Monday, August 29, 2011

Seeing Red

Well, I'll admit that it's been far too long since I've blogged. So, today I decide it's time to post the cupcakes I made a whole month ago! I logged on, and was so delighted to see more followers! And Comments! (From people I don't know!!!!) You guys have made my day. I'm so excited that there are folks out there that I can relate to, and hopefully make smile. (Even if you're laughing at me, not with me!) In fact, I think I'll go home and make cupcakes tonight just so I can blog again!

In my last post, I shared with you my Red Velvet defeat.
I am now happy to report that I am victorious.
That's right, I successfully made RED red velvet cuppies!


They were one-half of the cupcake creation I made for a celebration for my Uncle. The end of June marked a very special second anniversary for him, so we had a small party to celebrate! The party had a casual beach theme, so I took that and ran. Red velvet is his favorite flavor, so I knew I couldn't let him down. Presenting: red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, with hand-poured-and-painted chocolate seashells and brown sugar/graham cracker sand on top! I wish I had better pictures of the shells, they turned out pretty remarkable. You'll get the gist.
The cupcakes pictured here (not red!) are pistachio flavored: a box-mix-turned-heavenly creation! (The secret? Club soda.) They added a nice variety for those who aren't red velvet fans. (Yes, they're out there). They're topped with a whipped cream cream cheese frosting, which taught me a valuable lesson: Don't turn your back on whipping cream. Ever. One second it's flat, the next, it's butter. It took me three takes to get it right. But, it was totally worth it!
I had fun putting together a presentation and decorating the board, also! I wish I had more excuses to do things like this. The nautical theme brought me back to my pre-dysautonomia days.. Boy I miss fishing/diving/boating/living.

For those following my health, I've got good news and bad news:
The Good: The pacemaker install went well and the incision is healing like a champ (and no more sling!). I went FIVE WEEKS. Yes, you read that right... five whole weeks without fainting. That's amazing. No, phenomenal. I haven't gone just one week without fainting in almost a year.
The Bad: On the anniversary of five weeks faint-free, I fainted. Murphy's Law at its finest. Three days later, I fainted again.
The Good, Part 2: I haven't fainted since then. In fact, I'm feeling good... better than I have all year. I'm exerting myself and starting to test my boundaries. Admittedly, I'm exhausting myself and using a lot of "spoons" (spoon theory-google it.), but I'm so happy to have some liveliness that I don't even care. Hopefully, when it catches up to me, I'm not taking one step forward and two steps back.

Either way, I'll keep you posted. And, I'll make cupcakes. :)