Basic Bitch Cake: Pumpkin Spice Crumb Cake

I'm guessing that at some point or another you have heard the term "Basic Bitch"  For those who haven't here is a rough idea

Basically...(ha!) It's a funny term to refer to girls who like all the same typical or "basic" things.  One of the running jokes and themes of being a Basic Bitch is how much they love fall and all things pumpkin

So when I decided to make a pumpkin spice version of my New York Crumb Cake and give it to The Boy to take to work I told him it was "Basic Bitch Cake".....and the name just kinda stuck.

The recipe just like my original crumb cake starts with a cake mix.  But instead of yellow I swapped it out to spice cake and subbed out some of the oil and eggs for pumpkin puree, added some extra spice and voila.

Basic Bitch Cake (Pumpkin Spice Crumb Cake)


1 Spice cake mix
3 eggs, beaten
2/3 C. Milk
1 C. pumpkin puree

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Crumb Topping

4 C. Flour
2/3 C. Brown Sugar
2/3 C. White Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 tsp. Cinnamon
3 sticks melted butter

Combine the cake mix, eggs, milk, spices, and pumpkin.  Beat until smooth.  Spread in well greased sheet cake pan.
Bake for 15 mins at 350.  Meanwhile combine all ingredients for crumb topping.  

After 15 mins pull cake out and let cool slightly.  Break apart crumb topping dough into large crumbs and cover the entire cake.  Bake and additional 15 mins

Let cool completely before serving

 Since we're on the subject of Basic Bitchiness.....I thought I would try and determine where I land on the Basic spectrum.  Let's see here....

Not sure if this counts or not but all my paperwares are Basic

I just wore jeans recently for the first time in MONTHS (meaning leggings are my go to), even though I currently only own a camping worthy pair, I love me some Ugg boots! (even more of a basic offense I have eve rocked the Eskiho look in years past)

I could talk all day about how much I love Disney and Holidays, and boots and a flannel shirt are a good look in my book.


But on the flip side....I have only had Starbucks once and have never had Dutch Bros coffee (I just can't get down with paying that much beverage that doesn't at least have booze in it....and even then I do 97% of my drinking at home anyway)

While I don't dislike pumpkin I don't go INSANE the way alot of girls do, and lastly....I don't like Beyonce or Taylor Swift (20something girls everywhere just got the wind knocked out of them and aren't sure why)

So where does that place me on a scale of 1-10?  I'm going to say I'm a solid 7 Basic Bitch.

Where do you land on the spectrum??

Cholo Couples Costume

Looking for a last minute couples costume?  Well I have an easy one for ya...Cholo is the way to go!

The reason why it's perfect for last minute is because it's likely you have 90% of it in you closet already.

In the past I've spent a lot more time and energy in planning my costume....but last year was just too crazy.  I went on vacation and then immediately came back and threw a baby shower the weekend before Halloween....so costuming took the inevitable back seat.  I didn't even decide on the Cholo couple thang until the night before.  

So what do you need???

Flannel- with the return of the 90s fashions I betcha got at least one passable flannel in your closet.  Just make sure you only button the top button and you're set

Wife beater- or plain white T

Khaki pants- the wider the leg the better.  Grey or black will work too.....but I feel most Cholo in khaki

Bandanna or beanie- you know you have one!

For the ChoLAs Specifically: big ass hoop earrings, lip liner, and eye liner


Me and The Boy had pretty much everything we needed....but I got pretty set on the idea of getting what I only remembered as the foamy Nikes  I remember from my childhood.  Now I wasn't sure what they were really called so I had to do some googling to find out they are Nike Cortez.  Then I was informed by a few people that they are also called "Dopemans".  Mmkkay
 So Halloween morning I hopped in Cammy Corolla and ventured over to the mall in the sketchy part of town to score the shoe loot. 

 We were good to go!

One thing I completely underestimated was the art of crunchy hair.  I wet my hair, got max hold gel, and scrunched and scrunched until I developed arthritis and STILL didn't get the crispy look I was going for.  It was a big bummer.  Wah waaah! 

Here is how we looked together head to Dopeman

Then of course we took the kiddos trick or treating.  The Boy is a large Mexican...so I'm pretty sure people just assumed this was his normal everyday attire hahaha

At one point when we made it down the block I got sent back to the house on a beer run (like I literally ran both ways...first and only time a "run" for booze has been literal in my world)  My sister laughed because I could not have looked more ghetto in my gettup running with bottles of beer 

We came across the MOST PERFECT truck to pose with in our costumes....and just to prove how not hard I am....(in case you MIGHT have thought I was a hard ass)....I was told to throw up the "West side" sign.

This white girl panicked something fierce...didn't know what to do....and threw up the number 3 instead. Bahaha!  Nerd alert....More like a segment on Sesame Street than a gang sign 

That's a white cup in my hand.....not a completely misshapen boobie

That about sums it up here.  What has been your go to last minute costume?? I  might need it this year!

Grandma Yetta Costume

I am a HUGE  fan of The Nanny.  It's for sure in my top 5 favorite shows of all time. I have this dream of being each of The Fine women for Halloween, Yetta, Sylvia, and Fran (although technically Yetta isn't a Fine....she's a Rosenberg, but you get the idea and that's probably more information than you needed to know anyway)

A few years back I was Fran.  You can see the post HERE. 

I'm going to have to do a redo some year.....because honestly it wasn't that great.  My hose weren't opaque enough, my lips weren't red enough, and the hair wasn't high enough.  It was a bit half assed and Fran Fine deserves my whole ass.  But in my defense.....I was in charge of alllllll the food for the particular Halloween party, and most of you probably know that when you are the one pulling the party off...you getting ready (whether it be cute and dolled up or in costume) always seems to take a back seat and you never quite turn out the way you wanted.  Someday I will do her justice!

Fast forward about 2 years.....(but still at least 8 months before Halloween) and I was doing a little shopping at Goodwill.  I was walking down an aisle and the clothes on a rack parted and light came shining down from the sky......ok so not exactly.  BUT it did sort of feel like divine intervention.  

The rack was totally full and I couldn't see the front of it....but for some reason I was drawn to what at the time I could only tell was a black sweater with thick shoulder pads.  Once I moved the clothes next to it and I could see the front.....I gasped (gaspy hands on face emoji) and proclaimed out loud for the world to hear (really) "A YETTA sweata!!!"

It was a bright sequined sweater that instantaneously SCREAMED Grandma Yetta and I bought it right on the spot and kept it the rest of the year until Halloween.  Things like that just don't happen everyday and you must seize the opportunity!

Once it got a little closer to Halloween I started to gather the rest of the components for my Yetta  getup.   I bought a cheapo fanny pack and painted it gold with sparkly acrylic paint, stole some pants from my mothers closet (not sure why she had such horrendous pants that I don't remember her wearing since I was in the first grade...but whatevs....worked out well for me!) and bought a grey wig online.  The finishing touch was the glasses from https://www.giantvintage.com/collections/vintage-womens-sunglasses and a little lipstick.

My sister Bree was my hairstylist Halloween day and did an AMAZING job at teasing the ever lovin crap out of the wig and giving me some pretty EPIC Yetta hair.  It came out 1000000x better than I could have ever imagined or done myself.  Good job seester!

 Here it is all done

And a little side by side action

I can't wait to do a Fran redo and get my Sylvia on!