Will you be my Valentine?

A few days ago I started thinking about the next Holiday creeping upon us. For me, it's a little hard to think about Valentine's Day in January, but after a trip to the grocery store, perusing down the Valentine isle.....I couldn't wait to get home and start decorating/baking.

 It all started with the purchase of these little bird friends. I love them! They make me smile. I think I might keep them around all year.

Then, out came the cupcake....

and the kitchen towels...

The only thing left to complete my mood.....bake Valentine cookies!

The perfect bite.....mmm!

This recipe is from the "candy cane chocolate cookie" recipe from Christmas, only I added sprinkles and pink food coloring and subtracted the mint extract and added almond extract. Again I say, "I love this recipe". It's so versatile. You can enjoy these cookies year round!

Here's the revised version!

Valentine chocolate sandwich cookies

1 (18.25 oz.) pkg. devils food cake mix

1 (18.25 oz.) pkg. milk chocolate cake mix

½ pkg. of semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 eggs

2/3 C. vegetable oil

1 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

2 Cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

sprinkles to dip edges

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease cookie sheets.

In a medium bowl, stir together the dark and chocolate cake mix. Add the eggs and oil, mix until well blended. Then add chocolate chips and stir. Roll dough into 1-2 inch balls, and place them onto the prepared cookie sheet. Flatten the balls slightly with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and almond extract together until smooth. Spread between two cooled cookies and roll edges in sprinkles.

Makes 12 large or 24 small cookies

Be my valentine!

Busy day...

Tuesday was an extremely busy day for the Pia's. The kids were out of school....again, and I was worried they'd be fighting all day. Oh, how I underestimate my kiddos sometimes. They were actually awesome and had a fun-filled day. Joseph left early in the morning to hit the slopes of Brighton.

We did everything from:

Cooking....

to card games....

then on to yarn art...

Next was a painting project and Marie was the teacher...

She was very proud of her student...

I thought the day went quite well.

Lastly, the mail came at 5:00 p.m. and I received the most wonderful package from my cousin Jen. Yeah!

This is Jen's store.....

 Blue Cockatoo!

It's location is 1005 E. 900S. SLC

You have to go check it out....I'm serious! It's one of the most amazing stores in Salt Lake. Completely eclectic, which I love. She has everything from Jewelry to baby clothes to vintage to modern and so much more. It's definitely a "day out with the girls" kind of store and it's in a fun location with other shops and great little local restaurants.

 My package came wrapped in this darling little bag with the cutest thank-you card. 

So, this is what was in my package.... 

Jen has many local jewelry designers that will customize anything your little heart desires. I've been looking ( the past 2 years) for a necklace with my kids names on it. With Jen's help, I came up with this beautiful necklace which has their nicknames and birthstones attached. I almost started crying I was so excited. Thank-you Jen for making me feel so special. This is the first piece of jewelry (besides my wedding ring) that actually means something to me.

What a great ending to a great day!

P.S. Jen has the matching disk earrings on hold for me.....hint, hint-Joe-Valentine's Day...hint, hint!

the daily plate

I've been so excited about this new find.....I had to share...

I was watching Studio 5 this morning and they were talking about different websites that will calculate your daily intake (calories), so you can keep track of your daily consumption. Hmmm..... I've never tried this before, but what the heck,  it might be interesting to see how much I really consume on a daily basis. The website I chose was:

Okay you guys, drum roll please....... by 12:30 today, I had already taken down 1,460 calories. What the H? I had no idea I was eating so much and the saddest part....today was a good day. (so I thought)

I'm actually going to try this for a couple of weeks because I obviously need some help. Anyone want to do it with me? I love doing crazy things like this with friends & family because I know I'm not the only soul being tortured and I know you're just as crazy as I am.

Go to www.thedailyplate.com and join me. It's free too!

BTW-this site is awesome because whether you go out to eat or stay at home, you type in your meal and hit search. The thing will find your exact meal and calculate it, down to the restaurant or brand name. It's sooooo cool. Any takers?

Saturday morning with Einstein...

Joe came home last night in a rotten mood. The girls and I were having such a great time until his crabby mood started to cramp our style, so....... we tucked him in, and put him straight to bed. Phew.... 

I was worried his mood would creep into the new day, but I was so wrong. He got up before all of us and drove to Einstein and brought us a yummy breakfast.

Luckily, Joe is a morning person and always bright eyed and bushy tailed at the crack of dawn.

 Hazel is also a morning girl.

 Check her out, she's already dressed and ready for the day and it's only 7:45

She was so excited to eat her cinnamon/sugar bagel with a giant hot chocolate.

Pour little Marie is still in bed, fast asleep. She takes after her momma.....not so happy in the morning! 

Sundance film festival 2009

The Sundance Film Festival is here, yet again, to grace us with it's presence.  I have such mixed feelings about this event. I love the fact that it brings a lot of cool people to our beautiful State and the mere "attention factor" is great for local businesses. It's definitely exciting and there is a certain freshness and buzz in the air, however, the downside for me.......from January 15-25, my husband is non existent in my life. He has meetings from morning until late, late, extremely late in the evening.

 And the worst part for me....

I'm never invited....EVER!

Tonight Joe is going to see the premier, "Mary and Max". A claymation movie that I've read all about and am dying to see...it looks pretty cool. I asked him, late last night, if he knew anything about the premiere and he said, "no clue", so I proceeded to tell him the story line because I wouldn't want him to look like an idiot.

 Now that's TRUE LOVE!

Hope he has a successful couple of weeks schmoozing, cruising and par-oozing the streets of Park City!

So.....what am I going to do to pass the time you ask?

Well, first of all, my awesome mom and dad took my boys to St. George for the weekend.....I know I'm totally spoiled by my parents. They're an indescribable mystery!

I guess it's just me and my girls. 

We might just do absolutely nothing.....that sounds kind of nice doesn't it?

I just hope Joe snaps a few shots of celebs.....for me to brag I mean blog about! ha ha