Birthday Aftermath: Goofs and Spoofs

• [Beauty Ad] Interesting ad from Dove Real Beauty showing what models go through from morning-face start to Photoshop finish. The photoshop editing at the end is the scariest part.
• [Make a sign] Thanks to Beth from Shenanigans, I was able to torture Sante by making him a McDonald’s sign proclaiming him to be employee of the month. Let the hilarity ensue.
• [Make a cassette] I used this one on my manager: make your own cassette
• [Health] Next time you dress up, it might be because you’re ovulating

Big lesson learned, now that I’m 29 (ACK!!)…..When cooking something to take to work the morning of, factor in extra time for the cool-down so that you can actually bring it to work without melting your hands. I guess I was still thinking with my “throw it in the trunk” mentality instead of “garner 3rd degree burns on your hands while holding it on the bus” mentality, which is my true reality. Luckily, 30 minutes later and with the help of a thick towel in the bag, I was on my way.

I really don’t feel 29. I feel about 25/26….the same age right when I left the U.S. Perhaps time did stop for me a bit.

Here’s a pic of the coffee cake cooling down a bit. I think it was a big hit! Slightly pockmarked from the frozen berries I used, but still very, very good. It looks really liquidy here but it’s actually quite firm and carmelized and shiny on top. The topping gets them every time. My mother always uses fresh blueberries and I think that’s why they don’t sink. But you use the tools you have available!

This is the email I sent out to my department once I arrived.

E’ il mio quarto….
…..compleanno che passo qua in Italia……
Se volete un pezzo di “coffee cake” ancora calda dal forno…venite adesso alla mia scrivania….

“It’s my fourth…..birthday I have spent here in Italy….If you want a piece of “coffee cake” still warm from the oven, come now to my desk”

I should have included the Wikipedia explanation of coffee cake because it apparently caused a lot of confusion, though everyone liked the cake. Yet, only one of my colleagues asked me why it didn’t taste like coffee. Another colleague told me that several were discussing it in the break room. “I didn’t want to say anything, but I didn’t taste any coffee in that cake!”

Ah, well. Next time.

Around noon, a call went around that a big client of ours wanted a picture of the team, so they herded about 20 of us into the conference room. I was the last one to arrive because I was in the middle of something urgent (for said client) when the call arrived. After taking a few pictures, the Account manager for this client insisted that _I_ should lay across the table (in a miniskirt) in front of everyone.

Normally I wouldn’t care, and people that know me well know that I usually don’t refuse a dare, but I kept thinking….CLIENT will get this picture, perhaps attach it to bulletin board somewhere (I would) and it doesn’t look very professional. And I’m in a miniskirt climbing on top of a table. Maybe for once it would be better not to make a spectacle out of myself.

I figured it would be best to tuck that away for some other time….like the company holiday party in December.

One of our creatives is notorious for playing jokes on birthdays, usually in an email, but I didn’t see anything coming. Little did I know that my creative colleague was looking for a picture for my birthday email, and the laying across the table would have been great!

Here’s the email she sent out…..

Sara che, fino a qualche anno fa, era ‘perduta’ nella sua serie televisiva preferita ….
(Sara, until a few years ago, was “lost” in her favorite television show)

… eccola oggi invece, a festeggiare il suo compleanno su una nuova isola, assieme a nuovi compagni di (dis) avventura….
(Here she is today, to celebrate her birthday on a new island, together with her new companions of (mis)adventure)

Here she attached the photo we had taken in the conference room, in a similar style to the LOST one. :) which I’ll have to leave off since it’s all my colleagues. This made me laugh out loud. I liked her choice of words and she didn’t even know the name of my blog!

Just in case you want to try a new recipe, here’s the coffee cake one.

Keep ’em Coming Coffee Cake

Important note: My mom usually doubles it, and the one I made was a double recipe as well. Therefore, double all the ingredients below and use a 9×13 pan if you want to do the same.

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 to 1 cup blueberries (optional)

Topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325F (160C). Beat sugar, oil, egg and milk in large bowl. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry to wet ingredients, stirring to combine well. Pour into greased and floured 9x9x2 baking pan. Scatter blueberries, then topping. Bake 30 minutes. (If you double it, start checking for doneness at 45-50 minutes).