White Cake with Fresh Strawberry Filling

Hello, everyone. Fresh fruits and vegetables are gracing our plates lately as Spring begins to finally show up. I know I haven't been posting many recipes as the semester consumes me, but I've got a few up my sleeve for all of you. First, I'd like to share this delicious, moist, fruit-filled White cake. Have you seen my Recipes Page? It is very full of dessert recipes, so it is pretty obvious what I like to eat...sweets! I have a few more actual meals coming soon, though. I promise.

I made this cake for Alec's 24th Birthday. I was out of butter (yikes!) and used Crisco (healthy, right?) for the "butter-like cream frosting." It tasted fine, but you can use a plain buttercream frosting for your cake. I made you some recipe cards to print for this recipe, but you can fill it and top it with whatever you'd like! This is just your stand-by, homemade vanilla/white cake recipe that you can use for any occasion. 

A Birthday and A Road Trip

Alec turned 24 at the end of April. Twenty-four. The big two, four. Holy crow, does time fly. It feels like he just turned 21. It feels like we just celebrated his 23rd birthday at our brand new apartment. We have had our first apartment for a year! And again, time flies. 

Alec and I have enough stuff. We both have the kind of stuff that most young couples have in their first apartments. You know, the necessities. We've got hand me down dishes, thrifted kitchen gadgets, some sewing stuff, some work out stuff, plenty of tools, plenty of shoes and lots of clothes. We also have a cat who has an entire home-made "cat flat" to hang out on, and a Beta Fish with her own area, too. Did I mention we have two entire bookshelves? A coat rack, a kitchen-aid, and two TVs. So, like I said, we have enough stuff. Instead of buying more stuff, we decided to take a trip and see some of the world to celebrate his almost-a-quarter-century birthday. We packed up our bags, invited my brother and his girlfriend, ordered Alec's enhanced driver's license and headed to Niagara Falls, Canada. 

"Traveling is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer."

I love this picture because Alec is squished between my brother and I. We are clearly a close family.

Alec had never been to Canada before. He has never even seen the Falls before and we only live two hours away from them! We sang songs in the car, ate some trail mix and took more snapchats than we needed to. Do you use snap chat? We love it. 

It was kind of overcast while we were there. And by overcast I mean at one point we were fast-walking in the pouring rain with no hoods for 4 blocks to our hotel. The next day it was so foggy that you couldn't even see the person 20 feet ahead of you let alone the falls. Luckily, the fog rose after a few hours and a few cups of coffee, so by the time we got close to the Horseshoe falls it was as beautiful as could be.

We got to actually walk through a tunnel right behind the falls and peak out at the back of the waterfall. It was so beautiful and I'm glad we decided to do that part. There is something so humbling about standing next to such a massive piece of mother nature. I could just stand by and breathe in the fresh, misty air from the falls for hours and be happy. After we walked behind the falls we got pizza at a nice Italian restaurant, played mini-golf (a family tradition), and bought some Canadian fudge to take home. It was a refreshing little weekend trip.

Have you been to Niagra Falls before? What was your experience like? Is it still on your bucket list?

Uni Vox Box Contents Review and some Yoga

I'm an Influenster which means every so often Influenster sends me a lovely little box of products to test out and review. Then, I tell all of you guys what I loved or didn't love about the products. All of these products were complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster. The great thing about this "Uni Vox Box" made specifically for college girls like me is...all of the products were just what I needed!

I have really been struggling with foundation lately. I don't talk about this too often on here, but my skin is horrible. Always has been and I hope it won't always be horrible, but for now it is. So, cover up and foundation are two things that I need on a daily basis. I have been having a hard time finding a good foundation that doesn't make my face looked all caked on and greasy. This Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation is literally perfect for me. It is so creamy and goes on so smoothly that my face looks fabulous when I'm wearing it. My favorite part is my face feels so open compared to other foundations that make my skin feel all greasy. I have been using it almost every day since I got the vox box and will most definitely be buying it in the future! The above photo is a selfie I took in the foundation.  I'm not wearing the lipstick in this picture, but I  did try the Expert Last Lip Color that was included in my box. As I said in my un-boxing video, I was a little worried at first to try such a bold color like "Forever Fuchsia." I wore it this weekend at Niagra Falls, though. I have to admit, I really like it. It makes a great statement and really went well with my navy top. I just have to work up the courage to wear it more frequently! 

Remember how I said I've been working on my yoga poses? Well, I posted on my instagram a few weeks ago a picture of me almost touching my foot in this pose. It. is. so. hard. to. do. Well, I finally made contact! I have to have someone help push my foot towards my hand, but I touched my toe and I'm so excited! This is a very first step towards actually performing this pose with ease, but I'm getting there. Influenster also sent me some Playtex Sport Fresh Balance Tampons to try out. I don't want to get into too much detail on my blog but, this product really does work to keep you playing on and exercising the way you want to all month long! , which for me is Yoga!

See this crazy jumble of words? This is how I study for exams in nursing school and this is how I plan to pass the NCLEX. I write the topic in the center and then branch off topics related to it that I need to know. For example, I'd put "hypothyroidism" in the center and make branches for "What is it, signs and symptoms, risk factors, nursing diagnosis, labs, surgical interventions, medications, nursing care...etc" As you can imagine, I go through a lot of pens. I have been using my Pilot Acroball PureWhite pen religiously for school. It writes smoothly, matches my white scrub top (which is a vital component, don't you know) and apparently holds a ton of ink, because it hasn't run out yet! I also got this great Broadway Nails imPRESS Press-on Manicure set, but I haven't been able to use it yet. Us nursing students are not allowed to wear nail polish during clinical rotations. I am going to put them on and post about them as soon as I am done with my last clinical next week, though. They are chocolate brown which might sound like a bizarre color to be excited about but it is my favorite!

Finally, I have been drinking up this Red Rose REAL TEA Premium Water Enhancer like it's nobody's business. Iced tea, hot tea, you name it. This would also be good to make Long Island Iced Teas with now that I think about it. How convenient is it to just squirt some tea into your water without having to worry about steeping time or if the tea is too strong or not. Just squirt how much you want in and enjoy. I'm a tea junkie, though. I love tea bags and fresh tea, too. I just have been using this kind a lot lately because it is just so easy when you are running late to class...ahem. Also, it is healthy which is really important for us college kids. If you start eating taco bell and Doritos all the time you look into the mirror one day and BAM you are 15 lbs heavier. Trust me, I've experienced it. 

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to!