Show and Tell Friday!

Once again I'm sharing something that I've shared here before. Sorry! The end of the week always seems to sneak up on me and then I find myself not prepared!

This is a giant cupcake I made from my "cupcake" cake pan, it looks just like the one below.
I love this cake pan. It was so funny...last weekend Lauren and I were at Bed, Bath and Beyond and she yelled out "look they have one of those giant cupcake pans here" She totally forgot that we already have one. I think the only time I've used it was for this seashell cake! Note to self: use this more often so you can justify that it really was something that you "needed".

The shells are made from fondant and I did a post awhile back on how I made them. They are really easy to make and seem to really impress people! You can click on this link to see that tutorial: How to make fondant seashells.

The "sand" is brown and white sugar mixed together and it really looks like sand! I've been wanting to make a regular cake with the seashells on top. There are so many beautiful ones on the Internet....click here to see! I feel inspired after looking at those, don't you?

I hope you enjoyed my seashell cupcake cake and hopefully it didn't bore those of you who saw it before!

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate.If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed from MckLinky, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.Thank you! I look forward to seeing everyone's posts...it may take me awhile to get around to visit everyone since I work full time but I'll do my best to get to your blog as soon as I can!

Beatrix Potter

I love Beatrix Potter and I have such fond memories of reading her stories to my children when they were little. I even decorated Vince's nursery with some Peter Rabbit things when he was a baby. If you want a chance to win a Beatrix Potter print (or another print of your choice), click on over to my Product Review page. (click on "Product Review Page" to get there)

A Day at Carmel

Last Saturday a couple friends and I went to Carmel for the day. These two friends and I will be going on monthly day trips around Northern California so I'll make sure I bring my camera where ever we go in the future. The weather wasn't great on Saturday but at least it wasn't raining (just very overcast).

Our plan was to have lunch and go shopping! When we got there we parked right in front of the Lamp Lighter Inn. They have these cute little cottages you can rent.

Then we were off down the street for shopping and lunch...

There are a lot of bakeries to tempt you....

Another bakery!...

I thought this little lamp at Anthropologie was cute...

This is where we had lunch...

and this was what we saw as soon as we walked in the restaurant...

This restaurant was in an little old house, it was adorable. The tables were set up in the living room and there was a fire in the fireplace. Here are my two friends, Natasha (on the left) and Kim (on the right).

Kim ordered a salad...

and Natasha had a roast beef sandwich...

I had a vegetarian pasta but the photo was really blurry.

Natasha bought herself a necklace at Tiffany & Co. and we couldn't miss this photo op....

At the end of the day, Natasha was the one with all the bags! That girl knows how to shop! LOL! If you notice, she's wearing a different shirt than she was at lunch. She was forced to buy a new one because she dropped something on it at lunch.

It was a great day! I'm not sure where we will be going next month but I know one thing for sure...it will be FUN because we always have fun!

UPDATED TO ADD: I go to Carmel a few times a year since it's only about 1 1/2 hours away. If you want to see my old posts click here, here, here or here. And, if you missed it, yesterday I posted what I bought in Carmel.

I'm ready to pick flowers now!

I went to Carmel with some friends on Saturday. I'll share more photos of that tomorrow but today I wanted to show you what I bought!

I remember seeing one of these in a magazine years and years ago, I think it was in the old Victoria magazine and I've always wanted one but never saw one for sale anywhere! It's a basket on a pole that you can stick into the soil in your garden to hold your flowers as you cut them. The tip is pointed so it will be easy to push into the ground. I'll be using it in my garden when my roses bloom but for now it's just decorating my living room. Those roses aren't real but they look like they are so that's good enough for me.

I just think it's so cute (and practical)!

Let me introduce you...

I recently found Sandy's blog ~ My Shabby Streamside Studio and I just have to share it with all of you! She has this adorable teeny-tiny cottage which is her studio and it is the cutest thing ever! Sort of like a grown-up girl's playhouse! Look...

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Sandy had left me a message to check out her chicken wire cabinets after she saw mine. I love this...

I love how she has used the space near the sloped ceiling for books...

To see more of her darling studio, check out her blog and she also has photos on Flickr.

Thank you Sandy for letting me share this with everyone!

The Monthly Giveaway Party Lives On!

<center><a href="http://talesfromanoccottage.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4360957588_24f373af76_o.jpg" /></a></center>My monthly giveaway party ended in December 2009 but I'm happy to announce that Tales from an OC Cottage will be taking it over! You can copy the html code above and put it on your sidebar to spread the word! It will be the first Saturday of each month and if you have something to giveaway you can link up there! If you are new to blogging, link ups are a great way to get new visitors to your blog!

Show and Tell Friday

It's Show and Tell Friday time! We've had some great weather here for the past week and it's really has me in the mood for Spring! The trees around here are flowering and the daffodils are blooming. There are still quite a few bare trees around but I see leaves starting to sprout from the branches! February is always the worst month for my allergies. Our driveway and all the cars are covered with bright yellow pollen right now! I guess I shouldn't be complaining because a lot of you are still covered in snow! Right?
Since I'm really in the mood for Spring and Summer I thought I would share some past bouquets I picked from my little garden outside my apartment. It's amazing the bouquets you can get from such a small piece bit of land!

I can't wait for my garden to look all green and lush like it does in the photo above. Right now it's very bare out there but the roses are sending out new growth so I know that soon it will be beautiful again!

Soon I'll be cutting lilacs for bouquets. I can see the buds forming on the bush already!

Having fresh garden flowers in my home is one of life's simple pleasures! I can hardly wait for my roses to bloom! We are supposed to get more rain and cooler temperatures so the sunny Spring-like days are coming to an end but it was nice while it lasted. It won't be too long before they are back to stay though! I can hardly wait!
Also, in case you missed it, hop on over to The Old Painted Cottage, my apartment was featured as "Cottage of the Month"

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate.If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed from MckLinky, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.Thank you! I look forward to seeing everyone's posts...it may take me awhile to get around to visit everyone since I work full time but I'll do my best to get to your blog as soon as I can!