The windows in my house have "character." And by "character" I mean they weren't installed correctly. And they don't close all the way. And they are covered in ice on the INSIDE during the winter. And honestly, I'm a little worried that one of my daughters will fall out of of them someday while having a tantrum because they think I am going to some kind of ice cream and candy buffet without them...you know...the grocery store.

Sometimes ( OFTEN!! ) things don't turn out like we planned. And sometimes ( I can neither confirm nor deny the frequency at which this happens ) we cry to ourselves as we scrape cookies into the garbage. Sometimes ( usually ) we can salvage the cookie and even though it may not be our new favorite...it adequately passes as a decorated cookie in the appropriate theme. But SOMETIMES...magic happens. This rose by Jamie from Sweet Bliss Cookie Company came from one of those magic moments.

Sometimes I feel like this is what it must have been like to live in the Industrial Revolution. Except...you know...this one is a Cookie Revolution . There are so many brilliant ideas happening EVERY STINKING DAY right now. It's hard to keep up. And even harder to remember what our life was like before all these clever and innovative ideas came into existence. Case in point -- this Precision Rolling pin from The Cookie Countess .

You guys. I hope you are ready for this blog post. When Shirlyn  of Cookies Art by Shirlyn showed me these graphic design style floral wedding cookies I almost lost my mind. They are GORGEOUS!!!! The colors! The details! I'm still obsessing over them. I just kept going back over and over again like a total creeper in the night just staring at them. Luckily for all of us, even though Shirlyn had just moved to the United States, she sweetly agreed to show us all how she made them!!! Isn't she the best?!!! When Georganne contacted me to ask if I can write a guest post, I was so excited and happy to do it for sure! She asked if I can do tutorial on how to make one of the two designs (Cake Stand and Congratulations) from the bridal shower set I did back in March. I just told her - I am going to do both!

Oh...you guys. Summer was LONG this year. And I love summer. I love having my kids home. It wasn't them. It was me. To be perfectly precise...it was me taking on too much. WHAT?! Who does that? Surely none of you - ever! But now they are back in school. Projects are ending and I am READY for some fun and excitement!!! Are you with me?! I thought I would throw it back old-school to my very first challenge ever and go with a Cutter Challenge! But instead of making you all use the same shape... you get to choose from all the cutters I've designed this year!! Before I tell you the rules...let me tell you about the prizes! Because...well..prizes. So much more fun.

When I was in fourth grade, we learned fractions with the help of the future. And by that I mean - Laser Discs. They were a precursor to DVDs...but were the size of a record. FOR THE LOVE DO NOT ask me what a record is. In my ten years of wisdom, I was absolutely certain that these Laser Discs were going to change the world. They were going to be everywhere. I was going to have an entire collection of Laser Discs at my disposal and I would lie on a couch somewhere desperately trying to get them to "scan" through to the next chapter and finally achieve half-hearted success and be thrilled out of my mind. My young brain could see it all.

Oh... I bet you guys thought I forgot about Fantastic Finds! I totally didn't. I have an entire basket full of fun finds that still need to be tested to determine whether they are fantastic or not. But after trying the PenBlade this week to hand cut some cookies....gah! I couldn't wait any longer to share it with you!

Is there any chance I could talk you all out of the "Ugly Sweater" thing again this year? I am prepared to offer you this pajama tutorial, half a box of frozen yogurt tubes and the 17 cents that I found under the couch last night in exchange for your support in eradicating a trend that brings back holiday sweater fashion that even the 1980's refused to accept.

Hello. You have reached the LilaLoa blog.

Sometimes (always) at the end of the day, I just want to lay down on the couch and look at pictures of beautiful cookies and pretend that feeding my kids popcorn for dinner is totally a legit parenting decision. And sometimes I find a picture of gorgeous cookies that makes me completely forget all of my parenting decisions -- good and bad.