Birthday Celebration

My mom's birthday was just a couple weeks ago. I think she finally admitted to being 39 this year, so that's a huge improvement. Not sure what she is going to do when I turn 30 in 2 years, but I'm sure she will think of something. Jay and I went up to the lake house to celebrate for the weekend. She doesn't like to request a fuss, but enjoys every second of it when you do. Dad has a really keen sense of knowing what mom wants for Christmas and her birthday every year. He gives me a budget and signs the card when it arrives purchased, and wrapped. Amazing how he always knows!! So this year, I decided to bake a cake for her along with my shopping expedition. I have been pinning at work when it's been slow, and if you follow me on Pinterest, you know it's been slow quite often. I keep seeing these beautiful rosette cakes that make such an impact. I am not a huge cake person because of the fact that I just hate icing them. They are an OCD person's worst nightmare. That is why I typically stay with cupcakes that are easy to put a rosette on top of and move on. After seeing cakes with the same design, I just knew I had to try it.

What made this baking experience so interesting and worth blogging about was not the design. It was the never-ending process of getting it finished. My parents just had their kitchen remodeled, so things were a bit out of whack. I brought my KitchenAid mixer that my wonderful MIL bought me, since my mom refuses to get herself one. Will probably have to add that into dad's budget for Christmas this year. I mean, who can live without that? I figured she would have plenty of 8" or 9" round pans for baking, because they are the same ones I grew up baking in. WRONG! After trying to convince me to change it to a sheet cake I had had enough. I sent everyone down to the lake, ran to Target, and bought new pans. There was only one way this cake was going to look, and that was 9 inches of round fabulousness!

I have to say, the rosettes are super easy and I think they look phenomenal. Really classy and could be done in any flavor, color or style of cake. Just gives it a little something extra. However, it used a TON of icing. I used 3 - 8oz packages of cream cheese, and 6 cups of powdered sugar. I could feel my waste expanding as I made it. It also weighed a ton. But, it ended up feeding us after dinner, and about 12 guys at work the next day.

I just really love how it turned out!

Everyone in our house loves Red Velvet Cake, and what's not to love? So, for my cake I decided on a 3 layer Red Velvet with cream cheese icing. Classic!

Would love to try one of these again with another color/flavor, just give me a reason and I would be happy to bring something over to you!

A Bright Idea

Last weekend, I ran into a little DIY project I didn't know was coming. This wasn't exactly the kind of DIY I  enjoy doing, but I was pretty proud when we were done. To give you a little background, our A/C wasn't working downstairs. We have a warranty on our home, so we called them to come take a look at it. Apparently, our A/C hadn't been working since we moved into the house. The upstairs unit was working over time (this we knew after we saw the electric bill), and the crawl space seemed to keep the downstairs cool until the humidity set in this summer. The A/C repair man crawled into the crawl space under the house to check the pump. Apparently there is a pump that pumps out all of the condensation from the unit and away from the house. Who knew? Well, when the pump was put in, someone decided to strip the three-prong plug off the end, and rig the wiring into the furnace wiring to make it work. There isn't a plug in the crawl space, so why not? Oh, I don't know, it could burn the house down for one. Well apparently when Fannie Mae sent someone out to fix the unit, which wasn't even turning on before we moved in, the replaced some of the parts on the outside unit, and un-rigged the wires in the crawl space. The thing about that is, when the wires weren't connected, there was no power to the pump, and no cold air for the house.

So, we are told you can buy a new base for the lightbulb that is in the crawl space, one that has a three prong plug on it to plug the pump in. How hard could it be? We get down there, and it all of a sudden looks a little more terrifying. I don't want to get electrocuted, but I am also sick of sweating in the house. So, Jay comes down with me. I don't like tight spaces, or creepy crawlies.

This is the base that you can buy at Home Depot to fix this little problem. They sell them in the electrical thingamajig aisle, and they are only about $5.

After taking the base off, this is what I'm looking at. I knew the black wire went to the brass screw on the back of the base, and the white wire went to the silver screw. Thank God for instruction manuals. Then, I couldn't tell what the ground wire was, there wasn't a ground wire connected to the old base. Finally, after a little digging, I find that copper wire that is also a base. I have to saw, having an iPhone, and a father that is waiting at home for a picture in his text is pretty helpful. Jay and I were looking at each other dumbfounded! Texting from a crawlspace saved our project.

After putting everything together, and screwing the new base on, and the new light bulb in, I was a little nervous to flip the switch. Jay was hoping it didn't blow up, ye of little faith. I flipped the switch. pulled the cord, and "LET THERE BE LIGHT"!! I am so proud of myself!! We have cool air, a light that works in the crawl space, sore legs from sitting on my knees down there too long, a much needed glass of wine, and a little extra self-esteem. 

If Jay and I can fix something like this, you definitely can too. Electrical is something I never messed with just because it's intimidating. But, now I feel like I can do small projects like this one without calling someone (mainly my dad) to fix the problem. Ceiling fans beware, I am officially out for you now!!