how to make a fanciful giant cupcake

1. get the giant cupcake pan. mine is nordic ware from williams sonoma (thanks dad).


2. make the cake. today i made mr. joels favorite- yellow cake- for his birthday!


3. pour cake into both halves leaving .5 inch of extra room at the top.


4. cook for 70 minutes at 325.


5. flip the cake out of the pan onto a cooling rack to cool for 2 hours.


6. put back into pan and saw off the extra cake so it will be even when stacked.


7. add frosting on the top of the base of the cupcake. this will act like the glue holding it together.


8. frost the top of the cupcake.


9. add sprinkles and a 'cherry on top' my cherry is wilton's new sparkle gel.


10. enjoy!!

(happy early birthday mr joel.)

you couldn't ignore me if you tried...

you might remember me talking about the upcoming brat pack book that i'm going to be interviewed in called 'you couldn't ignore me if you tried' by susannah gora.
she called me a few years ago to interview me about my 1980s obsession. susannah found me online thanks to a story i wrote in college about carving a molly ringwald pumpkin.
well the time has almost come for the book to go on sale (feb 9)
i have to admit that i'm a bit nervous to see my quotes- because i dont honestly remember what i told her back in sept of 2008...but i remember spilling my soul about how i could relate to molly ringwald and always had a thing for john cusack.
either way i am super excited to have the book in my hands soon.
you can pre-order it now here
i think i will be stopping by the bookstore myself to see it on the shelf. :)
until then check out a review from the ny post and the books website... look for my name under the 'totally awesome interviewees' section...underneath the greats.

2010 with 10 new updates

so as you have noticed i have been off the blogging grid for a while.
the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, work and days without seeing the sun has left me feeling exhausted and have led me to neglecting my precious blog.

sorry to all who follow who come to this page everyday to not see an update.
i promise to get back to blogging and keeping you updated from here on out.

since have last blogged-

1. dutch turned 1. we celebrated with 'pupcakes' and presents. she is still as rascally as ever.

2. we were snowed in for christmas...yes dutch still loves the snow.

3. linsey didn't turn 30. we celebrated with a surprise party.

4. joel and i celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss. im still as proud as ever to be mrs. schlegelmilch.

5. we spent memorable new years with good friends downtown. italian at vincenzos + dancing at blue + hotel party = perfect nye.

6. i hired 4 spring interns- and we had a wild week of 8 subzero fires at work to kick off the new year.

7. i got snazzy new marc jacobs glasses and a new mapple to do blogs faster on.

8. a deadly earthquake strikes haiti and rocks the entire world. the red cross leads the way in support and i work around the clock...and continue to work extra hours to support the greatest humanitarian organization in the world.

9. my favorite coco had to gogo. this leaves me deeply sad- but excited to see what he does next.

10. and last but not least- snow, snow and more snow. did i mention we got literally a ton of snow?

happy 50th birthday hot mama!

its no surprise you are fabulous- but i hope you enjoyed your surprise party!


barbie doesn't have anything on you.
you make 50 look good!!










hope you had a great day!

Red Cross Raises Awareness about World AIDS Day

The American Red Cross Heartland Chapter is asking for your help in raising awareness about the 21st Annual World Aids Day that is held on Dec. 1st. World AIDS Day is an internationally recognized day that focuses on educating the world on HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention.

The Red Cross offers a variety of free HIV/AIDS programs year round that teach the difference between HIV and AIDS, and disease transmission, prevention and related social issues. The free classes include: Basic HIV education, HIV: Just the Facts, Prevention Starts with You: A Guide to the Nine Most Common Sexually Transmitted Infections, HIV and Healthy Relationships and ACT Smart HIV/AIDS Education Curriculum.

Walter Brooks, HIV/AIDS Prevention Coordinator for the Heartland Chapter, has educated about 1,000 Iowa and Nebraska teens and adults in middle schools, high schools, cosmetology schools and prisons in the past two months on the fundamentals of HIV.

Brooks will be hosting a Red Cross booth at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s World AIDS Day event today from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to promote the Heartland Chapter’s free HIV/AIDS classes.

For more information on the free Red Cross HIV/AIDS programs, please contact Walter Brooks at (402) 343-7774.

hard candy heart attack

so last weekend when i was strolling through wally world i came across an amazing discovery!
walmart carry's hard candy cosmetics now!!
i know right?
in an almost panic, i dropped the basket i was carrying, and looked at every last item.
i seriously was so excited i couldnt hardly stand it.
i wanted to buy everything...but came to the realization that i already have boxes of make up (literally, left over pieces of lancome gratis-under my bed) at home.
so i picked a few pieces to try out.
liquorish walk the line liquid liner

pinup blush crush baked blush

american girl plumping serum gloss

and light sheer envy tinted moisturizer

i love them all so far!
the tinted moisturiser is a nice coverage and has spf 15!
the lip serum is a nice sting- not too burny like some plumpers are...and it smells yummy.
the liquid liner is great- but seems to take longer than my lancome liners to dry...so you have to be patient.
and the blush is awesome. can be used wet or dry. it has a nice bronzer in it...and i heart that.
wallyworld had a nice selection of bold colored shadows, liners, lipsticks,polishes, etc.
i was disappointed that they didnt have more foundation choices or any powders to choose from...but its a good start for walmart.
everything was under $10 which is nice for us cosmetic junkies and they had about a 100 choices of glosses which is also always good for the girl who already has 99 glosses in her purse.
needless to say i know next time i go to wallyworld i will swing by the cosmetic aisles and pick up some new shadows and lipsticks!
i also just noticed you can buy all of these things online here...and shipping is only .97 on beauty items!
score! now we dont even have to go to walmart if we dont want to!

eclipsed by glory

i love this song.
its amazing how some songs just speak volumes to you.
this song is powerful to me because it reminds me of what i was taught as a child. its amazing what we sometimes forget as we 'grow up', but how comforting a tiny reminder can be.

...i want to be eclipsed by glory.

wtf? (where's is the funding)

check this out friends: november is lung cancer awareness month.
my friend jennifer started this group called "WTF" ((Where's the Funding) for Lung Cancer) in honor of her brave (non-smoking) mama who is battling stage IV lung cancer that is inoperable and at this time incurable.
help us spread the word- lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in the u.s. and these fighters deserve the funding for a cure!!!

here is what jennifer has to say:

"WTF" (Where's the Funding) for Lung Cancer?

Yeah, you get the double-entrendre. Some may find it a bit crude. I find it necessary to get peoples' attention - attention to THE #1 cancer killer in the U.S AND the most under-funded. Why? Well, the stigma of smoking.

My mom, Leslie Lehrman, who is 65 years-old and a life-long non-smoker, has stage IV lung cancer - inoperable, incurable. Yes, that's right, you DO NOT have to smoke to get lung cancer. Many people do NOT know this. And more and more people who have never smoked are being diagnosed and dying of lung cancer.

I will not let my mom die without having told her story and without making a difference.

It's time to take the stigma OUT of lung cancer - smokers or not - and get lung cancer the attention and funding it deserves.
Until then, I will continue to loudly scream, "WTF" for Lung Cancer?"

Wanna scream together?
Join my Facebook group: "WTF" (Where's the Funding) for Lung Cancer?

you can follow her journey here.

snap snap schlegelmilch

yesterday i had the pleasure of taking schlegelmilch family pictures... that were long overdue according to mama schleg.
here are a few of my favorites.

love is...

seven years later and still being in just as much, if not more, love.

jinksies! happy halloween

love scooby, shaggy and velma.