Where I am...

To say I haven't written in a while is kind of an understatement. Not even really sure if anyone will be by to read this. Not really sure of much anymore. I haven't really written for a few reasons - one of which is that I am really going through a very difficult time right now. Lots of change. Lots of uncertainty. Lots of days when I am not really sure why my life feels like it is unraveling. Trying to keep a stiff upper lip, but it is getting increasingly difficult. When I have the strength to write and the courage to share all, I will be back. For now, please pray for me and for the very tough journey I am on. Much love to you all.

Kristin

If you can't say anything nice, sit next to my mom

Mothers and Daughters - out of all of the relationships I have had in my life, my relationship with my mother has been the most valuable, the most all-encompassing, and also the most complicated. What I love best about my mother is also the thing that bothers me the most sometimes - she is brutally honest. As in, if you are looking for someone to fluff your feathers, don't call my mother. As an adult, when I go shopping for clothes, I can still hear her commentary. Like today, when I tried on a bright pink dress, I heard her voice, as clear as day, say "Oh my god, you look like a beach ball." Which would be funnier if she hadn't actually said it once, when I was trying on something back in the day.

I called my mom today and we laughed about the beachball dress, and I think she felt bad that
I remember her saying negative things. The truth is, she isn't perfect. I don't think I'd want her to be. Or else, I would be walking down the street in a bright pink dress and people would be secretly thinking..."that poor girl, she looks just like a beachball."

Oh this movie...

Did you see the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? I should have known I would love it because it is written by F.Scott Fitzgerald. I've never read anything of his that hasn't stuck to me for life. My favorite scene of the movie (and also the scene that made me tear up) was the scene pictured below, where the characters are realizing that their love is in its absolute prime. Knowing it will not be this way forever, they look in the mirror at themselves, to truly remember the moment. I was reading my sister's blog earlier and she posted a picture of her and her husband back in their dating days. She wrote that she wasn't sure how they got where they are from the happy moment in the photo. Ahhh, life. It is so beautiful sometimes and so hard sometimes. In every relationship I have had, I can look back and remember that happy time. The dizzy headed, butterfly, fireworks moment. Even in friendships that have been lost, you can look back and remember those moments. Nothing can change the ebb and flow of life. I guess the message is to enjoy the prime. If its good, know that its good. And hope it lasts as long as possible.

A quote from the movie that sort of spoke to me:

"For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. "

Oh, and if you haven't seen this movie, you simply must.

The Happy Place

Okay, so my posts have been a little deep lately. So I'll just warn you that this one will be too. I promise I will try to write more about sunny things like cupcakes and antique store finds, but right now, I'm in a deep place and my posts are coming from that place. I hope you'll read along with me and in the process maybe feel a tap at your heart - like this applies to you too. A few weeks ago, when my friend Nick was out, we were sitting outside at dusk, eating dinner and I looked at him and said "this is going to be one of my happy places." I then told him that I (like all of us, I'm sure) have these captive memories of moments in my life that are my happy places. I can go there in my mind and be there, relive the moment, enjoy the happiness. Most of them aren't big earth shattering milestones like birthdays or graduations. They are simple moments where life is just really good. And the other thing about happy places - you normally don't have a picture to go with them. Like you are there, enjoying it, and even if there was a picture taken, it wouldn't really accurately encompass what the moment truly was about.

Nick and I spent a while sharing out happy places - for him, it was an evening on his parent's porch, right after he came home from being away in New York at college. There were candles lit, great music playing, and all of the people he loved were there. A happy place.

Tonight, Tim and I went to Laguna Beach for dinner. We ate at the most amazing restaurant, and as we ate, I brought up the happy place thing. I told him that this - our dinner tonight - was a happy place. And so many other moments with him - our times in Solvang, especially at our favorite wine bar, the smell of the aged wine in casks heavy in the air. I can close my eyes and be there. A cloudy morning in Mystic, CT, the day of Tim's Aunt's wedding, shopping for a trinket to give Tim's mom and having clam strips in a little New England fish house. And a fall night with my friend Jonathan, at his friend Yvette's in Laguna Beach. Sitting there in a courtyard on a black iron work patio set, just the two of us. With the splashing water of the water fountains and the smell of hundreds of white roses. French music spilling out into the night and a real conversation. No words spared. Such a beautiful moment of friendship. It was nice to sit with Tim and talk about my happy places and to learn about his. Some of which I'd never even heard about. I got to live them with him as he talked about them. As we talked, the waiter came by and said "Wow, I haven't wanted to interrupt you guys"..."You seem so in love." What came to me is that we are nothing more than a sum of moments, and that passionate moments are what we are here to have. The waiter even saw the passion spilling from both of us as we shared our favorite moments of life.

