Couture Cupcakes

Have you noticed how couture cupcakes bakeries are popping up all over the place?  I guess there is just something irresistable about a miniature cake that can be dressed to the nines and packed with all notions of sugary goodness! 

We have a delightful little cupcake shop in our neighborhood and the other day I stopped by to see what all the fuss was about.  After shelling out a cool $26, I walked out the door carrying a lovely pink box with exactly six cupcakes inside.  They were gorgeous, no doubt, but after my family quickly polished them off, it left me wishing that I could make my own.  Of course, such delighful confections take time and skill, but I'd like to give it a try. 

There are a host of books with beautiful cupcake designs  and detailed instructions for recipes and decoration.  The Bake Me I'm Yours cupcake books are a great place to start.  They are a series of small books with full cover pictures and step-by-step instructions, though I have to say, they are not easy for a novice baker like myself.  Zoe Clark's Bake Me I'm Yours... Cupcake Love is my favorite of the series.  Her cupcakes are exquisite and truly a work of art!

Image Credit: Zoe Clark's Bake Me I'm Yours... Cupcake Love.

A String of Pearls and a Touch of Blush

Genevieve Antoine Dariaux wrote in her seminal book A Guide to Elegance, "There is one piece of jewellery that is equally becoming to everybody, lovely with almost every ensemble, appropriate for almost every occasion, and indispensible in every woman's wardrobe... long live the pearl necklace, true or false, from our first date until our last breath!" 

I came across this lovely necklace from the Pemberley Collection (apparently named after Mr. Darcy's estate in  Pride and Prejudice.)  It is a fresh update on the enduring classic of a simple string of pearls.  I love the fabric roses in a perfect hue of blush.   It's modern but very elegant at the same time.    

The Rhythm of Family Life

After a summer of late mornings and delayed bedtimes, we headed back to school this week... and by school, I mean homeschool in our bonus room.  Although the boys were reluctant to start, after the first morning my oldest son said, "I'm actually glad to have school again."


"What do you mean?" I asked him. 


"Well, I like having something regular to do in the mornings."  I raised my eyebrows and looked at him for more than a moment. 


I have to admit that as much as I love summer, each year as the summer comes to an end, I start to crave the regularity of the school year again.  I enjoy the rhythm of a normal day at home.  I like knowing what we will do each day.  Although he didn't put it into those exact words, I think that's what my son was saying too.  There is peace and security in regular routines and expected schedules.   One of the things we as mothers can provide our children is the safe structure of home.       


There is a verse in the Bible that instructs us to "aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, to work with your own hands... " (I Thessalonians 4:11).  That is a pretty stark contrast with how the world encourages us to live.  A quiet, stable life?  That sounds pretty boring!  Shouldn't we be seeking to become exceptional people and likewise produce exceptional offspring? 


Now, certainly, God does give people extraordinary gifts and special talents.  And we should be giving our best to use those talents to bring Him glory.  But I don't think we are to diminish the importance of the ordinary in a quest for the extraordinary. 

There is a rhythm to family life and somewhere in the ordinary, unspectacular happenings of the day, our children are making their most important memories.  I think we often think it is the large, extraordinary things that we must provide our children to make their childhood special.  Sometimes those spectacular events do occur, and sometimes, though we try to manufacture them, they don't turn out as we imagine.  Besides, I think perhaps it is the mundane, day-to-day things we do that matter more in the long run anyway.

The writer Thomas Moore said, "The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul that their simplicity might suggest."   So, sit on the floor with your children and watch them draw.  Make them breakfast and talk about the day to come.  It might be those moments they remember the most.  


Image Credit: Pottery Barn Kids.