There’s no recipe today, folks. As many of you know, I get my best cooking done on the weekends. Saturdays and Sundays are really the only time I have the leisure of spending the day in the kitchen, without the pressure of time constraints, and in the daylight. And, since we were out of town the past two weekends, my cooking and baking have fallen by the wayside.

My sweet husband has handled most of our weeknight cooking of late, but he’s had some help from this slow cooker, an updated version of the ancient one I used to use. I’ve cooked several things from this slow cooker cook book, and we’ve both been pleased with the results. I highly recommend the cassoulet recipe; we’ve made it a few times already.

Two weekends ago, we went to Las Vegas to celebrate the wedding vow renewal of two of our good friends [hi, Julia!]. I’ve had several requests for photos of the gold stilettos I bought, the ones I mentioned in this post.  Here they are, in all their painful-toed glory:

I’m still not sure how I walked in them.

This past weekend, there was no cooking because we celebrated my daughter’s eighth birthday at Sea World and Disney World. My husband and I were forced to ride roller coasters that neither of us had any business being on. The trip was not perfect — there were at least a handful of tantrums, one lost stuffed dog, a painful splinter that caused tears upon extraction, late nights and too-early mornings — but snuggling in bed with both kids while watching The Polar Express on Saturday night made up for all the not-so-nice parts of the weekend.

If you’re still hunting gifts for those you love, be sure to check out my gift guide, parts one and two, for ideas. Also, if you have not done so already, please enter the giveaway for a beautiful Eat Boutique jams gift box. Entries are open until this Friday, and I plan to select the winner on Saturday morning.

And last, but definitely not least, I am guest posting over at unstitchedblog.com today. Lillian is the author/editor/publisher of unstitchedblog.com, and her blog is just gorgeous. She asked me to share a little bit about my kitchen style — at which I first burst out laughing (style? what style?), and then collected myself and said yes, graciously.

Style is Lillian’s thing. Practicality and comfort are mine. Regardless, check out my kitchen over at unstitched.  You can be the judge.

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Update 3/13/2014: Lillian’s blog isn’t there any longer, so I’ve removed the links. Sorry about that!