Cotton Candy Cupcakes!

My sister came to visit us while we were in Chicago last weekend.  I was so excited because that meant that I had a baking buddy for the weekend!  We had both found a couple of recipes that we wanted to try out. She had come across some cupcakes with cotton candy frosting. I love cotton candy, and I probably love it more than I should.  So, I'm going to send you over to her blog so you can see how to make these sugary delights! Have fun!

 Cotton Candy Cupcakes

Enjoy!

Sweet Whimsy!

We discovered a cute little pastry shop in Long Grove during our visit this time. It's called Sweet Whimsy. It was the cutest little shop I have ever seen!

The decor was super cute. There was little sitting area of to the side where you can watch everyone bake the goodies.

 It reminded me of a cute little coffee shop, but without all the fuss.  It had a very comfy feel to it, which I loved.

 I love the fact that you can watch them bake.

 Here were some of the goodies that they offered.

 Craig and my mom make their selections!

 Here are some of the yummy items that came home with us! My goodie bag held this little strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream, and white chocolate chips on top. When we went outside, the wind blew my little cupcake over and smashed it. The girl at the counter (the owner's sister, was the nicest girl ever, she gave me another one to blog about!)

 Craig took home a little S'more bar. He loves S'mores, as you all know...

 This was a Magic bar. It had coconut, chocolate chips and nuts in it.

 My mom picked up a Bacon and Cheddar Scone.

 She also grabbed some Chocolate chip and sugar cookies.

 I picked up a 1/2 dozen of these little friends called Mema'a Vanilla Bean cookies.

If you get a chance to go, check them out. They offer classes if you are interested in learning how to make some goodies on your own. Upon more digging on their website, I found out that they do a lot for the community, and 15% of their proceeds go to "Eating for a Cause" and "Making a difference" which is dedicated to finding a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.  That is "Sweet!"
Enjoy!

Ulta

My mom and sister are always talking about this store named Ulta. They keep telling me it has great make-up, hair, and bath products. We don't have one close to where I live, so I didn't really know anything about them. While I was visiting my mom, I decided to stop in and check it out. It was a pretty big store, and they do have everything you need. I found hair accessories, makeup, cleansers, and bath stuff. They also have their own brand of makeup. I recently have become kind of a girlie girl, and have been stocking up on all kinds of colors. I mean, I've always worn makeup, but over the last year, the need for new stuff has become an issue, haha. That being said, I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to makeup. I'm not the girl that has 50 types of brushes, and all kinds of concealers and what not. Why you ask? I don't know what to do with all of those things. I need simple, like the compacts that come with little pictures and numbers on the back that tell you where to put them on your eyes. My sister gave me a great brush set for Christmas, and I had to bring them with me when I saw her to ask her which one was which, and what I use them for. So awkward, but that's the truth. Anyway, on to my shopping trip. I continue to walk around this Ulta wonderland ,and notice this fantabulous deal. If you buy $17.50 worth of their products, you get a bag with $88.00 of makeup products for free. Now, even though I am kind of a rookie when it comes to this "beauty thing," I do know that this "beauty thing" can be expensive. So, I go check out this bag full of goodies, and was excited to see what I saw. Off I went to go pick out my stuff. I ended up picking up three eye shadows, 2 purples, and 1 really pretty green.

That was all I needed to buy to get this bag. They had three different bags, yellow, blue, and pink. Each bag had different colors schemes in it. I picked the yellow because it had more colors that complimented my skin tone.

Here are the items that came in the bag.

8 Eyeshadow colors
Lipstick
2 Lip gloss colors
Blush
Mascara
4 Eye pencils
4 brushes
Nail Polish
1 Compact mirror
So, I got all of this for $24.00. It's a bargain if I do say so myself!

Go check it out!!
Ulta

Our day in Long Grove

Long Grove, Illinois, is one of my favorite places to go.  It is a little town that has a bunch of shops and restaurants in it. Some of my favorites are the confectionery, the Irish shop, and the popcorn factory. If you ever go there, make sure you walk or work out the day before, because you are going to need it. Today we ate at the Long Grove Cafe.

 We started off the meal with some bread, that had like a Parmesan cheese on it. It was delicious!

I know that this is silly picture, but this was the best sweetened raspberry iced tea that I have ever had!

 My mom ordered the Greek Salad...

 My hubby ordered the Chicken Fettucini...

I had a Bacon Mozzarella burger with sauteed Mushrooms, with salty french fries.

 I was very impressed with this cafe. Everything was really good. I will eat here next time I visit for sure.

I always take pictures of these crazy ducks. It's like 10 degrees outside, and this pond is always full of them, even when it is completely frozen. It amazes me!

Me, Craig, and Alli, in front of the Mill.

Then it was off to Paddy's on the Square This is my favorite part of Long Grove. My three of my four favorite stores are here. Paddy's is a little shop full of everything Irish that you could ever need. They have shirts, jewelry, music, and real kilts!

 My and the hubby have a tradition of trying on silly hats.

 My future's so bright.... you know the lyrics...

 Then it was off to the Apple Haus.  They have all kinds of apple breads, jellies, cookies, and apple pies.

Craig goes for the apple doughnuts.

The real reason that I go there is for this. They have the best and freshest apple cider that has ever been made. I love the fact that it comes in little apple cups that you can keep.

Next, on to the Long Grove Confectionery

We go here for the Chocolate covered Strawberries.

 Here is one of the women that makes the chocolate strawberries.

 I got some of the milk chocolate raspberry, vanilla, and caramel creams.

 I also took a few vanilla caramel bites.

So yummy!
Enjoy!