Mini Donut Pancakes

Back when we were still all crazy about National Donut Day, I had a strange idea. As I was browsing for dinner options in the supermarket, I noticed those sinful boxes of frozen eggo pancakes in the frozen breakfast aisle, and then I remembered they made them in MINI version! So I took the box home, let it defrost for a while, and took one out to see what I could do with it. I haven't really seen or eaten one of these guys in a long time but I used to loooove them as a kid. So I punched a hole out of the middle of one of them, covered it with frosting, poured on a handful of sprinkles, and voila! Mini donut pancakes! They also look like mini donut bagels, too! In fact, more so like the bagels. These were actually SO easy to make and aren't they just adorable? Not half bad tasting, either! Here are the ingredients:

 

Punching a hole out with my thumb. Or you could use something like a small cookie cutter instead. Just be aware that they fall apart preeeetty easily, so use a light hand on it!

 

Laying down the frosting

 

 

And finally, the final product. I'm drooling just looking at them now.

 

  

I also thought it could be fun to make these as a special treat for a friend who could be celebrating a birthday or other life achievement. Just stick a pretty candle in there and you're good to go!

 

Now hop to the store and try these at home! <3

 Pretty plates purchased at Urbanic

Plates designed by Meri Meri

A Modern Day Audrey

I've always loved the actress Audrey Hepburn, and her style has always been an inspiration to me. So when I received this necklace from my friend Ali Levine's line at Sterling Forever, immediately I thought of Audrey. The necklace is a powerful statement piece that is ultra feminine at the same time, and pairs so nicely with my lilac colored Modcloth dress, and I knew I had to tie it all together with my perfume clutch from Unique Vintage!

Happy National Donut Day!

It's here it's here! My favorite sugary day of the year! There's something just SO happy about little fried balls of dough that are covered in sprinkles and frosting. I've fully embraced this evergrowing trend, and I love it! I thought it would be fun to make little mini donuts after I discovered this cute little donut maker I forgot that I had, and then I thought they would look SUPER cute on top of cupcakes!

I took the funfetti vanilla cupcake recipe from Magnolia Bakery and the recipe called for two types of flour - cake flour as well as self rising flour, and let me tell you - wow. They are jumbo and so fluffy! I'm going to do that with all of my cupcakes from now on! The frosting is store bought, which I'm not proud of, but hey, I had to cut corners somewhere. The donut recipe is a basic one that you can find if you look up "baked mini donuts" and it includes nutmeg, which I'm not a huge fan of, but they were tasty!

Also, thanks to Urbanic for having the loveliest backdrop for my cupcakes, Toot Sweet for the little plates, and to Meri Meri for the adorable temp tattoos that I used as decoration for my table!

 

I can't get over how itty bitty these guys are! I'm obsessed!

Sources:

Paper and Plates- Urbanic / Toot Sweet

Temporary Tattoos- Purchased at Urbanic, designed by Meri Meri

Cupcake Liners and Sprinkles- Sur La Table
Recipe for cupcakes- via POPSUGAR

AND FINALLY... congrats to the winner of the Instagram contest that I've been co-hosting with Karen of Little Sweet Thing! The lucky lady won herself some of my favorite pieces that Karen makes, including donut earrings, a donut ring, AND donut bobbi pins! Yay! Hope you enjoy!

Shop Spotlight: Hello Sunshine! Soaps

I'm pretty much a sucker for anything that resembles a sweet treat, whether it's in the form of a donut purse, cupcake sweater, or soap! Speaking of which... I am absolutely head over heels for these adorable and yummy smelling handmade dessert soaps that are made by Kim of Hello Sunshine! She makes tons of different delectable varieties including pop tart soap, bundt cake, chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon buns, and the goodies you see here: mini donuts, mini macarons, cupcakes and meringues!

In their About Me that's on the website, these yummy soaps are "For women who sparkle, eat cake for breakfast, believing in celebrating life with glitter, sipping champagne on Wednesdays & smiling always." Best motto ever, right? Yep, I think so.

Now let's talk about this packaging. SO CUTE! I love the bags they come in, and the labels are fun and easy to read. There's nothing better than opening a box of soap that smells good and looks as good as these guys do! And with names like "Mermaids and Cotton Candy", and "Fairytales" you really can't go wrong.

