Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

The only thing that Gian and I are polar opposite about is chocolate. I absolutely despise it in almost every form {exception for Snickers, Twix, and Kit Kats, and well, if it is milk chocolate and mixed in as a secondary ingredient and isn't overwhelming in flavor.... I am also in love with white chocolate, but it doesn't have the cocoa bean in it soooooooooooo that explains a lot}. I will try it almost every single time in hopes that that time I will actually enjoy it, but then I remember how much I hate it and try to find something to flush the bitter taste out of my mouth. Gian, on the other hand, craves bitter sweet, semi sweet and dark chocolate like it should be sold in bulk.... SICK!!! The smell of it just crinkles my nose. Actually, last night he just ate bitter sweet chocolate with 60% cacao while we watched a movie. I think he might be related to Willy Wonka. We seriously couldn't be more on opposite sides of the spectrum if we tried.

I found this recipe of Chocolate Pumpkin Pie knowing that Gian would most likely love it. I made it, and according to Gian it was the best pumpkin pie he had ever tasted.... I am ok with that!!! Guess what I did... yeah I tried it, didn't like it, it was far too chocolatey for my liking, but as stated above, that is apparently abnormal. I thought this would be a nice twist on a holiday favorite. Especially if you are wanting to try something new without losing your tradition. Here is how it is done.

What you will need:
3oz Bitter Sweet Chocolate {chopped}
6oz Semi Sweet Chocolate {chopped}
4tbsp Unsalted Butter {cut into small pieces}

Directions:
-Make your pumpkin pie filling as directed and set aside.

-In a double boiler, melt chocolate and butter. Stir frequently until smooth and remove from heat.

-Fold in melted chocolate mixture into prepared pie filling, then pour into pie crust.

-Bake as directed to original recipe.

If you are a chocolate fan then you must try this! It is so simple and doesn't add on too much time to your baking. My chocolate melted in about 5-10 mins. I think milk chocolate might make the pie filling too sweet, but if you try it let me know how that turns out.

Hope you have a happy holiday this week!! Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year: it brings families together, it reminds us what to be grateful for, and it is the most anticipated meal of the year... who could ask for more?!?!

Happy Thanksgiving

Gobble Gobble 

Epic Photos

.::Viral Friday::.

TGIF, TGIF, TGIF!!! Do you remember being a kid and thinking Fridays were the best day ever!! I personally was sooooooooooooo excited to watch SNICK with my packet of gushers... for the record, Are You Afraid of the Dark scared the poop out of me and I still watched it ever time!!

Today I am just going to show you photos because these photos are awesome and deserve to be featured on .::Viral Friday::. I hope you enjoy them as well. Have a wonderful and fabulous weekend!

Double Smiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile!!

Seriously.... this really did blow my mind!!! 

 How many of us play Words with Friends? I literally went back to this 7x in one night. He/She used all 7 tiles, 2 triple words, 2 triple letters, and made 8 words!!! INSANE. Look at the total score and the points they made from this one word. This person will always be known as my WWF idol!!! BRILLIANT!!! Absolutely brilliant! 

This photo is glorious!!! I never even knew a bubble popped like that! Can you see the reflection... I JUST LOVE IT!

Diaper Ninja hahahahahahaha 

 Uuuummmmmmm....

 What a lovely family!!! But where is their Aunty?

{This one literally made me scream out loud with shock and laughter!!!}

We have an awkward "Situation" on our hands.... Yep that is a famous Jersey Shore member in the middle, wearing a silly turtle neck.

The last 4 picture sources

THANK YOU, COME AGAIN

Happy 11/11/11 don't forget to make your wish at 11:11

Crown Tutorial

Would you like to learn how I made our crowns {look at the images at the bottom of this post}? It is really simple and I will show you how. I love geometry and I think it makes these kinds of things easy and accurately even. If you aren't a huge fan of geometry, then feel free to ask someone for extra help because I am not sure if my notes will be enough for you.... I don't know if these directions are good enough for anyone ahahahha.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

-Empty oatmeal container 

-Scissors

-Pencil/pen/marker {whichever you prefer} 

-Measuring tape

-Spray paint

-Hair piece or elastic thread

-Hot glue gun and glue

OPTIONAL

-Gems

-Faux fur trim

-Metallic rope trim

-Scrapbook letters

-Felt

{These are all the things I used to decorate our crowns. See images at bottom of this post}

Step 1: Foundation of the Crown

*First, you will need an oatmeal container - I used the smallest size. Empty and dust it out. I used the top of the cylinder {the side that did not have the bottom closed seal} to be the placement of what would go directly onto the head since it is already a perfect, smooth, even shape. 

