Runs on Coffee and Cream

I recently finished re-watching the third season of The O.C. It was a hit TV show during high school and I found myself addicted to the drama pretty quickly. Plus, I loved Seth's geeky side and I couldn't get enough of the soundtrack (I have to thank Seth Cohen for introducing me to Death Cab for Cutie).



Not until I found The O.C. boxsets for dirt cheap did I consider picking them up. Even though I didn't miss an episode when it aired, the show quickly took a nosedive in the third season and I didn't know if I'd ever want to watch it again. Well, I have to say I'm happy I picked up the boxsets. I've enjoyed watching the bromance between Seth and Ryan again and I really am a fan of the Seth/Summer relationship.

Now, Marissa was never my favourite character. And I can say after re-watching the first three seasons, she still doesn't win me over. Unfortunately Mischa Barton wasn't the best actress, and the drama that was written into the show for Marissa was made so much worse by the lack of good acting.

But with that being said, I noticed that Marissa's wardrobe (especially in the later seasons) is my dream wardrobe from that time. I don't think I realized how much fashion from the early 2000's still influenced my outfit choices of today.



I want to wear Keds again, pull out all my long, layering necklaces, and stock up on beach-appropriate sun dresses. And to this day, I still long for Marissa Cooper hair. Long, beach waves have been my ideal hairstyle forever.

So maybe Marissa Cooper influenced me more than I thought...

Have you ever watched The O.C.?
xo Jen

As we head into Summer, new television series are announced for Fall, convention exclusives are released, and current television series wrap up with cliffhangers or emotional finales. I find this is the time of year when I fangirl the most, especially as big Blockbuster movies head to the movie theatre too. Here's what I'm fangirling over right now:

1. I'm a huge fan of Kristen Bell and everything she does. Well, I recently watched the trailer for her new television show, The Good Place, and it looks hilarious and adorable and different! I'm excited for this to air.


2. Adam and I just finished playing through Left 4 Dead 2. So in comparison to the first game, this one was a million times harder (I'm exaggerating just a little). Seriously though, there was one level where we encountered maybe 9 witches. And if you've ever played Left 4 Dead, you know how scary the witches are. The music alone makes me want to curl into a ball under a blanket. It was fun playing that style of game again though, even during the stressful parts.

There's no hiding my love for the X-Men universe, even if the movies are not the most amazing. I'll still be seeing the next movie, X-Men: Apocalypse, this weekend and I'm excited to see how the new actors do as some of the characters.


In preparation for the new movie, I made an X-Men wish list. I'm seriously longing for the Mystique dress...


1. Storm T-Shirt
2. Phoenix Hoodie
3. Mystique Dress
4. First Class T-Shirt
5. Jubilee Poster

Will you be seeing the new movie? I'm super curious to see how Apocalypse, Jubilee, Storm, and Angel are portrayed.

xo Jen

Lately we've been consuming a lot of iced tea (store bought and homemade) and eating more fruit than normal. The nice weather has us craving these things. There's some recipes that I'm looking forward to trying over the next couple of months while it's warm out. 

5 Fandom Friday Info

This upcoming weekend is a long weekend for Canadians and it symbolizes the beginning of Summer for most people. A lot of people head to the cottage or trailer for barbecues and campfires. Then you typically end the weekend with fireworks. We don't always have plans for this specific long weekend but this year we have some fun things planned and I'm really looking forward to it.

Because of the long weekend coming up and the beautiful, sunny weather we've been having, I'm in a Summer-mindset. I'm so ready for it!

These are just a few things that scream 'Summer' to me. I'm ready for camping, bonfires, road trips, cold treats, and sunny days!

Are you ready for Summer?
xo Jen

Lately I have found myself feeling more creative and wanting to make everything! I believe it's from all the sunshine and nice weather we've been having. My urge to create includes baking cupcakes, cakes, and cookies too.

Heaven's Sweetness Shop

I came across the most amazing Instagram account while scrolling aimlessly one morning in bed. There are so many videos of decorating cake tutorials and it makes me want to pull out all my frosting tips and start decorating! If you have any interest in cake decorating, head to their Instagram account now and be prepared to get sucked in.

