Food

Have you ever dreamed of moving into a neighborhood with all of your closest friends and family?  People who GET you, know how you tick, and what makes your heart skip a beat?  That is what Creative Estates is all about.  Emily, Danielle, and myself traveled to Phoenix to attend this amazing conference with some of the most amazingly talented women I have ever met!

Be still my heart… yes, this is Shelly from House of Smith’s!!  She absolutely made my whole life when I introduced myself and she squealed with delight when I told her that we were from WhipperBerry. Shelly, my dear, you are fabulous!!  And yes, I too rock the ellipses… all you grammar snobs out there please just indulge me.

This is our sweet friend, Jen, from Tatertots & Jell-o… dare I say mentor?  Jen has been such a support to WhipperBerry and we LOVE her.

And here is Lara {aka Ellie G} from Less Cake {More Frosting}, our BFF in the blog world. What can we say about this amazing lady?  You have to check out her blog if you haven’t already!

Amy from The Idea Room… what an inspiration!!  Please ignore the terrible picture of me, isn’t she beautiful?

Sweet Jamielyn from I {Heart} Naptime, and Leanne from Decorate and Organize Everything, and our fabulous Emily.

And, the Incredible Char from Crap I’ve Made—we LOVE her!!  We could go on and on and on.  The weekend started with a lovely “Cocktails and Cupcakes” party, featuring an unbelievable dessert table styled by TomKat herself.  You would’ve thought I would take a picture… but no,  I was a little star struck.  SORRY!  You can see one here at Jamielyn’s blog, I {Heart} Naptime.

The next two days were filled with classes, panels, and crafting {this was a creative conference!} 

   

We were delighted by the talented and HILARIOUS Shelly, Char, and Stephanie (from The Daily Blarg)…

We crafted with Miss Whippy Cake herself, Becki Crosby!

Look what I made…

Not exactly genius I know… I was more interested in hanging out with my new friends and Becki’s bag!!

 

Isn’t it cute?! {Stalkerish I know, I can’t help myself} Emily, Danielle, and I had a BALL and can’t wait for next year!!  A huge thanks goes out to SheyB {the camera strap girl}, and Tauni {the PR genius} for putting on an amazing conference.  For more pics you can check out our album on our Facebook page to see even more of the fun, and some of the other amazing ladies that we met.

Today I am guest posting at Kiki Creates, and I am so excited! She asked us to be a part of her All About Easter Event. I made a chocolate Easter basket, so go check it out!

Next… we have our

Giveaway Winner!

We are giving away $150 worth of gift certificates! $50 to Magnolia Lane, and $100 to Down East Basics! For more information on this fabulous giveaway involving six other amazing blogs, click here. And the winner is…

Scarlett Red!

(Chosen by random.org) We will contact you with all the winning info!! Congratulations!

And last but not least the features from our Friday Flair…

Heather, Danielle, and I spent all weekend living it up at Creative Estates, and let me just tell you, if you weren’t there make sure you don’t miss it next year, because it was phenomenal! We will be letting you know about that later. I did, however, magically find time to peruse this week’s link party, and I have a few of my favorites for you, so enjoy!

Family Motto Sign by Sew Dang Cute Crafts

Bird Art by Who’s Watching the Baby

Scrappy Easter Basket by Sugar Baby Boutique

Bathroom Hanger by On the Refrigerator Door

Oatmeal Crème Pie Cupcake by Inside BruCrew Life

Paper Straw Garland by Crossing the Bugger-Dixon Line

Eggmallow Treats by Landee See Landee Do

Ruffle Flower Clutch by Just Sew Sassy

Spring Stand by Pocket Full of Pink

Recipe Box by PaperVine

Lemon Wreath by Ordy & June

Vintage Inspired Easter Egg by Sweet Little Smoothie

You guys were awesome this week. Thanks for joining the party! Have a great week!

Let me introduce you to Jen from Scissors & Spatulas. She has been linking up to our Friday Flair parties, and I am growing quite fond of her.

 

 

I hope to meet Jen this weekend at Creative Estates! She is an amazing cook, crafter, wife, and mother! Go to Scissors & Spatulas and let her know we sent ya!

So now on to the party. Welcome to the Friday Flair at WhipperBerry! A place where you can link up all things tasty, fancy, and fun.

Show us what you have a flair for:

• Recipes
• Sewing projects
• Craft tutorials
• Dessert tables/events
• Photography
• Printables
• Gift ideas
• Décor/DIY Projects

We like to do it all—so we want to see it all!

Just remember these guidelines:

• Please link up only your own projects, and link to the specific post, not your blog home page. No Etsy shops or giveaways, please.
• You must grab a WhipperBerry button and include it somewhere in the post you’re linking, or on your home page (a text link is great too).
• Stay and mingle (remember, it’s a party!), and leave a couple comments for other guests!

We reserve the right to remove any link that we feel is inappropriate, or does not follow the guidelines. Thank you for understanding. 