Next time you are with someone you love, ask them to tell you about their happy place. And think about yours. Close your eyes and go there for a minute. I hope it fills your heart as it did mine tonight.

Where I am right now...

"It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear...It's like being between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to."

That is so where I am right now.

Linus when his blanket is in the dryer.

I have nothing to hold on to.

I've been in such a funk lately for quite a number of reasons. Part of that is the transition I am going through at work. Exciting changes, but changes just the same. Changes that mean leaving the people that I love seeing every day. Changes that mean difficult decisions, difficult situations, the uphill battle that I've already fought once - off to fight it again, it seems. Only in a new place. An important place. With all eyes on me.

I've been selected to run one of the flagship locations for my company for a few months during my colleague's maternity leave. Four months or so away from my store seems like such a long time not to laugh my heart out with Jonathan, hear Debbie's stories, get Gloria's advice. Part of leaving means that I have to hand my store over to Jonathan. And step away.

STEP. AWAY.

And know that I have given him the tools he will need to make it a success. Know that it is his chance to do something great. To accept that he could even do it better. Sigh...

And to step back and let him stumble a little here and there because that is how you learn. It just is. I'm so proud of him. I want him to do so well. It's hard to leave my baby though. The store, not Jonathan. Although that is hard too.

I think of all of the times I have been in this situation. Where gaining something new means letting go of something well loved. Where the time comes to walk away from what is comfortable in pursuit of something challenging. It is the right thing, but it is a sucky thing. Yes, I said sucky.

I was talking to my friend Gloria - my sounding board - about the whole thing. She was saying that when she was a child, they moved a lot. And each place they lived taught her something great. Great friendships. Great experiences. She said she wouldn't have traded one move because that would have meant missing out on something that made her who she was. But with each move, there was a loss. And that is where I am.

Love...

Come into the pomegranite orchard in springtime

where there are songs, dancing and good wine.

If you come, these do not matter,

If you don't come, these do not matter

--Rumi

My Nick

My friend Nick.

To say he means the world to me is sort of underestimating exactly how much he means to me. Even though I haven't known him my whole life, or even more than a few months, you would never know it by looking at us. He gets me. I get him. He calls me his Poodle. I call him my Nick. We laugh more together in an hour than I have laughed in years. He is a ray of sunshine. I always say that when he is around, everyone else is in black and white and he is in color. It couldn't be more true.And, as life would have it. He lives in San Francisco.

Way. Too. Far. Away.

Luckily for me, he was in town this past week and so I got to spend a few days showing him around Orange County. Long talks. Tons of Sangria. Martinis. We had more than our fair share of fun.

My least favorite part of seeing him is that each visit we have together is always punctuated by a goodbye. I cried last time when our time together was over. I cried when I dropped him off at the airport. I've been melancholy - missing him for the last few days. Such a sap. My favorite friend. I miss you and can't wait to see you again soon!!

What a kick!

This week has been sort of crazy and annoying. Do you ever have those weeks? I'd like to hit the big delete button of life and just erase this week. Don't you wish that existed?

In the midst of the blurry annoyingness that was the last few days, I had a fun life first! I got to feel a baby kick. I think I've touched a few pregnant tummies in my day, but never actually felt the kick. We were at Tim's sister Erin's house last night and she let me feel. Just amazing. And hard too.

Can't wait to meet you in September, Little Marley.

Dear Bobo the tent maker...

Dear Bobo-The-Tent-Maker,

I know that you normally make tents, but I think you are the only person who has enough material to make pants that will fit me right now. Bobo, let's just say that I have gained a pound or two ... or thirty in the last few years. You and I both know that my weight tends to fluctuate, but I want you to understand while you are rolling out those yards of material to make me my pants that I am only pudgy because I drink a lot of this...

and enjoy more than my fair share of these... and I want you to understand that before I became such a foodie, spouting off words like creme fraiche and brioche and tarte tatin, there was a time when I looked like this.

