My daughter just turned 16 and wanted a party with NO theme to it. She only requested her favorite desserts. She loves Chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate chip cookie dough. I wanted something simple yet elegant for her. Her cake was a chocolate naked cake filled with eggless cookie dough which I will provide the recipe at the bottom.

I bought greenery from the local Safeway and placed it around my cake plates for a fresh and beautiful pop of color. Greenery makes everything look prettier!

This eggless cookie dough went perfectly with the elegance of this simple sweets table. I put the cookie dough in a piping bag and cut off the end about an inch of the way up.

I had some left over cookie dough after the cake was assembled and I will be keeping that for myself 😉

Click Recipe Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

I have always had super long lashes until I hit my 30’s. My lashes started thinning over time and I had to really clamp down hard on my eyelash curlers to boost them up. I had to layer on the mascara to make them stand out. I’ve been taking hair skin and nail vitamins for years and nothing seemed to get my lashes back to how they were. I started to hear talk about Rodan and Fields lash boost. I wanted to know more. My friend had been using it and her lashes were AMAZING! I needed to be using what she was using! So I made the investment and bought some lash boost. The results were going to be in about 6-8 weeks. Those weeks just flew by.

Here is a before picture and you are probably like, YOUR lashes are long….why are you complaining. We all have our things right??? Lashes are my thing! When mine started to fall out and thin….I hated it!!! This is after having three coats of mascara and curling.

I also use Rodan and Fields skin care, which I LOVE!! Their eye cream is by far my favorite eye cream out there right now.

Here are two after photos with only one coat of mascara and no eyelash curlers.

My lashes are now thicker and longer than they have ever been. I get people asking about them daily. THIS IS MY SECRET!!! My sister is now using the lash boost too!

Click HERE to order your lash boost! You can email my friend Abby with any questions at abbymwalker@gmail.com. She is amazing and would love to answer your questions.

This is not an AD, I am posting about the lash boost and skin care because I believe these products 100%. With results like this, how can you not shout it out so your friends can get some too.

Want a different view?!!!!  Try this adorable one of a kind pumpkin top cookie using tip 125, 21 and 3. Watch my quick and easy video to help you frost the cutest cookies for the Holidays.

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Ali Bradley bravely shares her heart and soul to help just one person struggling with their #metoo

You may have seen or heard about the “me too movement” which encourages women and men to come forward with their stories of sexual assault and harassment to shed light on this problem.

It doesn’t make my job as a news anchor and journalist easy when I have to report the facts of something this tragic– but I strive to inform you of the good and bad, and to help people whenever and however possible.

My mom always told me, “be a voice for those who don’t have one,” but in a time when there is something horrible in the news, like the allegations against Harvey Weinstein and so many others hits  close to home… Who would be my voice?

Drowning in shame and pain… Finally a light– a beacon of sorts, freeing me from the guilt I’ve been carrying for almost a decade.
I finally heard my voice through millions of women, in the form of two words… “Me too.”
That movement, giving me the strength to share my story of survival.

That story has been haunting me for 9 years.
9 years of flash backs, of tears… 9 years of carrying a weight too heavy to hold most of the time.
For 9 years, I made the weight easier to carry by simply ignoring what had happened to me, but never allowed myself to share the burden– always feeling like it was mine to bear.
Like I put myself in a position to be drugged and raped, because I was stupid enough to believe an audition with an academy award winning composer, was legitimate.

For 9 years, I have thought about what I could have done differently.  I had done my research. Joseph Brooks was extremely credible with songs like “you light up my life” topping his list of accomplishments. An assistant, posed as my friend, and as a mother figure. She shared her personal life with me, even introducing me to her husband and her small children… She sucked me in and she gained my trust.

My gut told me it was too good to be true, but at 23 years old– I wasn’t listening to instincts, I was chasing after a what I thought was “huge movie role” and heading to New York City for the first time.

The only dress I had packed, was perfect in my mind. It was knee length, it was floral and it was classy — it was my great grandmother’s and I figured it would bring me good luck.
The audition was set in a low lit apartment in an extravagant part of town… A glass full of white wine awaited me and GG’s dress.

The wine was the beginning of the end–everything went black.

Now with every ounce of dignity shredded, the acclaimed composer had also literally shredded my identity—my driver’s license, My credit cards… everything was gone.
I was stuck in New York, weak, hopeless and ashamed.
When I finally made it home, I couldn’t find it within myself to tell the people I loved what had happened.

Not long after my time in New York, a brave woman came forward about her dark experiences with Joseph Brooks.
I too, was his victim.

I knew I couldn’t let her stand alone.
So, Through my pain, I stood in front of a room of strangers– a judge, lawyers, and police officers– sharing the horrifying details involving the man whom I knew right then and there– would always be part of my life.

In 2008 Joseph Brooks was indicted on 91 counts of sexual assault.
At least 11 women were lured into that Manhattan apartment… Under false pretenses– of stardom and hope.
In 2011 Before the case could make it to trial, Joseph brooks killed himself.

Shortly after, the assistant pleaded guilty to misdemeanor and criminal facilitation charges.

My nightmare wasn’t over though, it was just beginning.
With no closure, I stored those dark memories and feelings, deep within my soul.
I knew would never be the same.

But, through the ashes we rise… That pain, while still fresh and raw, is that of so many women.

So many women who have gone on in silence, feeling like it was their fault– Me too.

