Before and After

Before

After

Have all of you seen Elliott's new do? It was hard to let go of those locks, but it was time. We don't want the poor guy to look back on old photos and wonder why we let him run around unkempt. We love his new cut.

I've had a really hard time with changing anything about my "little baby." He is still so pale, because I cringe whenever he is in the sun and I slather him with sunblock and cover him up as much as possible. His little delicate skin! And his hair! It is so hard to cut it. I can literally count all of the haircuts he has had in his three years of existence! 4...maybe 5. Wow, once you put that on paper, its pretty... amazing.

Candace Hubbard over at Vogue Salon in Newport Beach did a FANTASTIC job like always. If you're in the market for a good cut, you need to pay a visit to Candace. She really is amazing at what she does. She won't just give you the cut you saw in a magazine, she will first ask you what you like about it and be honest about what would be good for you in particular. She is really very skilled. She does not just cut hair, she is a professional, a craftsman/woman if you will. I am sorry for the rant, but I really feel very strongly about it! She is awesome!

So... What do you think? (Of the cut, that is.)

Verse of the day

Psalm 16:8
"I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand
I shall not be moved."

Victory!

Victory at long last! Its taken me since my birthday, on the 15th, to
get my kitchen clean. (nevermind the noodle in the sink) There has
been a perpetual state of confusion, to say the least, in most parts
of the house. Yes, its 2 am, but we did it! We did all the dishes--
not just some... Congratulations!

(details on birthday loot to come later)

I ♥ Cookies...

  Photo by David Escalante

Shortbread?... good.  Espresso?... good.  Chocolate?... GOOD.  What's not to like?

Needlessly to say, we LOVED these chocolate dipped, heart-shaped, espresso shortbread cookies.  I stumbled upon this recipe over at the Cream Puffs In Venice blog while perusing my RSS feeds one glorious day shortly before Valentine's Day.  I tried out the recipe which she got at Fine Cooking, and they turned out fabulously.  We ended up packing them up in clear cellophane bags and attaching Elliott's finger-painted Valentine's and giving them to our friends.

I made a few changes to the original recipe...  I tempered my chocolate and I used sea salt instead of regular because I like that extra saltiness you get in shortbread when you use a bigger grain of salt.  I chose to use Peet's Italian Espresso roast (which was amazing) and Guittard semisweet chocolate.  Go Guittard!  

Oh!  And David stepped up and saved the day, because after the dough was ready to be cut and it was midnight or something and the kids were in bed and we couldn't go out, I realized that I didn't have a heart-shaped cookie cutter.  I was determined to have my cookies heart-shaped and was about to whip out my paring knife and carve the hearts out by hand, when David suggested that I look in Elliott's playdough accessories...  Thanks be to Sue, who bought him like a JILLION little shapes, (whom I previously had secretly cursed for giving him all of those dang shapes that I have to pick up every time) for lo and behold, there was a heart-shaped

cutter.  I washed it of course...  and gave Dave a big kiss (well, actually, I'm not sure that I did, but I should have).

Seriously, though, if you get in the baking mood soon, you need to make these...

  Photo by David Escalante

P.S.  We forgot to take photos of the finished product after they were baked and dipped halfway in chocolate, so you'll either have to imagine them or make them yourself!

Post office...

...here we come. Here's a look at our finished project.