Author Archives: Mall Diva

Super Fun Stuff!!!

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Okay, first of all I need to direct your attention to kool108.com, where I ask that you kindly click on their karaoke contest link, and vote for Princess Flickerfeather. I know, I should have done this earlier, because the last day to vote is Saturday. I’m sorry. Anyway, all of the karaoke contestants are listed in 2 columns, and you will find Casii Stephan about halfway down the right-hand column. She performed the song “Higher Ground” by Stevie Wonder. You can even watch the video of her performance top 10 online casino games.

Please, please, PLEASE go and vote for her. And tell your friends.

Second of all, as many of you may know, I’m getting married next May.

Woohoo!!! Yeah, I know, it’s pretty exciting.

So my bridesmaids and my mother and I went bridesmaid- and mother-of-the-bride- dress shopping. (Btw, isn’t it awesome that “mother-of-the-bride” and “Minnesota organization of blogs” have the same acronym? My mom is the MOB in the MOB!) My cousin (the former queen of IGH who is now running for Winter Carnival) Lindsay works in a bridal salon, and decided to make the arrangements for our shopping event. She helped me decide which places to go, and made appointments for us to go there. I was very happy to let her take that over. My bridal peeps and I went to Bella Bridal, which is in the Woodbury Lakes mall, and David’s Bridal, which is not far from it.
We had the most wonderful time…so enjoyable in fact, that for the most part we could not contain our laughter.

http://thenightwriterblog.com/free-online-casino-games-no-download-usa/

See? We acted normal like anyone else who was in that shop! Then maybe we got a little silly…

Oh, How Fair

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View from the top

Last Friday Tiger Lilly, Benny and I went to where Minnesota gathers to spend its money and gorge on “food” that one generally wouldn’t eat except for at fair time. It was hot. It was crowded. We had a blast!

First we went to seedy art. I mean see the seedy art. That’s some amazing stuff, let me tell you.

Itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, seedy bikini I don't get it.

Then we had honey ice cream. Yummy!!

Yay, bees!

We also ate cheese curds, a deep fried 3 Musketeers bar, and lamb kabobs. Also yummy! We got the kabobs while meandering through the international market, which is way cool. Ben and I bought Tiger Lilly an early Christmas present at one of the stands there. Behold:

The katana of doom. It smites crap on the street.Doomsteak, anyone?

She had a great time carrying the katana around the Fair, getting envious glances from young boys. It was pretty funny. Then Ben said to her,

“You know you can’t have that until Christmas, right?”

“But- but Faith said I could!”

Then I got the look. I started laughing. Tiger Lilly mentioned how funny it would be when we have kids. “We’ll be on the same page by that time,” Ben said.

Sisters...

While we were there we went to the AM 1280- The Patriot booth and saw Buddha Patriot and his wife. Nothing was going on there right then, though. We also saw Strom!

So pretty!

Of course we had to go through the animal barns. Ben especially wanted to look at the cows. He was like a broken record while we were in there:

“Look, they’re so cute! I love cows! That’s a lot of steak!”

Those ninja cows are delicious!

We visited the sheep in leotards, too. The one in purple looked like he was dancing, and would occasionally head-butt the other one, who was remarkably patient.

Sheep in leotards!

Yes, it was an enjoyable day.

Here’s a p.s.~ Our tomatoes are ripening, along with our cayennes and jalapenos. It’s so fun to pick them, but we’re almost over-run!

A tisket, a tasket...

I think we’ve made 4 batches of salsa so far. It’s delicious!

Guess What?

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by the Mall Diva

Last Sunday, we made fried green tomatoes for the first time!!! We planted some veggies and herbs over Memorial Day weekend, and our tomato plants look like they’d attack you if you look at them funny. I felt so proud, getting tomatoes from my own garden…mostly because I made it back into the house alive.

I also made chocolate cupcakes, and used my new super awesome icing-piping tips that my cousin gave me to frost them with. They were adorable!

