Lydia’s Cozy Corner

If you can’t eat the cupcakes, draw them!

I finished these invitations a few weeks ago for a really sweet client. They were for her one year old’s birthday and I loved making them!!

She requested cupcakes, circles, polka dots, and the colors pink, black, and yellow as her theme.

I came up with a few styles,…

But, she ended up deciding on this one. (Sorry for the ghetto-blurry-ness… I need to learn how to blur out in Photoshop more neatly.)

She requested a bit of sparkle, so I hand painted some fine glitter onto each cupcake.

These invites were so fun and so cute to make!

And I loved adding the cupcake on the back of the envelope flap for the finishing touch!

If you are interested in any of these invitations you can check out more at my Pen and Paper site!

Sometimes it’s nice to just get back down to the basics. I like to cook, but I’m not going to say I’m a food connoisseur. Nor, will I say I’m ashamed to make cereal box recipes. No, I am not.

So,… SNAP!, CRACKLE!, and POP!

Remember these?!

The other day, my younger brother who was visiting us, accompanied me to Costco. I believe he began to think I was just his sugar mama and J, his sugar papa, because his 20 year old self, just began throwing whatever he chose into our shopping cart. Not a big deal normally, but at Costco it is. J and I don’t really drink soda much, so when S decided he wanted 32 cans of Coke, I told him he’d have to drink all 32 cans in the next 5 days before he left to return to the East Coast. He promised he would. But, alas, he left last night and there are probably 20 cans left. Anyone want any Coke?

But, back to the snap, crackle, and pop!

When I returned from getting the 3 pack of Crest toothpaste in aisle 10, I found that little S has sneakily put a box of Rice Krispie Treats, the size of Antarctica (slight exaggeration), in our cart. I realized it had gone too far. Yes, S is the youngest in our family of 5, maybe he did miss out on some things being the youngest and getting forgotten, but I wasn’t about to let him have the 52 pack of Rice Krispie Treats. So, I kindly asked him to put them back and told him we’d go to Vons and get a box of cereal and marshmallows and I’d make him homemade ones.

So, that is what I did.

And you know what? They were delicious,…that butter, marshmallow, and rice krispie combination.

I truly felt like a kid again… in the 80’s. It was great.

Try out the recipe, if you like, it was simple and easy and takes you waaaaaay back!

Kellogg’s Rice Krispie Treats

(taken from the site of the Rice Krispies Cereal Box)

Prep Time- 10 minutes

Total Time- 10 minutes

12 Servings

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of margarine or butter

(1) 10 oz. package of large marshmallows or 4 cups of mini marshmallows

6 cups of Rice Crispies

Directions

-Melt Butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

-Add Rice Krispies to mixture and stir until well coated.

-Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cut into 2-inch squares when cool. Best if served the same day.

I know my Pen and Paper site is completely and utterly unorderly right now,… but I’ve put up some JPEGS of my latest hand drawn invitations. You can check them out here.

Click on the image above to view the latest hand drawn invitations!!

I really need to get working on my site to make it more organized. It feels like a messy room right now. I don’t know where to start and I just want to throw a blanket over all of it, so that no one will really see how terrible it truly does look. HA!

Oh dear,… oh well. For now, I hope you can enjoy what I have.

Anyone want to put my website together for me? My computer programming husband is too busy with a deadline right now (although he says once I come out with a layout he’ll help me out. Boo hoo. I want it to just magically appear perfect!).

My brother and I visited the Getty Museum a few days ago. It was beautiful. Not only do I love it for the Art, but also for the memories it holds,… J and I got engaged here over 3 years ago.

This is the spot where it happened. Right in the center of that helicopter landing… it was perfect. So perfect. I have a precious husband.

This is a pic of us right after we got engaged. I was very happy. See the shiny ring on my finger?!

But, oh my! How things have changed… here’s our experience at the Getty Museum just the other day, with my brother, S.

This is S sniffing a flower.

This is S wearing a flower as a hat.

This is me taking waaaaaaay too many pictures of flowers. But, they’re just so pretty!

This is a picture S took from the lookout at the Getty Museum.

This is a picture of me in front of one of the lookout windows at the Getty Museum.

This is me 3 years ago after I just received the ring. Do I really look that different?!

My youngest brother has been visiting J and I for about a week now… it’s been great fun.

This is him at our Fourth of July Barbecue.

We went up to L.A. this past week to see the sites. Oh,…L.A.! The traffic, the people, the many, many cars, the smog,…Oh L.A. No, I’m not down on L.A., it’s just that I have to admit that I’m glad we live in San Diego and can drive to L.A. to enjoy it whenever we like, but just don’t have to stay.

L.A. is wonderful. There’s so many things to do. So much culture. Every type of cuisine you could think of. So many museums. Amazing shopping. L.A. is great.

So, while my brother and I gallivanted around L.A., J worked. What a hardworking husband I have and so kind to let us have fun while he slaves away in front of a computer.

Our first day, we went to one of the MOCA museums and saw Lawrence Weiner’s, “As Far As the Eye Can See” exhibit. It was interesting. I had never viewed art in the form of simply, words. While I am much more accustomed to enjoying visual photographs or paintings, it was a unique and interesting experience that I would recommend to others.

On our second day, we walked around the Hollyridge Trail and did our best to be crazy, mad tourist, making sure we snapped at least a 100 pictures in front of the Hollywood sign. Just kidding,…we only snapped like 30 or so pictures… give or take a few… HA!

I know “Hollywood” is blurry in this photo, but this pic just makes me laugh. So funny!

We even found a few horses by the trail.

As the sweetest little dog, ever. I wanted to take it home with me!

Our next stop of the day was In and Out (of course!!) and then the token sites such as Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive.

While we didn’t see anyone famous on Rodeo Drive, my bro claimed he saw Randy Jackson (with contacts on instead of his signature glasses) at Amoeba Music in Hollywood. So there you go! Famous people all around!

Next up,…coverage on the Getty Museum! The Getty has a very special place in my heart. I always love a good art museum, but this isn’t just an art museum,…it’s also the place that J and I got engaged!

Many more pictures to follow!