Christmas comes early!

When it comes to cooking i've always loved baking best. I'm a firm believer that love goes into everything one makes but the things the chef loves most turn out the best. It's no secret that I have a HUGE sweet-tooth so I love baking best. I hoped that one day I would add a quality mixer into my kitchen so that I could bake like Martha Stewart BUT I simply haven't had the kitchen space for a beast like the KitchenAid mixer I've been drooling over for years.
Two weeks ago Darren and I went to Costco and a sample mixer was displayed for the holiday season. I mentioned to him that I would someday like a mixer like that and Darren seemed to perk up and begin suggesting it as a Christmas gift. I promptly told him "NO!" because I really wanted to wait till I had the space. Still, the seed had been planted in my brain.
The following weekend was my Mom's birthday and her request was to lunch and shop in Walnut Creek. While out and about with Mom & Dad I had an opportunity to show Darren just how heavy and solid the mixer was. He didn't seemed to be bothered by it (thus giving me the first reason of justification to purchase it a little earlier than expected).
The next morning sealed the deal. We talked it over and after a while Darren said "do you want this or not?" and I said "YES!!" I picked the color (shown) and had him place the order. Best of all though was that Darren decided to order the top of the line model - 6qt professional bowl-lift. It holds a whopping 14 cups of flour (or makes triple batches of cookies).
Although Christmas is still 6 weeks away my gift should be here next week! I'm super excited and hope that this gift will one day be used for cookies for our kids. =)