Today was warm... like, in the mid-30s. And there was no snow and no ice, so we took Ezra and Magda for a nice, long walk around Lake Harriet. It felt so, so good to do that walk, and the temperature was perfect (although I will grumble about my brown Christmas tomorrow). When we ended the walk, I saw that they had decorated the neighborhood trolley station with garland, so I made Jamie pose with Magda in front of it. Before we knew it, he scooped her up over his shoulders -- I love seeing this girl in uncomfortable situations.Poor Merlin could never muster the energy for this long of a walk, so when we returned home I offered to take him up and down the block. But our sad, old man couldn't seem to muster the energy to leave the front porch. So instead I sat on the porch with him watching the world go by for a bit. Oh Merlin, what I would do to make you feel better. Maybe some warm cheesy bread will help tonight at dinner.Anyway, now we're all at home heating up a big pot of chili, building a fire and wrapping presents. It's a quiet night in, which is perfect. Until we try to get this baby of ours to sleep, that is. ;)
Happy Hanukkah! We celebrated this last night of the holiday by inviting our dear friend Nyberg over for dinner. We had some amazingly delicious wine (gifted to me earlier this year from a friend living in Qatar!) and enjoyed bowls of chili and leftover chicken soup (long story). It was such a fun start to the time off from work.Also, while I was clearing the table, Magda had a first and climbed up onto the chair and ate the rest of the butter from the dish on the table. Yeah. Jamie points out that I *did* teach her to put her paws on the table for her birthday photos. Sigh. I guess I did.For your internet share of the day, you should bake me these 
Magda has many hiding spots around the house. Under the bed. Under dressers. Inside of closets (behind hanging pants). But this new one, next to the toilet, just started today. It's not very hidden, but I think she's too enamored by the heated bathroom floors to bother. I can't blame her. That extravagance is one of my best decisions to date.Oh, and what was she hiding from? The vacuum cleaner, of course.And for your "holy crap we are living in the future" share of the day, how about 
Happy holidays everyone! I will now teach you how I make the easiest holiday cookies ever. In fact, I'm not even sure they qualify as cookies... but the DO qualify as delicious and they are simple enough that even *I* can't screw them up, so it's a win-win! And you only need FOUR ingredients! I told you they were simple! Here we go!
You'll need:• Your favorite graham crackers (mine are the cinnamon dusted ones from Trader Joe's -- delicious)• Two sticks of butter. Don't judge! How else would something this easy be this delicious?• One cup of brown sugar• One cup of chopped pecans
First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Then line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (this helps with cleanup immensely), and then spread the cookies out on the sheet, keeping them as close together as you can (and leave a generous amount around the edges).
Next, melt the butter on medium heat and add in the brown sugar. Bring this mix to a boil for about 4 minutes until it magically turns to caramel. The best caramel in the world. The kind you burn your tongue with because you need to "taste it to make sure it's turning out OK." Once it's ready, mix in the pecans and then remove from the heat.
Pour the mixture over the graham crackers and spread it with a spoon. It will spread a little more in the oven, so don't go all the way to the edges, but close. After it's spread over the crackers, pop the cookie sheets in the oven for 6.5 minutes, then remove and let cool.While baking them, it's imperative that you share the "licks" of the pot of caramel with only those you love the most.
After the cookies have cooled about 10 minutes, they are ready to enjoy! I usually make a batch and save about 6 for me and box up the rest for friends or family. If you're boxing them up, make sure you put a sheet of wax paper between each layer too keep things manageable. Enjoy!
For your internet share of the day, here's something that sounds AMAZING and far more complicated than the cookies above: 
I want to go sit by the fire and watch holiday movies with my husband while eating homemade soup, so this week's entry is gonna be a quickie.I love the photo above because that outfit is AWESOME. It's a hand-me-down from my friend Stacy. Adorable.
Bubie was stilll here at the start of the week, so I snapped a few photos of these two together.
You can see that Magda was like, "WAITAMINUTE. SHOULDN'T *I* BE IN THE PHOTO??"
He's still sorting out this whole "sitting up" thing.
Oh hello, handsome.
This photo is of him on my knees doing his tummy time (so he's looking down on me). Yeah, you gotta dodge the drool if you're in this position. The good news though? Tummy time is gettin' good and easy.
Tonight our good friend 
For your internet share of the day, 
This morning I had a wonderfully fun photoshoot with a local company as we worked on photos for their New Year's card. There was champagne, amazing props, fantastic styling along with fancy jewelry and confetti! People, this was an awesome way to start the day! This was something I shot along the side as we were prepping for our next photo -- I love these garnishes that take the styling to the next level.The other remarkable thing about today was that Merlin had the adventure of a lifetime (I imagine). I let him out this afternoon and went about my work. About 20 minutes later when I went to let him back in, I realized the back gate was open and our collie was nowhere to be found. And he wasn't wearing a collar. And it was about 10 degrees outside. And icy. And his back legs don't work so well.I was FRANTIC. Thank goodness Mere was at the house watching Ezra while I worked, and she ran out to find Merlin while I stayed home with the sleeping baby (worrying like crazy). Sure enough, he hadn't gone too far, and she found him and walked him back home. You better believe I greeted him with big hugs and tears. My mind had gone to the worst places, and hot damn was it good to have that old man back in my arms again. And him? He was happy as a clam. Big adventures for the aging collie.For your internet shares today, 
So last week I got to work with my favorite people over at Bogart Doughnuts again! We did a shoot featuring a bunch of their merchandise so they could promote it with the holidays drawing closer. That little girl up there? ADORABLE. And while she loved being sweet to Ezra, she was an even bigger fan of Merlin. And Merlin just loved her right back (of course he did). This photo below is of them getting to know one another. What a coupla cuties.
For your internet share of the day, props to my Man who found