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Yesterday afternoon I met my Texas-native, Shakespeare-lovin’, fashion-forward, margarita-drinkin’ Cincy friend Allyson for a Friday afternoon cupcake date (which must become a weekly tradition!) at The Bonbonerie in O’Bryonville, an amazing bakery in Cincinnati that bakes up the most delectable fine pastries, sweets, and afternoon tea that you could ever hope to experience. I was so overwhelmed by all the tasty and, really really pretty choices that I ordered two of the most delicious looking confections before I even knew what was happening. I had a freshly torched vanilla bean creme brulee and a salted caramel chocolate cupcake, and Allyson had a slice of the most epic opera cream chocolate cake I have ever laid eyes on. We were served on fancy china and we savored every bite while we dished about acting, Shakespeare, auditions, the hunt for theatre jobs, new years resolutions, our aspirations for the year, new apartments, swoon-worthy yet budget-friendly decorations, significant others, and other such lovely topics.

It. Was. Divine.

I could eat that creme brulee every day of my life. And I don’t think a cupcake and some solid, uplifting girl talk once a week would kill me either.

That same night Allyson brought her boyfriend Aaron over for some homemade margaritas, guacamole, pizza, and a friendly Wii gaming competition. She also brought me flowers, which melted my heart.

Creme brulee, salted caramel, margaritas, guacamole, and flowers all in one day?

I’m a lucky girl!

And my wonderful Christmas presents from Ted arrived this week! Do you want to know what I got!?

Yeah, amazing! I chose the awesome cute and comfy Pumas I wear every single day to run errands, teach dance, and basically live in, and this great leather ochre-colored Fossil crossbody purse to replace my current purse, which is in a horrific state of decay and needs to be retired ASAP. I love them both!!

And then Ted surprised me with one more unexpected gift…the pretty forest green leather Fossil wallet I’d also been eyeing! Best husband ever.

So lucky!

And I finally used that $50 museum gift shop certificate that I needed to deplete by the end of the month. Contrary to my silly musings, I did not clean the gift shop out of 75 rock candy sticks to make into a dazzling sugar-chandelier for New Years Eve – though that is a truly epic idea. I settled on two creative play/storytelling games that I can use as teaching aides when I’m coaching theatre classes or workshops, a coin robot building kit and a Titanic documentary DVD for Ted & I to enjoy on a geeky date night (Friend Olympics: Ted is a Titanic information fanatic and a coin collector), and of course, 5 rock candy sticks. Because you knew I wasn’t going to leave that gift shop without them.

This morning I helped out with two neat theatre classes for kids at this great old barn in Mariemont (one of our absolute favorite Cincinnati neighborhoods) that was renovated to become a sweet little cultural arts center, rental facility, and gallery space. The architecture of the building itself was a sight to behold and I love what they did with the renovation in terms of the flooring, the paint colors, and the track lighting. It was such a fun, unique, relaxing space to teach in! I could get used to teaching in a space like that. The classes we taught were very cool too. One was a science in theatre class where, using science and the three states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas), the kids learned about how we do special effects in the theatre. We played with lab coats, beakers, dry ice, water, food coloring, a slinky, hangers, tambourines, and more to teach the kids about the states of matter and how we can use them to create different effects and moods onstage, and also a bit about sound waves and vibrations and creative ways to create sound effects depending on the states of matter. They finished off the class making up a scene to perform using their new science knowledge to create their own special effects. Not a bad way to spend a morning!

I love when I get to relish in pretty things, and tasty treats, and creativity!

What fun things have you done lately?