For the love of CAKE BALLS!

Man I love these little guys - they're cheap to make, people FREAK over them, and they are DAMN delicious. Though they are a bit harder to 'dip' than the pop version - but still just as yum! Actually - after I made them, I found a phenomenal little $3 tool made specifically for DIPPING things...I now own this tool & will have to test it out very very soon!

Anyway...I whipped up a batch for Nic's work baby shower - same mamma-to-be that I made the Classic Pooh themed diaper cake for! She's due in about a week or so...eeeeee, I'm so anxious!


A bunch of our co-workers pitched in for a big gift card and brought in a ton of yummy treats to celebrate before she went out on maternity leave. I was going to make these insanely delish cheesecake-stuffed strawberries I found via Pinterest (duh), but decided it'd be too time consuming the day of - since these aren't something you can make the night before...unless you LIKE soggy strawberries...ew.


So - cake balls to the rescue! I stuck with my fav flavor, red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting - though this time I only used about 3/4 of the container, instead of the whole thing! THEN, I freakin ran out of white chocolate to dip them in (had a whole bad & a half from Michaels!!) So the last few just got their upper half dipped...this actually looked like a cute idea for little Santa hat cake balls for Christmas! hummm

I also happened to find some super cute elephant 'baby shower' cards - which looked great with our little table of goodies: Mini Bundtinis from Nothing Bundt Cakes (best ever!!), white chocolate raspberry cookie bars, fruit salad, chocolate chip cookies...and of course, my yum cake balls!

Day of hearts

Oh Valentine's day...a day to love & be loved. Some like it, some don't. It's definitely a 'hallmark' holiday - but I fall into the 'like it' category. James & I don't go over the top or anything...it's just a nice day to remember what we have, that we love the most...and be grateful for it. Although Kapri doesn't understand it yet, we still got her a cute little card and both wrote a little blurb in it - I think it'll be cute for her to look back on. This year my verrry pretty flowers came to my work a few days early on Friday. I work from home on Monday... so James wanted to make sure I got them early while at work. That's always a nice gift to have on your desk ;-) They are blooming now & making our house smell DEvine.

Then after James came home from work yesterday, we left K with her auntie SiSi & flew out the door to try & catch the sunset at Moonlight Beach. Of course...we missed it. Well, we saw it from our car, while 1 light away from the beach...but oh well!

Then we parked & walked past numerous other loving couples, down the sand to find a perfect spot amongst the rocks to snuggle, indulge in some wine & treats...and just relax for a moment together...the later is a luxury that we really don't get too often. I absolutely *HEART* our nifty wine case. It's so awesome. It's a large, metal case with a heavy duty strap...and inside houses the wine on the left and 2 glass on the right. And there's a thick flap in the middle that has the wine opener, wine stopper, and 2 little fabric napkins... all secured by velcro & button straps. Best. Wedding. Gift. EVER!

I also brought some scrumptious red velvet cake balls & chocolate covered strawberries. Amazing & perfect with wine. It was freezing...but worth it to have some snuggle time with my lovey. Then we had a 5-star dinner at none other than In-N-Out...YUM!!

Alexandria's Baby Shower

Last Sunday afternoon, I had the pleasure of co-hosting a simple, yet beautiful luncheon-style baby shower for one of my most treasured & admired friends, Alexandria...whom I've known since high school! She lives up in NorCal now, but came down to SD to visit her fam & friends...so of course we HAD to throw her a baby shower. And what better location, than at the delish Tomiko restaurant, where she both worked AND had her wedding reception at just 2 years ago...so the crew there are practically like a second family to her. How stunning is this bride???!

Alexandria ~ July 2008

Alex & Mitch....Mr. & Mrs.!!

We literally had like, 2 weeks notice that she was coming down...so we planned this in just ONE week...that's all folks! Can we get like a medal or something??

The Planners

I of course made her some stylish burp cloths...I had previously asked her to choose 4 patterns out of a bunch, without her knowing what it was for...so this was the end result...I love these things! They become quite a part of your daily 'shoulder' wardrobe, so why not make them cute!?

And of course I had to make her a diaper cake, as mentioned a few months ago...these things are essential!

Lastly, here's a pic of my little scrumptious bits of heaven that I found from Bakeralla - this chick is amazing! I made her cake balls before for Valentine's Day (here) - so when I saw these I thought they'd be perfect in 'baby' sized cones, for a 'baby' shower! I think they turned out pretty damn well!! They were a hit, so tasty & luckily I made a TON, so the ladies had lots of leftovers to take home  ;-)

Oh...and we had a Onesie Creation Station set up along the bar top...it was covered in the cutest stamps, paints, ribbon, iron-on patches, buttons, fabric pens & puffy paint - all the guest got to decorate a onesie & Alex picked her top 3, who won prizes. These ladies got SUPER creative - I was really impressed! We told Alex that she'd have to take a pic of little Ava in each onesie & send to us!!

It was such a wonderful day, a memory that I will cherish forever. Love you Alex!! You are going to be one of THE. most. incredible. mommies. EVER. I'm soooo happy for you & your new journey into parenthood! xoxo

"Baby" sized cake ball cones

Okay...so I'm a HUGE fan of Bakeralla - she's amazing...suuuuper duper talented. I want to be her when I grow up. My first encounter with making her delish cake balls was a few months ago when I made cake pops for Valentine's Day. Can you please just check out this utterly fantastic book she literally just came out with...buy it NOW - and buy one for me when while you're at it! You're welcome.

Anyway - while reading her blog on my Google Reader last week, (just after I found out I'd be helping plan Alex's baby shower in only ONE week)...I stumbled upon this little jewel - first thought: "I AM MAKING THESE".

I did just that...BOO....YAAA:

My very 1st one!

So, I started baking both a white & a chocolate cake on Sunday morning...let them cool for a bit, crumbled, mixed in cream cheese frosting, got messy with goodness, was a cake ball making machine (see pic, I swear)...let them chill for the afternoon...then after K went to bed, I started assembling, dipping, & sprinkling away. For 3 freaking hours....sooooooooo worth it!

"eat meeee"