Home in Oak Park

On April 29, John and I closed on our two-bedroom condo (our first home). Since we've moved in, we've been getting furniture, hanging pictures and paintings, and getting acquainted with our new neighbors. Built in 1920, there are 11 other units within our building. In case you missed it, here's a photo of me in our basement work-space that I'm using as a studio.

The front of the condo faces Austin Boulevard and has lots of windows that bring in lots of natural light and will be good for our ever growing plant collection. The living room is divided spatially into two sections; the front alcove with eight windows, which will be for plants and some chairs, and then the rest of the room is defined by the large mantle with built-in bookshelves on both sides. 

I apologize for not posting too many photos because we're painting walls in the dining room and things are just a little too disheveled for me to share right now. But for photos we do have, below are a mixture of some from my phone as well as the photos from online:

Our unit is located on the right side of the front door on the first level.

Living room - before

Current

First and main bedroom

Front door

Foyer with built-in mirror

Anatomy of a Cake

As my friends who know me, they know I like fun projects that are challenging, especially when it comes to working in the kitchen.  For Christmas I was very ambitious in making a 3-layer cake (my first ever!) and combining it with the traditional German Christmas candle pyramid.  Candles emit heat that flows up to a fan mechanism that causes the different parts of the pyramid to rotate.  This idea was translated into a form of dessert, for delicious and show-stopping results!

I had gotten the idea several months in advance and I think it turned out well.  I had a little trouble with the butter-cream frosting, but overall I was very pleased.  The cake itself is gingerbread, and the frosting includes cream cheese and mascarpone.  

Take a look at some photos, that include part of the construction process:

Movie time!: