Christmas Desserts Easier Than A Gingerbread House

I don't know about you, but everytime I try to create a gingerbread house, it looks like a natural disaster hit it. My little cousins have found this very dissappointing of me - so last year, after our gingerbread house was yet another failure, I decided a new project: cupcake snowmen. This was a success because they were SO happy that they worked out AND they were delicious.
Here's how I did it:
1. Buy box cake mix, white/vanilla icing, black bead sprinkles for eyes, mouth, & buttons, then red licorice for scarf, orange bead sprinkles/frosting for carrot nose, and toothpicks to stack cupcakes and to give them arms
2. Make sure you have a pan for big/regular size cupcakes and a pan for small cupcakes
3. Follow the directions and bake 6 big cupcakes and 12 small cupcakes (makes 6 snowmen)
4. Frost all cupcakes with white on top (paper will be around cupcake)
5. Stick a toothpick through bottom cupcakes and place one small cupcake on top of every big cupcake
6. Now, for the heads, turn the remaining small cupcakes sideways so that the top is facing you and connect with toothpick
7. Decorate the faces how you like and wrap red licorice around the neck for the scarf effect
8. Place two toothpicks in the side of each snowmen for arms and put sprinkles down the middle for buttons
9. That's it! Enjoy as centerpieces/decorations for a day until you eat!

My little cousins LOVED this idea that I came up with and were not dissappointed like the Gingerbread house. I highly recommend doing this with young children, they will love decorating their own snowmen! Unfortunately, I can't find the pictures on my computer - but they were super cute.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

A few days ago, I saw this trailer for Alice in Wonderland (with Tim Burton producing), and grew very excited. I have read both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass numerous times. Today, most versions of Alice in Wonderland, such as Disney's appeals to children - however, Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to appeal to many audiences. I have found Alice's Adventures in Wonderland more enjoyable the older I get because I can pick up on more themes and analogies. To me, it's funny because there are many misconceptions with the book and the Disney movie. For example, Tweedledee and Tweedledumb never appear in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but in the sequel - Through the Looking Glass. Also, Carroll never called the "Queen of Hearts" by that name but, "the Red Queen". What I love most about these books is the theme that life itself is a puzzle. My favorite quote of all time is from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and it goes, "If there's no meaning in it, said the King, that saves a world of trouble, you know as we needn't try to find any." –Lewis Carroll. I love this quote because it embodies that some things in life are unsolvable. I am eager and excited to see how Tim Burton's version turns out, plus I loveeee Johnny Depp.

Odd Campus Occurence

This is a picture taken from my blackberry on the way to class. I think this is an odd sight to witness in the middle of the sidewalk. There are multiple possibilities that could have caused this particular incident: 1. someone got so hot from running/working out, they just took their pants off, 2. the weather today is so freezing that it knocked their pants off, 3. they lost a bet and had to go naked to class, or 4. they merely just dropped their workout clothes out of a bag. I'm guessing it's really 4, but it's funny to think about the possibilities.

Land Rover S1 Phone

"Land Rover S1 is undoubtedly the world's strongest toughest mobile phone. It can survive the impact of fall from 3 stories building, can withstand 220 C heat,can be buried in 3 tons of mud, can be put in a bottle of Champaigne and can even be bulldozed by four Land Rover vehicles and still it survive". I know this phone is probably really expense to make, but I think camera and mobile phone companies should start leaning in the direction of undestructable electronics. I have an Olympus Stylus camera that is water proof up to 12ft, drop proof up to 6ft, and freeze proof. It has been a great camera because it can go anywhere with me and I don't have to be worried or paranoid about it. I have gone through 2 cameras and 2 phones since college began, and it is a statistic that $700 million is spent in the U.S. on replacing broken phones. Especially when in college, it is hard to make sure something doesn't get dropped or spilled on. I really think this is going to be the next hot trend in portable electronic, and I will be the first in line.

