* I HEART * w e d n e s d a y

....Things that I heart....

Peace,

~c a m i l l e

GGA

©Original photographs are property of Camille Larson / GGA©

* * * * * S'Monday S'mores ! ! * * * * *

GGA Easy Campfire-less S'more Brownies

Came up with this one VERY spur of the moment last week.  I' m sure it's been done before, but this is my version of a quick marshmallow/brownie treat!  We were going on a picnic in the park with some friends and I  was craving s'mores horribly, but I knew there would not be a campfire in sight.  I already had the basics laying around the kitchen, so I threw them together and stuck it in the oven.  I hope that my pictures might inspire you to find a lovely evening before the summer is over, to sit out and enjoy the day with some friends and this easy gooey square treat! Almost as 'square' as the Neil Diamond cover band we were listening to, actually. "...BAH! BAH! BAH!" 

1. Lay a graham cracker base down

 2. Pour brownie batter on top

3. Cook as per batter directions

 

4. Add mini~marshmellows 

5. Broil.  Errrr.... "Toast" the mallows. ;)   

 MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm...  There you have it!  Enjoy!

Peace,

~c a m i l l e

GGA

©Original photographs are property of Camille Larson / GGA©

Friday's Featured Item

Sorry to tease you (okay, no I'm not)...  This is NOT for sale.  Yet.  ;)

 I will be posting new listings very soon, so please keep checking in!! 

Say hello... to my little friend!

World.  Meet my office gnome, Cleveland Jermaine Hoggle III.  Some (Emily!) just call him 'Mitch'.  He is my mascot, yes, but MOST importantly Cleveland is a great worker and a dear friend. Some day, Cleveland would like to retire to the country and spend his days tending to his family, and his garden.  For now, however, he spends his time at my side toiling away for a 'wee' salary.  I enjoy having him work alongside of me in my cubicle, and appreciate all of his efforts.  As 'small' as they might be.

.......Tuesday's Tunes.......

It's Tuesday,  but I couldn't possibly succumb to the Tuesday blues, because I've been singing all weekend!!  :]

Friday night I headed to the Greek with a few of my ladies for a concert.  The opening band was 'Frightened Rabbit', a group of  really really hot handsome lads from Scotland. Gotta admit they were pretty easy on the ears (as well as the eyes) live, with their endearing little Celtic accents crooning along to their additionally awesome guitar and rhythm happenings.



So, I'm sure you know this band that we actually went there to see...  They're the one's with that song, that's all, like: "Bah-Dah-Bah-Da-Bah-Bah-Buh-Duh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh".  YOU know!  THAT one!  ;)  You didn't GUESS it yet??

...We had the opportunity to go see one of my longtime fave bands, Death Cab For Cutie. I saw them for the very first time years (Did I mention I'm getting old??  Almost 30. Eeek!!) ago with my hubby.  Since then we have seen them several times at the both the Hollywood Bowl and the Greek.  This was my second time seeing them at the Greek Theater, which is my ABSOLUTE favorite show venue.  Ever.  Nothing like seeing a band you love, outdoors in the great Los Angles (impeccably moderate) climate, with just a few thousand other people. Neither the band, nor the venue let us down.  Even with all the screaming assholes Twilight fans that show up these days due to their recent successes.

What can I say?  I will always be a sucker for Ben Gibbard's ever so sweetly written, sugar coated macabre lyrics.  Where upon he loves someone, but of course...  They will die.  And also.  He will die.  But they'll be together.  So, it's all good in the hood...  And then? Ready for it?  "Bah-Dah-Bah-Da-Bah-Bah-Buh-Duh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh-Buh!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Amusing Monday

For your amusement only.  Not mine.  Not mine at all, in fact...  ;]

Here is a picture of what my feet looked like when I got out of a meeting with my manager.  Oh, you know...  Just grabbed some shoes from under my desk and ran to the conference room.  I wonder if anyone else noticed that I had two different shoes on.  D'oh!  Also.  If you could ignore my dire need for a pedicure, that'd be great.  Mmmmk, thanks. xxoo

Happy Monday from your discombobulated blogging buddy.


