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I've been celebrating my birthday today, and it's been a great one so far, filled with a trip to Blushington (the cutest makeup studio ever created, I will elaborate more on this later!), cupcakes, and the best of friends.

Bakery Spotlight/Music Playlist

I had a meeting today over on the west side of LA, and after the meeting I thought it would be fitting to stop at my favorite bakery called Susiecakes. For anyone who's not familiar, Susiecakes is the cutest little bakeshop in town. They have a small handful of locations scattered around Los Angeles (ie Brentwood, Calabasas, Newport Beach and Manhattan Beach), as well as a few locations up north (Marin, San Francisco and Menlo Park). Their specialty is (according to their website) "creating simple, American classics using all natural ingredients, and everything is made from scratch." My favorite item of theirs is their classic vanilla cupcake, but you can't really go wrong with anything they have. When I get married someday, I hope that SusieCakes will cater my desserts.

Today was also a really magical day in LA, weather-wise. The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze in the air, but for January, wow. We are lucky out here. To celebrate, I decided to take a drive down Pacific Coast Highway, and put my ipod on shuffle. What came out was the most brilliant playlist ever, and I knew I had to share. I encourage you to listen to each song in order as that will give you the perfect mix. Enjoy!

pacific coast highway from circusofcakes on 8tracks.

Re-Invented Classic

Chris' family is known for their amazing homemade Cannoli's. If you've never had a Cannoli, you are missing out. They are a decadent little Italian dessert, and I could probably eat about ten of them, easy. We had some extra filling leftover from a few days ago, and I really wanted to make something with it. I was browsing the pantry and Chris' mom suggested the box of chocolate graham crackers from this post to use instead of the shell. What a great idea!

Filling: Imported ricotta cheese, mascarpone cheese, confectioner's sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and shaved dark chocolate. If you want to get really crazy, feel free to dip them in some crushed pistachios (or sprinkle on top of the filling), but I like them plain.

Courtesy of: Denise Antico-Donlon. (You can also find it on this blog here)

Music of the Week

I've been going back and forth on who/what band to share next, and I've come to the conclusion that the only right thing to do is to share my love of the Spice Girls. I mean, they pretty much made me who I am today. Girl power is no joke, my friends. When they first hit the scene, I was still what they call a "tween". I was in middle school, had really short, awful bangs, giant frizzy hair, braces, and of course, zits. I knew that I was different from a lot of other girls my age (I liked to shop at vintage clothing stores and was obsessed with 1960's icons), and when I first saw the "Wannabe" video on VH1, I fell in love. The music, the outfits, the 5 different identities to choose from (I always loved Baby & Posh).. not to mention the amazing merchandise that came out of it - dolls (I still have all ten dolls. They need to be worth something someday!!), the lollipops, shirts, THE MOVIE!!, etc. I'm so happy that I re-discovered them and that I can now share my love with all of you! Here are my top three favorite videos (don't tell me you aren't amazed and/or smiling):

What memories do you have of the Spice Girls? Were you ever a fan?

Digging Through The Old

I'm at the point right now where the only way I can create new outfits is to dig through my closet. (Hello, lack of funds. So sad.) I wanted something comfortable but with some edge, so I opted for this flowy shirt layered over a black chemise (so I could get that length I needed), paired with black shiny leggings and my newest black Roxy boots. Overall I'm pretty happy with my outfit! It goes to show that it is totally possible to have brand new outfits when you think you have nothing!

Top: Anthropologie
Chemise: Nordstrom BP
Leggings: American Apparel
Shoes: Roxy Boots, Macy's
Lip Color: Duwop in Private Red

Weekend of Rock-N-Roll

My boyfriend and his band played a show last night that was their first show in about a year (or more). I thought it would be fun to kick off the "advance cd release show" with some cupcakes. I've been known to take shortcuts with baking, like using a box cake mix (think Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker) to help me on my way. But I will say that I am against boxed frosting and choose to make my own. This time I used Magnolia Bakery's signature vanilla frosting(recipe found here - I got the idea from my favorite blog Cupcakes & Cashmere) and it came out perfect! It was honestly the easiest recipe ever and I'm definitely going to use it again. The cute little things on top are chocolate graham crackers that I cut into coffin shapes to mimic his band's album theme of nails, coffins, and well.. Creepy Crawlies (that's his band's facebook page link, by the way. I urge you to check it out.)

and the band in action:

All-Time Faves: Beauty

I'm the kind of girl who doesn't like to wear a lot of makeup, especially since I have somewhat normal skin that I don't need to cover up (which I'm so beyond grateful for). However, I can't resist some great beauty products. I have finally come up with a list of my favorites that I cannot live without. If you have pale skin like I do, take note.

1. Amazing Cosmetics To-Go Concealer "Medium Beige"
2. "Over The Edge" Essie nail polish
3. Sephora Collection "Instant Moisturizer"
4. Maybelline "Master Drama" in "Midnight Master"(black)
5. Urban Decay "Naked Palette"
6. Giorgio Armani "Face Fabric" in #2
7. Sephora Full Action Extreme Effect Mascara
8. Stila Convertible Color in "Petunia"
9. Revlon "Love That Red"

Monday Monday

Today has been somewhat of a slow day. I spent most of it in bed watching Spice World (yes, the Spice Girls movie from 1998), and making a necessary trip to Chipotle. I've realized that I didn't take a picture of the outfit I wore on New Years, so I put it back on today to share here. I ended up loving the look I pulled together. The pink mixed with the blue is just so fun, and of course the sequin detail on the bust is amazing. If I could, I would have switched my bag out for something else, but it's.. my only bag! (That needs to change. Fast.) I wish I could wear this outfit every day. Don't mind my goofy mug in these shots.

Jacket: from Sarah Jessica Parker's line "Bitten". It was only $10!
Dress: Aqua, Bloomingdales
Shoes: JCrew
Bag: Urban Outfitters