First Day of School...

Long time, no blog, haha. I thought I was a bit overdue for a life update so here goes...

My Business Man and I have had a great summer... super busy, but super fun. I haven't taken a TON of pictures, but I have been faithfully Instagram-ing... so here's our summer, Instagram-style.

We've been working on remodeling the kitchen since May, and it's just about done. Just missing some lighting and a few switch plates. Perhaps I will write a blog post with before & after pics at some point. (Haha, yea right.)

This drawer might be my favorite part. I am so much more organized now, I love it!

I got to spend some quality time with my BFF Talen. She came to visit the Bean Town for an entire week (!) and it was so much fun. Running, episodes of Friends, cupcakes galore... it was almost like college. Except no math stupid homework.

Rockin' the glasses. I also had an ulcer in my eye for two weeks at the beginning of summer. That was real fun.

My Business Man and I were blessed to be able to go an awesome vacation... a cruise through the Western Mediterranean! I had never been overseas, and it was absolutely the best vacation of my life. I now want to travel the world.

Portofino, Italy, aka the most beautiful place in the world. No joke.

Gelato, all day everyday. Seriously. I think my Business Man had two cones in each port. This Nutella was my favorite.

The best meal of the trip - paella in Valencia. With a ~~glass~~ pitcher of sangria.

Before flying across the pond, we got to spend a night in Atlanta with one of my best friends from high school... and meet her cute little sweet pea for the first time! It was so good to catch up.

I ran the Freedom 5k on July 4. And I ran a PR! I haven't PR'd in the 5k in a very long time. Everything just fell into place that morning and I felt really good. I was also 2nd place and received a $25 gift card to MC Sporting Goods. Woot woot. This reminds me that I still haven't spent it. Looks like I need to go to the mall.

Loving all the neon right now.

CUPCAKES!! This is probably the most exciting thing of the summer. Lots of good news for Sara's Sweets. First things first, I legit got a website. A real website! It's so cool.

Cute lil' mini cupcakes.

And another exciting cupcake-related thing... I opened a cupcake counter. It's inside a cute little shop called Pears Avenue in the downtown area of the Bean Town. It's open two days a week. Basically, I bake a TON of cupcakes, take 'em all down there, load up the case, and sell my little heart out! It is so.much.fun.

I love my job.

And on a last & final note... today was the first day of school. And I did not go. First time in 20 years that I have not gone back to school in August! I am now officially a full time cupcake queen. AHHHH! It is so exciting. I have been really blessed with the success of Sara's Sweets, and after lots of talks with my Business Man, we decided to step out in faith and take Sara's Sweets to the next level. And it has gone tremendously well so far. I cannot wait to see what the future holds.

So, there's a big ole' life update! Hopefully I will be back to update the blog sometime sooner than 4 months from now, but who knows?!

Day 7: Buried Cherry Cookies

I don't remember where my mom & I got this recipe... we started baking these about 8 years ago. And haven't stopped since! The name says it all - there is a 'buried cherry' in each cookie. The cookie itself is chewy and chocolatey, and inside there's a surprise cherry! It's all topped with a unique type of frosting; it is poured over the cookie before it's baked. It's like a cookie version of a chocolate-covered cherry! (Without all that nasty sweet white goo inside...) Here's a step-by-step break-down: Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Make an indentation in each ball. Place a cherry in each indentation. Make the frosting. (And don't forget to lick the spoon. And scrape the sides of the pan.) Top with the frosting. Bake! And then wonder what to do with the leftover 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk. (What kind of recipe only calls for 1/2 cup?) I guess I could be like my friend Jen , as she tol...

Hot Off the Press... [Chicken Bacon Bleu Panini]

So I totally forgot to post a panini recipe last Thursday... whoops. I'm sure you were all waiting with bated breath and were very disappointed. Well, never fear, because I've got a fabulous panini recipe tonight! Tangy bleu cheese and salty bacon come together to form a delectable sandwich. It comes from the panini cookbook I received for Christmas, 200 Best Panini Recipes (thanks Mom!) . The Chicken Bacon Bleu panini : grilled chicken, crisp bacon, and bleu cheese on sourdough with a spread of barbecue sauce and sliced red onion. I had never thought of putting bleu cheese on a panini before I saw this recipe. I feared there wouldn't be enough ooey gooey cheese! But bleu cheese actually melts pretty nicely. It's no Velveeta, but it added a great tang to the sandwich. First, spread the bottom piece of bread with a bit of barbecue sauce, and top with some grilled chicken. I actually used my panini press to grill my chicken for the first ti...

The Arrival of Something New...

Woo hoo for the last Friday of the school year! And only one more day of school next week. (And then a couple teacher workshops...) Another reason to be excited? Our fridge came today!! Isn't she a beauty? It is so nice to have a fridge again. You don't realize how much you miss a full-size refrigerator until you go a couple weeks without it. A bit bare... but that can be solved easily. Bottom-drawer freezer, containing the essentials: moose tracks & Diet Dew trying to get cold asap. Anyways, I'm just popping in to share my beautiful new appliance. The baking monster has taken over, and I'm in the midst of making 150 cupcakes for a graduation party tomorrow. First big baking project in the new kitchen! I'm loving all the counter space. Mmm... chocolate buttercream! Making good use of the baking nook! :) Adios!

Livin' the Dream in Lima

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