Learn how to make some easy and simple garden wedding flower decorated sugar cookies with this royal icing cookie decorating tutorial!!   I went to a wedding last weekend in a garden. It was beautiful. The flowers were beautiful. The bride was gorgeous. And my children...well...to be perfectly honest...my children we're actually unbelievably amazing. That NEVER happens. Especially at the end of a summer vacation in which they are squished together because we are remodeling forever and it will never ever be done for a hundred years. (Or so it would seem.) You guys.

My son went on a field trip downtown today. I also had some things to do downtown today. In a random turn of events, I found myself driving behind his school bus. So naturally, I did what any mother would have done and drove the exact same speed as the bus...creeping up window by window until I found my son and his friends. Definitely NOT in a stalker-y way. In a fun, totally trendy and cool mom kind of way. Because you know...I'm awesome like that. And I'm *sure* my 10 year old that weirdly started hiding under his seat felt the exact same way as me. I mean... he probably was reading some graffiti on the back of the seat in front of him and it probably went all the way down so he kind of needed to duck down and maybe hide his head a little bit so he could read it all. You know...because it was probably like particle physics or something and he just really wants to get a jump on that before college. I'm so proud of him.

  Tell me if I'm wrong, but I thought that at some point...children were supposed to SLEEP. Isn't there some kind of law of physics that says - What wakes up, must sleep at some point in their little life?!   People allllllllways tell new moms to "sleep when they sleep." But what happens if they DON'T EVER sleep? What then? I mean, besides the obvious zombie-like movements as I move through life putting my soda on top of the fridge, but not discovering it until weeks later and suddenly getting VERY nervous about where I put the scissors if the soda is in the scissors spot. And you guys... I can't even REACH the top of the fridge. Forget trying to wear clothing out of the house that *doesn't* have icing on it. Or remembering my own phone number when the new neighbor asks. (I PROMISE I'm not trying to avoid being friends!)

I always thought I would have a house full of boys. I had everything planned out. I intentionally didn't buy good furniture because I didn't want to freak out when it inevitably got broken from one too many flips over the back. I was determined that I would " raise boys not grass ." We have TWO basketball hoops. And baskets for muddy shoes at every entrance. And enough railroad tracks to ship snacks from the kitchen to the basement. And only one little boy at this house. It's so confusing. I mean... I was a smidgeon of a tomboy growing up. I climbed trees and played tackle football with the neighborhood boys. ( Oh my goodness!! Where were all of our parents?! It's a miracle I ever made it out of that neighborhood alive. )  I delivered furniture during college and worked at a boys summer camp in the summers. I wore long socks and tennis shoes for YEARS of my life. As I mentioned earlier this week... I know very nearly nothing about being a girl. If anyone...

I went to a wedding today. It was a picture-perfect... complete with a tiny flower girl chasing the petals she's just thrown and a ring bearer striking a pose for anyone who would look at him. I am unbelievably happy for the couple and all too aware of how things have changed since my own wedding. Getting ready before: Oooh, I only have a couple of hours. I should start putting my dress on and take an entire hour to make sure my make-up is just right and then just sit for a few minutes by myself to really enjoy this moment. Getting ready now: OH. MY. GOODNESS!! We only have 20 minutes until we have to leave! Everyone to your rooms!! You can NOT wear that! Go find a dress! Where are your shoes? Wash your face! Comb your hair! Let me put it on for you. Hands up! Hands up! Up! UP!!! Gah. Give me your arm. I'll do it. Bring me back my shoes! Someone take that kool aid away from little P! In the car! In the car! What?! Why do you not have shoes on? No. I'll...

I don't know about you guys, but I just can't make myself turn on my oven right now. It's like my oven is telepathic. If I even get out my sketch book and cutters, it somehow heats my house up another 10 degrees. And then I get all heat lethargic and have to crawl around looking for water and refuge. Which is awkward because it doesn't seem to affect my children.

Did you know that you can MOVE your kitchen garbage from where it usually resides to where you are working? It's true. I tried it myself for the first time last week. It was fantastic. I was a little nervous at first. I just nudged it ever so slightly so I could pretend like it was an accident if it somehow changed the entire balance of time and destiny. I waited for my walls to cave in. Nothing happened. So I pushed it over to my cutting board (with my feet. I can't stand to touch it with my actual fingers. Especially if I'm thinking about food. It might get germs on my thoughts.) I propped the lid open and just threw my vegetables ends in there like... well, like someone who has spent their entire life piling up the sticky, slimy vegetable and fruit peels and ends and stems and seeds and then tried to take them all the way across the kitchen to the garbage without letting a single thing drop to the floor and NOW has the ability to just toss them lightly to the garbage ...

I don't know why I do this to myself. My little girl is going to have her first birthday next month. I want to make a cake that is navy, white, and yellow. So that's basically all I can think about these days. Someone needs a cake for something completely unrelated to my daughter's upcoming birthday? No problem....I basically make her birthday cake anyway. And between now and then I will probably exhaust all possible navy, yellow, and white designs in my head and the day before her party I will be totally stressed out because all of the designs are "used" and nothing will be fun and exciting anymore and I will have no option but to change the whole party to red and white. Maybe I can trick myself by trying to plan a red and white party NOW....and then switching to a navy, white, and yellow party later. Okay...so as I'm writing this post...as I'm waiting for the picture to upload ... this young daughter of mine that will be having her navy, white, and ye...

I know you were probably lying in bed last night wondering what the current wedding trends are. Well, either that or you were wondering if that shadow in the corner was a mouse or a sock. (It was probably a sock.) We can't all be keeping up on wedding trends. Some people have to drive cars around or climb Mount Kilimanjaro or eat candy. We all have our "thing." Let me help you sleep better tonight. A very popular wedding trend right now (was that redundant -- popular trend?) is the cherry blossom wedding theme. I love it. Did you know that cherry trees are very Asian? It's true. I know that the Washington D.C. area is known for its cherry blossoms in the spring and we have cherry trees everywhere in the U.S. it seems. So, how could they be Asian? Most of the cherry trees in the world are indigenous to Japan. And as it turns out, Japan gave 3,020 Sakura cherry trees to the U.S. in 1912 to show that we were all good friends. So there you have it. Life's mysteries s...

When I first started making cakes, I pretty much decided that I wouldn't make wedding cakes. I didn't think I could for one thing. That's never really stopped me from doing anything though. The determining factor at the time was just the attraction I had for 3D cakes. I love making cakes that don't look like cakes. Now that I say it out aloud, it seems a little strange. I'm not ashamed of making cakes...I'm not trying to hide the fact that I make cakes. Maybe I just like tricking people. You know, like when you were 4 and thought you could catch your Mom with a loop of rope in the living room. You just knew that if she couldn't see you hiding behind the chair she would step into the loop and get caught. Clearly....the time of wedding cake avoidance has passed. I have to admit, I actually really like making them. They are so different from other types of cakes. Their appeal comes not in how much you can do with them, but from their simplicity. At least the fe...

I made a couple of wedding cakes today. I take lots of pictures, and its always hard for me to decide which picture I like best. So, I'm opening this one to a vote. Do you like the black and white one with the plain top or the black and white one with the rose on top best?