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It's impossible to eat just one. They're soft and crispy, buttery and salty, loaded with white chocolate, semi sweet chocolate and macadamia bits. Pure heaven. You must make these for your kids and your family. Heck, make them for yourself. They are the tastiest cookie you will ever eat. I am done. Go and bake. White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookies 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs, room temperature 1 t. vanilla paste* 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 t. salt 1/2 t. baking soda 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 2.25 oz bag chopped macadamia nuts Preheat oven to 350 degrees 1. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy 2. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, and beat well 3. Blend in flour, baking soda, and salt 4. Stir in chips and nuts 5. Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets (I use a silpat.) 6. Bake for 10-12 minutes *This is the best vanilla b...

We had a great time at Peter's Pumpkin Patch in Petaluma this year. Elli and her friend ran all over the pumpkin patch looking for the perfect pumpkin. They went on a hay ride, milked a cow, pet the cutest baby calf's, ate home-made ice cream, dug for potatoes and ran around in a hay maze. Click here to see the whole album. They smiled and giggled the whole time. Except for this picture. Elli tried her hardest to keep a straight face. Impossible. Peter's Pumpkin Patch Spring Hill Cheese Farm 4235 Spring Hill Rd., Petaluma (See Map) (707) 762-3446 http://www.springhillcheese.com/holiday.html

Elli, first day of 5th grade I debated on whether I should blog about this or not. Obviously I decided to. Last week Elli came home from school and told me a little story that shocked me and Don. It went something like this. "Mom, two boys at school said something to me today that was totally disgusting." she said. "Okay. What did they say." I asked. "Well, we were sitting at the lunch table and one of the boys said I was BJ'ing the other."  "THEY SAID WHAT???!!" I said. "He asked me if I knew what BJ was." she said. "I told him it was a restaurant at the mall. But they said it was something else. They told me what it was." (And here's where she tells me in graphic detail what they told her.) UGH. Her reaction? "GROSS! I would never do that! It's disgusting. Ickkkkkk." she said. I'm sure her reaction was just what the boys were hoping for. They continued to tease her telling her ...

TEXT MSG Where are you??? The police are here, and school just called. E's missing. Someone saw her talking to a man. OMG. This week's assignment: compose a text–160 characters–that would either elicit or express fear. So, how did I do? Were you scaaaaaaaaaared? You know this is not true, right? Good.

I did the unthinkable yesterday. I showed complete strangers my messy house. My next door neighbor is looking for a new tenant for her townhouse and I offered to help show it for her. The couple that came to look yesterday afternoon were very nice with two young kids. Elli and I tried to be perfect tour guides, really talking up the place. The townhouse is beautiful. Much, much nicer than ours. The owner remodeled it with beautiful upgrades throughout. I'm always jealous every time we go over there. The kitchen feels spacious and open. Her appliances are so much nicer. She has all the little extras that make a home cozy - wood floors, recessed lights, dimmer switches, shutters. It's easy for me to sell it because I like it so much. They seemed very interested and asked a lot of questions as we walked to the pool. One question was concerning the different type of homes in the area. One thing led to another and before I knew it they were getting a tour of my house. When w...

This is going to be a quick one. I've been writing, and writing, and writing a lot lately. Which has been great. Unfortunately, it's not for the blog. wah wah wah I'm trying to manage all these new things I have going on and the blog isn't getting much love. Like the plant on our patio, it's the last thing that gets attention. So I thought I would share some wine tips. There's only one more week of the 5 cent sale at BevMo . So you better get on over there. Cheers! The Dahlia Reserve is deelish. Lots of fruit and no goats. This is my current favorite red. Smooth and delicious Cabernet Don loves this one. Main & Geary - this is for all the Chardonnay lovers out there. And my two new favorite Sauvignon Blancs - Guenoc and Trailhead There's one more to try. It's a cab. Really, really yummy. I tasted it at the store one Saturday. It's smooth and delicious. I haven't bought it yet. But I hope to soon. ...

I got these boots yesterday. A little treat to myself for all my hard work. Ha. They were on sale too. Annie Boot at Sundance I wore them last night to a friends house. There was some drama involved in getting ready. First I put on a denim skirt and a knit top. I showed Elli. "Oh, mom. That doesn't look good at all." she said. Okay. "What's wrong with it." I asked. "The skirt doesn't match the top or the boots." she said quite convincingly. "It's denim. What do you mean it doesn't match?" I responded. "It's the style." she said. So I switched to a different denim skirt, a little shorter, a little sassier. My second viewing for Elli got a worse reception. She checked me out top to bottom. "Oh mom. No. That's not right either. That slit in the skirt is all wrong." okaaaaaay. So I switched to regular jeans. Now Don is chiming in. "You need the kind of jeans that tuck in the bo...

And I'm not talking about the va-va-voom kind of hot. I'm just hot. As in I feel like I'm overheating from the inside out. At first I thought it was just Indian Summer. The temperature was high and we don't have air conditioning. I would lay in bed staring at the ceiling breathing in and out trying not to think about the heat. When all of a sudden BAM! I'm all hot and sticky from the moist night air. It was awful and miserable. I didn't sleep well for weeks. I tossed and turned. Threw sheets and blankets here and there. I even slept with an ice pack on my head and a cool wash cloth on my face. Don't tell Don. He doesn't know yet. I've tried to stay on my side. I would wake up in the morning tired from my restless evening. I'm not used to this. I sleep like a rock. And I need at least 7 hours of sleep or I can't function. I would fall out of bed in the morning, stumble to the bathroom, take a shower and as I'm drying my hair ...

I've been thinking about this for a few days now. The euphoric feeling we get when someone praises you is like nothing else. Well, ok, there are other euphoric activities. But my parents read this. So I won't go there. What I want to talk about is the simple act of telling someone thank you for a job well done. It doesn't happen often enough. Not in my world anyway. Why is this? Why don't we praise each other more often? It doesn't cost anything and it only takes a minute. Are we too busy to thank the people we come in contact with? I'm not talking about "hey, thanks for the change" to the person that makes your coffee everyday. I'm talking about really thanking someone. Are we so caught up in our own lives and happiness that we forget to thank those around us? I think we might be. I got two unsolicited praises recently and it made me so happy I couldn't wait to tell someone. The first was from a customer at our sto...