My Moonlight Cookies: Girls' Day Out! (April 2014)

I know I've said it before, but I love my sister-in-laws. Currently, I am the only one of my siblings with kids, and while that might lead to feelings of distance between some siblings, it is quite the opposite in my family. My brothers and sister-in-laws are the most doting of aunts/uncles, and when the ladies suggested a day for "just the girls" in downtown Chicago, it was not only my daughter who was excited. The idea was to do things that the boys might not fully appreciate, all while taking in the adventures of the city.

I was fully on-board. Literally. We started our day with a most-exciting first train ride, which led to a first-time taxi ride. Then, onto manicures, brunch at Hub 51, a playdate in the park by the Chicago River (with some hot cocoa to boot), window-shopping, and dinner at Ed Debevic's. After all the excitement, we finished the day with a "pajama party" at my sister-in-law's, filled with, yes, a chick-flick-type "dance party," popcorn, and my daughter's first-viewing of "Sound of Music."

We woke in the morning to have breakfast at their apartment and a quieter train ride home. What an amazing 24 hours! With all they had done to plan the "vacation," I had to bring cookies along that would capture the essence of our girl-time together.

Dolce Desserts had some great spa-themes cookies, for which I drew some inspiration, especially for the nail polish jars (which were made from the bottom of a menorah-shaped cookie cutter).

The craziest cookies were the hands with polished nails. That cookie cutter came with my first set of Wilton cutters, and I never thought I'd end up using it...I mean, who makes hand-shaped cookies anyway, right? Well, as the flesh-colored hands were drying on racks in my kitchen, I felt a little like I was looking at a cute version of a zombie movie. Weird.

I used a funky glasses-shaped cookie cutter for the sleeping masks, but trimmed them a bit. Then I sprinkled some sanding sugar along the border for some texture.