longing

I'm desperate for a trip up north...soon. We're heading north tomorrow for Diana's birthday party but we're not going north enough. Lake Placid is on my mind a lot lately. I woke up this morning wishing we were there, but then I looked out the window at my neighbor's shitty run down yellow and brown eyesore of a house and I quickly snapped back into reality. I miss it there. Maybe I can drag Mike along for a ride...a day trip would do.

Anyway, I made Diana's gift this year. For those of you who don't know her, Diana is Ben's step-mother and I just adore her. She's so crafty! She's always working on a project and her quilts are amazing. She started this really great co-op in her home town and a lot of the sellers there will be selling their wares in my shop. So cool.

She loves to cook...a lot. For god knows what reason, she thinks I'm a great cook and has been asking for some of my recipes for a long time now. For her birthday, I gathered 50 of my favorite recipes, some I've made myself and some I've collected over the years from various magazines and websites, and put a cookbook of sorts together for her. Each page is laminated, and the entire thing is spiral bound so she can fold it in half and take up less counter space. The lamination cost a small fortune, but I insisted on it because she can simply wipe up little (or big) spills and messes without a problem. I hope she likes it. If not, we got her a subscription to my bible, Martha Stewart Living, as a second gift. I know she'll like that.