Now, as exciting as those things are, they’re not nearly as exciting as what happened last Tuesday, which you all know about by now. But I have to say it again- I got engaged! It was the sweetest and most wonderful day of my life…so far, at least.

We’re no longer just “courtship buddies” as my dear friend Princess Flickerfeather so eloquently put it; but, as Ben said yesterday morning as we announced our engagement at church, “we’re on double public probation”. That made me laugh. It’s true, and though it might not sound all that great, it totally is! From the beginning of our relationship we’ve been blessed with the involvement of people that care about us. It started with family and some MOBsters while we were acquaintances and friends. As friendship grew to be courtship, and as soon as people knew about it, they wanted to be in on it. This really is a community project, with our best interest at heart, and that is what I am most thankful for. Last night I went with Ben to hear him preach to elderly people in an independent living center. He knew a bunch of the ladies there because he has Bible studies with them during the week as part of his internship. He took me around to meet some of his “lady friends”, and a few of them got very excited as they realized who I was. There was one who told me that she’s spent hours talking to Ben, and that she’s been praying for me for a while. How cool is that???

Another lady told me that she was so excited to hear that we’re engaged. She had had a good marriage, and wanted the same for us and was quite sure we would have one. That’s something that I’m pretty sure of myself, not because we used a courtship method as opposed to dating, or because we are surrounded by support from the people we know and love, who know and love us back. Those things would mean absolutely nothing if they werent in place by God’s own hand. They are not a formula for success; but they are blessings and helpful to us because God gave them to us and said “Do it this way”. Ever heard the hymn “He Leadeth Me”? Yep, I’m thinking that applies here. I’m also not saying that its not going to be hard work, or that there won’t be tough times, but we’re not relying on ourselves to get through them. We’re relying on the God who gave us this awesome support group! See? It comes full circle. This is the example that we want to set, that obedience brings the blessing, and testimonies like this are just waiting to be lived out!

The Happy Couple

I am ashamed!

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I’m sorry!! I didn’t post cupcakes last Friday because it was much too busy a day, plus I didn’t have the camera.

It was last Monday that my cousin Lindsay (that’s right, the Queen), came over to bake cupcakes with me. We chose Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon Marshmallow Frosting from The Clean Plate Club blog. I am quite proud to say that none of them sank. Yay, me and Lindsay!! We had a wonderful time making these cupcakes, and we brought them to our church league softball games, where they were very appreciated.

Unfortunately, there are comlpications with the pictures that were taken, so I will leave with this one until a future date, it’s frosting!!!
Mmmm...frosting!

You will also soon be getting pictures of a wonderfully gorgeous cheesecake that I made for Benny’s birthday. My first one ever!!!! It was delicious.

Cake Tangents and Spit-Swapping

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Yay! Who’s excited for today’s cupcake post? I am! But, as the title states, I am on a cake tangent. So while I will be linking to a cupcake blog, the focus will be on cake in non-cupcake form. Got it?

I was browsing through Gigi Cakes, and saw her recipe for Banana Dulce de Leche Cake. I became quite excited because I remembered seeing a can of Dulce de Leche in the cupboard, and had wondered if there was anything I could use it for. This was my big chance!!!

It was pretty easy to make, and even the batter was super yummy! I have decided, though, that I’m not that into mascarpone icing, and if I make it again I might try cream cheese icing, or even no icing! The cake itself is that fabulous!

Hmmm…Am I forgetting something? Oh yeah, the story that inspired part of the title of this post, which most of you will probably find more interesting than the cake portion of this blog. Spit-swapping!

So, Benny and I were with a bunch of our peeps at the movie theatre, waiting for Expelled to start. I had bought a giant pretzel, and he was helping me eat it. You know how they come in paper envelopes? Well, I had taken out my gum and stuck it in the corner of the paper. So there we were, happily munching away, when I look down and notice that my gum was no longer in its little corner. Oh no!

I made it known that I couldn’t find my gum, and proceeded to search for it, first on myself, then I got up and searched my chair…it was nowhere to be found. I sat back down.

“I found it”, said Benny. He sounded a little grossed out.

