A Variety of Cupcakes

Over the past few weeks, I've had the chance to make cupcakes for several customers! Here are a few pictures. I made mini cupcakes for a party this week and they were such fun. In fact, they are the perfect size--just a couple of bites. However, sometimes I can't help but munch 2 or 3 at one time!?!? I've found that they are the perfect size for kids--who tend to take a bite or two of a cupcake and are ready to move on to do something different. My new favorite (this week) are mini pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Mini pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! YUM!

Fresh strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream.

These were fun cupcakes to make for a groom who was a huge UT fan! Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and fondant "Power Ts."

These cupcakes were for a bachelorette party! How fun!

Cream cheese filled pumpkin cupcakes with caramel swiss meringue buttercream.

This type of icing melts in your mouth! Definitely my favorite icing!

Mini almond cupcakes with vanilla buttercream for a Christmas card party.

Never too early to start thinking about Christmas!

Caramel cupcakes with caramel swiss meringue buttercream. These are a favorite of mine, too!

Our Vacation in Hawaii!

Kyle and I recently took a wonderful vacation to Hawaii! We spent 3 nights in Honolulu and 6 nights in Maui. We had such an amazing time and it was great to get away and relax. I must say that 10 days is just about the right amount of time to get away and truly feel relaxed. I've been to Hawaii once before, when I was 10 or 11 years old, but Kyle had never been. It truly is paradise! We chose to go to Honolulu first and see the sights before heading to Maui to RELAX! Both places were completely different, but tons of fun! In Honolulu, we hiked Diamond Head crater, visited Pearl Harbor, swam with the dolphins (AMAZING!) and rented scooters to drive around the island. We did a lot of relaxing on Maui but found time to get up at 3am in order to watch the sunrise from the top of Haleakala (active but dormant volcano) and bike down from 6500 feet. We went snorkeling and saw gigantic sea turtles and went parasailing (I had never done this before).

I know it is a LONG flight from Nashville, but if you ever get the chance to go, DO NOT pass it up! I promise that you won't be disappointed! We took over 500 pictures, so I'll try and narrow that down a bit :)

The view from our hotel room in Honolulu.

Waikiki Beach

Getting ready to hike Diamond Head crater at 7am!

Half way up the crater. This is not for the faint of heart!

View from the top of Diamond Head crater. This is a view looking back at Honolulu and Waikiki Beach.

Swimming with the dolphins! This was an amazing experience!

It is very educational and fun. Check out the website--www.dolphinquest.org.

Kissing the dolphin. They are so smart and very well trained!

Kyle giving Hoku a big hug!

Posing for the camera!

Visiting the USS Arizona and Pearl Harbor.

Two quarts of oil still bubble to the surface each day.

These are the scooters that we rented to drive around the island. I was terrified for my life! Hawaii has a no helmet law and you ride right on the road with the cars. I was very scared and couldn't really enjoy myself.

We pulled off the road several times to take pictures and relax. The views were gorgeous!

Watching the waves crash against the rock was mesmerizing!

Relaxing on the beach.

Our last night in Honolulu.

View of Oahu from the airplane.

Welcome to Maui!

Dinner at a restaurant on the beach in Maui. We sat at our table with our feet in the sand and listened to live music! It doesn't get much better than that!

The most AMAZING sunsets!

Getting ready for the sunrise on top on Haleakala.

It was freezing on top of the volcano!

Absolutely beautiful!

Looking down into the crater of the volcano.

Got our bike gear on and ready to take off!

Again, amazing sunsets!

Stopping off along the beach in Makena.

Livin' the life!

Kyle on top of the world. :)

Our snorkeling adventure! We saw the most beautiful fish and huge sea turtles!

They were awesome!

Another sunset! They were just so beautiful. I had to take a picture every single night!

Dinner in Lahaina on our last night.

Back to reality.

Kreativ Blogger Award

I know this is many days late, but I have been on vacation and just now catching up with things. I was nominated for this award by my sweet friend, Lindsey! Thanks Lindsey (http://lindseyandjaymcrae.blogspot.com/)! She has got to be one of the cutest moms that I know!

Anyway, here's what I'm supposed to do:
1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4-Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know.
5-Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7-Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated

7 Things that you may not know about me:

1-I am super scared of heights, but have been skydiving and absolutely loved it! However, I probably wouldn't do it again. Why push your luck?

2-I love to cook and bake-especially cupcakes :). I'm a neat freak in the kitchen and must clean up any spills/messes immediately.

3-I can't stand when my hands are dirty--or anything else on my body for that matter. I absolutely love the beach, but hate the sand....it sticks to your body and feet and it drives me crazy!

4- I'm secretly worried that when I have children, I will be too much of a neat freak and be constantly cleaning up around the baby. Hopefully, I will let some of that go and be more laid back....hopefully!?!

5-I love to travel and would love to pick up and just move somewhere for a couple of years. My first choice would be Maui.

6-My dream is to have my own successful business--a cupcake storefront with cute bistro tables, platters full of yummy cupcakes and an old fashioned milk machine.

7-I don't mind spending money on clothes, shoes, etc--however, I have a hard time paying the extra $.25 for the name brand product at the grocery store. The store brands are just as good, right???

I don't think that I have 7 people to nominate, but here are a couple (if you've already been nominated, sorry!):

1-My BFF, Amy! She's awesome & loves to do these kind of things :) http://jasonandamyhand.blogspot.com/

2-Mary Kate Brown--she's the cutest republican I know :) http://marykateanderson.blogspot.com/