the weekend + committing to...

it wasn't until about 1 p.m. on sunday afternoon that i realized what a nice weekend i had.

friday night, i came home from work -- laden with sticks of butter and cartons of cream -- and got started baking six layers of white cake and two pots of coconut cream filling for my cakes. after everything was set, i laid down on the couch and watched what not to wear with oscar, enjoying being wrapped up in a blanket in my sweatpants while the barometer steadily dipped outside.

saturday i finished the cakes -- frosting and assembling (and almost going into sugar shock due to all the tasting) -- and dropped them off at their new home. then i spent the rest of the day doing errands and rearranging a few things in my house. my night was spent with a bowl of soup on the couch, watching another movie and intermittently reading my latest book.

then, sunday, i slept in until 10 a.m., cleaned, went out for big greek salads with my b.f.f. k., and ended the night with more reading and movies. this weekend was made for snuggling weather, and i fully embraced it.

something else i fully embraced? my absolute love of baking. making those cakes was the highlight of my weekend, if not my week, and even though i practically went into sugar overload, after watching "dessert first" on the food network on sunday morning, i began wanting to bake even more. (salted caramel banana pudding pie, anyone?)

that's why i've decided to start a little side project: a baking blog! called  { pink o'clock } pastries, it'll chronicle my baking adventures and be a place for me to share my favorite pastry recipes and the stories that surround why i make them with you. i won't be updating too regularly -- once a week, at most -- and i am certainly not a food writer or a pastry chef, but in my attempt to provide myself with more creative gratification, i think this will be fun. in fact, if you'd like, you can read about my coconut cake adventure here. and i'll be sure to let you all know when i update, both here and on twitter.

whew! so that's what's happened this weekend, and now here's what i'm committing to for this week (i'll make it quick, since this post is long already):

+ trying to stress less. after last week, i want to just take a deep breath and start over -- but this time, with a little less naivete.
+ celebrating my friend chris' 40th birthday and my friend steph's 30th birthday this weekend. (i'm thinking there'll be some baking blog material in that!) this is obviously less a commitment and more just two awesome things that'll be doing.
+ working on my follow-through. sometimes i should have more. i also tend to be a little, um, last-minute.
+ starting to think about holiday gifts for my friends and family.
+ taking the steps to start 2011 on a good note (personally, financially, professionally). and on that note, trying to get as much as possible out of the last few weeks of 2010.

and you? see you back here tomorrow! xoxo

photo of the pretty tulips adding some color to my apartment by me.