Next time

Next time I get married This cupcake is having pre made invites.
That is all.

Life to date..

So it has been brought to my attention that it has been a while since my last post (thanks Hen!)
Did you guys miss me? Did you notice I was gone? Did you cry yourself to sleep at night wondering why I had forsaken you and the world in general with my lack of posting?
Did you-
Ok, I'm going to stop myself there, I'm having trouble keeping a straight face. It’s hard to write a deeply serious blog when one is grinning like an idiot.
I have also realised that I uttered a blatant lie in my previous post. For that I am almost sorry. I said I would make a post a day for the entire month of November.
Must say I love how that turned out.

Wow the last month of my life has been busy.
Between work, life, wedding plans, Muffin, creampuff and work, I haven’t had much time to scratch my... back.. let alone write to you to keep you updated with the progress of planning my wedding.
What a month it has been.
Lets see..
The first week this little Cupcake and her Muffin jet-setted away. Up to tropical Queensland to explore all that it had to offer.
No need to mention that we already live in Queensland.. And what it has to offer is pretty much the same all year round..
Shut up..
Anyway, we went on holidays up to mid-ish Queensland to visit Muffin's brother and his girlfriend, Carrot Cake and his Cinnamon Swirl. It was the furthest north either of us has been in this fair country of ours.
It was hot.
It was muggy.
It was rainy.
It was also amazingly pretty. I don’t know what it was about the place, maybe because we had to drive 8 hours to get there, but it just seemed to be so much more exotic then the Gold Coast.
Who woulda thunk it.
So that was a marvellous holiday for the both of us. We explored, we drank, we hung out, we drank, we got rained on, we drank..
All in all, a success..

But you guys don’t want to hear about our holidays, you want to hear the juicy goss about the wedding planning.
I have to say, this whole planning thing..
I can’t seem to decide if it is incredibly easy or incredibly hard.
I wonder sometimes if things are happening TO easily for me and if I should be worried about the repercussions of things just falling into place.
Ok, I think I am sounding a bit neurotic now.
But here’s the thing.
In the space of one week I managed to pick my flowers, arrange the wedding car, pick out the wedding bands and sort out our photographer.
That being said, I think I am going to have to owe a few wonderful people some favours once the day is done, but I am ok with that.
I have heard that things can be hard to book, hard to find exactly what you want or hard to lock into place.
But I haven’t had any problems at all.

The car was simple.
Hen has some friends with this absolutely sexy hot rod. I asked if we could use that and they said yes, god bless em.
And naturally, if one owns a hot rod, one isn’t likely to let just anyone drive it, so the driver comes included in the deal.
So that's that sorted.

The photographer was just as easy.
I used to work in a photo lab, a million years ago before I decided graphic design was my calling (a way to pass me time) and so I asked one of the chicks who used to manage the store. She really does take some super nice photos and I feel better having someone that I know..
Plus it means I can edit the photos myself and being the control freak of a Cupcake that I am, that is right up my alley.

Cookie and I got up ridiculously early one morning, got in the car and drove up to the Brisbane Flower Markets.
45 minutes and $60 later, we had picked out the absolute perfect flowers to have in the bouquet.
And let me tell you..
If EVER you get a chance to go to a flower market, DO!!
The one in Brisbane isn’t massive, but my gods was it just amazing! $60 got me soooooo many flowers! it was just nuts!
For a week our house was so super perky happy..
I love flowers..
Nothing is better then a happy Cupcake with flowers!

The wedding bands were a bit of a different story.
I swear to gods, I am so amazingly grateful that we only every have to buy ONE ring for the groom.
We must have walked around the shopping centre for about four hours and Muffin must have tried on every single male wedding band in every single jewellery store in the damn place.
He decided that he wanted it to have a diamond in it.
One diamond.
He wouldn’t even consider getting one that he really likes coz it had three diamonds in it.
He didn’t like 90% of the rings with one diamond in them because they had a line that went all of the way around. Or they were too thick. Or the inside of the ring wasn’t absolutely perfect.
Ok Cupcake, calm down.. Deep breaths..
We only have to do it once.
Eventually he settled on a titanium ring that was nice and simplistic. It didn’t have a diamond in it but he left it with the store to call the manufacturer and ask if we can get it made with one in it.
We couldn’t.
Enter my mate The Jeweller.
I swear to gods if I were single this man would be my favourite man on the planet!
I gave him a call, explained the situation and asked if we bought the simple titanium ring, would he be able to put the diamond in it for us.
This wonderful, wonderful man said yes!!
It makes me so happy!!
Did I mention that favours I will owe people after the wedding?
So after four hours of trying on rings, more hours of debate, many phone calls and even more sucking up, we finally have his wedding band sorted.

I tried on about 5 rings and picked out the first one.
And it was 40% off..

