post #50 - Washington, DC Review

50 Posts!! Is this a milestone? I think so!

As I mentioned in post #49, I spent Wednesday-Sunday of last week in Washington, DC. I hadn't been there in many years, and when I found out that I was going for work Wednesday-Friday, I decided to stay the weekend and hang out with my college roommate. We had such a great time!

Friday Night -

Went to an awesome tapas dinner, then drove around town.

{beautiful capital}

Saturday

Went for a walk through the awesome fall trees to Georgetown. We got coffee & a cupcake and chatted.

{best. pumpkin. ever.}

{cupcake deliciousness from baked & wired}

{coffee can be beautiful, what?}

Then, we headed back, got ready, and headed to Disco Brunch at Level One. We saw this man along the way - only in the city!

{yummy, cheesy hash brown casserole with chopped applewood bacon, sour cream, scallions, a whole bunch of cheese, and a fried egg on top. i also added guacamole.}

I had the bottomless mimosa (are you surprised?) and the "Gurl, It's a Brunch Bowl." Seriously, one of the yummiest breakfast items I've had in a long time! Our service was great and I had a fun time getting to know Polly's friends.

After that, we hopped around to a few fun places. We ended up going to a wine and cookie tasting called Cookies & Corks. Best idea ever, right?! By that point, we had been running around the city for most of the day. The tasting paired different wines with different cookies, and all were delicious!

All in all, we had a wonderful time! It was so much fun hanging out and catching up. Is it possible to still be recovering?

I'm definitely still catching up on sleep!

Check back tomorrow for my Five on Friday! Don't forget to follow along on Facebook, BlogLovin, GFC, etc! :-)

xo - Morgan

post #11 - F5: Pacific Blue, Danielle Bradbery, Ultimate Organizer Bag, Birthday Coupons, & Zucchini Pasta!

Linking Up Again - my favorites this week!

Happy Friday, friends! I am so ready for the weekend! This is the first weekend that we haven't had plans in quite a long time. I'm so ready to catch up on studying, puppy playtime, and things around the house!

 It has been a bit of a dull week around here, filled with too many video lectures and too much rain. But, there are still some things that I'm loving this week and that have helped to make the gray Carolina skies a bit brighter!

1. New Color, Y'all!

My nails stink. They will never look this pretty. But after I saw this polish on one of my friends a few weeks ago, I had to try it! After all, this is probably the last summer that I will professionally be able to rock blue nails. These are clearly not my nails - I bite and pick at my nails and they're certainly not fit for a picture. But this color is fantastic, and I love it. [[Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Pacific Blue]] And it makes my abused fingernails just a little bit happier. That's all.

(picture credit here)

2. Danielle Bradbery

Monday and Tuesday nights have been a little intense in our household lately. My husband and I started watching The Voice last season and are completely hooked. Last season, I loved Cassadee Pope...but this season, I am a huge fan of 16 year old Danielle Bradbery! Y'all...this girl can SING! She reminds me a lot of Carrie Underwood when she was first starting out on American Idol. (Yes, I watched that season 100 years ago). I love her voice and am constantly impressed with her performances week after week. Not to mention, she's absolutely precious. And her coach is Blake Shelton. 

Don't watch The Voice? Check out some of my favorite performances of hers here or here. Disclaimer - Shake the Sugar Tree might be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Sorry I'm not sorry.

3. Samantha Grace "Ultimate Organizer" Bag

My fifth annual 21st birthday is next week, and I received an early birthday gift from my in-laws on Monday. Since Jo and I are going to Vegas in August (one of my favorite places and I'm soexcitedsoexcitedsoexcited) to celebrate our first anniversary and being finished with the bar exam, my sweet step mother in law gave me this Samantha Grace "Ultimate Bag". It is see through with a cute pattern on the top. Mine is the yellow and white striped one pictured here, but there are lots of options. My favorite feature (and the reason for the gift) is that it can replace a Ziploc bag in carry on luggage and will effortlessly make it through security. (Is that possible? That may be an exaggeration. I don't think going through security is ever effortless) I've never seen these before, but I will definitely be keeping them in mind now for future gifts! And they can go in the dishwasher. Need I say more? (Ahem, conditioner or lotion spill that will literally never stop feeling greasy no matter how many times you try to wipe it out)

4. Birthday Coupons

Ok, I'm not going to pretend not to be loving these. With all the rain, and bar prep, and stuff, I haven't felt like making lunch this week. (Or usually ever, oops). Awhile ago, a sorority sister from college posted on her blog (The Reedy Review) about restaurants that send coupons or give discounts on your birthday. I signed up for several of my favorites then, and had forgotten about them until this week! I plan on cashing in my McAlister's this afternoon, rain permitting ($5 off, not too shabby) and will be enjoying a free Cupcake at Cupcake sometime soon. Probably tomorrow, since they have Salted Caramel Chocolate on Saturdays. Noms. See Laura's post here to see if any of your favorite restaurants do special birthday treats!

