Last weekend my family rented a cabin up in Dorrington. It was so beautiful and so cold. There was no snow where we staying so we went up to Bear Valley to find some ice. Peter and I hiked around Big Trees. We made awesome pizza/calzones. But mostly we just relaxed and enjoyed each other company. It was so nice. Peter and I (mostly Peter) did a time lapse of the stars. It's really awesome, check it out!

 Here are some photos from the trip. You can view more on Peter's website, Be-Brave.

{With Christmas, working in retail and New Years I haven't had anytime to edit photos, let alone post them. Now, I'm playing catch up. Don't worry, it's getting back to normal slowly.}

It just so happened that a few weeks ago Peter and I were off at the same time during the week so we decided to take a photo adventure. We like those. It was his turn to decide where we go and he decided with Big Sur and since I've never been there it was a perfect choice. We woke up early (I did, he slept in. I wasn't suppose to tell you that.) Ate breakfast and we were off. The drive down was beautiful and it was a gorgeous day. He surprised me for lunch at this amazing restaurant called Nepenthe and it was amazing! We literally ate lunch on the side of the cliff. If you ever find yourself near Big Sur I highly recommend going. Later we walked thru the forest and looked at a pretty waterfall. The day ended with us watching the sunset on the drive home. Honestly, the day was perfect.

Sorry, I'll stop being mushy now. Pictures, enjoy!

I spent the last day of 2011 with my best friend and I wouldn't have had it any other way. We had an easy going day in the city going to the Fillmore, walking around Union Square and then exploring the Presidio. I can't wait for the exciting things that will happen in 2012. 

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and you spent it with the people you are most thankful for. For Thanksgiving Peter came over before all my family came and we hung out outside my house taking photos since I got my 5D MKII the day before (yay!!!) Those are the moments I love most with Peter. I love our photo adventures, even if they are just in my front yard sometimes. Anyway, my family came over shortly after and we had a huge lunch then Peter and I went to his families for another huge dinner. By the end of the night I was full and so sleepy which was beneficial since I had to be at work at 3:30 that next morning (yay for retail!) Now I cannot wait for Christmas to come and then the new year. Many exciting things to come and I cannot wait until they get here! Hope everyone is having a wonderful December so far. 

I decided to make desserts for the iPhone 4S launch, which meant whatever I made I had to make about 100 of them. I was thinking cupcakes, but cupcakes are a little difficult to travel with. A week earlier I went to a Mac 'N Cheese place called Homeroom in Oakland and it was amazing! For dessert we had their homemade oreos and I died. Besides Sprinkles Cupcakes (YUMMM) they were the best desserts I've ever had. The next day I decided to make some of my own and they were delicious! Back to the story (sorry), I decided to make those instead for the launch and they were great! I'm always making these things if I don't want to make cupcakes and they go great with any cookie you want, not just the chocolate cookie the recipe calls for. Anyway, here it is:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar 

Once you put that all into a mixing bowl slowly add 

1 1/4 sticks room-temperature (I put it in the microwave for 20 seconds), unsalted butter
1 large egg

Let it mix for a few minutes. Once it's done mixing, get baking sheets with parchment paper on it and mix the batter in circles. Before you put them in the oven, squish them down so they are semi flat. Heat up the oven to 375°F and have the cookies bake for 9-10 minutes.

Once that is done, now it's own to the filling! 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix that all together until it looks white and fluffy. Put the filling on one cookie and squish it with another and baam! You're done! You just made an Oreo. Congratulations! 

I have good and bad news. Bad News: Last week my computer was sick, it needed a new hard drive, airport card and a little thing called a clutch cover. Good News: It's back! It works! More Bad News: Before the hard drive decided to break I had Lion on it and now with my new hard drive it's only Snow Leopard! Which means I can't put my things back on my computer. 

The purpose I tell you this story is because I was going to make this amazing tutorial on how to make a homemade oreo! Yep, you read it right. I made them last week and not to tut my own horn, but they were amazing so I thought I'd share the love to the few that read this so you too can pretend you're an amazing baker too. Unfortunately, that'll have to wait until Wednesday. It'll be amazing, I promise. 

Anyway, watch this commercial:

Did you see those hands? Well, they were mine! I also got to do the set design for the wedding shots. Thanks to ALCHEMYcreative (Where my boyfriend, Peter, works) I got to help out with this awesome commercial. If you're ever in need of a hand model, I'm your girl.

Just missing San Diego tonight. Maybe it's something about the warm weather, the beach, the house on the beach, Sprinkles Cupcakes (YUUUMMMMMMMM), and hanging out with my best friends. It's sort of hard not to miss. 

I went to the beach this week and I learned some valueable life lessons, here are a few:

- When you lay out on the beach for 3 hours, put lots and lots and lots of sun screen on

- Very white people should never try to tan

- McDonalds can dip your ice cream cone in chocolate!!! 

- Getting burnt on the back of your legs, especially behind your knee is the worst

- Sun poisoning is real and it sucks

There you go, words of advice. Please, take them. It will save you so much pain.

Yesterday I was on lunch during work just eating my pudding cup, enjoying being able to sit down since being on your feet all day is not so fun. Then, BAAM, I thought about putting some pudding in a cupcake. Genius, I know. So, now I will tell you how my experiment went so you can do it yourself!

I was lazy and didn’t feel like making cupcakes from scratch, so I got the cupcake mix from Safeway. I like Betty Crocker the best, but any will do. Follow the instructions on the box, it’s not too hard 

I’ve found that while putting the batter into the cupcake tray it’s easiest to use an ice cream scooper, it keeps you somewhat clean and good measurements.

