A few weeks ago, two of my favorite people in DC asked me to make cookies for their end of summer party. The best part–“end of summer” was just a ruse. They planned to announce their pregnancy and wanted to use cookies as part of their big announcement. What an honor! Read more…
This week I am making my annual summer visit to my home state, New Hampshire. I love New Hampshire in the summer. When I think back on my childhood, what I remember is beautiful, long summers (I tend to block out the even longer–and much more painful–New Hampshire winters.) Read more…
For my 30th birthday, my then fiancé (now husband) gave me a tool box filled with piping bags, icing tips, and food coloring. I had been decorating cookies with those little tubes of icing from the grocery store. That gift started me on the path to what has become a pretty serious hobby. Read more…
The first time I made cookies for Nate, he remarked, “it’s amazing what you can do with lines and dots!” It’s true. With the right colors and designs, easy techniques can have a powerful impact.
It was a long, wet, cold winter in the nation’s capital. Despite the fact that 2013 was the warmest year on record — and the warmest and driest in California–Nate and I suffered near-New England-like conditions down here in DC. Read more…
I have been a bad blogger. I have been tied up with work and renovations. I found time to make a few cookies in between, but failed to post them. I actually made Valentine cookies… and have finally decided to post them 1 day short of two months later. Read more…
On New Year’s Eve, I resolved to make fewer cookies in 2014. I blew it on day two. It’s not that I don’t love cookie-ing; I’m just worried that it has become my thing. As in the thing I do.
Seeing as I couldn’t not make cookies for a whole week, it probably actually is my thing and resistance is pointless. And if I’m going to do my thing, I want to do it well. New resolution: make good cookies in 2014.
I had a very busy weekend. I finished my Christmas cookies AND we completed the living room renovation. I am feeling super crafty and handy right now. I am also feeling tired, so I will keep this short. Merry everything, everyone!
It is already December 8 and I am still searching for this year’s holiday style. I started out with a retro theme, which morphed into an ugly sweater theme, which has devolved into a total free-for-all. Read more…
Because we need to work on the house, Nate and I will spend Thanksgiving at home in DC. When we started working on the house back in June, we thought all of the work would be completed by August. We did not know much about fixing houses in June. Read more…
My attention has been seriously divided between the World Series, home renovations, baking cookies in my new kitchen, and a pretty massive work load. Sleep and Nate would love to make it onto that list. Sorry, Nate.
In my world, August is the best month of the year. Because this is not a national election year, it is suddenly very quiet in DC. Congress has left town, work has slowed down, and half the office is on vacation. My colleague, Laura, can’t stop exclaiming, “I love August!” I agree. August is amazing. Read more…
Before I became a pollster, my whole life revolved around the school calendar. From 1981-2010, I went back to school every fall as either a teacher or a student. Prior to 2010, I have no working memory of NOT going back to school. I love everything about back-to-school–clean notebooks, sharp pencils, empty desks, fresh blazers… this is mostly about blazers, actually. Read more…
It is wedding/engagement season. Three years ago at this time, I was desperately trying to discern the difference between ivory and off-white table linens. As I could not choose (or see the difference), my brother (a man of great wisdom, taste, and refinement) noted that my ivory dress might blend in with the table linens, leading to all sorts of embarrassing faux pas should my guests mistake me for a table. We went with off-white and (thankfully) no one tried to eat off of me. As it turned out, our wedding was wonderful and it had nothing to do with table linens. Read more…
Now that it is unofficially summer, I can’t stop thinking about summer camp–in the middle of the day, on the metro, in the shower… I swear I smelled s’mores last night. Read more…
Snickerdoodledoo 