I Hop Inspired Cupcakes
Last night I went to a bridal shower for a high school friend. Liz (Nick's mama), asked me to make some fall themed cupcakes for the desert. It's so fun to be back in my hometown making cakes and cupcakes for childhood friends!

I found this acorn idea online (Hershey's Kisses and mini Nilla Wafers). Yummy AND really cute! When I saw it, I knew I had to try it!

Here is a picture of the whole display. I can't take credit for the set up of the stand and adorable decorations though : ) . That was done by Sharon Smith, and friend of the Leonard family that is quickly becoming a good friend of mine! She is so kind and talented.

So here is why I call them I HOP inspired cupcakes. Nick and I ate at I HOP when I went to see him in Rhode Island. I ordered pancakes that had cheese cake pieces baked into the pancakes, and oh my it was DELICIOUS. While we were eating I kept thinking of how yummy it would be to try that with cupcakes. So I did. I bought a frozen SaraLee cherry cheesecake. Graham Cracker crust and all. I cut it into chunks and dropped it right into the batter! Looks good huh? It was!

Since the vanilla cupcakes had a surprise hidden inside, I decided the chocolate ones should too. I used some left over Chocolate Peanut Butter S'more cookie dough (recipe a couple posts down). That was a pretty big hit as well. It was such a nice shower, and I was so happy with how the cupcakes tuned out. Inside and out : ).

And just incase you are wondering what's going on in our life right now...

We just moved to a HOUSE! This is so fun for us. We just decided we are done with apartment living for now. It's so much fun to live in the same town as out parents too. Danny loves to see Grandparents and aunts and uncles so often. He has four Grandmas in this town, so that means lots of great babysitters for me ; ). We are planning on staying here until September when Nick will hopefully start grad school. That's the plan anyway. Until then we'll just enjoy being close to family.

Rhode Island with my Honey

Going to see Nick in Rhode Island was one of the most exciting things I've ever done! It's never been on my list of places to see, but it jumped to the top of the list while Nick was there! Seeing each other after 2 1/2 months was wonderful and very special. I RAN to baggage claim and had HUGE butterflies in my stomach while looking everywhere for him. Just like when we were dating. : ) When I found him we just starting hugging and kissing like crazy! Then we started laughing when we realized we were in public. Ha ha! Too much info?
We called it our second honeymoon because stayed in beautiful places, and were just so thrilled to be together. The weather was pretty terrible, but we didn't mind. We watched movies, sat in the hot tub, talked and talked, and ate TONS of food. I gained 5 pounds in 5 days. Woopsy! The all-you-can-eat pancakes at I-Hop were so worth it!

We did brave the weather one day to go on a cliff walk and tour some amazing mansions. They were built in the 1800's and were super fancy. Many of them had an ocean views in their backyard, so we walked along the shore (mostly cliffs) to see them. It was really fun even with the bitter cold wind.
Now this meal did not add to my weight gain. When they plopped this guy and a huge bowl of slimy oysters on the table, I wanted to run out the door! We ended up having a pretty good time cracking open the HUGE lobster though, and Nick talked me into tasting the oysters and clams. I thought the flavor was good, but I couldn't handle to crunch of the sand between my teeth. Yek! At least I can say I tried them.

These are the mansions I mentioned above. Most of them were built as summer homes. Can you believe it? What did their real homes look like for goodness sake? We went inside one of them but couldn't take pictures. This is definitely something we recommend doing if you're ever in Newport. It brought me back to the days when I would imagine I was a princess living in a fancy palace.

I heard there was a cupcake shop in town, and we had to go of course! It was fun to see an actual cupcake shop for the first time, and they were really tasty. Maybe I will have a little shop of my own when someday.

While we were off having so much fun, and piece of our hearts was back in Oregon. Danny was the main topic of our conversations, and Nick was dying to get home and see him. Danny stayed with Grandpa Dan and Grandma Lizzy. I think he might have had more fun than we did! I missed my little shadow so much.

Nick is home now, and we are so happy to have him back. For the first few days Danny wouldn't let Nick out of his sight. He had to take him everywhere he went. To the bathroom, the shower. Everywhere. I think he was afraid he would disappear.

Thanks for having us!

Danny and I flew to Arizona to visit my favorite big brother ; ) and his fam. The week went WAY too fast! Danny had a few firsts on this trip:

First time flying

First pumpkin patch

and First time to see Arizona

I came home with a lot of pictures like this

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and this

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If you read Cindy's post about our visit, she mentioned some super delicious cookies! Here they are along with the recipe. I found them at http://chef-n-training.blogspot.com. All of the recipes on this blog look amazing, so check it out sometime.

PEANUT BUTTER S'MORES

• 1 1/2 sticks (or 3/4 cup) butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 (3.4 oz) package instant chocolate pudding
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2-1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 10 oz bag Reese's Peanut Butter Chips
• 1-1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Stir together flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together.

Add in pudding package and beat until well blended.

Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.

Add flour mixture slowly until well incorporated.

Add Reese's Peanut Butter Chips and mini marshmallows and mix in.

Roll into 1" balls and place on greased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 F for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

My next post will be about my trip to Rhode Island to see Nick! I'm driving to Portland TODAY to pick him up from the airport. YAY!!!!!!! He's finally coming home!