Don’t forget to enter the Sense N’ Sensibility giveaway!!

This summer our little Australian koala bear, Koko, turns three!  So to help him celebrate, Marv and I went visited a local Kansas City Plaza cupcake shop called Cupcake a la Mode (ummmm, LOVE the name) and picked up three cupcakes for him.  He sure was a happy camper. 

The real dilemma was which one to eat first and how slowly to make him eat them.  If we left him alone with the cupcakes, they’d be gone in seconds.

Here’s a look at the cute little box they came in with the store’s signature sticker.  Again, what a great name, huh? 

I just had to do a little photo shoot w/ the cupcakes because they just looked soo heavenly!!

Out of the three that we picked, this the order from my most favorite to least favorite.  On the left we have the Raspberry Lemonade (vanilla cupcake topped with a layer of raspberry buttercream and a swirl of lemon buttercream, accented with a sugary raspberry and lemon wedge).  In the middle, we have Koko’s favorite, the Marshmallow Fondue (chocolate cupcake topped with a layer of smooth, semisweet chocolate, a swirl of marshmallow creme icing, a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs and a gourmet chocolate covered graham cracker on top).  And lastly, we have the Bella Nutella (chocolate cupcake topped with a layer of creamy nutella, a swirl of chocolate hazelnut buttercream and a rocher chocolate covered hazelnut truffle & chocolate hazelnut pirrouhette cookie on top).

All I’ve got to say is that I’m DEFINITELY going back to try the rest of the flavors!  The cake was so moist and the flavors so unique.  I’m thinking I might start a series on my blog called Kansas City Eats since I love toting my camera around the city already and love taking pictures of food.  So if any of you live in the area or are thinking about visiting, you can come check out my blog for recommendations.  I give this place 5 out of 5 thumbs up!!

If you could create any cupcake flavor, what would it be?

Hello from California! Yup, that’s right, I’m out here again for a few days for work and I did get some family/nephew time in, so that’s always a bonus.  And this weekend, I’ll be heading to Ohio, fun times.  Since I’ve been flying around the country like crazy lately with no time to just sit and relax, this will be a bit of a random post but I wanted to announce the winner of the Oh Sweetlee Me giveaway!

The lucky winner is… Katie from She likes ruffles, he likes truffles!  Congrats!  If you didn’t win, but still would like to place an order for a hand stamped necklace or camera strap cover, you can still take 10% off your order with code SANDYROCKS!

Katie – send me an email at sandyalamode(at)gmail(dot)com with the item of your choice and mailing address and we’ll get it sent to ya!

***

Last week, during the Creative Estates conference, I ate not one, but TWO cupcakes in a matter of a week.  That’s kind of amazing since, for some reason, I feel like I only eat them about once a month.  I know, how can I go so long without eating one?  You got me.  The other day I stumbled upon this totally awesome print of The Anatomy of a Cupcake by Allen Hemberger and I just had to share it.  From the sprinkles to the frosting to the ingredients to the wrapper, it spells P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N.

What’s your favorite cupcake flavor?

(I get weak in the knees for red velvet with cream cheese frosting. But perhaps that will change after trying these Michabella’s Cupcakery flavors, which I’m hoping to the next time I’m out in Orlando.)

{1} i created something new for my etsy shop this weekend that i’m pretty excited about! they are felt bows with a fun center! they are perfect for clipping to your hair or your favorite cardigan! i had a little photo shoot with my favorite one!

{2} typography is my new friend, errr, i mean tie-pography (via eat drink chic)

{3} i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. this getting dark at 5pm business is not cool! it means that i have to take pictures either early morning (and i am not a morning person) or weekends. daylight – please come back soon!!

{4} i ate a tomato soup cupcake at the art event i went to on friday! yes, you read that right! well, i think is pretty much tasted like carrot cake with a hint of tomato, it was yummy!

{5} this is  my favorite little red bush that is right next to our mailbox. the leaves are slowly falling off which means fall is coming to an end soon…

{6} there are two giveaways going on over here right now! one for s’mores and one for your choice of a calendar/personalized stationery! make sure you enter, friends!!

hope you have a wonderful week!

