A little over a week ago, I was feeling frustrated.

With my kitchen.

Do you know my kitchen is pretty bad to work in? Well, it is. Even though it might not look it at first glance (it's a decent-sized square room instead of being a galley or teeny-tiny space), it has a seriously deficient amount of cupboard and counter space. Trust me. I have to keep tupperware, sippy cups, baking utensils, etc. underneath my kitchen sink because if I put these things elsewhere, I would have absolutely no room to store things like, say, cereal or rice or dry beans or peanut butter. As if keeping cookie cutters beneath the garbage disposal isn't frustrating enough, this space issue also means I can't buy in bulk (which means I have to grocery shop more often, and you've all heard my nightmare stories about grocery shopping with the kids) and that when someone else comes to cook with me, she exclaims in shock as I dive headfirst into the corner cupboard for the tenth time, "You keep everything in there, don't you?!"

I have arranged and re-arranged my cupboards a zillion times as I try to beat the space issues.

I have come up wanting every single time.

So now you understand why I was so excited to receive one particular gift this Christmas. It will revolutionize my life. (I cook and bake quite a bit, you see.) It will make my kitchen more functional. And it certainly will make my kitchen more beautiful.

I know we're not supposed to have favorite gifts, since that would mean another isn't as favorite. But this year, I can't help having a favorite gift. Especially since it was handmade just for me by some very nice and favorite people. (There may have been others involved in the making of it, since their house is also home to other friends.)

My new plate rack/tea cup hanger/shelf. For above my kitchen table. To empty out the dish cupboard and fill it with tupperware and sippy cups and baking utensils. To be beautiful.

Don't you love it?!?!