all { D'ed } out

okay, so if anyone was paying attention to my posts last week they would have noticed that they were appearing then magically would disappear and then reappear sometime later (it must have been the disney effect).  So instead of trying to correct it (which was virtually impossible from my ipad), i figured i would just wait until i got home to redo them.  Alas, the missing posts:

{ cinderella's castle }

most of my time in orlando last week was spent on disney's quarters.  as you read in my previous post, we spent our first few nights at disney's grand floridian before moving over to the caribe royal, which was where my father's conference was.  regardless if we were staying on or off the premises, we spent everyday except one at the disney parks.  although it was a lot of fun, i do have to say, i am a little disney'd out after a full seven days of fighting crowds, consuming pure salt, constantly pin-hunting and confronting the chilly temperatures that i was unprepared for.

{ tree of life }

{ epcot's spaceship earth}

life is { grand }

my father has a conference down in orlando this week (plus he is mildly obsessed with disney... as this is his third time being there in eight months) so i came along for the ride. we started our week vacay at the grand flouridian. it is his absolute favorite disney resort due to not only its victorian style and the amount of pampering that occurs, but the convenience the monorail provides for my sister.

pin-up { men }

how great are these photos by rion sabean of men doing some pin-up modeling?  

so seductive, so alluring, so... disturbing? 

they make the common manly ventures sexy... right?  as cute as they are, i think ill stick with my image of a manly man when it comes to shoveling, construction or chopping wood.

{ images via petapixel & flickr }

on the { scale } of manipulation

remember back in the day when mom would buy us a disposable camera and we would go into the wilderness (or backyard) and snap shots of a ladybug crawling across a flower petal, a toad sitting in the windowsill corner or our friends or siblings jumping into a pile of leaves? we would venture out into the world searching for our next masterpiece to place on the refrigerator for the next week.  instead of going out and searching for her next set-up, lori nix creates her own photo environment by hand.  each diorama is only  centimeters in size and allows her to manipulate it to her desire.  her inspiration: our, as humans, everyday environment inhabited by humor and chaos intertwined with the beauty and tranquility of nature.  if you would like to see her full collection, you can click here or go and see it in person as it is currently at the toledo museum of art until march 18th.

{ images via lori nix }

chocolate { flames }

i have a very fond memory from when i was younger going to the country club with my family.  we only went a few times to splash around in the pool and to eat dinner.  but those aren't part of the memory i have.  i remember dessert.  it was a delicate chocolate mousse that melted as it touched your tongue.  it was served with fluffy cool whip and a maraschino cherry in a hard chocolate shell.  the overall presentation looked as if you had found the most magnificent pearl (or ruby due to the color of the cherry) within this dark, delicate clam.  (my mouth is watering already)

low and behold i came across this astonishing and extravagant dessert that reminded me of my still favorite after dinner serving.  how lovely would this be to serve to a bunch of my collage friends (college friends (n): those who love to have a wild time with dancing mixed with some alcohol resulting in minor destruction).  i haven't had the time to do a trial-and-error batch yet, but be my guest to do so... make sure to let me know if your house still stands afterwards.  

ingrediants and instructions for the cake mix and frosting used can be found here.

when cutting the strawberries, make sure that you don't cut through them.  we not only don't want to waste any of the liquor dripping down the sides and onto the table top, but we also don't want to burn the house down... unless your goal is to attract the cute firefighters.  in that case, skip the cupcakes and go straight to the pyro part.

use your choice of liquor that is above 80 proof to make sure you get a spark.

{ images via tip junkie }