Festival of Lights

Happy hanukkah, everybody!  My roomies and I hosted a hanukkah party on Sunday that was a smash hit!  What’s great about Hanukkah, from a busy person’s perspective, is that it’s 8 nights long.  So there’s a lot of leeway in terms of potential party dates.  And the 3rd day is just as important as the other 7 days, so…come light the menorah. Let’s have a party. We’ll all dance the hora.

What started out as an innocent idea to have a few people over for latkes and wine, quickly turned into a large potluck party with multiple rounds of Drunken Dreidle (my brother came up with it: a drinking version of the classic spinning top game from every Jew’s childhood) and dozens of delicious jelly doughnuts!

A fun time was had by all — even the goys were into it.  The latkes fried and the oil flowed.  For a first time Hanukkah party-thrower, I’d say it was a success.

Holidazed

This past week, Jen and I appeared as “Fanny & Jane” (our fabulous baking alter-egos) for the first time in months!  Since launching our new website and opening up shop on www.fannyandjane.com, the orders have been steadily pouring in — Jen has been shipping tons of orders and baking her butt off, and we’ve simply had less time to appear at events.   The inherent shmoozer in me always loves the opportunity to set up a table, bring our cake bites, and meet our sweet-toothed fans.  So this was a lovely way to spend a Wednesday night.  

Not to mention, it was our first holiday party of the season!!  Which was incredibly thrilling for both of us.  Even though I come from the menorah side of things, I sing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” at the top of my lungs…and two years ago, I even had my own stocking!  I mean, sure we’ve got hanukkah gelt for dreidle gambling, but it’s hard to beat an advent calendar with a piece of chocolate for EVERY DAY OF THE MONTH.  

Jen, on the other hand, is Legit Christmas.  She’s been celebrating since she was born, and I’m totally dazzled by her stories of being a child and waking up to her grandparents and parents and cousins revealing a huge decorated christmas tree in the living room with tons of presents on christmas morning, when the just the day before, the room was empty.  Like magic!  Oh, goys.  I friggin love it.  

Thanks to our friends at Cake Productions for inviting us to be a part of their fun event!

So Fresh

Never underestimate the power of fresh flowers.  I’m convinced that having flowers, or any living plant, in the house, has magical healing powers that leak into your subconscious and release endorphins.  Like going to the gym.  Except you don’t have to put on sweatpants.

A few weeks ago, my sweet boyfriend came home from a catering gig with a “little treat” for me.  I groggily hop out of bed (it was 2am), and am taken aback by a huge-ass bouquet of flowers sitting on my kitchen counter.

This thing was a monster!  It was from a big fancy shmancy wedding reception.  It is the biggest bouquet I have ever seen.  And to think, David carried this big heavy thing home for me.  >blushing<

So, the next morning, Shawna and I giddily began disassembling this big white flowery poof and carefully crafted smaller bouquets to scatter all around the house.  The fumes, or the seductive magical power of flowers (see above) must have gotten to our brains, because we started singing little songs and giggling and throwing petals in the air as we noticed all the flowers that soon seemed to take up every inch of kitchen counter space!  It was a riot.

It was a blast.  The week of life that we got out of these beautiful flowers, was an aromatic and happy one.

I know it’s only the 2nd of December, but I suppose I should start thinking about resolutions.

My first resolution for 2010: keep flowers in the house!

A Very Voorheesville Thanksgiving

The friends and good times…

And then there was food…

Well, that just about sums it up.  A 3-day vacation with some of my besties was just what the doctor ordered.  New York City is a funny place – I love it dearly, but every few months I just need to get the hell out.  And the crisp air of upstate New York, amazing comfort food, and some serious 3 on 3 basketball games were a the perfect little rejuvenators.  It was nice to have all the space in the world to run around, and also to have the option of staying in pajamas till 5pm.

With December practically here (holy cow, what!?), I’m hoping to take some more time off, and go visit my family in California during the holidays.  But procrastination really got the best of me this time, and airline tickets are already in the $600-$700 range!  Eeep.  Not an option.  I’m praying for a miracle, or some mercy from Virgin America.  Otherwise, I might have to get creative and plan a train-able/zip car-able/hitchhike-able East coast adventure for myself!  Any ideas?

And now I’m back in the city.  Back to the daily grind.  Everyone at work today was moving just a bit slower than usual.  It seems I’m not the only one who wasn’t quite ready to return from vaycay.  Or the lethargy could also be attributed to everyone’s happy little lingering buddha bellies filled with mashed potatoes and pie.