After all of this organisation, I have come to the conclusion that weddings are ridiculously expensive, but if you know the right people, the are remarkably less so.
I find myself breathing a little easier in the knowledge that I don’t think we are going to blow our budget.

The lesson to be learnt here, boys and girls, is don’t be afraid to owe people favours, you can simply deny it all when they try to collect.

Either that or being tight isn’t always a bad thing, it means you get in contact with people you only talk to on Facebook..

Or I think I should talk to people I know more in real life and not on Facebook..

It was possibly always make friends with jewellers.. You never know when you will need one..

You can pick whichever suits you.

Peace out!

To be exact..

Exactly one year from today I will be surrounded by all of my closest friends, family and fellow baked goods. I expect I will have a glass of wine in my hand and will have the type of grin on my face that is synonymous with exhaustion, elation and complete, utter bliss.. I'm sure the alcohol will have contributed to the benign grin a small amount.

In the previous week, if things go according to plan, I will have been poked, prodded, waxed, fluffed, dyed, squeezed, painted, sprayed and squished. I will have been filled up to my ears of girl time. I will have laughed, cried (no doubt) giggled, been sick, lost my breath, caught my breath, sighed, missed, screamed, fought and loved.
In the space of a week I am certain that I will have gone through the entire spectrum of emotions and I will be left completely and utterly exhausted.

Now I find yourself thinking why would anyone out themselves through such torture? Why would anyone submit themselves to mental, emotional and physical exhaustion? Why?
The answer is really quite simple. Just thinking about going through it all bring and tingle to my spine and butterflies to my stomach.
To share such a thing with so many people I love..
My cookie, the rooster and hen, the scones, the gingerbread man and his fairy bread, pancake, the in-laws, sweet bun and her cream.. So many people, so much love..
The real reason I put myself through such torment..
My Muffin.
My life.
My world.

He is the reason I get up in the morning. The reason I come home at night. The reason I sleep, eat and dream.

He is the reason that I will subject myself to the afore mentioned torment.
And exactly one year from today, he will be all mine.

I can only hope that all of the other Cupcakes out there can find a Muffin to call their own.



- This opinion was formed on Cupcakes iPhone

I haven't dropped off the face of the Blogosphere.. I swear

So I will admit it, it has been a while since I have been active in the world of blogging.
It seems as though I have dropped off the face of the Blogosphere, if you will.
Truth be told, life has been hectic at the moment.
Work, work, work, sleep, Baked Goods, and, just for a change, work.
But this is the month.
I completely intend to make a post a day for the entirety of this month.
(Yes, I realise the I have already dropped the ball on that one in that I didn’t post yesterday, but I shall make two today to make up for it.)

Oh the stories I can tell you of the things that have occurred over the past few weeks.
Children, mothers, lovers, food, wine, beer..
The list goes on and I really have no idea where to start.

As you all know we have an addition to our family in the form of a white, fluffy, smartarse of a lap dog.
The transformation I have seen in him since we first brought our bundle of joy home from foster care is just astounding.
He has metaphorically, and due to a hair cut a few weeks ago literally, come out of his shell. He is now a completely different dog. In fact, he is a little shit.
For weeks and weeks and tried to have him sleeping in the laundry.
What a heart wrenching exercise of will THAT was.
All hours of the night he would bark and cry and whine and scratch, all the while this Cupcake and her Muffin would be laying in bed, wide eyed, pleading with him to just go to sleep.
He didn’t.
He continued to cry and even after many different people told us 'That it will get better in time, he will realise that crying wont get him anywhere'
It didn’t.
Early one morning, after getting very little sleep, black rings gracing my bloodshot eyes, I dragged myself out of bed, put him outside for a wizzy then proceeded to collapse back into bed after letting him back in.
I forgot to put the little bastard back in the laundry.
Eyes drifted closed and I slipped into the bliss of uninterrupted sleep.
Muffin slept in the latest he has ever done so and when he thought it time for me to awaken, he tapped me on the shoulder and said 'Guess where the dog has been sleeping all morning'
He pointed down his side of the bed where the most adorable ball of fluff to grace this earth was curled up in a ball against the window, sleeping happily.
He had picked where he would be sleeping from now on.
Needless to say, the only thing we have to contest with is my snoring..
Not that I snore at all..

Mmmm pizza..

Engagement parties have me exhausted. As mentioned earlier we are having two (because one is just never enough). I have some AMAZING people helping me out though, which means that I don’t have to stress about it nearly as much as I am. But sometimes it feels like I am biting off more then I chew.
What if people don’t come? What if people come that didn’t RSVP? What if there isn’t enough food? Booze? Entertainment?
What if people drink too much and then fights break out?
What if I drink too much?
Well that last one isn’t too much of a drama, I shall be a good girl, but after all, it’s my party and I'll drink if I want to..
I am super excited though for both of them. What better way to celebrate the chaining yourself to another baked good for the rest of your earthly life and beyond then by drinking to excess with all of the family and friends whom you have lived and loved and wouldn’t have any other way.
I don’t even know if that makes sense.

