Your morning cooking tip:

When frying bacon, do not place the tines of the fork you just used to flip it against your tongue. The tines will be hot.

Gorgeous! I learned about these “Stain” teacups from Bethan Laura Wood via notyouraverageordinary.com (Francesca’s brother’s girlfriend’s blog). They’re intended to explore the assumption that use is damaging, and are treated so that certain spots are more susceptible to staining; the more the cup is used, the more the pattern is revealed.

After lunch, Lauren left and I got in some QT with a second Lauren, our amazing intern (above), who never fails to impress me with her poise and intelligence. Our interns actually get in some pretty cool experiences, from attending shoots (and frequently doing the shooting…thanks, Eric!) to helping coordinate events and even coming up with their own post topics. Lauren and I talked about how the internship has been going for her and what she wants to get out of it, and then came up with a strategy to ensure that she learns as much as possible. Oh, and we ate cookies.

When you do something like write a blog called “Domestic Bliss,” people who come over to your place kinda expect to be offered delicious things, so I tend to keep a stash of homemade cookie dough in the refrigerator so I can pop some into the oven when I know friends will be stopping by (today’s cookies can be seen in the lower right-hand corner). This has the dual benefit of making your apartment smell unreal and making you look like the kind of person capable of whipping up from-scratch treats on demand…when really all you did was spoon some cookie dough onto a baking sheet and hit the timer button.