This weekend was the first of hopefully very many sunny and gorgeous weekends on the west coast. What was even better was that I was finally able to break out some of my favourite summer sun dresses that have literally not seen the light of day for months (thanks to the perpetual state of boarded-up windows & building construction my apartment seems to be experiencing). But when you’re as close to the ocean as we are in Vancouver, it can get a little breezy even on the nicest of days, which means that it’s imperative to always have some sort of sweater or jacket on hand.

It’s a bit of a struggle for me to figure out what exactly to pair with my favourite dresses, maxis especially, because sometimes my cardigans (generally purchased for/worn at the office) just seem a bit too preppy and dressed up for the weekend. I also have a pretty limited wardrobe right now, and I’m trying to keep it that way, because everything I have in my closet is going to need to be shipped to Australia, which in itself is a costly feat–expanding  my wardrobe in the near future is definitely not an option. But during my adventures this weekend, I happened across a lovely lady wearing her maxi dress with a denim jacket, which was a total aha! moment for me. How did I not think of that?

I’ll be honest, I’ve been kind of afraid of rocking a denim jacket for a while, despite loving how they looked on other people. But in light of this recent styling stroke of brilliance, I think I’m ready to take the plunge–it seems like the perfect answer for something breeze-shielding (which cardigans often are not), while being sufficiently cute and stylish. Even better, it’ll allow me to wear my dresses a little further into the fall, perhaps paired with some tights to keep my bottom half warm. Then again, the next time I experience autumn it will be from the city of Melbourne, so I’m not sure exactly how ‘chilly’ it will be, especially in comparison to our Canadian seasons. Either way, I’ll be searching the shops for a denim jacket as soon as I land in Oz. In the meantime, I’ve combed the internet in search of some inspiration so that all of us can enjoy Super Mario’s favourite fabric: denim denim denim. Alright, so I stole Pauly D’s joke… big whoop.

Images: unknown via Pinterest, Kendi Everyday, Fox in Flats via Refinery 29, Fash Boulevard, Celebuzz

The first job fair I ever went to was awful. It was embarrassing (someone literally looked down my shirt and told me to ‘keep that coming!’… creepy.), it was awkward, and at the end of the day, I was depressed because of my lack of networking prowess. But to be honest, I didn’t take it very seriously, and it was a school event which meant that 40 of my classmates were in attendance–it was far more tempting to talk to them than to schmooze with the unknowns.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a recruiting fair for work in Australia (because if you didn’t know, I’m moving there!), and decided to put aside my humility and be the shining star I knew I could be with potential employers. It may not have paid off as much as I’d wanted (I had high expectations), but I walked away feeling accomplished and like I took the reins. And honestly, that’s all I can ask.

The thing about job fairs, especially recruiting fairs, is that you’re not just a resume in a pile. You’ve got a chance to make an interview-worthy impression without having to get the call-back first. Even better, your interest in the company and your attitude can make up for any holes in your resume that might cause you to be overlooked had you just applied online. So in light of my most recent experience, here are my top 3 career fair tips for success for the next time you find yourself feeling uncomfortable, afraid, or just generally clueless when it comes to booth-hopping 101.

1. Bring an up-to-date-resume- I’m not just talking about your standard, plain-text resume. Remember that there may be hundreds of other very personable candidates in attendance. Find something that can be your distinguishing factor with your resume (for me, it’s accent colours of red for titles and section separators), something that’s not too over-the-top or overdone. That way, when the recruiter asks for your CV, it’s memorable and they’ll look at it later and think “ah, I remember this red CV! That was Erica Wodzak, she was a very friendly and intelligent lady”. A+ for standing out.
2. Go alone- when you attend career fairs with people you know, it’s too easy to stick together and fall into the crowd. I’m not fully comfortable myself being ‘professional Erica’ in front of my friends, so I keep the two personae separate for now. I find it easier to talk to new people when I’m alone, so if you must go with a friend, agree to rendezvous after 30 minutes of mingling. This gives you an opportunity to share knowledge with each other, but to keep out of each others’ peripherals while you’re networking.
3. Speak up- be polite, but do your best to make your way to the front of the booth if it’s busy. Have your questions ready, or listen into other conversations and develop questions from what you hear. Make sure to smile and be friendly, and never open with “here is my resume”. My general tip is not to offer your CV, but wait for them to ask for it. This way it makes them want it, and all the more likely to look at it (and remember you) later. Do your best to be intelligent and inquisitive, and remember to thank them for their time when you leave.

It’s not always possible to prepare ahead of time for career fairs, as the company attendance list isn’t always available (which was the case for me last week). In this case, try to develop general questions that still sound prepared–mine was “I was wondering if you were looking to take on any recent graduates in the near future”. When in doubt, grab a brochure and develop a question from there. You’ve got absolutely nothing to lose, and for every new employer booth there is it’s another opportunity to try, try again. Most importantly, be yourself, because you’re kind of really amazing at it!