*Pop off the bottom closed seal of the container. This is where you will cut down away the pieces. Now that your cylinder is ready, begin your measurements. 

*Take your measuring tape and get the full circumference, divide that number into 4, i.e. if the total circumference is 12" divide it by 4 and you have 3". With the measuring tape, mark a small dot every "3 inches" {or whatever your measurements are} close to the base of the cylinder. 

*Depending on how tall you want your crown, the peaks will vary to your ideal size. On the new dots you just made, measure from the base up to the desired hight of your peak {my measurements were 3.5" from the base to the highest peak for the birthday crown. Note, if you are adding fur trim, it can add height to the crown} and mark that with a small dot. You can do a different color if it helps you stay organized. You have just made the peaks of your crown. 

*Now you will need to make the valleys of the crown. If your peaks were 3" apart you will now need to divide that number in half which would be 1.5". Go in between each peak and place a dot with that distance on the base of the cylinder. Again measuring from the base up, you will now need to decide how thick the overall crown will be {the birthday crown is 1 5/16" from the base to the valley}. Mark that new height. 

*You should now have 8 dots total for the valleys and the peaks and 8 dots on the base. With a ruler or measuring tape, connect the two dots to create V like shapes. Are you seeing it yet? Now with the best pair of scissors you have go ahead and cut out along the line.

This is what your container should look like before cutting

Step 2: Painting

*You have completed the foundation of your crown and the decorating can begin. Spray paint whatever color you want and let it dry completely for about 15 min. I used prongs to hold the crown while spray painting to help get the whole thing sprayed. Be sure you spray paint the inside as well. People will be able to see that too. Continue decorating as you imagined!

Step 3: Adding Attachments

Now to make the the crown stick to the head, I did two different attachments, one with an elastic thread and one with a comb/hair piece. Both will require the hot glue gun. 

*Elastic Thread; Measure the length you want for your crown and on the side exactly 90 degrees from the center front, hot glue the end of the thread to the inside of the crown. Hot glue a nice size bead of glue and either wait and hold that elastic there until the glue dries completely or you can add a decretive piece of scrapbook-ness {I had little golden hearts that were made of a really thick cardboard} to hide the bead of glue. I also think that adds a more secure finish. Do the same to the other end of the thread directly across {180 degrees}. 

This is the elastic thread with decretive finish to hide the glue beads.

I am not proud of how the faux fur trim looks on the inside... don't judge!!! 

*Hair Piece; If you would like to do a hair piece, it is a little more difficult because the two are not the same shape. I used felt to help with the different curves. At center front of the crown, I hot glued a piece of felt the same length as the hair piece. I then hot glued felt on to the hair piece. Once they were both done drying, I hot glued the two felts together. With a lot of pressure, I secured the two together. Be sure you are not placing the hair piece too high in the crown, otherwise it will not be able to grip onto the hair. 

This is what my hair piece attachment looked like

If you want to keep your crown for a long time I recommend finding a box to keep it in. I used an old shoe box from Ekemona's pair and it worked out perfectly!!! I decided to decorate it as well.

Now you are done and ready to go!!! Please take pictures and send them to me!!! I would love to see all the different kinds of crowns people make! 

 Princess Peach Crown and the Birthday Crown {our family tradition}

Wordless Wednesday

I have seen many blogs do Wordless Wednesday, and I thought today would be a perfect day to copy cat these bloggers and do one of my own.

I feel like this is his head shot for a talent agency ahhah

Hope you have a wonderful and beautiful Wednesday...

Princess Peach Tutorial

I am so glad to hear that everyone liked the Princess Peach costume!!! I thought I would do a break down for you in case you were wanting to make something of your own. It really isn't all that hard!

I was originally going to make my costume from scratch.... but then realized I didn't have the matterials for making a pattern and then realized I haven't made a pattern since I was at FIDM in 2006, so when I pulled out my book I said, "Noooooooooooooooope, not happening," I then began to search for an 80's prom dress and came across this beauty....

