Runs on Coffee and Cream

I made a Butterbeer Poke Cake to eat over this fantastic weekend to celebrate Harry Potter's birthday and the release of the new book, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which both happen on July 31st,

I'm a huge fan of poke cakes since it ends up being super moist and gooey. I had the idea to make a butterbeer one when I came across another recipe that required pop in the recipe. Luckily last year I made Butterbeer Ice Cream Floats so I knew where to buy vanilla cream soda since it's difficult to find in Canada.


Butterbeer Poke Cake

• vanilla cake (use your favourite recipe or a boxed mix)
• vanilla cream soda
• toffee bits
• whipped topping
• butterscotch topping

Directions:

1. When you make your vanilla cake, replace the water (or milk) with the vanilla cream soda. Use a long 9" x 13" pan for this cake. Let the cake cool completely before moving to the next step.


2. Using a butter knife, make small cuts in your cake and drizzle your butterscotch topping into the holes. Don't worry about making a mess.


3. Sprinkle toffee bits over cake. Next, spread your whipped topping over everything.



4. Drizzle more butterscotch over the whipped topping and add even more toffee bits. Easy, right?


This cake is so yummy and super gooey from all the butterscotch. The toffee bits add a nice bit of crunch to this soft cake too.


I'll be heading to the Midnight Magic event at Indigo books Saturday night to pick up my copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I'm super pumped to go and I may have to splurge on a Butterbeer Frappuccino from Starbucks.

xo Jen

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and it was a great day. Both Adam and myself didn't have to work so it was a whole day of hanging out and eating yummy food. We spent a good chunk of the day at the beach. We went swimming and read comics on our blanket. The day ended with a steak dinner and an incredible birthday cake!






Even the inside was a pretty blue!


Now to make my 32nd year an amazing one!

xo Jen

This past weekend was San Diego Comic Con and as usual a ton of trailers and news were shared in the convention halls. I always enjoy catching up on all the news, panels, and trailers at the end of the weekend. These top the list of what I'm most excited for:

1. Wonder Woman Trailer - wow! It looks incredibly kickass and I'm very excited for this movie now.


2. Legion Trailer - I knew there was an X-Men show in the works but I didn't realize it would center on Legion, Charles Xavier's son. I'm very curious about this series.


3. The LEGO Batman Movie - this full-length trailer shows just how hilarious this movie is going to be. Will Arnett is the perfect LEGO Batman!

4. New trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them - yet another trailer for this movie that gives me goosebumps. I'm beyond excited to be back in that world. 

A lot of the other trailers released looked amazing and I'm pumped for all the new Marvel TV shows and the return of The Walking Dead! What SDCC news has you excited?
xo Jen

Our treat this month was buying a can of coconut whipped cream. With Adam being lactose-intolerant, this is a super yummy alternative.


So when I had my friends up for the weekend I was introduced to the amazing world of Sprinkle Sandwiches made with Dutch sprinkles. By far, these are the most amazing sprinkles I've ever tasted in my life.


We also had fun with some face masks.


And pigged out on doughnuts from Mighty Canadian Doughnuts.


Oh, I also went for the first step of my hair process - lots and lots of blonde highlights to help grow the leftover red out. Hello semi-blonde hair!


Moonlight Beach has been exceptionally gorgeous this Summer.


And I finally got myself a donut float! It makes swimming even more fun!



How has July been treating you?
xo Jen

I highly doubt I have to explain to anyone what Pokemon Go is. If so, just check out this post about the new Pokemon app. Since late Sunday night, when the game was officially released in Canada, I have gone on 4 walks in my neighbourhood to look for Pokemon. This game is seriously going to get me in shape at this rate considering it's only Wednesday.

To share my love for Pokemon and how much fun I'm having playing Pokemon Go, I rounded up my top favourite Pokemon t-shirt designs that have been popping up in my email inbox (thanks to TeeFury, RiptApparel, and TeeTurtle).


Clockwise from top right box:

1. Where's the Gym? by TeeTurtle
2. Certified Trainer by Oktobear
3. Tiny Turtle Trained by Huino
4. Gotta Fit Them All by DoOomcat
5. PikaPooh by Ste7en Lefcourt

Have you been playing Pokemon Go? Are you enjoying it? The servers have been a little unstable this week and my phone has the worst GPS signal apparently since my trainer is constantly running around the map, but overall we're having a fun time catching Pokemon!

xo Jen

I was given the opportunity to review a new Japanese Candy & Snack Box, Japan Funbox, and I jumped at the chance! I absolutely love trying new Japanese candy and find myself perusing all the snack foods when I head to grocery stores that carry it.

Now onto the unboxing...

• Crunky Chocolate Bar
• Whistle Candy: Grape Flavour
• Potato Happy Butter
• Pokemon 3D Candy
• Umaibō: Curry, Cheese, and Octopus Dumpling flavours
• Strange Gum 2

Pokemon 3D Candy

These candies were pretty generic - a hard candy with a bit of sour fizz in the middle. The sour fizz seems to be a common addition to a lot of Japanese candies. But with them being individually wrapped, they're great to throw in my purse and have on hand whenever I want a little bit of sweetness.


