The Last Round of Cupcakes in 2011

I baked way too many cupcakes during the month of December and am totally over it for a little while. The last batches are pictured below. Sorry, no recipes today because it is New Year's Eve and we are in the midst of cooking and cleaning! Peace out 2011, and see you all in 2012.


Red velvet with cream cheese frosting.



Mini dark chocolate cupcakes filled with salted caramel and topped with a dark chocolate frosting.



Dark chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.

Missing My Friend

One year has gone by, and I am still without words. I do know that I always miss you, Leo. Best of all, I remember your inquisitive self, how impressed I was when you wrote your name on a notepad (which I still have), and I loved watching you think when we peppered you with questions. Thank you for being one of my best memories of the Bay Area.

What 2011 Taught Me

At the end of every year there are always a multitude of best and worst lists. This is not one of those. Instead, this is a list of what I learned in 2011 because Life decided this should be a year of lessons.

• If given nine days, I can pack up my life in cardboard boxes and move out. An amazing feat if you have ever been witness to how much stuff I have in my possession.
  
• I had to eat almost the whole plate of humble pie, but I can ask my friends and family for help in a sticky situation. Even better to know? I did not really have to ask because they all offered their assistance immediately.
  
• For some reason (which I don't quite get) my friends are willing to let me come and stay with them for weeks/months at a time. They are so flipping awesome I always wonder how I got to be so lucky to have these people in my life.
  
• Sometimes you just want to be numb.
  
• It is possible to fake it 'till you make it.
  
• Letting go of control was so, so hard to do, but it was pretty amazing to see the chips fall where they may.
  
• I finally get the owning-a-pet-thing. It is nice to know that there is a dog out there who loves you so much that he leaves you surprise piles of poop just to show you how mad he is that you are leaving for China.