Peace,
c a m i l l e
GGA

Sweet Saturday!

GGA Strawberry Cake Pops !

Sweeeeeeeet Caroline Popsicle! ....BUHM! BUHM! BUHM!

Whipped up a batch of these delicious pops the other night.  The best part is, they are not a sinful sweet!  You totally eat more than one with no remorse at all.

What you will need:

*Popcicle sticks

*Dixi Cups (not the mini ones)

*Strawberries (1 box/1lb)
*2 cups of non-fat vanilla yogurt
*Vanilla Oreos (yellow packaging)

1. Blend strawberries in your food processor or blender.
2. Crush cookies.  We pulsed ours in the food processor until the crumbs were fine.  You can also put them into a zip-lock bag and smack them with a rolling pin.  Take into consideration any stress you might need to relive.  The decision will come to you.
3. Mix crushed vanilla Oreos with yogurt.
4. Spoon in yogurt layer and freeze 30 min.
5. Spoon in strawberry layer and place sticks in.
6. Freeze!

Hope everyone has a sweeeeeet weekened!  ...BUHM! BUHM! BUHM!

Peace,

~c a m i l l e

GGA

©Original photographs are property of Camille Larson / GGA©

Free-For-All Friday

 ...Did I mention how made-of-win the photo-booth was at Hayley's wedding??  

        Reasons for it's awesomeness :

1. Props.

     2. Energy domes. AKA 'Divo hats' (duh).

3. Mustaches a'plenty.

4. Everybody's drunk.

5. Ergo ...Awesomeness.

Thoughtful Tuesday- GGA Toast Kababs

Thoughtful Thursday Tuesday - GGA Toast Kababs

GGA French Toast Kababs 

 ♥ For the toast/batter: ♥

*1 loaf of bread (We like Brioche or Texas Toast)

*2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter

*1 cup Heavy Cream 

*6 Eggs

*1 teaspoon Vanilla

*1.5 tablespoons of confectioners sugar

*Cinnamon to taste (c'mon, go CRAZY)

*2 tablespoons Water

♥ For the rest: ♥ 
*Strawberries

*Bannanas

*Blueberries

*Wooden Kabob Sticks

*Syrup of choice  

Mix your butter, cream, eggs, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and water.  Grill it up, as per usual French Toast rules.   Golden Brown.  About 3 min per side.  Basically, um... Just don't burn it, mmkay?  You got this.  After which you need to slice it up into squares, and slide it onto the kabob sticks with your fruits of choice.  We chose strawberries, bananas, and blueberries! 

 

The perfect breaky' for your loved ones.  ♥ How thoughtful. ♥ P.S. Check out our cat Zaida asleep under the table.  Didn't know she was even in the picture until I loaded them onto here!  ;)

          ♥,

                     Camille

                     GGA

Amusing Monday

Amusing Monday

Today's amusement was waking up to find my cat, Penny Lane had finished the dishes and put them all away!  Isn't that incredible?!  Okay, well maybe she was really just sleeping un-hygienically in my kitchen sink dish rack.  I still found it totally adorable.  Happy Monday!!

♥meow♥, 

     'Penny Lane' the cat

Click Worthy Weekend

FEATURED FRIEND !

My friend Lauren is among the mommy blogger nation now!  Hooray!  Noteworthy however, about Lauren's blog, is the fact that she lives in the South Bay of LA & she has gathered a plentiful array of links regarding toddler friendly activities for all you mommy's out there in our area! Many of her activities are in-expensive, if not FREE!  Which means you can do even MORE fun things!  Check it out and check back often as she continually finds fun things to do with her little one, Brandon!