Today is a very exciting day… because it’s my BIRTHDAY!  Nope, not my blog birthday (that’s in January), but my real birthday!  I’ve got some randomness for you and a GIVEAWAY!

First I’ll start with this week’s Miscellany Monday which I’ll be linking up to lowercase letters.

(a) we got 7 trick or treaters last night, kinda sad i know.  but that means more candy for us! not sure if that’s a good thing though.  maybe it’s b/c we didn’t put any halloween decorations outside.  perhaps if our house was decorated like this, we’d get more kiddos!

(b) did you watch the chiefs vs. bills football game?  yesterday was the first day i watched the chiefs game, and boy was it a nail biter! the game went into overtime because it was tied at 10-10 and in the LAST SECOND the chiefs kicked a field goal!

(c) there’s a deal going on right now where if you spend $20 at world market, you get 15% off your airfare at southwest airlines for travel through 1/25/2011! you can bet we are taking advantage of that to go visit my adorable nephew!

(d) my sweet friend piper, from one sydney road, who i’ve actually met in person, is opening up her SHOP today! i can’t even express how happy i am for her! i remember sitting outside at starbucks looking through a thick stack of papers full of inspirations and now, a few months later, it’s become a reality for her! here’s a sneak peek at some of the items she will be selling!

(e) i celebrated my birthday with friends this past friday!  we had pizza, sangria, cupcakes and ice cream, pretty much all of my favorite foods! here’s a pic of me blowing out the candle in my (cup)cake! i think this pic shows off my eyelash extensions, dyed black and permed hair pretty well for all those that were wondering! i’m also wearing the dress i got from oh, hello friend‘s booth at uci (more pics to come later)!

(f) and finally… here’s what i’m giving away for my birthday to ONE LUCKY READER!  there’s 9 things because i’m not going to tell you how old i’m turning but if you add the two digits together it equals 9.  i could be 18, 27, 36, 45…

1. A floral scarf from one of my favorite stores, H&M!
2. Have you ever had Tim Tam’s before?  They are my favorite biscuits from Australia!  And although they don’t sell them in the U.S., there is a similar kind called Arnott’s Chewy Caramel biscuits that can be found at World Market.  Trust me, you will love them!
3. My sister-in-law, a fabulous mother, photographer, and crafter, is starting an etsy shop VERY SOON and it will be called skippee!  Here’s a flavor of some of the hairpins she will be selling, you will receive a hot pink, orange and blue/grey one.
4. I love love love wearing cute gloves/mittens in the wintertime, they keep my cold hands warm and are stylish at the same time!  And my crafty childhood friend Jessica, agreed to knit a pair of fingerless gloves just for this giveaway!  She used the Fetching pattern by Cheryl Niamath to make these red lovelies!
5. One of my new favorite things that is part of my daily face washing/putting on makeup routine is wearing a bang fringe holder!? Have you heard of this before? It’s all the RAGE in Asia!  It’s like a little velcro piece that keeps your hair away from your face and it won’t make kinks in your hair like a bobby pin or clip would! The one I’m giving away is a blue polka dot bow so in case you leave the house with it in, it’s still a cute accessory!
6. My friend Amy of Pura Vida Nutrition is soon going to be starting up her own shop in December that sells deodorants, soaps, and lotion (that she MAKES)!  And up for grabs is a Peppermint Deodorant that you apply to your armpits in pea size amounts as well as a Cocoa Mint Cocoa Body Butter that will make your dry skin super soft.  These scents are perfect for winter and are ORGANIC!
7. Have you  heard of Toms Shoes? You know, the company that gives a pair of shoes to a children in need each time you buy a pair~! I absolutely love their shoes and love their cause so I’m giving away a $25 gift certificate!
8. One of my favorite ways to package up gifts and orders is with cute tape, I love the pattern of this floral Fabric Deco Tape and I know you will too!
9. And lastly, a giveaway of mine wouldn’t be complete without some Sandy a la Mode etsy shop items!  I’m giving away some of my newest items, peach rose earrings and a green mum antique ring!

