Olsen Love

{Picture from Stylecaster}

So on my list of girl crushes, Mary-kate and Ashely are probably number one. I am obsessed with them. Have been since I was like three. I love them. If you haven't read their book "Influence"I highly suggest it.  It is such a good coffee table book and the pictures are stunning. Mary-kate and Ashley are donning the cover of Elle UK for April and this is a picture from the spread. As soon as I can I'm going to go to Barnes and Noble, spending some leisurely time sipping on a coffee and picking up the magazine. Love love love them.  And my wonderful super talkative sister just came home for break. She's been talking to me while I do work for hours now. Good thing I have lots and lots of work to do this week as I'm sure you all do too. Go flip through Elle to brighten up one of yours day!

Chocolate Rhapsody

As stated before I believe myself to be a very good baker, minus my thin mints disaster.  Regardless of whether or not anyone agrees I immensely enjoy baking, which is why I was so tempted to make this cake.  My sister and I first made it last year for a Valentine’s Day treat and made some mistakes but it was still delicious.  I made it a few weeks ago for my professor’s birthday.  (He’s my PI for my research so it’s not strange.  Our lab group took him out to lunch and when I asked him if he was going to have cake, considering his whole family lives in Germany, and he said no I knew I immediately needed to change that.)  We ate if at our group meeting and everyone seemed to enjoy it. This cake is by no means simple to make, it’s not super hard but it does take time.  That being said, I had no problem making it for him because I’m so appreciative of all he has done for me. Although I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m an idiot after the amateur mistake I made today.  So I don’t understand the vibration circular dichorism theory I’m using and I’ve been yelling at excel for the last hour, who cares?  At least I have a very general idea of what I’m doing. Have you all got the feeling that research makes me lose my mind? Because it does. So I bake and go to bed at 9:30pm, which is what I’m totally about to do.  But this cake it four layers of airy vanilla sponge cake, creamy chocolate, rich decadent raspberry mouse and more creamy smooth chocolate. Yum yum yum. Four layers of bliss.  This cake also freezes very well and it’s easier to cut frozen.  I froze a chunk of it before it went bad and have been periodically cutting a piece then letting it thaw out in the fridge.  I highly recommend it to everyone!

{Chocolate layer}

{Raspberry layer}

{White chocolate and heavy whipping cream for the raspberry layer}

{Lots of layers}

{Homemade whip cream on the side}

{Finish cake and whipped cream}

Other than that, things have been alright.  Could be better, but some things have gotten much better the past few days after some large realizations on my part.  So I think I’m skipping class tomorrow (rebel, I know) and then enjoying some time with some friends before they all depart for school. 

Spring Awaiting

{Classic}

Remember how I made plans to drink and watch “Mean Girls” last weekend? Well, I did that and then had a little lesson in exceeding one’s limit.  So here’s a reminder to everyone to drink responsibly. Regardless, I had so much fun this weekend; I got dinner with a good friend and caught up.  Laughed my butt off at “Mean Girls” and the ridiculous evening we had and then meet up with some of my friends from home who are here on spring break.  It’s always absolutely wonderful seeing my friends from home.  It always reminds me of who I want to be and why I love those girls so much.  Lastly, Dairy Delite has opened for the season.  My favorite little ice cream place that I’ve been going to my whole life that has the most delicious chocolate soft serve.  Some people think I’m weirdly obsessed with the place, but the others who grew up where I did get it.  It’s just one of those places you always go back to and always holds fond memories. Seeing as it’s now March (p.s. I hope everyone enjoyed Leap Day) and Dairy Delite is open I’ve given up on having a real winter and am now looking forward to a wonderful spring full of bright colors and warm breezes.

Also, it’s week 9. Freaking week nine. Finals are in two weeks. I am kind of freaking out, but kind of not. Either way it’s a even bigger reminder that spring is right around the corner!

The Big Bang

At dance class last week, we danced across the floor to this song at one point.  I've never heard it before but it's so catchy, I love it! (And apparently no one in the video is actually singing it? I don't know..)

Obsessed.

Loved the movie. Loved the minions. Sure I'll love the second movie too. Enjoy your day everyone.

Crafternoon

I had quite the evening last night. Nothing particularly eventful happened, but it was just stressful and I was mad (like post-junior prom mad for all my lovely friends who know what that means).  A few highlights include me having a rubber stopper batted into my leg, then me storming out of the lab giving all my colleagues “the Emma look” (that’s for you Amanda), me almost pulling my hair out because I hate the 442 laser, me practically crying at the train station, me racing to finish a group project and then me freaking out because I thought my friend was going to punch someone. Oh yeah, and I broke my nail. And for all of you who are like, “Oh my god Emma you broke your nail? Like big deal, get over it”, um no I will not get over it because: a) it freaking hurt b) I have nice nails and when one breaks then they’re all different lengths and look funky and c) I drink a lot of milk so that I have strong nails and when one breaks that’s disappointing. So you get over it. I care about my nails, big deal. So after that ordeal I obviously made plans to drink and watch Means Girls with my friends.  Everyone has nights like that but now I’m determined to make the rest of my weekend enjoyable. Soooo here we go..

