Last Event and Yogurt Galore!

Today was deeee-lightful!
De-LIGHT-ful!
De-light-FUL!

Today started early and a little panicky, as most event mornings do.
There were balloons, registration sheets, extra student nametags, all topped with a dollop of stress.
And, as most events go, once the check-in table was set up and the first person checked in, it was all downhill from there.

Events have this weird, and extremely consistent way of building, building, building, building...
Lots of preparation...
And then the first person checks in and it's like you're on a roller coaster ride from there. You can't stop it. It's gonna happen whether you're ready for it or not. So you go with it and it's seriously the best part of my job (besides all the great people I work with). Event days are just electric. It's go time, and everything you've prepared for is being put to the test. Totally exhilarating.

The year has been long. The fall season started off a little differently than expected. My coworker/boss left right before the school season started in August. We weren't able to hire someone else for her position until the first of December so all of Fall was just filling in where she used to be. The rest of the year has felt some of those effects, just like a big game of catch up. To finally make it to the end of the year and know that in three months we're going to start this whole thing over again with a clean slate is so refreshing. I get another shot to do my job better. That's pretty exciting.

I had a great event team this year, girls that I couldn't do any of this without. They call me Captain, but this boat would sink without them. :) Once we finished cleaning up from the event today, we headed to Berry Cool to celebrate. For those of you that aren't familiar with California, they love their frozen yogurt. There are so many different frozen yogurt places out here. Yogurtland, Joghurt, Golden Spoon, Pink Berry, Berry Fresh, Berry Cool...the list goes on and on. There's seriously a frozen yogurt place on every corner. And most of them are serve yourself. You pick up your cup, walk through the flavor line where there are usually 10-12 flavors, and then add as many toppings as you want, from fruit to chocolate, to gummy bears. Then they determine the price based on how much your container weighs. It's seriously awesome.

Clockwise from Left: 

Michelle, Maraya, Beth, Heather

Biola Admissions Events: Michelle, Maraya, me and Heather

You girls are the best. Seriously. 

Thanks for filling my days with laughter and for constantly being such a source of joy. 

You are all so amazing. 

What a team. :) 

Olivers and Alleyways

Recently, some of the girls from the office and I went to Olive Garden, which, in my opinion, is always delicious. We had a great time and ate lots of...mmmmmm....de...de...de...licious food.

Afterwards, we had a photo shoot in the alleyway back to our car. *smirk* 

Couldn't help but post the photos. 

There's nothing better than pretending you're something' else. :)

Thanks for work detox night ladies.

I think they keep us all sane! :)

Hopey

My longest known friend came to California last week. :) 

I've known Hope since, well, I was born? 

Our moms are dear friends and I think we're just destined to be the same. :) 

We had some good laughs and sincere chats. 

She's one of the most lovely, genuine people I know. 

Here's to lifelong friends! 

Cake Class #3

The 3rd week of cake class we made mini-cakes. My favorite. Known to the general population as cupcakes, these little treats are just the right amount of goodness. They are also more aesthetically pleasing to my eye as I tend to like looking at a collection of lots of things more than I do just one piece.

Case in point:

These are a collection of Lyndsey and my creations. So fun to make, and it felt a lot harder to mess these up. :) We loved using the stringy icing tip. Our instructor said it could also be used to make little monsters. I thought that'd be a cute idea for a kid's birthday or for Halloween. :) Just sayin'.

Cake Class #2

So it's been a little busy. I missed Cake Class #2 due to being sick. Coughing up a storm. I made a cake but didn't get to decorate it. I'm not sure that I've ever made a cake before, so I can go ahead and mark that off of my list of things to do before I do. I used a basic box cake. Chocolate of course. :) 

After the cake baked and cooled, I cut it in half. Then I put a ring of frosting around the outside of one layer, to create a barrier. I then filled the inside of the barrier with chocolate pudding. You can put any kind of filling that you want on the inside.

Here's Lyndsey adding her icing barrier to her cake. 

Once the filling is added, you can put on the other half of the cake. In order to have a smoother surface to ice, you can use the bottom of the cake. Meaning, if you cut the cake in half, use the top half as the bottom, and the bottom half, flipped over, the side that was next to the pan, as the top. It's usually a little less crumbly. 

The next thing you want to do is do a crumb layer of icing. This is the pre-icing, to try and catch all of the crumbs in a first icing layer. It looks something like this: 

Once the crumb layer is on, let it dry for about 20 minutes. This will make the final layer of icing easier to apply, and should catch most of your crumbs, so they don't show up in the top layer.

Finally, you're going add the final layer of icing. You want to make it as smooth as possible. It's a little difficult and takes a lot more patience than I'm usually able to muster. I have ended up saying not nice things to my cakes both times I've tried to ice them. I guess I need to practice a little more. :)

Cake Class #1

I haven't taken a class of any sort since 2004. The day I left college, I also left all that learning behind. But Tuesday night...changed all that. I'm back in the saddle, folks, and ready to expand my talents. I was invited by a sweet friend named Lyndsey to take a cake decorating class. There are four sessions, lots of accessories to buy, and many future cakes to be made! And I guess lots of icing to eat. :)

Bring 'Em Out, Bring 'Em Out

Every Monday night, one delightful group of girls gets together to watch The Bachelor, eat, cut and dye hair, laugh, and just generally enjoy each other's company. We always end up leaving the evening amazed at what happened each night. There really are no limits. Ha!

So, last week, in the middle of a conversation about retainers, we learned that one of the girls named Lindsey wasn't sure that she'd ever told her husband of six months that she had a retainer! We were shocked. Marriage is definitely no place to keep secrets, especially not ones as big as this! How can he NOT know about her retainer! We had to do something!

We declared this week to be Retainer Week, and all girls that still wore their retainers (even if not too faithfully) were to wear them to our weekly get together.

There was some bling goin' on.

We then devised a plan for how to tell Kevin about his wife's retainer secret.

We decided that the song "Bring 'Em Out" Lyrical genius.

I got a packed house yellin'

(Bring 'em out, Bring 'em out)

All my hot girls yellin'

(Bring 'em out, Bring 'em out)

All my Dope Boyz yellin'

(Bring 'em out, Bring 'em out)

From the back they yellin'

(Bring 'em out, Bring 'em out) 

(Unfortunately we didn't know these lyrics at the time. We just kept sayin' Bring 'em Out, Bring 'em Out....over and over and over and over and over...you get the point....again.)

So Deb led the way with "Bring 'em Out" and after a little jiggin' and singing' happened we all started poppin' our retainers out. Me first, then Garrett (yes he got in on the action), then Deb...and then......

Lindsey!

She jumped off the couch, popped her retainer out, and waited with baited breath for Kevin's response!!!

(baited breath)

He knew. 

He knew she had a retainer. 

He'd seen it laying around somewhere, or the case at least, and the secret we thought was such a secret wasn't really quite the secret. 

But man, was it fun while it lasted. 

Wear 'em proudly. 

Other possible song choices were:
Ain't No Holla Back Girl- B-A-N-A-N-A-S    R-E-T-A-I-N-E-R-S
Baby Got Back Retainers

Have no idea what will happen next week, but I sure do look forward to Monday nights! :)