Master Bedroom Built-Ins

I don't have a ton of storage in our master bedroom, even though there are two closets and well-organized, they are small. So, I love the idea of doing built-ins in the bedroom. Most people think about built-ins in the kitchen obviously, or in the living room with books, but why not in the bedroom for additional closet space instead of a mass of dressers?

Here are some images of great built-ins in bedrooms. I'm planning on doing something similar when I have ten grand to spare, of course. I love the idea of having the TV incorporated, either a flat screen or behind doors like an armoire.

These are obviously kitchen built-ins, but I love the chicken wire over them and the bench inbetween!

If you're on a budget, these look simpler without any doors but still capture the concept.

Baby Shower Cake

This weekend I am hosting a baby shower for my sister, Robyn. She doesn’t know the baby’s gender, so it makes planning a little bit more tricky, because your colors are generally limited to green and yellow. I decided on green for the cake, though it came out sort of a Tiffany blue/green. Here are the steps I used:

1. Purchase two box cake mixes of flavors of your choice. I used spice cake.
2. Make the mixes as instructed on the box in a bowl.
3. Fill two 6 inch round cake pans and two 9 inch round cake pans 2/3 full. The two cake mixes as mixed should be the perfect amount.
4. Bake the four cake pans as instructed on the box.
5. Let the cakes cool, and shake them out of the pans.
6. You will want to cut off any “domes” that are on top of the cakes, because you want your cake to be level. Use a serrated knife to cut off the domes and put the excess aside (or give it to your kids).
7. Put a layer of buttercream icing in between the two layers, and stack the two bottom layers. Then layer the sides and top with buttercream icing. You can purchase good buttercream at a local bakery, or online, or make your own as I have done (recipe to come).
8. Ice both the two smaller cakes and the two larger cakes together, but don’t stack them yet, because you are going to cover each with fondant.
9. Let the cakes sit in the fridge for a couple hours – this is called letting the icing “crust over.” Without this, a fair warning that the fondant will not stick to the buttercream.
10. Now for the fondant icing. There are several options you have – purchase from a bakery (this worked great for me once), purchase online (people use Satin Ice or my favorite, Fondarific, which has wonderful flavors), or make your own (recipe to come).
11. You will want to grease your surface with Crisco sufficiently. Yes, icing is made of Crisco. Doesn’t stop me from eating it.
12. Roll out and knead your fondant with a rolling pin. I purchased the Wilton super long white rolling pin for accuracy. Keep moving it and flipping it or it will stick to the counter. Keep it moving and move FAST.
13. I would roll it out to ¼ inch thickness. Thicker the better for hiding any mistakes on the cake underneath.
14. Using your hands, pick it up and lift it over the cake. Again, work quickly. Stretch and smooth the sides down (this takes some practice) and get it smooth against the cake.
15. Using a knife or a pizza cutter (works great!), cut around the edges and cut off the excess fondant.
16. Do the same for the other tier.
17. Now, you are ready to put the top tier on top of the bottom tier, but first you need to secure it. I recommend purchasing 50 lollipop sticks from a local bakery supply store for about fifty cents. Insert three or four into the middle of the bottom layer, leaving half sticking out. Then, lower the top layer onto the bottom layer – just use your best judgment for getting it centered, in my opinion.
18. Voila! Now you can decorate as you wish. I recommend the Wilton brand cutouts, or make your own shapes. I made the baby out of fondant too, just trial and error.
19. Important note – if you are going to put sticks into the cake, make sure they are not metal. Metal can be poisonous, and that’s not a great way to end your children’s birthday parties. Poison.

Here is a picture of the finished product!

Sergio!

Sergio from Mathieu Carratier on Vimeo.

Shake Weight Commercial

Another awesome faux commercial skit but based on a real product.

SNL Shake Weight Commercial from Long Crotch on Vimeo.

Reba Digital Short

Awesome. I mean, what is it like to be in the room where they decide to put a wig on Keenan and do a sexy man Reba skit?

Reba - SNL Digital Short from Niela Jay on Vimeo.

Sexy Shana

These Shana skits on SNL are just awesome. Kristen Wiig is definitely the best female on the show in years.

SNL Office Birthday Party from Cody Benner on Vimeo.

Craigslist Crazies

Okay, so when I post something on Craigslist, and I put the dimensions, brand, color, everything I know about it, why is this the email I get from someone:

"Will it fit in my car?"

Well, I don't know. I don't know because I don't know what kind of car you have, obviously, what you have in the backseat, etc. I gave you the dimensions of the object you are interested in. So...maybe measure the back of your car and figure it out. Maybe? Just saying. Maybe I won't sell it to you because you are asking me to "rep" to you as to whether it will fit in your car?

Secondly, I'm not cool with this. I post and say the price is firm. You email me and say you want it, and arrange to come pick it up. Then you email the day you are supposed to pick it up, after we've agreed, and you want to pay less. No. Deal's off. It's not like you saw it and want to arrange a discount because it's damaged - you're just saying you feel like you have it locked up and I'm in a corner. Seriously? No! There are LOTS of other buyers for this lamp!

Dick in a Box

I can't ever get enough of this one. Timberlake truly is a great host and Samberg collaborator.

To say that I am a "fan" of SNL is a bit of an understatement. I have seen every episode at least for the past 10 years. I used to record them on VHS tape and watch them over and over with my girlfriends in law school, Linnea and Jess. We rolled on the floor and found that with some, the more you watched, the better. I don't believe that the show wasn't funny in the 90s, or the 2000s, or now. It's hilarious and always will be.

Dick in a box from A.E.O FILMS HD on Vimeo.

La Roux Rocks!

I saw Evan Lysacek's futuristic Cha Cha on DWTS...interesting, I guess, but what the heck is that AWESOME song? Turns out it is La Roux, British pop band. The song in question, which kicks ARSSS, is Bulletproof. Listen, love it, enjoy it!

La Roux - Bullet Proof from serkan söğüt on Vimeo.

Why Do Law Firm Websites Suck?

I left my old trusty law firm in January to join a public company as in-house counsel. Now, with some distance, I am even more amused with the law firm need to do excessive and utterly corny marketing. I went to the firm's website today to look up a colleague (for work purposes). These are the pictures that rotate through the homepage.

What the heck is going on here? What are these pictures and what do they have to do with a law firm? I guarantee that the firm has no actual offices near any of these places. The green steps photo. Okay, very nice. Sort of art-gardeney. What is that supposed to be telling me? Bryan Cave is a green sea of manicured art grass?

As my friends pointed out, the Stairway to Nowhere is also intriguing. So, you're trapped - you can't jump the fence, and if you do, you're in a world of green digitally mastered bamboo. Great.

Each of these remind me of the mind-trick scenes in Fight Club where Edward Norton went to his happy place in a cold cave, and saw either a penguin or Helena Bonhom-Carter say "Slide." Then he snaps out of it.

The Great Wall of China on a bridge inside the Grand Canyon must represent the meshing and serious legal understanding of multiple and dynamic cultures. I think?

I suggest this as the new image to appear on the homepage. There you go. Free of charge.