I just assisted in throwing my first baby shower… the theme was lavender/ purple. A friend suggested these lavender cookies made with real lavender flowers. The end result was pure deliciousness! (thanks Lynne)

Fun Fact: Lavender: There is nothing like the fresh clean fragrance of old English lavender. The Romans added it to their bath water and placed the flowers among their clothes giving them a fresh scent. Lavender has a sweet taste and can be used to make herbal tea.
Inhaling its fragrance has been said to calm nerves and lift depression. Lavender tea is used for heart palpitations, headaches and insomnia. Lavender oil can treat wounds, ulcers and sores.

LAVENDER TEA COOKIES
1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender flowers (I got mine at Henry’s in Costa Mesa in the dried herb section)
1 cup butter, room temp
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a mortar, grind lavender leaves with the pestle. (we used a food processor)
In a medium bowl, cream together ground lavender flowers, butter, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon extract. (The smell is amazing!)

Add flour and salt; mix until combined (dough should be soft but not sticky.)
Refrigerate 1-2 hours or until dough is firm.

Prepare Lavender frosting and set aside.
LAVENDER FROSTING
1 cup powdered confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons dried culinary lavender flowers
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
food coloring if you choose; red + blue

In a small plastic bag, combine powdered sugar and dried lavender flowers. Let stand at least 1 day before using. (we let it stand for a few hours) When ready to use, sift the mixture into a medium size bowl; discard lavender flowers OR save to top off cookies as decoration.
Add milk and corn syrup, mixing well. NOTE: additional sugar or milk may need to be added to make frosting easy to spread, spread on cooled cookies.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Remove dough from fridge.
On a lightly-floured surface, roll dough apprx 1/4″ thick with your rolling pin.

Cut into desired shapes with your favorite cookie cutters and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and cool on wire cooling racks.

these were the vanilla bean, egg white, with buttercream cupcakes we made to match- with lavender frosting of course!

Cheers, Salud, a Toast… Farewell 2010, Hello new year.
Wishing all of you a wonderful, healthy, blessed and abundant new year.

Many blessings,
xo
Lori & Todd

“Inside the magazine you will discover incredible projects and freebies dreamed up by a team of contributors, interviews with online bloggers and of course heaps of gift giving ideas. As you browse through each virtual page the editor hopes that you will feel a sense of excitement for the Holidays come over you and that any stress over seasonal shopping/crafting will be whisked away.”

Last weekend, I went on a girls trip with a few fun friends. We drove up north to Solvang / Santa Barbara, CA area.  We stayed in Solvang at Hotel Corque. This town looks like it was straight out of a Disney movie for Hansel & Gretel. It’s a short drive to Santa Maria Valley and many of the wineries in this region. We were fortunate and have a connection through the Corona del Mar Wine Gallery. We had a few private tastings set up for us as well as an amazing dinner on Friday night. We met the various staff and interns from Tantara Winery and Presqu’ile Winery. Not only did we get to sample the wine but we mingled with the on site crew to see how the sorting process of grapes was actually done. We learned about the fermentation, and the various steps towards bottling the wine. Did you know that the wood for one barrel from France can cost up to $1,100 – this doesn’t even include it assembled!

Of course if wasn’t all fun and drinks- we did contribute some hard work… by stomping the grapes at Presqu’ile Winery.  Each of us; myself, Andrea, Lisa and Michelle slid into these rubber waiters and stomped around the container of grapes. It was definitely an experience to cross off the bucket list. To see more photos, view the album here.

This past weekend Todd and I drove up to Mammoth with some great friends from Florida. The special occasion was for one of my closest friends weddings! Rachael and Brian Hansen… The decided to get married near Mammoth because of the obvious beauty but they first met in the area and Brian once lived in Mammoth.  The guests and wedding party rented cabins at Convict Lake Resort—you can bring your dog! The location, scenery, weather, friends, food and atmosphere were perfect.  Below are some of my favorite photos and moments throughout the weekend event. There are wild deers that live in the area- sadly people do feed them and they have become tame and are not afraid to approach humans.  Throughout the weekend there were many deer stories, photos and jokes… “Deer Lori is that you hugging a deer?”… Todd has a photo of a deer giving him a hi-five— and I’m not even joking. I will have to post this shortly.

