test batch

Trying to come up with a cookie to fill some Valentine-themed chinese take-out boxes I bought. I made sugar cookies tonight that I plan to glaze tomorrow using a recipe from December's Bon Appetit (juniper berry icing glaze), but I took a few rounds and made Greg and I some jam-filled sandwich cookies to sample tonight. Turns out they're pretty damn good and I could maybe just make these for the little boxes, but I bet they'd be too messy with the powdered sugar on top.





The paper lantern is another Daiso purchase and I turned it into a lamp with some stuff from the hardware store. This is my favorite thing in the house now I think. I decided to turn the hutch into a bar a few months ago and have been wanting some way to light the inside and this is perfect.





Little rabbit bowl my mom picked out while we were shopping today. It may not be spring yet but around here I swear it has started to feel like it a little bit already.

unexpected

My break from posting just sort of happened and I have nothing in particular to say or show for it. I did however seem to come up with some resolutions for 2007 just last night while driving home from work which I don't normally do and wasn't trying to do. I was just thinking of my life in general and how lucky I am and that lead to thinking how I wanted to start volunteering more and get Greg to join me sometimes so that we can give back a little. That lead to spending more quality time with local friends to develop closer relationships, and finding ways to meet new people, because that's one of the only aspects of my life that doesn't seem full right now. Of course having people over more which I always want to do then means we need to finally stop being lazy and get our dogs trained better which would improve our life tremendously (and as a bonus having good dogs would be helpful for whenever we start a family so that the dogs don't accidentally kill the baby). And trained dogs means we can take them both on walks down to the beach to play at the same time which is part of our plan for being happier and healthier which also involves more time at the gym and more healthy eating which is my cliche resolution but there it is.



Onto something else, I made my first exploratory visit to the new Daiso store outside San Francisco and as I walked in and started looking around I just wanted to shout, "are you trying to kill me here?". I think I came close to having a heart attack it was so overwhelming. With the people and the random arrangement of shelving and the stuff piled up to the ceilings it was a lot to take in. But don't worry, I managed to get it together and buy tons of stuff I don't need but that I just love (like these metal man and woman bookends)!





More to come sooner rather than later.

happy new year 2007

We were on a plane flying back from the east coast at midnight last night so we celebrated the new year at home tonight. I tried the Ina Garten frozen berries in hot white chocolate recipe and it didn't disappoint. We had a great week in Florida hanging with family and drinking too much with friends. It even cooled off some of the days and only reached the 70s. Today I actually enjoyed taking down all the holiday decorations because it's nice to get back to normal life in a way, and I did some furniture rearranging which is always so satisfying.

Hope you all had a great holiday and ushered in 2007 with joy. I heard someone say whatever you do on NYE has something to say for what the coming year will hold for you - so we are hoping for us we'll be doing lots of traveling and having many good times together.