Can you say, Yum?!

In an attempt to focus my energies away from stress and anxiety (from my new job) I have taken to baking. I have always loved baking but have limited myself to cookies, bread, and an occasional cake. Over a year ago, a friend of mine started eating desserts together once every week. By restraining ourself from sweets during the week we would reward ourselves with something extreme and delicious! It has been a useful tactic for me, but I am not always successful at restraining during the week! Anyway, when my friend left me high and dry by moving to Portland (not to mention jealous of her new environment) I continued the "dessert club" with some more friends. We have made some delicious desserts in the last several months and it is so much fun to get together and chat while eating something so yummy! I bought myself a Martha Stewart baking book for Christmas and this past weekend I made a Devil's Food Cake with Mint Chocolate Ganache. It was so much fun! I even put John to work making the chocolate mint leaves for garnish. I knew someone with the steady hands of a surgeon would be good at that and I was right! I think they are the most fun part of the cake (but not fun to make, which is why I enlisted John!) In addition to the mint chocolate leaves, John is the famous photographer responsible for the cake pictures! He got a new camera for Christmas and has really been jazzed about taking pictures of everything possible! Enjoy! Someday I will transcribe the lengthy recipe for those who want it!

Rapid Road trip to Pensacola Florida!

Over this last weekend (when it was John's birthday) we drove to Pensacola Florida to visit John's friend Lance. Lance's uncle has a ritzy high rise condo on the beach and he let us stay in it for free and for fun! Here is the view from our room! It was so pretty, but I would be a nervous wreck living there. The strip that all these houses are on is only about one mile wide and as you can see, at sea level - so beautiful until you imagine a hurricane coming through! AHHHH!

Observe below the levitating ears and hair! It was really windy while we were there, but not cold at all. It looks like it would have been cold because the sky is kind of gray, but are you can see I was only wearing a very light sweater!

Chester looks larger than life in this one...

I don't like this one very much, but John insists that it is super awesome.

The sand was so white. When I looked out from our balcony it looked like snow in places! It was really pretty. I would love to visit in the warmer summer months.....not that it was even close to cold, but too cold to swim that's for sure! As a matter of fact....the sand was so pure and white that even Charlie decided it was worthy of eating. For those of you who do not know, Chester has taken to eating sand and drinking sea water on a regular basis. However, Charlie has never practiced this habit.....until he met Pensacola's white sandy beaches. As you can see in the picture below he is guilty as charged. Just look at the guilt on his face!
On our way out of town we had brunch with Lance and his Dad. It was good to get to know people so close to John. He has a lot of memories in Pensacola and I got a little sneak peak! It was worth the overnight 8 1/2 hour drive (after working 12) in order to get there! You're only young once!