Tag Archives: friends

(french) deals and donuts

For those of you who are “Kansas City friends”… You are probably aware of the fact that I have a booth out at Trendz Market.  Well, I have to let you in on some breaking news.  This week (thru next Tuesday), I have the “item of the week” (big gasp; then silence…)  Yes.  It’s true.  While you are sitting here reading my blog post, you could be up at Trendz saving 20% on anything french…!  Oooo la la, my friends.  (Click on my Facebook page if you want a “sneak peek” at some of the featured items!  For store hours and info, click on “shop with me at Trendz” link at the top of my blog site)  OK.  Maybe you are not here in Kansas City, or you are a new reader of my blog, and therefore have no idea what Trendz is…  No worries.  Simply click on the links at the top of this blog page…”who is creations by cathy” and “shop with me at trendz”.  That should get you up-to-date.  So now you’re sad.  You wish that you lived here so that you could stop by Trendz and check it out.  I’m sorry.  I do, however, have two bits of good news that might cheer you up a bit.

Number one; I am working on getting a little shopping page together so that I can share some of my Creations goodies with all of my friends, near or far. It will be the “shop now” link at the top of this blog site.  I will keep you posted.

And reason number two (the more delicious of the two); I found this yummy looking recipe at Camille Styles blog site.  (Thank you, Camille!)  Indulge and enjoy…

Baked French Breakfast Donuts

Adapted from Cooks.com

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup milk (I used whole milk)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat donut pan generously with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg; mix well.
  3. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk.
  4. Fill donut tins half full. Bake 15-20 minutes. Take out of pan immediately and swirl tops into melted butter, then sugar and cinnamon mixture. Makes 6-7 big donuts.

*Note:  These work just as well in a muffin tin, too!

live happy… laugh, love, dream, create

“girl’s night in”

So we watched “Bridesmaids” again this weekend when my daughter was home for the weekend… oh my!  Then I saw this blog post on my Pinterest page this morning from a fun site; “Pizzazzerie“.  That got my creative planning juices going.  “Girl’s Night In”.  OMGosh… what a fun idea!!  That is SO going on my bucket list (that I am currently “drafting”.  More on that later!!)

“If you laugh really loud, talk spontaneously and you don’t care what your face looks like… You’re probably with your real friends.”  – unknown

It’s time to invite the girlfriends over and host a girl’s night in! I’m sharing 10 ways to entertain the gals in style. From the perfect movies to the perfect food, you won’t ever regret “girl-time”. I love designing parties around colors so this one was naturally PINK!

1. THE INVITATION – I am head-over-heels in LOVE with Polka Dot Design’s new glitter line! Seriously it is so cute. I already ordered address labels. Customize this one for the perfect Girl’s Night in Party! This helped set my color scheme of pink + gold!

2. NAIL POLISH – Pick up some fun nail polish colors for manicures! I love Essie’s All Tied Up + Essie’s Golden Nuggets

3. CUPCAKE TIME – Making cupcakes or other sweet dessert is a total must for a successful girl’s night in! Add some pizzazz with gold disco dust or gold luster dust for some pretty shine!

4. TASSEL GARLAND – I have a turquoise version of this garland in my office. Pick it up in pink + gold for your Girl’s Night In! Hang it from the doorway, in the dining room, the mantle, or wherever else you’re celebrating with the gals! Find this one at The Flair Exchange!

5. SIGNATURE COCKTAIL – Weddings aren’t the only events that call for a signature cocktail! I love this Pink Lemonade Cocktail on Somewhere Splendid!

6. DECORATE – Add a framed print to your coffee table or dining room table! I love this one! Find the sign here!

7. MOVIE TIME – While the cupcakes are cooling and nails are drying, turn on some fave flicks like Bridesmaids or Sixteen Candles!

8. PHOTO STRIP FUN – I love this app – Pocketbooth – that lets you create photo strips and even has a print-and-mail function! Your girlfriends will love documenting the fun night!

9. TABLE DECOR – A pink tablecloth and striped runner will add lots of pretty flair for your dinner table! Or keep it casual and lounge on the couch for dinner but either way, add some pops of color! {Tablescape via 100 Layer Cake}

10. FAVORS – My favorite part of EVERY party! Girl’s Night In favors can be anything from a cute nail polish, a bag of sweet treats, or a grab bag of cute craft supplies (think gold glitter and pink ribbon!).

live happy… laugh, love, dream, create

cleaning sinks; making muffins

Some things in life are straight forward, clear cut, black and white.  You know what to do, maybe you’ve even been there before.  Everything just seems to make sense.

Some things don’t.

Last Friday morning my friend’s husband passed away very suddenly.  He was only 58.  We are a group of friends and neighbors, all in our 50’s, kids close in ages.  We “girls” get together regularly for “coffee”… which is really just codeword for “therapy”.  We have been there for each other through thick and thin, laughter and tears… We are a diverse group.  Very diverse.  And that really works for us. Never, however, have we had to be there for each other like this.