Now, please get to work on those pants.

Thanks,

Kristin

...Please note that the "skinniest" picture I have of myself was taken at my old place of work (I wish it was at a beach or doing something more fun than working. After my divorce, I went through a barely eating or enjoying life period where I worked all the time and didn't eat much. Isn't it sad that the time of my life that I looked the prettiest, I was enjoying life the least. Oh well. Nobody ever said that life was fair, did they.

Bellview Trail

This is Bellview Trail - the amazingly dreamy stretch of land where I go walking by my house. Every time I go, I get just far enough from my house that I can't turn back when I think "I wish I had my camera." So today, I actually remembered to bring it along for the ride.

Just the most amazing place in the world. I am so lucky to call this home.

The Golden Umbrella

I grew up listening to my mother talk about the conversations that she had with God. Conversations where she would talk to God and he would talk to her. I always figured that it was a figment of her imagination or a way that she would comfort herself and confirm her beliefs as if to say "God is real because I heard him talking to me." Certainly God wasn't so real and so tangible that we could actually hear him speaking to us. Or was he.

I have actually come to a real crossroads with religion in the last year. I've never been a very religious person. I went to church with my mom as a child and never felt comfortable there. I was frightened by the people being healed and the people speaking in tongues. I didn't find God there. I went through things in my life that I could not explain. Difficult times that didn't feel like the work of God. I looked at my life and I didn't find God there. I went to church with Tim and couldn't take communion because I am divorced. Certainly the kind, loving God that everyone speaks of wouldn't want me to be eternally punished every time I go to church by having to sit by myself while everyone else takes communion. So much for catholicism.

I didn't find God there.

But I did find him.

I was out walking in my neighborhood on the most beautiful day anyone could ever imagine, right at sunset (which my mom has always said was "Jesus's favorite time of day" according to the bible.) I was having a bad day, kind of having a pity party for myself. I was feeling really discouraged and sorry for myself.

I thought about my age - I'm just not as young as I used to be. I thought marriage and how I figured I would be married by this point in my life. And babies...my ex-husband just welcomed a new son into the world and here I am without children. With that clock ticking in the background. And my job, it pays the bills, but it isn't a dream. All of this playing in my head as I walked and looked up to the sky, praying and asking God for peace with all of the distress I was feeling.

And then it hit me...

How much I was taking for granted. How lucky I am.

I heard a voice as clear as day say to me

"Your life is protected and safe. You are under a Golden Umbrella."The Golden Umbrella...

Which keeps my family and I safe and well,

Which lead me from a troubled marriage to a happy life with Tim.

Which has brought friends into my life right when I needed them.

Which made it possible to have a beautiful home and live in a place that is so filled with beauty. Which took me out of a job that would have ended this past Friday in the most miserable job market imaginable. I would have been unemployed right in the thick of it all.

But the golden umbrella covered me from that.

And as I thought of all of the things that I have to be thankful for, I felt ashamed for focusing on all of my life's shortcomings when I have so much to be happy about. I began to smile and look up at the sky.

They say that happiness is where you find it. I think God is also where you find him. At your lowest moment. In the eyes of a new baby or the last breath of someone you love. In a moment where your life is filled with questions and there is only one way to find the answers. And you find God. There. Where you need him most and expect him least.

All Around Great Day

This past Sunday, I hosted my first Easter at our home. As if that wasn't scary enough, it was for both my family and Tim's AND it was the first time both families had met! Now that's a milestone of a day, isn't it? I have to say that it went just as perfectly as it possibly could have. The weather was amazing, the food was oh-so-good, and the families, well they were just so fun to have all together.

Keeping with my New Year's resolution to make life easy on myself, I decided to serve on paper plates. GASP! I can hardly believe I did it because I have a real problem with paper plates, but I wanted to enjoy my day and NOT do ten loads of dishes. Cute, huh?

My mom (on the left) Marie and Tim's mom Marsha. I think they did well together.
Beautiful Zoe, slept through the day.

Adorable Nick, looking like he just stepped out of a J Crew ad.

Little Drew playing catch with a lemon. My brother (who is such a big kid) picked them off of my tree. Oh well, they had fun with it.

