Saturday Cake Baking; Why can't things turn out like the picture... and always have a Plan B

So it was another spring weather weekend here in SLC which means anything from sun to snow... and all in between. It was going to be an indoor project weekend since yard work is best left to days when it isn't hailing. I had seen a recipe for a Chiffon cake that look interesting and appealing (translation super yummy looking) in a random newspaper flier insert and decided to give it the good ole college try.

yea... mine DOES NOT look like that 

Spring Has Sprung... and Apparently So Has My Motivation

Spring is Here! The weather has been slowly getting better and better (which, I assume will take a turn for the worse any day now... we're due up for at least one more blizzard) but it means pool season is just around the corner! In preparation for summer there have been some good things going on around here... a few weekends ago we cleaned the house top to bottom, which is such a cliche way to kick spring off but hey... it works. The sun comes out, the layers come off and as we stumble out of our winter hibernation it's nice to just get the dust off everything (and in our case cat and dog hair).  Once done on the inside I moved outside to the project that is our back yard. Having gone all winter without a helping hand and being abused by three dogs the yard was in pretty poor shape, nothing a few choice words for the pine trees and the dogs for both equally littering the yard with their droppings and an hour of steady raking (seriously though, our yard isn't that big) it started to look more like the cute quaint space I fell in love with, than the hazardous waste sight it had become over winter. This last weekend we decided to gate the grass and patio off from the dogs and throw down some grass seed hoping to fill in some of the barren spots. My fingers are crossed that my (plant) killing spree has ended and the little seeds take root. Maybe if I pep talk the yard everyday and lay out my vision for this summer it will rise to the occasion and grow, let's hope I have ambitious grass.

Pine needles everywhere you look

Pinterest Project: DIY Wall Coffee Mug Rack... How things are never as easy as they seem and why I should have listened to my father the first time

So ya ya it's been a while blah blah blah... let's just pretend I've been actively posting the last year and a half... it will be a lot easier than trying to explain the reason for my blog absence other than I have none except life... it happens... lets move on.

So feeling the need for a project last weekend, since the Hubs was working under deadline, I started perusing everyones favorite time-suck Pinterest. and stumbled upon this (and can I tell you how I loathe pins that link to NOTHING.)



Seemed easy enough right... it's a piece of wood and some hooks... how hard could it be... (said me everytime something turns out harder than expected, it's like a curse... you'd think I'd learn by now.) So not really knowing much about lumber I enlisted the help of my dear ole Dad to make the trip to Home Depot with me. After taking some measurements regarding size, counting my sizable mug collection (23) and scoping Home Depot out online to get an idea about supplies we headed off...