Let’s get started…

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to get together with some spectacular ladies that you may already know and love. We had a girls night out that included seven fabulous Las Vegas based blogs! Heather, Christene, and Emily represented WhipperBerry, and look who else was there…

From left to right:

Emily (Remarkable Home), Emily (WhipperBerry), Kristen (3 Little Birds), Jamie (eighteen 25), Heather (WhipperBerry), Jennifer (eighteen 25), Candace (Sparkle Power), Suzanne (She Paperie), and Christene (WhipperBerry). Kiki (Kiki Creates) hadn’t arrived yet, and Jeanna (Jeanna Hayes Studios) was taking the picture!

I know you’re all dying to know… Where did we go? What did we do? Well, we’ll tell you!

We met at The District at Green Valley Ranch, and hopped into Magnolia Lane. They were nice enough to have a few snacks and lovelies waiting for us.

 

 

Magnolia Lane is a charming boutique owned by Andrea Owen. Tired of working in corporate America, Andrea dreamed of “a store that people could stroll in and feel at home and then take a little something with them.” They sure made us feel at home!

Next, we wandered over to DownEast Basics, where we had the opportunity to shop through their beautiful collections.

  

 

Isn’t their Spring Collection just Divine… just you wait!  DownEast Basics has something special for all of you too!!

We then stopped by Rachel’s Kitchen for dinner…

We sat outside under the trees full of twinkling lights, and star-lit sky. At least I am assuming their were stars up there somewhere. This is Vegas after-all, people. Between the lights of the casino and the city itself, it’s kinda hard to see stars, but we had plenty of dazzle.

 

 

We enjoyed getting to know each other better and laughing a lot, while sipping Choffy, and eating Janeen’s chocolate cake!

We even had an incredible swag bag for the night donated by BAGGU bags, and filled with all kinds of lovely treats from several of our new friends!

 

We had so much fun and wished that you could all be there, so…we thought we would invite you all to our party here!!

The Spectacular Giveaway!

Guess what we have for you?!

A $50.00 Gift Certificate to Magnolia Lane, AND a $100.00 Gift Certificate to Down East Basics!

Both of these certificates are redeemable in-store or online!

To enter to win, you must visit all seven blogs (including us) and leave a comment on their post for today’s giveaway!

• Eighteen 25
• Kiki Creates
• Jeanna Hayes Studios
• 3 Little Birds
• SHE PAPERIE
• Sparkle Power

You also need to visit DownEast Basic and pick out the perfect outfit for a night out on the town. Return to WhipperBerry and tell us what it is!

For additional entries…

• Become a follower of all seven of these fabulous blogs, and leave a comment on each blog letting us know. You will receive one entry for each comment!

This giveaway is open to all US residents and will be open until Sunday, April 10th with the winner announced on Monday, April 11th here on WhipperBerry.

The Swag!!

DownEast Basic is offering a 20% discount on all regularly priced items!!  If you are here in Vegas all you have to do is head to our very own store at the District at Green Valley…

2240 Village Walk Dr. Suite #128
Henderson, Nevada 89052

…print a copy of this post and take it with you to shop to receive the discount or show them the post on your smartphone.  If you aren’t here in Vegas, you can shop online using the discount code…GREENVALLEY to receive your amazing discount. This discount is good starting today, April 7th and runs through April 14th!

Thank you Jeanna for the amazing photos of the evening!  To see more from the night stop by our Facebook page.

Happy shopping everyone!!

I have a dear friend, Janeen, who makes the most amazing Chocolate Cake EVER!!! It’s one of those cakes that leaves a lasting impression, it haunts you until you finally break down and beg your sweet friend to please share the recipe with you.  Then you beg some more to see if you can share it with the world.  Janeen, my dear, the world is going to LOVE you and your amazing cake!!

The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake… Ever!

1 Chocolate Cake Mix (any kind, I've used chocolate fudge, Swiss chocolate, or milk chocolate)

1 C Mini Chocolate Chips

1 cup Sour Cream

1 Pkg. of Chocolate Pudding (small 3.5 oz. box)

Prepare cake as directed on box, and add sour cream, pudding and chocolate chips.  Pour into 2 9-inch round baking pans.  Bake as directed on box (you might need to add a minute or two to the baking time because of the added ingredients).  Place on a wire rack to cool.

Equally Impressive Chocolate Frosting

1 cup butter at room temperature

3 oz. Ghirardelli 100% cocoa chocolate bar

4-5 cups powered sugar

milk

Chop the chocolate, then place in double boiler until melted.  Cream together butter, chocolate, and 4 cups of powered sugar. Add milk as needed for desired consistency.  Combine until creamy; continue to add powered sugar and milk until it is the consistency and taste that you want.  Place one layer of cake on cake stand and frost the top, then add the second layer and frost the rest of the cake.

Garnish with chocolate curls.  I like to make bigger curls for this cake.  Melt some chocolate, get a 9 inch round cake pan and turn upside down and then spread the chocolate on it as a thin, thin layer.  Let cool until the chocolate is set and then get a cheese slicer or potato peeler, and slice the chocolate into curls. 

Janeen made this Heavenly cake for our Bloggers Night Out {Vegas Style} [more on that to come!] this past weekend, and blew everyone away!! Janeen you are a doll!!