Wednesday, December 29, 2010

new year, new look

Well... things have changed a bit around here haven't they. What do you think? I was going for a fresh, new, simpler look. And I think I have achieved just that, if I may say so myself. :)

I still have a lot of catching up to do in the world of editing photos and writing blog posts. But tonight I decided to focus on the blog itself.

I also wanted to share with you my most favoritest Christmas gifts this year. And yes, I know, favoritest is not a word. It is in my world.

First, the favoritest gift that I recieved. Well, it's a tie.

For the most thoughtful, the award goes to the husband...
who gave me this gorgeous necklace from Helzberg's I am Loved collection


For most useful, the award goes to my parents...
who gave me this new lens!!!!! it's a Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8


I seriously about peed my pants when I saw this lens for the first time, and realized it was MINE, ALL MINE!!  I am so excited to get some good use out of this bad boy.  EEEK!


Now on to the more important...the most favoritest gift that I gave!
I made a photo book for the little munchkin, full of all the photos I've taken of her in her first year.
(to see the whole book, click here ~ Shutterfly rocks!)

I'm not gonna lie, it was a LOT of work to put together...but it was so worth it.  I love how it came out, and I really can't wait until she is older and I can sit down and look through it with her.  

Now don't get me wrong... I received TONS of WONDERFUL gifts this year from my amazing family and friends.  And I'd like to think that all of the gifts I gave were equally as wonderful.  I just had to highlight a couple of the really super awesome ones. :)

So enjoy the new look of the blog, tell me if you like it (or if you hate it), and start thinking about what you're getting me for Christmas next year so that you too can make my most favoritest list (hehe. I kid, I kid).  And stay tuned for (hopefully) several catch up posts coming soon!!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Christmas (Eve)!!

First of all:  yes, I know, I am terribly behind in blogging.  I have several posts in the works, and lucky for you I am off work next week so I should be able to play a lovely game of catch-up.  I’ve also been toying around with the idea of re-designing this bad boy (again), so look out for that next week as well. :)

But for today, I wanted to share with you what I was busy doing last weekend in preparation for the holidays!

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Just call me Suzie Homemaker…I was a baking fool y’all!

I spent the entire day last Sunday in the kitchen, baking away.  It was so much fun!  Of course I’m not so sure how much my waistline has appreciated the constant sugar overload, but hey, its the holidays right!

So here is what I made (click on the picture for a link to the recipe):

Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn 

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Peppermint Bark

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Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

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this was my first attempt at decorating with Royal Icing, and for that matter my first time baking sugar cookies using any recipe other than my mom’s!  I went all out for these, buying pastry bags, decorating tips, gel coloring…all the stuff on that cake decorating supply aisle at Michael’s that I’m usually too afraid to go near. It was worth it though, because in the end I was SO happy with how they came out.  Now, of course they aren’t perfect…I am still a beginner here.  But for my first try, I think they came out great!  Of course, I spent longer-than-I-care-to-admit making them, but hopefully that is something that gets better with practice.  And the husband gave the final seal of approval, saying they tasted great!  So I’m happy to say my first attempt was a definite success. :)

I also made Chocolate Covered Pretzels.  I don’t have a recipe for these because, well, they’re pretty basic.  One of my favorite holiday goodies though!  I may or may not have eaten them for breakfast the other day at work. :)

Well, I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve, and that the rest of the holiday weekend is full of fun, family and lots of goodies!  I will be back next week with all of my catch-up posts :)

Ho Ho Ho!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Cake, anyone??

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Over the weekend, someone I know had a first birthday party…

And someone dug right into some delicious cake…

More to come soon :)