So what to do…?  Your mind fills with a laundry list of things you can’t do.  You can’t bring him back.  You can’t turn back time.  You can’t take away her pain.  So you do what you can.  Whatever “that” is.  For me, it was helping to clean her house for the onslaught of people who would converge on her in the coming days.  Then I made muffins… and casseroles… and phone calls… and trips to Target.  In my state of “helplessness”; I found great strength in the “doing”.

So our little group has suffered a terrible blow. Times two. The devastating loss of a treasured husband and father last Friday, and then our friend, Mary, left on Monday to follow her heart, and her dreams, to Maine. (See previous post; the “Maine” goodbye)  We will, obviously, never be the same – but we will survive.  This is definitely unchartered territory, so we will just have to “wing it” I guess.  We will be there to help in any way that we can in the days, weeks, months to come…  Though we are all very different, we will do whatever we can; what we do best… whatever “that” is.

Banana Nut Muffins

2 c. flour

1 T. baking powder

½ t. salt

½ c. butter

3/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 1/3 c. ripe banana, mashed

1 c. chopped toasted pecans

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.  Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Stir in mashed bananas.  Add dry ingredients all at once, stirring just enough to moisten.  Gently stir in nuts.  Spoon into greased muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full. (about 15-18 muffins)  Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

looking for a rainbow

I will be honest with you – My posts have been kinda tough to write lately.  OK…really tough.  And there is an impossible one coming tomorrow.  People that I love are going through some very, very difficult times… and that hurts me deep down in my heart.  So today I wanted to share a pic of one of my very favorite things, rainbows… along with two of my favorite songs made into one.  Less than five minutes to watch this peaceful little video.  You have five minutes.  Do it.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow ~ What a Wonderful World (click here and enjoy…)

the “Maine” goodbye…

We have said “goodbye” so many times over the past couple of months, but I always knew there would be one last goodbye before she left…

My dear friend, Mary, is moving to Maine with her hubbie.  They moved out of their house (only one house between us) and into temporary housing a couple of months ago.  We said goodbye.  The neighbors had a going away party.  We said goodbye.  We got our little “girl’s group” together for one last coffee.  We said goodbye.  Went out for Indian food with our hubbies, one last time.  We said goodbye.  Finally – we met up briefly at a neighbor’s house last night for one final goodbye…

I cried each time, but tried to keep it “polite and reasonable”.  I reserved my gut wrenching “throw yourself on the floor” sobs for private home time.  The truth is – Mary doesn’t do the whole crying thing.  She is “matter-of-fact”, positive and reasonable… on just about everything.  Her determination and positive “never-give-up” attitude helped her survive cancer.  Three times.  Oh ya… and a miracle.  You see, “medically”… Mary really should not be here.  Doctors still have no explanation as to how or why she survived her most serious bout with cancer.  But I do.

And so my heart is filled with an explosive mixture of happy and sad, all combusting within me at the same time.  I am (selfishly) very deep down in my soul sad.  But, in the same breath,  I am absolutely ecstatic for Mary.  She so deserves this happiness.  She has been given the precious gift of time to follow her dreams.  And that is exactly what she is doing.  She is not the kind to sit around worrying and “what iffing”.  She appreciates and savors each moment as it is in front of her.  I’m gonna let you in on a little secret, however; She’s not perfect.  She does have one well known shortcoming…. Mary loves doughnuts.  A lot.

So this morning I am (sobbing) in the shower (which, by the way, works very well).  We said our final goodbyes last night.  Right…?  No!  I have to see her one more time.  One more hug.  One more goodbye.  So I get an idea.  Unfortunately for Mary, I know where she is going to be at exactly 9:30.  I have one stop to make on the way there and miss her by a hair.  Panic mode sets in.  In the end, we meet briefly in a grocery store parking lot for a quick chat and one more hug.  I present her with one little gift for the road… doughnuts.

And we say our final, final goodbye.

She tells me “No crying” (ya. right.) and I get back in my car and watch as her car disappears from my rear view mirror.  As she drives away, I realize that she has left me with a hole in my heart… and I believe it to be about the size of a doughnut hole.

God speed, Mary. 
Your rainbow is waiting…
live happy… laugh, love dream, create

a sweet little fourth of july

So the Fourth of July is a “midweek holiday” this year.  Kind of a fun way to put a little fun, family and friendship into an (otherwise) ordinary week.  Perhaps you’re heading to the lake, popping over to the neighbors or entertaining in your own backyard…  I will tell you that I have a tendency to focus more on the main part of the meal when it comes to entertaining – and the cocktails and desserts are often an afterthought.  (I can hear some of you laughing already…  Perhaps “cocktails” are where you START your planning…? Ha!)  Anyway – I thought it would be fun to share a few little last-minute “sweet” ideas for the Fourth of July holiday that is upon us!

