Congratulations! You made it past the Lady Doctor!!

You came back!

I'm so proud of you for venturing back to this blog after I mentioned the...ummm...*cough*...lady doctor.

So proud of you!

See, we really are friends!

Well, friend, let me catch you up to speed on the Leonard Life.

Mr. Leonard, the manly head of the Leonard household, put his tremendous brain power together with his impressive ability to build anything out of nothing and built a motorcycle!

And it runs!

There were many exciting (and terrifying) moments in the garage and alley behind our house in the gee-toe this weekend and I could not be more proud of him for the finished product!

Check it out here. Motorcycle bike...with a wicked good lookin' man at the controls! Yes, please!

And while he built, I held a boutique, baked, went to a fabulous bridal shower and lunched at Papa's (for $4!) with a great friend. Ok, let me just stop here and proclaim...

If you live in Minnesota, and you haven't been to Papa's, go. Wait! Finish this blog, then go. Pack up your babies, or your husband, or a few girlfriends and head down to Thomas and 41st in North Minneapolis and order a bunch of food! Oh, and get a bottle of wine - most days they're half off from 5-7 pm!

Just do it! You won't regret it!

Wait!! If you're going, call me, I'll come too!!

Moving on.

So, all this domestic and wedded bliss has me once again dreaming of crafts and scheming nesty-type schemes for my home. Want to know what they are??

Break it down...

I bought this bench for our entryway. Yeah! Decorating progress! Those cushions are sad and need to be replaced immediately. I think I smell another craft in the making...Mmmm...it smells delicious.
THIS is what I"m going to do with the vast expanse over our buffet in the dining room. Man, we're gonna' have to take more pictures.

I WILL finish painting our bathroom this weekend! My apologies to everyone who had to see it "mid-scrape-and-paint". Come over for a cupcake and a look at the finished product...you know, sometime next week...or maybe the week after!

I'm working on finishing my skirt, and have plans for a few more headbands, (PLUS, a secret project!), and if I get ambitious enough, a set of curtains!

I'm still deciding on fabric for those curtains. I know, I know! Make up my mind already!!

I'll probably just end up at IKEA or BB&B with a curtain panel in one hand and a curtain rod in the other; half ashamed at not making them myself, half gleeful over not making them myself. :)

Yep, that sounds about right.

Don't judge me.

Alright now. I think that just about rounds out our life. You throw in a 50-lb baby who apparently has allergies (poor Beau-baby!), two of the naughtiest well behaved cats I've ever met, a gunshot or two from the neighborhood and you've got a pretty decent snapshot of our lives.

You're right, there's probably a pile of laundry in that snapshot too.

Have a Happy Tuesday! Talk to you soon!

That's what I have to say about that!

So many things to discuss.

And so much time to do it!

Oh, I could clean my house for the plethora of visitors who will adorn our couches this week. But I'm not going to.

I could plot out our dinner menus for the week so we don't end up with $5 Little Caesar's pizzas and hot dogs on our plates. But I'm not going to do that either.

Right now I have a few things to share with you.

So here goes.

I got a haircut this week. One with style and everything. There are layers. And bangs. And no split ends....or at least fewer split ends. And I LOVE it! A little part of me wanted to strut down the street tossing my head from side to side, allowing the wind to take my strands on a walk about my head, as if in a dance of joy. And I'm not sure why, but while picturing this scene I hear "Who wears short skirts?" playing in the background. Yeah, I don't know why. It's just what I hear. And I don't wear short skirts, but that's a catchy little tune!

I also had one too many doctor's appointments this week and I have a few letters to write. They look something like this.

Dear Facilities Staff at North Clinic,
This delicate paper gown I've been assigned is not exactly wind and cold resistant. A slight hike to the frigid air temperature in the exam rooms would be appreciated. I'm not asking for a tropical environment. Anything warmer than frozen tundra would be great. I'm just saying, I shaved this morning and this isn't really helping the situation. You know what I mean?

And also...

Dear Lady Doctor,
When you "suggest" I disrobe and don aforementioned paper "gown", maybe explain that you don't actually intend for me to put it on. Instead, maybe, just maybe, explain that I'm only supposed to drape it over me, knowing full well that what you've given me wouldn't cover the hind end of my 8 lb. cat. Because you see, when I mistakenly try to wrap 6 square inches of paper fabric around my curvaceous frame, I end up awkwardly curled up on the exam table, legs, arms and head tucked in the "duck and roll" position, trying desperately to keep everything covered, which is, in fact, impossible to do since I've ripped said 6-inch square paper straight down the middle while wrestling it into submission. So when you come in smiling and end up laughing once you see my predicament, know that I embrace what dignity I have left and blame you.

The end.

Oh, and I baked again.

And I'm baking tonight.

And I'm baking on Thursday.

Plus, there's a skirt in the works, a bread machine that is calling out for a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread, and a house full of bare walls that are screaming for picture collages and art from Home Goods!

All good things. All in good time.

Ta ta for now!

