PAUSE

So back in February, I was told that my school's ASB nominated me to join a campaign called, "PAUSE." It's not everyday that something like this happens to me, so I gladly accepted the offer. Also, I do actually stand by what the campaign is promoting. I mean, being a senior in high school right now, I see classmates feeling the need to party and what not, but unlike them I just don't feel the need to. But by any means I am not saying that I am against those that do choose to make those actions.

So what exactly is the PAUSE campaign? Well, the PAUSE campaign aims to prevent/reduce underage drinking by promoting the truth about these behaviors. For example, many people overestimate the amount of substance use among teens. These perceived norms, though wrong, may influence a teenager's decision to engage in that behavior. Essentially, the PAUSE campaign tries to change people's way of viewing these behaviors by educating them on what is the truth when it comes to those behaviors. It is not a goal of this campaign to scare people away from using drugs or alcohol. 

It's all about celebrating all that is "positive" in our lives, whether it deals with our relationships, school, sports, arts, extra-curricular activities, hobbies, or any passions you may have. Basically, what is to be encouraged is to focus on whatever makes individuals happy, and influences you to live a healthy lifestyle, that of course being one free of drugs and alcohol.

When I accepted to be apart of the campaign, I was told that someone would come over to my house to take a picture to promote the campaign. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my "PAUSEitive" choice would be to bake! ;) So basically I had no clue what to expect when taking the picture. I wasn't sure if it was expected for me to bake something because...well... I was promoting that my positive choice was baking. Nevertheless, I did anyways! Hahaha. Unfortunately, the things I made never made an appearance in the picture..oh well! 

Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla/chocolate italian meringue buttercream

Fruit tarts

My PAUSEitive poster

Also, I forgot to make a post that about 3 weeks ago, I had a "wedding cake day" in ROP. Basically, it was just a day to make a two tiered cake. I foolishly opted to make a very, what I would call elegant cake, however things just didn't go as I had hoped for... 

The cake of the left: my inspiration (ps I do not remember where I found this picture, so to whomever made this cake, YOU ARE A SUPERSTAR!)
The cake on the left: my attempt at trying to the cake on the left...

ROP

I mentioned last month that I was taking a course called, "baking and pastry fundamentals" and so far we've baked and what not but the day that I've been waiting for has come!! WE'RE BEGINNING TO DECORATE! :D

Yesterday (March 27th) we practiced with fondant and I couldn't think of anything on the top of my head but I knew I wanted to incorporate flowers somehow. Here is the cake! I don't think it's tooooo shabby considering I was winging all of the ideas... ;)

Tiffany

Happy birthday to my friend, Tiffany Lee (& yes today is her actual birthday haha)! As I said in the previous post, she was the one that that probably led me to love cake decorating and what not. 

Fun fact: I didn't always want to go into culinary. Before all of this, I actually wanted to pursue a career in fashion. I didn't want to be a fashion designer, but something more in the lines of being either a merchandiser, buyer, or stylist. The idea of going into fashion hasn't completely gone away, so who knows! I think for myself,  I just really enjoy doing crafts and artsy things which is why I think I'm so infatuated with decorating cakes/cupcakes! 

...now back to Tiffany! Soo basically I've known her since I want to say middle school...? The only thing is that we didn't really even start hanging out until our sophomore year in high school! We haven't known each other for too long, but nevertheless, she's one of those friends that I can say I can go to and count on. I never really explained in the post before about how exactly she influenced me to love decorating so here it goes... So technically I had always loved baking and decorating cupcakes and what not for my friend's birthdays however my "baking and decorating" was pretty much just slabbing on some frosting and maybe even adding sprinkles. Might I add that I all of these were baked from a box.. I didn't even make my own frosting either... Even with knowing all of this, my friends all thought that I was a really great baker, so one day Tiffany and I were browsing around the bakery section at a nearby Pavillions and in the glass window where they display their cakes, was a cake that was shaped as a sun. After seeing the cake, she pretty much challenged me to make a cake that looked like that for her. I jokingly told her that I would, not thinking that I actually would attempt to make it... but I did ;) ! When I gave her the cake at school on her birthday, everyone, (including Tiffany) were amazed. I want to say that people probably doubted that I could make it...? I know for sure I doubted myself! There were even some times while making the cake that I was just about to give up completely! But when all was done I was somewhat content with it, but the feedback I got from everyone at school was amazing and I think that's also why I am heading towards going into the world of pastry! Something about the reactions I get from giving people a work of art in the form of food just makes me so happy!

