Mankato West Class of 04

I went to my High School 10 Year Reunion this past weekend....as well as a graduation party for a little boy that I babysat for/literally changed his diapers.  So I'm feeling old ;p

The reunion was a lot of fun though.  It was great catching up with people who I haven't seen since graduation and learning where they are in their lives.  

I lucked out big time because the 1st part of the reunion was a potluck in the park and I just happened to be assigned desserts.  So I broke out the airbrush hand made a stencil of my school logo and airbrushed and iced some cookies.

The cookie is a brand new franken recipe that I came up with.  It is a combo of 2 different chocolate cookie recipes and a coconut cookie recipe.  The result was a brownie/cake like cookie with coconut flecks scattered throughout.  As soon as I remember exactly what I did to make them I will post a recipe.

Hope your kick off to your summer is as exciting as mine has been so far.

Stay Sweet Everyone!

Under there....Under where. Underwear Cookies!

I finally had an excuse to make these cute underwear cookies.  I was commissioned by a friend to make some for a bachelorette party.

 They were a blast to make!  I can't wait to make some more!  I hope you enjoy them in all their sassy goodness.  

 If you want to make some of your own go and show Sugarbelle some love http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2013/07/easy-lingerie-cookies/ 

 Her work is amazing and something I strive towards.  Plus her posts are a hoot to read.  She is a very entertaining blogger.

Stay sweet everyone

1st American Anniversary

My marriage story is an interesting one.  I met Lee while I was teaching English in South Korea.  He was an assistant manager at the English cafe I volunteered at.  We became close friends and eventually started dating and then we decided we wanted to spend the rest of of lives together!  Because Lee is Korean and I am American our marriage process was a bit different than other couples.  We legally got married in Korea 3 years ago.  Then a month later Lee proposed.  Then 2 years ago today we had our Korean ceremony an then a year after that we had our American ceremony.  Confused yet?

Korean Wedding 8/6/11

American Wedding 7/28/12

Lee and I still haven't decided which date to use as our anniversary, but this year we opted to use our American one (since it would be our 1st) We took some photos with the tree we planted on our wedding day (instead of lighting unity candles) we went out to dinner and Lee surprised me with a visit to the rose and peace gardens and we ate the top of our wedding cake. 

1st American Anniversary 7/28/13

With our tree we planted on our wedding day!

Still full of love for each other after 1 year (or 3)

We were so lucky to have our wedding cake made by a loving family member, my wonderfully talented aunt Debby.  She did a wonderful job don't you think?  She even saved some flowers and twigs for me so I could decorate the topper, however I was super bummed when I opened the box that she had stored them in for me to find that all the flowers were broken. 

The beautiful wedding cake Debbie made

Look at the stunning details!

I quickly decided that this would be a great time to try my hand at decorating cake with cookies.  It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot along the way.
All in all it was a wonderful anniversary and I can't wait for the years to come.

My first cookie cake. 

Stay sweet everyone!

Love is in the air...part two

Like I said in my previous post.  Love is in the air, between weddings, engagements and 1st anniversaries and new babies this summer has been full of love.

I made this cookie bouquet for an awesome couple.  They are both amazing people and very talented artists.   Stevie is the stunning photographer behind http://www.stevietphotography.com/ and her hubby Tony is the brilliant carpenter behind http://www.dylandesigncompany.com/ 

Not only are they talented artists but they are wonderfully thoughtful and giving people.  In fact they met during the shooting of Extreme Home Makeover where Tony was a carpenter for the show.

They are a happy loving couple that radiates both of those feelings to those around them.  It is hard to be standing next to either one of them and not be smiling.

I wanted to make them some cookies that conveyed the same happiness that they exude, and this is what I came up with.

Congratulations Stevie and Tony, you are both amazing people and an extra amazing couple.  I hope you have many wonderful years together and keep on spreading your happiness and love!

Love is in the air

It seems like this summer has been full of love.

Friends getting marred, engaged or celebrating their 1st. anniversaries.  And let me tell you I love, love.  I love making loved themed cookies because they can be frilly and cute and I get to use a lot of brushed embroidery.... or at least that's how I tackle the loved themed cookie.  

This basket was made for a client last minute.  She contacted me on a Tuesday and said she would need a basket by Friday morning. 

Normally I don't take last minute orders but this was for her 1st anniversary and she was surprising her hubby at work and wanted something special to bring him.  I couldn't turn her down, so I frantically designed some cookies, cut them out and decorated them in the span of one day.  I think I work rather well under pressure if I do say so myself.  

Congrats Feyha and Asif I hope you have many happy years to come <3

Happy Graduation

Tis the season of mortar boards and gowns.

Facebook is a sprawl of happy faces and tassels hanging from hats.
There are two special graduates in my life this year.  First, Tyler a good family friend will be going out into the world of sports team management. He is going off to help manage a baseball team out west.  Good Luck Tyler.  These cookies were made for an impromptu graduation party that was thrown for Tyler.

My second special graduate is my hubby, he will be graduating with his MBA this week.  And by graduating I mean he still has 14 weeks of classes left but that's just how graduate school works.
I will be making him something special on his official last day of school.

Be sure to go and congratulate a grad today!  :D

Korean Wedding Cookies

As you saw in my previous post my best friend in Korea is getting married.

I made chicken cookies for him and didn't want his soon to be wife to be left out.
They are having a Korean Catholic wedding but I thought it would be fun to do some cookies decorated in a traditional Korean wedding theme.
The cookies are a mix of Lemon Vanilla, Chocolate Raspberry and Vanilla Bean.

After the ceremony the happy couple is showered with dates and chestnuts which they try and catch in a cloth between them.  The chestnuts represent boys and the dates girls.  The number they catch represents the number of children they will have.  I really hope this is not true because when Lee and I got married we caught a ton of them......

Every couple in Korea is given a pair of wooden ducks by their family.  Ducks mate for life and they are used to symbolize longevity in the marriage.  There are also a fun way to tell how the couple is doing.  When the ducks are facing each other that means that the couple is happy, however if they are back to back it means they are fighting.  

Looks like happy times ahead

 Lack and Hey Young his wife to be are getting married on the 13th of April which is the height of cheery blossom season in Korea.  I thought it was only appropriate that they have some cherry blossom cookies for their special day.  

Congratulations to the happy couple I wish all the best for you!