Cup takes the Cake

So I still haven't figured out how to fix my blog template.

Alright, I haven't even TRIED. It's true.

I'm busy. And since I know you're busy too, I think you'll cut me some slack. I mean, you didn't even really have time to stop and read this blog did you? What else should you be doing right now? Hmmmmm?

Wait, don't go away!! Stay. Grab a cup-o-lemonade...a big, frothy beverage, and take a minute to relax. I'm going to. Let's enjoy some silence together.

No. That's not right. Let's talk!

Let's talk about food!!

Oh food, hello food. Welcome. Sit a spell. You have friends here.

Specifically, let's talk cupcakes.

I love cupcakes.

I LOVE cupcakes.

And the more I make, the more I love. And the more I love, the more I make. I think you get the idea.

Well, this cupcake love has turned into a slight obsession and now I have the urge to bake, bake, bake cupcakes of all shapes, sizes, flavors and frostings!

I have a request for bridal shower cupcakes for Thursday night and I literally laid awake last night dreaming up cupcakey combinations!

I plotted, I planned, I frosted in my head. And I came up with...

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

I know. That's not exciting but, here it comes...

with...
wait for it...

Burgundy Fondant Roses!!

Ahhhh!!

I've never worked with fondant before! What am I thinking??

I'm nervous, and excited...and planning a "test run" tonight.

I found a recipe for Marshmallow Fondant (which is supposed to be yummier than store bought fondant). And since I spit on the idea of pretty cupcakes that taste bad...I will try it out. I mean seriously, what is the point of a gorgeous cupcake that tastes bad?? It's all about the flavor people. If allowed, I'd just take frosting in one hand, cake in the other, smoosh 'em together and shove them right into my mouth.

And of course there's inspiration.

So here it is:

Do you feel the love?

These delectable and astoundingly beautiful cupcakes were made by Bakerella. A truly talented woman, and an addictive blog. I stalk. I stalk with fervor!

I'll let you know how it goes. And I'll post pictures.

Sometime before the New Year.

I promise!

24...hours that is.

I found the fabric! Yes indeed I did.

I found the fabric for my dining room curtains. Well, at least the front side of them.

I'm still on the hunt for a surprisingly, sneekily, adorable lining for their cute little backsides.

But I have an accomplice in on this hunt and she's very talented, so I'm confident we'll have a delicious curtain concoction cooked up very soon.

And then, oh ladies, watch out. Let the sewing begin! The cuteness will be painful.

Until then, know this.

I have been baking. And taking pictures.

And neglecting to post said pictures here. And now I have a compilation of many days.

But if you didn't know it, they might all be the same day at my house.

So, for fun, let's pretend they are.

Eh-hem.

A Day in the Life of the Leonard's.

A veritable 24 hours of adventure!

Here we go...

Good morning! It's 6 am and the evil one isn't even pretending not to sit on the stovetop.

And where's the fat one? In a box, naturally.

And after leaping down off the stove, it's down to the basement to roll around in spider webs and dust piles.

Wait a minute. Don't we have another pet. Oh, the dog. He's out in the yard, playing fetch.

Fast forward a bit to dinner time. Corn dog fried goodness. Don't even pretend you won't be at our house for State Fair food night.

And I don't even apologize for the frying. Everything about these was right.

Girl Scout Cookie Imposters. Close your eyes. You won't know the difference, I promise. Chocolate Dipped, Peanut Buttery Yumscrumptious!

And maybe on this day it happens to be my honey's 29 birthday.

Vroom, Vroom!

Were you worried there weren't going to be any strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting? Here they are!

And now it's about time for a stray to find it's way into our yard. It happens all the time. This one was particularly adorable.

Peek-a-boo.

Rusty needed someone to teach about motorcycle engines.

It's a good life.

And now I don't feel bad about neglecting the pictures.

There now. You've seen them.

Ta ta!

Fat Quarter Field Trip

I'm going on a field trip with my BF Jules.

We don't have a bus or anything...that's not very economical...and also not as cool as the Night Rider and good ole' Mica (our respective rides).

But I still think we should sing school girl songs, play hand clapping games (down, down baby, down by the roller coaster...) and maybe even pack a brown-bag snack.

We're heading to Fat Quarter Quilts, perhaps the cutest store EVER!

Our mission?

Fabric for curtains. My curtains. My DINING ROOM curtains to be exact.

Now, I still don't even know how to thread my machine. But I'm convinced that with beautiful fabric in my possession I will be spurred on to thread and spin and sew!

Want to see my inspiration? Of course you do! Hide your pocketbooks ladies, you might get inspired too!

Yum...


Yum Squared...
















Seriously, somebody take my wallet!
















Thanks once again Anthropolgie for the tempting, but too rich for my budget, eye candy. It was delicious!

But have no fear budget fashionista's! I have Anthropologie visions, on a Walmart budget...and I will be victorious!

Stop back for mission updates.

Oh, and I have new pictures of recent baking adventures. Think motorcycles made out of candy and birthday cupcakes!

Pictures soon!