Too Much Chocolate Cake

My friend Sheba had a friend make her son's cake for his first birthday. It was super yummy so I asked for the recipe. I tried it out for Steve's birthday cake and it was just as delicious as I remembered it! It's super easy to make too. Instead of adding all the oil, I added 3/4 cup of applesauce and 1/4 cup of oil as a healthier alternative. I also didn't add chocolate chips as you might have noticed in the picture. A tub and a half of Chocolate Duncan Hines Icing and some sprinkles finished the cake off perfectly!

Too Much Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

HomeSense and Winners: the rule of thumb

Ok, so you've heard me go on and on about HomeSense, but have I told you about Winners? Well, let me tell you. It's just as wonderful as HomeSense but it also sells brand name clothes, shoes, purses, accessories, toys and a bunch of other stuff!

I stopped by Winners to get Bella some underwear the other day. Oh wait, did I tell you? Yes, the day has come, Bella is transitioning out of diapers and into underwear. Happy happy, joy joy! Let's all do the happy dance because seriously, I've been waiting for six years for this day to come and that day is almost here. Another $35 a month out of the landfills (yes, I know, I could have used cloth diapers) and into my pocket. Wahoo!

Back to my Winners story. I went there the other day and while looking for underwear I came across these candle holders. They were sparkling at me saying buy me, so I did even though I don't really have a place to put them. The rule of thumb when shopping at Winners and HomeSense -- If you see it, buy it because it will likely be gone when you go back. You can always return it later.



So, off I go to pay for them, the cashier oooing and ahhhing over my purchase. I get to my car and realize I left without getting the one thing I went there for, underwear. Doh!

After running back in to get the underwear I thought, HomeSense is in the same plaza so why not just take a little peek. And out I came with this puppy, again sparkling at me saying buy me and since I went with the rule of thumb, out I came with this sunburst circle mirror.



Now to find a spot for it! Oh, and notice where the price tag is? Do you see it? RIGHT ON THE FRONT OF THE MIRROR, grrr! Off to get the Goo Gone.



And did you happen to see the price? Regular $140 for $69.99 -- sweet deal!

Project 52 [week 5]

[future blogger]

[The kids loves these mini cupcakes. They didn't last long.]

[I had a major banana craving this week]

Get Organized: Laundry Room

This is what my laundry room counter looks like on a daily basis -- mounds and mounds of clothes and stuff that just seems to get higher as the week goes on.


And while I'd love to say I'm on top of the folding, I'm not (as you can see). I figure the clothes are going to end up back in the laundry room anyway, a mind-set I need to break. There are just so many other things I would rather be doing than folding and putting away laundry.

My goal this year is to try to get this house organized. It's always on my to-do list and while I do bits here and there to try to get organized, I really want to kick it into high gear. I started awhile back -- first with adding upper cabinets and then with a few little purchases here and there along with this Bygel bar with hanging baskets (sold separately) both from Ikea. I thought it would be a great place to store pens, markers, a pad of paper and all my camera and computer cords that end up sprawled all over the counter in a tangled mess. I finally got a chance to put it up today!

[before the upper cabinets went up]

There is still more organizing to be done in this room like tidying up the inside of the cabinets and maybe adding a self or two above the sink, but we're getting there!

How have you organized your laundry room?

I am...

enjoying a whole wheat bagel (from St. Urbain, yum!) with peanut butter and a cup of coffee. Mmm, good to the last drop!

How did you start off your day?

A Sticky Situation

It's no secret that one of my favourite stores is HomeSense (but if you haven't heard, you can read about it here, here, here, here and here). They have some great items for a fraction of the price than you would find them somewhere else. Take this lamp for example. I found it at HomeSense for $59.99 CDN (includes the shade) while Pottery Barn sells one very similar for $80 US for the base and $40+ US for the shade.

There's just one thing that irks me about HomeSense -- their price tags. I don't mean the ones that hang from the lamps by those plastic string-like doohickey things that you can easily snip off with a pair of scissors but rather the ones that are stuck on the items like glue. I've never seen anything like them. They always leave a sticky mess which ends up with me busting out the nail polish remover or the Goo Gone to get rid of the stickiness.

The sticker isn't even in one piece -- there is a detailed circle pattern throughout so instead of peeling the sticker off all at once you have to pick at it until your nails have peeled right along with it.

Not only that, most times they manage to pick the worst spot ever to put the sticker like right on the front glass of a picture frame...grrr! What is with that? Ok, I get it. Maybe it will deter people from picking up the frame, having the frame slip out of their hand and crash on the ground, but if someone is thinking of buying something, then in all likelihood, they're going to pick the item up to inspect it anyway.


I know I'm not the only one who is frustrated with these sticky price tags. I often hear others ranting about them as I'm wandering the aisles or standing in line.

HomeSense, you have a good thing going. Please make your sticky price tags a good thing too! My nails will thank you, and so will I.

What I Loved in January

I've decided to start something new on my blog this year. At the end of each month I'll devote a post to all of the things I loved that month, starting with January.

You can also head on over to Perpetual Bounce to check out what she loved in January.

1. Peppermint Mocha Latte from Starbucks

2. Canon T1i

3. Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon

4. The Blind Side -- a great feel good movie!

5. Guacamole (from Costco) with Tostitos

6. Birthdays -- Lucas turned 6 years old this month and I celebrated my birthday too (here and here)!

7. Honey Dijon Kettle Chips -- I'm usually not a fan of mustard flavoured products but I loved these.

8. Jujubes

9. Ogio Pinot Grigio

10. Contigo Travel Mug

11. Dreams Palm Beach, Punta Cana -- a wonderful place to go on a family vacation!

12. Fun Mail -- I rarely get mail that isn't a bill so birthday wishes in the form of a card are a special treat!

13. Maybelline Full N' Soft Mascara -- I found it again!

Project 52 [week 4]

[chatting with my brother on Skype]

[birthday flowers]

[playing around with my camera]

[daddy-daughter playtime]

A Special Birthday Gift

My son has a strong mind and a caring soul. His teacher once told me that she could see him being the next Bill Gates. His caring soul came shining through yesterday when he opened his hand to show me one of his soccer medals. "For your birthday, mom". My heart melted.

Another Trip Around The Sun

I'm not big on celebrating my own birthday but I do love the little treats that come with it -- birthday wishes, sushi lunch with my dear husband, a gorgeous bouquet of my favourite flower from a wonderful little flower shop called Violet Blooms and a little something from Starbucks. It has been a lovely day!