Along the path...

Tonight, Karyn , Melinda , Andrea , and I went to dinner to celebrate "the Andreas' " birthdays. Three of us got Diablos and we urged Karyn to try them all at the same time. Melinda serenaded the event. I only caught half of Andrea in the video. As usual, we shut the place down. Crazy fun times. I love these gals! Thanks so much for the birthday wishes and dinner and EVERYTHING! And Happy Birthday, Andrea , tomorrow!!!

Happy birthday, Karyn!!! Thursday was a blast. (Thanks, Melinda, for sharing your pics)

Several months ago, my team at work visited Sp^rk (Spark) for lunch in Provo near the Wells Fargo building. Delish! Then for my birthday three dear friends took me to Guru's for dinner and indulged my whim to hang in the lounge and sip fancy drinks at Sp^rk. A few days later, I hit the joint again with two other darling friends after Gypsy Tapestry for dinner and drinks. Every time I've gone, the staff has been attentive and fabulous. The food is amazing and their non-alcoholic drinks are wonderful. Did you know that Wednesdays are ladies night? Ladies get a free dessert with the purchase of a food item. Try the chocolate mousse. It's a mini trip to heaven.

This weekend, I hit the Cheesecake Factory and then a movie theater with some fabulous friends ( Andrea happy birthday! , Karyn , and Melinda ) for a good ol' chick flick. It was hilarious. Both heroines were endearing, and I admit to being one of those obnoxious movie-goers who laughs out loud. Julie & Julia is based on two true stories and was a pleasant surprise. Julia Child brought French cooking home , so to speak, and Julie Powell's blog is famous. Someday mine may be too. LOL Here I sit, a servantless American cook with an unexpected craving to try my hand at Boeuf Bourguignon . But, no desire to work my way through an entire cookbook of 500+ Julia Child recipes in a year.

What sweet friends! I came back from a meeting today to the most beautiful surprise on my desk - a bouquet of bright orange gerbera daisies. They are the envy of the office. Thanks Andrea , Karyn , and Melinda for your thoughtfulness. And how yummy and silly Red Mango was with you three last night! You are the BEST!

Tuesday - December 23rd. Andrea 's husband Mike has Norwegian ancestry and the coolest Christmas tradition! On the 23rd of December, Norwegians gather together to decorate their Christmas trees and have an open-faced sandwich making contest. Mike and Andrea's tree was already decorated, but we did have a sandwich making contest, complete with prizes. The rules: make a sandwich and you have to eat it. If you do not eat something on your sandwich you are disqualified. At first, I must admit I was stumped. What do you do with bread, cheese, sliced sandwich meat, pickles, sliced avocado, sliced cucumbers, sliced eggs, smoked salmon, sardines, condiments, etc.? How do you make them into edible art? Karyn is a fairly picky eater and was the most nervous about making something cool that she would also eat. Once we had started it was a great deal of fun. Everyone made awesome sandwiches. Mike took pictures so we could vote on which sandwich we wanted for each of three categories: Sil...

Karyn, Melinda, Andrea, and I decided to jaunt up to Park City this past Saturday to catch some amazing deals at the outlets and celebrate two birthdays. In addition to the discount coupons printed off the Tangiers website , many of the outlet stores were having 40% and 50% off sales. There were so many incredible deals. Karyn wanted some shoes that weren't in stock and the store offered to ship them to her with no shipping charge. One of us spent $28 in The Children's Place for three shirts, one skirt, and two pairs of pants. Another bought a darling, red name brand purse for 1/3 of the retail price. (Melinda- I can't remember, was it Coach?) Here we are showing off our spoils. Melinda is in black; Karyn's in pink. Andrea and I (both on the left) have birthdays in October. This picture is care of Melinda's camera and a lucky passerby. (Thanks for stopping and for Melinda's sharing.) Later, we went to Baja Cantina for dinner. The T.J. Taxi was delish! It w...