My gum had fallen out of its corner and onto the pretzel, and it was Benny who got a surprise with his next bite. It was so funny! Well, at least Dave and Julie (who were sitting next to us) and I thought it was funny. Benny, not so much.

Cupcake-ology

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Whoops! I almost forgot to post about cupcakes!

First of all, what is a cupcake?

The all-knowing Wikipedia says:

A cupcake (the common US term) or fairy cake (the common British term), is a small cake designed to serve one person, usually made in a small paper cup container. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations, such as sprinkles, are defining characteristics of modern cupcakes.

Cupcakes are often served during a celebration, such as children’s classroom birthday parties. Additionally they can be served as an accompaniment to afternoon tea. They are a more convenient alternative to cake because they don’t require utensils or dividing into pieces because they are smaller.

A simple cupcake uses the same fundamental ingredients as most other standard cakes: butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Nearly any layer cake or loaf cake recipe can be used to make cupcakes.

Yep, I think that’s a pretty straightforward explanation of what cupcakes are. Fairy cake? heehee!

Let’s see if Noah Webster’s 1828 has anything to say on the subject…Nope. Nothing on cupcakes. Maybe fairy cakes? Nothing there either. Darn.

Well, in honor of British terms, I shall link to Airy Fairy Cupcakes.

And now, story time! Late in the afternoon on Wednesday I was at work rolling a perm for like the second hour in a row. It’s not because I’m slow, it’s because the lady was Chinese, and so, of course, was her hair. Meaning it was really super thick (it was also shoulder-length, but that’s not because she was Chinese). We were all talking about politics or some such thing that was doing a good job of putting us in a crabby mood. We unanimously decided that we needed to change the subject. Here was my chance…

“We could talk about cupcakes!”, I offered in my excited-to-talk-about-cupcakes way.

“I don’t like cupcakes”, said Carole, my boss’s client.

“*GASP*! Carole! What is wrong with you?”, I exclaimed. (Carole is a lovely lady who has been coming to the shop longer than I have, and knows I was joking.)

“Well,” she said, “I just think they’re too dry.”

“That is terrible. I am telling your mother.” (Carole’s mother is one of those wonderful little old ladies that comes to the shop every Thursday to get her hair set for the week.)

The next day when Virginia came to the shop (yes, I was done with the perm by that time, thank you), I asked what was wrong with her daughter. She laughed and said “How much time have you got?”

Cupcakes and Linky Love for my Foodies

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So as of late I’ve acquired a new addiction. Cupcake blogs*.

It all started quite a while ago when I was on Surly Dave’s site, looking through his blogroll of cooks. I found one that I absolutely love! Its Simply Recipes Food and Cooking Blog, run by a lady named Elise who posts wonderful, user-friendly recipes. If I’m feeling down, instead of turning to food consumption for comfort, I turn to food blogs, complete with pictures! Yay! I even got a notebook and started putting together my own little cookbook with the recipes I find there, and so far all of them have been delicious.

From that site I found another, of course. These things just tend to escalate, don’t they? Anyway, the second site is Vanilla Garlic, run by one Garrett McCord, who has a thing for putting together interesting ingredient combinations and creating original cupcake recipes. So of course in his blogroll he has a category just for cupcake blogs, which of the eight listed I favorited, um…..seven. Actually, I would have favorited all of them, but one isn’t running anymore.

Perusing these cupcake blogs has been so inspiring, but it took me a little while to try my first batch of cupcakes. I finally did on Monday, and the results were so wonderful!! I was so impressed with myself! The recipe comes from How To Eat a Cupcake, which is a super-fun site. Go check it out! I ended up buying a second notebook just for cupcakes. I think I shall post a new cupcake blog site every week! Bwa-ha-ha-haaaaa!

…Sorry.

So! Now you have something exciting to look forward to! Yay for you!

*Yes, there was reason behind the madness that was Benny’s blog background yesterday.

365 days ago today…

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…was the scariest day of my life. So far.

