My one-year surgery-versary is only about two months away. I haven’t wrote much about it lately and while I’m still losing (much slower pace now) and totally need to step up my toning, I’m at a much more comfortable weight than I have ever been. My weight is about what it was when I was 16 and posed for this pic with my cousin:

But that aside.. there have been some things I’ve noticed..

* I still walk like I’m fat. I feel like I still waddle around.
* I still position myself in a chair like I used to (granted, I can totally cross my legs now, so that is different)
* I still assume the same distance/personal space that I needed before.
* I forgot until a few weeks ago when Iris reminded me, that hey, I could put my hair up now! I never really did it before because I always hid my extra face with all my curly hair.
* And sometimes, forgive me if this comes across as vain because it’s not supposed to, but there have been a few times that I see myself, walking past a mirror, and I do a double-take. That wasn’t me. I still have a mental pic of myself as the fat girl I was last year.

Adam gave me a hug this morning and while he was hugging me and being silly he began to lift me off the ground. I freaked out. Not upset/yelling freak out, but more along the lines of freaking out that he was going to hurt his back. He assured me he wasn’t, but it totally made me self conscious.

It’s all in my mind. I know this.. it’s all part of the process. I was so big for so long and so it will take some time to get used to the little things.

These are the results of a week-long baking project and if I say so myself – a mighty fine result!

What are they about? So there’s this bar downtown called singlebarrel – a totally chill bar that makes drinks the old fashioned way – with passion and time. I have yet to meet a drink there I didn’t like. Not only is the atmosphere relaxing and the drinks amazing, but the people there are awesome as well. Cache, Joe, and Raymond are super nice and always greet you with a smile. The place is addicting, people.

Ok so a friend of ours said she wanted to hang at SB for her birthday (yesterday) – and what goes well with birthdays? CUPCAKES! I’ve been away from the cupcake-baking world for awhile and after watching an episode of Cupcake Wars I got all jazzed up again about them.

So the mix of the two, singlebarrel and our friend’s bday evolved into this cupcake idea. I would take the cocktail menu and create candy pieces detailing each drink. From there, the cupcakes took shape. I found a Martha Stewart chocolate cupcake recipe and a chocolate ganache recipe. Topped off with a Paula Deen carmel frosting recipe and I was set.

Now, I have never ever ever did the candy art thing. This was a big challenge for me; so many colors and small details!

Monday of this week, I finalized the illustrations I would be piping the candy over (drawing under wax paper). Here is an example of one of the drinks, and Old Fashioned with their signature ice ball:

Tuesday I had a bunch of vanilla candy and dyed different batches for each element of the drinks and began to work on it. I hoped my plan would work… but wouldn’t spy on them until a few days later (they sat in the fridge all week.)

When I finally took a peek at the flat side of the candy cocktails I was super pleased. Each detail stood out as I expected! Now, granted, my lines are a bit wonky, but hey – first try! I think I did pretty well.

Here’s the finished Old Fashioned. Oh and I also did their “sb” type logo as another decoration.

These were by far the most decorated/polished set of cupcakes I’ve done and I am a new fan of candy art! We took them to the bar last night for our friend’s birthday and everyone really enjoyed them. It was fun to test the owners on their own menu – a little guessing game about the drinks. The cupcakes tasted pretty damn awesome too.