Nick enjoying the bubbles.

Drew, who did such an awesome job with my nephew Nick. He even shared his bubbles. Awesome, huh? It was fun to see all of my favorite boys all together. Nick even got dirty - it was fun to see him be "one of the boys."

Baby Ryan trying out the bunny ears.

My friend Gloria said she prayed for me early on Sunday morning that everything would come together perfectly for me. She knew that I was nervous about getting all of the families together and about hosting nearly 25 people at my house. Her prayers were answered - it was a glorious day not soon to be forgotten. Hope your Easter was equally heaven-sent.

Can I go to bed yet?

Did you happen to see the Easter bunny at my house - filling eggs, hiding them, making desserts, arranging everything for a 30 person brunch? Well, neither did I. Okay, I'm crazy for staying up this late to get everything ready to roll for my party tomorrow. But I'm hoping you can look past that and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

A quick preview of tomorrow's dessert table.

I've never made a stacked cake before or a from scratch carrot cake for that matter. So, here is my first stab at both. I was brutally afraid that it was going to collapse or not tier right. Looks amazing - hopefully it tastes okay. There is so much more to show you...a bucket of Easter eggs ready to be hidden, some new splashes of color I added to my garden ready to be enjoyed, a beautiful coca-cola and molasses ham ready to be eaten and so much fun ready to be had (in just a few hours!!) I am on pins and needles to see how both families get along and a little anxious for everyone to like one another and break the ice. Cross your fingers for me!!
And enjoy a blessed Easter with your families and friends.

Let's Catch Up...

Okay, grab a cup of coffee (or a Diet Coke) and have a seat. I haven't blogged in a few weeks (cannot believe it myself) and want to catch you up on the latest happenings here in Dove Canyon.

I spent the last two weeks of March in Temecula helping coordinate the efforts for our beautiful new store that Grand Opened on March 26th. It was amazing to see a store go from four walls to a bustling store full of customers in only ten days. Needless to say, it was a lot of work. But even more than work, it was so much fun.

One of the best parts of the two weeks was meeting my new friend Nick. I have never met anyone that I felt so connected to (not in a romantic way, but in a "I feel like I've known you my whole life" kind of way). I cried when he got in the car to go to the airport and cried when I got home because I missed him so. The good news is that he is coming back to Southern California at the end of this month to help out with another project! I am so thrilled!!

My nephew Nick celebrated his second birthday at the end of the month and my sister hosted a super fun Birthday for him at a very pretty park down in San Diego. Imagine hosting a party two weeks after delivering a baby via c-section. My sister gets the Mom of the Year award!! The weather was perfect and the icing on the cake was getting to hold my ultra amazing niece Zoe. She is such a calm baby and holding her is my new favorite thing. Hard to believe little Nick came into our lives two years ago! The time has really flown by!!

And, after many recent computer problems followed by two failed battery adapters, I broke down and bought a new computer last night! It wasn't really a purchase that I wanted to make per say, but I found an awesome lap top and I'm having fun exploring it. I appologize for the lack of pictures on this post, but I haven't transferred them over from my lemon laptop.

And finally, Easter is right around the corner!!!! I decided last year that I wanted to host a big Easter egg hunt for all of the kids this year at our house. I grew up hearing stories about the amazing Easter egg hunts that my Aunt Joyce used to put together for us when we were little. Tons of eggs filled with everything from candy to coins to a lottery ticket or a dollar bill. With one golden egg that had something really special! I don't remember them at all because I was only a year old when my Aunt passed, but when I think of Easter, I think of my Aunt and the wonderful memories she created. SO, I am busy putting one together for Sunday.

I am also hosting a brunch afterwards and it will be the first time I've had both my family and Tim's together. I'm actually not nervous about it at all. I think it is way overdue! I am just praying for good weather and a fun day for all!!

So, my creative friends, any suggestions for cute trinkets to put in the eggs besides candy? All five of the "hunters" are boys between the ages of one and five!

So caught up...

I've been so busy and have missed posting, and writing, and most of all reading about what is going on in all of your lives. I am down in Temecula right now, helping to lead the grand opening effort for our brand new store in Temecula, CA. I have been having a blast and have made so many new friends. It has been amazing.

Speaking of amazing, here is my beautiful niece Zoe - born on March 15th. She is just breathtaking!

