Brandy524

Darn it! I didn't see the one on Hydra or the Balloon Race! Tricky, tricky. I need to look more than just twice next round!

Took my daughters to see The Princess and the Frog last weekend and we loved it. The story is very cute, the music is awesome, and I loved the traditional 2D animation like the movies I grew up on. My 3 and 4 yr.-old were both glued to the screen. It was their first theater movie and we were worried they wouldn't be able to stay quiet, but they were enthralled. We rented Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last week and I thought it was the most boring Harry Potter to-date. There was no action. It was mainly all about their little teen romance triangles. It was so anti-climactic; no big fight or anything. It was just, "You won't kill him, oh well, I will." Poof! "Let's go!" And it was over. Bo-ring!

I see 3 duckies!

In the early 90s (I think) my neighbor's cousin married John Volstad (a/k/a the Other Brother Darryl) from the show Newhart. They got married in Gadsden. Also in the wedding, and who I met and got pictures with, were: William Sanderson ("Larry" and who now plays Sheriff Dearborn on True Blood, awesome) Tony Papenfuss ("Darryl"), and Linda Hamilton. I have pictures somewhere that I need to scan. Those are the only celebrities I've met so far.

^ Hahaha...now you HAVE to post pictures of your ice cream bread!

My husband and I don't get each other much and opt instead to spend most of our Christmas budget on our kids. But we agreed to get each other three things (and he cheated and wrapped two things together for me). I got: The Pioneer Woman Cooks recipe book. A new cutting board. A rolling pin. A Touch of Dead, Sookie Stackhouse short stories. And a stocking full of Ghiradelli Christmas candy (Egg Nog, Peppermint Bark, and Pecan Pie flavors) and Lindor truffles. He knows me well!

Big Mike, he's number one, And he's here to show it. Big Mike, he's number one And you should already know it!

That's awesome that you get to climb all over the coasters and get great pictures! Nice job!

Did you put yourself on the map? Right now it's still showing that I'm the only one in Alabama.

Wow, that is awesome! So pretty! It's really like a magical winter wonderland! Must have been amazing in person. Great pictures!

If you're a sci-fi or cult TV geek, then yes, this kind of stuff is highly collectible. That's most of what today's trading cards aim for. Back in the '70s and '80s, there were trading cards for most hit TV shows ("Happy Days," "Knight Rider," even "M*A*S*H"), and they were strictly for the kiddie audience and even more strictly to help these companies push gum. But they haven't packaged gum with these cards for a long time because in the '90s there was a big boom, and people realized they could make big money off some of these cards. Since then they've been made for everything from promoting AIDS awareness to attracting fans of TV shows that aren't geared toward kids in any way, shape or form. That's a big reason I like to stick to the vintage stuff (1930s-'60s), though I do have a good deal of '80s and '90s cards in my collection from when I really was a kid). And I'll usually try to pick up a set whenever the Disney theme parks release one (every five years or so)... but that's for an entirely different collection! Thanks for explaining! I really had no idea they made trading cards for shows like that! I remember the cards with gum from when I was a kid, but I didn't know they made cards for adult shows. Wild.

I love to watch Ghost Whisperer, but why would anyone want trading cards? Are they collectible? I just don't understand. The Crayola factory looks like something fun for the kiddos. Nice report.

Just added myself, but for some reason my picture is not showing up. And I know there are more people in Alabama than just me!

^ Thanks! But nope, not in the business yet. I did get an order after someone saw that cake, though! And I completely forgot to take pictures of the cake pops process on Saturday. I was so rushed to get them finished. So this will probably be all I do cake-wise for a while. Hope everyone has a great holiday season!

^ Thanks!! If you weren't so far away, I'd definitely do a cake for your friend!

Wow, that looks awesome! I wish I could go! They really go all out for Christmas, don't they? I love it! And your pics are great, too! Hard work well spent.

