It begins...

All right, blog world, here I go...

I have had this blog set up for quite some time and am now just getting around to starting it. The blog world is not new to me - I had a blog the last few years of college and while I volunteered with my church after colllege, but such things can only last so long. My name is Lauren and I love to cook and eat delicious food. I have fond memories of cooking with my grandmothers when I went to visit, and being so excited to have a personalized apron as a four-year-old. Since I was a child I've always loved to bake, whether it be Betty Crocker brownie mixes or attempting chocolate souffle from scratch with my best friend in high school. The first batch of egg whites failed, but gosh darnit, we persevered and it turned out awesome.

I also like to wear my pajamas at any given time of the day. My friends have always teased me because I enjoy coming back from any given place and exclaiming, "I'm gonna go put my jammies on!" I am a bit of a homebody, but more than anything I enjoy the comfort and coziness of a good pair of jammies and feeling relaxed in them. That, and my grandmother has gifted me with more pairs of jammies over the 26 Christmases in my life than I'll ever know what to do with :) Be on the lookout for pajama couture in the future.

In college I enjoyed making cakes for parties and decorating them with fun frostings. My favorite cake was one I decorated for a Star Wars movie marathon I hosted at my apartment senior year (yes, I am a Star Wars nerd too).

Circa 2005

No, I did not attend UCLA...but my dad did and I am a Bruin fan for life :)

Such is evidenced by the following picture:

I invited friends over to watch the UCLA-USC game...in Tennessee. How's that for loyalty? ;)

Movie premieres are also worthy of cake decorating:

Et voila! I love good food, and I love to eat it...even when it is 90 degrees out in Rome and my hair has a mind of its own:

And the caffeine buzz from your first real espresso drives you crazy:

So there you have it, folks. I'm no Martha Stewart, but food and writing bring me joy and I hope this blog provides a fun outlet to share yummy food, happy times, and good memories with others. Bon appetit!