Wow.. It’s harder to write 1,700 words then I first thought..
I’m tired.. I shall make up the lacking words later when I’m not on holidays..
Peace out!

Primal Instincts.

I swore to myself when I started this thing this I wouldn’t find myself bad mouthing other people.
I would start writing about how much people piss me off and how annoying they are.
Blogs like that are a dime a dozen and, lets face it, bitchiness is an unattractive feature in any cupcake.
But this is one of those circumstances that I just can’t hold my silence.
Just to clarify here, my irritation isn’t directed at one particular person, more at a group of people and how something as simple as a choice they have made had lead them to go from fine, upstanding citizens (most of the time anyway) to insufferable pains in my side.
Who would have thought that for 6 months of the year that these people are mother, sons, teachers, students, doctors, lawyers (possibly the exception to the upstanding citizen rule), taxi drivers, daughters, plumbers, electricians, works, lovers, fighters doers..
But for the other six months of the year..
They are Collingwood supporters.
It is as though their decision to support the team with the black and white stripes turns them into completely different people.
I'm not entirely sure what it is or even whom to blame.
Eddie McGuire?
Or is Eddie simply a symptom of a problem so much worse?
All I know is that I have not met one, single hardcore Collingwood fan I like.
I find them to be loud, obnoxious, inconsiderate, insufferable and just generally hard to get along with.
Now don’t get confused here, I'm not talking about the people who just dabble in AFL and half-heartedly go "I should pick a team I guess.. Hmm I think I will follow the masses and support Collingwood"
Although sometimes those fans can be incredibly irritating, at least pick a team with fewer fans, THEY NEED YOU MORE!!
No, I'm talking about the hardcore ones..
The ones who can spell the Captains name backwards.
The ones who own a flag, a scarf and a jersey.
They ones who cry when Collingwood loses.
And the ones who cant bare to hear people say bad things about their team..
Mainly how irritating their fans are.
You all know the types of fans I am talking about.
Every football code has them, and every team has them.
Most of the time they are few and far between and knowledge of them can be pushed to the back of your mind in favour of the good fans who make you think that supporting football may not be such a bad thing after all.
But it’s as if Collingwood has produced them on mass.
Buy yourself a black and white flag, don a black and white jersey and you will find yourself travelling back through time when humans rely only on their basic instinct.
Sex.
Fight.
Support Collingwood.

In conclusion, I would like to say that this isn’t in response to the HUMILIATING defeat my team, St. Kilda, suffered at the hands of the Black and the White in the Grand Final.
It is something that has been playing on my mind for many years now.
It has just come to my realization today that I have the means to express my dissatisfaction.

Oh and it is a little bit because of the humiliating defeat...
Freaking Magpies..

An Adoption Process

Here I sit, on the bed. Alone.
Muffin is in the lounge room playing Tiger Woods Golf with his cousin, Cheesecake.
On the bed next to me is our new child.
Slightly less then a week ago, 6 days, 9 hours, 27 minutes ago, this Cupcake and her Muffin took one step further in creating a little bakery of our own.
After much deliberation, research, soul searching, pleading, pouting and a little bit of emotional blackmail, I was able to convince my muffin that we were ready to become parents.
So on to Google I hopped and, in my travels, I was able to find the most perfect adoption site to suited our needs.
Phones were called, appointments were made, forms were filled and finally the day came when we had to travel to meet our potential child.
Leading up to the date I was so nervous.
I was having trouble sleeping.
I was thinking of all the things that could go wrong.
I had been let down previously and what if that were to happen again.
Muffin was his usual stoic self. He didn’t show much emotion and as excited as he claimed to be, it was hard to see through his cool, calm and collected exterior.
I was slowly falling to pieces with the stress of it.
I could hardly eat, hardly sleep, hardly concentrate...
Ok, I'm being just a little bit dramatic here.
But I was nervous about the whole thing.
Cookie was fantastic about the whole thing.
She kept me deliciously distracted the day before, and kept putting a positive spin on the whole thing.
She keeps me sane.
Much love for the cookie.

Finally the day arrived.
We had to leave early, as it would take us a good hour and a half to get to the small town out in the sticks where we were to meet our potential addition to our bakery.
I was worried about under dressing.
I was worried about over dressing.
Should I wear heels? Flats? Thongs?
Would jeans and a t-shirt be alright or should I wear long pants.
None of this showed, however, as Muffin and I went through our Sunday morning rituals of doing the washing and having breakfast together.
I was one cool cat, I can tell you that much.
Before we left, we called the adoption agency to confirm our appointment.
As I mentioned earlier, I had been disappointed previously and I was hoping to avoid a repeat of that occasion after having driven over 100 kilometres to get there. I would much rather the disappointment be in the comfort of our home.
Our contact woman was unavailable.
We left anyway.
The drive was nice.
It was an impeccable day.
The sun was shining.
The sky was blue.
The light breeze was positively glorious.
It was fantastic to spend the quality time with Muffin.
It doesn't happen nearly enough.

