birthday cake for laura.

I learned a very helpful tip:
After baking the cake, place in fridge for half hour. This firms up the cake and prevents it from ripping apart when applying frosting. Frost a thin crumb layer and place in fridge again. This helps for a smoother final spread. After a half hour, frost a final layer for smooth finish.

I was very proud of the frosting job on this cake :)

postcard from fort tilden beach.

It is a sad thing if your guilt prevents you from taking a perfectly good day off from work for no good reason. Headed to the beach at an ungodly hour in the morning with canine company. By the time I got back into the city, realized there was plenty of time to head to work. So instead of paying to put car in lot and having Shake Shack lunch in beautiful sunglass worthy weather, I'm at work. I was never good at playing hooky.

Boo.

Damn you, guilty conscience, for not allowing me a three day weekend.

postcard from nasca.

Okay. So I kept hearing we were going to Nasca. Assuming everyone was speaking with a Korean accent, I thought we were going to Nascar. Nascar? Why the hell were we going to visit racing cars in Peru? Was very confusing. But no, we weren't going to be in racing cars. We were going to be in a tiny propeller plane to see the lines of NascA... with an A. NASCA. Next time, I won't be traveling with a Korean tour again.

This is where I almost left my iPhone on the plane. Bus had to turn around, drive 10 minutes back where our guide shouted at propeller plane. It was loaded with passengers and ready to take off. *whew* Otherwise, some Peruvian would've scored a touch screen phone loaded with indie rock and the New York Times crossword puzzle app.

postcard from cusco.

Cusqueña = official beer of the Incans.
Inca Kola = official soft drink of the Incans.
Mate de coca = official tea of the Incans.

postcard from machu pichu.

[Llama, llama, llama~]