Beach hike and pastry spree

It still feels like summer in November. There is absolutely no feeling of fall here. No crunch leaves to step on and kick, no chill to wear my sweaters for and definitely no craving for hot apple cider which I LOVE during this time of year. It's not all bad though. You can't complain when you can hike along the beach during this time of the year.

If you like to trash hunt, this is the place to do it. The beaches here are littered! We found a HUGE oil tank!

We packed the puppies into Karls new SUV and they were so excited to be going to the beach together "best buds for life."
It's rolling to that time of the year - fall semester is almost out. 3 more classes left and we are preparing for our salon competition which is basically a competition judged according to the ACF standards. It's exciting but at the same time nerve wrecking. I want to do good but I'm such a novice with cakes, I really cannot guarantee the end product.

So today I went on a pastry shopping spree which I haven't done in like forever! I stocked up on cake supplies and some gum paste mix and I hope to become more comfortable working with it. What I have in mind is a 2 tier square cake with a red marzipan strip that covers both of the base of the cakes and branches of cherry blossums spreading around the cake. I got a bunch of pastry tips and disposal bags and some sprinkles for the pollen of the cherry blossums. SO cool! I love looking at pastry supplies but I tend to stay at those stores too long...and that ends in too much money being spent! I will keep you up to date about the progress! I will start on my gum paste cherry blossums tomorrow! YAY!