Feeling like you could have do something different– Me too.

Feeling like you should have been smarter– Me too.

Feeling like you couldn’t to keep living this life– Me too.

Wishing someone would have empowered you to rise above this horrendous reality– Me too.

So, If you are fighting your own battle– I am going to be that woman to empower you– and tell you, it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have done anything differently, you are smart, strong and you are needed right here on this earth.
Me too.

No two stories are alike… And no one else’s story holds more weight than yours- sexual assault in any capacity is serious and devastating.
While what happened to me is constantly in the back of my mind, I didn’t want that to be what people saw when they looked at me. The decisions a horrible man made did not and will not define me.

By no means do I want you to take pity on me… That weakness I felt, I’ve turned into compassion for others. That silence that took me over became my strength in telling stories throughout my community.

Your story of survival is not who you are but regardless, it has helped shape us into the people we are– broken and scarred… But mighty and resilient.

You are a warrior– pick up your sword and shield and fight.
No matter how you share your story, even if it just writing it down to tear it up– trust me, I’ve been there a lot over the years… Whatever you choose to do is the correct thing– as you are in control of your life. You and you alone can make that decision.

By the grace of God I am here to share my experience — My family, friends, and colleagues have lifted me up and embraced me through my time of what I thought was weakness, when really, this has given me strength. I am so grateful for that.

After living feeling like a victim for nearly a decade– I finally feel like a survivor.
We can lift each other up– we can begin to heal together.

Ali Bradley

SO proud of my sister’s bravery and strength to share her story. I am amazed by her. We hope by sharing and reading this, it may have helped one person find strength even if they are not ready to share. As I watched her share her story I am in awe of her courage, and could not be more proud to be her big sister. Bringing light to anything in the dark is powerful, freeing and starts healing. I want to help her share, get support and help others. Thank you for reading and God Bless

I have been piping buttercream on to sugar cookies for a wile now and recently fell in love with my new technique of smooth buttercream frosting. Here are some beautiful smooth frosted buttercream cookies with flower gardens on them. I made these for my amazing friend Portia with Obsessed By Portia blog. Check out her darling American Girl Themed Party she threw.

For these cookies I piped on the buttercream and then dipped my spatula into HOT water. I dried the spatula off and smoothed over the buttercream. When you are using stripes you want to smooth the buttercream one way like demonstrated in the video. Pipe on the flower details after the buttercream is nice and smooth. I will be posting a video of me walking through the steps soon, so stay tuned.

The fun began at Sur La Table in Kirkland, Wa. I was asked by Volkswagon to come join the VW/ Andretti team for a fun cooking challenge with both drivers. For those of you that don’t know; Tanner Foust and Scott Speed are both very successful Rallycross Drivers with GRC. I had the opportunity to get to know them outside of racing and I must say, they are both very impressive men. My favorite quality in a person is their sense of humor and they both had me laughing!!! I was chosen on Scotts team and we won the challenge with a brie and crispy bacon stuffed burger and hand cut truffle salted fries.

An invitation was extended to Mike, Mikie and I to join them on Race Day! What an honor it was for my Husband, my son and I to get to see what it’s like to be a Rallycross driver. We got to hang out, eat, chat and spend time with the whole crew. Tanner and Scott were so wonderful to all their fans, it was great to see them signing autograph after autograph and taking loads of pictures with people that adore them. Here are some of my favorite pictures from Sunday.

After meeting Tanner and Scott, my family and I will be forever fans of theirs. They are both incredible humans and we felt very blessed to be a part of their time in Seattle! It was a wonderful experience and one of the coolest things I have done. I love making new friends. I Can’t wait tell they come back….maybe we will be racing on a Go-Kart track next time!

Piping beautiful buttercream flowers can be easy with practice. I love sharing my heart and passion with you guys. Here, you will find a step by step video on these one of a kind buttercream flowers. I decided to add in voice instructions to my tutorials, I hope that helps. 

Using Tip 104, and tip 2. How do these tutorials help you? Is the voice instruction easy to follow and are you loving it?? let me know what you think. Thank you for watching my tutorials.

xoxoxox,

Emily

      Here are two of my favorite flowers in buttercream form. The Dahlia is elegant with a hint of color to the petals and the Anemone is a soft pastel pink with a black center.

For the Anemone buttercream frosted cookie I used a tip 104 and placed the fat side down on the outer edge of the cookie. With steady pressure I gently squeezed my piping bag while making small rounded edges to form petals. I go all the way around the cookie and stop. I begin a little closer and pipe my second layer of petals. For the center I will use tip 4. With black buttercream I make a dollop of buttercream and make tiny dots all around to make it look textured. This creates a beautiful buttercream anemone that is sure to wow your friends. Here is a video to better help you pipe.

Next we have the Dahlia flower. This one is elegant with a hint of pink to give the flower some texture. This buttercream Dahlia is piped using tip 366 to start on the first layer of petals. With your tip angled down on the cookie you gently give your piping bag pressure tell the buttercream starts to come out of the tip. You gently drag back the bag and stop when you get to the edge. Release pressure as you pull away to break the buttercream. Repeat that tell you have went around your cookie. Make a second but smaller layer of petals. Then we will move to tip 352 for the center layer of petals to bring the cookie together. For the center I used tip 4 and black buttercream. Make a small pile of buttercream and make tiny dots all around to give it a textured and realistic look. Here is a video to help.