A Wedding in Romania

In October of 2012, I flew to Romania to attend the wedding (and make the wedding cake!) of some dear friends. 

It was such an amazing experience, and I've been eager to share the photos, even if it was a while ago! We stayed in a tiny village, where people still use horses and carts for transportation. 

Using two ovens (one of which was outside and fueled by a propane tank!), I baked and iced 20 cakes. That's definitely a record for me!

 I made a four tiered wedding cake, and then decorated the rest individually. It was so fun to get to try out different techniques on each one!

 I ended up getting to do the flowers as well, which is something I've always wanted to do. It was quite an adventure, haggling with the guys at the flower stalls in the city with the mother of the bride!
 I love how the bouquets turned out...

 For the boutonnieres, we actually bought a potted plant and I trimmed off all the blossoms. Much cheaper!

Definitely a wedding to remember, and I'm so blessed I was able to go.

Sneak Peek

My dear friend Margaux did a photo shoot of our family before she moved back to South Africa last month. She's been editing them and just shared these sneak peeks with me.

Aren't they amazing?!?!

We've never done a proper family shoot before, and I am so excited to see the rest!

Ferris Wheel

Over Christmas, there was a ferris wheel in the city. Sadly, a combination of rain and Christmas preparations meant that Christmas came and went, and we didn't get to ride the ferris wheel. But to our surprise (and joy!), they kept it up into the New Year, and we got to ride it!

When we first got on, I felt like this: (I know this is a horrible photo but it captures my emotions perfectly. I didn't enlarge it as much as the others because I don't want to frighten you).

But then I calmed down, and got to enjoy some amazing views of our city!

And then it started to rain, but oh well :)

Mike got the clever idea of shouting to the people in the next car/box (?) to take a photo of us, and then we took one of them, and we exchanged them when we got off. Ah, technology.

Let's try this again

I have many new year's resolutions, and one of them is to start this blog again. 
In the past year +, I have written so many posts in my head! 

But let's skip the excuses. 

Here are some photos from the most recent wedding I did... 

I had so much fun doing this wedding! The bride wanted cupcakes, cake pops, and a simple wedding cake with a statement flower. 
Oh, and lots of bunting, which is always good!

The flower is made entirely of sugar flower paste, each petal individually hand rolled and cut and frilled and dusted with colour. It took me so long but I love it!

 

 It was also my first time making cake pops. Yes, I am entirely behind the times. 

 

 Each table had a small cake centerpiece (made by the bride's sister), and I made mini bunting for each one. 

So cute!

And guest book table bunting for the drinks reception in the marquee.

I love weddings.

Farmer's Market

I spent this lovely autumn morning at the Mahon Farmer's Market. It's such a great market, filled with stalls offering loads of locally grown fruit and vegetables... 

 

and the best porridge I've ever had! I've been known to make a trip to this market for the porridge alone. Apparently they soak it overnight in milk. It's so creamy... perfect for a cold morning!

 

 And then for lunch: bread, cheese, and the most amazing mushroom soup. I'm not really a fan of mushrooms, but this soup is incredible!

 Aren't these guys creepy?

I was feeling very autumn-y. Isn't it funny how in the spring, we want to wear flowery prints, and in the fall, we switch to autumn colours? But not even on purpose, it just feels better somehow! Blending in with the leaves or something...

 I love these shoes!!! I got them for 2 pounds in a charity shop in Bristol. And these lovely socks were a gift from Avoca... yum!

Buttons. 

Nice.

Les Miserables... a tribute

pontauchange.com

bridgemanart.com

It all started with the musical... I first saw in on PBS when I was in 7th grade, and I was immediately hooked. Obsessed even. Les Mis was the first cd I ever bought, and I soon had every song memorized. 

I read the book, then I read it again, then in high school I joined the French club (I don't speak French!) just so I could go see the musical live in San Diego. Over the next few years, I read the book a few more times, and saw the musical live a few more times. Here in Ireland, I even went to see a children's performance of it! And for Christmas, I asked Mike to read the book so I would finally have someone to talk to about it. And he's almost done!

at Waterloo

When I was in Belgium over the summer, I was able to visit Waterloo (Hugo describes the battle in great detail), and I even saw the inn where Victor Hugo wrote parts of the book. 

It was so amazing to see the battlefield and the farmhouse that I had read so much about in the battle scenes of Les Mis.

Needless to say, I can't wait to see the movie. When I first saw the trailer, I burst into tears... oh my goodness I cannot wait!!!

Belgium Part 2... the treasures!

 

 Fleamarket heaven in Belgium! I could just roll around in all those piles of old linens...

And here's the loot!

 

 

 

I think half the fun is digging through giant piles of clothing, heaped on the ground, and then catching a glimpse of vintage fabric and pulling and tugging until you've untangled the wrinkled treasure from its less than worthy companions and offered it new life. Hurrah!

I persuaded the lovely Jacq and Esther to try them on (at about midnight!) after the longest day ever.

Oh! And I also found this gorgeous watercolour... and a few other treasures which I'm sure will show themselves in the weeks to come!