Eep! I entered a writing contest!

Thanks to this post by my friend Kerry, I entered a writing contest today which is something I haven't done since college. The only guidelines were that it had to be set in Ohio in the spring and less than 2500 words long. This year I set out to do more things that scare me, and this falls nicely into that category while still being small enough to seem doable. And I did it! So if you want to read my story it is here. (And you should read Kerry's too!)

Boozy Apple-Cinnamon Milkshake Recipe

Nothing has ever made me wish alcohol and milkshakes were good for you more than what I'm about to share with you. What started off as a random desire to use my Fireball Whisky became one of the best milkshakes I've ever had. Can you dedicate a recipe? I vote yes. I would like to dedicate this one to my Grandma K. because it reminded me of the Apple Dumplings she used to make for my birthday. If she was still with us, I would take her one of these; I think she would have gotten a kick out of it! So let's get to it, shall we?

Ingredients to a soon-to-be delicious creation

Boozy Apple-Cinnamon Milkshake
(serves 1)
2T. frozen apple juice concentrate
2oz Fireball Whisky
1oz Apple Pie Applejack
3(ish) scoops vanilla ice cream (this only has five ingredients!)
Whole milk (to taste)
Dash of cinnamon

Put the apple juice concentrate, Fireball, and Applejack one of your Magic Bullet cups. Add three or so normal-sized scoops of ice cream (it pretty much filled the cup but I didn't pack it down or anything). Blend! If it doesn't blend well, or you want it to be thinner, add some milk and blend again. Sprinkle some cinnamon on and Instagram that sucker! I mean, drink it!

The delicious creation! (Now I want another one.)

As you can probably see in the first picture, my Applejack is homemade (but not by me). There are a ton of recipes online if you want to make your own, or you could probably just add a little more of both the apple juice concentrate and Fireball. If you like the red-hot kind of cinnamon candy and you haven't had Fireball Whisky yet, I suggest you do so post-haste. If you're not into milkshakes (is there such a thing?), I've had it in Angry Orchard Hard Cider which was also pretty tasty. And no, I'm not affiliated, but special thanks do go out to Andrea because mine was a birthday present!

So are you guys going to make this? And can I come over when you do?

Doodle410

This week's weekly (perhaps biweekly?) doodle is a group of sketches for a cosplay I have coming up. Justin voted for Mortal Kombat, so these are some ideas I have for Kitana's bracers and fans. 

Doodle410: MK Ideas

I'm facing the challenges of A. knowing next-to-nothing about Mortal Kombat and B. changing an iconic look to accommodate being built like a normal person instead of a made-up, adolescent-fantasy warrior-princess. But the exciting news is that one of Justin's friends wants to cosplay with us! If all goes according to plan, we should have Kitana, Sub-Zero, and Sonya Blade. And this time around I'm determined to ACTUALLY TAKE GOOD PICTURES. (Mostly so I can blog about it. ;))

Lyndsey's Baby Shower: A Photo-Dump Post

My friend Lyndsey came home from Colorado for her baby shower last summer. (I am nothing if not a timely blogger.) I made a lot of the decorations and a couple desserts for the party. So there was a lot of pre-planning on my part to get as much done ahead of time as possible, then I packed everything into my tiny car and drove everything up to Lake Erie, and stayed in a 90s-tastic B&B where I felt like an imposter pretending to live in someone else's house. Since I don't have step-by-step pictures of anything, you get a photo-dump. Enjoy!

I made some pretty paper bunting and tissue paper poms.

I took an obligatory picture of my feet after I checked in at the B&B.

Made tiiiny bows, glued them to sticks, then made Rice Krispie pops.

Found a beach so I could hang out with Lake Erie (there's a storm coming in!)

Got some snacks at a little grocery store,  chilled a wee bottle of champagne in the sink. #classy

Finally, here is a finished tabletop! Stringing those raindrops took forEVER btw.

And here is a picture of me and the mama-to-be after the party!

There you have it! An abridged version of baby shower decorations. Lyndsey and Mike's families did a great job with the whole thing. I don't have any pictures of the awesome quilt her mom made or the Pinterest-worthy candy bar Mike's mom and sister put together. After all the decorations were up, I got to get off my feet and BreAnn took over running all the games and organizing present-opening which she is really good at doing. All around a great party for a great couple who are now back in Colorado being great parents! And I'm pretty sure I will get to meet little Owen sometime this summer!