TO ENTER:

1. (Mandatory entry) You must be a Google Friend Connect follower (over there on the right) and all you gotta do is LEAVE A COMMENT!

2. (Additional entry) Spread the word via blog, twitter, facebook and leave a comment with the link!  Feel free to use this tweet:

It’s @sandyalamode’s BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION and she is having a ONE DAY GIVEAWAY of her favorite things! http://bit.ly/9QHO3R

I hope your excited about this giveaway as much as I am!  This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY and is only going to be open for my BIRTHDAY (November 1, 2010) and will end at 11:59 CST.  Good luck friends!

Entries for this giveaway have been closed!  Thanks for entering!!

Hello friends!  I just wanted to say that I am so thankful for everyone’s support of my blog and want to give a special shout out to all my sponsors!  They are over there on the right side of my blog… please go visit their websites/blogs/shops when you get the chance!  You will thank me, trust you me.    And today, I am super excited to bring you my first Sponsor Love + Giveaway post!  There’s tons more planned through the end of the year, so make sure to check back often!

I’m not sure how I first met Ms. Megan from moonbeamwishes, it quite possibly was from seeing her leave comments on other blogs or through twitter, but either way, I am SOOO glad that I did.  Not only does Ms. Megan make these magical cards, but she blogs about things that inspire her and you can tell she is a sweetheart just by her blog comments/tweets!  I’ve asked her to answer a few questions so we could all get to know her better!  And I just ADORE all her answers, seriously, they made me smile!! 

{shop} {blog} {twitter}

{SPONSOR INTERVIEW}

1) What inspired you to start making cards?

When I was in High School whenever one of my friends birthdays arrived, I would always make up cards that reflected them or my relationship with them. In one case, my friend really loved to read so I made a card that resembled a book, complete with a spine and cover/back cover art. Inside I wrote a story that involved us going on an overseas adventure with pirate attacks and a happy ending, of course. Other cards were filled with movie quotes from their favorite movies or bit and pieces of lyrics from their favorite song. As life went on I started making cards for, not only my close friends, but my relatives and my mum’s friends ((instead of buying cards, as we used to do)) and one day my friend told me how much she loved my cards and how I could sell them, I thought she was joking or just being nice, but she told me about Etsy and encouraged me to start a shop and the rest, is history!

I have always believed in magic, wishing on shooting stars, the man on the moon, fairies, elves and magicians. Some of my favorite books as a child involved damsels in distress, fire-breathing dragons and frog kissing princesses.  As I got older, it is no wonder that I still read other worldly tales involving creatures that keep humans safe from monsters and beasts. Stories of creatures that shape shift, tales of vampires, dragons and nymphs.  Most of these stories have a common ground. These adventures usually took place in the dead of night, when the world is asleep, unknown to the magic and wonder that is happening outside of their windows. The moon must wield some magic that the sun does not posses. Perhaps it is the moonbeams that drift off the moon that hold the magic that turns these creatures into extraordinary beings. I wish that I possessed some of that magic. I wish on moonbeams. Those are my moonbeamwishes.

I love to read, obviously. I also love to watch movies, listen to music, play cards with my family, play with my five cats, ((Patches, Anastasia, Tiger, James Dean and Twee)) taking pictures, taking walks, going shopping, writing on my blog, meeting new people ((like the lovely Sandy)) eating pop tarts, picking daises, cruising Etsy, and wishing on moonbeams.

Yosemite. It is one of those perfect spots at any time of the year. I remember having snowball fights in the winter, building snowmen and hot cocoa filled nights, in the Winter. In the summer days were filled with hiking, river rafting and lunches on the patio overlooking the majestic mountains.  I loved the atmosphere, the friendly people that I met and seeing all the beautiful wildlife.

Vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting. I love the cupcakes at our local Torrance Bakery, they make the cutest little eatibles in the shapes of darling little animals that are *almost* too cute to eat!

{GIVEAWAY}

Speaking of cupcakes… Ms. Megan hand made three sets of cards just for this giveaway!  Isn’t she soo sweet??  And I might add that they are soo soo adorable!  Why oh why can I never enter my own giveaways?

{1} The larger cards are a pack of (6). With a vintage Ice Cream Parlor stamped image in the background with a cupcake (( adhered with foam for a three dimensional feel)) Above is a strip of a light teal glittered cardstock for the valance of the candy shop.
{2} Also included in the giveaway is a set of (2) mini cards. Each with (10) cards each. The first set has a pink cupcake in a yellow wrapper with the word sweet stamped above.
{3} The second set has a little vintage cupid gazing at a single purple heart.

{HOW TO ENTER}

Would you like to win these three adorable sets of cards?  There’s tons of ways to get your entries in so please remember to leave a separate comment for every entry.

1. (Mandatory entry) Visit moonbeamwishes and leave a comment on this blog post with the name of your favorite item from her shop!
2. (For an additional entry) Heart (add to favorites) moonbeamwishes on etsy and let me know you did so. If you already do heart her, you can still enter.
2. (For an additional entry) Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link.
3. (For an additional entry) Follow moonbeamwishes blog through google friend connect. If you already do, you can still enter.
4. (For an additional entry) Follow moonbeamwishes on twitter. If you already do, you can still enter.
5. (For an additional entry) Tweet about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with the link.  If you Twitter, please make sure to use @moonbeamwishes and @sandyalamode in your tweet.  And to make things extra easy, feel free to use this tweet:

I just entered myself in @sandyalamode’s #GIVEAWAY for 3 sets of cupcake and cupid cards made by @moonbeamwishes! http://bit.ly/bpgS93

This giveaway is only open to U.S. readers and ends on Tuesday, October 12 at 5:00PM CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and will be announced on this blog on Wednesday, October 13.  Thank you SO much Ms. Megan and good luck everyone!

Entries for this giveaway have been closed.  Thanks!

Hi all!  This has been quite the exciting week for me and I’m so happy to share it all with you! First, sorry if I’ve been a little MIA lately, but on Tuesday night I flew to Chicago and on Wednesday I attended the Oprah show~! My brother surprised my sister-in-law and I with last minute tickets and it was great little reunion for us as well as a once in a lifetime experience (especially since it is Oprah’s last season). Anyhow, the show will air next Wednesday, September 29, 2010, so you’ll have to look out for me on TV!

Also, I FINALLY opened up my etsy shop last night AND I already made one sale within an hour of opening the shop, woohoo! I’ve added a little preview of the shop on the right side bar so you’ll have to check it out. For the GRAND OPENING, I am offering a FREE drawstring pouch with every purchase! Hopefully I’ll have some more items next week too. Also, just wanted to give a special THANK YOU to Ilene from Much Love, Illy and Janie from We Heart Paper for all your encouragement and etsy help!

And now for your viewing and shopping pleasure, I bring to you a Flavors To Follow that is just perfect for the upcoming autumn season and cooler weather! Scarves are seriously the PERFECT accessory to complement an outfit and keep you warm at the same time! You can totally dress up a plain shirt with a fun colorful scarf or just add another dimension of color with a beautiful plain scarf! Here are my picks, enjoy!

1 reasonably priced at $7.50 is this beautiful pink tri striped scarf from forever21
2 yummy cupcake scarf by twinkie chan, shown to me by verlee!
3 it’s your go-t0 scarf sold on modcloth, first spotted on bonbon rose girls
4 buy matching mother and daughter star scarfs on bodie and fou, thanks chantale!
5 gorgeous large flower print scarf on zara‘s new online shop
6 a funky geo-floral scarf sold on old navy
7 a delicious chocolate sprinkles scarf sold on shopruche
8 the beautiful lillian scarf by fossil, thanks for sharing yellow songbird!
9 it’s a gorgeous chenin grape scarf in plum sold on shopruche, first spotted on bonbon rose girls
10 soft cotton striped jersey scarf in a variety of colors on j.crew
11 colorful and vintage anne klein scarf sold on modcloth
12 warm up with j.crew‘s bayberry washed wool scarf

do you have a favorite scarf? what does it look like?