Do yourselves a favor and order these pretties! I'm already plotting my next order as we speak. Oh and I just realized there's a pretty big chance that Chris will come home thinking these are real and try to eat one, so I'd better go put them in their proper place, haha :)

Kim's website can be found HERE

Retro Playlist

It's almost summer, guys! Not going to lie, but it's probably my least favorite time of the year. It gets really hot here in LA, which I do not like. But, one thing that I'm sure of is that I always manage to make some pretty killer playlists for the drives to the beach, Palm Springs, and even just to the grocery store. I really mostly only listen to 1950s and 60s music (my XM radio station is either always on the 50s station or Elvis), and I love everything I've been hearing lately, so I thought I'd share my current favorite songs! What songs do you love from this era? <3

Milkshakes & Cadillacs

Seeing San Francisco

 

This past weekend, Chris and I packed our bags for a fun filled weekend in San Francisco. We stayed with some of our friends who live in the Mission District in the most beautiful apartment overlooking the bustling neighborhood. We did tons of walking, ate amazing food, saw Mad Max (I think I'm going to have nightmares for weeks), shopped in cute boutiques, and played a lot of Mario Kart (I sucked).  This is a city I've been to many times, but every time I come there's always somewhere new to discover. I love so many of the neighborhoods here and wouldn't be able to choose just one. They're all so uniquely different! Here are some photos that I snapped along the way and below that is a list of places I visited that I loved.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was taking a hike to the top of Bernal Heights. The views were outstanding even though it was super foggy out. 

Philz's Coffee was great! I ordered their famous Mint Mojito Iced Coffee and it did not disappoint!

If you're visiting, you NEED to visit Tartine, located in the Mission. They have some of the most delicious bread and pastries in the world. The line gets long, so get there early! 

Miette in Hayes Valley was another highlight. I was gifted their cookbook a couple of years ago, and their sweets looked so, so good that I knew I'd have to come in person. Well I finally visited the shop and I left with so many cookies I probably shouldn't admit it. I just love how colorfully the shop was decorated and how much candy they had, plus cupcakes, macarons and little cakes! Ahh I wish there was one here in LA.

Hayes Valley is a cute little neighborhood near the Mission that I basically never knew existed until this trip. A quiet couple of blocks filled with cute boutiques, bakeries, and even an ice cream shop that has set up shop inside a giant shipping container! Love it. Above is a photo of the La Boulange cafe (if you've ever gotten a cake pop or pastry from Starbucks and noticed how cute the pink bags are that your yummies come in, well, they come from here!)

We ended up spending most of our time in the Mission, but also in Lower Haight, Nob Hill, the Tenderloin, the Marina, Noe Valley, Cole Valley, Bernal Heights, Fort Mason, Hayes Valley.. phew. I wanted to stroll around Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights and check out The Sunset, Protrero Hill and North Beach, but I'll just have to save those spots for next time.

FOOD/DRINK

1. Brenda's Soul Kitchen - If you like fried chicken, biscuits and mac & cheese, you must come here. They have two locations and we went to the one in the Tenderloin.

2. Padrecito - Yummy Spanish food in Cole Valley. We stumbled in by chance and were really impressed! Loved my pink Diamante cocktail and mango pancakes! Yum.

3. Parada 22 - This is a special pop up puerto rican restaurant that we also stumbled into by chance. AMAZING food. AMAZING Sangria. Enough said :)

4. Phil'z Coffee - Cool coffee shop with interesting selections including turkish coffee and my favorite mint mojito iced coffee!

5. Tartine - Buttery morning buns, savory quiches, and so much more.

6. Humphrey Slocombe - A great little ice cream shop in the Outer Mission (also in the Ferry Building).

4. Miette - Yummy candy to bring home to friends (or you could eat them all yourself and not feel sorry about it, like me).

SHOP

1. Noo Works - I happened to walk by this place a few times before I finally decided to walk in, and now it's my favorite boutique in the Mission. The owner makes the most incredibly unique, one of a kind dresses in the most fun prints, and I want/need all of them, like, right now.

2. Aldea - A great shop for buying gifts or for your home. So many cute pillows, coasters, bedding, rugs...and stuff for the baby, too!

3. Lavish - Your one stop shop for everything cute! Well, by that I mean - they carry adorable cards, stationary, yummy smelling candles, and everything is organized by color which makes browsing a breeze! Cute clothes, too.