Ruffle Lovin

A couple weeks ago it was my adorable little brother Will's birthday. He turned the big 6. Anyway he has the BIGGEST personality and is probabley the most hilarious kid every. Want to know what his favorite show is? Cake boss. Oh yeah, you heard right. So because I am the great big sister that I am I volunteered to make him his cake. After I volunteered I got this phone call a few minutes later...

Will "Hi Heidi!"
Heidi "Hey wildabeast (he has a plethora of nick names)"
Will "okay just so you know, for my birthday I want a five tier, fondant covered, red velvet cake that is decorated in the batman style and on the top I want a giant batman head made out of rice krispie treats and covered with fondant like they do in the show cake boss. Okay?"
Heidi" Uh...ok?"
Will "okay great I can't wait, goodbye"

haha he knows exactly what he wants. Well a few weeks later I talked him down to two layers, and instead of fondant I tried the ruffle technique and then he changed from batman themed to football. It was quite the adventure making this cake. But Will said that it was prettier and tastier then the cake boss cakes and so even if he just said it to make me feel better I was fine with that!!

The cake was definitely not perfect, but you know what? I feel great about how it turned out. I had a minor (okay major) meltdown in the middle of making it but alls well that ends well!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!

Insincerely Yours,

Heidi Jane

Navy to the Pier!

Day 3: Navy Pier

Navy pier. Quite possible the cutest little dock ever. Okay so little is not the right word but cute definitely is.

Spewing water...its a gift

Beautiful skyline view from the Ferris wheel (2nd largest in the US!)

This was our last day in the city. Okay well Annie's last day since I just live a train ride away. But still is was sad to end a week full of fun activities. So to end the week right what did we do...? A segue ride of course!

(okay so this is not my best picture)

Yes, we were those tourists, you know the ones. Holding up traffic because we had a group of 20 people all trying to get across the street during one green light. The ones all wearing very large helmets and portraying a strange mix of extreme jubilation and utter terror. Oh yes that was us, and I loved every second of it!

Insincerely Yours,

Heidi Jane

I interrupt this announcement to present...

My brother at Prom. Adorable right? Oh remember those days!

Insincerely Yours,
Heidi Jane

Oh the Field

Day 2: Field Museum

I must admit that I am not a classy enough individual to enjoy spending all my days in museums, but on special occasions or when the mood strikes me then I really love a good museum. The Field museum is a cool one. The outside of it looks like it is straight out of a movie

and the inside is filled with awesome exhibits. 

( Sue: The worlds largest and most complete T-Rex)

I am not sure why but Dinosaurs and Egyptian relics are usually my favorites. There is something so cool about seeing artifacts that existed thousands of years ago and seem so alien, and yet lived lives here on the same planet as me. It really is mind boggling. 

Anyway, after a long day of Chicago traffic and dealing with a broken GPS, there was only one way to end the day. Giordanos pizza. There are not words to describe this pizza. Literally no words. So I will leave you with pictures.

Enough Said.

Insincerely Yours,

Heidi Jane

The Bean

Day 1 part 2: The Bean
Okay now let's take a moment and consider this. The Bean is a world famous attraction....why? It is simply a giant, metallic bean. Honestly there is nothing that spectacular about it. But people still love it, I still love it. Oh well I guess it is a question for the generations.


                                                   Shoot is that what I really look like?

                                                                 Awesome Skyline!

Good ol' roomies

The "mini bean" (aka a restroom blow dryer) 

Did you know the bean was recently featured in the new movie "the Vow"?

Oh Bean, how I love you!

Insincerely Yours,

Heidi Jane

Commin at you Chicago

I am from the wonderful city of Chicago (okay well right outside of it but whose counting)...and I must admit that I love it. Sure there are some things I don't like (**cough taxes, **cough politics)... but the opportunities, diversity, culture, and FOOD that you can find there are almost unparalleled! So when my roomie Annie came and visited last week it was the perfect opportunity to play the part of tourist and do all the things in Chicago that normally I wouldn't because I live there. So if you haven't been there....go....come...see....explore....eat....enjoy...laugh....stare.....but mostly.....go CRAZY!!!

Day 1...Michigan Avenue
Oh you know, the place that is world famous for not only being in over 20 film productions, but also having one of the largest collections of designer stores. So. Fun. (and sooo out of my price range).

Some random people on the sidewalk told us we were the brightest chicagoans he had ever seen....thank you yellow coat!

And what is Michigan Av. without a Marilyn pic?

 (Sad side note...Marilyn will soon be moving to Florida. I guess it was too much trouble to keep her skirts down in the Chicago wind...)

Michigan Avenue=the shopaholics dream.

Insincerely Yours,

Heidi Jane