In With the New, Out With the Old

This is a painting I did to symbolize the divorce rate in America - wish is about 1 and every 2 couples getting a divorce. It is another one of my pieces apart of the stereotypes of women concentration, which 'Wash Your Troubles Away', is also apart of. This scene is just a stereotypical view that a lot of the time women get left by their husbands for a younger woman, leaving them feeling replaced. I think there definitely is a conception in society that men who divorce go for younger women. This is one contribution to the fact that women are racing around to stay looking young with procedures such as plastic surgery and botox. Generally, men stay attractive as they age, and it is perceived that women do not. In this piece, I made the characters from on top of a wedding cake come to life by elements of gesture and color. Gesture and color were two of my major elements in my concentration, if you couldn't tell by 'Wash Your Troubles Away'. I tried to capture the feeling and imagery of being replaced by having the husband pulling up another woman on to his ex-wife's previous spot on the cake.

Poor Tiger

I have felt really bad for Tiger Woods and his family this past week. It is utterly sad how much America feeds off bad details of other's personal lifes. Our culture is consumed with E! News, TMZ, and sites like Perez Hilton. Most of these sites focus on the bad/dramatic aspects of people's lifes and are out to make everyone look bad. The fact is Tiger was in a wreck and people should be thankful and happy that he is okay. Sadly, this is not the case. People are hungry like wolves to know if he was having an affair, who his voicemails were too, why he got in the wreck, etc., etc. Tiger is one of the world's greatest golfers of all time and provides much entertainment for people in the sports realm of things. I'm not saying he did or did not cheat on his wife, or that he's a good/bad person if he did/didn't cheat. However, what I do think is that people should stop being so mean hearted and try to place themselves in his shoes. I think adults of America are setting a horrible example for kids of this country because they demonstrate that buying trashy magazines is cool/accepted. The more people who support these mags, the more gossip and bad details about people's lifes are going to be repeated.

Vacation in a Bottle

Tonight, I went to one of my favorite spots, Who's Who Burger, with a friend. We ordered our burgers, and when picking out our drinks I noticed my friend got a ViB. This is something I had barely heard of, but remembered being asked to join a facebook group for it a few days before. I casually asked my friend, "oh, that's that energy drink, right?" he responded, "no, it's actually the opposite. It's supposed to help you relax. ViB stands for, "vacation in a bottle"." I thought this was such a strange concept - a drink that helps you calm down. This was very funny to me, because being in college I am used to people buying Rockstars or Redbulls to help them stay up and study. I couldn't try the ViB for myself tonight because I had too much to do. But, I'm hoping to get to try this vacation in a bottle the minute I get some free time to relax, maybe December 18th on the flight home for x-mas break!

Carbon Dioxide Overdose

I recently read an article on foxnews.com about how the EPA is preparing to announce a high level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a public danger. This fact deeply scares me because if it is a public danger now, there's not much we're doing that could fix it quickly. We are a society that overconsumes and overuses everything. In a typical american family, there is more than 1 car driven, and this means a few cars for every family which = a ton of fuel admissions. This is a very buzzworthy topic with the global climate summit starting in Coopenhagen, Denmark, next week. I think we should really encourage people all over the world, but mostly Americans since we are the worst, to carpool to work, to take public transporation, use electric cars, recycle, and do anything possible to help minimize fuel admissions. We have definitely taken advantage of our planet and need to do anything possible to slow down this process, if we want the world to be there for our children and theirs. What is also interesting is that the "Greenpeace: I'm Sorry" campaign was voted in best ads this week in AdAge. The client is Greenpeace and the Agency is Arc Communications. There is a series of over a dozen different billboards with different world leaders, and the concept is to have them apologizing 10 years from now for not saving our planet. I think this is a very powerful message because it makes the audience think what if this became reality. The billboard I've posted is Obama saying "I'm sorry". I think it's interesting how they've made him age in the photo - it really makes the billboard look like one from the future.

Zhu zhu pets?

