If you're local and a subscriber, chances are you saw my exciting news in today's paper: I'm now writing a little cooking column for the Food section each Wednesday.

While Rob was grouting our new penny tile bathroom floor Sunday, I decided to pull out our Christmas decorations and get cracking.

Well, we managed to put in a whole new bathroom floor this weekend, although we still have lots to do to put our bathroom back together.

If you know anything about me, you know that: a. I love to demolish things and, b. once I make a reasonable plan for a home-improvement project, I want to start it right. this. minute.

I've hated our bathroom floor for pretty much as long as I can remember.

It has vinyl press-on tiles that always look dirty, and there is a definite slope behind the toilet that has always worried me.

I blogged yesterday with photos of a cake my friend Erin Lippitz made for her niece's first birthday party this weekend.

Today and tomorrow, I'm sharing a cake my baking coworker Erin Lippitz made for her niece's first birthday party this weekend. Her niece's name is Sam, and you'll see it on the top of the cake.