Preparations for Ian's Thomas Birthday Party

Yes, I made it to the office!

Kick-starting my backlog of birthday party posts. This blog post is dedicated to the simple (yes simple!) preparations I made for Ian's birthday party back in November.

Unlike Aiden's Star Wars birthday party early in the year, the hype leading up to this was unbelievably laid back. Somehow, I took it easy... way too easy, I must say! I scouted the event location the week before India, traveled to India, came home from India and literally had exactly 7 days before the party.

A picture is worth a thousand words, hence here are some photos of my DIY adventures for Ian's Thomas Train birthday party:

After hours of research online, we decided to do a 3D Thomas cake for the party.

Moist chocolate cake. Recipe here. It was a buttercream nightmare, but I persevered because Ian loves this particular chocolate cake! 

Too many edges to the cake (fondant nightmare!) hence I had to cover the cake with fondant, half by half.

The middle joint is clearly seen here, but with some brilliant camouflage.......

Tadaaaaa... no more middle joint!

The side profile of the cake.

This took a good 3 hours to do. Cookie toppers - Thomas and Percy!

You must be waiting for photos of the dessert table! Well two engineers tried to attempt this, and failed miserably. It took a lot of hair pulling and screams of exasperation to fit the train tracks on the table. The end result? Wait for the next post!

Yes, we had the party at McDonalds! In keeping to the spirit of keeping things simple, I decided to use the provided invites, rather than making personalized ones.

Decided to forego personalized printing on the boys' t-shirts. Instead, I decided to do some sewing! Purchased plain t-shirts from MD Textile and coloured felt from Daiso and Mr DIY. Couldn't get the exact Thomas blue, but this was close enough, I guess?

Okay, I cheated with this one. *giggles* I looked online for a pretty Thomas poster, then paid someone to design the wordings to make the banner (7x6 feet) for the dessert table backdrop.

Last but certainly not least, I found this chalkboard milestone poster online. Using simple editing on PicMonkey, I managed to personalize this for Ian in less than an hour. Super proud of myself!

Just for the record, some free printables for Thomas the Train parties here.

That's it! Told you it was a simple setup. Now stay tuned for the next blogpost - Ian's 3rd Thomas Train Birthday Party.

Dragging My Feet

Today marks my first day of working for 2017. Truthfully, I wasn't looking forward to it!

Unlike all the prior days when I would bound out of bed all bright bushy eyed, this morning proved to be quite an experience. My eyes refused to open, and my arm instinctively reached out to press the snooze button on the alarm. Once I finally got myself into the shower, dressed and out of the house, I had that sinking feeling as I was driving to work. It was dread.

I swear if someone offers for me to quit my job but assures that I can still maintain my current lifestyle, I would have turned the car around in a heartbeat. (Major hint here, Hubby!) *chuckles*

Anyway, I am finally at work and slowly catching up on my emails. I hope I get into the swing of things, soon! My only solace, is the fact that my new desk (we moved desks just before Christmas holidays) is in a cozy corner just by the window. Awesome views and privacy!

(And it is right on top of a Pokestop too!!!)

I'm going to go dig out my pay slip now. You know, just to remind myself why I have to drag myself to work again tomorrow. *giggles* Wish me luck for the coming days!

Happy New Year 2017!

Happy New Year everyone! ;)

(I'm just four days too late but better late than never!) *giggles*

I am still on annual leave. Why? Well I recently hit a record of 10 service years with the Dutch Oil Company hence my annual leave entitlement was automatically increased. I thought the increase was to 20 days, but it turned out to be 25 days! Therefore at the end of December, I had an extra 5 days which I needed to use by the end of the year. My understanding boss agreed for me to bring forward the 5 days to the first week of January, hence here I am! I initially thought of using this first week off for sending Aiden to school and visiting him at recess time. But... it is just the second day of school and he is already insisting on taking the van to school, and declining my offer for me to accompany him for recess. Dah besar dah anak Mummy! #clingymummy

And so I find myself in front of the computer, blogging instead!

