A good tip for new (or rather any parent) is: When someone offers to watch your kid(s) for the night, you just smile and say "thank you". Try not to run or trip on your way out from your excitement though. Desperation for some much needed alone time makes you look.... well... is there any other way to say it? Desperate. 

Blogging is funny sometimes. While I enjoy typing away about my latest love (usually food) I sometimes feel like blogging can be overwhelming at best. I'm an obsessive Type-A person so the moment I press "publish" on my blog, I become a typo-searching monster who is over analyzing the littlest things. It's like I become possess and start thinking about everything in terms of "what's good for the blog" and I get lost in what's going on really in my life. I started this blog about a year or so ago to help "cope" with my lack luster life in Kuwait. It helped at first to get me out of my funk there, but overtime I started to enjoy my reality in the Middle East more, so I no longer needed it.

When I tell people that I make my own buttercream, usually the reaction is the same: why would you go through all that trouble? A store-bought can of frosting may seem quicker and more convenient but in all reality buttercream made from scratch tastes better and is super easy to make! All you need is 5 simple baking ingredients plus about 10 minutes of your time. That's it!

Here's how easy it is:

Soften some butter. I like to leave it out on the counter overnight and forget about it until you need it. Don't try to cheat and pop it in the microwave-it just won't be the same as when the butter slowly comes to room temperature.

Now whip your softened butter in a big bowl for about 3 minutes. You'll notice that the butter will almost appear lighter in color and fluffier!


Now add in some sifted powered sugar. Yet again, don't cheat: sift that sugar! By sifting it, you're reducing the chance of ugly looking sugar lumps in your frosting.


Mix the butter and sugar together.

Now add your salt and vanilla. Also you're going to add some milk, ONE tablespoon at a time. How much milk you add will determine how thick or thin your frosting will be. Then, mix it all together.


That's it. Seriously. Now you have delicious and homemade sweet buttercream ready to go!

**Bonus tips**
-Add more sugar if you accidentally make your frosting a little too thin
-If your buttercream is a little too thick, add one tablespoon more of milk and mix it together. Repeat until you have the perfect consistency.
-Buttercream's main ingredient is butter (haha) So this means if it starts to get all warm and runny when you're frosting, pop it in the fridge for a little to let it firm up again. After it's had some time to chill out (pun totally intended), then you can continue on with your buttercream frosting creation.



Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:
1 cup softened unsalted butter
3-4 cups of sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (or any other flavored extract)
A pinch of salt
Around 2-4 tablespoons of milk or heavy cream

Directions
1. Whip softened butter on medium for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add sifted powdered sugar to the butter. Mix together until smooth.
3. Now add vanilla extract, salt, and about 2 tablespoons of milk. Mix together well. Add more milk (one tablespoon at a time) as you see fit, to make the buttercream thicker.

It's been twelve days since I last posted. I wish I could give you a great reason why I haven't posted, but honestly, I don't have one. These last twelve days have just been jam-packed--between preschool graduation, a Memorial Day BBQ, birthday parties, and a couple of "farewells" to some new friends, I feel like this last week and a half had little room for anything else.

• For the Cake

• * 2 cups all-purpose flour

• * 3/4 cup sugar

• * 2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• * 1/2 teaspoon salt

• * 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• * 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• * 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

• * 3/4 cup milk or half & half

• * 1 egg

• * 2 cups fresh or frozen, unthawed blueberries

• * 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

• For the streusel topping

• * 1/2 cup sugar

• * 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• * 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• * 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• * 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1. 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
2. 2. In a medium-sized bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg to make the streusel topping. Cut in softened butter with fingers and mix until topping is combined and crumbly. Don't over mix it though or else your topping will be more like a spread and a less like a delicious crumble topping. Place the streusel topping in the freezer until you're ready to put the cake in the oven. 
3. 2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. 3. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the melted butter, milk (or half & half) and egg. 
5. 4. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined, scraping sides of bowl if necessary.
6. 5. Gently fold in blueberries and lemon zest by hand, transferring batter to a well-greased and floured 8 or 9 inch square baking dish, or 9 inch spring form pan.
7. 4. Top the cake with the streusel topping and bake the cake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted near center comes out clean. **If you double this batch, your cooking time will be around 60-65 minutes. 

