Welcome, Blanche and Maddie!

Blanche and Maddie visited Zelda and I today while mom and Jessica worked hard on BlytheCon planning and ideas.


We hung out in the apartment and caught up on lots of girl talk.

I think Maddie had a little too much to drink, though. She could barely stay in the lounge chair. I wonder if Zelda spiked the punch. There may be hope for her yet. My plot to turn Zelda into an evil genius may work eventually.

It's too bad that Tory and Emma couldn't come. Their mom is sick, so we hope she gets better soon. Hugs from all of us, Kristen!

After all the BlytheCon planning, our moms were real pooped. We're excited about all the things they were talking about, though. Bits were mentioned here and there about art contests, pattern books, and other neat things.

The JemCon team is truly truly outrageous! They are super-nice and have agreed to share some convention planning tips with the BlytheCon team. Did you know that this weekend is JemCon 2007 in Chicago? You rock, JemCon!

After that, mom spent some time talking to her good friend Maita. Maita worked with 2 friends to design and decorate a Buckhead apartment for an interior design contest. Their team is one of 3 finalists. The apartment opens on the night of October 4. Please RSVP to check out the apartment and vote for Maita, Pili, and Nichole!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

"I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again."

- John Denver

I'm so excited about the upcoming trip to New York to meet Gina that I got my suitcase out and started packing.


I wasn't sure what to take with me. Mom's been stocking up our fall wardrobe, so there were lots of choices.

I ended up packing one of my Le Petit Boutique dresses, my SpunkyJunk sunglasses, and a pair of tights. There are so many other things that I want to take though!

I have a solution...

I think mom will find lots of our clothes in her suitcase. Don't feel bad for her - she really doesn't need all that space anyway! He he.

Please Stand By...

Please stand by as mommy is having technical difficulties...


Well, actually, it's more daddy's computer that is having technical difficulties... The hard drive for his computer freaked out this week, and now mommy is freaking out. All the RAW image files of Zelda's and my pictures are on there. Daddy's going to send it off to see if the pictures can be recovered. Everyone - cross your fingers and toes!

Other than that, we have wonderful news.

1. Mommy told us that we will get to meet the wonderful and extraordinary Gina Garan in New York next month! Zelda and I are elated! She and her fellow Blythe friend Jessica will be going together and they are way psyched.
   
   I can already see it now... I will have to visit Magnolia Bakery, Crumbs Bake Shop, Billy's Bakery... OK - well, maybe that would be unhealthy, but I'll surely drag mom to at least one cupcake place!
   
   
2. The extremely talented and notable Tiffany of Squeaky Monkey has been super-kind to offer a helping hand to the BlytheCon team via Dolly Culture. More news on this to come in the next few months!
   
   We are super-duper excited about (and so thankful for) all the awesome people in the Blythe community. Thank you, everyone!!!
   
   
3. Mommy had a mentoring session today with her Turner Women Today Circle Mentoring group. Mark Lazarus, President of Turner Entertainment Group, was the guest. Mom really enjoyed all of his great insights about the media industry and will remember that lunch for a long time!
   
   Interesting fact shared by Mark today:
   Turner has more employees than Coke.
   
   
4. Mommy had the privilege of eating a Chocolate Chocolate cupcake today from the Atlanta Cupcake Factory today for lunch. What a treat! Too bad Zelda and I weren't there to "help" her with it. :)

That's all for today! Stay tuned and we hope to be up and running with pictures again soon.

Get your dolly fix daily over at Tiffany's Dolly Culture Magazine!

Struttin' Our Stuff

On Saturday, Zelda and I strutted our stuff at the East Atlanta Strut with mom and Auntie M.

At the Strut, mom was selling her jewelry and Auntie M was selling her cute crocheted goods and bags. Sakurako and Zelda became good friends after sharing a candy apple.

I convinced mom to let Zelda and I wear our new Le Petit Boutique threads even though mom really wanted to save them for our fall Asheville trip. Boy, was I stylin'... Goody-two-shoes Zelda says I'm totally full of myself, but what do sisters know?

Kristen, Dianne, and the gang visited us! Wasn't that super-nice of them?

Mom talked to Kristen for quite a loooooong time, so Zelda and I played with Tory and Emma. We had a big tickle fight that was totally exhausting, so we took a break to recover.


Lots of people asked about us. I guess there aren't many Blythes in Atlanta yet, but everyone was giving out compliments like kittens. After Kristen showed one girl how our eyes work, the girl was so excited that she showed her mom.

After all that hubbub, we were famished. So Sakurako, Kaede, Zelda, and I had a picnic together. I ate so much that I had to lay down. Sakurako and Kaede were horrified by how much I ate.


On Sunday, mom and dad took me along on their errands.

Apparently, mom had a Britney Spears moment and thought it would be OK for me to sit in her lap during the car ride. Am I the only one that thinks this is super double-ungood?

Grampa P's birthday is coming up this month and so mom needed to buy some stuff for him.

Grampa likes steak, shortbread, and chocolate - basically anything that will clog your arteries. Mom and dad went to Longhorn and Cost Plus World Market to pick up a bunch of things to send to him.

We hope he likes his gifts!

