back home

oh is it ever so good to be back home.

little secret, i forgot to reveal, but i snuck away

pretty last minute to alt summit...a bloggers design

conference...that was a-maze-ing.

i am still in shock that i could be part of something

so incredible.

i feel pretty blessed.

more on that later.

for now,

it is so so good to be back home in sunny az,

in gorgeous weather,

with the ones i love near to hug and squeeze.

seeing ruby in the airport was glorious.

we did a dramatic run for each other.

now its just catching up and

trying to bring myself back to reality.

something sweet

so when i first heard the name of these cookies

i admit i was quite weary and thought,

hmmm....banana in my cookie? no thanks.

but i was dreadfully wrong.

they are deeelish....and make everyone

around you happy, i promise.

thanks to megan, who introduced them to us

back in the beginning of the restaurant,

they are a shared favorite.

i had a few requests a while back so i thought

i should share the recipie for those interested.

enjoy!

banana cream sandwich cookies

2 1/3 c. flour

1 c. sugar

1/2 lb. unsalted butter, room temp.

3 bananas

1/4 t. salt

1 t. vanilla extract

1/2 c. pecans, crushed (chopped up tiny)

icing:

3 c. confectioners sugar

1 stick + 2 T. butter (or 5 oz.)

3 T. whole milk

1 t. vanilla extract

Cream butter and sugar until well blended in mixer fitted with paddle attachment.

Add mashed bananas, mix until combined.

Combine flour and salt. Add to bowl. Add crushed pecans and vanilla.

Scoop out tablespoon portions (easy with a small ice cream scoop) onto sheet pan). Slightly flatten with your palm, lightly floured.

Bake until lightly golden at 350....Timing is probably about 15-20 minutes. Sorry I dont have a note on this.

While cooking, make icing:

Whip butter in mixer until smooth. Add confectioners sugar in small batches until wholly incorporated into butter. Add milk, one Tablespoon at a time. Add vanilla.

Once cookies are cooled completely, spoon a small spoonful...or however much you like onto one side of a cookie, and top with another cookie. Enjoy with a cup of joe, your kids or a dear friend and say ahhhh, this is so good.

aspiring

to have my bedroom feel like this

frenchy room

and dreaming

of hanging a swing somewhere in the house

just like this.

that purple rug and herringbone floor are

pretty sweet as well.

images found {here}

stunned by color

saw this project the other day

and just loved the color.

was considering using it,

or a variation of it on our fireplace.

i think it would compliment the gray room well.

darn design frenzy,

i cant get it out of my head.

i know you'll all probably say i'm crazy,

but any thoughts

or dare i ask?

making me smile and giggle

this guy sporting his

new christmas 'old man'

jammies.

he is pretty insanely sqeezeable in these.

playing with my random bunch of jewelry

i let ruby take hold of,

and witnessing her in these beauties...

old clip on earrings i bought

from some lady at sage forever ago who had

turquoise coming out of the wazoo.

yes they are little guns in holsters.

ruby just thinks its cool that she is wearing earrings.

and spending all morning in our pj's

dancing to the 'magic dance'

aka. baby song

by david bowie

thanks to the cd in pete and emily's car.

And.

lastly,

funny things on the 'what ruby has said lately' front:

we were outside a coffee shop playing downtown,

watching construction of a parking lot

and this black man walked by and said to ruby:

'hey little mama'

to which she replied, standing on a bench leaning forward:

'im not a mommy, im a ruby girl'

you go get em lady.

tell em whats up.

capturing a moment

ive been thinking a lot lately about photography and

how my absolute favorite pictures capture a moment

as it is happening.

they reveal the personality or character

of a person, which is so beautiful frozen on film.

it is my goal to be better at attempting this,

as daunting as it may be.

i read a while back how unnatural smiles are for

the camera and i just had to nod in agreement.

ive always felt rather silly and particularly

uncomfortable forcing a photo,

but then again i guess we need some of those,

for memories sake, i gather.

i do not know who took the above photo.

(taken at the old restaurant)

i think it was me

but it could have been my sister as she liked

to take the camera around and snap lots of surprise

photos for me to find later.

dont you think its a great photo of my dad?

what are your favorite kind of people pics?

staged or caught in a natural moment?

happy kitchen

just love this image.

it makes me want to start from scratch,

or simply satisfy the urge by making a fun grassy centerpiece for our table

and painting a chalkboard wall near the kitchen table.

january is for new beginnings right?