Cupcake Decorating for Easter AKA I'm back and ready to celebrate the only way I know how (with frosting).

she's decorating a cupcake that just fell on the floor. 

My sister taught me the art of cupcake decorating last week. She took me to the store, told me everything I needed to buy and the next day gave me an amazing two hour lesson. I can't tell you how excited I am to be the owner of enough cake supplies to open a bakery. All my dreams of creating an Amy Steven's cake are finally going to come true. I say if you're even the slightest bit curious about decorating cupcakes, buy this cake decorating set, white frosting, white cake mix, and go at it. You'll figure it out with trial and error. As I watched my kids, I realized your can't mess this up. When all the cupcakes are put on the plate, it comes together nicely in a messy way.

But first: My sister taught me the secret to turning regular grocery store frosting into decorating frosting. All you need to do dump all the icing into a mixing bowl and slowly stir in powdered sugar until it stiffens up slightly by forming peeks. About a 2/3 cup per a regular 16-ounce container of frosting.

We spent a lot of time touring the city last week, but this domestic activity was one of my favorites.

i swear i bathe my kids. 

Owen modeling perfect technique.

always always poke your finger in the cupcake to test for freshness. 

More posts about my love for cake: Ella's three layer birthday cake, Rob's ombre cake fail, a Christmas cupcake fail, and a Mardi Gras cupcake fail.

more pictures of the final results after the jump . . .

Shouting Farewell to Summer on Top of the Empire State Building

The finally moments of Summer Break 2011 was spent on top of the Empire State Building. Yesterday was the cloudiest night and the world was white from the top. But the kids didn't mind. I love that it was empty. We screamed our goodbyes for all to hear. On the way out bought the only appropriate thing: Empire State Building school supplies. May their King Kong pencils bring them straight A's for life. Good luck kids!

Thank you New York City Vacation Packages for sending me a ticket to see the Empire State Building. :)

How did you wrap up your summer? Let the next stage of life begin! Yay!

Weekend Approved Project: Ride a NYC Carousel!

Labor Day Weekend: What are you going to do? I say ride a carousel! Here's a list of carousels in all the boroughs. But I think you should ride this solar powered Carousolar in South Seaport. It's FREE and only running until September 6th. We went yesterday and rode it 4 times. No line! Although one time we had to wait 10 minutes for it to charge. Hurry up Sun!

I was curious about the carousel and why they white washed it. Turns out it's a vintage 1920's carousel that was destined for the dump. GE saved it, white-washed it, and made it solar. In three weeks. What do you think of the white paint? Did they cheap out by not truly restoring it? Perhaps they should have used hot pink? Neon Green? Regardless, I think it was a clever marketing idea. The video below explains more.

 Enjoy these last few days of summer. Eat an ice cream cone. Ride a carousel. Say Farewell to Summer!

ps The car is fixed! Strollers are getting delivered tomorrow!  

Hula Hooping in the The Lower East Side

Over the last few months, I've gotten a crash course in blogging. Here's something I never knew was happening: Companies host parties to promote their products and who's on the guest list? Bloggers! I'm sure this type of marketing compaign has been going on forever, but I hadn't a clue. On Wednesday, I was invited to an event hosted by GoGo Squeez. Since I haven't monotized my blog yet, I decided to go and get paid in party favors, hamburgers and apple sauce!

I loved the location they had the party.  The landowner turned his vacant/garbage filled Lower East Side lot into what's known as the Timeshare Backyard. Anyone can rent the yard by the hour. It's the perfect mix of urban and suburbia! Love it. Such a good find.

It's the last week until school starts! We're gogo squeezing in all the summer fun we can.  They told me to say that. Ha, just kidding. That's all me. The end is really near though. It feels like just yesterday I was writing this post.

Museum of Natural History Highlight: The Time Capsule

Time Capsules are so fascinating to me. Have you seen this one outside of Museum of Natural History? It's not going to be opened until January 1, 3000! Mind boggling. I found the list of things they put into it here. My favorites were: a wedding cake ornament, Weight Watchers Magazine, 51 photographs from the address 3 Times Square, and wild apple seeds from Kazakhstan. I was surprised they didn't put any clothes, shoes, or hats inside. Perhaps those items wouldn't last? Anyone know? I thought that was strange.

What would you put in your time capsule that wouldn't be opened for 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Off the top of my head: My kids used crayons. My old shoes. A dress I used to wear everyday. My set of keys. A piece of my favorite wallpaper. Writing stories to each of the items would be my favorite part of the process.  Alone the set of keys would be boring but writing the keys into a scene from my life would be fun. I'll add more to my list in the comments section. Don't be surprised if I steal some of your ideas. And don't be surprised if I make a time capsule for a future Weekend Approved Project.

While taking these pictures, I kept having morbid thoughts of a huge earthquake sinking the time capsule and all of NYC into the depths of the earth. Or a huge bomb destroying it and everything surrounding it. Zombies. I needed to get my mind off of such stupid thoughts. Good thing I have Owen around to lighten the mood and shout, "Hey Mom, it looks like a girls wiener!".  Bravo Owen.

Weekend Approved Project: Stay Inside!

