Tasty Tuesday S'mores Cupcakes

You guys are seriously going to thank me for this one because these cupcakes are uh-maz-ing!

(the best food picture I have ever taken!!!)

Here is what you need:

-chocolate cake mix (and whatever the box directions tell you that you need to make it)

-graham crackers (crushed up for the topping!) I used about 4 halves

-2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature -1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow cream -1 cup confectioner’s sugar -1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the cupcakes and bake them as directed on the box. Let them cool before you put the icing on!

Mix the icing:

1. Cream the butter 1-2 minutes

2. Add the marshmallow cream and mix until incorporated

3. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix well

4. Put the icing in a piping bag and decorate away! Now, I don't have piping bags or those special icing tips and what not so I just use a Ziploc baggy and snip one of the corners off! Works really well for me!

5. Sprinkle the crushed graham crackers on. Decorate with a marshmallow or a tiny Hershey bar- your choice!

Yum yum!

I adapted this recipe from the one on this blog. The icing is the same but I did not use their chocolate cupcakes recipe because I think the box kind is just as good!

Weekend Pictures!

Well this was an interesting weekend! We started off with preparing for a hurricane which, as everyone knows, is very weird for this area! Friday night we went to happy hour at the Oyster House and I had oysters for the first time ever in my life!

Yum!

Did you know Whole Foods sells batteries? They do during hurricanes!

Saturday morning I went to get food for brunch and people were seriously going nuts at the store stocking up for the hurricane!

After the hurricane we hung out with some friends and I snagged this picture of their cute cat hanging out on her new cat house! We also walked around to see the damage the hurricane caused but thankfully there wasn't much to see near us!

How was everyone's weekend?

Shades of Blue Sunday Blue Wedding!

This week Star and I decided to feature blue and pink wedding ideas! I actually did have some blue at my wedding, but the pictures aren't very good so I don't have much to show you! I had light blue bridesmaids dresses, my bouquet had white roses with blue hydrangea and our cake had blue accents on it as well! Blue is definitely my favorite color!

In the spirit of everyone loving pinterest lately here are some pretty blue wedding ideas I found on pinterest! For reference you can check out my pin boards, they are all posted under "blue wedding"!

A beautiful blue bridal bouquet!

I wish these signs were popular when I got married, they are so cute!

Of course a blue Minolo is a perfect "something blue" (and my friend actually had these shoes for her wedding!)

Cute blue wedding invites!

I love the alternating blue and white shades and the flowers at the bottom are so cute!

A cute idea- bridesmaids in different shades of blue!

Another good idea to add a pop of blue would be a light blue sash with your wedding dress!

Don't forget to check out Star's Pink World to see her pink wedding picks!

Happy Sunday!

Friday Fancies The Wedding Guest

This week's Friday Fancies theme is "wedding guest." I have been to several weddings but nothing too fancy, so I chose an outfit here that I could spice it up a little with the fancy accessories! I like the single color dress as a base. I really wanted to use the Coach clutch for a little color and because it has a gold clasp I went ahead and chose some gold Tiffany's jewelry and Jimmy Choo gold flats to match. I am not one for heals so that why I went with the flats! Navy polish for the toes and a subtle pink polish for the fingers to round off my look! If only this outfit was in my real life budget!

A Wedding Guest by phillyrachel featuring longs jewelry

Don't forget to check out the other Friday Fancies looks and link up your own over at {Long Distance Loving}!

Rock me like a hurricane!

Dear friends in Pennsylvania (and other NE areas), this post is for you! Some nice advice from a Florida girl to my soon-to-be-freaked-out-by-the-hurricane PA friends.

First of all, in case you didn't know, a hurricane is coming towards us:

(see Philly there in the pink "extreme" threat area? Yeah, that's us!)

Now, don't be alarmed! The first step here is to CALM DOWN. You will be fine! Remember when we had those blizzards and everyone flipped out and bought all the eggs and milk and you couldn't make breakfast the next week? Let's not have a repeat of that!

Second, go to the store and buy these things: water, batteries and a flashlight. Maybe some extra food. Just in case. Also, some Pirates Booty because that stuff is good! Unless you already have these things, then don't.

Next, clean up your yard and porch of any loose items. Store them in your house or garage or basement. I'm talking about garden hoses, porch furniture, wind chims etc.

Third, buy these items: dark rum, light rum, grenadine, orange juice and pineapple juice. Also, make some ice or buy a bag of ice.

The third step here is very important, as you will need these items to make hurricanes for your Saturday night and all day Sunday hurricane party. Here is the recipe:

1.5 oz white rum 1.5 oz dark rum 3 oz orange juice 3 oz unsweetened pineapple juice 1/2 oz grenadine syrup crushed ice

Mix well and serve over ice. Garnish with orange slice if you'd like! Yum yum!

Add in some movies, music and board games because you are not going to want to go outside in all that wind and rain!

Rock me like a hurricane!

Weekend Instagrams

Heirloom Tomatoes at the Headhouse Market farmers market

(you would recognize Headhouse Square if you saw the movie National Treasure!)

My new herb garden!

Now if only I have some pretty pots to put them in....

(Ikea anyone?)

My flowers! (I was playing with the filters on instagram)

Birdhouses!

Silent Sunday with a couple of words!

Finishing strong at my 5k yesterday!

Livestrong!

Link up your Silent Sunday over at FTLOB!

3 Step Plan

If you are anything like me, a good morning looks like this:

And a BAD morning looks like this:

For this and many other reasons, and as hard as it is, I am going to slowly try to take myself off my coffee habit! It will also save me some money because I go to Starbucks A LOT! Since it's very hard to just stop drinking all forms of caffeine cold turkey, I have established a 3-step plan.

Step 1: Downsize. Go from getting grande cups everyday to tall size. This step is already in progress. And I feel ok with this, no headaches yet!

Step 2: switch to half-caf

Step 3: Switch to decaf and then no coffee at all! View Starbucks as a treat, rather than a necessity.

Can I do it? Will it last? Only time will tell...

Those baristas are sure gonna miss me!!

Friday Fancies Back to School!

This week's Friday Fancies theme was "Back to School." But, as I starting putting my outfit together I quickly realized it's more "back to fall" than school! Especially since its no where near cool enough to wear a sweater yet! I really love the Hadley sweater from Jcrew so I knew I wanted to use it in my outfit even though it's still technically summer!

Back to fall by phillyrachel featuring knee length boots

Check out the other FF outfits here: You can also vote for my outfit if you like it! It's number 31!!!

Thanks!

Writers Workshop 10 Lessons Your Dog Can Teach You

One of the prompts for this week's Writers Workshops was 10 lessons you can learn from your children. Well, I don't have children as of yet so I decided instead to do 10 lessons my DOG can teach me!

1. Face challenges head on.

2. Always greet your family and friends with a happy face when they come over. (wearing a cape makes it even better!

3. Dress appropriately for the weather! You might look silly but it is better than being too cold or too hot!

4. Learn how to relax. Enjoy your relaxation time!

5. Be ready to go at a moments notice! The world awaits you!

6. Enjoy yourself! It's ok to get a little silly sometimes!

7. Sometimes it's ok to dress up.

8. Love holidays!

9. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it, but don't beg!

10. Always be ready for adventure!

This post is in response to prompt #4 on Mama Kat's Writers Workshop.

P.S.- if you like my photos of my dog please head on over to For the Love of Blogs and vote for my photo so I can win!! I am number 29!!

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