Twitter and lavender cupcakes

Twitter is an amazing thing.

Delaware has a great social media scene, something I learned soon after I started co-tweeting for @del_editor. Delaware Twitter legend, @LaurieBick, tweeted this and Rhina (my fellow @del_editor tweep) picked up on it:

My favorite cookbook, from the Hummingbird Bakery, has a recipe for lavender cupcakes. Since I'm new at this whole grown-up thing, I had no idea how to obtain fresh lavender, so I pushed aside the idea of someday baking lavender cupcakes.

But alas, Laurie Bick sent out that magical tweet and was kind enough to share her beautiful lavender with us. I jumped at the chance to try the new recipe. I came into work on Tuesday to see this perched by my keyboard (actually, I think I smelled it before I saw it).

Rhina delivered my beautiful bundle of lavender. Made my day.

Tuesday night, I soaked some of the lavender in milk in preparation for the cupcakes. My kitchen smelled amazing at this point.

And last night, I was able to finish the cupcakes.

I've decided I cannot wait to have my own house just so I can grow lavender in my garden.

I found the cookbook and the measuring spoons at Anthropologie.

And here's how they turned out! As always, I was nervous and mentally preparing myself to have a test cupcake for breakfast just to make sure they turned out all right.

I became excited all over again when I realized I treated myself to an icing gun a few weeks ago! Now was the perfect time to break it out. In typical Ashley style, something had to go wrong in my baking adventure. I didn't have any red food coloring left (used it all on the red velvet cupcakes I made a few months ago), so I had nothing to mix with the blue. Le sigh.

Look at that icing job! I was so pleased. (Minus the fact that it wasn't lavender colored, of course)

I decided to top one of them with a sprig of lavender just for kicks.

The cupcakes were brought to work today to be shared with a select audience (the co-workers who would continue to love me despite a potentially poor attempt at baking). Luckily, I had good reviews and no one minded the blue icing, the one fault of the cupcake. Phew. Success. I will be having lavender cupcakes again in my future.

And thank you, Twitter legend Laurie, for making my dream come true.

A little Longwood

Sometimes, I just need an afternoon for me. After a stressful (and unsuccessful) morning apartment hunting a couple Saturdays ago, I decided to just drive up to Longwood Gardens. Mama Dent and my mom bought me the yearlong garden pass so I'm free to visit whenever I like. I am loving it and I plan on getting it every year I live in Delaware (and probably even after that since it's worth the trek to Kennett Square, Pa.).

During my visit, and despite the humidity, I decided to explore new areas. When I visited the last couple of times, it was with some Ya-Yas. It was sad to go alone this time, but at the same token, it was good to see some spots I hadn't before so I know where to explore further when I have visitors again. Here are some of my favorite finds from the beginning of summertime at Longwood...

To quote Elizabeth, and Coldplay, "And it was all yellow."

The texture of the treetops against the sky reminded me of a Bob Ross painting. "Oh, that's good, that's nice, that's good, that's nice."

Straight out of Pride and Prejudice

A hidden little waterfall near the Italian water garden

Don't sting me as I try to get this shot!

So excited to finally see the lilies

One of my favorite inhabitants of the conservatory: Old Man Cactus

My little plant family

At the end of March, mom bought me an orchid at Longwood's Orchid Extravaganza. It was a mystery orchid...we had no idea what color or pattern it would turn out to be! About a month later, my orchid began to bloom. It was beautiful. Sadly, I don't have the green thumb my mom does, so I sent my orchid to "Connie Camp" so it would continue thriving in her perfect sunlight. Here's what my little orchid looked like at its peak:

Once my orchid was at Connie Camp and my South African orange star plant (featured in this post) stopped blooming for the summer, I decided I needed some new pretty things to keep me company.

I went to Longwood for a Saturday afternoon and came away with two pretty plants.

First, I looked at this little Calandiva, which is so small it fits in my hand. I figured it couldn't be too hard for me to keep alive. =) I found a wee blue pot for its home.

As I wandered around the garden shop searching for the little pot, I decided my Calandiva needed a friend (because who wants to be lonely?). I kept coming back to this Wandering Jew (more info about this interesting little guy can be found here):

Its shiny leaves and vibrant purple drew me in and I decided that would be my Calandiva's friend. I walked back and forth literally 20 times trying to decide on a pot for my wanderer, and finally picked a mint green teacup. I felt it was very Ya-Ya appropriate.

I'm open to suggestions for names! I always like naming my little friends.