Update

I suck, I know. I always say to myself, "Okay you're baking this today so take photos and blog about it". Well I take some photos and either things don't turn out how I'd like or I don't have good photos. I don't know. I have an excuse for everything. Anyways. Little update for ya'll who may or may not care, I've been doing a lot and not a whole lot. I had my 1 year post op since my breast reduction. And I filmed a video on it. But I think I'm going to re-do it and actually write up a bunch of topics I want to discuss about it. I was all over the place and kept going back and forth on what I was talking about and I was worried someone was gonna walk in my house and then my camera died. So. Much. Drama. I did my graduation ceremony for my pastry and baking certificate. I quit my job. I got a new job a month later; that was a painful month. I found out I only have one more semester to finish and I'll get my AA in psychology. I had tonsillitis :(. I went to a concert. And I turned 22 since I posted last. Wow I suck. It's been 6 months. Okay wow. If you could see my drafts for this blog you'd be amazed/confused. Like why do I have 20+ posts that are basically done but not posted? I don't know either. Life's confusing. Anyways, here's what I've been doing.

<- Me and my best friend at the concert. The concert was all a part of my birthday present from my co-pilot/best friend/boyfriend. We went out to a wildlife place and got to see giraffes, cheetahs, rhinos. And then a couple months later got to go to the Kenny Chesney concert. I got my face painted too. :)

Fun side note. I had tonsillitis the weekend of the concert. The medication I had to take had super fun side effects. Like: headaches, fatigue, stomach aches, hearing loss, and so much more. And since it was antibiotics, I couldn't drink. Wooooo. But a woman in line at the snack bar bought me chicken strips and french fries so that was fun. And after the concert I thought it made more sense to walk to a location then call Uber because the rates were gonna be so high at the stadium plus all the traffic. We ended up walking 2 miles and we were nowhere near an actual place we could be picked up. My feet were blistered and bloodied and we were tired then we saw a Taco Bell and called an Uber. $40 and a 4 minute ride later we got to our hotel. 

I also started trying to date again. Which was weird. Still is weird. Went on a couple dates with a couple different guys. One guy was really nice but didn't seem interested. The other seemed really nice and fun but turned out to be an ass. Basically I found out dating is super awkward. After one date I really had to pee but the restaurant was closing and I didn't wanna run to the bathroom before we left and I really had no clue how to get back home without GPS. And when I say I had to pee I mean I thought I was going to pee my pants it was horrible. Luckily after driving for 20 minutes and being too stubborn to use my phone navigation I found a Safeway and took a selfie before going home.  

I went to the beach with my parents on Valentine's day since I'm extremely single. And who passes up a trip to the beach and sandwiches and taffy? Not me. We went to a local deli and got sandwiches and lemonade and then drove out to the coast with my dog. Of course every beach was at capacity until we drove out further and hung out at this one. It had really cool tide pools but the beach wasn't sandy it was more like tiny rocks so my feet were raw at the end of the day. Then we stopped and got salt water taffy on the way home and I didn't feel like a single loser, instead I was a 22 year old third wheeling it with her parents. :)

 And here we have me being an ass and not leaving work when I was clocked out because who knows.  This is the lovely job I quit unexpectedly. Which sucked because I put in my notice because I wasn't happy but I didn't have another job lined up. I found one applied, interviewed and they had me come in for a "shadow day". Worst. Experience. Ever. I've only had a couple jobs. I was an assistant soccer coach, cashier at a candy store, and associate at Panera. And I've had a million interviews. But man. This place was horrible. I won't name what the place was or where but WOW. Let's just say I wanted to leave a few minutes after arriving and I actually told the manager I wanted to go home so I left halfway into my shift and never looked back. It's a funny story to tell now but my God it was bad. 

 Here's me and my cousin at the Giant's game. This is actually the night before I put in my notice at work. But we took the ferry into the city, got a little drunk, ate chicken strips and cotton candy. She fell asleep on the ferry home and we ended up getting back around 1:30. And I had to be up for work at 4 am. Guess who didn't fall asleep until after 2? If you guessed me, you are correct!

