30pictureschallenge: Day 14

it was my birthday. this happened.

i had a lovely quiet birthday, but not in an un-special way. things happened: nice things. i had lots of friends around who happily sat and talked nonsense and ate laksa and cake and drank beer and wines. i am lucky to have birthday-friendly friends. they are good at it. special mentions to ellie for making the above cake, and kate J for making the cookies i had hinted towards in an earlier blog.

i did some good deep thinking for this birthday, because my last birthday was so different. well, i was different in it. i wasn't really sure about being 27, and each extra bit of age i acquired made me compare the ages of myself and my boyfriend at the time. and the uneasy feeling was warranted, but i didn't know it then - i was happily and blissfully unaware for my birthday last year, spent in dungog for mumford and sons in fuck off-hot weather. gah, it was moist (that's an in-joke from my birthday this year! hahaha!). 

the year before that, i was in whistler with the lovely annica, and there was a food fight and some dressing up and more fun than a kid could poke a stick at (i tried: i had a long stick... more of a broomhandle if we're honest). 

birthdays always have that bit of charm about them, and i always wake up early, excited for no real reason. 

another birthday has passed and i can say that yep, i still feel special on my birthday. thanks to all who loved me from near and from far.

30pictureschallenge: Day 8

i would like some 'be cool' cupcakes. i reckon they would make me cooler. as long as they were gluten free, otherwise they'd just make me sick in my tummy.

if it was as simple as eating a cupcake or two, imagine how much cooler the whole planet would be. no conservative, money-grabbing politicians. probably everyone would bike everywhere, or drive renewable energy cars. there'd probably be no plastic bags, no clothes would ever need ironing. women would work alongside men in the highest-paid positions; men and women would be able to take paid time to care for their kids when the need arose.

you could walk down the street in the dead of night in the highest heels and the shortest skirts (if that was your thing, because i prefer knee-length and flats, and i want to be cool too) and not worry about being safe. you could leave your kids in the hands of pretty much anybody and know, for sure, that they'd take care of your children.

if everyone would just eat a 'be cool' cupcake, it wouldn't even be a thing that some people look different to other people, some are fat and some are thin, some speak different languages and have different beliefs. that would be fine, and merely a point of conversational interest at the table. countries would help each other out, and no leave people floating about in the sea on boats, pretending they don't exist.

there'd always be allocated sleep-in days, and plenty of good coffee to go with those cupcakes.

man, it would be good, if everyone would just be cool.

treasure: cake

i had a lovely blog-free weekend; in fact, tried to stay off the internet nearly altogether to enjoy some dad time and some letter-writing time.

today is monday and i'm thinking quite a lot about cake. it's my friend ellie's birthday today and i'm going over there for birthday soup and birthday cake. and i haven't done any baking in a long time. i think this week i'm going to make a cake.

i think it's going to be this cake:

Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake

there are many cakes i want to try; i'm also quite interested in the premise of these little cakes:

Chocolate Stout cupcakes with Whiskey-spiked Buttercream

or even this tasty (and sweet) looking cake:

Condensed Milk Cake

i've never written a baking blog before. perhaps i'll try it this week. or maybe i'll just make the cake and tell you how good it is. maybe i'll even invite you round to have a slice if you're in the area.

in conclusion, cake.

treasure: some things i want right now

I want to run through a field, carefree as fuck. The wind would be blowing through my hair. I would be in slow motion.

The only person who ever got me flowers that were a beautiful, no-reason-but-i-love-you type surprise was Mikaela the beautiful Swedish florist I know. Guys, flowers. No brainer.

Rum and Coke floats. Nuf said.

A cake with a word in it. This is some form of wizardry and I want it in my life and in my belly.

This is a letter for June Carter written by Johnny Cash for her birthday. Are there even men like that in the world anymore? I want a love letter for my birthday. One I'm not expecting. One I didn't have to put a gun to anyone's head to make them write. One that says such wonderful things... I now officially love Johnny Cash forever.