In my life, chocolate has long been touted as a "cure-all" for the blues. Need to feel like you're in love but don't have a boyfriend to cuddle? Eat some chocolate. Have a bit of a headache that just doesn't want to go away? Chocolate will, in most cases, cure it (it's the caffeine). Lying in a hospital bed and need something warm to heat you up and make your day that much better? Grab some hot chocolate from Tim Horton's...or have someone bring you some (much better!). Need something to comfort you when you're just feeling out-of-sorts? Grab something nice and soft and smooth like...you guessed it: CHOCOLATE. It's the best thing to pick you up when you're just feeling...blah.

I've been a bit blah lately. Too much to do, too little time to do it in and too many people asking me questions I have honestly gotten to the point of not wanting to answer. I never knew that planning your own wedding could be like this; I had always thought that I would enjoy the process immensely and that it would be a breeze for me because I'm so organized and energetic when it comes to planning something. I love planning dinner parties and other gatherings; this would be no different, right?

Uh, no. Not even close. It's weird. Once you utter those dreadful words, "it's a wedding" eyes widen, jaws drop and people expect your heart and your wallet to just spring open and for you to just drip happiness, joy and cash, as though you are salivating, sweating and coughing them up, all at once. You would think that by this day and age society would be able to accept that a woman can plan her own wedding and do it the way she and her fiance want to...not the way a magazine, a television show or their own parents told them to.

BIG SIGH.

Deep breaths. Count to ten before you lose it, Jennifer.

Okay. I think I should get back to baking my cake. Yes, you heard me correctly, I am in the process of baking my own wedding cake. As if I don't have enough stress in my life - why not add some of the baking variety??

In the meantime, perhaps I need another slice of this chocolate ganache tart with raspberries...?

Recipe