BYU Women’s Conference

UWhile I sit in my hotel room in Provo, Utah waiting for the inch or two of snow that is outside to melt (yes, I am sure it will melt before I have to outside!!) I thought I’d share some photos from my fun past few days.

Yes, I said snow!

Yes, it is May tomorrow and it snowed last night.

Glad all I brought were open toed shoes.  I always love an excuse to buy a new pair of shoes.  I can’t possibly walk around in the snow with sandals, can I???!!  All I brought to wear were skirts and dresses with bare legs.  Had to make a trip to Walmart yesterday for some leggings!!

The last two days have been fun, a little nerve wracking, and inspiring.  On Friday I was privileged to speak at BYU Women’s Conference, a two day event that over 15,000 women from around the country and world attend.  I was asked to speak on the Time Traps of Technology – no there weren’t 15,000 women in my session.  Thank goodness!!

There were some very important  women (and a couple of men) though.   Some of my favorite women in my life came to support me!!

Two of my sister in laws, a niece in law, my daughter Cali and sons Logan and Clark  (Clark had to head back to work right away so missed the photo!)

One of Cali’s sweet friends was there too.  Kat is a newlywed living in Provo and invited us over for dinner one night – she even made homemade buns for the turkey burgers!

My dear friend of 20 years, Carol, was also there to cheer me on!!

Lizzy from Your Cup of Cake came and even brought me a delicious raspberry, white chocolate cupcake!!!

And I got to meet some of you.  If was so fun to have some of my blog readers sitting right in the front row, smiling at me and supporting me and taking some pictures too!!

I loved being able to give you a hug and actually meet in person!!

Thanks to Heidi was took some fun photos for me.

Here I am trying to “Keep Calm”

Sharing my message.

Loved this silly photo of Logan trying to avoid the paparazzi!!

I am headed to Salt Lake for the wedding of a friend’s daughter this afternoon and then home to Portland where I hope there is no snow!!!

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Easter Pretty and Traditions

I shared some of these photos on Facebook but while I work on a few recipe posts for you I thought I’d just share a few pretty shots from our Easter weekend. I have a pot of loveliness simmering on the stove right now that I can’t wait to share this week too.

But I miss not sharing my pretty photos with you this year so here are a few to enjoy as well as one of our Easter family traditions.

Easter isn’t Easter without some pretty tulips…

Of course there was lots of pretty and delicious food!  Starting with  breakfast of muffins, strawberries & creme and omelets!

The Easter bunny paid a visit to our house and left a web of string for Tessa to follow, finding lots of fun treats along the way.

And of course there were new Easter dresses.  I made Tessa’s dress from a vintage 1950’s pattern.  So fun!

We attended church and a special musical Easter presentation in the evening which was a perfect closing to a beautiful day.

How was your Easter?

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Make Your Own Easter Baskets

So this post is what happens when I am bored on a Friday night.

I wasn’t going to post this. I figured it was too late as Easter is on Sunday and I should just save it for next year. But it just turned out too cute and like I said I’m bored – so you get two posts today!!

I had seen this idea over here. A super cute Easter photo shoot. I loved everything about the shoot but I particularly fell in love with the fun Easter baskets. They are made out of nursery pots. So I headed on over to Fred Meyer and bought me some.

I bought the six inch size and the ten inch size but decided the ten inch was just too big and I’d have to have too much stuff to fill it!!

I tried both spray paint (the yellow one) and just regular acrylic craft paint.  The material the pots are made out of is very porous so it really soaks up the paint.  I found it was easier to just use a sponge brush and paint with the regular acrylic paint versus spray paint.  Both will work but I found the spray paint soaked in a lot more and required more coats.

After it dried I used my trusty old ice pick and poked holes in the sides to make a handle.

The handle is made out of pipe cleaners that I twisted together in the middle to make it longer.

Next I tied a big bow around each pot.  The ribbon came from the Dollar Store.

And then I covered the pipe cleaner with ribbon too.  I secured the end of it with some hot glue and then just wrapped it around.

Pretty cute, don’t you think!?

One for Tessa and then the other two I delivered tonight to two of my favorite little people – Owen and Addy.

Of course I had to add a few Peeps to their baskets.

So just in case you have nothing to do tomorrow…..

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Prom – A Little Mommy Moment

I have a recipe post for your later today to help in your Easter preparations but I just couldn’t help myself.

I had to share with you just a few photos (I took over 300) of how amazingly beautiful my daughter looked this weekend as she went to her senior prom. Yes, my baby, went to her senior prom. I can hardly stand it!

We had such a fun time finding her dress (a local vintage shop here in Portland), then there was the manicure and pedicure (for her, not me, although I really need one too) and then the hair and makeup! It was an all day production but so worth it. She looked gorgeous and her date was so handsome. She had a wonderful time and looked like a princess.  (If you’ve never checked out her fashion blog, Totally Tessa, you may want to!)

Thanks for letting me share!

