O' Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree (a Frasier Fir) on Tuesday night and decorated it on Wednesday night, and I just had to share the pics of it! I think this year's tree is the prettiest one we've had so far; it smells amazing and just makes me so happy! I did most of the decorating myself and think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself! :)

My Evening with Tyler Florence

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Macy's in Alpharetta and attended a cooking demo and book signing with Tyler Florence - it was so much fun! Tyler was a pleasure to watch, as always (especially since I was only 7 rows back from the stage where he was!). Over the course of an hour, he made several Thanksgiving dishes, including an herbed ham, some mashed sweet potatoes and roasted bananas, brussel sprouts sauteed with garlic, pancetta, and balsamic vinegar, cranberry chutney, and a fizzy cranberry cocktail. The book signing followed the demo; after over an hour in line, I finally got to see him, get a picture, and have my book signed! I mentioned the 2005 Southern Living Cook-Off where I interacted with him, and he seemed to remember (or faked really well, LOL). As he has been in the past times I've met him, he was outgoing and very nice (probably too nice - it's likely why the line moved so slowly!). Anyway, here's the pic his handler took of us; not too bad considering how utterly exhausted I was by the end of the evening! :)

Taylor's First Haircut

Taylor got her first haircut this past Friday by my hairdresser, Stacie. Stacie trimmed it while my highlights were processing. Tay sat on my lap (she didn't seem too keen on the booster chair) and was such a good girl! I had her facing in towards me so I could try to distract her while Stacie was cutting; between me and Leah, it worked! As you can tell in some of the pics, she looked like she was ready to cry, but with Blue and Magenta in hand, she did great! :) Mom took these pics with her cell phone - pretty good considering it's a cell!

Taylor Makes a Mess

I gave her that little milk container (which was less than 1/4 full!) and a straw and thought she'd be okay with it... about 5 minutes later, I saw this!! It was too adorable for me to get frustrated with. :)

Taylor Loves to Cook!

She enjoys making almost anything a pot and a spoon! :)