It all started with a trip to the grocery store for some fruity pebbles and somehow ended up with enough stuff to make Spinach, Feta Pasta, frozen pizza, and two boxes of Chocolate Popsicles.

On the phone with Jenny, I say "I should never shop hungry and depressed. I mean really who needs TWO boxes of Popsicles?"

To which Jenny replies "I've been craving cookie cake. But I don't have any reason for one. I saw one at the store last week and have been thinking about it ever since."

"Get one anyway."

"But you need an occasion. The only one is my cousin Katie's graduation and that's in Louisiana. I can't do that."

"Well, my Katie is graduating from preschool next week. We can have a cookie cake for her graduation."

"Congratulations, Katie. You graduated and Mommy and I had a cookie cake and cheese fries without you."

"Exactly. We should totally do it. Then we don't have to share. It's the perfect plan."

So let's all have desserts to celebrate Katie's graduation. Just don't tell her because she might be mad since we aren't going to share.

Labels: Family, Me want Cookies

My sisters just blow me away sometimes.

So this weekend was my birthday, and I had a kick-ass birthday party with my family and best bitches and lots of Beatles Rock Band. And my sisters! Like, ok, you know those families you hear about where they have, like, "everybody make presents for each other for Christmas" rules, and nobody's allowed to buy anything, and you totally feel sorry for them, because how much does that have to totally suck?

Um, if that were my family? Which I'm kind of thinking it should be? You'd want to be adopted by us. Because check this out!

So one of my sisters apparently collaborated with my husband (because no way did she come up with this in like one night, because it's completely awesome) and made this completely amazing iPad case:


This is handmade! I mean, it fits like a glove, and has pockets on both sides for earbuds and charging cords and whatever, and it's padded, and has super-soft fleecy fabric inside to protect the screen - the detailing is just to die for (that buttonhole actually does lie straight... I just set it down wonky when I was taking the picture) - and how great is that fabric? AND she put handles on it so I can carry it by itself, but they're little enough that I can throw the whole thing in a bigger bag. So great!

And then my OTHER sister, the baking one, made this:



Check out that cute poodle! (It's an apron, by the way - I didn't take a picture of the full length because the poodle's so adorable.) I mean, seriously - is this an argument for a family etsy store, or what?

Labels: Family

Around here, Wednesday is also known as Bread Day.

My sister, who some of you know is a baker, recently started(? birthed? created?) a sourdough yeast starter from, um... some grapes? And other things? It's slightly pink, or was, and smells kind of boozy, and she's named it Boy George.

Anyway, now that it's grown to massive proportions (at least for something that started out as some grapes and... flour and... stuff), every Wednesday is baking day for everyone who orders bread. She brings these fantastically fresh, AMAZING-smelling, still-warm loaves to choir practice, so even though we've just come from dinner, we're all starving by the time we get out.

And then I make sandwiches and toast and all kinds of yummy things. I think next week I'm going to get hoagie rolls instead of a loaf, just to mix things up a little. My other sister got those this week, and they looked really good. And I tend to have some left over at the end of the week, since the loaves are pretty big - I need to find a good bread pudding recipe. Time for some experimenting!

Labels: Family

So, since this is the week of introducing ourselves, let me introduce you to my family.

Are y'all watching Parenthood on Tuesday nights? Ok, take out all the weed and you've basically got the gist of my family. A big, loving crew, all up in each other's business (in the best way), running into each other at random houses all the time, occasionally chasing possums (well, armadillos, and that was a long time ago, but still), something constantly baking somewhere... maybe the make-up's not exactly one-to-one, but if you want to know what it feels like to be part of my family, watch Parenthood. Or if, like me, you're still mourning Six Feet Under and Gilmore Girls. It's pretty much the cure-all.

My immediate family? I'm married with a couple of dogs - Sadie and Miles. They're sweet little devil-dogs who generally work together to drive me nuts until I'm about ready to strangle them (most recent example? I bought Sadie a pricey new comfortable bed, which she slept on for two nights, then on the third day gutted all of the stuffing from - now she acts like I'm so mean to make her sleep on the nearly flat cover), then give me those patented puppy-dog faces that I can never hold a grudge against.

I mean, how could you stay mad at this?

Labels: Family