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Chocolate Covered Peep Bouquet and Peep S’mores

So I am a Peep lover.  Since I was a little girl my favorite Easter candy has always been Peeps.  As any experienced Peep connoisseur knows, Peeps are best eaten after they have dried out for a few days.  It makes them oh so nice and chewy.

But a close second to a dried out Peep is a chocolate covered Peep!

Last year I went a little crazy and started covering all kinds of Easter goodies in chocolate. There were Peeps, Oreos and Gummies.  They were so yummy I had to do it again this year.

So I stocked up on some Peeps!  Who knew there were so many amazing colors.

So me and my Peeps had a little photo shoot before we got to work.  They were very cooperative.

After our fun, we were ready to get to work.  The first step was to melt the chocolate.  I use a variety of different products – chips, melts and bark.  They all work basically the same.  If you do use  real white chocolate though just beware that it burns very easily so you will want to melt it slowly.  I melt my chocolate in the microwave but a double boiler can also be used.  The important thing is do not let any water or moisture get in with the chocolate or it will seize up on you.  If the chocolate doesn’t melt smoothly, try adding a little vegetable oil to it to thin it out.

Peeps love a nice warm bath of chocolate.

Last year I just dipped them in chocolate so this year I decided to dress them up a bit and add some sprinkles!

Aren’t they cute!

I decided to make Peep suckers so I added sucker sticks (from the cake decorating store) and then dipped and sprinkled!

I stood them up in a drinking glass so they could dry.

Of course we had to give the bunny Peeps equal time.

I decided a Peep bouquet was the perfect Easter gift for my neighbors.

I wrapped the individual Peep Pops in small plastic bags and tied them up with some ribbon.

I added a little tag I found here.

I boxed up a bunch of Peeps and they are headed to school with Tessa tomorrow to share with her friends!

And then I just couldn’t resist….a Peep s’more!!

Just 20 seconds in the microwave and you have a perfect s’more!

Have fun going a little Peep crazy at your house!!

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Provo Food Adventures

As I mentioned before I spent a few days in Provo, Utah last week visiting my three Utah kids.  Because several of you have asked I am sharing my Provo Food Adventures.

One of my favorite things to do while in Utah is check out some fun new eateries.  Of course there are always a few tried and true I need to hit each time – Cafe Rio where Logan treated me to dinner and The Chocolate. I actually made it to The Chocolate twice!!  Thanks to my blog friends who met me there one night. My favorite choice at The Chocolate is their Kitty Katrina vanilla cake.  So good!

One of the new spots we checked out was Mountain West Burrito in Provo.  Don’t let the fact that it is right next door to a gas station put you off. We needed somewhere quick and easy and this was it. The food was fresh and yummy.  Their chips, salsa and guacamole were great.  They fry up your chips right there when you order them.  Cali has been having some food/stomach issues and they were very friendly and accommodating to her needs.

Friday morning Cali and I went out to one of our favorite breakfast spots in Provo – Magleby’s Fresh.  Cali had their breakfast burrito and I had the omelet.  We shared a bowl of my favorite – strawberries and cream.  I, unfortunately, had to eat all the cream as Cali can’t eat dairy!!

For lunch Cali and I met two of my sister in laws and a niece and her daughter for lunch at one of my favorite Provo hamburger spots – Sammy’s.  If you live nearby you really should try it.  It is a small “hole in the wall” type place right off of Center Street in Provo.  Their burgers are great and their fries are delicious – we had an order of both the sweet potato fries and the seasoned fries.

But the real reason to go to Sammy’s is for their Pie Shakes!!  I really wanted one of their Cupcake Shakes but they were out of cupcakes that day so we settled for a Chocolate Cream Pie Shake- yum!!!  I shared with my sister in law but I think I ate more of it than she did.

A new spot we tried out was Spark. It is Provo’s version of a nightclub (no alcohol)  We went there for “drinks” and dessert Friday night.  All the drinks are non-alocholic but we enjoyed a fun cotton candy Shirley Temple and a Blackberry Martini.  Yes, that is a piece of cotton candy on the side of the glass (all these photos were take on my phone)

We had a few appetizers and tried the Pork Lollipops which were yummy and fun.  Basically a pork wonton on the end of a stick.  They came with three different dipping sauces.

One of the desserts we tried was their version of cheesecake.  It not only was pretty but delicious as well.  This is one I am definitely going to be trying at home.  They used very thin, crisp rounds of homemade graham crackers and layered it with a whip cream/ cheesecake mixture and topped with berries.  So good!

On Saturday we headed up to Salt Lake City for a session of our church’s General Conference.  I had heard from several of you about a French Bakery and Cafe in Salt Lake called Gourmandise so I decided this was the perfect time to check it out.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch and some delicious pastries and felt a little like we were back in Europe when looking at the pastry displays!!

My French Onion Soup was delicious.

Cali and Logan enjoyed their sandwiches too.

It was a fun and busy four days and delicious too!!  If you are in the Provo/Salt Lake City area and have any great restaurant or shop suggestions for me I’ll be back at the end of the month for Women’s Conference at BYU!!

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