It wasn’t scary in the way that being on stage is scary or being attacked by sharks is scary. (Well, actually, I only have experience in one of those areas. Sharks. Totally.)

It was scary because I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but there was something that I wanted and I needed to find out if it was what God had in mind for me…and if my parents approved. I guess that was the scary part.

So, we all sat down in the living room that day – my mom, dad, me and Ben (aka “MG”). We had convened there to talk about “intentions and mushy stuff”. Oh, and earlier when I said that I had no idea what I was getting myself into? Seriously, I was clueless as to what to expect, so when my father asked Benny what his intentions were and he said “…well, one day I’d like to marry your daughter…”, I was a little shocked. I know. Looking back it seems pretty darn silly, like what else would we be talking about? But I had never done that before!

Well, “the talk” did go well. Benny has been spending lots of time with our family, because it is, after all, a family affair. And there is a reason for that. Joshua Harris’ books I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl really helped to keep things in perspective for me, along with people around me giving me really good examples of how to behave, and really good examples of how not to behave.

My dad was right, life is highway. Or at least an old interstate in the boonies. I can’t believe a year has gone by already, though its been suggested that I have a lead foot. So, we’ll keep driving down this road, kind of knowing one of the stops on the way, but not sure how we’ll arrive there or what comes after.

So here we are! We’ve come to this point in our journey, and we want you in on it.

Oh, and sorry guys. I’m taken.

Update:

If you want to know more, go here.

Bwa-ha-ha-haaaa! I’m it!

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I’ve been tagged by Amanda at Within the Discord (an awesome new blog, btw. I’m so happy to have another girl on board!) with this meme: 7 things that most people don’t know about me.

I think I’ll change it up a little, though: 7 things that may or may not be true that most people don’t know about me. Heehee! Have fun guessing what’s what!

1. I used to have two black kittens. Their names were Glory and Hallelujah.

2. I talk in my sleep. One incident involved me telling my mother that I needed nine thousand dollars. I was probably five.

3. This past year I got a tattoo of a scripture from the Bible. On the bottom of my right foot it says “Whither thou goest,”, and on the bottom of my left foot it says “I will go”. It’s super cool. It hurt like crazy, though.

4. I love football.

5. Clowns scare me.

6. Right now I’m taking a break from writing a script to do this meme. Betcha didn’t know that I’m a scriptwriter, did you? Come to our Christmas program!

7. I’m a musical prodigy.

Let’s see; I tag Kevi-Wevi, Princess FlickerFeather, and Tiger Lilly.

The Very Best Christmas Pageant EVER!

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I know I’ve been quite absent from the ‘sphere as of late, but I have a good reason!! Here it is:

So Princess FlickerFeather had this idea at the end of the summer for a Christmas program, and asked me if I would help make it happen. Of course I agreed, her being my dear friend and all. How hard could it be?

We had our first meeting toward the end of September. We had a hard time even knowing where to start, so I finaly said “OK! What is the one thing that we know for sure?” That one thing happened to be the date we were told the performance was to be. Alright! A lot to do, and enough time to do it if we are diligent.

The creative juices started flowing. We went through the ideas that she had, and have since been working endlessly to get everything together, and practicing two, even three times a week! If one of my parents asks “What are you doing tonight?” or “Hey! Where are you going?”, the answer is always “Practice! What do you think?”

We’ve worked hard, the cast has worked hard, and everyone else involved has worked hard to bring this thing to fruition. Now its pay-off time!!! And we want you to come and enjoy the results of our toil. There will be singing, dancing, lots of laughs, and even cookies!!! Here’s the D.L. :

What: Eclectica: A Christmas Program
(Directed and emceed by the Princess and yours truly)

Where: The Miracle Centre Church
125 21st Ave. S., S. St. Paul, MN 55075

When: December 16th at 6 p.m.
Cookies and other yummy desserty things to follow!!

This is your official invitation. Be there or be a shape with four corners!! Any questions, leave them in the comments section or shoot me an email. Look! We even have a logo that kicks butt! Thanks Mr. Tommy!

Eclectica: A Christmas Program