(as I said, 5th annual 21st? lets be serious...I will probably be in bed by 10:00 on my bday. mornings come early, yo)

5. Still wanting more Zucchini Pasta...

Can I make this again next week? Is 3 weeks in a row too much? Maybe next time I'll substitute tomatoes for the red pepper. Or add chicken? Or feta cheese? And sub the sauce for lemon, poppyseeds, oil, & vinegar? Hmm. Possibilities are endless. See my post from Tuesday here. Mouth. Watering.

Thanks for reading! If you want to see more, please like Makeshift Margaritas on Facebook and follow me on Blogger to stay up to date. It's so easy! And, as always, I love reading your comments! They brighten my video-lecture filled day!

And, a big thanks to the blogs below for providing such a fun link-up!

MBC

www.the-good-life-blog.com

www.alizadventures.blogspot.com

www.northcarolinacharm.com

www.hellohappinessblog.com

post #5: Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

Strawberry Margaritas - In a Cupcake!

Happy Monday! After a weekend full of friend time, my heart is full. I spent Friday with my college girlfriends and their significant others - playing games, eating, drinking, and laughing. Saturday was spent with Jo's college group of friends celebrating a two sweet lovebirds who are getting married in August. We got to hang out with so many people who we don't see as often as we'd like, and it was nothing short of fantastic!

In lieu of weekend activities, I decided to bake a treat. I found a recipe here for Strawberry Margarita cupcakes. We have lots of fresh & frozen strawberries, so I thought this would be the perfect festive dessert. I changed a few things from the recipe I found, and was really happy with the results. Boy oh boy - these were awesome! 

If you need a summer treat, do yourself a favor and whip these up. Fairly minimal effort was involved, and it is a unique dessert to bring to any type of gathering. Fresh strawberry chunks and hints of lime made the cupcakes finger licking good. The icing is even better than the cupcakes - I could probably spread this on anything. Like a spoon. Or my finger. I might even double this recipe the next time I make the cupcakes. I did run out of icing with about 6 cupcakes left, and tried to use fairly minimal amounts since I had to sample so many times to get it just right.

I hope you'll try making these too - let me know what you think!

Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

Yields 24-28 cupcakes, depending on size

Ingredients (Cake)

1 Box White Cake Mix

1 cup Vegetable Oil

4 Eggs

1 Package of Strawberry Jello (3 oz)

2/3 cup thawed frozen margarita mix (Bacardi)

About 1 cup of pureed strawberries (see below) (to taste)

Instructions (Cake):

1) Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tins.

2) Using a mixer, combine cake mix, vegetable oil, and eggs. Mix in the Jello, margarita mix, and strawberries until completely combined, about 2 minutes.

3) Fill muffin tins (about 2/3 of the way full) and bake for about 15 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

(what you need)

Pre-Instructions - I blended about 2 1/2 cups of sliced strawberries, along with about 2 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, in our trusty Magic Bullet. Remember that a cup of strawberries ≠ a cup of pureed strawberries!

 (before)

(after)

 (cake mix, eggs, and oil)

 (+ strawberry jello, margarita mix, and strawberries)

(finished cake batter - yum!)

(I recommend doing 1.5x or double the frosting recipe, in order to ice all of the cupcakes with a large amount of icing. And, of course, so that you can try some to make sure it is delicious. And is still delicious a few minutes later!)

Ingredients (Frosting)

1/3 cup Strawberry Puree

1 cup softened butter

1/4 c thawed frozen margarita concentrate (Bacardi)

4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

1) Beat butter and strawberries on low speed until smooth.

2) Add in powdered sugar, slowly! (I recommend that you use your bowl shield to avoid spraying powder everywhere. Oops!)

3) Add margarita mix and continue beating until frosting is light and fluffy!

Note - wait until the cupcakes are completely cool to frost. I know. It's hard. But will be worth it!

(butter & strawberries)

(finished icing)

(finished products)

(cupcakes - yum! more - and prettier - icing next time!)