She was 6-8 sizes too big, so I had to take her in. She was the perfect length, with the most perfect sleeves and I was in love. However, she has a keyhole in the back, which was absolutely glamorous, but it did not meet my standards of modesty, so I added fabric to the back. I know, lame huh, but I had to take in the key hole anyways because it was too big through the shoulders, so it naturally changed the beauty of the keyhole and it was no longer as beautiful as it used to be. Pretty dang good transformation huh!!! 

Here is what made it blah to taaaaaaaaaaadaaah...

1). The crown is made from an oat meal container {tutorial... click here}

2). Earrings are small glass Christmas ornaments that were dipped in paint. I reincarnated an old pair of earrings by taking off the clasps and adding them to the ornament to hang from my ears.

3). The turquoise on the dress was also a Christmas ornament, however, this one is a clear plastic one made for crafts and was already in half. I wrapped a metallic rope trim around it {the same trim as on the crown}. FYI, the paint I used was my friend Kelli. It was paint from here salon, so that is all the information I can give you. It was wall paint - I do think acrylic would do the job. Oil paint leaves too  many streak marks, so I wouldn't recommend that. 

4). For the fullness of the dress, I used my slip from my wedding dress. 

5). There are pick ups in the skirt to give the scallop design. 

1). The bow was really easy. I sewed two rectangular pieces of fabric together, just like a pillow case, then turned it right side out and in the center I hand threaded a few stitches to bring in the center of the bow to make the "knot". I then hot glued a strip of the same fabric in the center to hide the stitching and to continue the knot look.

What shoes does a princess wear you ask.... well Steve Madden sparkly flats of course.
Hands down my favorite pair in my closet right now! 

Viola!!! An easy and cheap way to make your Princes Peach accessories, or you can do it for anything else you want.

In case you were wondering where to buy the Yoshi hat, this is where I got Ekemona's. PS we are totally using it as his winter hat so we can get multiple uses out of it... half the reason we even did this whole Halloween theme ahahhaha!

Random

.::Viral Friday::.

Aloha Friday everybody!!! I hope you are having a better day then I am because I will tell you I am not a morning person and I have not enjoyed being awake this morning.... so I hope this changes soon ahahahah.

Today's .::Viral Friday::. is going to be really random. Both Gian and I have found videos that we both loved and wanted to share. They couldn't be more random if we tried and I am pretty sure the one I will show you, you have already seen.

Gian's Pick...

Gian likes to call this "Asian OK Go" hahaha. Do you remember that awesome music video? Ohhh it is still so magical!! It is pretty awesome. Towards the end there are even more spectacular! Thank you Michelle for showing this to us.

My Pick...


Have you already seen this video? Ahhahahahaha I love how serious the last kid is, with his arms up by his head with his hands tucked behind saying, "Ohhh good for you, now you're probably going to get a tummy ache!!!" Yet he is so sweet to his brother while trying to encourage his math skills. Then the little brother gasps with a huge gulp of air, "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! You sneaky moooooooooooooooom!!!" Hahahaha ohhh it is soooooooooooo so so so cute!! I love children and every single thing they do!

Just one more...


This is hilarious!!! I never knew jumping jacks could be so hard!!! I have been doing them since the 1st grade in PE so it was like second nature to me, as I'm sure it was to everyone else. Ahhahahahahahaah I just hit replay for the 3x. Ahhahaha AMAZING!!!

Ohhh there we go, this just made my Friday better!!! This has officially shaken off my crankyness ahhaha. Have a happy weekend!

THANK YOU, COME AGAIN

"I had like one piece.... Are you serious?"

Asian Face

We take pride in being Asian... okay well I obviously am not asian therefor I take pride in my family for being asian ahhaha. I am now officially the minority in my family ahhahahah just kidding.... kind of serious though. But anyways, we like anything asian which leads me to sharing with you this home video.

Ekemona has learned to make several faces: the fishy face, the kissy face, and most recently the asian face...hahahahah I am not entirely sure where he learned how to make these faces, but he does them and I die laughing. When he made this face for the first time I was on the ground laughing with tears and told Gian, "That is the most asian I have ever seen him." He too laughed and agreed, and thus creating the origin of the name "asian face."

Hahahahah still cracks me up every single time!!!

