" before? I am admittedly a history nerd, so I thought it was a pretty wild experience to have witnessed this blizzard!