Why I love blogging, TERESA, Doggie silhouette cookies, and Seattle, Seattle, Seattle!!!

{Be warned...a very wordy post, with lots of personal pictures. But, there ARE cookies, too!}

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  My very favorite thing about blogging is not anything I ever expected or anticipated.

My very favorite thing about blogging is that it has brought some really amazing and true friendships into my life. ♥

For Mother's Day two years ago, Mr. E surprised me with a trip to visit my very first blogging friend, Cheryl from TidyMom. It was so much fun that I decided then and there that visiting bloggy friends in real life must be continued.

When we were thinking about a spring break trip, we decided on Seattle. Yes, warm, sunny Seattle.  Neither one of us had really seen the city, and kiddo had never been to that part of the country.  And guess who just happens to live there?!?

TERESA from Blooming on Bainbridge!!!

Now, Teresa and I had gotten to the point of texting each other, oh, about 247,000 times a day.  It was high time we met...and we DID!!!

We had a wonderful dinner together in Seattle and had a groan-worthy, unbutton-the-top-button-of-your-pants dinner at Teresa's home on Bainbridge Island.  (I waited until we were on the ferry back to Seattle to do the unbuttoning...you don't want to be TOO weird when meeting a blog friend.) We were so busy gabbing that we didn't take many pictures.

You know how Teresa is the sunniest, funniest, happiest girl on her blog?  Well, she's that x 1,000 in person.   And her house?  Oh, it's only the cutest place ever.

{Psst...See that handsome man with the cool glasses in the picture with kiddo and & Mr. E?  That's Teresa's husband.  I swear, bloggers have the best husbands.  I just love him.}

Oh, and y'all...Seattle is a foodie town.  Great food is everyWHERE!  Take a look at this salted caramel cupcake from The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. 

But, the BEST food we ate all week was at Teresa's house on Bainbridge.  Chicken Pot Pie, Mashed Potatoes, all kinds of appetizers, Ina's Chocolate Pudding.  Mr. E is so spoiled now.
And I'm chubby.

Let's talk about Seattle...or, our home away from home, the Pan Pacific Hotel.
This was our view:

{No, I'm not kidding.  That's the Space Needle.  How cool is that?!?}

I'm pretty much in love with this hotel.  From the location (in a hip little neighborhood where Amazon is making it's new home), to the service (impeccable), to the WHOLE FOODS MARKET downstairs!

Foodies...if you are planning a trip to BlogHer Food in June, you might want to consider the Pan Pacific! {Y'all...they have free wifi.  They know better than to separate a blogger from her wifi.}

{A few more pictures...we didn't stay in the suite pictured up top, but I thought you might want to see it.  I'm going to dream about it. The lobby is also very chic and modern...wonderful seafood restaurant and a Starbucks attached (this is Seattle after all!).  ALL of the rooms come with BIG soaking tubs and sliding doors that open up to the room.  After a long day of walking around Seattle, relax in the tub with a glass of wine, and enjoy your view of the Space Needle.  Of course, I did not do this since kiddo was with us, but I imagined it. ;)}

As far as what to see....I could go back and spend a month or so in Seattle just exploring.  Well, exploring and EATING.  Space Needle, monorail, Pike Place Market, the ferries...there is SO, so much to do!!!

Now to the cookies...

If you know Teresa, and you should, you'll know her ADORABLE Wheaten Terrier doggie, Doogan.

So, I stole a picture of Doogan from Teresa's blog ;), and printed it out.

Then, the day before I made the cookies, I placed the printout on an upside-down cookie sheet and covered it with waxed paper.  I outlined and filled the picture, just like I would on a cookie.

For the cookies, I used Callye's method of turning a scalloped circle cookie into a scalloped oval.  (I love this!)  The cookies were outlined and filled with light turquoise icing.

After the cookies had been drying for about an hour, I peeled the Doogan silhouettes off of the waxed paper and gently placed them on the cookies.  (The cookies are still wet enough to hold the silhouette without disturbing the icing.) Then, the cookies dried uncovered overnight.

Since I was visiting Teresa (the queen of pink and gingham), I had to tie her cookies up in some big pink gingham ribbon. ♥

Seattle Spring Break...I recommend it.

{...especially with your sweethearts.}

I'll leave you with one more (can you stand it?) picture. It's blurry, but I think it's my favorite.