Christmas Blunder...and lots of baking!

Wow... can you believe that it is less than 2 weeks until Christmas??!! So many things to accomplish, and the seconds keep ticking by. I still have some hand-made gifts to finish, as well as a very special project for my Mom's birthday (which was Nov 26... whoops!). *Sigh* , to have but 2 or 3 more sets of hands ☺

My husband has recently been sneakily working on something on the computer... whenever I come downstairs, he promptly turns off the monitor. All I knew was that it had something to do with my Christmas present. Well, today I came home from picking up Brianna from preschool and running errands, and UPS was leaving some packages on my back porch:

Could you possibly guess what my present is? Macys.com is in trouble! LOL Regardless, I am quite happy to be getting a food processor! Making pate brisee will be so much easier than in the tiny little quasi-processor that I have now.

Another recipe that my gift will be useful in making is the delicious macarons that Emily has been having so much fun with on her blog. I have become intrigued with them, since I once had a love-affair with meringue cookies, and they seemed a bit similar. So, last week I gave them a go, and they turned out perfectly!

Usually, the cookie batter is made from a mixture of ground almonds, but I decided to follow suit of another blogger and try pistachios instead. They were delish! For the filling, I substituted almond extract for the vanilla. The combo of pistachio and almond tastes exactly like my favorite ice cream. Even my picky FIL (who happens to be a pistachio "nut") thought they were great. I have a bag of the lovely green nuts waiting on my countertop for round 2 ☺

Tomorrow night is Matt's Christmas party, which is always a good time. I bought myself a new dress (and even popped into a boutique today and treated myself to a nice scarf). We will be staying overnight in the hotel that the party is in (his work picks up the tab. WOOT!). My only request is that we go watch Twilight before the party. I have a SERIOUS crush on Edward Cullen. Anyone else?

♥♥♥