What a busy Friday I had!

When an invite comes through the regular mail I get so excited! I’m honored that someone would actually want me at their party or soiree! It’s such a pleasure.

My delusional self sees this as an invite to a party!

A few weeks ago I received a letter from the PA Career Link inviting me mandating me to attend a career workshop given by the State of Pennsylvania. It was a bit on the passive/aggressive side though. I was welcomed with “Congratulations” and further down in the letter of invitation was “mandated” to attend. Anyway, I received this “random” letter because the State of PA figured me to be one of the most unemployable persons out there.

It means the powers that be saw my birth date. I’m too old to be quickly rehired!

I also pondered about what to wear.   I did make a phone call to the unemployment office the other day to inquire about the dress code. Should I wear business casual? A suit? Conservative dress? The person on the other end of the line thought I was nuts. I was told to dress as though I was going to the mall.

A good casual look for unemployment–don’t you think?

Too sloppy. I MISSED a spot with the iron. Won’t do. I need something….

….to finish the look off. The Schoolboy blazer works wonders!

  I ended up going with a J. Crew white shirt and Gigi Pants and my black and brown boots, but somehow it didn’t look right until I threw a black J. Crew Schoolboy blazer on to appear more polished.

Hiding that turkey neck may allow me to appear a bit younger?  NAH!!!

Those scarfs to hide my turkey neck keep getting higher and higher–soon they’ll hide my face!

Honestly, any sarcastic thoughts I had about the Career Link session were thrown out to the wind.

I enjoyed this place so much that I cannot wait to return for additional sessions and training!  Hmmm…maybe they will hire me????

When I arrived and checked in, the receptionist was so incredibly nice. He was pleasant and empathetic, took down all my information with a smile and told me to take a seat. The efficiency and timeliness was amazing. No sooner had I made myself comfy, when I had to pick up my stuff and head into another room for the career session. The woman who led the session was so animated and interesting and informative. There was no judging at all. There was not one moment where I wanted to doze off either!

I’m not gonna bore you with the deets, but this was a great and informative two hours! We all chuckled at the “random” letter we all received because the room could have been dubbed “Fifty Shades of Gray”—yeah, we were all around that “certain age”.   We were offered various training sessions—I even signed up for an Advanced Excel class (god, how I despise pivot tables!). I think I signed up for every available class they offer!  So I thank you, State of Pennsylvania for putting the “fun” in my unemployment—Fun-employment, if you will!

I’m making my version of the Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook’s Chocolate Malt Cake. I use this cookbook for making desserts that I seriously need another copy.

My favorite dessert cookbook. I’m also a Momofuker stalker-I’m surprised I’m not banned from their Facebook page!

Look at how messed up the pages are—I use it that much.

Time for a replacement book–don’t you think?

I’m adding a link from the Epicurious Site for the recipe. It’s really good because it gives realistic prep times.

Epicurious Momofuku Chocolate Malt Cake Recipe

This is an overnight recipe. It pays to make the cake the day before you plan to eat it. Also, assembling the cake a good many hours before devouring helps as well! The recipe also calls for charred marshmallows, but last time I made the cake I almost burned the house down. My torch ran out of juice, and I placed the tiny marshmallows that the recipe called for under the broiler too long.

Instead, I’m making a cream cheese Marshmallow Fluff frosting. Besides, the leftover fluff will come in handy when I crave a Fluffernutter sandwich!

A great substitute if you don’t want to char marshmallows and burn the house down!

Here’s how I made the frosting: I took one 8 oz. package of room-temperature cream cheese, half a box of confectioner’s sugar and about 3/4 cup of Fluff, placed them into my Kitchen Aid mixer and mixed, not whipped, on high for about 3 minutes. Then I placed in the fridge until I was ready to assembly the cake.

Oh…I also added “Milk Crumb” to the “Malted Milk Crumb” as well:

Momofuku Milk Crumb Recipe from Martha Stewart

Listen—I make no apologies for being one of the messiest bakers and cooks on earth. I cannot help it. I get cocoa all over me—to the point where I just mix it with water and spread it on my legs to make them look tanned—I’d save a fortune on fake tanner! Confectioner’s sugar and flour leave clouds in my kitchen so dense you would think you were on an airplane. Snotty egg drippings make their way to my counter and splatters practically make designs of abstract art on my walls.  And…my little Chippy loiters around to grab used paper towels and eat them. Look at this mess he creates!

Chippy grabs and eats the paper towels and……

What he doesn’t eat, he leaves a trail on my kitchen floor and good rug. He takes his toys out of his basket and leaves them all over too.  Then when I scold him (as if he is human), he gives me this look…………….

……..like “..and your point”?????????

But I cannot resist those eyes!

It doesn’t matter, though, because my OCD kicks in a bit later and I’ll take the toothpicks out for some expert cleaning.

After the cake assembly was completed I had a chance to peruse the new J. Crew catalog. Be still my heart—job or no job, I must have these pointy-toed metallic shoes.

These shoes are calling my name!

They will be mine. Oh hell yes. These will be mine.

J. Crew and Jenna Lyons are also redeeming themselves. Look at this page from the latest catalogue. 50+. I love it.

The Redemption of The Crew. I LOVE the model too!

  This page is practically right out of my closet. And check it out—those metallic shoes I am lemming for!

Well, the rest of the weekend will be a “Mommy and Me”. Oona is coming in from NYC and we’re gonna have some shopping and Oscar fun! I’ll also be spending quite a bit of my Sunday doing her laundry and ironing her wrinkled clothing. I can’t wait!

Wait! Before I go.  Remember the bookcase I told you we ordered?  Here it is! Now we need a twin so I have to wait till Vintage Home gets another shipment!

Looks great–doesn’t it?  It’s in the downstairs family room!

Gotta go and get ready to drive to the train stay to pick my bay-bay up!

Here’s a little ditty about work and funemployment!