So time for me to confess: I have two conflicting personality traits. One: I definitely have a type A personality--I like thing done in a certain way, in a certain amount of time, and with a certain amount of attention to detail. My only problem is I'm lazy. Crazy thing to admit, but it's true. I have an insane drive to do all these things, but nine times out of ten I simply just give up for various reasons.

I've always been somewhat insecure of my body. Surprise surprise, right?! Let's be honest, most women these days have some sort of body issue. Whether you think your arms jiggle, you have "thunder thighs", or you simply think you're fat... the reality is you and I aren't the first (or the last for that matter) to dislike something about our bodies.

One of my biggest insecurities is what I look like in a bathing suit. Okay, I know, most women feel the same, right?! Don't write off this post just yet. I'm  going somewhere with this.

I actually remember the first time I thought I looked terrible in a bathing suit. I was fourteen years old and I was at the local community pool. My two friends and I had just arrived and we're quick to jump into the water. That day I had decided to wear my favorite hot pink bathing suit and I thought I looked cute. However, the moment I splashed into the pool, one of my well meaning friends said what I thought was one of the oddest things ever, She asked me why my bathing suit made it look like I had a fat pocket near my arm pit. I was so embarrassed that she even noticed. Somehow that moment spurred a long running series of insecurities. I would think things like my ribs stuck out in a weird way or I would obsess with the fact that my thighs touched. I was constantly comparing myself to the girls around me. I was ashamed that I wasn't stick thin and hated that I wasn't curve-less.

Sadly, I think this teenage sob story happens to a lot of girls. The worse part of it is: insecure girls grow into insecure women. Some of us grow out of it, but most of us will never forget that first boy who calls you fat or those girls at school who talk about the way you look behind your back. I'm in my late twenties and I still try to cover up as much as possible. I remember when I was in my early twenties, I hardly ever wore a bathing suit. It got so bad at one point that I wouldn't even go to the beach without a sweatshirt on because I thought I looked too fat. I mean for goodness sake, it wasn't until three years ago that I got over my fear of wearing shorts!

So where am I going with this? This blog, this journey, is meant to create a new mindset. Be more open and let go of things. My main thing is I'm trying to say "yes" more than I say "no" so this means when my daughter asked me a couple of days ago to go swimming (despite the fact that I didn't want to go), I gave in and said yes. That day I forced myself to put on my bathing suit and to get out of the house for the day.

Once we were at the pool, it didn't take long for my family to start begging me to get in the water. Usually I avoid, at all cost, other people seeing me in a bathing suit and on that day the pool was filled with people. I felt so shy getting into the water. I felt like everyone was looking at me, even though no one really was.

It wasn't until I was swimming around with my kids for a couple of minutes that I realized something. I don't care what other people think about me. Teaching my daughter to swim and watching my son playfully splash everyone in the "big pool" are memories I'm never going to want to forget. More importantly, I realized I wanted to be apart of the memories, not watch from the sidelines. It made me think about all those years that I said no to going to the pool or the beach. How many times have I said I can't or I don't want to because I felt fat or thought I didn't look great. Please tell me I'm not the only one who let fear hold me them back.

The moment I got home I began searching on the internet. In my mindset I kept thinking: Mama is going to buy a NEW bathing suit. No more sitting on the bench watching everyone else have fun. I don't care what my excuses were before. Every day I waste thinking like I used to is another day I don't fully enjoy my life.

So here's my message to all the women who may feel the same: Follow suit. There's no reason too big or too small to miss out on the best parts of life. Start off small. Buy yourself a new bathing suit. Jump into the pool. Have fun and forget the rest.