So what have I been up to? Well, for starters, I am struggling to finish drafting my birthday blogposts. I still haven't found the time to sift through the photos of our renovation and our recent trip to Pangkor Laut Resort. We recently bought a fish pond, to accommodate our tortoises who have outgrown their mini aquarium. Shopping wise - I bought a full year's worth of candles at the recent Bath and Body Works sale, plus some new tops at the Zara sale. I just finished wrapping all of Aiden's school textbooks. Ian is still refusing school, so no first day of school excitement for him. Last but certainly not least, I have just embarked on a new home project; decorating Aiden and Ian's room to their chosen theme of Star Wars. I just hope I have the strength and perseverance to kick them out of our room!

Anyway, I'm going to end this post with some select photos of Aiden's first day of school:

Best formal photo for the year.

Posing with his Star Wars bag and lunch box.

And speaking of Star Wars, Aiden has been bitten with the Star Wars craze too. He insisted on everything Star Wars. Two water bottles, cos I am so extremely sure that he will misplace one soon. Plus a stern warning that I will not be replacing his lunch box if he loses it!

Walking into school. Didn't even bother to look back! *chuckles*

Busy comparing Star Wars merchandise. His friends were decked in Star Wars too!

Excuse my eye bags. I was too busy enjoying my extended annual leave!

Recess time.

I thought the place would be flocked with parents accompanying their kids for recess. I guess parents don't do this anymore for their Standard 2 children??? There was barely a handful of us at the canteen.

I told Aiden that he could have anything from the canteen as a first-day recess treat. He asked for 'roti canai cheese', but cautiously told me, "But it's two ringgit ok?" Of course lah Mummy cair and agreed.

Best family photo we have from yesterday. Seriously, we totally forgot to take a proper family photo!

Ian wanted to follow his Babang to class. Siap lambai tangan lagi!

Unfortunately, no photos from the first day of pickup, because Ian decided to bless us with some projectile vomit in the car. We had to make a quick stop over to strip Ian while Hubby wiped the car clean. Not only was I covered in vomit, but I then had to walk in the heavy rain to pick Aiden up from school. Oh the drama!!!

Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying your first week of 2017. New year resolutions? I'm still drafting mine, so I hope you guys have better luck than me! *chuckles*

The Best Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever!

*wipes drool off the table*

I am not going to kid you. This is hands down, the best moist chocolate cake recipe everrrrrr!

Simplest cake to make too, because you don't need a mixer, and it uses vegetable oil instead of butter!

I swear, this cake is great even when naked on its own, fresh out of this oven. Even better when drizzled with chocolate ganache. I have to warn you though, although it is an easy cake to make, it is NOT an easy cake to manage for fondant. It is so moist, that it takes a ridiculous amount of effort and patience just to lather a decent amount of buttercream on the cake. Since it is so moist, it also sags whenever you attempt to layer the cakes, and hard to maintain shape when draped with fondant. BUT since it so darn moist, I persevere every single time, hence this is my go to recipe for all my sons' birthday cakes.

Moist Chocolate Cake:

2 cups caster sugar
1 3/4 cups superfine flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Van Houlten)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Method of Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180degC. Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In another bowl, add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Whisk for one minute using a whisk. Add the dry ingredients and whisk together for two minutes.
4. Lastly stir in boiling water. Batter will be tin, so do not use baking tins that have a removable bottom.
5. Divide the batter equally into two 9 inch pans.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or so, until toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Ganache:
For thick chocolate ganache suitable for filling the cake, use two parts dark chocolate to one part cream. For smooth glossy fondant that is loose enough to flow but thick enough to drip over the edges of the cake, use one part dark chocolate to one part cream. You can increase or decrease the chocolate to cream depending on your desired consistency. I recommend Beryl's dark chocolate compound (not milk chocolate!) and Paul's whipping cream.

1. Coarsely chop the chocolate and transfer to a heat-proof bowl.
2. Bring the cream to just a boil over medium-high heat. Make sure it doesn't boil over!
3. Start slowly then vigorously whisk the mixture in one direction until smooth and creamy. This may take a little while, so just keeping whisking.

For the beautiful drips, make sure that your cake is cool to touch. A super cold chilled cake from the fridge is most ideal. Pour your warm chocolate glaze into a piping bag and snip a small hole at the end. Pipe the chocolate ganache all over the top of the cake, with some purposeful drips over the top edge of the cake. And tadaaaaa you're done!

You can also top the cake with strawberries and Toblerone, and go crazy with the chocolate drizzle!

You simply must try this sinful recipe. And yes, you can thank me later. *chuckles*