 Some nights you just feel like buying Four Lokos and getting drunk on your couch, getting into an argument and then having your dad drive you and your best friend to In N Out. I'm pretty sure we wanted to watch a movie but ended up watching Chopped or Master Chef all night. I don't know why we wanted to drink and get really drunk that night but we went to like 4 different stores to get alcohol and almost walked to Target to buy my sister slippers. Thank god we didn't because it was really late and we were really drunk and Target doesn't sell slippers in April.

Here are some cupcakes and a cake I baked for a bridal shower for a family friend. I still gotta work on my cake decorating skills. And my social skills. I like working behind the scenes, not the business part. Like I can sit at a consultation and find out what the person wants and how many and what date. But I am not as strong at selling my product or discussing price. Soooo I brought my dad to set things up and pep talk me through it all. It was a cool but really stressful experience. I forgot how difficult it was transporting a cake and then not knowing what the environment will be at the actual event. I destroyed my kitchen and mental health for a couple days but it was easily fixed by a million loads in the dishwasher and oversleeping the next few days. I made 40 cupcakes, 10 chocolate, 10 vanilla, 10 strawberry, and 10 lemon blueberry. And then I made a 6 inch chocolate and vanilla cake on top. Everything was edible except the gold ribbon. I made white chocolate plastic roses and white chocolate starfish. Only bad part was, the table was super unstable and the cake stand was too. The top cake was super heavy and basically if someone ran into the table the cake was going down. At this point my motto is "Once I'm paid and out the door it's not my problem" and I told the woman the situation so I didn't look like a jerk of course. Then I got to go home to a destroyed kitchen I had to clean. Awesome. But that's why we charge so much as at home bakers right?!

Davis Farmers Market with Joe :)

One of my favorite things to do with Joe is go to Davis. I love it there. Joe went to UC Davis and wanted to take me there to show me around and we both fell in love. It's such a nice town and atmosphere. You'd think that since it's a college town it would be crazy or wild but it's the opposite. I've never been to a town that I thought was perfect to live. When I think of my future I think of Davis. 

They have a year-round farmers market on Saturdays and Joe and I have gone to two so far this spring. I am overwhelmed and overexcited each time we go. Sometimes I even think of driving over to Davis just to see the market and relax. They have food, fresh/local veggies, fruit, pastries, meat, honey, juice, nuts, plants, flowers, and other cool knick knacks. It's absolutely wonderful. This is a glimpse into what we saw today!

Super tasty berries!

We bought yukon gold potatoes, leeks, apple juice, a bear claw, and cheddar jalapeño bread

These things were so beautiful in the wind! I wish I knew how much they were and I wish I had a place for one at my house because they were so cool and fun to look at

If my parents hadn't already bought three tomato plants I would've gotten some from here!

The carrots were super sweet and delicious, and this is coming from someone who does not like raw carrots.

Our view from the blanket in the field next to the market

Dillon Beach!

If you've never been to a beach in California, you're missing out. I went out to Dillon beach on Saturday with my boyfriend and it was fantastic. The beach is a little over an hour away from San Francisco but from where I live it takes a little over a half hour. The nice thing about this beach is there is always parking and it's only $8 for the whole day. The beach is open until sunset but sadly there is no overnight parking or beach camping there. There's also a market right before the beach so if you forgot snacks, water, sunscreen or anything else you can buy it right there!