As Earth Week draws to a close, I figured I just had to share some of my eco-friendly / earth related finds for this weeks Flavors to Follow.  I love the idea of repurposing and recycling materials that may have otherwise just been thrown away into something lovely, creative and useful.  Also, reusing grocery bags or snack packs instead of millions of plastic bags is really the way to go.  To be honest, I’m not always diligent about doing these things but celebrating Earth Week is always a friendly reminder that we all need to do our part to help keep this world a beautiful place to live in, awww so sappy.

giveaway: organic fabric on swankyswell + 11 other shops!!!
dine: eco friendly melted bottle cheese plates by mitchell glassworks found on modish
inspire: earth ice cream seen on drops of jupiter
serve: eco-cupcake stands seen on bake it pretty
jewelry: recycled silver necklace on elisa shere jewelry
wear: julie maes moo moo seen on the rikrak studio
eat: reusable sandwich wrap on the umbrella girl shop
paper: eco-friendly letterpress cards on night owl paper goods

What are some simple things you do to help save the Earth?

P.S. Sooki was the lucky winner of the little green contest I had yesterday!  I posted the word green 22 times b/c it was April 22! I will be sending you something green very soon!

What better way to celebrate Earth Day then with some GREEN dessert??    BTW, see the resemblance of the picture to the Earth?  Yes, the colors blue and green!

First off, can I just describe my love for all things green tea?  There’s straight up green tea drink, green tea ice cream, green tea mochi, green tea cheesecake, green tea pocky (yes, they make this) and my newly discovered green tea CUPCAKES!  Do you need me to continue or are you already drooling?  And I’m sure I don’t need to bore you with the long list of health benefits that green tea has… but I will, it lowers your chance for heart disease and certain types of cancers, it has antioxidant properties, and it can be helpful for weight loss management (so Wikipedia says), HOLLA!!

Anyhoo, back to the cupcakes, for this dessert, matcha otherwise known as green tea powder was used.  Matcha is basically finely grained green tea and the traditional Japanese tea ceremonies were based around the preparation and serving of this fine little powda!  You can usually find it as Asian grocery stores, that’s where my husband got ours!  Besides that, the rest of the ingredients are pretty standard, except for maybe cake flour which BTW I had no idea this was different than regular flour, but now we are all in the know!  Cake flour is made of soft wheat flours and has a low protein count and promotes gluten. All-purpose flour is made from a blend of hard and soft wheat flours.  So without further ado, here’s the recipe I used to make these lovely little green tea flavored desserts.  The cupcakes itself were pretty dense with a hint of green tea… but the frosting, let me tell you, was probably the best part… it really added a necessary sweetness and green color to the cupcake so please do not skip out on the frosting!

Wow, just how many times did I say green in this post?  First one to guess it gets a green prize!  No joke, whoever guesses it first in the comment, I’m totally sending you something GREEN! And YES, the Green in the title does count, and the rest I made real easy by highlighting in green for you, including the one below this line.  Have fun counting…. oh and baking too if you decide to make these!

Green Tea Cupcakes (taken from Sweetest Kitchen and Martha Stewart)

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons matcha powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and matcha powder; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until the cubes of butter are peanut-sized or a little smaller.
3. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.
4. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
5. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Matcha Buttercream Frosting (taken from Matcha Source)

• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons half and half or light cream
• 1 tablespoon matcha powder
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1. Mix matcha in with the light cream to make a paste.
2. Beat butter briefly, scrape bowl.
3. Add the sifted powdered sugar and matcha paste. Beat until smooth.

Happy Earth Day everyone!  Make sure to recycle, carpool, turn off lights if you don’t need them on, or plant a tree!