In case you didn't know, one of the most popular & toughest children's gift to find for the holiday season is a zhu zhu pet. A zhu zhu pet is a toy hamster that plays, makes noises, goes to sleep, and basically does almost everything a real hamster would do. There are 6 hamster characters in the series, and there are many accesories, cages, and wheels you can also buy for them. These popular items are nearly sold out of all major retail stores and toy stores. People are using ebay and other websites to sell them for higher amounts. This gift happened to be at the top of my little 8 year old cousin's wish list, and my mom has been determined to find one. So my mom found one off of ebay from some foreign country - and paid nearly triple the amount with shipping ( a standard zhu zhu retails for about $15). I just think it's funny how crazy people get with toys during the holidays. The national news showed hundreds of people standing outside stores at 3am on Black Friday for toys like these. I think people have definitely lost the sense of what Christmas is all about. I know people should want to give their kids what they want, but it's not like their children will be playing with these toys in 6 months because something new and more hip will have already come out. The important thing about Christmas is being together as a family and celebrating the birth of someone who died so we could all live, not the trendiest gift.

Imitation Chanel Bag

I absolutely love chanel quilted bags - but I don't own one, yet. Although I do have many nice designer purses, chanel quilted bags are like the one classic handbag desired by women. I'm too afraid to have one while in college because I feel like it would get messed up. However, I recently came across a picture when I was googling chanel quilted bags (okay, so maybe one is on my xmas list) where someone had made there own imitation chanel quilted bag out of a brown paper bag, black sharpie, and an old chain. Although this is not exactly what you'd call "haute couture", it is definitely very unique - and surprisingly very cool. I think that is so creative that some one made one, it almost inspires me to make one. It's kind of funny to me how a chanel bag can retail for $2,000, but something more edgy and fun can cost you nearly nothing. Sure it's probably not as surdy. Atleast if it gets dirty or ruined, you can always just make a new one!

Dallas: Home of World's 3rd Best Swimming Pool?

I recently saw a random list of world's top ten swimming pools - the top 2 are in Sydney, Australia, and Heart Castle, California, but to my dismay - the 3rd best one is here in my backyard! At the Joule hotel. I've never heard of this place, have I been living under a rock? The pool itself is not that big, but what is so special and unique about it is the architecture. The pool sticks out from the building, over the ground below by itself. In fact, it projects 8 ft over the side wall. I think it gives a special touch because the vintage building looks so traditional, but then there is a pool sticking out of the side - very interesting.

Don't Understand the Twilight Saga

I saw the movie "New Moon" about a week ago. I hadn't even seen Twilight yet, so I rented it and then headed directly to the movie theater to continue the saga. First of all, I was utterly shocked by the number of teeny bobbers there. All dressed in their Team Jacob/Team Edward shirts - screaming in hormonal excitement. It was horrifingly annoying because everytime Edward or Jacob would enter the big screen, screeks and squeals would pierce all the normal people in the audience's ears. But what I don't get the most, and I admit I haven't read the books so I don't know what ends up happening, is that this book is a horrible example for young girls. The message is to do anything for a boy, or even let a boy change who you are in order to make him happy. The main character, Bella Swan, is so confused in her own skin - she becomes dependent on Edward - and will do ANYTHING to be with him. She wants Edward to change her into a vampire so that they can be together forever. This is puzzlesome to me because she never once thinks of all her family and other obligations she would be throwing away. I know it's supposed to be a "love story", but I found it to be a little over the top and a naive story - I guess I'll never get why it's so popular.

The Man Who Paints Himself

I recently stumbled upon Liu Bolin, otherwise known as the "invisible man", on the Internet. He is a chinese artist who paints himself to fit into a background, as if he wasn't even there. As a painter, I think it is absolutely fascinating how he can pick out a scene and paint HIMSELF to fit it perfectly. Painting yourself would be a very hard task, and I bet you would have to be flexible in order to reach all the spots on your own body. This man is for real - there is absolutely no photoshop or help. Also, another reason why I am so fascinated by him is because he is extremely unique - no one else does this. My favorite work of his is the one where the security guard is holding him, he truly looks invisible! Again, amazing...