Dad made an excellent, healthy meal for us tonight. We love his Mediterranean couscous salad. What would we do without our wonderful dad?

Guilty As Charged... of Loving Cupcakes!

Mom met her old friend Hieu for lunch today at Irwin Street Market and took Zelda and I along to meet him. Uncle Hieu's not actually "old" even though he does have a little bit of gray hair. They've just been friends for a LONG time.

Mom and Uncle Hieu met in college in 1998. They were in the same section of a computer science class. After recitation one night, it was raining and Uncle Hieu offered mom some space under his umbrella and that's how they met!

Since I was a bad girl and ate everyone's chicken nuggets last weekend, mom wouldn't let me have a cupcake today.

I am very sad about not getting any cupcake. Mommy says Uncle Hieu is a super guy, but he was stricter with cupcake control than the U.S. government can manage with border control.

When I tried to eat some of Uncle Hieu's Key Lime cupcake mom took it away! Boo.

Zelda got one of her own! Double boo.


While mom and Uncle Hieu gabbed on and on about stuff, Zelda and I played.

I jumped on the couches...


And Zelda played with her Etch-a-Sketch. She isn't that good at drawing with it, but she keeps trying anyway.

After that, Zelda and I spent the rest of the day at home with mom and dad. They spent most of the time cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry.

Grown-ups just don't know how to have fun!

However, mom DID take some time out to watch the film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution on PBS. If only they still made movies like that.

Ooooo - mom also made me a new dress! It took her 3 hours because she's a terrible sewer. Mom was inspired by a Puchi Collective pattern and Poohie's style, so my new dress is kind of her own interpretation of the two. It's a little like Gracie's dress.

(Drumroll, Please)

Introducing...

The all-new, super-sweet, cute cupcake hats from

Sweet Honey Complex!!!

Zelda: (staring at me)

Me: (whistling a tune)

Zelda: Dude, where'd you get that hat?


Me: Lovely Auntie M of Sweethoneycomplex made it for me.

Zelda: Can I wear it?


Me: Uh... Get your own... Auntie M sells them on Etsy, you know.

Zelda: Moooooommm!!! I need a cupcake hat!!! May I have some Money?

Mom: Sure - Just be quick, before Auntie M sells out!


Zelda: OK! Be right back!


Me: Rad.

Zelda: Yup.


* Photos by mommy, my dottie mini by Le Petit Boutique, Zelda's sweets dress by Academybeldam

Cruisin' the ATL Scene With My Homies

Zelda and I had a big day out with mom and dad today. We spent most of our time on the east side, in Decatur and stuff.

Mom is excited about our fall trip to Asheville in October and wants to make Zelda and I some outfits, so she dragged dad to Intown Quilters (the most fabulous quilting fabric store in Atlanta).

Intown Quilters carries all of the best quilting fabric lines around! The selection is amazing and the staff is so nice. The lady that checked us out even talked to mom about me for a bit. How nice!

Then mom and dad went to lunch at Udipi Cafe. Vegetarian Indian food rocks!

After getting their grub on, we headed over to Victory Vintage to check out their latest midcentury finds. Lots of fantastic furniture was on sale for Labor Day. Daddy had to pry mommy off a Danish sideboard.

They did buy something, though. Mommy bought daddy a neat-o vintage computer history book as an anniversary present. Yep - they're geeky like that.

After that, we went to the Decatur Book Festival to hang out with Auntie M, Uncle Oidon, Sakurako, and Kaede. They were there representing Tokyopop (their Pantheon High publisher) and also selling some of their work.


We hung out at the square...


And played on a trellis...


And checked out a hot dude at Heliotrope... (Don't tell Mortimer!)


And had our picture taken with the Target Dog...


He seemed friendly... Until he tried to eat Zelda!!!


After we pulled Zelda away from the Target Dog, we took a break for a snack ourselves...

But everyone got mad at me because I ate their share of the chicken nuggets. Zelda, Sakurako, and Kaede wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the afternoon. Hey ladies - you snooze you lose!!!

Mommy says I should be less of a piggy. She says I need to learn to share. Boo...


Fine... I shared mommy's S'Mores cupcakes with them... See? I can be a good girl!


If anyone wants to make S'Mores cupcakes of their own, here's mommy's recipe. (It'll be our secret!)

S'Mores Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp graham cracker crumbs
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Beat egg and egg yolk with brown sugar until smooth and light brown in color
  
• Mix in oil, vanilla extract, and sour cream
  
• Mix in graham cracker crumbs (do not overmix at this point)
• Spoon into 12 regular-sized foil cupcake liners
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes (use a toothpick to test for doneness)
• Set out to cool for at least 1 hour
  

2 sticks butter, at room temperature
7.5 oz jar Fluff
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt, superfine
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs, for dusting (optional)
12 Hershey's milk chocolate miniatures, for decorating (optional)

• Cream butter until light and fluffy
• Sift confectioner's sugar and salt onto creamed butter
• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
• Mix in Fluff and vanilla extract and whip together thoroughly
• Frost cooled cupcakes
• Dust with graham cracker crumbs, if desired
• Top with Hershey's milk chocolate miniatures, if desired

Bon appetit!