 (This is where the post title comes in)

As I said before I made those super cute arts and crafts for my wall.  When I got home form London and didn’t have much to do I was like “I want to make really cute Christmas cards!”  So I went to the queen of homemaking herself, Martha Stewart, for inspiration.  I totally aspire to be Martha Stewart. In case you haven’t noticed, I aspire to be a lot of things: professional homemaker, baker, scientist, wife, mother, friend, scientist, dancer, ice cream shop owner, veterinarian (maybe) and the list goes on. We’ll see what I actually cross off the list.  So, I downloaded some templates from Martha and pulled out my arts and crafts bin.  I realized while I was making these that I had so many supplies scattered across my house so I consolidated them all into one bin. It’s much more convenient and seeing everything together leads to more inspiration.  My cards received rave reviews so when I went to Martha Stewart looking at Valentine’s Day stuff, I was like “I want to make a cute Valentine's Day card”.  Which then lead me to make the card below.

{Arts and crafts bin}

{Songbird template}

{Glitter glitter everywhere}

{Outside}

{Songbirds kissing inside}

Isn't it cute? I only made the one card and gave it to my sister, because let’s be honest, she appreciates it way more than anyone else.  It was actually extremely simple.  There’s lots of templates on Martha’s website and there’s instructions, but you can always get creative and do whatever you want with them.  I also made this cute airplane and decided just to stick it on my wall with my paper snowflakes.  I used cardstock instead of computer paper because it is way more durable and makes the cards look nicer.  So now I want to have my own card shop, so let’s add that to the list. I really enjoyed making the cards because handmade gifts are always very thoughtful and nice.  I enjoy giving people gifts that they appreciate. 

{Christmas card that I used a template for}

{Other Christmas cards that I made by myself}

Also, on Martha's website there was this article about a crafternoon craft party.  Basically a bunch of friends get together with some good food and lots of arts and crafts supplies and make cute cards and such.  Isn't that a sweet idea? When I have my own place again I want to have a craft party with a bunch of my friends,  good food, music, inspiration, and lots of laughs.  

I hope everyone's weekend didn't start off like mine but they're having a really good one! I know a couple of my friends are in Germany and Turkey for the weekend and I'm totally jealous! The weather yesterday completely reminded me of London and all I wanted to do was walk down Queen's Gate Road one more time listening to British accents. 

Lots On My Mind

Goodness, I’ve been meaning to blog for days now.  It’s been on my mind because there’s just so many things that I have an opinion about and want to thrust on all of you. First off, Happy Mardi Gras!! I’ve made it a life goal to celebrate it in New Orleans at least once.  My RA freshmen year went and she had the most amazing time. Secondly, do we all realize next week is March? What the heck happened to February?  I’m so not okay with this.  There’s so much to do and so little time! But alas, I actually finished my orgo lab tonight before the day it’s due (shocker, I know) and now I get to blog.  And seeing as I want to go to bed soon because I actually can I’m making this a short update about the things I will blog about in the coming days.  So think of it as a little tease. Ahem, I realized that the only things I email my sister about are food, nail polish and occasionally something serious and work related, occasionally.  Those cute decorations on my wall and that delicious looking cake in my last post? Details to come, details.  I’ve recently realized how much freaking makeup I own.  Then I discovered the youtube page for this girl I went to high school with.  She has some killer makeup skills that she vlogs about and I can’t tell you how many videos I’ve watched since Friday.  Last year I got a BananaCard when I bought my suit for my interviews and have since become obsessed with Banana Republic. And in case you’re living in a hole and didn’t realize it, they had an amazing limited edition Mad Men collection last August that I drooled over for weeks. They had this leopard print trench coat that I still want. Then I started watching the first season of Mad Men with my little brother because we wanted to watch it and I’m sad to report that it didn’t intrigue me very much or grasp my attention. Daniel felt the same way, so we stopped watching but I’m still obsessed with the show’s fashion.  Let’s be honest, would I not fit in perfectly with that era? Yes, yes I would. I’d also fit in with the twenties and the forties.  Which brings me to my point: I got a postcard today from BR and they’re having ANOTHER Mad Men collection.  It doesn’t come out until March 1 (although I can get a sneak peak Feb. 29 since I have a BR card and get 30% off) so you can’t even see the clothes online yet. However the pictures on the postcard are to die for. If anyone wants to get me a gift there are some truly beautiful dresses in the collection.  Ugh I just want it all. And that leopard trench coat. Lastly, I will probably have some big news to report soon as long as everything goes accordingly.  Sorry this was kind of sporadic; I just have lots of things on my mind.  Oh, and apparently I didn’t spell gastrocnemius wrong on my practical :)

I also forgot to put this in my five things last Friday! I think this is the oldest candy store in the country, however, I'm not sure. It underwent some renovations though and just opened back up! It's right next to the Franklin Fountain, on of my favorite ice cream parlors. 

{Delicious chocolates from Shane's in Old City}