Poor crabby got flipped over by waves after I took his photo :(

Joe and I left around 4:30ish and stopped to get some food from a local market before heading out. The weather has been in the 80*s here but the beach isn't always as warm. Okay, I've never been to the beach near where I live and have it been 80* that I can remember. Or if it was close to 80* it was completely overcast. But when we went Saturday it was beautiful out! I was worried because when we got into the Bodega area it became really foggy and we had wanted to see the sun set while we were there. Luckily it was perfectly clear at the beach and not windy at all. :)

♡ 

We were at the beach for a few hours, running in the waves, taking photos and collecting seashells. We walked for a long time down the beach and I didn't even realize how far we had gone until we had to make the trip back to the car. I tried taking photos with these birds and tried having Joe take a photo of me and these little birds but every time I went near them they ran even while they were looking for food. They were so cute and short and they ran to the waves when they were being drawn back into the ocean and then running away when a wave came in. I gave up when we had to go back to the car. But we saw the crab and that made up for it. The drive home was just as fun because we laughed and sang "No One" by Alicia Keys and "I Would Walk 500 Miles" by The Proclaimers even though we only knew the choruses. 

This beach trip was exactly what I needed to get back into a happy, relaxed state of mind. I've been feeling really stressed and not my best for a few weeks now and it hasn't been easy for me or Joe. He has been nothing but loving, supportive and patient with me which is important in any relationship, but it means so much to me. I don't want to get too personal or say too much but I also feel like I could fill up a book with how much I love and appreciate Joe. I'm just happy we both got to step back and forget about the stresses of every day life and enjoy an evening at the beach. Saturday was the first day in a long time that I laughed as hard as I did and smiled as much as I did. I can't stop looking through all of the photos we took and wishing that I had a few more hours or that I could spend each day like that. This beach trip was the most amazing day I've had all year and I was so happy to be spending it with my best friend. :) 

"Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused."

Alan Cohen

Moustache Bakery in Healdsburg

You know how when you look up to somebody you instantly take everything they say to heart? Like if you have a football coach who played in the NFL everything they say sticks to you like glue. It's kind of like when you're a kid and you really look up to one of your parents, aunts, or grandparents and everything they say, every word of advice you remember and apply it to the rest of your life. Sounds dramatic but we all know it happens. That's how I felt about my Pastry and Baking teacher.

I was afraid for that class because I had heard nothing about my teacher. I had no idea what she looked like or how she taught whereas I had taken my other teachers classes twice before so I was comfortable. I don't know why but I expected this really strict and serious chef and I was scared for class to start. However, the second I met my teacher I instantly liked her. She reminded me of my Aunt Jodi, she was fun, loud, confident and intimidating at times. And she laughed like my Aunt Mickie, it instantly made you laugh even though you had no idea what was going on. You could tell how much my teacher loved what she did and how she all wanted us to love it too. She would always say she was worried about us getting bored in class, which was impossible. And whenever she made a remark about a book, a restaurant, a person, a food type, anything I was all ears. If she liked it, then it was amazing. So when she said Moustache Bakery had the best cupcakes I knew I had to go there.

First off, it took us forever to find the place. And by us I mean my boyfriend Joe and myself. After looking for 10 minutes and walking the wrong way and then being on the wrong side of the street we finally found it. It was freezing outside but once we stepped into the bakery we were hit with cozy warmth and an inviting atmosphere. I feel like most cupcake places try to be girly and fancy but this place was the opposite. I think rustic is a nice word for it. They kept it simple, which we like. They had cupcakes, macaroons, ice cream sandwiches, caramels and cookie sandwiches. And they also made hot drinks like hot chocolate, mochas and lattes. The hardest part was choosing what to get.

Joe thought we were going to share a cupcake and a macaroon. I knew the second we walked in I wasn't going to share, sorry Joe. I was deciding between their lemon cupcake, The Miller, which was a lemon olive oil cake with lemon curd filling and lemon frosting and their vanilla cupcake, The Misses. But I felt like the lemon was calling my name and I could just get the vanilla the next time. Joe thought the peanut butter cupcake, The Sheriff, which was a peanut butter cake, jam filling and peanut butter frosting sounded interesting but he ended up choosing The Outlaw. I'm kind of drooling thinking about it. I should be embarrassed but it was too dang delicious. The Outlaw is a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and a caramel filling and sea salt topping. Still drooling. And then for macaroons they had four flavors: pistachio, chocolate caramel, ginger, and passionfruit. Our soda that we had at lunch had ginger so I axed that option immediately. I've never had passionfruit and wasn't feeling it so we ended up with a pistachio and chocolate caramel macaroon.

