Room Revamp (the nursery)

Well, it's not just a nursery. As we don't hope to be living here for too much longer it didn't make sense to go all out and spend a lot of money to make a room where a tiny baby would maybe/sometimes sleep.

On the same token, I couldn't imagine not creating some kind of baby specific space (sad!) for my little guy and it seems like such a waste to have an entire second bedroom only being used to store junk.

A few before pictures.  I wish I was earning income for storing all of this stuff!

So, we turned our extra bedroom into a baby/guest room. It's already proven to be awesome to have a place for visitors to sleep that isn't the living room. They feel more comfortable and I don't have to tiptoe around in the mornings avoiding the main room of my apartment.

The first step was emptying and cleaning. It was A MESS and Mohamed did an amazing job. He scrubbed the floors, the windows, the balcony. This room is clean! (for now...)

Next, we (Mohamed) hung the curtains. The curtains were one of very few things that we actually bought for the room. It's a pretty massive jumble of colors and designs as for the most part we used what we already had in the apartment.

These are actually the third set of curtains that I bought. I just couldn't seem to find what I envisioned. So in the end, I just got what was most opposite of my original plan. It works!

Once the room was clean and the curtains were up, I couldn't help but insist on setting everything up immediately! What Mohamed wanted was a nap, but in the end he didn't like watching my dragging things in on my own ;-)

We went for a used pack n' play over a crib, toys are all from a used clothing market

Used changing table/bathtub that still needs a bit of love. New "closet."

These couches used to be in our living room.

The animal drawings were the final touch.  I was inspired by some nursery drawings that I found on Pinterest. They'd certainly look better framed, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. They were so inexpensive and easy to do!

So, if you feel like coming for a visit, you'll have your own room!

Question of the day- Do you have a multi-functional room in your home? Does it work well for you?

Not Just a Cake- Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache

For Mohamed's 32nd birthday, I decided to go for the gold and make Bakerella's "Just a cake." Of course, the name can hardly be less fitting. This is not just a cake. This is an amazingly rich chocolate cake covered and filled with vanilla buttercream and topped with potent chocolate ganache.

This is not just a cake. Although all things considered, it was fairly straightforward to make.

First you mix the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt). Then add the wet (eggs, oil, vanilla, milk, hot water). Mix, pour, bake!

While the layers are baking, make the buttercream by beating together lots of butter and powdered sugar with a little vanilla and milk. I'm drooling.

Finally, make the chocolate ganache by heating butter and heavy cream. Pour the mixture over chunks of chocolate. Mix!

Once the cake layers have cooled, it's time to assemble! My layers were a bit flat, I think due to my oven being a bit too hot. 

Note that the buttercream for the filling is mixed with mini chocolate chips!

Sandwich and crumb coat (this was my first time crumb coating, this cake did not want to stay together).

More buttercream!

 Try to make it pretty...

 and pour the ganache!

 decorate as desired

If I make this again I think I'll make the cake layers in advance to break up the kitchen time. It was exhausting, but I think the birthday boy was happy. 

A word of warning. This cake is not for the faint of heart. It is extremely rich! Generally Mohamed and I could easily eat an entire cake in about 10 minutes. We could only handle one piece of this baby! It's meant to be savored and it held up really well in the refrigerator for a good 3 or 4 days.

For the full recipe, please see Bakerella!

Bumps for Baby

Welcome back all!

Since I've completely failed at turning this blog into anything that makes any sense, I suppose I'll just continue the insanity that it currently is. Random posts, huge time lapses between entries and general lack of direction.

Today I've decided to post my baby bump photos! They aren't all pretty, but we've been trying to take photos and measurements every two weeks. Also, our measurements are sort of wacky. Apparently we don't always take them in the same place. Anywho, enjoy!

14 weeks- I still wasn't exactly showing, but it seemed a good enough time to start the measurements! 102 cm around the belly button. We didn't measure Mohamed...

16 weeks (and just back from a week of gorging in the US!)- 106 cm

20 weeks (oops, missed 18!)- 107 cm and the bump is really there this time

22 weeks- 110 cm and forgot to photograph

25 weeks- 110 cm (still? not sure what happened...)

28 weeks- 114 centimeters and starting to feel "big"

30 weeks- 115 centimeters. Only 10 weeks to go!

32 weeks- No measurement and new outfit. We were visiting in Tafraout for Eid.

35 weeks- 119 cm and a new haircut!

36 weeks- No measurement, but we did some maternity photos. Coming soon!

38 weeks- 120 cm. Only 1 cm increase in three weeks. Seems odd, I don't think we we've been measuring in the same place. Oh well :-)

40 weeks- 122 cm. We made it!

41 weeks, 4 days- Omar Ethan Outayeb is here! Born on Dec. 26th, 2012 at 6:05 pm. Everyone's happy and healthy!