When Life Gives you Lemons, Vow to Double the Recipe

Tonight, we got back into the swing of things. We packed up and headed to Kroger for some ingredients. We found a lovely recipe on Pinterest, (our new favorite thing) which transformed a box cake mix into a wedding favorite.
DISCLAIMER: we are not claiming that either of us are either engaged or married to the men of our dreams.
We bought the necessary items and sped home (Taylor's version of course, which means getting passed on the shoulder by less than agressive drivers) with high hopes. We quickly realized we forgot to watch this week's Keeping Up With the Kardashians (another favorite). After a humorous episode, we realized that nothing motivates baking like Kris's unruly behavior towards Bruce Jenner--our personal fave--
After setting the oven to 325, we strictly followed the recipe we found (which we have posted below along with the website it came from)

When the cupcakes were done, we set them out to cool and our icing adventure began. Whats a cupcake party without a disaster, right?

Our icing was off to a good start, after all, we had been working on it while the cupcakes were baking. A few taste tests into our icing shenanigans, we decided a hint of lemon would complete the flavor. However, Beverly Hills Nanny was playing in the background, and a particularly appalling moment caused Olivia to "slightly" overestimate the amount of lemon extract needed. What was intended to be a nice hint of flavor led to 3 more cups of powdered sugar, 2 more sticks of butter, and 2 more tablespoons of heavy whipping cream--as well as half the bottle of vanilla extract.

Tay and Olive's Original Cupcake Creation

But, in the long run, these cupcakes cost around 12 cents each, so a strong stench of lemon may not have actually been so bad.

Pinterest Cupcake

We deemed our reinvented icing acceptable, and began to frost. Approximately 2 hours later, we were still frosting. We think our efforts were worth it, in fact, we may have outdone Pinterest. What do you think? Lets be real! Rate these cupcakes below, in the comment section. Remember to rate as you would have others rate you :)

Gotta go, Oprah's calling!

Over and Out


Recipe:

http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/03/16/white-wedding-cake-cupcakes/

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) box white cake mix
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups water
2 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
4 large egg whites

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pans (you'll need approx. 36).

2. In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix, flour, sugar and salt. Add remaining ingredients and beat with hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until well blended.

3. Use ice cream scoop to fill prepared cupcake tins- fill about 3/4 full. Bake about 18 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Tips:

*Recommend: Duncan Hines has reduced the size of their boxed cake mix now... so I'd use Pillsbury or Betty Crocker instead (look for 18.25 ounces)
*You can use either regular or light sour cream for this recipe, but heck... since it's a wedding cupcake and you want it to be as delicious and moist as possible, I recommend going for the full-fat kind.
*Add 1 teaspoon of almond extract (in addition to the vanilla) if you wish to have a different flavor.
*Using an ice cream scoop is perfect for getting the batter into the cupcake tins without spilling.
*You can also use this mix to make cake. Pour into greased and floured cake pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Lights, Trucks, and Bashers... Oh My!!!

The other day started out like any other day. We nanny our days away with our separate families. It was a good day in the neighborhood, in fact, a very good day in the neighborhood. Mr. Rogers anybody? So, after our usual duties as babysitters we ended our day on a good note and then headed to Olive's house.

The fun began. We started by removing all articles of clothing, boxes, and other paraphernalia out of Olive's closet. A good start to a dramatic evening...

After two hours of rough organization... we both began to desire a yummy glazed warm doughnut, along with some diet coke.. you know, to balance it out!! We head out to Kroger (they were having a sale on Diet Coke). We arrive around 10:30 pm. As soon as we put our four legs on the ground we heard a siren/ bell (not like a tornado warning). We quickly sprint into the sketchy Kroger as if it be safer inside. After grabbing our diet coke and doing the self checkout we walk out the doors... the bell is still ringing. We then again sprint to the car, lock the doors, and begin to ponder the origin of the horrendous noise.

After scoping out the scene, we discover that the noise is coming from a hearing center or the restaurant right next to it. We then contemplate our civic duty to the United States of America and of course, Barack Obama.
After serious deliberation, it was decided that 911 should be notified. Taylor whips out her phone from her purse and carefully dials 911. WARNING: do not attempt this at home, because they don't answer in a timely manner... call your mom instead. 
After fourteen seconds of ringing the call is finally answered. A small male voice says, "This is 911, what is your emergency."

