Here’s a video tutorial from I Am Baker on how to make a patriotic rose cake. For some reason I have been very interested in cake decorating lately and this method couldn’t be more easy or beautifully done. I plan on making some rose cupcakes as celebratory treats for some coworkers at the Apple store. Hopefully they turn out this well!

Patriotic Rose Cake

Inspiration for my new striped walls that will be coming this summer! I want to make sure I have a plan for these as it can be tricky to do clean, sharp stripes. Here’s a blog post on how to paint perfect striped walls:

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/11/how-to-paint-perfect-stripes-on-walls/#

Inspiration for my new striped walls that will be coming this summer! I want to make sure I have a plan for these as it can be tricky to do clean, sharp stripes. Here’s a blog post on how to paint perfect striped walls:

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/11/how-to-paint-perfect-stripes-on-walls/#

Couldn’t happier with my thrift store finds this morning. Damask candle stick holder, vase, and a huge new fresh linen candle, which, after taking this picture rolled off the table and broke. Sigh. I guess you can’t win them all.

Went in for a cupcake pan and found these lovelies. And a cupcake pan too. New room decor and rose cupcakes on the way!

The damask candle stick I rescued from Savers this morning. 

Education

Very rarely do you meet an individual with the vehemence to pursue knowledge for its intrinsic value. The only institution that posits as its central thesis a commitment to this value is the same institution that squanders it. This is a mistake. Our brightest individuals are made to be dim, lampshade to a light. The personal conflict that results from such constraints is too great to express. Understand the challenge is not one of value but one of identity, the only and most fragile source of genuine fulfillment. You are challenging identity. There can be no greater crime than this; asking one to deny their very self to attain the primary thing that self values. The choice that follows sacrifices identity for values, values for identity, or both. This is the state of education.

The power of dreams. Absolutely incredible!

 
Is It Fall Yet?
Cataloged in Culture on Sep. 15, 2011
 
Is it fall yet? Can I wear cardigans and jeans and sweaters and stop feeling so exposed all of the damn time? Can I switch from sangria to whiskey and spend nights in my warm bathtub listening to jazz and feeling really elegant?
Is it fall yet? Can I dump my airhead summer fling and trade him in for a fall boyfriend—someone who will drink coffee with me and talk about gender norms and Kim Kardashian and lay in bed for a long time and create a little cocoon of comfort? Can I have boring sex andgreat conversations?
Is it fall yet? Can I start to feel the anxiety of Halloween plans and what I should be? Can I spend too much money on a costume the day before and ultimately decide to stay in and watch scary movies instead? Can I just hate Halloween?
Is it fall yet? Can I take pictures of myself in the foliage and post them on my Facebook with the caption “OMG. FALL.” Can I make an album and call it “fall fuzz” and have photos of hot chocolate and pumpkins? Can I talk about how much I love the weather even when I’m choosing to stay indoors because it’s, like, too cold?
Is it fall yet? Can I start feeling nostalgic for things I never even experienced like bobbing for apples and going to haunted houses? Can I miss trick or treating and resent that my only option on Halloween is to dress like a whore and get wasted? Can I marvel at how the meanings of holidays change as you get older? Can I miss the innocence of getting sick on too much candy instead of alcohol? Can I miss my mommy?
Is it fall yet? Can I begin to feel nervous about Thanksgiving and Christmas and seeing my family and being reminded of how much things have changed and how much they haven’t? Can I feel old and miss being excited about presents? Can I tell my dad to go screw himself and then raid the medicine cabinet?
Is it fall yet? Is it time for me to go back to my hometown and run into people I didn’t care about it in high school and I certainly don’t care about right now? Can I feel overwhelmed by the realness of everything and being faced with the reality of time passing? Can I just go back to my city and my life and feel okay again?
Is it fall yet? Can I miss you now? I only really miss you in this season, which is weird but maybe it’s because the leaves always stun me like love. I want to lie in my bed listening to that one song that makes me feel warm and think of you.
Is it fall yet? Can I feel like an adult now living in my own apartment and living my own life during a season that’s meant for parents and their children? Can I make Hot Toddy’s before bed and feel like I’m becoming the person you taught me to be? Can I eat some damn pumpkin pie?

Feeling nostalgic for things I never experienced and loving this essay 
By RYAN O’CONNELL about my favorite season. Is it fall yet?

Is It Fall Yet?

Cataloged in Culture on Sep. 15, 2011

Is it fall yet? Can I wear cardigans and jeans and sweaters and stop feeling so exposed all of the damn time? Can I switch from sangria to whiskey and spend nights in my warm bathtub listening to jazz and feeling really elegant?

Is it fall yet? Can I dump my airhead summer fling and trade him in for a fall boyfriend—someone who will drink coffee with me and talk about gender norms and Kim Kardashian and lay in bed for a long time and create a little cocoon of comfort? Can I have boring sex andgreat conversations?

Is it fall yet? Can I start to feel the anxiety of Halloween plans and what I should be? Can I spend too much money on a costume the day before and ultimately decide to stay in and watch scary movies instead? Can I just hate Halloween?

Is it fall yet? Can I take pictures of myself in the foliage and post them on my Facebook with the caption “OMG. FALL.” Can I make an album and call it “fall fuzz” and have photos of hot chocolate and pumpkins? Can I talk about how much I love the weather even when I’m choosing to stay indoors because it’s, like, too cold?

Is it fall yet? Can I start feeling nostalgic for things I never even experienced like bobbing for apples and going to haunted houses? Can I miss trick or treating and resent that my only option on Halloween is to dress like a whore and get wasted? Can I marvel at how the meanings of holidays change as you get older? Can I miss the innocence of getting sick on too much candy instead of alcohol? Can I miss my mommy?

Is it fall yet? Can I begin to feel nervous about Thanksgiving and Christmas and seeing my family and being reminded of how much things have changed and how much they haven’t? Can I feel old and miss being excited about presents? Can I tell my dad to go screw himself and then raid the medicine cabinet?

Is it fall yet? Is it time for me to go back to my hometown and run into people I didn’t care about it in high school and I certainly don’t care about right now? Can I feel overwhelmed by the realness of everything and being faced with the reality of time passing? Can I just go back to my city and my life and feel okay again?

Is it fall yet? Can I miss you now? I only really miss you in this season, which is weird but maybe it’s because the leaves always stun me like love. I want to lie in my bed listening to that one song that makes me feel warm and think of you.

Is it fall yet? Can I feel like an adult now living in my own apartment and living my own life during a season that’s meant for parents and their children? Can I make Hot Toddy’s before bed and feel like I’m becoming the person you taught me to be? Can I eat some damn pumpkin pie?

Feeling nostalgic for things I never experienced and loving this essay 

By RYAN O’CONNELL about my favorite season. Is it fall yet?

When Mondays Turn into Sundays

When my sundays aren’t productive enough they tend to amalgamate themselves with the following monday. The sunday that I was supposed to get my life in order/prepare for my week but failed ends up realizing itself in the monday that my life is not in order. I tend to miss class, have a mini existential crisis, read beyond what’s prudent, lay on the floor with my feet on my daybed, regain my sanity, clean, shower, and leave the house looking, though not quite feeling, like a human around 4:30pm. Today is one of those days. 

sweethomestyle:

submitted by outlw.

(Reblogged from sweethomestyle)

Penguin Classics