There’s nothing sweeter than fresh produce in a handmade berry bowl.
Just rinse, shake and serve in the berry bowl on the matching drip plate.
What could be sweeter?

And thanks to Kelly for sharing her strawberries with us this morning!

Look what arrived in my studio the other day… M&M S’MORES!!!
Yep, the online challenge worked.

I couldn’t find them in Chicago, but a few resourceful people have found them elsewhere. Congratulations to Liz from Massachusetts who was the first person to get them to me. For her “heroic” efforts, Liz gets a FREE MUG as promised.

I shared the sweet treats with my pottery class last night. Pretty tasty… but I do believe they missed the mark just a bit. I kind of think they should have made the light brown ones just graham cracker filled, the dark brown ones regular M&M chocolates and the white ones marshmallow filled. Instead they all taste the same – kinda like s’mores without the fun or gooey mess?!

Thanks to everyone who played along with my crazy challenge…
but you understand the “addiction” involved when you combine two of my favorite things…
M&M’s and S’MORES!!!

Okay, so I stopped off at the grocery store this morning on my way into work. I noticed a cardboard endcap display, empty but partially filled with empty cardboard boxes to fill in the bottom. Normally, one would just walk by wondering why the store would leave an unattractive & unfilled cardboard display on the store floor. But THIS time… my eye was caught by a very familiar logo. And, oh but wait there’s more… one of my favorite words next to it.

Are you kidding me?
TWO OF MY FAVORITE THINGS HAVE BEEN COMBINED???
So I looked a little closer. Closer than any “normal” shopper would…
Only to find that the cardboard boxes were completely empty. Mwah, mwah, mwah…

So then I set out on a somewhat frantic search throughout the store.
They have got to be somewhere!!!

Check the candy aisle. Check the seasonal foods. Check the endcaps.
Check the check-out lanes. NOTHING!!! I searched everywhere… salivating.
Only to find out that they were no where in the store!!! They must be taunting me!!!

So here’s the deal…
THE VERY FIRST PERSON TO GET SOME OF THE EVER-ELUSIVE
S’MORE M&M’s TO ME WILL GET A FREE HANDMADE MUG!!!

You can mail them, ship them, drop them off in person.
Don’t care. I MUST have them!!! Simple as that.
Of course I “welcome” multiple submissions, but keep in mind…
the FREE MUG is only for the very first person!!!

And so the challenge has begun!!!

During tonight’s pottery class we did a quick taste test of the newest M&M flavors. First off, let me just say that I like plain M&M’s better than peanut. However, I’m always willing to take one for the team when it comes to chocolate. Overall, I think the coffee flavor won the most votes. Except from me… the non-coffee drinker!!! I still like plain better. Just sayin’…

Cereal & blueberries never tasted so good…
as when they are in a handmade stoneware bowl.
Thanks to Gerry & Rosene for sharing a quick shot of their breakfast this morning!

A beautiful morning for a brisk 8K run through downtown Chicago. Chilly with a bit of a breeze, but with the right layers it was quite nice for me and 23,500 of my fellow runners. What a difference a day makes… can you even imagine if the run was during yesterday’s crazy blizzard conditions?!

The toughest part is deciding what clothes to wear… and how many layers you can take off and pack away into Gear Check. The morning is cold. The breeze is chilling. You know you’re going to warm up when you start running. But you also know you have at least a half hour to stand out there and wait. At this point, Tracy and I were pretty sure we had made the right decisions.

Here’s the view of the Starting Line as we wait for our turn to start. I was in the second wave, Corral G… which means we had plenty of time to wait.

My friend Kristin was doing her first “official” run… we’ve been “training” at Spin Class together. So it was fun to see her there in my same Corral. We ran the last half of the race together which was a lot of fun. She did a GREAT job today!!!

And THIS is what you get when you ask someone to take your picture at the Finish Line… apparently the nice lady had extremely large thumbs?!!!

Such a difference a day makes… clear skies and NO SNOW!!!

Some of the Shamrock Shuffle “swag” back at my lace…. some sweatier than others!!!

On my way home, I stopped off at Ann Sather’s for some I-deserve-these  “reward” cinnamon rolls!!! Always fun when you know you’ve already burned off those calories!!!

To kick-off April, I’ve decided to start my new Nutritious Raw Food Diet.
Not really sure how it works, but a lot of people swear by it.
And I’m all for giving it a valiant effort. I’m willing to take one for the team.

Hope you’re having a “colorful” Easter!!!… or just a great Sunday depending on how you roll?!

We had some “colorful” fun with my family & cousins from Minnesota doing some Easter egg coloring. Many were simple color dips… but I went for the “textured” grid effect using a rubber grippy pad & rubber bands! I happened to find the grippy grid things in the grocery aisle… darn those impromptu add-on sales items!

Worked well on the first one… so I ventured out into a two-toned world! With a band of rubber grid. Half dipped in yellow, and then half dipped in blue…  overlapping for green?!

Christopher was right there trying the new technique with great results… and focus!

A good time was had by all.
We ended with some colored fingertips and some very vibrant eggs!