Walking McGuirk

 It is a sunny and blustery afternoon.  McGuirk was totally bored with his photo shoot as you can see in all three of the shots with him.  

Cupcake Royale

Cupcake Royale is one of the greatest places in the world, if you haven't been there.  I like the cupcakes that are not quite so super sweet.  The one on top is tiramisu and it is to die for. The other one is a whiskey maple bacon, which is also very good.  

Holiday themed sprinkles are the best!  Here's one off of an Irish cake bomb cupcake for Saint Patrick's Day.  

Portage Bay Cafe

On this lovely rainy day, my sister and I went to Portage Bay Cafe for the first time.  It's on Market Street in Ballard.  The food was great.  We got two sandwiches and split them.  I love that!

Would you like salad or potatoes with your hummus burger?  Potatoes please.  Yum!  

 Vegan BBQ pork sandwich with homemade baguette:

Rainy days can be comforting.

Mamba

 I love Mamba.  Once I open one of the small packages, I eat them until they are gone.  

Oatmeal Muffins with Blueberries

Oh, sweet delicious muffins, how I love thee.  

This is a great recipe found on allrecipes.com: Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffins

I modified it a bit...

1 cup oats

1 cup soy milk with one Tbsp vinegar

1 egg

1/2 brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup blueberries

Bake at 400 degrees F for 16-18 min.  Makes about 12 muffins.

I soaked the oats in the soy milk and vinegar for about 5 minutes instead of the 15 minutes the original recipe called for.

So good!  I can't resist adding blueberries to everything lately.

Muscles

This post was inspired by my cousin Stephanie's lego post on her blog here.  These are "Muscles" that Daniel and his brother used to collect as kids.  

This is my weekend to work so I'll be back next week.  I'm marching off with the Muscles to fight an epic battle!!

DIY: Sharpie Tie Dye

This is a great project for kids, or adults.  I first saw the idea on the blog found here.  

 All you need are some Sharpies, rubbing alcohol and something to drip it from (I had a syringe), and a t-shirt, or other clothing.  

I put a piece of cardboard in my tank top to prevent bleeding.

 Step 1: Use the Sharpies to make marks on your t-shirt.

 Step 2: Drip some drops of rubbing alcohol.  I did about 4-8 drops.

 Watch your design expand

 Step 3: Dry your t-shirt completely before washing.  I dried mine with a hair dryer and then washed it in the washing machine.  Here's the picture before I washed it:

After I washed it the colors faded, but I still like the look: 

TIP: After drying the shirt with a hair dryer, allow it to set for 24 hours before washing.  Then, wash in cold water.  I did this with my practice shirt and the colors stayed a bit better.  They still faded a little bit, but not as much.