And a Happy Thanksgiving To You!

I want everything to be pumpkin flavored these days.  Look at that mound of home made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!  Made on a whim!  Not to be sold through Fanny & Jane, but to be consumed by moi…and whoever else happened to be around in time to snag a cookie before the plate was empty.  My roomies were happy campers that night.

I am now sitting at the computer for the last few hours before I get in a van and drive to an undisclosed location for the holiday weekend.  No, it’s not as creepy as it sounds.  Truth is, my boyfriend and I are spending Thanksgiving in upstate New York, in a town called Voorheesville (who?), with some of our best buds.  Our friend, Adam (who’s family is graciously hosting us for the weekend), rented a van which we will all pile into in 5 hours, and then we are driving to his home which I have never been to.  And then we will, as the tradition goes, stuff our faces and nap.

It’s been a bustling season for Fanny & Jane, which is both happy making and exhausting.  And since Jen has been the queen of the kitchen these past few months, I know that she is very much looking forward to kicking up her feet and helping herself to some mashed potatoes.  All the orders are out the door, and now it’s time to sit and expertly relax.  Although, I hear a game of football on the lawn is part of the Voorheesville Thanksgiving tradition.  So, with the exception of that hour and a half, you can find me relaxing with a crossword or in the midst of a game of Catchphrase.

I just want to take this opportunity now to thank you (it is practically Thanksgiving after all) for following and reading my blog and for supporting Fanny & Jane.  If this is your first time reading, or you’ve been following for a while, or you’re my mom, thank you for “tuning in”.  I’m thankful this year for all the wonderful support I’ve received from friends and strangers.  I am so grateful to have such inspiring, creative, talented, and giving people in my life.

Have a happy and delicious Thanksgiving!

My Favorite Tree on the Block

Looks like this…

It’s the only tree on my block that goes  yellow this every autumn.  All the other trees’ leaves are red, orange, or brown prone.  As a girl who was born and raised in L.A., I am still in awe of the actual season changes.  You don’t see trees like this, with such vibrant yellow leaves, on Wilshire Blvd!  Shawna, also a fellow Los Angelina, and I marvel at it daily as we walk by on our way to the train in the morning.  And those sprawling branches!  It’s like if Big Bird were a tree.

I took the above photos a few weeks ago, and now the branches are quite a bit more bare, and the leaves are definitely starting to fall…

Is December really this close already??

It’s Not A Birthday Without Sweets

Magnolia cupcakes!

First time at the Upper West Side location

YUM

Cupcakes caught him off guard!

Here they come...

Make a wish! George Costanza's watching.

The bday boy

The dust is finally starting to settle after the birthday craziness of October and November.  After a bunch of close friends’ birthdays that fall in those 2 months — including myself, my brother, and Jen — it seems that there is finally some birthday-free weekends on the horizon.  Friend, if I’m forgetting that your birthday is coming up, I’m sorry.  Are you on facebook?  I need those birthday reminders!

Last weekend we celebrated my little brother’s 21st birthday!  It was a surprisingly low key event.  A nice intimate dinner with close friends at one of my pizza faves, Motorino, and some Magnolia cupcakes at home.  Sounds mature.  I guess that’s the difference between 20 and 21.  You start to appreciate the finer things in life as you get older.  Meanwhile, I’m advertising jello shots and encouraging booty dancing at my 24th bday party a few weekends ago, so…

I haven’t had Magnolia cupcakes in a while.  I remember they were alll the rage when I first moved to New York and went to NYU.  They were pretty much the sweets staple at any birthday party/fundraiser/dorm floor event.  But then, as I began to expand my sweet tooth and venture off the cupcake beaten path, I started to discover a whole slew of other lesser known (and often better tasting!) cupcake options in the city and in Brooklyn.  Since the cupcake market in New York is already so saturated, Jen and I decided in the beginning stages of starting Fanny & Jane, that we would explore other comfort sweets options (our red velvet cake bites being the most popular), offering New Yorkers and friends and family an alternative to the usual cupcake fare.  We’ve dabbled in cupcakes before (remember our mini carrot cake cupcakes at the Susan Woo Fashion Week event?) and as the holiday season approaches, we are thinking of trying some special seasonal treats.  Peppermint cupcakes, perhaps?

