I'm THAT girl!

I confess! I am the girl who will stop to pick up a quarter from the ground (usually when they are face up so that they're lucky ☺ ); the girl who will take not one but two (or even three) pieces of candy on the way out of a restaurant; the girl who eats samples at the supermarket then casually yet somewhat discretely takes a second piece if I like it; and the girl who signs up for contests all the time. Yes, I am THAT girl. That somewhat annoying girl.

Let me tell you one thing though-- I am proud to be that girl! Because you know what? It paid off!

I WON!!! ☺

 

Before you get excited, I should tell you what I won. I won a pair of tickets to the Elegant Wedding Show! I know it's nothing significant and I am sure many people who applied won tickets but it made me so happy! All I had to do is fill out a short participation form on Facebook and a few days later, I got the great news.

Some people find the fact that I sign up for contests and competitions quite funny. I don't blame them. I sign up for cooking competitions and know in the back of my mind that I will not get far. I also sign up to win luxury vacations, cars, subscriptions to magazines, a free box of cereal, etc. What are the odds of me winning? Quite slim! But I always tell myself one thing:

If I try, I have nothing to lose; if I don't try, I have nothing to gain.

I use those few words as a guide in many aspects of my life. I woke up yesterday to start a normal day and out of nowhere, I find out that my free tickets to the wedding show are on their way. How can an unexpected surprise like that not make anybody happy?

I will go to the Elegant Wedding Show and soak in all the beauty and innovative ideas. Just looking at the website is mesmerizing. You should all know that I am not a crazy bride-to-be. I do not only talk about weddings, flowers, tablecloth colors and wedding favors. I am a hopeless romantic and in love with love. Frankly, all those little details are secondary to me. The day I become "Mrs. Mr. A" will be a day to celebrate our love with our close family and friends. A wedding is a wedding, not a show.

But of course, at the risk of sounding hypocritical, I still want a beautiful wedding. Despite what I just said, we are still getting married and cannot do so in an undecorated, empty room so I need to go to the Elegant Wedding Show for inspiration!

A friendly warning to Mr. A (or to whoever is coming with me to this Wedding show): I will sign up for even more contests and will sneak extra cake samples☺!

Here is Martha Stewart's recipe of adorable wedding cake cookies. I love how delicate and precious these look.

Sugar Cookie Cakes

Ingredients

- 8 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

- 2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened

- 4 cups sugar

- 4 eggs

- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Directions

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough into 4 pieces; flatten each into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or overnight)
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let 1 disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4 inch thick, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Using cookie cutters, cut out 2 dozen 3 1/2-inch rounds, 2 dozen 2 3/4-inch rounds, and sixteen 2-inch rounds. Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment paper as you work, keeping rounds of the same size on the same sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill in freezer until very firm, about 15 minutes.
3. Bake until edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks; let cool completely. Transfer icing to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip. Pipe around top edges of each cookie, about 1/4 inch from edge; fill in with a thin layer of icing. Smooth with a small offset spatula. (Reserve about 1/4 cup icing for assembling cookie cakes.) Let set, at least 6 hours (or overnight).
4. Stack 3 large cookies, securing with dabs of icing in between. Repeat, stacking 3 medium cookies and 2 small cookies on top. Secure a gum-paste flower on top of each cookie cake using a small amount of icing. Repeat with remaining cookies and icing. Let stand until set, at least 30 minutes, before packaging.