Boots

I thought I'd put on some more of my boots, because I love them so much.  And to talk about boots in general.

   I saw these boots in one of the many boot stores in Gatlenburg while we were on vacation.  I absolutely fell in love with them.  They are gorgeous and Ariat's, which is a really good brand.  So I know the leather is quality leather.  If you care about the leather quality of your boots, basically a good thick leather and lots of give to it is what you are looking for.  Compare the thickness to other boots in the store, and press your finger on the leather and rub it to the side.  It should move.  It shouldn't be stiff.  It should have give, basically.  It's kind of hard to explain.

Chocolate Cake

   Today, I decided to make a cake.  I have these really cool silicone (or something) molds.  They're shaped like oreos.  So I looked for a devil's food cake recipe.  Here's what I came up with:
David Lebovitz' Devil's Food Cake Recipe

It made a really tasty cake.
   I did change something in it though.  I didn't have cake flour.  (Who ever does?)  So I looked up how to change all-purpose into cake flour:
Joy the Baker-How To Make Cake Flour
It's actually really simple.  Just so you know, all-purpose is not self-rising.  Which I had to look up too, because I didn't know.

Carrot Substituting

   I asked Mom to buy apples for a recipe that I wanted to do.  Time passed...But when I eventually wanted to do it, she said there weren't enough anymore.  Siiigh...  So I'm like "Well, carrots and apples are good with basically the same stuff."
   I peeled some carrots and chopped them up to big apple slice size and just put them in instead.  In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really into following the rules when I don't want to.  Following the rules would mean no apple crisp!  The show must go on!

Horses, Waterfalls, Mountains. Oh my!

While on vacation in Tennessee, we decided to go driving one day.  Kind of like hiking, except sitting on your butt with cheetos in your hand.  In my case it was a camera in my hand.  At least at first.
There were some horses we came up to.

Ripley's Aquarium

Here are some more pictures of the aquarium:

Vacation!

This past ten days we've been on vacation in Tennessee!  We did a little shopping...a little hiking...and a lot of having fun.
   Here's a pic of the Smoky Mountains:

Nancy Drew

   This movie is about Nancy Drew, played by Emma Roberts, solving a mystery about Dehlia Draycott, a actress found dead in her pool many years ago.  It is a humorous story, and a new twist on the old books what with Nancy being a teenager in high school.   After a hostage situation, her dad tells her to stop sleuthing while they're in California for his job.  But with the house she already picked out having a mystery, she just can't stay away from cracking the case.

Cream Puffs=Weapon of Mass Destruction?

   I baked something truly nasty.  It all started when I was playing a cooking game on the wii, Cooking Mama.  It's a fun game and it mentions the ingredients as you play.  So I figured "Hey!  If I could just figure out the amounts, I could make all the recipes!"  I asked Helen to play a few levels and I wrote down the ingredients and instructions.  Now, we didn't have any meat or anything lying around for me to play with but we always have flour and sugar.  So I decided on cream puffs.  Something I remembered after I cooked all this was that with meat and stuff it's hard to go wrong as long as you check the temperature.  Spices are fairly easy to do whatever you want and not use a recipe.  But with baked goods, you really kind of need a recipe or at least a knowledge of the ratios.  I tried to recruit Helen but she said it was a bad idea.
   I guessed all the amounts, did all the instructions, and...

Henna Tattoos

Helen and I got Henna Tattoos.  Here's Helen's:

It's a griffen with the sun behind it.  Here it's black because the stuff hadn't come off yet.  Basically
somebody draws a design on you.

Popsicle Stick Picnic Basket

   One sleepover, my friends and I dug out the box of popsicle sticks and searched the internet for something to make.  We decided on a picnic basket.  Here's a pic:

   Things you'll need:

How to fix worn black shoes

   I have a pair of shoes that are old hand-me-downs.  They'd been worn down at the tips and heels.  Here's what one of them looked like on the heel:

   So I got out a sharpie marker and touched up the areas where the black exterior had come off.

Flats

   I would say a good pair of flats are one of the most important things in any gal's wardrobe.  The right pair can add that extra oomph to your outfit.  (I can't believe spellchecker doesn't mind the word oomph)  I currently have three different pairs:

    These are ballet flats, in other words super comfortable.  I like to have a black pair of flats that goes with anything but still has a little something extra, in this case fabric flowers.  Just because it's

My Gardens

   Well it's the end of April and we finally planted a garden.  The flower garden was covered in leaves, ivy stuff, and an old abandoned anthill.  So after clearing all that out and planting the flower seeds, this is what it looks like:

   I know it doesn't look like much, but I'm just proud to have a flower garden.  I've had a vegetable garden before but never a flower garden.  Please grow.  Please grow.

   For the vegetable garden we put up weed blocker, which is basically cheater tarp.  Now I only have