Saturday, February 25, 2012

wedding trends: white on white weddings

Whoever said white on white weddings are boring clearly are not as imaginative as these brides. Check out these inspiration boards! Love all the ideas and intrinsic details. White on white is so elegant and winter wedding appropriate :)
How about white with a hint of lavender? Like this...


Minerva turns 7

Our friend's recording and production studio is turning 7! If you're looking for something fun to do tonight, come join us at Trane Studio, 964 Bathurst Street and enjoy some local talents and good music. 

Friday, February 24, 2012

my week in instagram

Hi. 8 days no post, huh? Seems weird even for me.

How are you?

If you're not following my fangirl craziness on Twitter (follow at your own risk! don't say I didn't warn you :P), or my newfound Instagram addiction, it does feel like I have been out of the loop for awhile. One thing though, I've finished all the editing. Woohoo! Now off to bookmaking, and new appointments =) Love the fact that we've started offering beautifully crafted lay-flat books. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing our work in print. My secret wish is that I can keep a copy of it all because nothing makes me happier than seeing our hard work come out so nicely. Have you ordered yours yet??


Spent the weekend bonding with my bestfriend. We haven't done that for awhile and I had a great time bonding, baking and laughing over cake and tea. Here's a baby shower cake order I helped her decorate. It's so cool to find a friend who likes the same thing as you do. She inspires me to be better everyday. In between taking care of her new baby and attempting to watch a much loved soap opera, it was a girls' weekend we both needed. Speaking of need, need a custom cake for your next event? Visit www.cakerolls.ca =)



Spent Family Day driving around Toronto, eating Korean barbecue and watching a movie with Mr. Pearls. 
                            

....and mostly, busy with instagraming my favourite old photos =)
Hope your week is as interesting as mine! Happy (rainy) Friday!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Sneak Peek: Melanie and Ian

Still working on more editing but isn't Melanie so pretty?

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

.....and the winner is!!!

Congratulations, ANOG siblings!! 
Watch out for our email on how to claim your prize!!

Red velvet brownies = Love!

Why give in to commercializing this day when homemade baked goods mean so much more?? =) Here's a really simple and easy Red Velvet Brownie recipe for all of you!


Red Velvet Brownies

ingredients:

Brownies:
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1-1/2 c. sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1 oz. liquid red food coloring
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
4 T. butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 c. sifted powdered sugar

directions:

Preheat oven to 325°. Line a 9x9 baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang so you can lift out the brownies when they're done. Spray foil with nonstick spray.
In a large saucepan over low heat, stir together butter and chocolate until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar and eggs. Stir in the vanilla, salt, and food coloring. Sift flour and baking powder over mixture and stir to blend well. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched and a tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs. Cool completely in pan on rack.
For the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and powdered sugar. Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil and cover with the frosting. Cut into bite size squares to serve.

 I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter  for the shape and cream cheese frosting on top 

My Instagram collage. Love, love, love!

Monday, February 13, 2012

i love instagram!

I have a new addiction and a brand new love! I'm sure I'm waaay behind since I am not exactly an iPhone user. I do love everything Apple (hence the MacBook Pro, iPad, iTouch, iPod) so I expect it's only a matter of time before I completely switch over. Patiently waiting for the iPhone 5 =) I am in love with this app because it's inspiring me to take a daily photos, and take pictures of interesting things. Of course, some of these are old photos instagramized haha. 

Thanks Mr. Pearls for the early love gift :-)))
Follow me on Instagram: janapearls

Friday, February 10, 2012

just as I am...

I gotta say, I had a slow start this 2012. The funny thing is, I didn't really feel the year starting until just recently and it's already February. I've been going through something personally, and it was hard for me to admit it even to myself. Somehow, I feel that the moment I open up about something negative, people will automatically think I'm having problems with my relationship with Mr. Pearls, which was not the case at all. If anything, the fact that he understood me through all the difficulties was what helped me through it all.

So funny. For the first time in a long time, I had no motivation to try anything new. Maybe the fact that I was also getting less and less sun had something to do with it. Even then Mr. Pearls had been supportive and showed much empathy. Reminded me of a line from JM's song, "would you want me when I'm not myself?". I guess the answer was an unwavering "Yes".

I've spent a great deal of my teens and early twenties with much sadness and self doubt, the uncertainty I was feeling didn't seem so unfamiliar. Unlike my younger self however, I had much hope that no matter how convoluted everything seemed, I knew things will get better. And they did. The window of opportunity was given to me and just like that, I feel hopeful about the future again. There's much to be thankful for if you stopped enough to look around you. I realized most people only ever think about asking for things they want to have without really realizing that maybe they have taken for granted the things they do have. I am guilty of this as well, and now grateful for my new perspective.

So February feels like the start of my new year. I've even managed to change something else I didn't do last year through the encouragement of Mr. Pearls ---get a gym membership. I know!? Sounds too crazy for someone who hasn't really done any serious working out in her life. I can't deny how much I love to eat, as evidenced by my many food posts and I know even with my love and hate relationship with food, age will slowly catch up to me. So this is definitely a step in the right direction. I've agreed to pay biweekly so hopefully I won't end up wasting it. I have gone once last week so yey me! Although, I must admit, I'm a little nervous about sharing this information with anyone because I don't want to be judged in the coming weeks regarding progress. As much as possible, I want to do it on my own phase and timeline. I just want to be more active than I was before so hopefully it won't be too bad. The idea of a physical assessment though, creeps me out a little bit. I feel like I'm gonna be tested on a subject I have never studied. If they force a personal trainer on me, I might not be able to say no. Yikes! We'll see :) I think more than anything, I'm scared to find out what my real body fat content really is. Probably more than I should have. Haha! Oh well, the main thing is, I am hopeful and motivated and that I have a Mr. Pearls who loves me just as I am, with extra pounds or not.

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

DIY: Crayola Hearts

Looking for a cool V-day project for your kids? Try this! Crayola hearts!

cupid's creme brulee

Haven't had a food post in a while. Haven't really cooked anything new or interesting either, but that doesn't prevent me from checking out other food bloggers who have amazing recipes and things to share. Hostess with the Mostess have the most amazing V-day recipes and decor ideas. This heart-topped creme brulee caught my eye. Visit the site now for the recipe and DIY!
image from the hostessblog.com No copyright infringement intended

UPDATE
Following the recipe and DIY, I made my own version. I didn't have a heart-shaped silicon mold which would have made it cuter. Just to show you how easy this recipe is, I made four of these in less than an hour. Try it now! Enjoy =)