And so we arrived.
It was your typical small country down.
Anyone who has been to anywhere even slightly rural would recognise the town and the people.
The happy kind of people who smile at you in the street.
The kind of people who don’t look at you like you have a screw loose when you ask for directions, which we had to.
It was the kind of town with a population of 3,000 and about 2,500 of them are farmers.
It was quaint and pretty and the sort of place I would probably become more of a psychopath then Patrick Bateman if I lived there.
We were only 5 minutes or so late, which by my standards is positively early, but the woman was even more so.
She arrived about 20 minutes after the designated time for our appointment.
My Muffin and I sat outside, soaking up the sun and each other’s company and tried not to get too hopeful about the possibility that was facing us.
She arrived.
Out of the car she brought the most adorable little boy on the entire planet.
He is 4 years old and has big brown eyes that could melt even the coldest of hearts.
It was instant chemistry as he walked up to me, a little bit shy, and we had our first meeting.
This soon progressed to a hug and, after Muffin saw me and realised that I quite possibly wouldn’t be able to let me him go, he agreed that this was the perfect child for us.
After filling in the appropriate paperwork and paying the adoption fee, we were able to hop back in the car and begin the long drive home with one extra passenger.

We had to stop by the Hen and Rooster's on the way home.
I say this like it is a nonchalant, easy thing to do, when, in fact, we had to drive past our house to get to theirs.
But things had to be collected for our new arrival.
Blankets, bedding, toys.
All things necessary when one adopts.
Also, I think The Hen just wanted to meet her new grandson.
I believe it was more that then anything else.
He was very timid at first.
He didn’t like being hugged or touch in general.
He was skittish as well.
Making sure that either Muffin or myself were in his sights the entire time.

We got him home and begun making him feel as welcome as we possibly could.
We set up his bed and took him on a tour of the house.
He was very uncertain.
He didn’t know where he could go and what he could do.
6 days, 10 hours, 35 minutes later, he is much better.
He has claimed the couch as his own and tried to adopt my granny blanket.
That was nipped in the bud and we bought him a blanket of his own.
It is hard during the day while us baked goods are out making a living, working, slowly killing ourselves, and we have to leave him home on his own.
But as yet he hasn’t gotten into any trouble.
I guess time will tell.
He is definitely a mummy's boy.
Right now he has fallen asleep next to me.
Even after such a short amount of time, he has become part of the family and there is much, much love.
Even if he did try to pluck a few feather from the Hen today.
But even with all of his eccentricities, he is and always will be, my Cream Puff.

Circumnavigation

Well it has finally happened.
It was an inevitability and a long time coming.
Many would argue that it is a pretty standard unit of time that has passed, others would say that it has seemed like a lot longer then some.
I haven't quite decided which school of thought I am supportive of just yet.
Cupcake has aged.
The world has turned, the seasons have changed, day has become night and night has, undoubtably, shifted into day.

They shouted it from roof tops, printed it on the front page of newspapers, posted it on facebook and sent numerous text messages regarding it.
'Cupcake celebrates her birthday!'
It was a quiet affair, nothing to glitzy or glamourous..
Just 200 of my closes friends, relatives and acquaintances..
Obama showed up of course..
But I said to him 'now my birthday isn't that important. Surely there are other things that you would rather do on a Sunday?'
But he insisted.
It just wasn't a party until his holiness showed up though. Now there is a pope who knows how to party!!

In all honesty though, I had a fantastic day!
Breakfast with the Hen and Rooster, the delightful Lollipop, their Japanese exchange student, Muffin and, of course, the fantastic and utterly delicious Cookie, best mate to this cupcake and maid of my honour.
We had all you can eat breakfast buffet.
My tummy hurt afterwards.
I ate all that I could.

After that gathering, the In-Laws converged on the bakery and much shenanigans ensued.
Well actually, the converging happened on Saturday night, but who is counting.
There was much merrymaking, more eating, much meat cooking and a small fire.
So it was a successful start to what I hope will be a new tradition.
That of BBQ Sunday!
The rundown was this.
We got home.
We made foods.
We cooked foods.
People drank beer.
We ate foods.
We made merry!
It was a complete and utter pleasure!

So the earth resumes its constant trek around the sun.
The seasons keep changing.
Day, night..
You get the picture.
I'm just glad that from now on, I get to celebrate each time the Earth circumnavigates the Sun with my muffin..


- This opinion was formed on Cupcakes iPhone