Rules of Engagement

1.  Create a memory worth remembering
2.  Trick your girlfriend into getting dressed up
3.  Bring along a hidden camera (or seven)

Our friend Tyler gets an A+ for his proposal last night!  Check our other blog for a video of the big moment, and enjoy a couple of the pics I was able to snap.  (I'll only dwell on the positive here, ignoring the fact that most of my shots feature the backs of people's heads.)

Here's how it went down: Tyler was live on the air at Taste of Abilene last night -- which really didn't make any sense, since he's a sports reporter.  In the middle of his live shot, a dude with a microphone walked up behind him and started singing "All My Loving."  A flash mob started to form, and Tyler eventually joined in, making his way over to his unsuspecting girlfriend at a nearby table.

She said yes.

Baby Kirk... the Sequel

What a difference five months makes.  My little Viking Babe buddy, Kirk, isn't so little any more! 

We headed to downtown Abilene in March for his six-month photos. Mom Amalyssa dressed him in a ridiculous adorable bunny outfit and we took some fun Easter pics.

The unsung hero of this photo shoot was our friend Carolyn, who made a fool of herself for nearly an hour to keep Kirk smiling.  I want to bring her along to every baby shoot!  But soon she'll be in front of the camera as I snap some super fun pics of her in front of the B-1 that her husband flies!  Stay tuned for that – I'm stoked!

Autumn wedding bells!

My beautiful, blushing friend Emily is tying the knot in an outdoor wedding this fall!  She has asked me to make the ring bearer pillow and we've talked about a couple other handmade things as well, including a bow tie.

I put together this little virtual inspiration board so I won't forget what we discussed.

The bridesmaid dresses will be made of a taupe/champagne Dupioni silk and the flowers will be a variety of bold autumn colors.  While looking up trims and fabrics online I happened upon a few plum options, which is one of the colors she mentioned loving.

I can't wait to get started!  It's really far in advance, but that gives me plenty of time to raise the white flag and offer to buy her something on Etsy :)

And the Cooke Razzie goes to...

My Andes mint cookies are award winning.  Best Overall Cookie of 2003.

Yes, the award was handed to me at a cookie party with about 10 other people present, but I'm running with it.

They served as a bonding tool between my grandma and I for many years, as the recipe came from her and we often baked them together during visits.  We even attempted variations on our own using different kinds of mints and wrote letters back and forth about the results.  We were great pen pals, Grandma Katie and I.

They're so good they won over my brother-in law.   Not won him over on my cooking...won him over on me.  Upon the first crunchy, chocolaty bite he instantly forgave all my previous transgressions: sarcastically challenging a decision he'd made (I was joking, but it was during intermission at a play and the lights went down before I had a chance to clarify), sweeping into the family as the only girl (therefore stealing a little bit of attention during his senior year of high school), and talking during the West Wing one time (how dare I?!).  He's now one of my best friends.

I'm telling you, these cookies are magical. 

So magical, in fact, my friend Lane asked several years ago if she could submit the recipe for the Junior League of Shreveport cook book – in her own name, of course :)  I then received a copy from my friend Shannon after it was published.  So exciting!

Last week I had an important occasion for which I needed to impress someone.  Well, I didn't need to, but I wanted to. So of course I decided to make my award winning cookies, which I hadn't done in a while.  The plan was to wrap them up on a pretty plate with this VIP's initial on it.  That way it just looks like a batch of homemade cookies and the recipient doesn't realize it's a cool gift until getting home and polishing off the sweets.  (Great hostess gift idea!)

But I couldn't seem to find my recipe.

You'd think I'd have it memorized after making them dozens of times, but I don't.  I finally remembered that hello, I've been published, so I whipped out my trusty Mardi Gras to Mistletoe cook book and flipped the purple ribbon bookmark straight to page 199.

I started taking pictures in order to share this recipe and baking process with my adoring 14 blog followers, but let me just refer to the foreshadowing title of this blog post and hint that something went terribly wrong.  So follow this recipe at your own risk.

I don't use a microwave for the chocolate.  I use the stove top.  If you've ever melted chocolate before, you know how precarious it can be, and I'd rather have a bird's eye view of the whole thing.

It was a pretty standard evening in the Kellerwoman Kitchen.  I didn't notice any textural difference in the dough, didn't make any substitutions, and definitely didn't foresee the awfulness that was to emerge from the oven.

The cookies were paper-thin and mildly resembled E.T. in the scene where he's in a coma.  That didn't matter as much as the fact that they were glued to the pan.  I went ahead and "iced" them with the Andes mint – an assured sign of denial – and asked KellerMan taste one.  The second he politely used the word cracker I cut my losses.

The next day our VIP received an assortment of Starbucks pastries.

