A Friendship Sweeter than Frosting

three years ago, i sat down next to a random girl in my old testament class.  she seemed very sweet, and i had no friends in the class, so i figured, why not?  it's nice to meet new people, sometimes.  as it turned out, she was super funny and we had quite a bit in common-we even lived in the same dorm.  by the end of that semester we were good friends, catching up outside of class and even going to workout classes together. i had no clue this girl i happened to sit down next to would become one of my best and closest friends, but it's things like those that you never can plan...

us with our "nutter better" v/gf cookies dipped in chocolate we made for last year's super bowl!

Robyn is a very dedicated vegan and introduced me to both vegan and gluten free baking. i know-i bet you're all thinking"oooooohhhh, so THAT'S where she gets it!!!" yep friends, she's the one who started me on the vegan and gluten liberated baking journey i love so much! the mystery is solved.

the friendship between myself and robyn has been one of my favorite parts of my college experience, and a huge blessing and encouragement in my life. she has helped me seek out God for healing and wisdom, and has made me die laughing in the process.  we have been very fortunate to live if not with each other, right across the hall from each other for our entire college careers, and even now that i've graduated and she is a senior, i still live so close to our college that i am able to visit her frequently-which is a good thing, because who else would prance down the street with me yelling "IMPALA POWER!!" during a six mile run? not many people, folks, not many people.

i am SO fortunate for this girl's presence in my life!!

we frequently had dance parties to our favorite pandora station, african essentials, in shower caps my junior year.
judge if you want, we ROCK those caps!

last year we took our friendship and began to do something with it! suddenly, between working out together, speaking in basically all inside jokes, and constantly being there if one needed prayer or life advice, we also began to explore a passion we both shared-baking.  armed with vegan cookbooks, measuring spoons, and five year old giddiness, we weekly turned our humble college apartment kitchens into, let's be honest, parisan patisseries. from decadent cupcakes, to raw cheesecakes, to dozens of different types of cookies, we created it all.  it was such a breath of fresh air from all the school, work, and stress surrounding us.  we both found such release and enjoyment in baking, and of course nothing beats a delicious, warm cookie fresh out of the oven with a cup of tea and your best friend to chat with!

luke quickly came to the realization that if he was going to date me, he was also going to date robyn-it was inevitable.  thankfully, he and her get along quite well and luke is very aware that when we three go somewhere, he's the third wheel.  if i call him after having a bad day, he response is usually "have you gotten to see/talk to robyn?" because he knows that she is a fail-safe way to cheer me up.

the three of us in our happy little family!

robyn is originally from rochester (rachacha), ny so during the summers we don't get to see each other.  however, this past summer she came up for a weekend visit! we did what we always do-sit at our favorite cafe to chat and catch up, and then BAKE!

look at dem perdy eyes!

it was wonderful to have her actually visit!  we immediately started planning what type of cupcake to make.  it is our dream someday to open up a bakery together, and we talk about new ideas we have for it all the time.

we both love chocolate and coconut, so after much deliberation and debate, and we decided on making a chocolate cupcake with a coconut frosting.  we went back to my apartment, and got to work!

one of the best benefits of vegan baking? you can eat the batter without fear of egg diseases!!
ahhh, sweet freedom...

i seriously want robyn to write a guest post on here sometime, sharing all of her food wisdom-because friends, she has TONS of it! she was the person who introduced me to my first chick pea (after working out sophomore year of college!), green smoothies, and the benefits of both gluten free and raw cooking.  just last week she fed me and luke PURPLE POTATOES!! i didn't even know those existed!

when the cupcakes were done, we frosted them up and then enjoyed the fruits sweets of our labor!

they were GOOD! chocolately, coconuty-much like the ones i made for my graduation party. i think we enjoyed posing with the cupcakes and giggling as much as we enjoyed actually eating them! but i mean-talk about eye candy! ;)

now robyn is back at college and only 10 minutes from me!  we have already begun planning all sorts of yummy pumpkin and fall themed goodies to make, so you will for sure be seeing what we cook up in the coming months!!

all of this to say you might want to rethink putting on your ipod on the train, or averting eye contact with the person you sit down next to in class.  you never know if she or he could become your new best friend, introducing you to new passions, ways of living life, millions of inside jokes, and a friendship that you thank God every day for.

knock some pandas, yentup!!!!