But enjoying those Magnolia cupcakes for my brother’s birthday the other night, it was a nice reminder of the good ol’ days.  The Magnolia cupcakes that I bought for my roommates, or the time I took my mom to their bakery when she was visiting, or the delicious pick-me-up after finishing a final.  It’s funny how sense memory can do that.  How the taste of the Magnolia frosting can take me right back to Freshman year.  Look people, I eat sweets to help me remember.  And also, because they just taste so good.

p.s. these photos were taken with my NEW birthday gift CAMERA!  Sweet, huh?

A Plus of Having a Party at Your House

Is all the free beer you inherit afterwards.

The morning after my birthday party — after the swiffer was put away, and we had gone through our 2nd roll of paper towels — the kitchen and living room were restored to their normal state and looked miraculously sparkling.  (BIG shout out to the amazing cleaning efforts of Trev, Julie, Shawna and Julien). 

And then, the party gods graced us with a reward for our cleaning: leftover beer!  A highlight included when Shawna was about to through away a black plastic baggie of what we thought was garbage, and she gleefully exlaimed “Red Stripe!” and we uncovered a shiny new unopened 6-pack.

This lone bottle was my favorite brewski left behind.  Our friend, Matt, dressed up as a Dharma Initiative member from the show “LOST”.  I’m a huge fan, and it’s the only episodic TV show that I can say with confidence that I’ve seen every episode of.  (Remember?  We even have a club)!

I love that his costume was so thorough!  For all you LOST followers out there, you’ll appreciate all the details on the bottle.  I felt like a good proper TV dork as I sat down to enjoy my Dharma beer last night.

And Now…I’m 24

After a full weekend of birthday festivities (I’m talkin’ Girls Night Out For Drinks, a Notable Mention at our Harvard Sailing Team show, a Big House Party in honor of my birthdayoween, and brunch the next day), I am tuckered out.  But in a good way.  The kind of tuckered out that makes you smile and wanna eat ice cream.  Not cry and wanna eat ice cream.

I feel very lucky to have such generous, thoughtful, and party-hard friends in my life.  So generous and thoughtful in fact, that my best girl buds and my boyfriend pooled together to get me a BRAND NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!  I’m over the moon!  This is such great news, because I’ve been a little bummed (and limited to David’s iphone camera) that I haven’t been able to take quality pictures for the blog since my camera screen broke over the summer.  Now, as soon as I figure out how to upload photos to my computer, I can promise lots and lots of pretty photos on here.  Thanks NatalieDavidShawnaJessicaMacKenzie!  I am loving my present.

Not only have I been kept busy with birthday stuff (not to mention the fact that my little bro’s big bday was yesterday, and Jen’s is on Saturday!), but there’s also been quite a lot of buzzing about Fanny & Jane lately.  Since I’ve been putting in the hours at my new full-time job, Jen has been working tirelessly to move things forward with Fanny & Jane, and I am so pleased to announce…

WE OPENED UP SHOP! 

Our online shop is now taking orders!  You can visit us and check out our new website at www.fannyandjane.com or you can go directly to our shop by clicking here.  Thank you everyone who has shown us love lately, and thanks to everyone who has placed orders!  Up until now, we have been filling orders just by word of mouth, and we have been happy to bring our sweet treats to family, friends, and friends of friends.  But now our sweets are reaching farther, to people we don’t even know, and we couldn’t be more elated to spread the sugar!

Right now I’m running off to a birthday dinner for my lil bro (YES!  More wine and dessert!), but I’ll be back soon with photos from my new camera and more exciting Fanny & Jane news and updates.

Wait a Second, I LOVE This Time of Year!

Okay, look.  I know I said that I was bumming out about my birthday fast approaching.  But truth is, that was last week.  And today’s another day.  And today?  I love the fact that it’s Fall, and the end of October, and holycowMyBirthday’sINTWODAYS!!  PARTY!  CANDY!  CAKE!

I’m quickly overcoming my case of the “Birthday Blues” and I’m now entering Phase II: “Birthdays Rule!”  Tonight I’m looking forward to getting drinks with the girls at this new neighborhood spot in Park Slope, and the celebrations continue on Saturday night with a big ol’ spooky birthday house party!  Word on the street is that the DJ has put together some ill tunes, appropriate for dancing allll night long.

And check out the seasonal fun I was having at this pumpkin carving party last weekend!  I was seriously looking forward to this event for weeks, and it didn’t dissappoint.  I have a few scars from all the stabbing and gutting, but who said pumpkin carving was cinchy?  Thanks to Mason, Selina, and her dad, Gregory, for generously hosting this fabulous party! (Stay tuned for pics of my pumpkin!)