I have to run, but I will be back home in a few days and will catch you all up on the latest! Hugs to you all.

Grace in the small stuff...

1. Laughing out loud.

2. Chatting with my mom about the most random things. (Like how I used to love to use our microwave when it was a cutting edge appliance. I would offer to make hot dogs for everyone, just because I could make them so readily. What a child of the eighties!! )

3. Friends that know you like the back of your hand.

4. A cold diet coke in the morning (because I'm just not a coffee girl)

5. Surprising people - with a gift, with a kind word, with a job well done. Nothing feels better.

It's that time again...

Oh, why are these cookies so irresistable? I bought two boxes from Vikki at work - you know, to help out the cause. I bought the Samoas (you know, the ones filled with coconutty goodness) and the new lemon ones that are shaped like lemon slices. Well, Tim and I polishes those boxes off in about a day or two. Ooops. I was actually relieved to get them out of the house and away from my sweet tooth. But those darn scouts, they can spot a sucker a mile away. Tim must have been their big sale of the day yesterday, because he came home from the grocery store with 6 boxes. Tagalongs, more lemons (my new favorite), more Samoas, and some new chocolate shortbread deal. There would have been thin mints too if they hadn't sold out of them.

What about you? Did you support your local girl scouts? Which ones are the hardest for you to turn down?

Great Advice

I was talking to my friend Gloria today - who just celebrated her 30th Wedding anniversary. They are the happiest couple I know. I asked her how they do it - how they have kept a happy marriage alive through thirty years and four children and all of the things that come in and out of their lives. She said their philosophy with their marriage is that it doesn't have a back door. You stay and work it through. I suppose that is what generations of people have done before it was okay to just call it quits. Imagine how many things would be a success if people only worked at them and stayed with them. It just made me think. What about you, married friends? How do you keep your marriage afloat?

When it's time to change, then its time to change...

Remember a few posts ago, when I talked about my important conference call, and how I really wanted to make my mark.

I think I did. Because my voice got shaky and creaky just like Peter Brady when he sang "Its time to change." Except at least Peter brady had an excuse. It was so weird because that has never EVER happened to me before. And I was nervous, but not that nervous. My boss said I did great.

Thank God I can laugh at myself.

All in a day's work...

Oh, this crazy economy of ours. You can't watch the news for five minutes without hearing about it. Tim and I are really lucky to have great, stable jobs. But, like everyone else, I have tried to cut back on unnecessary (aka fun) purchases. So when I saw this guy at Target for $20.00 a few weeks ago, I resisted breaking down and buying it. But last week, I finally cracked and bought him. I mean come on, he is so cute! And I did really NEED a watering can. I just know the nephews will have fun with him when they come over.
I also picked up this cute plant to put in my planter by my front door. It screams spring.

I pulled out my fun little St.Patrick's Day sign for my garden patch.

After I finished gardening, I went for a walk, visited with my neighbor and then went to the store to get stuff to make dinner. I got this great classic salad recipe from Debbie at work. She is Sicilian and swears by this salad. Just a bag of good european greens, with some huge fresh parmesan curls...

toss it with the juice of one lemon (I got mine from my tree) and olive oil. So good, so healthy...

And since the salad was healthy, I didn't feel too guilty making these (scalloped potatoes) to go along with my turkey sausages (stuffed with feta and sundried tomatoes). My mom used to make these all the time. We all agree that they taste best cold.

Then, for dessert, I made this classic. My mom used to also make this a lot. I used fat free milk for my pudding, so I added a few extra wafers. This is one of my favorite comfort food desserts.

I took a picture before a cut a big old bowlful out for Tim and I.

I would say that makes for a great day, wouldn't you?

Standing Out

Standing out in my old company seemed to come really easily to me. I worked hard, did well, and people noticed. The way it should be. If they wanted something done well, done right, done quickly, I was their girl. It has been a little bit more challenging in my new job. In a bigger company, there are so many great people and so much talent - it has taken me some time to show them what I can do and to make my mark. I found out on Friday that my store has the top ranking cooking classes and technique classes in the entire company. Pretty amazing...And to top it off, I have been asked to speak on a regional conference call on Monday. So, I really want to stand out. Conference calls can be really flat lining and sometimes people talk and are so, well, forgettable. I want to make a mark. I thought about doing something funny - like asking for a show of hands...get it...on a conference call, you couldn't see the hands. Or telling them that I got a ball gown for the occasion - just to break the ice.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions to really make it memorable?