Images via The Blonde Salad, This Time Tomorrow

This past weekend not only marked Cinco de Mayo, but it marked the first Cinco de Mayo that I’ve ever made anything Mexican to eat. It seems silly since Mexican cuisine has so many vegan and vegetarian options to choose from, but that just means that this girl never needs an actual occasion to break out the refried beans. Seriously, I’d eat them for breakfast if nobody judged me (oh, you won’t? Thaaaaanks). But realistically, my cravings for Mexican have never really coincided with the 5th of May. This year, with one of my oldest friends in town from Portland, I decided to make a festive weekend out of it, and the obvious go-to ingredient for such festivities was Corona (sorry beans, another day).

Since I am somewhat of a cupcake connoisseur, I decided to combine this talent with the booze to make Corona cupcakes. Well, I’ll be honest, I’d also seen the recipe here previously, so I’m a lot less original than I’m leading you to believe. Although I accidentally over-baked these, we didn’t care–we ate them anyway to see if we could get cupcake-drunk. It didn’t work, though, because we failed to remember that we’d only used half a cup of Corona in the cupcake batter. All was remedied, however, by the fact that we still had 5-1/2 good, un-cupcaked beers left over, which we drank while basking in the non-sunlight of my basement apartment. We knew it was sunny above ground though, so it’s the thought that counts.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cups + 2 tbsp Earth Balance butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp sugar
• 1-1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp lime zest
• 1/2 cup Corona
• 2 tbsp almond milk
• Lime wedges and sanding sugar for garnish (optional)

for the frosting

• 6 oz dairy-free cream cheese, cold (I used Tofutti brand)
• 3 tbsp Earth Balance butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange/lime juice
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F and line 12 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add eggs, beating after each addition then add the vanilla and zest.
5. Combine milk and beer and alternatively add this mixture and the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture with the mixer on low speed, starting and ending with the flour.
6. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 18 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.
7. When cupcakes are done, poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes with toothpicks and brush some beer on each while still warm.
8. For the icing, cream together the cream cheese and butter in an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
9. Add the citrus juice and zest and gradually add the powdered sugar until well-combined.  Beat until smooth for about 2 minutes.
10. Load frosting in a piping bag fit with a large star tip and pipe cupcake tops once cooled.

My sincerest apologies for the ridiculous batter measurements in this recipe. It’s originally designed to make two batches of cupcakes, and required a lot of math skills to make the conversion. I kind of have a headache now, but I’d do it again for you any day. The moral of the story though is that you should just make 24 cupcakes and call it a day. And get cupcake-drunk.

The beginning of May has brought a lot of things with it so far, including sunshine, warmer weather, and for me, the end of another great ski season. But something else that came with May was a goodbye, one of the not-so-chipper sorts. My boyfriend (and the 80′s ski bum seen here), having been a resident of one of the best winter resort towns in North America, packed up and moved back to Australia. Yep, it was pretty sad, but not completely. The only thing that kept this from being downright depressing was the light at the end of the tunnel: in August I’ll be making the trans-pacific trek down to Melbourne, Australia, a city that for me will replace Vancouver’s title of home. And I tell you, as I write this I’m literally shaking with excitement!

I actually planned on posting about the move about a month ago, and even baked cookies with my Australia-shaped cookie cutter (yea, I have one). But before I could photograph them, I ate them. Eh, that happens.

I know this isn’t the most spontaneous move in the world, being that I’m announcing it weeks in advance and it’s been in the works for some time now, but the next few months will be filled with me preparing to move out of Vancouver, planning my trip to Melbourne from Toronto (which may include stopovers elsewhere), and most importantly, trying to tie down employment in a city that’s 13,000 km away*. But in the meantime, I’m pretty excited to be able to speak openly about the move, especially on the internet. Because there’s no worse faux-pas in corporate world than thinking your online and professional lives aren’t connected (and I hardly want to tarnish my reputation with my employer like that). Not to worry though, my posts will still contain the usual musings and cupcake recipes, and will hopefully be a lot more frequent now that I spend weekends back in the city. It’s just that in four months, that city will be down undah, mate! Fair dinkum, indeed.

*did anybody else notice that this is the longest sentence in the world? Oops.

images via Vale Tourism, Pinterest

So let’s just say that over the last few months, I haven’t exactly been what one would call healthy. In fact, because I’m usually at the mountain in my spare time, nachos and a pitcher of Kokanee are about the only thing I want at the end of the day. Except maybe my pyjamas. Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad right now either.

