…hmmmm.

i definitely remember owning these sometime in the mid-80s.

ankle zippers? really?? ugh. just one more in what i’m sure will be a long series of rants about the fall lines.

a lovely fellow blogger (and fellow cupcake lover) linked me this pic – i am in LOVE!!

cupcakes shaped like ice cream cones – genius! it’s my two favorite things in one…how fabulous is that?!

in case you love it as much as i do, you can buy the pan from one of my favorite places on earth – williams sonoma.

okay, can i just say that i pretty much HATE everything that i’m seeing about the new looks for fall? honestly – leggings, booties and skinny jeans???? um, no. no, no, no! (picture me stomping my feet and screaming)

i just got the new shop etc. magazine in the mail (a fabulous mag, by the way, in case anyone is in the market), and am just cringing. i mean, honestly – were leggings really that flattering the first time around? and one of my biggest pet peeves in life is boots that are so short that you can see the top….

marc jacobs: really? sweater boots?? and a sweater DRESS? noooo, marc, no. say it isn’t so.

and chanel: honestly, i expect more from you than these horrid white sock/boot fiascos….what were you thinking??

it’s going to be a loooong fall season.

so lately, i’ve been a little obsessed with cupcakes. but who can blame me?? they’re just SO yummy and a little too pretty to make for yourself, if you ask me. my latest find is teacake bakery, which i must tell you makes some truly fabulous specimens (try the lemon cream cheese cupcake – OMG).

anyway, i bring it up because, in wandering around the net today, i came across a recipe for basic yellow cupcakes from the king of all cupcakeries – magnolia bakery (in NYC). and, being the horrible plagarizing beast that i am, here you go:

Magnolia Cupcakes (makes 12)

For the Cakes:

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup self-raising flour
½ + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
½ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla extract

For the Buttercream Frosting:

1 stick butter
4 cups sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the cupcakes:
Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake papers. Preheat the oven to 175 C/350 F.
Cream the butter for a couple of minutes alone first, just to make sure it’s adequately soft. Add the sugar in three additions, beating well after each addition. Add the eggs, one by one, again beating well after each one has been added.

Mix the two types of flour together. Then add the flour in four additions, alternating with the milk and vanilla extract in three additions. Divide the batter between the 12 waiting muffins cups, then bake for 20-22 minutes.

Leave to cool completely, before frosting.

For the frosting:
Place butter, 2 cups icing sugar, ½ cup of milk and the vanilla extract in a free-standing mixer (or you can beat it by hand I suppose!) and beat on medium-low speed. Add the rest of the icing sugar until you reach a desired consistency – I only used three cups in total. If you want, you can color the icing – that’s like half the fun of these!! And of course, you can use sprinkles to your hearts content!

from my darling husband:

“you know, if everyone would just do what made them happy, instead of worrying about what made other people happy, the world would be a much happier place.”

i had to laugh…i guess it’s a good thing he doesn’t work for the UN or anything

sorry i’ve been MIA for a few days – this week has been inSANE. fortunately, i’ve had a pretty relaxing weekend. and i managed to buy myself two (very needed) new suits at neiman marcus this afternoon, so that’s exciting.

just found this very cool link – fellow chick lit fans will probably enjoy it lots of reviews of pretty much every chick lit book out there. since they’re a guilty pleasure, i try not to buy too many, so this might help me limit the field.

i’m actually in the middle of “baby proof” by emily giffin right now. oh, and by “in the middle of,” i mean “i’m too cheap to buy the hardback, so i just read it every time we go to borders for coffee”. anyway…for those of you that don’t know me that well, my hubs and i are very committed and proud DINKs, and the plot of this novel deals pretty closely with what i think both of our secret fears are so, can’t wait to see how it comes out!

LOL – you get 10 points if you can tell me where this post’s title comes from.

i’m in santa fe today – a 24-hour trip to meet with the friends & family of a client who passed away last month. it’s the saddest part of my job, really….i love being able to help people, especially when they’re facing a terminal illness or something else. but it’s really hard to get close with a client and then lose them – especially when you have to spend all this time with their loved ones, and basically hold their hands while they cry about their loss. very depressing.

plus (on a less depressing note), it’s DAMN hot here. 100+ today…yuck. pretty cool place to visit, though. i’d never been to new mexico – it looks just like i expected it to, though. in fact, i was expecting less adobe & red clay….i figured it was just one of those exaggerations you hear, like how everyone in texas wears a cowboy hat (or is that one true as well?). but seriously – almost every house i saw was adobe. weird.

can’t wait to get home.

so how exciting is this? a couple of months ago, i saw these lovelies in a magazine and decided to order them.

lucky me, they were on sale. not lucky for me, it turned out they were completely out of my size. woe was me. so i emailed back and told them to please keep me on some sort of waiting list, and if they were to re-stock them, to let me know because i still really liked them.

well, today, i got an email from the president of the company, thanking me for my loyalty and offering me ANY shoe they make…for free! yes, really! talk about a kid in a candy store fortunately, they only make a few styles that i really like, so i finally settled on these very businesslike and grown-up heels:

how exciting! i feel like my shoe karma has really come full-circle

yes, it’s true. i spend way too much time watching ‘celebrity’ chefs make food, and dreaming of how fabulous it would be to just have the ingredients for all of these dishes right at my fingertips. i wish i had a staff to shop, chop and put everything in those cute little prep bowls so all i had to do was combine, bake and eat.

anyway, just finished watching an episode of everyday italian (even though giada is really getting a bit too perky for me), and i know what i’m making for dinner next week: grilled swordfish with citrus pesto

Swordfish:
4 (6-ounce) swordfish steaks
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Citrus pesto:
1 bunch fresh basil, stemmed (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 clove garlic
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 orange, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup grated Parmesan

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Brush both sides of the swordfish fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the swordfish about 3 to 4 minutes on each side for a 1-inch thick fillet.

Blend the basil, pine nuts, garlic, zests, juices, salt, and pepper in a food processor until the mixture is finely chopped. With the machine running, gradually add the olive oil until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the Parmesan.

Transfer the grilled swordfish to serving plates, top with the citrus pesto, and serve.

YUM! now if i can just talk myself down from making barefoot contessa’s chocolate truffles.

well, i won my tax case! very exciting. i wasn’t even supposed to find out for another 60 days, but apparently, i rock enough that the judge actually said to the IRS attorney after we’d finished arguing the case: “i’m sorry, but i just don’t understand your position. it sounds to me like [insert my argument from my case here].” he then proceeded to “strongly recommend” to the IRS that they request a recess to discuss a settlement with me.

BOO-YAH!!!! (hmm…yep, still too white to get away with saying that)

so anyway, after much hemming & hawing (which i found baffling, given that the judge had basically just told them they were going to lose), they conceded.

i might have even felt bad for the other attorney, too, if she hadn’t been such a complete witch from day one….honestly, i swear she was taking it personally that i had claimed these deductions. i think she was just bitter because i’m cuter than her. apparently, my mom tried to thank her as we left, and the attorney wouldn’t even speak to her…..HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAA!

in the words of mick jagger and my favorite uncle, “Under my thumb/The girl who once pushed me around….the change has come/She’s under my thumb”