- "Well, we are at the Kroger on Whitlock and here a noise that sounds like an alarm going off/"
- "What is your cross address ma'am?"
- Well, I am not sure. We are next to the Marietta Hearing Center.
- "Until I am given a crossroad I am not able to locate you."
- Olive in the background, "Oh, its Burnt Hickory..."
- the officer responds with, " would you like an officer to meet you there?"
- No, we are fine, just trying to let you know of the bell like sound.
- officer: "Wait, there is a bell going off?"
- YES, sir. This is why we called.
- Thank you!
- After the conversation was over we gave ourselves a nice pat on the back and headed to our next favorite place, Krispy Kreme. I mean, after all, we deserved a warm doughnut!! Right?!

So we pull to the Krispy Kreme and order a glazed doughnut and a creme filled one. We are on our way to happiness. However, the doughnuts were cold, but we did not have time to be upset because we had to go back to the crime scene.

Arriving back at the Kroger/ hearing center. We see the lights of an emergency service vehicle. Upon approach we see the firetruck. We stakeout in the parking lot, as well as see a few other Kroger-goers scoping it out too.

Once the car was in park we strategically lowered our seats, and turned off the car lights as not to look suspicious... (yeah, right?!) As the firefighters emerge out of the vehicle and suit up with their fire protective gear, they begin to look around the building. Peering in windows, doors, as well as inspecting points of entry. After much deliberation from the firefighters the basher was taken out of the truck. They then slam it into the restaurant door. In amazement we watch, our mouths were probably hanging open, but not necessarily because of the broken door, but because of the drug deal going on before our very eyes in the corner. Taylor likes to call it a drug deal, but the cop that was parked did not seem to think so.

Sorry about the blurr, it was raining and thundering!!

While we thought of possible endings to our anecdote, a storm was moving in at a rapid pace. Carts were flying through the parking lot. The firefighters were catching them and saving the many vehicles that were threatened. While the carts distracted us, the firefighters closed up the building. No dramatic ending was to be found. They loaded up the truck and went on their way.

However, the lone police car remained. We sat in our civic worried that the police man thought we were the culprits. We worked out our alibis and waited to be approached by the officer. However, this was all unnecessary. In a few short minutes, we headed home. At this point, the torrential downpour had begun. Taylor, scoping out the road, seemed to miss the deer ahead. And Olivia ran into it... Just kidding!! 

We made it home safely and are off to our usual nanny jobs tomorrow. after a few episodes of Desperate Housewives and a 2 liter of Diet Coke.

Please comment and follow- we would love to take Oprah's old time slot. 

Let us know what type of things you like to hear!!

Over and Out
Tay and Olive

yet another day in the life...

This video is a snip it of videos we made while being beyond tired, at the beach, or during commercial breaks of our favorite shows.
So to continue on for the reasons we need and desire a tv show are endless, but we will name a few.
1. We are cool, duh!
2. We have the most embarrassing moments, which we want to share with the rest of the human race.
3. Our lives appear to be average but when you really spend a day with one of us, you realize this is far from the truth (for instance: bobbing apples out of the toilet, scooping poop out of a pool in the dark, and adventures in kroger).
4. We know we would be more interesting than Khloe and Lamar ( we do not worry about if we are adopted or not).
5. We like to publicly make stupid choices and see the responses.


We would also like to take a moment to pay our respects to the late Desperate Housewives. We will miss spending our Sunday evenings wishing we lived their lives. We are of course thrilled that all of the housewives ended up happy. Lets hope Renee stays married this time, because we love men with accents.
We don't know about you, but the last appearance of Mike made us think we were going to cry, for about 30 seconds. And, of course the show ends with Mary Alice, the housewife that started it all.

If we could choose, Taylor would choose to live Lynette's life..with all the lovely children. Whereas Olive would choose to live a life of luxury as Gabby. Both of us would of course choose to have some Bree like tendencies. We all wish we could be so skilled in the kitchen, right? We definitely wish those petit fours turned out a little better...

Oh..and we thought we should tell you..
Sadly, today, we made some very yummy cookies, FROM A BOX!!!!
We consider this a failure on our part..so we did not share the whole experience with you. One day soon we will try something adventurous again..with a big bottle of diet coke to help us along.