PS Happy Halloween!

Party Safe

Party Safe

Even though Gian and I choose to not drink a single drop of alcohol, I know that 99.7% of the world does.... OK maybe not that much, but I am aware that we are of the minority. I know that fun holiday weekends like today, or just fun times in general, can leave people in a situation to drink and drive. I would like to give a friendly reminder that your vehicle has the potential to be a lethal weapon, especially if you are under the influence or not paying attention while driving. And this decision can leave you with a painful burden. Please drink responsibly and please get a designated driver or cab on your inebriated evenings, before something like this happens to you...

I don't even like Zombies! They make me feel uncomfortable!!! That would be enough incentive for me to not drink and drive ahahha.  Happy and safe Halloween Weekend everybody!!! 

Happpy Halloween Overload

.::Viral Friday::.

I am sad to say that this will be the last Halloween .::Viral Friday::. I will show you until next year. It is a glorious holiday isn't it? But now we can have fun with all the upcoming holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years! OK I will stop this silly nonsense of winter holidays and I will get back to focusing on this video overload.

Have you seen this house? Well I think they have done something spectacular and they have become very famous via YouTube. As they should be!!! Look at all the work and detail that they put into this thing!

This is the first one I saw....

This is Gian's personal favorite...

And this is my favorite!! This one makes me want to get up and dance!

Which is your favorite? Are you all ready for Halloween? What are you going to dress up as?

And one more thing to add to the Halloweeny mood.... Are you a Tim Burton fan? Well, one of the most famous museums in CA, LACMA, is holding an exhibit of his work. I am not entirely sure if this is something I would go see or not, since I am partial to Burton. What do you think? Would you like to go and see this all in person?

This is the entrance to the exhibit.

Ramone.

Edward Scissor Hands {obviously}

Romeo and Juliet

THANK YOU, COME AGAIN

Happy Halloween!!

First Birthday

This last weekend we were able to celebrate Ekemona's first birthday. It was the first party I ever planned/hosted... and I must say I am very very pleased with the way it turned out. It was organized, fun, and just the way I envisioned it...well, almost. I might take this up as a new career hahahahaha just kidding. It was a potluck, costume contest, and games and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Plus all the food that was brought was delicious!!! I was amazed at all these hidden chefs. Thank you to everyone who came, we all had a blast!

We had games: Pin the Heart on the Skeleton, Pumpkin Bowling {there was a small pumpkin as the ball and recycled formula tins, decorated, as the pins}, Donuts on a String, and a Craft Station where everyone was able to make their own halloween mask.

Princess Peach, Mario, and Yoshi. I would like to inform you that I made my entire costume!!! Gian's is all thrifted and Ekemona's is PJ bottoms with a onsie from Gap and a hand crochet hat from Etsy {his did not turn out the way I planned because of all the different colors, but who cares!!!}

Katie and Lily!!! Doesn't Lils make the best Minni Mouse?

All the kids running around having a blast.

At one point the kids were running from Frankenstein, which is my favorite monster of all!

Frankenstein showing Yoshi his scariness. 

Everyone is having fun!

Love to see the babies do their own thing!

In the corner, the kids were Pumpkin Bowling before people came.

The cutest dang butterfly I ever did see! We love you Olivia!

Cal the Pirate and his Parrot Crosby

Cutest Strawberry Short Cake {who wanted to dress in her special fairy attire} with here little sister, Strawberry. I LOVED THIS!!!

The Lumber Jack family, they have an axe and there little man already grew a beard hhahah.

Harry Potty dropped by!! Pretty freaking sweet!

 Callum as the best pirate. Love his sparkly red cast!!! 

 Andrew showing his spooky Dracula mask he made.

Love the new face!!

The girls (and Andrew) race to eat the donuts.

 The boys go at it.

My dad is the best in the whole wide world!

Tatu playing with Ekemona.

 The birthday boy getting ready to blow out his candle! I made his birthday crown, do you like it? Everything was stuff around the house except the fur trim I found at JoAnn's. This is our birthday tradition. 

 When they sang the "Happy Birthday" song Ekemona looked at me and smiled the cutest little grin when they said his name. It melted my heart! I love my little baby sooooooooooo very much and I love the way he looks at me!

We had a few favors left over. This was just a hint of what was inside. We are so spoooooooky! ahhahah