Failed Attempts

I had intended on starting my work at getting some base color for the big summer vaca plans, however, Mother Nature had other intentions:

Speaking of failed attempts, thanks to the snow and the fact that the greater Dallas/Ft. Worth area does not possess ice scraping/salt dispensing machines for the highways, Lane's office closed for the day.

This meant that my grand plans for a Valentine's surprise were foiled.

I'd been scheming and planning for more than 2 weeks as to what I was going to do for him.

I got a bunch of his favorite flowers and made a homemade Hostess Cupcake (courtesy of Cook's Country) and piped Valentine messages onto the cupcakes (harder than I thought ... I think I need a smaller tip on the bag).

We were going to take them to his office and take him to lunch.

Instead, we had to suffice with a grand entrance into his study as he checked his work e-mail(although all of us are happier that he gets to be home with us for an extra day).

On a side note, you can make these cupcakes yourself and I highly recommend it. Cook's Country offers a 2-week trial of their Web site, although it is certainly worth the $20 a year for access. It's worth the $20 or so for the magazine. Everything from this magazine and their cookbook, America's Test Kitchen, turns out golden. Every. Single. Time.