Cupcake Creations and an Engagement Celebration

On Sunday my parents along with Todd’s parents threw us a party to celebrate our engagement.  It was a really fun event.  My family is quite big which can be overwhelming.  It was really nice for Todd to be able to spend a little more time with them and also for his parents and aunts and uncles to have the chance to meet a lot of my family.

Celebration Spread

The spread of food was amazing.  Shrimp, lemon drops, fudge brownies, fresh fruit and cupcakes.  Now, let’s talk about these cupcakes.

Cupcakes and Cookies!

While we were still in Costa Rica, my mom began planning for this party.  One email I received asked me what some of my and Todd’s favorite childhood things were.  It turns out she was incorporating some of our favorite childhood things into the cupcakes, baked by Making Thyme Kitchen on Cherry Street, for the party.  I don’t think I need to tell you that they turned out amazing.

Here were the cupcake flavors:

1 – Chocolate Fudge: Based on our mutual love of Mackinac Island these chocolatey cupcakes were the perfect homage to one of our favorite childhood vacation spots.

2 – Rice Krispie Treat: One of my favorite childhood treats, these cupcakes were frosted with marshmallow cream and then topped with Rice Krispies and tasted just like the real thing.

3 – PB&J (minus the J): Todd loves peanut butter and hates jam or jelly in any form so these were just peanut butter.  The frosting was that perfect sweet peanut buttery goodness that can only be found in Halloween’s least favorite candy, orange and black peanut butter kisses, which I happen to love.

4 – Maple Bacon Waffle: Todd loved breakfast food as a kid.  This unique and most delicious cupcake featured a waffle flavored base iced with a thick layer of maple frosting and then topped with a touch of bacon.  The bacon was the perfect thing to temper the sweetness of the maple – unbelievable!

On top of these four flavors there were two types of mini cupcakes, carrot cake and champagne which were just decadent little mouthfuls.  Apart from the cupcakes, we were blessed with a gorgeous day and we had a great time seeing our family for (pretty much) the first time since we’ve been engaged.  We’re pretty lucky, indeed.

*Happy 30th Anniversary (yesterday) to my parents!  Love you both.  🙂

I’m Looking Forward To…

With just over a week left in Costa Rica, I can’t help but dream of all of the conveniences awaiting me back in Michigan.  In the same vein as Todd’s last post, here’s a list of what I’m most looking forward to:

1 – A Washer AND Dryer: While Todd and I had a fully functional washing machine for our first month in Potrero, we had to line dry our clothes.  Since it’s hot here, that’s not so bad until you notice that your clothes are stretched out in strange shapes and some of your t-shirts are lopsided.  For once in my life, I’m looking forward to laundry.

2- Meijer (or any other fully stocked grocery store): The Super Ceimy and Super Catalina have served us well but I can’t wait to have a limitless supply of fruits and vegetables and more feasible dinner options than just pasta, tortillas with beans and a smattering of veggies or mac ‘n cheese.

3 – A Grill: Thinking of grilled chicken, burgers, grilled pizza and vegetables, heck, even hot dogs is making my mouth water.  Oh, I can’t wait!

4 – Food: I could write a whole post on the foods I can’t wait to eat but I’ll spare you.  I’m most looking forward to good cheese (sharp white cheddar, I’ve missed you!), fresh, quality produce (food standards aren’t that high here) and restaurants with menus different that all of the other restaurants in town.

5 – Friends and Family: Two months is a long time to go without seeing the people you love.  I’m ready.

6 – Wedding Planning: It’s been so hard to be engaged for five weeks without being able to really start planning our wedding.  It will be great to be able to do more than surf the internet looking for ideas.  I also can’t wait to spend time with my mom and sister planning the wedding instead and getting their advice instead of just emailing them constantly with questions and ideas.

7 – Home: I can’t wait to just be home.  For the past two months we haven’t slept in the same place for more than 5 consecutive days.  Living out of luggage can only be enjoyed for so long.

8 – Driving: Oh to have a car again!  There is such freedom in being able to get around easily without buses or car rentals.  Added bonus – the paved roads.

9 – Things to Do: Having nothing to do all the time is overrated.  Granted, we have our volunteering time but the rest of the day we have all the freedom in the world to just relax, go to the beach or read.  The problem is that without the limitations of productivity, relaxing can get quite boring.  Having to go back to work, people to see and errands to do will be a nice vacation from perpetual relaxation.

I’m really going to miss Costa Rica too though.