But alas, summer is right around the corner, and my cute little swimsuits have been giving me and my beer gut* the stink eye from my closet. To show them a little love, I broke out my blender in an attempt to introduce some micronutrients back into my system (and all week I could hear my stomach screaming “What isss thissss?”). Fruit smoothies are usually no stranger to my kitchen–for about as long as I’ve lived away from home, I’ve kept a concoction of frozen berries, fruit juices, and occasional tubs of protein powder to recreate the $6 smoothies I love from Booster Juice. Cuz guuurl, six dollaz is espensive. But one thing that is strange to me? My smoothies coming out green.

I may not be the first girl to come to the revelation that green smoothies are a miracle, but I won’t be the last. I was recently inspired to join the green smoothie brigade through one of my favourite bloggers, Angela of Oh She Glows. She has her own ‘Green Monster‘ (such a great name!) website dedicated to her green-a-licious bevvies, which is super fun too. But if you’re looking to hop on the green train in the near future, I caution you to move slowly. And maybe like, research it a little (I know, I know). My first attempt with kale, which I was completely psyched for, turned out to be a huge flop because who knew you were supposed to completely de-stem a kale leaf’s spine before blending? Psh, so not intuitive. I’ve since had a few more successful attempts, and while I’m still trying to master the art of kale smoothies, spinach has become my new best friend. Yea, for real. Once I get a bit more experience with this magical world of blended vegetables, I promise to share some recipes with you so that you too can enjoy the emergence from your winter hibernation. I promise you it’ll be great and adventurous, sans chalky kale-mouth. You’re welcome for that.

*Okay, I may have exaggerated a bit

Images via Beauty Bets, Oh She Glows

Really, I do. But a lot of things have been happening lately, and I promise to explain them in more detail. Starting on Monday. I know, I know, what a tease. But this past week has been the first one of somewhat normalcy in a while, and I needed to take that time to do really, really important things. Things like:

• Tackle the monstrous pile of laundry in my apartment
• Vacuum up the remnants of the mirror that was broken two weeks ago
• Take out the four bags of garbage that had been sitting in my hallway
• I’m not going to tell you any more, because I’ll only perpetuate that my house smells terrible and that I have glass shards in my feet

So you see, dear blog-land, I really do love you. Really. I’ve just had some, shall we say, life things happening lately. But seriously, I’ve also had a lot of really great things going on (and in the works), so if you’ll forgive me, I promise not to do this to you again. Pinky-swear even. And I would never break a pinky-swear, because that would be a faux-pas worse than wearing red and orange together (wait, is that cool now?).

Image via Pinterest

I may have become slightly obsessed with stripes (more evidence here). But what can I say? They’re classic, they’re cute, and they’re delightfully customizable. Case in point, when I decided to revamp my bedroom in the 10th grade, I painted my walls in wide horizontal stripes of hot pink and neon orange (similar to the top photo here). But now, as I’m attempting to simplify my decor a bit more, I tend toward more neutral tones and leave the brights for my wardrobe (I could never totally de-bright my life). Still, though, I love stripes.

It’s only natural then that my new love of baking (and subsequently photgraphing my masterpieces) should take on this affinity for striping (not to be confused with stripping. I do not have an affinity for that, currently). And anybody who’s anybody that’s obsessed with food presentation will have seen the adorable barber shop striped straws that seem to be adorning all things drinkable in food-blog-land. It’s true, they make everything look even cuter. I’m even sure that one of these puppies in a huge stein of beer would look cute (dainty ladies, take note).

As a frequent straw sipper myself, I’m obviously going to have to invest in some of these. It may seem silly, but one must look practically at the situation: how else is a girl to make a green protein smoothie look pretty enough to photograph?… Okay, well, maybe a green protein smoothie is destined to never be cute, but the fact still remains that I’m a sucker for packaging, even when I’m packaging something for myself, and plan to consume it 5 minutes later. But actually, there are some great little Etsy shops that sell striped straws, and they’re pretty darn affordable (says even this frugal ex-student). So judge me as you choose, but I’ll be forgoing my Friday morning latte this week in the name of candy-striped straws. This is one Erica who is most certainly not ready to move on to plaid*. Plaid was so 9th grade.

images via 1, 2, 3

*gah, I just watched that ad again, and now totally want her striped iPhone case

Last week one of my best friends in the entire world turned 25 (you may have seen her big smile here). Prior to Alix’s special day, we also happened to have one of the sunniest weekends of the whole winter, which made us feel that much closer to summertime. And what does summertime mean to me? Two words: fresh fruit.

