I apologize for being absent for the past few weeks. I was busy. Busy- because my husband and I took a cake decorating class together- and we had to make frosting for every week, cake for ever other week and it understandably ate up a good chunk of my free-time.

We took the classes in Hooksett, NH at Eaton’s Cake and Candy Supply. We had so much fun. All of the staff we encountered was super nice and respectful and helpful. Our instructor was a very sweet and funny woman. The classes were Wednesday nights from 7-9:30pm. If you want to take classes look for a place like Eaton’s in your area. I can nearly guarantee that you will enjoy yourself.

The class we were taking has now finished- and I would love to share our cakes with you. The first cake we did was very basic, with a simple design. We practiced a few different techniques- and then used them to make our first cake. The techniques included: leveling, frosting, the shell border, the star technique and rosettes. Ooo. Fun!

We returned from a trip to Bangor, ME yesterday. The trip was to bring my little sister up to her school- and because it is nearly a 4 hour trip one-way we decided to stay up there overnight. We got a hotel room at the Four Points by Sheraton.

The room was nice- very simple- which everyone can find calming. There is something relaxing about feeling minimalist-even if only for a day. I liked the room with two drawbacks. Water pressure was non-existent. Toilet flush capacity and shower water pressure were absent. Water was useable- but really lacking. I am all for water conservation, but I don’t think that was the case. I think they just don’t have very good pressure. The second drawback being that the hotel is located at the airport and we were practically sitting on the runway. This didn’t create too much of a problem as the airport doesn’t seem to be all that busy. However, drawbacks aside, we enjoyed the hotel. Staff was friendly- they had clean rooms, and use of free wireless internet and two computers in the lobby.

Bangor, ME is a new adventure for us. Only having gone to Bangor twice now- we are still learning the area and figuring out the haunts.

My husband- an aficionado on Seadog Blueberry Wheat Ale thought it fitting that if while in the area we visited one of the Seadog restaurant locations. We visited the Bangor, ME location and had a delightful visit.

Ordering went as follows:

Husband: Open-faced Pastrami sandwich with coleslaw and Blueberry cheesecake with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Sister: Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Lasagna and Blueberry Cheesecake.

Me: Classic Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken and Classic Bread Pudding with Jack Daniels caramel sauce.

We had no complaints. Food was wonderful. Our waiter was professional and courteous. Pricing was reasonable. We sat outside on their porch overlooking the water- which was beautiful. Our only two minor discomforts came in the form of a green bean fiasco that was located under our chairs, and a giant spider that wanted to be a bit too friendly with us.

Cheap dates are the backbone of young relationships. No one college aged or really- let us be honest below 40- or with children, has any sort of expendable income. Our hard-earned dollars and cents put food on the table, buy toys for the kids, treats for the cats, fix our junky cars, etc, etc. This is why every time you want to take a night out- you don’t have 40 dollars to spend on dinner- or nearly the same on the movies.

As a cheap date advocate- I like to find fun places to go- and have pseudo-dates. Portsmouth, NH is a wonderful location to go walking, window shopping and watch the water. Portsmouth is filled with unique little shops- with all kinds of different gift ideas and things to look at- bedazzled with tiny coffee shops and eateries and you can end the day wishing on pennies at a fountain. It is a ton of fun- and super inexpensive.

Take a little time to go out in the world- and let some amazing sink in…

We took a small vacation this past week- as part of our summer. The husband and I don’t get a lot of time off together, so it was nice to take a break and adventure when we both had some time off.

As part of our adventures we visited the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island. Our primary reason being to visit friends in the area- but a good secondary reason was the Zoo.

The closest Zoo to us is York’s Wild Animal Kingdom. A nice place for a visit as well- but we wanted to see what Rhode Island had to offer us in the way of Zoo going.

Roger Williams Zoo was 12$ per adult for entry- not cheap- but not incredibly overpriced like other theme parks or attractions. We thought 12$ was fair- though if you are on a tight budget it probably isn’t what you want to spend your money on. We had saved a little for our vacation together. If you are going with your family and you have younger children then they will get it for free or at a reduced price depending on age.

RW Zoo is a little complicated to get to- because they hide it down behind their park- and direct you all kinds of different directions to get to their parking. Though they have ample parking- and it was not at all crowded. The lack of crowds could be due to the fact that we went there on an incredibly warm day- and everyone else was probably at the beach.

They had a lot of different animal exhibits-some of which I had never heard of before. My favorites by far would have to be the Two-toed sloth or the Giant Anteater. We actually got pretty close to the sloth- as he was hanging in the branches near the second level of one of the indoor exhibits. He was cute- and looked like he wanted to be my friend. He reminded me of a muppet.

In general appearance the park was clean- and staff was friendly. Seemed a little run-down- but overall it was really nice. Staff members are stationed just outside of some of the exhibits to give tiny science/biology lessons. Those little lessons paired with the neat exhibits make it  a pretty educational trip to take with kids.

How do most people celebrate any occasion? Cake. Duh. Obviously the answer is cake. As I grew up my family celebrated everything with a cake. Birthdays=Cake. Anniversary=Cake. Etc. I have to say that I haven’t ditched the tradition. For anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, baby showers, bridal showers, weddings, retirements and getting a new job- you get cake.

Does the cake tradition bother me? No- not in so many words-it is just something I think that we all grew up with. But you can only have so many kinds of cake before you are quite tired of cake- but even more so tired of the cheesy generic sheet cake with blank “insert chosen message/greeting/congratulations here” cake.

This cake cloud has gotten us to break out of the cake box. Recently we celebrated our wedding anniversary with a smaller replica of our wedding cake (also quite common). So my plan is to take some cake decorating classes. Two of my favorite shows are Ace of Cakes and Cake Boss. I wish I had that kind of drive to create cake masterpieces- but I don’t. I do think it would be fun to learn a few tricks though- and have fun creating some fun cakes. So that’s the plan-someday. I will let you know how it turns out.

Have you ever wanted to learn to decorate cakes? It seems like it would be a ton of fun! AS you can see from the first couple of pictures we are cleary NOT masters of the cake realm just yet. We are learning.