Anyways, the cake I made for her this year for her 18th birthday, was a cake that was to resemble a camera. If there's another thing you should know about Tiffany, it's that she's an amazing photographer! I wish I had that talent! I'm constantly asking her how I can take better pictures of my desserts! Hahahaha.

Tried to replicate the "mode dial" as much as I could.

The back of the "camera." I actually wasn't going to even do anything on the back but felt like it looked a little plain if I didn't do anything to it. In the end, adding the details on the back paid off! 

The front/side.

The top.

The front.

Tiffany with her cake!

Probably one of the best compliments I've gotten. This made my day! :')

Note: How am I posting all of these pictures when it has just hit midnight, you might ask? Well, my friends and I decided that since Tiffany's birthday was going to be on a Sunday, that we would give her treats/balloons on the past Friday at school (it's just a special feeling when you receive treats/goodies at school for your birthday). 

Also, before I forget...! Here are the much delated St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes I made... not very special but I'd thought I should post them anyways. These cupcakes were made for a FST St. Patrick's Day party. 

Candy melted clovers

The flavor was red green velvet with cream cheese frosting.

AHHHHHHHH

It's been a year since I started cake/cupcake decorating! :D Time flies! For those who are curious, this was the first cake I decorated with fondant... I don't normally document myself making the cakes/cupcakes I make but I did this just in case the cake didn't work at all. Hahaha. Basically this is the cake that started it all! I don't know if I'd be baking as much as I do today if I had never made this cake, and I'd have to thank my friend Tiffany for that! Speaking of her, I recently made her another cake (for her 18th birthday) ! That will be posted shortly, as well as late St. Patricks Day cupcakes ;)

Oh My..

I'm terrible. I have yet again forgotten to post, posts that should have been posted awhile ago.. (...wait, did that even make sense? hahaha) Anyways,  what I forgot to post awhile ago was that I made an Angry Birds cake for my little cousin for his birthday ( February 29/Leap Day ;) )! Another than that cake, I also made my friend Tori, and rainbowed layered cake with some musical cut outs. It's been a tradition of mine to always have some sort of rainbowed layers in whatever I make her. It's only been the second year since I've done it, but then again, I also haven't been baking (..intensely?) for that long. In fact, it'll be exactly a year since I started decorating/baking/using fondant intensely on March 24th!! That's so soon! Ah, crazy!!!!

Angry Birds Cake.

 My cousin, Brandon with his cake.

 The cupcakes I made for Tori last year

The cake I made for her this year. 

Not the best cake I made but I tried! 

Em Bish

Little fun fact that I failed to mention for awhile is that I'm finally taking classes for baking! I actually started the class in January.. Overall it's a really fun class! The class is every Tuesday and Thursday from 2-7 pm. It sucks that it's quite a drive for me, but I guess you just gotta do what you gotta do! Lately though, it has been somewhat overwhelming depending on what I have to do during the week. For example, this week was my friend, Emily Bishop's birthday. Her birthday happened to fall on a Wednesday which meant that if I wanted to bake something for her, that I would have to bake on Tuesday night which also meant I wouldn't have the whole day to whip something up. I knew that I would bake for her no matter what.

Emily and I first met each other in 8th grade. We had both P.E and science together. Those were good times. Those were also the days that none of us could drive and would have to walk everywhere or rely on parents to drive us to places. Which brings me to why I thought of making the cake that I made for her. The cake I made her was supposed to replicate a bag of popcorn (like the ones you see in movie theaters). I decided to make this because she absolutely LOVES popcorn. I don't think there's ever been a time that I've been to her house where she didn't have popcorn stocked in her pantry. Now that I think of it, she's also typically always ate or popped popcorn whenever we were at her house!

NHS Girls Senior Basketball Game

Today (I guess technically yesterday..) was my friends' last basketball game! So sad!!!! This just makes me realize that I will soon have my last dance show...EVER!
On a more positive note...
I made treats for the basketball girls! Why? Well, to be honest, girl's sports at my high school don't always get enough credit. I think it's really frustrating (even though I'm technically not even in a girl's sport..dance is counted as an elective/arts class)! Nevertheless I've begun to bond with some of the girls on the team this year and thought I'd do something special for their last game. I originally planned to make "Justin Bieber" themed cupcakes but I underestimated the amount of time.. so I opted for a much simpler design.
...which also didn't seem to work out too much either...

Hand lettered each butter cookie.

Then added some jam to make the letters pop!

the cookies that said "basketball" didn't quite make it... ):

POSTERS!