The besties, the bonfire and the carrot cake...

Hey Y'all.... Hope everyone is doing well.
Brady & I went up the coast to Gualala for our 2009 Camping extravaganza. Met up with my close peeps and got a special surprise from one of my dearest friends who flew up from San Antonio for the occasion.
Gualala River Redwoods park is a gorgeous campground... really one of my favourites here in NorCal. The setting, the venue, the weather.. GORGEOUS and very relaxing. We ate some really yummy stuff too.. Matt & KK made these amazing ribs and an I think it was an Orzo salad the first night. JE&Dem followed up in the a.m. with a yummy fruit salad, pastries and mimosas. UBER yummy sandwiches courtesy of Rebel Sistah and Dumbass. Had beef & mushroom skewers, heirloom tomato salad and garlic potatoes for dinner. Next morning rocked out a kick arse fritata.... it waa gourmet dining while camping... awesome time! Nothing like sitting on the river having cock-tails and just enjoying the sun... gorgeous!!!!

Yesterday Brady and I met the peeps for a nice bon fire at the beach.... a bit chilly vanilly but it was something I'd wanted to do since I moved here and finally got a good enough reason to do it. It was awesome.... special guest appearance by 'Ginger' which was a pleasant surprise. It was so wonderful, even with the fog, just sitting by the fire hearing the waves crash on shore and having some yummy wine and shooting the breeze was tons of fun..... but I'm guessing it was the company of great friends that made the evening spectacular.

So I had to bring something to the bonfire in commemoration of the 7th anniversay of my 29th b-day, hence I made my carrot cake. So I wanted to post the recipe for y'all to try it if you're into carrot cake. Now I'm not a baker, but I do rock this cake OUT!!!!! So here goes:

INGREDIENTS:
• 4 cups grated carrots
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinamon
• 4 eggs well beaten
• 1 1/4 cups of vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• one 16 oz pkg of softened cram cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°
Combine first 7 ingredients of cake. Stir in eggs, oil, and vanilla, mixing very well. Spoon batter into greased and floured cake pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Spread cream cheese frosting when cool

Frosting: Mix first 4 ingredients well, then stir in pecans