preakness balloons

the ants are still rulers of the kitchen so no baking...

but, today was the final day of the preakness balloon festival in turf valley. went last night to try to watch a launch/glow but there were only about 2 balloons and nothing was happening. but this morning i managed to haul out of bed at 5:45 am and run down to turf valley. it's a lot nicer running to a destination especially when it turns out looking this nice.

unfortunately the wind was blowing the wrong direction so the balloons weren't actually allowed to launch. but pretty awesome to watch them inflate. i wouldn't mind having a bunch of inflated hot air balloons decorate my backyard :D happy saturday (and what could apparently be the end of the world, but at least i can say i saw hot air balloons up close before the end).

here's another shot- the flower one and patterned one with teal were my two favorites.

instant gratification

nothing to post yet, but i've come to the conclusion that baking is my catharsis from school. no matter how poorly i do on an exam (it's finals week) when i can bake something together i know (usually) that something wonderful will come out. something that i can share with others and that others will enjoy. here's to baking and stress relieving. what's your secret to a really bad day/week/month?

oh, and safeway was having 4 lbs of strawberries for sale, and since i'm the only one at home i have a feeling something yummy will be made:)

happy friday, despite it being the 13th