Hey East Coasters: Good News! I dug out an old rainy day post and Hurricane Irened it! I've put together a list of three classic things to do while you're waiting at home for the storm to pass. Including a playlist! Mostly Michael Jackson! With Links! Here you go, an oldie but goodie. Enjoy it while the power still works.

1. Pillow Fight! No one wants to be defeated. Especially Oscar. Here's six pillow fighting songs for your playlist:

Beat It! Micheal Jackson 

Whip It by Devo

Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas and Vivian Hawke

Hit Me With Your Best Shot by Pat Benatar

Stand by R.E.M

Mama Said Knock You Out by LL Cool J (the clean version? No?! Still too much for 3 year olds?) 

2. Toilet Paper Mummies! What else are you going to do with all the toilet paper you rushed out to buy unnecessarily for Irene? Put it to good use. It's a fantastic way to make a mess that you'll be cleaning up for days! Again start with, Michael Jackson's Thriller.

From there add:

The Munster Theme Song

Ghostbusters Theme Song (of course, no playlist is complete with out this classic!)

Scooby Doo Theme Song

Monster Mash

1. And finally, end with flying lessons. Micheal Jackson's song about flying is lame so here's what I came up with:

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles

Fly by Nick Drake (humor me, I adore this song. The kids won't like it at all.)

Superman Theme Song (it's over 4 minutes long ha!)

Let's Go Fly A Kite from Mary Poppins

Fly by Nick Drake (Again! That'll show em who's boss around here.)

There it is. That should give you around 45 minutes of something to do this weekend. An hour if you repeat the Superman Theme Song a few times. But I'm not suggesting that as an option to my boys. They would be all over that. What songs did I miss? What are you doing while all cooped up for Irene? Stay safe!

High Line Picnic Lunch

Ever see this video on Symmetry? It shows things that go together like peanut butter and jelly, a cat and a mouse, etc. But it's missing one match: The High Line and Chelsea Market. These two attractions are a must do together when visiting the city. Buy a boxed meal at one of the many Chelsea Market restaurants and eat it anywhere on The High Line. And look at the sweet lunch baskets you can buy on your way out. Only $3!

location location location

I'm almost positive raising my kids in NYC will have an effect on them. I know it's changing me. But are kids just kids? Will they grow up to be whatever they want to be despite the location they were raised?

I was raised in Florida, on a beautiful lake with the occasional manatee and alligator in my backyard. We  had a canoe, a hammock and a swimming pool for as long as I can remember. I loved it.  I had no complaints, until my teenage years of course. It was then I started to realize I was a city kid. So I sought after the closest city I could find: Sarasota. I loved Burns Court Cinema with it's limited parking lot and foreign films. I adored the museums and dreamt about going to college here.  I found any excuse to go. Even if it was by myself.  Sarasota gave me a slice of the city life I was craving.

What about you? As an adult, are you living in a place much like the location you grew up? Or did you move away someplace totally different? How does it measure up? While I did move far away, there's a familiarity and connection I still have with living by water. I do miss that. Right now my view is the back of another building and some sky if you crank you neck hard enough. Oh my so called "sun drenched" apartment.  I love it for so many other reasons.

I wonder where my kids will escape, what kind of places they will be drawn to live as they get older. As for me, I can't think of living anywhere else but NYC. Not after a summer like this. And it's not even over yet!

Weekend Approved Project:

Let me start by saying thanks to all of those who participated in the last Weekend Project.  I'll keep you updated on the progress here. Five strollers have already arrived at my house!

This weeks project is an easy one: Get a back to school haircut. 

Here in NYC, we still have a few weeks until the first day of school. Just about the time that haircuts start to look their best in my opinion. In our family, Oscar is the twin that gets a haircut by a barber. It was decided that he would have the longer hair (read more here). Owen gets a buzz cut by dad. Equally as memorable/special to me.

Here's Oscar getting his haircut in a museum-like barber shop in Greenich Village called Moustache: Greenwich Tonsorial. It was great, totally recommend it. The stylizing of the shop couldn't have been better. The haircut was thoughtful. Only downfall? No lollipops and a 1982 edition of Playboy on the coffee table in the waiting area. Nothing I couldn't cover up with my backpack. The lollipops? I always hate the mess any way.  I was apologetic for having all my kids there at first, but everyone (including the owner) made me feel welcome. 

It took me about 10 minutes of picture taking to realize the barber was a total fox. Mommies, here's another reason to take your kids to this barbershop!

Or do you cut your/your kids hair yourself? If so, you're brave! How did you learn? Barbers make it look so easy.

whatever makes my life easier

I've discovered bodysuits for Ella. Both t-shirt and underwear in one. Sold. One less thing I have to dig through the clean laundry basket for. Because by now, everyone should have heard the newest cliche: The prettier the blog, the messier the house. For the past few months, my blog has taken priority over my laundry situation. Lucky you. :) Enjoy the pretty pictures taken on our recent trip to MoMa!  We met up with some old friends who are having the best life ever. Miss you already Raddon girls. Hope you had a fun visit in NYC!  Since coming home and listening some of Ryan's music, I've discovered this post is best viewed with Fire in Your New Shoes playing in the background. Try it and get a multi-media blog experience. This really is turning out to be your lucky day.

She can only keep the serious face for so long.  Monet in the background.