Okay, finished it up last night. I think it turned out great. I know she'll love it. She asked for a white cake. I had never made one, but I found a recipe easily enough. It turned out looking great. I just hope it tastes good! I probably won't be making another decorated cake for a little while, unless someone asks me to do one. But I am going to be making cake pops on Saturday for a Christmas party, so if you're intrigued and want to see that, I'll post it on Monday. One more picture! So that's it. I think it's very cute! There they are. I found these jewel pick things in the wedding supplies at Hobby Lobby. I thought they were cute! A little more dressed up. You can't see the little jewel things well in this picture. You're supposed to use a paper towel with no pattern to smooth buttercream. My paper towels have little swirly dots on them, so the cake ended up with a swirly pattern, but I think it goes with the theme. Frosted, but not smooth yet. Starting to assemble the cake. Color all mixed up. Now to color the buttercream. Notice the big blob of food coloring. Into the oven for 20 minutes. You alternate adding the flour mixture and egg mixture to the butter mixture. This is what it looks like after all is finished. In yet another bowl mix egg whites, milk and vanilla. The egg whites gave me fits. My egg separator sucks. I ended up just using the shells to separate the eggs by hand. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat the butter and sugar together until it's fluffy. Ally said it looked like popcorn. Butter and sugar. 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter. Pans...fascinating.

Thanks!! It was my first attempt at a shoe, so I was a little worried. I'm glad it turned out well.

I painted the zebra stripes on the shoe last night. I think it turned out great! Can't wait to finish the whole cake tonight. Final update will be tomorrow. No, I did not put my name on it because I made it. My friend's name is Brandy, too. We've been friends since we were 3 yrs. old. Teachers had to add our last initials on our names to keep us straight. Then I filled them in and colored the heel. Then I used my food marker to outline the stripes. First I sketched the stripes on with a pencil.

I told you all that I would be making another cake in mid-December for a friend's birthday. Well, we're having girls night this Friday to celebrate her birthday (even though her actual birthday is not until Dec. 31), so I got started on part of her cake last night. She said she wanted something girly, and that she liked hot pink, white and black together. So here's what I'm doing: a one-tier cake, iced in hot pink buttercream, zebra print ribbon around the bottom, and a gumpaste shoe on top, painted zebra to match the ribbon. I'm planning on buying some feather boa-type frou-frou stuff to trim the cake board with. Not too complicated, but totally girly. Anyway, I started on the shoe last night so it will have time to dry before Friday. I just assembled it last night, and I'll paint the zebra stripes on it tonight. And the finished shoe. I forgot to take a picture while cutting out the top. And yes, I see that the heel has fallen a little. I ended up adding more to the bottom of the heel to build it back up. The heel added. There was no pattern for the heel so I had to just make it somehow. I'm not exactly happy with it, but it looks ok. The sole on the drying support. About to cut out the sole of the shoe. I found this pattern on Cake Central. I would have been completely lost without it!

Got my card in the mail yesterday!! Love it! Thanks, Big Mike!

We have four trees up this year (though one is tiny). Here they are: And finally the tiny tinsel tree in our room. It doesn't have lights or anything on it. I just stuck some poinsettias on it to dress it up a little. This one is only 2 ft. Pink princess tree in our girls' room. There are Disney princess ornaments on it, as well as a Disney princess tree skirt. It's only 4 ft. Tree #2 in our kitchen. It's 6 ft. We did this one in sort of a country Christmas theme. I strung about 30 ft. of popcorn for it! The main tree in our living room. We got a new one this year (7.5 feet). And no, those glowing white things are not lights. They're ornaments that the flash reflected off.

Rise up to victory, He won't take defeat, V-i-c-t-o-r-y, Big Mike won't be beat!

Just making sure I don't fall behind on my cheerleading duties and get a cheer in before football is over: Are you ready for the challenge? Are you ready to be stopped? He's the mighty Big Mike, and he's reaching for the top!

^ That looks awesome! I'm going to have to try it with the extra chocolate. Yum!!