Something Sweet

I've always had a sweet tooth. (My first word was "more" after all. I couldn't get enough!) Give me a choice between salty and sweet and I'm always going to go sweet. Nathan's the same way, so we don't usually keep dessert in the house or it would be gone in record time.

This weekend, however, we had company, and I decided we should actually have some cookies. And I knew just the ones I'd make: my mom's signature brown sugar cookies with caramel icing. Mmmm ... they're SO good. Dense in just the right way and the caramel is so deliciously rich. I knew I needed to share the recipe with you all!

Brown Sugar Cookies 2 cups brown sugar 1 cup shortening (margarine) 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons baking powder 4 cups flour 2 eggs 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla

Caramel Icing 1/2 cup butter 1/4 cup milk 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1 3/4-2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream together brown sugar and shortening. Add eggs and continue beating. Add milk, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla. Slowly add four cups of flour. Drop from spoon onto greased cookie sheet and bake. While cookies are baking, make the icing.

Melt butter in 8-inch skillet; add brown sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add milk and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and cool. Slowly add powdered sugar and beat well with spoon after each addition until thick enough to spread. Ice and enjoy!

You're gonna love these cookies! :)

365 Day Photo Challenge: February

Continuing on with my photo challenge ... Ate some delicious desserts * Saw lots of snow * Celebrated the Super Bowl with puppy chow * Went to a blogger event at Whole Foods * Finally saw the sun! * Made my first purchase at Madewell * Shot a few sessions * Read some good books * Continued working on my office * Went to my first Taco Tuesday photography networking event at Miss Leah's beautiful studio * Painted my nails red for Valentine's Day * Had Valentine's Day breakfast with mom * Booked our summer vacation (St. Lucia here we come!) * Saw some pretty cool Phi Taus * Spent a weekend downtown with Nathan * Tried Lucky's Cafe for the first time * Received an advanced copy of Shauna Niequist's new book, Bread and Wine * Had coffee with the lovely Brittany Graham * Discovered that Nathan can't do owl eyes * Shot my first wedding of the year * Tried Jeni's ice cream for the first time * Determined that I need to get a hair cut * Hung out with some fun ladies

Random Acts of Kindness

Last Friday, my friend Sharon came over for some relaxation and girl time. After she knocked our door knocker (she never rings the doorbell!), I swung the door open to find her holding chocolate and tea bags. Seriously, this girl. She is SO good at blessing others with thoughtful gifts, and she shares so easily. While I would consider myself a fairly generous person, I really want to make 2013 a year of giving back ... and more than just tithing to our church. I want random acts of kindness to become a habit so that I'm giving to others consistently rather than when the thought sporadically pops into my head.

So, this week I'm going to attempt a random act of kindness and continue on that trend each week. I have lots of thoughts—paying for the person behind me at the Starbucks drive-thru, bringing cookies to the neighbor, sending a hand-written note to a friend—but I'd love to hear from those of you who have done this before, and from those of you who do this consistently.

And if you feel inspired, I'd invite you to join me in giving back. Like Ellen says, let's "be kind to one another" and make this world a better place. :)

A Weekend Off

This upcoming weekend, I'll officially start my 2013 wedding season! I'm excited to get back into the swing of things and have a more structured schedule (more on that later this week!). Slow season is AWESOME, but I tend to feel out of sorts by the time the weekend rolls around. It takes me longer to get two easy tasks done than five harder ones in the middle of the summer. Nevertheless, it's really nice to breathe and take the winter in stride. To celebrate my last weekend off before the new season kicks off (and really, to celebrate Valentine's Day), Nathan planned a fun, little weekend downtown. We started at Johnny's because we had a gift card, thanks to my brother. :) The restaurant was nicer than ones we usually frequent with big, comfy booths, high ceilings and delicious chocolate cake. Then we headed to the Renaissance Hotel—our digs for the night. Cleveland's new(er) casino is attached to the building and while we're NOT AT ALL gamblers, I really wanted to check the place out. It was the classiest casino I've ever been in (and that equals, like, two)!

The next morning we kept it local and checked out Lucky's Cafe in Tremont. OHHHHH mygosh! I need to go back to that place. They have this farm-to-table mentality and you can totally tell how fresh the food is with one bite. You guys, I am not at all a foodie, but the gingerbread waffles I tried? They were heaven.

All in all, a fabulous last slow-season weekend. Thanks to my hubby for making it happen! (All photos taken on my iPhone with the VSCO app.)