8 Ball Cake Balls

Hello everyone! I know you are all probably wondering why in the world I am doing another post on cake balls. The answer is because I ROCK. Just kidding....but for real, I surprised myself today and wanted to share why. So remember that post (#CakeBalls) and how terrible they came out? I couldn't even show you guys the finished product from that attempt so I decided that for my friend, Yves, birthday I would put my heart and soul into making myself somehow evolve into the cake ball queen and show you guys how its really done. Let me give you a little background on why I decided to make a pool table for cake balls: Yves loves birthdays and zodiac signs and all that cool stuff, she also enjoys (and is amazing at) coming up with party ideas and basically if all else fails with her intended career, she should make event coordinating her backup plan (this sounds like I'm advertising her on eHarmony) so for her birthday, she came up with the theme "pLAY" which is going to be all about games. For that reason I made 8 Ball Cake Balls. Below is the process of how I made them! Hope you guys all enjoy and always remember, if you fall seven times, stand up eight and don't let one mistake keep you from getting it right!

{This is what you'll need: cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, candy melts, lollipop sticks, writing gel, food dye, water, small paint brush, pans, aluminum foil, and water}

{....here we go again. make the cake with instructions on back. 

side note: my grandmother hand knit that scarf!}

{this is my boyfriend stealing the leftover cake batter}

{once its done let it sit until its no longer warm then put the tub of your choice of frosting in}

{mush it all together}

{make little balls and refrigerate until they harden (about 3 hours)}

{In order to melt the chocolate without burning it, you need to create some sort of mechanism like this one. Keep the water water boiling in the pot and place chopsticks to hold the bowl}

{melt the chocolate on the bowl and dip each ball until its covered entirely with chocolate. I used the lollipop stick to clean around the corners of the balls to make sure they came out as circular as possible}

{once they're all covered in chocolate place in the refrigerator for about an hour (I know this is a super lengthy process). Then, with food coloring and a paint brush, paint the balls}

{i made the "pool table" from a regular cooking pan and placed three layers of aluminum foil. Then, with the green food coloring painted it green}

{for the border I just used the chocolate candy melts and stuck it with vanilla frosting. I did the same thing for the numbers on the cake balls and wrote their number in with baking gel}

{and there it is!!!}

{let's pLAY} 

Miami Favorites

Hi everyone! I’m in such good spirits after having been home for the weekend. I was in desperate need for a weekend getaway and now I feel reenergized, recharged, refreshed....just awesome. The only part that sucked was having to leave...but hey, we all have to face reality at some point, right? From the second I got home to the second I left, I felt the love and positive energy bouncing off the walls. Of course, I had every intention of blogging about my experience in Miami, so I took pictures of all the things that made me realize why it is I love this place so much. Hope you guys enjoy!

{welcome note} When I got to my room, this little note was on my dry erase board (cutest smiley face ever)

{arepa} If I had to choose one meal I could have for the rest of my life it would be an arepa, hands down. Not any arepa, my moms arepa. I don’t know what it is about the way she does it but it gets me every single time. 

{limeonaid} I made a previous post about how I was homesick and in order to feel better I made my moms limeonaid...of course, she had it waiting for me when I got home (she knows exactly what to do to get me to never want to leave)

{lunching} There’s nothing funner than going out to eat with your family on Sundays but this lunch was a different type of outing. We went to a restaurant called Tropical Chinese where its not an ordinary sit down menu type of restaurant. Instead the waiters go around with carts of food and you get to pick what you want. I’ve been going to this place ever since I was a little girl and absolutely love it. 

{arts&crafts} my mom, sister and I made these cute little bracelets together

{shopping} everyone knows Miami has GREAT shopping and of course I couldn’t help myself and invested in a few items or two (or three, or four or ....) Anyway, below is me being overly excited to enter one of my favorite stores (and places of inspiration), Anthropologie. 

{homemade dinners} If I havn’t shown off my moms cooking abilities yet, let me show you what she made for dinner Saturday and Sunday night...let me tell you, she gives Rachel Ray a run for her money. 

{steak}

{Mussels&Frites}

{whip n’ dip} I don’t know why I do this to myself. I must be a masochist or something.

Well everyone, that was my trip to Miami in a nutshell. Hope you guys enjoy and I am already counting down the days (32) till Thanksgiving Break! 

{color of the week: Wicked by Essie}

Weekend Getaway

{that's me getting on the bus}

Before I begin this post, I should warn you it may come off as an advertisement for the RedCoach but it really isn't since they're not paying me (wish they were). You see, the thing is that this bus is actually awesome....air conditioned, recliner chairs, wifi (im currently writing this post on the bus), movies (ummmm Iron Man, hello!)......

