2 blessed beyond belief

{a very easy thing to do when visiting here, i must say.}

it's once again gray today... that makes every day this week a gray-sky day.
but as the song says, gray skies are gonna clear up!
they always, always do... literally and figuratively.
i thank God for that!

so please except these smiles today.
there's one for each of us.
and all three for each of your lovely visitors.
i took this photo at trader joe's {my favorite grocery store} last year.
the hubby thought i was off my rocker when he saw me bring my camera with me into the store.
but if you've ever been to trader joe's, you know there are so many wonderful things to photograph there.
this was in the wine aisle, as i'm sure you guessed.
i'm not a big wine drinker, but these happy faces were just too... well, happy!

so guess what i found!
the RECIPE!
{from that pastry that i photographed in my last post...}
i have it!
it's always been right under my nose?
i just got off the phone with my dear friend {who i call ese}.
she is the one who served me the dessert when i went to visit and see her new baby girl.
she told me that the recipe is in the baking with julia cookbook.
i almost leaped for joy, because i remembered i have that book!
okay... you might think i'm uber excited because i have the recipe.
and i am!
but the really really exciting part of this all is that I WORKED ON THAT COOKBOOK!
"worked?" you ask?
yes, i worked on the production of it.
after the design/layout files for that book were essentially done, they came to the development house {or prepress facility}
that i was working in at the time when the book was published.
basically, i just worked on the pages, making sure the fonts were right and the high resolution photos were linked.
then i made print-ready electronic files of the pages so the book could be printed.
because i worked so diligently on its 480 pages, i got a free copy of of the book after it printed!
i always loved when that would happen.

{cookbook image via barnes and noble}

it's a gorgeous cookbook with some wonderful photography!!!

i was not even into photography at the time, but i remember being very taken with the images that i did see come across my screen.
i also remember as i was working on it one page at a time, i found myself thinking, "i will never be patient or talented enough to bake like this!"
like i said, i am just not a baker.

but this is one recipe i will definitely have to try!
her cookbook gives the pastry a different name... sunny-side-up apricot pastry.
if you have the book, the recipe is on page 192-194.
because i'm not sure if copyright laws would allow it, i thought it would be better
to just point you in the direction of the recipe, rather than type it out and post it here.
sorry. :(
but now you know!

well, this is already one long post!
so i will save the other things i wanted to say for friday morning.

but i can't go before i say this...
talk about inspiring!
it's YOU TWO that are inspiring and constantly WOWing me!
i'm sad for this week to wind down.
i'm having way too much fun.
and i found that i have a whole lot more to share than just what i've been able to.
that's okay.
i'll just keep sharing on my blogs.
and in the future, i would be honored if you both would come over to jorjah-b and guest blog there like i've been able to here.
maybe you could each post some recipes with your amazing food photos.
i think my readers would really like that!

have a truly HAPPY {and thoughtful} thursday.
~g.e.o.r
{...how sad i'll be when we get to 'a'}

{p.s. the sun eventually came out yesterday! hooray! maybe it will again today.}