One of my absolute most favourite fruits to eat ever since I was little is strawberries. Even back when you couldn’t pay me to eat a salad, I’d eat strawberries like the was no tomorrow. The only thing that slowed my devouring of these summery fresh berries was when I moved to university and realized how ridiculously expensive they were. Regardless, I ate them anyway, because even as a broke-as-a-joke student, they were worth it. So with this past week’s sunshiney days (that sadly have since disappeared), I decided to make Alix some strawberry cupcakes for her birthday. But this was prior to the fact that I realized that it’s really difficult to find a good recipe for strawberry cupcakes!

Luckily, by nature I am a problem solver (at least that’s what the Meyers-Briggs test told me…). My little engineery-brain thought ‘why don’t you just convert a strawberry cake recipe?’, and suddenly, I was making the largest batch of cupcakes my poor bachelor pad kitchen has ever seen. It took a bit of conversion and fiddling with bake times, but I figured it all out and made probably some of the most fabulous summer cupcakes I’ve ever tasted, thanks to this recipe. So now, I’ll stop taunting you with photos and words, and let you make some for yourself! Seriously, do it… these puppies are phenom!

adapted from Sweetapolita

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups Splenda
• 1 package of strawberry Jell-O
• 1 cup Earth Balance butter
• 4 eggs (or egg substitute, if you want to make it vegan)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup strawberry puree
  for the strawberry frosting
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar (+ more to reach desired consistency)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tbsp strawberry puree

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line cupcake tin with liners, if using.
2. In a medium bowl or a measuring cup, combine and stir the milk, strawberry puree, and vanilla. Set aside.
3. Sift and whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.
4. With an electric mixer, cream the sugar, gelatin, and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, and do not over-mix. Fill up 12 muffin cups with half the batter, and save the rest for batch number 2.
6. Bake 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean when inserted into a cupcake. Let cool completely before frosting.
7. For the frosting: I’ll be honest, I didn’t do a whole lot of measuring. Combine the ingredients and add more liquid or sugar to reach desired consistency.
8. To pipe the icing, I used a bit of coloured food gel, and the technique shown here.

{isn't it the most amazing thing? double decker!}

This recipe yields 24 cupcakes. Don’t worry, that’s a good thing, because you’ll eat half of them yourself (it’s normal, I did it too). Oh, and did I mention the most amazing gift I got from my aunt in Ohio? She read an earlier post and after saying how badly I wanted a cupcake tote, she found one for me! So thank you Aunt Karen, you saved the day! And subsequently, while boarding the bus with this huge pile of cupcakes, the driver asked me if I was “one of those cupcake girls from tv“! Awesome.

Umm, how amazing is this dessert spread? Besides the fact that I wouldn’t ever be able to ice a cake this amazingly, the rest of the sweets look so delicious, not to mention so well coordinated. And aside from the fact that I have still yet to master the art of cake balls, I think these ones look cute and would be fairly simple to decorate. But beyond all of that, the fact remains that this entire set-up makes for not only a delicious party, but one that looks supremely sophisticated and well thought out. For any party host, would this not be the ultimate?

I can’t lie, ever since I’ve been exposed to the world of food styling, I’ve taken a huuuge interest in it. And although I try to experiment with my own kitchen creations, making them look as lovely as possible, I’m still a mere rookie compared to the likes of Amy Atlas. Gosh, don’t you just want her to plan your next party?

Since looking through Amy’s and others’ blogs (as well as Pinterest, god bless that site), I have to say every time I decorate a cupcake I strive to make it as visually awesome as possible. It’s been a while since I’ve picked up any new hobbies, and lately, between photography and baking/cooking, it seems I’ve got plenty to learn! And since a larger and more party-friendly apartment is certainly in my near(ish) future, I can’t wait until the time when I can host some friends at my digs and serve them ridiculously well-coordinated bite-sized snacks. In fact, it’d probably be the easiest party ever, because all you’d need to provide for your guests (other than said snacks) is a spare pair of stretchy pants. Because with desserts that look this good, you know everyone’s going back for seconds. Or ninths. Hey, you’ve gotta look after your party guests. It’s what any responsible host would do.

photos via Amy Atlas Events

Happy birthday to the best mother I’ve ever had! No but really, my mum is fantastic, you should meet her. And if you have, well… dang, you lucky duck!

Mum, even though you’re on the other side of the country, if I was there today, I’d make you this beautiful rainbow cake. 1- because I’ve been dying to make it for ages but don’t have the cake pans to actually do it, 2- even if I did have the cake pans, I’d have to eat the entire cake myself. Although that’d be awesome, it may also be terrifying in the long run (and for the impending swimsuit season). Oh, and 3- I’d make it because I love youuuu!!

Hope you have a fantastic day mommy, happy perpetual 29th! (you don’t look a day over 28 though)

{mum & dad at mum’s surprise party}

image via 1