Strange Gum 2

The sticks of gum were incredibly soft and flavourful. The flavours are lemon, strawberry, and green apple. It claims that when you combine all 3 flavours it turns into grape flavour. It did, but the grape wasn't very strong in flavour. I'd prefer the gum flavours on their own.


Whistle Candy: Grape Flavour

Now these candies were super grape tasting. I really liked their chalky texture and they disappeared quickly. You can definitely make a whistle noise when you blow into the little hole, which intrigued my cats. And my little secret toy? A tiny plastic monster for my shelf.


Crunky Chocolate Bar

This chocolate bar was a mix of an Aero and Crunchy bar. It was melt in your mouth light, but it had little crisp pieces throughout. All in all, a good tasting chocolate treat.


Potato Happy Butter

The flavour of these chips had me intrigued. The 4 base flavours of these chips: butter, honey, parsley, and mascarpone cheese. Weird, right? They're actually incredibly good. A little sweet, a little buttery. I enjoyed them thoroughly.


Umaibō: Curry, Cheese, and Octopus Dumpling flavours

I liked these little savoury sticks. The texture was incredibly similar to a classic Cheetos Puff. Crispy but soft and melt in your mouth. The flavours were fun and I enjoyed all 3. 


I loved reviewing the Mini Funbox and I couldn't recommend this subscription box more. The shipping was incredibly fast, oh and did I mention shipping is free worldwide?! They offer a Mini, Original, and Family size funbox so you can decide how many snacks you'd like to try out.

Definitely check out Japan Funbox if you're thinking about trying out a Japanese Candy and Snack box subscription.

xo Jen

Today is a great day! The new Ghostbusters movie is released today! To say I'm a little excited is an understatement.

In celebration of the new movie, I made some slimed cupcakes this week which I think turned out amazing. The slime looks fantastic.


I used a chocolate cupcake base with almond buttercream on top. The day I made these the humidity was high so the frosting sort of melted on top of the cupcakes. But like Adam pointed out, it gives them a Stay Puft-marshmallow look to the tops.

As for the slime, I used:
- piping gel
- green food colouring (I used 'Leaf Green' colour gel by Wilton)



xo Jen

Hello! I just wanted to share a quick post with some Etsy updates today since it's my birthday and I don't plan on sticking around home much today...

I added some new pouches to my Etsy shop this morning. Totes and hobo bags will be added soon too! You can see the new updates here.



In the meantime I'll be sewing my butt off getting ready for Fan Expo (it's 50 days away... eeep!).

Have a good day!
xo Jen

I feel like what I'm loving now are such typical Summer things - iced coffee and blonde hair!

Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew

Starbucks released this drink a couple months ago and I'm officially addicted. I've had it regular and blended with ice. It's delicious, smooth, and just the right amount of sweet. It's my new favourite drink for the Summer. I'm now sold on cold brew coffee and I might have to pick up a cold coffee brewer for home. Also, the vanilla sweet cream is delicious. I'll have to find a copycat recipe for it.

Like most kids, Summer was my favourite season when I was younger. But I definitely grew out of it as an adult. Probably because I didn't get outside as much as I'd like, I was in an apartment with no air conditioning, and I hated dealing with the heat. The last couple of years I've found myself looking forward to Summer more though. I think it's because of our move to the North.

The past three Summers we've been here we've spent a lot of time at the beaches in and around the city, whether swimming in the lakes or just having a picnic. I honestly didn't know how much I'd love having multiple lakes within a 20 minute radius near me that I can swim in all Summer.

Then came camping. Yet another Summer activity that I look forward to and has been a blast every time we go. I can feel myself wanting to do it more and we've been talking about going more or even looking into renting a cottage.

To celebrate my love of camping and swimming at the lake, I rounded up some of my favourite Summer-inspired things.


1. Campfire Tank
2. Sunshine Beach Towel
3. Constellation Socks
4. Camp Stickers
5. LED Lantern

What are some of your favourite things to do in the Summer?
xo Jen

Last week we headed to Algonquin Park for a 5-day camping long weekend. We went back to Pog Lake Campground (where we camped last year). It was a great time and I fell even more in love with this area of Ontario. It's absolutely gorgeous there and pictures don't do it justice. We went on a couple of hikes, sat around the fire, looked at the night sky (the Milky Way was visible two of the nights), and played board games.

I apologize in advance for the amount of photos but it was hard to narrow down which ones I wanted to share.


We celebrated my birthday early there,so there was cake!


This view is a 10 minute walk from our campsite. It's incredible.


Dragonflies were everywhere!


Mr. Frog.


Cider and Pop 5!



Maple Cookie S'mores.


Reese Peanut Butter Cup S'mores.


Oreo S'mores.







Beaver Dam.


Mr. Beaver.




Mommy duck and baby.


More cider.



If you ever get the chance to visit any part of Algonquin Park, I cannot recommend it enough!! I'm already looking forward to next year's camping trip.

xo Jen