Over and Out

Kiss My Doughnut

Top 10 2011-2012 School Year:

1. Those days when spandex seem to be the way to go..later to find out that multiple people seemed to think you were blonde enough to forget pants.
2. Those awkward moments in the gym when you're bending over stretching to later realize your oversized v-neck was showing off your C cups to the boy on the treadmill...plus the lovely eye contact that follows.
3. It's great when you get the lowest test grade you've ever gotten (37) in the lowest level math class offered at school.
4. Being asked by a work study supervisor whether or not I find my boss attractive..and accidentally laughing out loud before realizing the boss was listening..whoops
5. Great moments when your roommate thinks the car you're riding in is going to run her over. So, instead of getting out of the way she accidentally trips and ruins her jeans :(
6. Those days when your  body tries to tell your English teacher that his lectures are boring..by passing out in the middle of class. It's even worse when he responds by saying, "I'm not trying to be inconsiderate..but I must continue."
7. When you go to Holy (the celebration of colors for another religion) and you're so undiverse that the colors won't come out of your hair or skin.
8. Walking in on lovely lesbian make out sessions in the community showers.
9. The times your roommate lets boys into the room while you are in lacy undies and braless in oversized t-shirts.
10. The awkward moment when the doctor tells you that you have TMJ and you must wear a bright blue mouthguard.

To fill you in on our first little adventure together (this summer)... this is what we did-
1. Desperate Housewives Finale ( 2 hours)
2. Gossip Girl
3. Bethenny Ever After
4. Late night Krispy Kreme run (yes, we are phat girls)
5. Filled up the gas tank at kroger with a sketch man behind us with a kidnap ready van.
- The night is still young at 2:05 am- suggestions welcome!

Let us know if you have any great school year stories... we will reminisce high school later!

Over and Out

To Do's

Welcome (to ourselves) we have been gone due to college mania....

We have decided that a summer to do list/ bucket list is necessary in order to make it a productive summer.

So, by productive we do not mean "helpful to society" but rather helpful to our own self growth or entertainment...

So our ideas:

1. late night/ early morning waffle house

2. go to target and spend less than 3 dollars

3. bake a wedding cake and deliver it to a random house

4. make birthday cake cupcakes

5. go to opera --- the club, and actually make it inside

6.  have starbucks 3 a- day's (And see how much we pee) 

7. Desperate Housewives Marathon (roughly 200 hours)

8. get our noses pierced

9. Spend 8 hours at chick fil a

10. Become vegan for 2 hours.... (okay, a day!)

11. Pretend to get hit by a car in a parking lot

12. When hiking Kennessaw Mountain play Marco- Polo 

13. go to karaoke night... and taylor will sing

14.get on the interstate and drive 100 mph-- unlikely but its a good idea

15. road trip... destination ideas?

IDEAS?

Now that we have exhausted are not so fun list of summer activities, please throw out some ideas... not too adventurous as we will both be embarrassed. 

 Eat more Chicken

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We are Back!

We know you've missed us phat girls so we decided to update everybody. At this point Taylor is finished with her first semester of college and Olivia has two exams before she is done. Survived is the correct word to describe it. Neither of us know where the rumor that college was easy came from because college is kicking our butts..anyway..a story for another day.

We decided that making some red velvet cake pops was the correct way to celebrate the almost- done- with- first- semester- of- college holiday. Now, everybody knows that we are amazing bakers, but cake pops proved to be a bigger project than we anticipated. It was almost as disastrous as the petit-fours.

So..yes Olivia should be studying for her two exams..but whatevs. We are phat girl right?

Back to the cake pops..they were pretty easy for a while. We just had to mix up some red velvet cake batter, bake it, and then crumble it into some cream cheese frosting. We then rolled the cake/frosting into little balls and froze them. We had some Bakers dipping chocolate and it was enough chocolate to cover about half of a half of our cake balls. So here we sit, writing a post, with about 10 finished cake balls.

Of course, because we are who we are..we had a few adventures.