How yummy is this cake? Repost @sugar_world #heavenssweetnessshop #heavenssweetness #tutorials #video #tutorial #videos #cake #cakes #cakedecorating #repost #howto #buttercream #buttercreamcake @carmenmak_

A video posted by Heaven's Sweetness Shop (@heavenssweetnessshop) on May 11, 2016 at 9:14pm PDT

Beautiful rosettes #heavenssweetnessshop #heavenssweetness #shop #cakes #tutorials #videos #cakedecorating #caketutorials #cakes #video #tutorial #yummy #rosettes #buttercream #buttercreamcakes #food #repost @magnoliakitchen

A video posted by Heaven's Sweetness Shop (@heavenssweetnessshop) on May 10, 2016 at 9:53pm PDT

Craft Room

I recently hit up the dollar store to buy bins of all sizes to organize my craft room. I've accumulated a lot of random things that have nothing to do with my sewing - perler beads, stickers galore, and tons of postcards and notecards thanks to IGGPPC. We still need to paint the room and put up shelves but it's already looking a lot more organized and it's ready for me to go crazy sewing while I get ready for two big comic conventions this Summer. I'm so happy I'm back to wanting to spend most of my time at home in there.

Prior to joining as staff for the Geek Girl Pen Pals Club, the technology I used was pretty basic. Of course I was on most of the social media sites and I relied heavily on email, but that was the extent of the sites and apps I used. But then I was introduced to the world of Dropbox, Gmail Drive, Fotor, and Asana. My technology skills have been forever changed. 

As you might remember, every year for our birthdays we pick a type of cake we want. Last year Adam asked for a Cadbury Creme Egg cake which turned out amazing. This year he requested a mango cake. This wasn't the easiest cake to come up with.

Mangoes aren't a super popular ingredient for baked goods and mango products aren't easy to come by in our grocery stores either. After some searching online, I went on the hunt for mango puree which I found in the International aisle at a grocery store chain.


I ended up making a basic vanilla cake and replaced the oil with mango puree. I figured I typically do the same with applesauce, so why not mango puree. The cake had a light mango flavour to it and the puree made the cake super moist. But the best was the buttercream. I added a teaspoon of coconut extract and used the mango puree to add moisture to the buttercream. This turned the buttercream a pretty pale peachy-yellow colour and the mango flavour was pretty intense.


I topped the cake with broken up dried mango pieces. Someone mentioned they looked like bacon pieces from a far. And they totally do. But I swear it's dried mango!



We ended up with quite a bit of mango puree leftover since it comes in a giant can. Adding it to strawberry smoothies has been my favourite thing to use it up.

Have you tried baking with mango?
xo Jen

Hello! Since my last Etsy update I've been busy taking more pictures and posting new products up on Etsy. Pouches and totes are filled up in my shop!

5 Fandom Friday Info

Happy Star Wars Day! To celebrate this year I decided to make some Chewie cupcakes. They're not too difficult to decorate. You just need to have a couple of frosting tips and piping bags... and some muscles because creating furry Wookiee cupcakes is hard on the hands and arms.


I decided to pull out the new Star Wars cupcake liners that I picked up recently and made a batch of chocolate cupcakes.


Then came the fun part - decorating! I used the Wilton grass tip - No. 233 for the chocolate fur. This was the most time consuming part. After that, making the bandolier was fairly straight forward. Just be careful with black food colouring! It gets everywhere and leaves stains.


I had to throw in my Itty Bitty Chewbacca because he's too adorable and fits in perfectly with these yummy cupcakes!


How are you celebrating Star Wars Day today?
xo Jen

Hello May! I'm happy to say goodbye to April. It was a dreary month with the snow melting and everything was flooded and muddy. I found I couldn't get ahead in April either. I was constantly catching up on things. But May will be better. It's already started great because the sun is shining and the long term forecast shows warm temperatures and lots of sun!



How was April for you?
xo Jen