Well – First of all – I have got a recipe here for a “Double Berry Margarita” that is calling my name.  Loud.  And it’s not even noon yet.  (Houston – we have a problem…)  Anyway, I’m going to share it with you in the hopes that you will make it for the 4th, or sometime this summer, and share your “results” with me.  (Well, maybe not ALL of your results.  We’re sticking with a “G” rating here, friends! )

Double Berry Margarita

1 oz. tequila blanco

1/2 oz Cointreau

1/2 oz Chambord

1 splash sweet and sour mix

2 raspberries, muddled

2 blackberries, muddled

2 lime wedges, muddled

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass.  Shake hard and serve in a glass with a salted rim.  Garnish with a lime wedge, raspberry and blackberry.  Oh my, that sounds good!! 

Doing a little “last minute” entertaining?  Need something quick & easy in the beverage department??  Well, icy cold lemonade – or pink lemonade – works great for any outdoor entertaining… perfect for the kiddos, and even more fun for the adults (Hint, hint:  Keep a bottle of citron vodka in the freezer for an icy little “adult lemonade cocktail”!!)     

As for dessert, nothing is sweeter and simpler than a cupcake.  These cupcakes can be made with your favorite cupcake mix/recipe (Red Velvet, perhaps?) and a simple white buttercream frosting.  I just fell in love with the simplicity of these decorations…

Stars & Stripes

  • Tint 1 cup buttercream a bright blue with gel-paste food color. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip (#4). Frost each cupcake with a smooth layer of untinted buttercream.
  • To finish, cut red licorice laces into seventy-two 1-1/2 inch long pieces and seventy-two 3/4 inch long pieces. Arrange three longer pieces and three shorter pieces to form a flag pattern. With blue frosting, pipe nine dots in each open corner to form “stars”.

Need something for the kids to help with while you are sipping on your “Double Berry Margarita”??  Staying with our “sweet” theme – a little project that will give an ordinary blue napkin a festive feel in a simple way… Starlight Spangled Napkin Rings!!   Not a lot of supplies and simple directions.  Just trying to give the kiddos something to do while you are busy sipping on your margarita…!!

OK – so there you go.  A few “sweet” little ideas for your upcoming Fourth of July holiday!!   Say a prayer for our troops, and the families who are missing them.  Be proud, be safe, be American; Keep calm and eat a cupcake!

Happy Fourth…  Live happy

big ben

I have to admit that watching the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebration over the past couple of days has made me a bit nostalgic…

It seems like a hundred years ago, now; our life in London.  It was 1986 when the opportunity of a lifetime presented itself to these two young, 20-something newlyweds.  The next two years play out in my mind  like a slideshow of beautiful memories, unforgettable friends and extraordinary experiences.  Here we were, two young kids from the midwest.  We were suddenly living in the heart of London, in a small flat (apartment), with a refrigerator that was not much bigger than a small “bar” refrigerator and a washer/dryer “combo”.  (Yep. One contraption takes care of both.  Go figure.) Two of the modes of transportation were a huge underground subway system (“the tube”), or a car (our little white Jetta) with the steering wheel on the right side of the car, that you were, somehow, expected to drive on the left side of the street!  We learned that a “boot” is the trunk of your car, if you need an elevator, you ask for the “lift” and for goodness gracious, if you have to go potty, you need to find the “loo”!!   We fell in love with Indian food, the theatre and the English countryside.  I fell “head-over-heels in love” with “afternoon tea”… the finest tradition on earth, in my ever so humble opinion. I did not, however, fall in love with “pub food”.  Just saying.  We learned that drizzly rain is just that… drizzly rain; and it doesn’t stop anything. When the sun did make an appearance – it was a gift and a glorious celebration.  We learned that no one there cares if it is Thanksgiving back home and that the holidays are a time that you really do miss your family…  We made lots of friends, however.  Good friends; with people from all over the US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.  Those friends, along with our many, many experiences, have proven to be truly unforgettable.  There is so much more to share in future posts – but suffice it to say that our time in London was absolutely, positively “splendid”!!  Cheers!

“From the top of the bus she could see the vast bowl of London spreading out to the horizon: splendid shops with mannequins in the window, interesting people and already a much bigger world.”   – Julia Gregson

I’m so very happy you are here…

OK, so here I am… my very first post on my brand new blog and I’m so excited that I don’t really know where to start!  Some of you reading this are dear friends and loved ones that know me and my crazy ways and thoughts (Ha!  Well…maybe not ALL of them!)  To all of my new (and old) friends, this fresh new blog is a journey for all of us, myself included, into the very center of my heart, my thoughts, my passions.  With each post I will be sharing a bit of myself with you; a favorite picture, a memory, a recipe… anything that reminds me to “live happy” today.  We will share funny stories, deep thoughts, big belly laughs and maybe even some tears.  After all, that’s what friends are for.  In my mind, with each and every post, I will picture you, my friend, sitting right here next to me, with a cappucino or a cup of tea and a yummy chocolate covered biscuit. So pull up a chair and let’s have a chat.

 I am so very happy that you are here…   live happy~ laugh, love, dream, create