      Look at her cute little family!  Follow her on http://www.paintsandplaydough.com for updates! Have fun this weekend, especially now that you have plenty of new ventures to choose from!!

Happy Saturday!
~c a m i l l e
GGA

True Blood Vampire Bite Brownie Cupcakes - Foodie Friday!

I was more than a little excited about the new season of True Blood.  Thought I would whip up a special treat for the occasion!  There was a lot of improvising, and guessing involved.  Oh.  And a *&%-load of food dye participated in the shenanigans as well.  Here is the basic idea, you will refer to the ingredients on the box for cooking times and exact ingredients.

                                                                          Make some brownie batter, and put them into the freezer for at least an hour or so.  I was hurried that day, so I froze mine for about an hour and a half.

                                                                         Make a batch of white cake mix and dye it blooood red.

Evenly disperse red cake batter into the BOTTOMS of the cups, abt 2 tablespoons each.  Just enough to cover the bottom.  Next, place  a dollop of brownie mix on top of the bottom layer of cupcake mix.  About a tablespoon worth.  Now, cover the brownie layer with more cake mix!

.

Cook the cupcakes according to the instructions on your cake mix, because your brownie mix has spent time in the freezer, it will not cook as quickly as the cake mix.  This is what gives you that moist and delicious brownie inside of your cupcake.  The more gooey you want your brownie to be, the longer you need to leave the mix in the freezer.  Decorate and enjoy!

Hayley and Mitch get Hitched!

Hayley and Mitch get Hitched!

...What a beautiful wedding!!  A few weeks ago my beautiful cousin (she is also one of my my best friends) Hayley finally married the love-of-her-life Mitchell.  They have been dating forever for over ten years; and that in and of itself really added to the feeling of happiness that we all experienced watching them say their vows and celebrate their day.  The thing is, Mitch was already part of our family.  He is the type of guy that would do anything for my cousin Hayley, and I know he will always be there for her.  I was so so happy to see these two get hitched, there were waterworks galore!  I know there weren't a lot of dry eyes in the audience that day.  On BOTH sides of the aisles.  

The venue where they were married is called Maravilla Gardens, very simple yet more than lovely.  There were lush gardens, lots of flowers, a rustic barn (that makes for cute photo ops), and the entire locale overlooks picturesque fields.  Gorgeous surroundings.

Oh.  The photo-booth was super fun too.  ;)

We had a beautiful time seeing these two become husband and wife.  Love them both.  Congrats to the new couple!

Photographs are courtesy of http://www.kimberleemiller.com/ .

Tasting Tuesday

The Boxer ~ 2009 Shiraz

     We enjoyed this Shiraz with a simple fresh chicken stir-fry with dinner last night.  If you wanted to pair this one to it's greatest potential however, I would probably recommend a peppered red meat, and not so much a peppered chicken dish.  We just so happen to eat a lot more chicken in our house than we do red meat.

     This wine is not love-at-quick-sip. Even after breathing for about 10 minutes, the first sip was slightly off-putting.  I wondered why I had just paid almost $20.00 for a bottle of sweet syrup.  Yuck!  So we left it in our decanter another 15 minutes or so, and it really opened up.  As is so often the case.  The flavors were pretty powerful, more than fruit forward...  Think, fruit WAY forward. :)  Shiraz' are strong in your face wines as is, and this one lived up to it's bad ass Aussie rep'!!  Would the Australians have it any other way?  Other notes I gathered from this bottle were a bit of chocolate and licorice.  You might not need a dessert wine when you are through with this, it has a decently high alcohol content on it's own. This wine is thick and juicy.  The last few sips of both my husband's and I glasses were filled with too much sediment to consume.  I certainly got a mouth full of debris and had to spew it back into my wine glass immediately  dispose of it like a lady.  ;)

©Photographs are property of Camille Larson / GGA©

GGA As Featured By Others - July 2011

GGA Summer Sale ! ! ! ! !

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