I had a really great, but BUSY Christmas season.  I have been baking and cooking up a storm, and spending lots of quality time with my family.  There are a few things I have discovered lately that I’m really loving, and I thought I’d share them with you today 🙂

Babycakes Cupcake Maker

I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond a couple of days ago and found this cupcake maker on the “As Is Merchandise” shelf.  It had been a display model, so it was marked down to $14.99 from $29.99, and I also had a 20% off coupon.  So I paid $13 for a $30 appliance!

The Babycakes lets you make 8 mini cupcakes at a time, and it only takes 5 minutes.  Using this really couldn’t be easier.  All you do is put the liners in, spoon a heaping tablespoon of cake batter into each cup, and let the machine work its’ magic for a few minutes.  This is perfect for when you just want a little sweet snack, and you don’t feel like turning on the oven.  I used this yesterday, and my three year old helped me decorate the cupcakes.

Pinterest

Yes, I was quite late getting onto the Pinterest train!  But now that I’m on it, I can’t believe how many great ideas and recipes I’ve already found.  People are so creative.  I think I joined Pinterest last Monday, and within a couple of days I had already made 3 recipes I had found on there!  How cute are these Santa hat pretzels that I made?

While I’m not one of those people who will spend hours and hours on Pinterest, I love that there’s always new inspiration to be found there whenever I need it.

Professor Layton and the Last Specter

This was a Christmas gift from my husband.  I LOVE this series and I have beaten all the previous games at least twice.  The Last Specter is the fourth game in the series, and serves as a kind of prequel to the previous three games.  I am about halfway done and the puzzles on this game are the most challenging yet.  I also love that there are more minigames in this one, so even when I beat the main story, I can still get hours of enjoyment from this game.

The Caster Chronicles

A couple of weeks ago I was stuck in bed with a stomach virus, and I read the entire 600 page Beautiful Creatures in about 15 hours.  I am currently in the middle of Beautiful Darkness.  The novels are set in the small Southern town of Gatlin, South Carolina, where everybody knows everybody’s business, and anybody different is not welcome.  So when the beautiful and mysterious Lena moves into town to live with her infamous recluse of an uncle, everybody takes notice…especially Ethan Wate, who is exasperated with his small town life since the death of his mother a few months prior.

I am liking this story because of the fact that the writers put so much detail into everything.  I hate YA books where everything just magically falls into place, and the love between the two main characters seems to happen instantly.  It’s just not realistic.  In the Caster Chronicles, events happen in a more leisurely pace, and I really like it that way.

I Am a Reader, Not a Writer

I Am a Reader, Not a Writer is a book blog I discovered a few weeks ago.  It is run by the awesome Kathy, and she hosts many blog hops and always has several giveaways going on!  I am hoping to be able to participate in a few of the blog hops in the upcoming year.

Let me know of anything you are loving lately!  Wishing all of my readers the best in the New Year!