Oh what a night!

"....late December, back in '63....what a very special time for me. Cause I remember what a night! Doo doo doo doo-doo, doo doo doo doo-doo"

Every once in a while I start out telling a story or saying a phrase and it just reminds me of a song so I sing it and get it out of my system. ;) That being sung, last night was NUTZ!

We left Saturday morning to head out of town for a wedding in San Jose. We stayed at this really great hotel, Hotel Montgomery....if ever you head to downtown San Jose you MUST choose to stay there, it was great! Anyway, the wedding was kinda low key, the weather was perfect, the ceremony and reception were held on the 17th floor of the Silicon Valley Country Club. What shocked me the most was the food....it was horrible!!! I was expecting this fabulous meal and oddly enough I had to fill up on bread because the food was just gross! They had a mixed green salad served with blue cheese and shredded onions (who does that at a wedding?) and this very bitter vinaigrette. Luckily, they served a second course of lime sorbet to cleanse our palettes, but with those onions they should have just passed out some Listerine in shot glasses. The main course was either salmon, filet or chicken. My hubby got the salmon (I won't touch seafood and he loves it) and I got the filet. My mom and dad both got the chicken so I thought if my filet was too rare (very common) that could trade with them. The chicken had this peanut sauce drizzled on top with pine nuts.....again, who does this?!?! Those are VERY different flavors and just do not mix well at all!! The filet was rare, REALLY rare and was served with 2 sliced carrots and purple potatoes. I never knew there was a purple potato until this weekend, interesting but not very appealing. I have to take my hubby's word that his dinner was unpleasant since he never passes up seafood and he actually pushed his plate away after two bites and proceeded to eat my filet.

Ok enough about that, let me fast forward to Sunday. We slept in until 8am, mainly because I was up all night with a tummy ache and there wasn't a soda or antacid that would make it go away. So once again, bread was my best friend. By the time we got home that afternoon I was just exhausted, so I decided I wanted to just relax around the house and be lazy. WRONG! I totally forgot that I had to bake a cake for my final class on Monday and make two batches of icing in three different consistencies. And then I checked my email and completely forgot that SIYJ (Stamping in Your Jammies, a virtual stamp night by Paper Pretties) was Sunday from 6pm-9pm and I was NOT going to miss that! Ok, so it was 4:30pm so I had time to clean up my stamp table and whip up this cake and get it in the oven. WRONG! No eggs.....wait, let me correct that. I needed 3 eggs and there were 2. So, in my eyes...NO EGGS! So I waited until the SIYJ began, whipped up the first sketch challenge and then ran to the store. Got back, prepped the cake pans, took a photo of my card and then ran back to the computer and posted it. Next challenge, sewing!??! I don't have a sewing machine! Oh and can I tell you that Faux stitching probably takes LONGER than using the real thing!!! Ok, card....focus, you can do this. Layout design, done. Color choices, done. Paper choices....done. Cake....OH CRAP, NOT DONE! So I run back in the other room, finish mixing up the batter (luckily I did preheat the oven) and threw in my two cake pans. Ok, 25 minutes til those are done and 10 minutes left to cut everything and finish my card and post it. I run into the stamp room, finish up my card, run into the kitchen to photograph it and then back to the computer to post it (15 minutes late). BUZZZZZER....CRAP!

Ok, run into the kitchen, where are the toothpicks?!?! Ok, toothpicks found, cakes tested and they are done. Pull them out and set them on the counter to cool. What was I doing? Oh yea, last card challenge....back to the computer, what's the challenge? Ooooh colors, ok light green, light blue and light purple...got it. Only 25 minutes left?!?!!? I need an hour!!! Ok, focus, go back to simple and just stamp it! Ok, breathe....simple, simple, think simple. GOT IT. Stamp, color, punch, layer....I'm done! I'm 5 minutes late but hey, I finished. Run to the kitchen, take the last photo, run back to the computer and post.
TAH DAH! But what about the 2 batches of icing?

***anyone else exhausted yet?***

So I decided to just use the canned stuff, can you believe it?!?! I threw it in my Kitchenaid, added some meringue powder and slapped it onto my cake. At least I did add some raspberry filling to the middle so hopefully no one will notice the fake frosting on the top, right? WRONG....it's gooey!!!! The whole point to adding the powder was so that it would harden up so I could smooth out the creases and lumps and take it to class. So, my class tonight should be very interesting to say the least. But I've learned a lot...I love stamping more than baking, I can't function in a messy stamping OR baking area, simple is still cute (especially when you only have 10 minutes and you've lost your mind completely) and lastly, I NEED to get my hands on that mini sewing machine!!!!! :)