I have created a few photo albums. Click on the highlighted names below to view the albums.
To see more photos of the Rehearsal and Party, To see the Pre Wedding Prep with Bridesmaids, To see the Wedding & Reception

I recently stumbled upon this cute website called my-sparrow.com. They sell all kinds of home items, accessories, and gifts. The designer and owner of my-sparrow is based locally in Orange County, Ca. Check the website because she regularly sets up a booth at the irvine flea market or give her a call, she may even deliver it. I turned to this site upon needing a gift for a fabulous friend’s birthday. I purchased the dainty champagne flutes— paired with a bottle of champagne, who wouldn’t love?

Below is the collection of dainty flutes and glasses, prices range $45-62 sets of 6.

Palm Springs WE LOVE YOU…
This weekend was spent with great friends, good food and in a beautiful location. What’s not to love about Palm Springs (P.S)?
Seven of us ventured out to the desert to spend quality time with our amazing friend Ally Lopez Eckert before she moves to Kauai next week. She is so loved and we will dearly miss her and her 2 beautiful girls…(with another one on the way) but she should set up the guest room because she is sure to have many visitors.

A big thanks to Jamie for finding this awesome house on homeaway.com and a super uber thanks to Lindsay for arranging all details for a perfect weekend in P.S.

click here to view more photos

A very dear friend of mine moved back to Florida over a year ago. She is looking to come back with her husband and son to visit some friends in CA… She sent me the email below and is looking for someone interested in doing a house swap in OC or SD areas of California.

“Our house is walking distance to one of the nicest and most private white sandy beaches in FL
(Indian Rocks Beach)! It’s kid friendly, smoke free, and approx 2,000 sq ft. with a huge back yard. The house is 3 bedroom 2 bath.
The children room has a toddler bed, and the guest room has a full sized bed, master bedroom has a brand spankin (no pun intended) new cal king bed! There is a huge playground right down the street. The house would be cleaned by maid service before guests arrive, and there are offices with wireless internet downstairs in the man/cave and upstairs as well. The house is straight out of the 70′s with a modern interior design flair! ”

It is available for rent @ 1,650 for a month during the summer, or $500 for the week.
Or we are also open to a house swap in OC or SD area for a week to two weeks…

Harbor Dr. S
Indian Rocks Beach, Fl 33785
Call Dianne @ 727.510.6013

You can also check out her amazing blog at Vanerwin.com

Indian Rocks Beach is located on a barrier island on the West Coast of Florida, only a 30 minute drive from Tampa International Airport.
Convenient proximity to many Florida Attractions including Busch Gardens, Walt Disney World, Universal Studio, and Sea World.
The area provides an abundance of outstanding restaurants, and a variety of gift and convenience stores.

A few weekends ago, Todd and I decided to spruce up our kitchen. I’ve been wanting to make a chalkboard wall since I saw one at my friend Erica’s amazing Brooklyn brownstone in NY. For a few bucks you can really go-green and eliminate all those annoying notes and post-its from your roommates or significant other… “Dogs are fed,” “buy toilet paper,” ” we need milk,” ” wash your f-n dishes”!!

Here’s what you need:
• a clean wall or surface (you can paint this stuff on anything)
• brush or paint roller
• paint tape (for clean lines)
• chalkboard pant
• chalk
• and a creative idea for your first writing…

The paint looks so good even on it’s own w/out chalk, but who can resist drawing on the walls like a kid again?!

While browsing the web, I found a few other cute uses for the chalkboard paint. (these photos were pulled from various blogs)