See!? The Superbowl can be fun!

Look what I made!


I get so excited every time a friend oohs and ahs over my goodies. Someone even called me "beyond ridiculous." I'm not going to lie, I love it. I love when I see an idea come to fruition in a way that makes me proud. So, hooray for Superbowl Cupcake Toppers! They make me happy!

Chris, after complimenting me on how nice they looked, also informed me that these aren't true to reality because NFL footballs don't have stripes (or maybe Superbowl footballs don't have stripes - apparently, I wasn't listening all that well). To that, I say pththththt. In my research, I had discovered that some footballs had stripes while others did not, but I decided on stripes - I think it makes them look more like footballs and less like ovals with shark teeth on top. Don't you agree?


Stay tuned for more photos of the finished product. A good friend of mine is having a joint Birthday/Superbowl party on Sunday, and he requested hostess cupcakes. I was, of course, completely appalled, so I made homemade hostess cupcakes...thus the couple of toppers that look like hostess cupcakes - just so people know what I was going for.

Per Chris' request, I will also make Green Bay Packers toppers for a few of the cupcakes. He's from Wisconsin, so he is of course a Packer fan. It's bred into those Wisconsinites. He's very excited for the Superbowl. I'm really just looking forward to hanging out with the girls. :) Shhh...don't tell!

Raya can't wait.

I'll post the finished project next week!

Inspiration

...boards. I love them. I love to look at them. I even love to make them. My friend Shannon is getting married (yay!) and I can't seem to stop making inspiration boards for her wedding. I know, I have issues.

Here is my latest incarnation, and so far my favorite for her rustic backyard (probably) wedding:

More Shannon Wedding by kerissa.freeberg on Polyvore.com

Ruffled
ruffledblog.com

Alders Photography : Image #95447 : Style Me Pretty
stylemepretty.com

Saja Wedding
sajawedding.com

Love and Lavender : Image #102753 : Style Me Pretty
stylemepretty.com

katewebber.com : Image #133444 : Style Me Pretty
stylemepretty.com

Elegant, Relaxed Chicago Affair, IV | Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate...
stylemepretty.com

Real Weddings « 100 Layer Cake
100layercake.com

Details + Decor « 100 Layer Cake
100layercake.com

Love and Lavender : Image #102773 : Style Me Pretty
stylemepretty.com

Love!

Baking, baking, baking...

For fun, I made some coconut marshmallows. They were deeelicious! Don't they look it!?


I used this recipe here, but I also added some coconut extract into the batter because, really, that's a necessity.

We also celebrated my awesome graphic designer friend Agnes' birthday this weekend. I wanted to make her some cake. She requested white cake with raspberry filling and white chocolate buttercream, so I obliged. I thought the results were quite pretty.


I took this opportunity to try out a new white cake recipe. I think the cake turned out well. I also tested a new frosting recipe. I actually recycled the printout of that one after I was done. Clearly, I wasn't such a fan.

I also made some cupcakes for good measure!


I'm testing out all these new cake and frosting recipes because I'm making a cake for someone I don't even know off of a referral, which is pretty exciting and so much fun! I want the cake to be the best it can be! I hope to have a photo of that here too at some point. But first, superbowl cupcakes! It's baking season, apparently. Wait...it's always baking season at my house!

Veils, Earrings, Bracelets and Belts. What more does a girl want!?

I got to play with my dress and jewelry the other night! Yay! Pretty and fun! I went back to Blue Sky Bridal (because they're the awesomest) to try on veils, and I brought my jewelry too so that I could get a picture of the whole look.

I tried on a long-ish veil, but it's just not me. Although, if I was going to do a long veil, it would be lace trimmed, like this one from here:

Blue Sky had a lovely lace trimmed/mantilla style veil - it will be amazing for some bride. But again, I'm just not a long veil kinda girl, beautiful lace or no.

I didn't mind the fingertip length veil, which is surprising as I thought I would have a rather unpleasant reaction to veils in general. But, although it might be a current trend/cliché, I'm in love with the bird cage veil. It's just me. I can't help it. It's just part of my genetic code. There's nothing more to be said. Love this from here.


I'll wear it for photos before and during the ceremony, and then likely take it off for the reception. I don't want it to come over my eyes - I want it to come down over my forehead slightly off-kilter so that it's just a little somethin' somethin' that says "Hi. I'm getting married."

And then there are the borrowed earrings. How gorgeous are these? Totally perfect.


Perhaps a little $8 milk glass bracelet for something old.


I haven't yet decided if I'm going to do a necklace. I tried on all manner of pearls and it just wasn't working for me. So it's either something sparkly, or nothing at all. I'm certainly amenable to either.

And the last decision was that my lovely, lovely lace trumpet dress (and don't worry - even if Chris read that, he won't know what that means) told me that it needs a sash/belty thing. A lovely 1-1/2 to 2 inch silk ribbon with some trim on the front or perhaps a vintage broach on the back bow (but not both - too much bling). Something like this from here:


You know, except that's not my dress, and I won't have the scary giant flower eating my head.

So many decisions made! So many more to go - like how to fancy up very very bleh shoes.

Picture this...

Beautiful antique shutters like so:

(for sale here)

As a display for name tags attached to vintage skeleton keys, like so (well, except with names and table numbers instead of a save the date note, of course):


So lovely! I'm slightly concerned that it's a little too rustic for my theme and my venue however. The Alexis is very modern, but eclectic. But, the room has lovely exposed brick walls. Is a touch of rustic okay mixed into the modern decor? Thoughts?

My favorite things

So, I like to bake. That has been well established. But I also like to dance. Good thing, because with all the baking, I'd be a lot bigger if I didn't. :) It also helps that I can't eat much of what I bake due to my lactose intolerance. I've recently been informed that I should go gluten free for a couple of weeks to see if that helps with my migraines. Those will be some cranky weeks. I love me some bread. Anyway...

The kids I help teach at D&G Dance Company in Columbia City had their recital last Saturday, and the instructor, Jeffie Lou, asked her adult class to dance as well. Her class has men, women, mothers, grandmothers, and teens, which is so much fun. Only some of the "regulars," as we're called, performed. One of the husbands video taped our performance.



It was great fun. I missed dance, and even performing, when it wasn't in my life for all those years during law school and a couple of years thereafter. I especially love dancing and performing it in a low-key setting such as this where it's really just for fun (well, and to burn off a few extra vegan cake calories). Of course, once I got off stage I had 26 kids waiting for help tying bandannas on their head. No rest for the weary, as they say!

Kerissa likes snow

It snowed overnight on Tuesday. It was beautiful. It was also nearly gone by morning because of the rain.

However, it was some of the most sparkly snow I have *ever* seen.

I didn't even photoshop those sparkles in. I'm obviously not that talented with photo editing software.

Soooo pretty! Just wanted to share!