I am obsessed with The Outlaw cupcake. Wow. I love anything lemon but the second I took a bite of that cupcake I was hooked. The cake was so chocolatey and moist, almost like a flour less chocolate cake. It had that silky texture that could just melt in your mouth. And the filling was the perfect amount of dark, luscious caramel. The chocolate frosting was smooth and had curled chocolate and the perfect amount of sea salt on top. I was worried the salt was going to be too much but the second I bit into it I knew it was combined perfectly. Joe thought the salt on the chocolate balanced out all of the sweetness. I believe chocolate and caramel were a match made in culinary heaven.

Even though Joe chose the chocolate cupcake, he really liked The Misses. Really liked as in that was his favorite. Usually he chooses something better than I do too. I don't know if he believes that but I do. I would say eight out of ten times I like what he orders better unless its something I can't eat or refuse to eat. Anyways, Joe thought the lemon cupcake was more like a huge piece of cake. The cake part itself had the stability of a great piece of cake. You couldn't even taste the olive oil, maybe that was the oil they used instead of butter. I should've asked. Oh well. The lemon curd filling was fantastic too. It wasn't sour or oozing out it was perfect. I loved the lemon frosting as well. It was all perfectly balanced. Each bite we took we found more things to love about the cupcake. It just kept getting better and better the more we ate. I'm picky about cupcakes too. Far too often I come across cupcakes which are overpowered with frosting. its like 30% cake 70% frosting. It is ridiculous. But these cupcakes were outstanding. My teacher was absolutely right. This is a place I would definitely return to.



Onto the macaroons! You'd think that after eating lunch and sharing two cupcakes we would be too full for anything else but we had to try the macaroons. Joe really wanted the pistachio and I'm not the biggest pistachio dessert fan so I wanted the chocolate caramel macaroon. These macaroons were huge too! At least I thought so. The chocolate caramel one was a chocolate shell with I believe chocolate ganache and some of the same caramel that was in The Sheriff and the pistachio had chopped pistachios on top and a pistachio filling. I think we had both had too much chocolate so the chocolate caramel macaroon was a bit over kill. But the shell and the fillings all combined nicely. You could really taste each component of the cookie. There was the perfect amount of ganache and caramel and they cookies weren't overfilled or under filled. Same for the pistachio. The almond shell combined with the pistachio filling and the extra crunch from the chopped pistachio was amazing. That one was my favorite; once again Joe chooses the perfect item on the menu.

Now that I'm back home I just wish I had gotten a box of macaroons to drool over. Overall I thought this place and their products were fabulous. Sometimes when you're in a touristy area like Sonoma County, you find yourself overpaying for things. Kind of like if you were to buy a water from Disneyland or the 7-11 right outside 7-11, they're the exact same but ones more expensive because of your location. This wasn't a factor at Moustache Bakery. The macaroons were $2 each which makes sense if you've ever made them before; they're extremely difficult to make. The cupcakes $3.50 I think, Joe paid so I'm not sure. And I didn't look at any other items and their prices either. I really loved the environment in the store. There was a chalkboard showing where they get their ingredients across Northern California so you knew funky stuff from who knows where wasn't being shipped in. And you could taste how much time and effort was put into the products. By that I mean you could tell that the cakes weren't made in some huge batch and they weren't 2 days old. You could tell whoever made this store and whoever bakes everything demand and make quality food. Everything tasted fresh and everything was delicious. It is extremely difficult nowadays to find a bakery thats not apart of a Safeway or Costco that has quality products. I'm so happy that I listened to my teacher and that Joe and I took the drive out to Healdsburg to try these delicious treats.