We decided around 9, when our cakes were baking, that Chick-fil-A would be a great addition to our daily food intake. Before we left, chocolate was added to our list of things to do, so Target got added to the agenda. We didn't quite know what kind of chocolate we were supposed to get, so we grabbed a variety. When we to the checkout, the checkerouter, who was obviously not so great with the ladies, asked if one of us had been broken up. Really?? Great question. Yes. I got broken up with 20 minutes ago, drove to get my friend, and came to target to get a bunch of chocolate. I really want to talk about it with the boy ringing me up for all the chocolate I am buying. And yes, you did make me feel fat, with an fa not a ph. Haha, of course neither of us had been broken up with 20 minutes before our adventure in target..but hypothetically speaking..we both would have been rather upset.

So, as we made our way out to the parking lot, falling over laughing, we got a few looks. And we got more when we climbed into a red mini van. To top of our evening, we made a quick stop and Chick-fil-A. We went in, still laughing, and ordered a kids meal and fries. Because the drink you get with a kids meal is extremely small, we kind of sort of drank it while paying so that we could get a refill before we left. The guy who was working the counter was not quite appreciative and probably thought we were on something. We asked him to top off the drink, and that probably didn't help our case. Before we left he asked if we wanted another and we both looked at eachother. Apparently, the man picked up on the "yes" that was running through both of our minds and quickly said..uhh I was kidding. Thanks Chick-fil-A. Quick recommendation, you should provide 2 drinks to those that obviously love diet drinks and are not dining in.

Anyone have any target check out stories? We would love to hear them :)

Please forgive our conceited words and absence... but we are back, at least, for this month.
Over and Out

the newest chapter

so the big day is getting closer and closer. i will be headed to college on friday. Taylor will be leaving in the morning and told me that packing was quite challenging. Although she warned me that a rather large amount of time would be required in order to prepare everything without an unwanted amount of chaos, but I do not have a large amount of time, unfortunately. tonight, i finished my packing list, which is 2 pages long. Once it is definitely complete and then revised I will go ahead and post that. Things are getting continually more stressful, even though I have already bought so many things, the list of things I still need is getting longer and longer.
I wish I had a funny story or something entertaining to share, but I have just been spending time with family and friends. I finished nannying last week, and am so thankful that I worked this summer. Although I have been trying to spend as much time with friends as possible, the number of times that actually happens is pretty small. Although Taylor and I did hang out for a few hours on monday night, we did not actually get to say an actual goodbye, i'm also planning on getting her to post something soon.
I am beginning to realize how excited i am for college, but how hard it will be to leave some things behind. I know everybody says you will meet your lifelong friends in college, but I feel like some of my current friends will be lifelong friends, I just feel like it will be much harder to stay close next year. Everybody will be going on different schedules and time to talk will be limited. It's already a work in progress.
Lots of shopping tomorrow..i'm sure there will be some sort of entertaining story about move in or something along those lines..
Olive
Over and Out

"the help"

This past weekend, Taylor and I went to the beach with my family. There are a number of stories we will share with you about that adventure, but we haven't had a chance to get together since to write them together.

While we were at the beach, we ventured into a bookstore in order to find something entertaining to read at the beach. There are a number of books that fit into the "beach read" category, but the only one I could seem to find was "The Help." Of course when I brought this book to my mom to buy for me, she said "Olivia, we have that book at home, so you can just read it then. Try to find another book." Of course I can't just accept this without some sort of reaction, so instead of doing what my mother told me to do, I refused to find another book. The only book that I wanted was "The Help," and it was the one book she would not buy me. Everybody else found a book of some sort to entertain themselves, while I complained to myself about how I would not possibly be able to have a good day at the beach because I didn't have a book to read. How ridiculous. Nobody even read on the beach :)

When we got back home, the first thing I did, after dumping all of my stuff on my bedroom floor (which I have yet to deal with), I went to my mom's bookshelf and found the book. This was Sunday night. I wanted to begin reading immediately, but we had reservations at a new, local restaurant called "The Chicken and the Egg" to celebrate my dad's birthday. Of course, a lovely birthday dinner turned into a lousy birthday disaster.

I enjoyed my kids chicken fingers, but did not quite enjoy the argument my family absolutely has to have on birthdays about absolutely nothing. It is truly one of the most ridiculous things my family does. Not one birthday goes by without an argument or dispute of some kind.

This time, it was my dad and I who fought. It was about something stupid, but it made me mad. So, when I got home, I proceeded to act like a 2 year old and lock myself in my room. The last thing I wanted to do was unpack, so I started reading. It was not the best decision I have ever made. After reading the first paragraph of "The Help," I literally could not put it down. I read and read, finally around 2:30 AM, I decided I should get some sleep before working the next day.