My Little Debbie

I love the people I work with. I don't think anyone goes to work every day with more amazing people than I do. One of my most treasured work friendships is with Debbie. She is funny, kind hearted, and incredibly talented in the kitchen. This woman can make about 100 different things with a brick of cream cheese and don't even get her started on making paninis. Seriously.
She reminds me a lot of my own mom. I think that is why I get such a kick out of her. I lovingly refer to her at work as "my little Debbie."
Little Debbie's daughter was blessed with a little girl after many years of trying for a baby. Little Riley Grace was born about a week and a half ago. Debbie's daughter experienced some complications, which landed her in the hospital, and that landed Debbie at home with her grandbaby for the first few days. Debbie is thrilled to have her daughter back home where she belongs and we are thrilled to have Debbie back at work where she belongs.

So to celebrate, we are having a little surprise "Grandma Shower" for her tomorrow.
I made the favors tonight - pretzels dipped in white Guittard chocolate and sprinkled with chocolate. Over 50 pretzels dipped and bagged!

They look so cute - don't they? This is the blanket that I ordered for Riley off of Etsy. It has a yummy layer of chocolate brown minky. And I love that pattern.Some of the decorations that I put together. My friend Jonathan is bringing a few boxes of "Little Debbie" brand cakes and other work friends will bring surprises for Debbie.

I put this frame together. I found the framed mat at Target on sale for $3.00 - I added the pretty gerber daisy embellishment. And then, I went online to find the perfect quote to put in (since I don't have a photo of Riley. So perfect for Debbie who loves to cook.

"Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies."

Isn't that the truth.

Where does the time go?

You know that saying "where does the time go?"

Well, the answer to that question is here. It goes here. I spend an embarrassing amount of time on facebook. Imagine all of the time I could be out exercizing, feeding the poor, doing worldly good...Not to say that being an avid facebooker doesn't have its perks.

Facebook has given me the chance to find old friends and people who I have lost touch with. It feels so good to reconnect with people and I am so thankful to facebook for bringing some very dear people back into my life.

Tonight, while playing around on facebook, I found one of my all time favorite people - who we'll call Judi. Judi was so much more than my 6th grade teacher - she was a mentor, a role model, and a friend to me. I remember meeting her for the first time as an anxious, awkward 12 year old on my first day of Junior High. She must have sensed my "lost in the shuffle-ness" because she sort of took me under her wing. She helped me find my locker and showed me how to open the lock. She let me do things like make copies for her and run errands - she just knew how to make me feel important. All throughout Junior High and into High School (where she began teaching), she was a friend to me. We lost touch after I left PV to go to college, but I never forgot the kindness that she showed me. And I can hardly wait to thank her for it - eighteen years later, it still warms my heart.

I think Maya Angelou said it best -

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Best Valentine's Day yet!

We had an amazing Valentine's Day and I hope you did too. Whether it is a big surprise or some thoughtful little touch, it seems like a great day to show someone you love them. Tim and I had agreed not to do presents this year - just dinner and dessert. But of course, neither of us actually stuck to that pact. Tim bought this bag and didn't even realize it played music. Isn't he a hoot. It plays "More than words" from the band Extreme. Do any of you remember that song? And look at what I got!

An ipod.

I may be the last living person under 80 to own one. Cool, huh?

Tim went and got Indian food for us to enjoy. It was amazingly good as usual. For dessert, I took my first stab at Red Velvet cupcakes. I love getting out my Kitchen Aid mixer and I look ever so color coordinated since it is red and it is Valentine's Day. I actually am saving up for a silver one that I can leave out on the counter. The red clashes with my granite. Oh well, back to the cupcakes...It starts out looking like chocolate...

Then, voila! Red Velvet. Isn't is just gorgeous looking!!And the finished product. The only thing I would change is the cream cheese frosting recipe. This one was more like whipping cream than cream cheese. Not that its a bad thing. I just like that extra thick cream cheese texture on my red velvet.

Want a bite?

There is so much love in this house. And since Tim isn't so keen on posing, I found another willing participant.

XOXO, from our house to yours!