I baked my cupcakes for 20 minutes in the oven. Cooking times depend on your oven and what brand of cupcakes you purchased. Just follow the directions on the box. Before taking your cupcakes out of the oven press the tops down a little, if they go right back up they are done. If they just kind of sink, that means they are not done. It also helps to put a toothpick in the middle of the cupcake, if batter comes up on the toothpick it isn’t done either. When they are done they should look something like this…

Let them cool for an hour or so. Once they are cool cut out a little bit of the middle like this.

Now it’s the fun part! We get to put pudding in the cupcakes! I just used a spoon to put the pudding in, if you know of an easier/cleaner way then do that and tell me about it.
Note: It’s okay if it’s messy since frosting will go over this part anyway.

Frosting time! I used a frosting tip we have to make a cute design, but you can just use a knife to spread across the top. Just make sure to cover the pudding so no one can see!

Lastly, I just put some chocolate shaving on the top to give it a finished look. This is the finished look, cut in half..

Enjoy!

I'm the little sister of 2 big brothers. Jason is 10 years older and John is 6. Before I was born my parents did everything with them and then I came into the world as a blessing (hehe) and at that time my brothers wanted nothing to do with "family time" so there I was. Just a girl growing up not going a whole lot of places. Yeah, I went to Disneyland a few times, but I really don't remember going at all because I was so young. Now that I'm older I just like to tell people I'm deprived and that I haven't done a lot of things or been a lot of places. I feel as though now that I've started to date Peter he has taken on the challenge of showing me places I've never seen before and Yosemite was one of them. Our plan was to drive up there early, explore Yosemite and take amazing pictures with the 10-22mm we rented and then go home. After seeing a squrriel get run over and meeting the Mr. Pickles mascot we finally got there. I played in the snow with my new hunter boots, ate lunch, got soaked by huge water falls, and took awesome pictures. So, here they are. Yosemite is gorgeous and I cannot wait to go back.

If you have an iPhone and don't have Instagram on it you're doing something wrong. This is by far my favorite app and not just because it makes any picture look pretty awesome. Everyone loves some sort of social networking these days and to share their pictures with the world (me!) and Instagram lets you do this without hassle. My username is kedington find me! Here are some of my favorite Instagrams by yours truly:

Have you heard of Foodily? If not and you like to cook food or bake yummy desserts go here for recipes and substitutions! It's been a life saver these few last weeks since I've decided to make it a point to bake a different type of cupcake every week and see how I do. It's been really tasty and really messy, but Foodily has been there right by my side this whole time. I heard about the company thru my lovely boyfriend who worked on their intro video at his work, ALCHEMYcreative. Here is the video for your viewing pleasure, it's pretty awesome, although I might be a little bias. :)

I made St. Patty's day cupcakes. I attempted (key word, attempted) to make cupcakes with marshmellow frosting, but the outcome was messy and gross. So I decided to just go with vanilla and add some green food coloring with Lucky Charm's on the top for some extra St. Patty's charm... Get it..? Extra St. Patty's charm.. So punny. Anyway, these are them.

Today, I really miss my best friends. 

Brianna: quiet, yet the loudest and such a giving spirit. When I think of Brianna I think of when Lindsey fell out of my hot tub and Brianna started searching the water for her while yelling because she was laughing so hard.

Hannah: she is in Texas. Texas fits her perfectly. I love Hannah, she is the mother of the group and so, so geniuine. I'll never get tired of driving around with Hannah, walking faster than everyone else and hanging out at her lovely house with her amazing and hilarious family.

Lindsey: she is crazy, in a good way. I love the wonderful talks we have in the car to go shopping. She cares about people and she is passionate about what she believes in and I totally respect her for that. 

Katie: oh, Katie. How can I explain you? Even though Katie doesn't think things thru all the time she is very smart. I love our In 'n Out talks when she is home. She keeps me accountable on so many things and she probably doesn't even realize it.

I'd just like to thank them for the laughs, the trips to Half Moon Bay and San Diego, the bagel talks in the kitchen, the staying up late in the theater, surviving high school, always being here for me and each other, but most of all the friendship that will never go away. I love you all!

First of all, I'd like to apologize. I have been ulcered the past week or two, thus nothing has been updated. Sadly, I picked up my camera for the first time in a few weeks yesterday. For shame, Kristy, for shame. 

Anyway, back to my subject of this post. BHLDN. It launched! There I sat, at my desk, looking at my screen, waiting for the website to load. I looked thru wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, hair pieces, shoes, but nothing was mind blowing. In sadness, I closed Chrome and went on with my day. Later that night I decided to give it another shot, maybe it was just the epic porporation of it all threw me off and oh. my. goodness. It totally did. In looking at the website more in depth I found this beauty. Now, it's a little more than $3,000 but oh my. It's gorgeous! I'll never be able to get it when I do get married someday, but a girl can dream, right?

Super girly, weddingish blog post ends. Thanks for baring with me.

V-Dub has done it again. What a cute commercial for a not-so-cute Superbowl.

I cannot wait until the 14 of February for many reasons, but one of the biggest is that one of my most favorite stores, Anthropologie, is launching their wedding line! I was quite excited about it at work, but alas, I was surrounded by guys and no one joined in on the excitement. Oh well, I'm still so excited!

Check it out when it launches, I'm sure it'll be gorgeous.