the great redecoration continues (part 2...)

this time it was the living room.

it all started with this bookcase we wanted to replace the ikea one i've had for 476 years...and it turned into completely changing everything (*sighs*). on the bright side-it looks WAY BETTER.

now, of course, i couldn't find any good pictures of the living room before (see above).

and now (yes, again-this is an appropriate time for a drum roll...!)

we are two years old!!

thank you for making this possible-all of you!! xoxoxxx

(for more opinions than you need on chocolate chip cookies, see yesterday's post-which talks of little else!)

a love affair

*warning, post is not about dogs...but so close to my heart i just couldn't help myself from writing about it!*

i've been madly in love with chocolate chip cookies (ccc) ever since that first bowl of raw dough i stuck my finger in.

growing up, we only ever had the toll house variety-and i continued to make these until a few years ago. i realized all the chocolate chip cookies i really craved from bakeries & restaurants were better than those toll house ones...but i couldn't put my finger on what it was (it wasn't rocket science, i know-but i was new to the baking world then!)...and made it my life's purpose to find the PERFECT recipe.

(ps, now pretty much everything i bake inevitably turns into a taste test. i can't just try one recipe for red velvet cupcakes, i have to try FIVE. it's gotten out of hand.)

sooooooo....after probably 13 different takes on this illusive, yet epically classic cookie, i have narrowed it down to 2. *please note, all technical, dweeb information is small, so if you don't care about the details, just skip it!*

(and yes...if you are a baking nerd like me, you have read the 476 times that people have written about this very same taste test...but again, the truth has to be known, people!)

*alton brown's "the chewy"
this is my go-to, easy & standard-issue amazing cookie. it's the one i make when i just want a good cookie...NOW. it's meaty, but not cake-y (puke) & works every time. (if you've made toll house cookies, remember how sometimes they would be sponge-y & sometimes they would be all thin & crispy...even when you followed the recipe the same way every time?! yea, that doesn't happen here.)
ps, don't be cheap on the chocolate (this sounds bourgeois, but it makes a difference)-and also, don't sub all purpose flour for bread flour...they come out weird if you do!

*jacques torres ccc
this is my fancy ccc. the one i make for parties & baby showers & any time i need to present my baking (perfectionist & super overachiever that i am...this one satisfies on all levels)
it is more involved-in terms of ingredients & chilling time (you really REALLY should wait at least the requisite 24 hours before baking them...which can be so tedious & annoying! especially because after you do all the work, you want to eat them...NOW! if you can wait 48 hours they really REALLY are even more delicious, if that could be possible.) they also look absolutely fabulous. they are giant & gorgeous & i've been accused TWICE of buying bakery cookies when bringing these somewhere.

would love to hear if you have a favorite cookie recipe or if you have tried either of the ones above (or *gasp* have an even better one!)

thanks for letting me get that out of my system. (i need to go eat some cookies...!)

because i know how interested you all are...

yep, i knew it. sitting at home, practically ripping your hair out in anticipation...what colour DID molly repaint her kitchen? is it fabulous (like everything else she does?) is it chic, but still retro & weird?

your worries can officially end today.

here, in all it's iphone-crappy-ness...the new kitchen is revealed. (apologies on the before pictures too...i guess i wasn't the OCD baker that i am now, because i was hard pressed to find ANY pictures of the kitchen prior to 2 weeks ago..) (seriously, these pictures are SO BAD. i think it's because i had cookie dough on my camera lens. just keeping it classy...)

DRUM ROLL PLEASE

it's no secret...

that we LOVE fan photos. pictures of YOUR dogs on a molly mutt beds is maybe my #1 favorite part of this business. for serious.

when this picture came in today, i wanted to wrap my arms around it & hug it. (thank you so much karen for the great picture & fabulous post!!)

new flickr favorites

trolling flickr recently for design inspiration, and ran across these gems. thank you artists & illustrators for being nifty.
(lightening cloud by tamer koseli, talk nerdy to me by constantinexgraphics, ice cream truck by haunted house of projects, "never put a bullet in a deer with a mullet" by the amazing kali meadows)

ah, japan...you always amuse me

51 characters is a site with the purpose of giving kids/out-of-touch adults a glimpse into japanese culture & the stereotypical people in a japanese city. it's a pretty amazing website.

that being said, one of the categories is "characters"...and it's here that i found amazing gems like this (now, REMEMBER, this site is meant to be educational. wicked.)

meet chican.he likes to touch young women in the crowded subway of tokyo - mainly in the rush hour, when it is so crowded that nobody realizes what he is doing. he always carries his camera to take some voyeuristic pictures. because of guys like him some of the japanese railway systems have women only cars, which are marked with a big pink sticker.

no, i'm not making this up.

the week to launch a thousand orders begins

trying VERY HARD to get everything packed...and i mean capital-E, Everything...my checklist is going over the 3-page mark.

such a strange time. excitement mixed with a pretty-much-constant feeling of nausea & restlessness & the feeling that i forgot to do something really important.
here's to great, nay...Amazing things to come. it's a roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-dirty kind of time, and i love it.

the picture is from the white dog (bella, aka "bebop") & i trying to capture our homepage image. i had to coerce her with almost an entire bag of chex mix (i bought at kinkos, at the absolute last minute, realizing none of my dogs work without being bribed. i will be a phenomenal mother of fat-kids if i keep this up.)

brings out the whiskey in me

someone apparently has been changing the letters on this wendy's sign in texas for years. you have to love the moxie of an urban prankster. (flickr.)