Arty here!  For the record: I had no say in the title or the awesome things written about me below.  The author of this post is the always fabulous Kim Holmes who I am so lucky to call friend and co-conspirator.  I met her 3 years ago and was immediately drawn to her vibrant personality.  She is opinionated and sassy, but also sweet and super generous and very creative.  In many ways we are opposite, but we work well together.  I don’t get tired of this lady. We work together, we play together, we switch kids together, we even sleep on the ground for a week at Girls Camp as “craft ladies” together.

About a year and a half into our friendship we convinced each other I needed an assistant… and that it needed to be her.  Best. work idea.  ever.  I like to tell her, “I’m a genius sometimes.” and this is clearly one of those moments; though she will tell you it was her idea, so what can I say: we are both geniuses sometimes!

She keeps the McGooniverse (a term Kim coined!) running smoothly.  She does all the stuff I’m terrible at: she thinks through things with me, she encourages and helps me see cookies through a different lens, she bosses me around, and tells me to paint my nails.  And don’t let her fool you:  SHE MAKES GORGEOUS COOKIES!  All by herself.  So, without further ado, I give you Kim.

When people ask me what I do, I say “I’m the assistant to a cookie artist”. For some odd reason, this always leads to further questions! (Have they really never met anyone with my job before?) And I inevitably end up pulling out my phone to show off Arty’s amazing cookie creations. What, people ask, do you do? Do you sit around and decorate cookies together? Is it fun? Do you like it? The answers are: whatever she tells me to do, no, yes, and I LOVE IT! If you think it’s fun to be friends with Liz, or to cookie with her, let me assure you it’s even better to see her on an almost-daily basis and to watch her creative process. 

Liz is a natural artist. She once said to me, “Don’t you just wake up some days and think ‘I need to create something today’?” The sad truth is that I do not! I sometime wake up and think….I want to bake something delicious today! But I’m not a creative person by nature. I can copy other people with the best of them, but coming up with something beautiful on my own is not my strong suit. So I absolutely love sitting back and watching her do it! 

Most of her designs start in her sketchbook. She ALWAYS has lots of ideas about things she wants to cookie. And when she gets the time (usually at night when I’m not around to see it) she puts piping bag to cookie & makes her vision a reality. When I get to work the next morning, I get to ooh & aaah and be amazed, and ask way too many questions. And then, because she’s so nice, Arty shares her designs with all of you, and if you feel so inclined, you can make them too.

Though art is not my talent, choosing amazing friends is. I’m seriously really good at it. And because I was smart enough to choose Liz, I ended up with this super fun job that has allowed me entrance into the cookie world, and has also enabled me to make even more amazing friends…by that I mean you!

Oh, and I’m pretty sure my boss is cuter than your boss, so there’s that.