Lots of Random Things

I've been a bad blogger yet again, it's been over 2 weeks since I last posted. To be completely honest, there just hasn't been much going on worth writing about until this past weekend.

To start, it's finally spring here in Chicago. This is always good news and I am glad to finally be able to wear skirts and flip flops again. Hopefully this weather is here to stay. I wish we had this kind of weather when newlywed friends AH and BH were in town last weekend.

I'm now obsessed with Lands End Canvas. I've always been a fan of Lands End -- my mom used to buy me the kids stuff when I was little. She's always ordered cashmere and swimwear from there. I've always been a fan of the cashmere and thought the quality was fantastic but thought the other clothing was a little to momish. I was very surprised to discover the Canvas line which is very similar to J.Crew but half the price and better quality. The bf got me their heritage cardigan (monogrammed nonetheless) for my birthday and I LOVE it! I think the fit is better than the J.Crew Jackie cardigan and the quality is great (all for $39.50 plus $5 for the monogram but the bf had a 20% off with free shipping coupon).

My birthday was this past weekend and it was a great birthday, very low key which is what I wanted. Besides the aforementioned cardigan the bf also took me on a $20 shopping spree at the Salvation Army. Ended up getting a suit and two Ralph Lauren polo shirts.

Celebrated my birthday with friends at Dicks Last Resort on the Chicago River. We had a great time; Dicks is super touristy but it brought back really fun memories from Myrtle Beach in high school. After dinner we all went back to the bf and my place for drinks and desert; I made an awesome hot fudge cake that is not only delicious but super easy as well (see recipe below).

I think that's about all for now, except for the hot fudge cake recipe -- Enjoy!

Easy Hot Fudge Cake:

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 stick melted butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup boiling water (add last)

Preheat oven to 425. In a medium size bowl add all dry ingredients. Mix well. Add the eggs. Mix well. Add the melted butter. Mix well. Finally, add the boiling water.

Pour all ingredients into a baking dish. Bake for 8 to 20 minutes (depending on your oven -- my 425 isn't a hot 425; temps will vary). The center of the cake should still be runny (this will be the sauce).

Spoon into bowls and top with vanilla ice cream.

Optional: you can bake the cake in individual ramekins (like the ones used for individual chicken pot pies) to make the cake seem a little more fancy pants. This will reduce baking time to probably closer to 8 minutes.

Optional: you can drizzle the pieces of cake (or the ramekins) with Kahlua before topping with vanilla ice cream as another fancy pants option.