What a Week

It's been a good week. And I really needed it.

I had a four and a half day weekend, which was super nice. One day, I even went back to bed at 10 in the morning and slept until 2 in the afternoon. I know! What is that? Moms don't do that! I haven't done that since my baby-less days. Heck, even before. But Mr. Mac knew I was exhausted and he didn't ask questions when I wandered back to the bed and didn't come out for a few hours. He took care of Baby Mac for me and it was the most glorious 4 hours of sleep I have had in a while. I didn't even feel guilty. Well, maybe a little. 

I made a trip to Sephora to replenish my foundation. How great is that store? I mean, it is the equivalent of Disneyland for grown women in my opinion. Or a candy store as one friend put it. I didn't want to leave. It was like being told it was time to get out of the pool and go home for the day.

I bought this per the recommendation of a few other food bloggers:

I have a passion for photographing food but still am not that great at it. This book puts things in simple terms and has lots of photography do's and don'ts in regards to food. I have little natural light in my kitchen and most of my house is not conducive to setting up photo shoots so I am excited to read about some solutions. I have skimmed through it and I can't wait to dive in. It's gotten some fantastic reviews.

I also bought these:

I have had vanilla beans on my to do list for some time now. I LOVE vanilla. When I was little I would open mom's extract and just sniff. It made me happy. I know that sounds really weird, but it was vanilla. Not canned air or cleaning supplies. I turned out just fine. 

Jennifer Love-Hewitt says she uses vanilla extract as a fragrance. People have laughed on gossip blogs about this but studies have shown that men react strongly to the scent of vanilla. I think she's got the right idea.

The Hungry Housewife

And to top off the week, I won a giveaway from one of my favorite ladies of food, Leslie Green, The Hungry Housewife! I have entered every giveaway on every food blog I follow and I finally hit the jackpot! I won a jar of Smucker's Orchard's Finest Michigan Red Tart Cherry Preserves (Tart Cherries are one of my favorite things in life) and a $50 gift card to Cooking.com. 

Now, I have made a list of some of the things I need for my kitchen: a salad spinner, an oven thermometer, a cake stand (can you believe I don't have one of those?), and some other boring but necessary items. But while I  was browsing this caught my eye:

It's the Kitchen Aid ice cream attachment for my mixer. I have made you guys fully aware of my love of ice cream. If given the choice of cake or ice cream I would chose the latter every time. 

But, I need this like I need a hole in my head. But wouldn't those vanilla beans come in handy for this thing? But, I would get myself in trouble. Or should I say, my backside in trouble. But it is summer, right? But I don't NEED it. But it's fun! But I have no where to store it. But, but, but....

It's been like this for two days. 

So help me decide? Sensible, necessary items I am going to have to pay for out of pocket at some point anyway? Or fun accessory for making sweet summer treats?

Have a great weekend!