[wait, someone just farted and I might just faint (only bad thing about the bus thus far)]

 I should have probably started off by mentioning the reason I'm on it to begin with (for my avid post readers, you're all very well aware) is because I miss home so so much! I'm pretty sure this is the longest I've been away from home ever and its not good for me; I've been anxious, breaking out, sleeping excessively (some might say its just that time of month, but I like to think its because of this). Anyway, I cannot wait to sleep in the comfort of my bed, get away from school/work, and hangout with the people I love most, my fam. 

Tally, stay classy & Miami, see you in a minute!

{bus blogging}

Sundays

Sundays really are my favorite day of the week. Its the day to wake up late, relax, clean, do groceries, watch TV, catch up on The Office (season 7 is on netflix everyone), and hangout with friends. This Sunday however, was an extra special one because all my friends and I went to brunch for Andreas 21st birthday (Dre, feel special..you've been in 3 consecutive posts). Being college students (especially from tally), we're not really accustomed to getting dolled up for nice brunches, so today was very refreshing (and much needed). Also, I decided to try something new with my nails! Below is how it came out! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

{colors of the week: Moon Struck and Cute As a Button by Essie}

Hello Jello

Hello hello! I dont know if you guys remember me saying how excited I am that this year is the year of 21st birthday celebrations...so, allow me to reiterate....IM SO EXCITED! Tonight at 12 is my friend, Andreas, 21st birthday and instead of making baked goods, I decided to contribute with some jello shots. I figured its a very appropriate contribution considering...well, you know. This is making me want my birthday to come so bad (exactly 9 months from today, but who's counting?)! Anyway, below is the process of how I made them. Enjoy!

{this is what you'll need: 6oz your choice of jello, 1 1/4 cup of vodka, 3/4 cup of cold water, 2 cups of boiling water, a jar to put everything in, paper shot cups, gummy bears........please, no judgement on the quality of vodka (on a budget)}

{first, add the 6oz of jello powder into jar}

{next, add 2 cups of boiling water to the mix}

{add 1 1/4 cup of vodka}

{add 3/4 cup of water...once everything is in, stir very well}

{pour into cups}

{i also made a blueberry batch}

{refrigerate for about 4 hours and once they're ready, put a gummy bear in each one}

shots! shots! shots!

{wearing: acid wash jean button down from Urban Outfitters, black leggings from Forever 21, Michael Kors watch}

Cake Balls

So, I'm not really big on sweets...I'm more of a chip kinda girl (nacho cheese Doritos) if you know what I mean but I do have one sweet weakness and its Cake Balls. My friend, Andrea, introduced me to these little wonderballs of goodness last year and I kind of wish she hadn't considering I'm obsessed now. In an attempt to make them, I realized I'm not the most talented baker per se. Lets just say that out of about 30 cake ball attempts only 5 came out the way they were supposed to...Now I'm definitely not a Stats major but I'm pretty sure those are terrible odds. Below are pictures of my attempt in making these 'so good, yet so bad for you' balls. Enjoy!

Warning: For those Halloween dieters out there...stay away and don't try this at home.

{This is what you'll need: Your favorite type of cake, 3 eggs (might vary with different cake mixes), chocolate (I chose milk chocolate), vegetable oil, frosting (I chose buttercream) and cake pans.

{First, you need to make the cake (instructions on the back of the cake box). Put the cake in the oven for however long your cakes instruction box tells you to. Once its out and cooked let it sit for about 30 minutes. Put the cake in a bowl and add the tub of whipped cream. Moosh it all together. Then, make little balls out of the mix. Put them all on a pan and refrigerate for about two hours}

{After the two hours are up, melt the chocolate on the stove. With a tooth pick, dip the balls in the melted chocolate and place them back on the pan. Once you're done dipping them all, put them in the fridge over night. I don't have pictures of how I dipped the balls in chocolate simply because I don't want to advertise how much of a disaster I made}

{I took this pic from the internet to show you guys how they should turn out seeing as how mine didn't  end up how I intended them to..}

Enjoy!

Road Trip

Why hello there everyone! I got back from my trip to Gainesville yesterday and of course, I had to blog about it. I wasn't able to get a lot of pictures because my phone was dead for most of the trip, but it was a great time! My favorite part of the weekend was definitely the tailgate for the UF vs. Bama game where everyone was decked out in blue and orange sipping their beers loud and proud (don't worry, I stayed true to my garnet and gold & didn't succumb to wearing those obnox colors). Anywho, I will admit Gainesville really is the cutest little town and the people are extremely friendly (except for the people screaming out of their cars for me and my friends to "walk our asses back to tally"). Also, below is the color of the week! Hope you guys have an awesome week!

{wise words to live by}

{Big Tom and I take on Gville}

{Sammi Wammi's debut champin'}

{color of the week: Lapiz Of Luxury by Essie}