a birthday, some cupcakes, and sparklers ... oh my!

Fun birthday celebrations this weekend for a dear friend!  The party had a coffee theme, yum!  I contributed mocha coffee cupcakes that I made from this great recipe from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski (found via the how to eat a cupcake blog). 

They were topped with this simple creamcheese icing (I substituted coffee for the vanilla).  These cupcakes are so moist and the chocolate-coffee combo is blissful!  These will definitely be made again in the near future.  Next time I would try a different icing as the creamcheese somewhat overpowered the coffee.

cupcakes cooling before frosting.

I couldn't resist modeling the cupcakes with my birdie salt & pepper shakers (from Urban Outfitters last December).  I love them so much!

Happy Birthday!

We enjoyed some more fireworks and a near-full moon...

...and played with sparklers too!

lighting up the night

Last weekend we celebrated the New Brunswick Day long weekend at the camps/cottages of friends.  Our adventure included swimming, BBQing, campfires, and a sweet summer wedding.  Such wonderful times spent with friends and family, which after the craziness of the past few weeks, was much appreciated.   

And much to my delight, there was an incredible firework show (as mentioned previously, I LOVE these things)!  One of the most spectacular shows I've seen.  Here are a few photos of the beauties, taken by my kitchen crafty (and camera crafty!) boyfriend.