My my, is it already nearing the end of February? That means my 29th birthday is two weeks away (eek!). I don’t know what the birthday plans are yet, maybe a couple nights in Dublin or doing the unprecedented and actually staying in town, but I do know that I need to make the absolute most of the last year of my 20’s. When my friend Lindsey freaked out about turning 29 four months ago, I could only laugh. Now I know EXACTLY what she was feeling. I figure I’ve got a year to travel for concerts before it starts getting sad. I don’t want to be the old lady at the rock show…
That being said, the Fray is back! Hallelujah! About damn time, boys! I keep all my concert ticket stubs (at least the shows I get paper tickets) and found that the very first Fray show I went to (and successfully got in) was on February 11, 2006. The show was sold out so I took them cookies and they were sweet enough (the band, not the cookies. Though those were sweet too) to get me in. It was all downhill from there. Between then and November 18, 2009, I had seen them 14 times (or more, that’s all the concert stubs I have) and as far as Paris, France. I had become known as their “psycho fan” which they even mentioned on stage at the last show I attended in November. By the way, I would like it publicly known that I am not a psycho. I just enjoy baking and seeing bands.
When the Fray came out with their new record, Scars & Stories, earlier this month and announced a short tour, I was bummed that Phoenix didn’t make the cut. So in typical Cookie Kelly fashion, I whipped up some cookies (vanilla macarons, chocolate cake balls, and “Bob bars”) and flew to Reno this past weekend to catch the show. Lindsey went with me, as well as my friend Jessica. It was a great time and so good to see those guys again.
And that leads to the fact that I finally mastered f*ing french macarons. Those cookies had become my achilles heel. I had never met a cookie I had so much trouble with before. They would either be under cooked or over cooked, and never grew “feet.” I wanted to try again though and take them to the Fray so I looked up a couple videos on YouTube, keyword searched “macaronage,” and gave it another go. With the oven light on, I watched those babies grow “feet” and cried out in joy. I knew just then, that Reno was going to be a good trip.
In other baking news, I still have been busy. I made a birthday bowling cake for a friend, and I made cake balls for Valentine’s Day for coworkers. This coming weekend, I need to bake sugar cookies and decorate them for my new guitar picks. Other than that, I’ll probably take a short break around my birthday. Let someone bake for me for a change.
All Things Crafty 