I read the next night from the time I got home from work until I went to bed at 1:30. Today, I finished the book around 5 pm, so maybe I will get a better nights sleep. I almost got frustrated that the book was so good. I enjoyed every page of the 400 something page novel.

I would recommend this book to anyone! The author did such a great job making the reader feel like they really knew the characters. The stories told by each character were both amusing and disturbing. The book takes place during the civil rights movement and gave me a much better idea of the way things were at that point in history. We all learn about Martin Luther King Jr's dream and the marches and the racism that was so prevalent in society. However, "The Help," gave me a deeper understanding of the times. It was not just telling about the stuff in history books, although that was included. It was the story of people that seemed real. Although it is fiction, the book shows what those who were not marching or protesting went through daily. This alone was enough to keep me reading, but in addition, the book showed how there is always some kind of joy, even when despair and hate seem to dominate.

So, now that I've read the book I guess I will go and see the movie and try to talk Taylor into finding time to write another post.

Olive

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A Break from Complexity

With the number of days until I leave for college quickly decreasing, the reality of leaving behind the only people I have ever lived with and the security of having somebody else take care of me is setting in. I am excited to go to college, but I have my insecurities. Sometimes I wish I could be back in kindergarten, just enjoying every day, most of the time I am ready to go off and continue to live my life.

I feel that I will sorely miss the simplicity of childhood, the days of being pulled behind my parents bikes and playing tag on the playground. The times when there was no such thing as paperwork and you only went where your parents took you. I recently discovered the amount of paperwork required for almost everything. There is always something to send, sign, or fill out. I always feel that I have forgotten to send some sort of record. These past few weeks I have either had a day of worrying about this kind of stuff or have been working so such things have not even crossed my mind. It is the complexity that comes with growing up.

It is exposure to this complexity that makes me long for the times of simplicity, at times. Some days, hours, minutes, or maybe just seconds, I feel like being taken back to the time of my life when I could easily get by in school because it was all simple or the times when I could do stupid things like cut my friends hair, with only a small consequence. I rarely get the chance to live simply anymore, it would be a welcome addition to my everyday life.

Last week, I did get a taste of simplicity. I took the kids I nanny to the movies one day, a blustery day, which made it all the better. I wasn't thinking of the sticky floors, grimy seats, or questionable bathrooms. I was content because I was going to see Winnie the Pooh. I could sit back and enjoy a bit of childhood for 1 hour and 9 minutes. The movie began by showing the stuffed animals and Winnie the Pooh book in Christopher Robin's bedroom, a simple beginning that I recall from years ago.

The story was enchanting and whimsical. It warmed my heart to see my favorite characters off on another adventure. The movie was well done and did not reinvent the favorite, merely refreshed it. The story was a typical Winnie the Pooh story. There was a problem and all the characters tried to solve it, each in their own way, with some chaos along the way. In the end, everybody's happy and I was surprised to realize it was not as simple as I thought it would be.

On the surface, I sat for about an hour and thought of nothing but the hundred-acre wood. I later realized that there are a number of things that I did take away from the film, some simple, yet not so simple things. As I watched Pooh talk Piglet into being launched up to a bee hive in order to get some honey, I merely thought how ridiculous, that Piglet would be so dumb. Then as the situation developed, Piglet asked if Pooh was sure about this, when Pooh assured Piglet that it would be great, Piglet went along with what Pooh said. He trusted his friend. How simple.

Of course I would never suggest that anyone allow their friends to launch them into a bee hive because they said it would be okay, I do, however, think that trust is key in strong friendships. Yes, everyone has faults and weaknesses, but we all have strengths as well. When a friendship is built upon trust, weaknesses can become strengths. If we are not willing to trust our friends with our weaknesses, they cannot help us turn it into a strength.

There are not such deep problems in the Hundred Acre Wood as there are in the world we live in, but the key point is that regardless of the issue, a friend is a friend at the end of the day. They are a person that you should be able to show your vulnerabilities to and a person that provides security and comfort when it is necessary.

So the simple things don't actually turn out to be so simple. The things that seem so simple in childhood are actually not so simple. They are just the beginnings to the complex things.

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.” Winnie the Pooh

Olive

Over and Out