I'm sure they were delicious.

One more try...

Check my blog again.  I think I got the video below to work.  Have a great Tuesday!

Free stuff free stuff free stuff!

Valspar is giving away 1,000 free paint sample kits each morning, starting at 9 a.m. CST.  I signed up for mine on Thursday or Friday and the FedEx truck just showed up!

I got so excited I attempted my first stop-motion movie.

I'm a sucker for pretty much any free stuff, but this might take the cake.  You get an 8 oz. sample of any color of paint (and don't think I didn't break out into mini-hives when it came time to choose), a miniature tray, roller and replacement roller head, and a $5 coupon for a gallon of Valspar at Lowe's.  They also sent an envelope with a bunch of complimentary paint colors.

I decided on a warm Birchwood White and the included paint chip looks really pretty!  The gob on my favorite pair of black pants, however, does not.  I wasn't being careful.  I was trying to hurry up and finish the stop-motion because the sun had already set and because I was sitting on the floor.  I'm too old to sit on the floor!

You'll also notice that the camera accidentally caught my hand a couple of times, and apparently my dog was standing there for a while and I didn't notice!  I thought about removing the snafus in Photoshop but that's just too much work.

According to my timestamps, I started taking photos at 5:54 and stopped at 6:09.  See?  Too long to be sitting on the floor.

Enjoy!

Abracadabra....It's a Nursery!

One of my favorite design blogs, The Lettered Cottage, often posts before-and-after pictures of virtual remodels and calls them "presto changos." 

Not to be confused with "illusions."  We'll leave those up to Gob.



Recently, the beautifully talented designer at TLC decided to let people submit photos of their home for a free virtual makeover in a series called Pick My Presto.

A "presto" by Layla Palmer

A chance to have a professional give me ideas for my own home for free sounded awesome, but there isn't any space in our house that really needs redecorating.

Oh, wait.  

There's that whole, bringing home a baby thing. 

So I did some straightening up and took this photo of our guest bedroom and submitted it.  This room is a perfect snapshot of my 2004 tastes.  These used to be our master bedroom furniture and accessories.  And yes, we have a queen comforter on a double bed.  That's not nearly as shocking as knowing that KellerMan and I shared that full bed for more than a year!

 Guest room/craft storage

Then I realized that I have a working knowledge of Photoshop and I could attempt to presto my own chango!  I'm artistic in my own way, but still-life trips me up.  I definitely don't understand angles and perspective, so please excuse the eye-crossing moments going on here.

My attempt at being gender-neutral has its flaws :)

As you can tell, I bleed neutrals and don't care for themes.  No butterflies or outer space baby room for our kiddo!

However, our home office has a very cool baseball-slash-pop art feel to it that could easily be relocated into a boys' room.

Let's walk through the room, shall we?  First, I must say that while I tried to be reasonable and only add/change elements that I would add/change in real life, I started to realize that worrying about real life was stupid while having fun with a virtual makeover!

Okay, my numbering is totally off here...

1. Gray walls: Beautiful and gender-neutral.* 
2.  Crown moulding: We probably wouldn't bother with it in real life because we are cheap and not too handy.
3. Stencil: I love the idea of tree/branch stencils in nurseries!  It's a trend I've admired for a few years.
4. Furniture: There are three dressers/cabinets and two night stands in the room.  They match and are all empty.  I'm not opposed to painting them but probably won't.  I want to make adjustments to use the bureau as a changing table.**
5. Silhouette:  That's a random one I found online, but we do have a beautiful one of my mother-in-law as a child, and I really want to use it in a girls' room!
6. Curtains: We don't have any window treatments in the house because of the pretty plantation shutters.  But now, after more than two years, I'm thinking drapes are a go.
7. Rug: I would LOVE to make a braided rug for the nursery.  Heck, I should start on it now!  And since this is my virtual makeover, I decided to make it niiiiiiiiice and big. :)
8. Baby photos:  I've always thought black and white photos of grandparents as babies would look so sweet.  I haven't found any big prints of my own parents, though. 
9. Mobile:  I'd like to make my own mobile.  That one shown is from an Etsy seller.  It has grey and yellow birds made out of felt.***
10. Crib and chair:  We aren't too picky.  I'm not really into bedding "sets" but maybe that's because I haven't found one I like. 
11. What's not pictured: About half of the room :)  Bookshelf, toy baskets, overpriced but adorable elephant hamper...

*I am--and have remained--completely unapologetic about my love for the color gray for at least 15 years.  So don't try to talk me out of it!  We even picked two tones of gray for the dining room!

**I don't need a lecture on making it child-safe, thankyouverymuch. I've had years to research these things.

***I was more into the "bird" theme until I saw this video.  Hilarious if you read decorating blogs or shop Etsy often!