Utah: Family

One of the best parts of this visit was time with Emily! (Or 'Llamaly', as those in the inner circle know her.)

I have to say, Emily is just one of my all-time favorite people. (As are her mother Denise, and her sister Charlotte) Isn't it fortunate when you can say that about your family? I love that I love my family. (The women especially) I love that I count them among my chief inspirations, examples, and friends.

So back to Emily. I've loved Emily since she was a little girl. We are ten years apart, which is how far apart Michelle and I are, so I have lots of memories of her as a girl. I visited Denver annually, and lived briefly with Grandma a couple of times and have many fond memories of her. She has grown into one of the most splendid people I can imagine! She is equal parts entertaining, charitable, hard-working, intelligent, tasteful, stylish, and plain good company. She is easy and enjoyable to have around.

Simply stated, I was really glad I got to see her as much as I did. I didn't mean for that to turn into an Emily gush, but there you have it. If you know her, you get it.

We baked a lot while she was there, specifically these Samoas bar cookies, Peanut Butter Cup Caramel Shortbread Bars and these wonderful cookies of Michelle's. Incidentally, should any of you endeavor to make either of the bar cookies, may we offer a piece of advice? Make your own caramel. It probably should go without saying, but homemade caramel will really be your best bet. Both recipes call for melted Kraft caramels, but we unanimously agreed once hardened, they are way too tough and chewy in a bad way. Once again, homemade trumps all.

Emily treated us all to giant fountain drinks: Coke Zero for me, of course.

 (A staple where Emily is concerned.)

I took this picture for Timm to show Emily's pathetic version of a wand. I know what some of you are thinking- any version of wand is pathetic for someone over the age of 10. However, among this Harry Potter-loving sect, it is not unusual to have a wand commissioned and handmade by Timm. I know Charlotte has one. So I found this knobbly little twig a sad excuse for a wand, especially when she has a wand maker in the family. Timm: take note.

Happy Emily at Cafe Rio, with only one final to go the next morning.

I was also able to see Michelle's in-laws Mim and Bob, who as Jill put it, might possibly be the nicest people on the planet. I love seeing them! They have always been so supportive and sweet to me, and they are only my sister's in-laws. Within a few minutes Bella started calling them Grandma and Grandpa, so apparently they make everyone feel that accepted and loved. 

Every trip to Utah's just full of people to see!

Utah: Friends

One of the best parts of vising Utah is reconnecting with friends.

I was thrilled to be able to meet up with my book club girls (minus Hannah since she moved to the gluttonous Texas-) twice while I was there. Once we went out to dinner and monopolized our server's station for 3 hours, and then once at Diana's cute new house. She's got a great view, huh?

I love being able to pick up right where we left off, without any awkwardness or backtracking. I miss having a good group of girl friends. Hell,  I miss friends!

(Part of our brood- Bridget had 2 kids since I saw her last!)

(Lou, always one of my favorite friend's husbands and one of Timm's old friends, chatting it up with Fiona.)

(Robin, me, Diana, Bridget)

Since I was there during Spring Break, Jill was able to come over for Creative Friday, which I crashed, being in town.

(We had a model's photo shoot going with the wind relentlessly blowing our hair)

(Necessary provisions.)

Jill is always good company, and good for a laugh. I was thankful that I was able to spend some time with her while I was in town, and thankful for her sake that she was able to have some time off and get in a Creative Friday.

Luckily for me, Gretel emailed me when she saw that I was in town. (We are from the same home ward in Pa-) We calculated that we hadn't seen each other in about 12 years! A lot happens between the ages of 18 and 30, so we had a lot to catch up on n a short amount of time.

Miranda was kind enough to drive down from Idaho to spend a couple of days during my visit! I am so glad she was willing to take the time and expense to drive down, and we had so much fun. The only other time we'd met in real-life is at my grandma's funeral last year, and have enjoyed an online friendship since then. Miranda is the kind of girl who makes me consider Pocatello a viable relocation option. I'm pretty sure she's the only thing that could make me consider Pocatello an option. (Not that we have any offers in Pocatello, I'm just saying at least I would have an instant kindred spirit there.)

(Marc giving a maverick crepe tutorial. "It's more about 'principals' than a 'recipe'".)

 I had a great time talking her ear off about weighty subjects- you know, the kind that are fitting for someone who drove a few hours to see you, based on a friendship formed over email and blog comments. I just jump right in, baby.

My only complaint about it all is, there are too many people I want to see and it seems I never get to see them all or spend enough time with everyone. I think next time I will have to post  a calendar that I can fill in with friend dates ahead of time to make sure I spend all the quality time I am after. 

Good thing there's a next time.

Utah: Places to Go

I have 3 weeks of travel to blog about, but it's always hard to know where to start with so many photos and so much time to cover. So I am going to start with the places we went. When I go back to Utah there is a flexible list of destinations that I expect to go. Here are a few, as well as a couple of new places.

Neither Michelle or I had ever been to this quilt shop in American Fork, but I was on the hunt for some wool felt for a project I wanted to work on. While they didn't have the wool felt, it was a charming storefront with lots of enviable supplies and fabrics.

While not terribly exciting, we did have to go to Harmon's, and I found Eva's expression hilarious and familiar. (3 girls to a cart does not make for 3 happy girls.)

I was very happy that Shell and I got to go to the Provo temple together. I haven't even been to our temple in Columbia, SC since we moved here. It's only about 2 hours away, but Timm's work schedule + child care + finances have made that difficult. I vow that we will go before the end of the summer however. Nevertheless, Michelle and I were able to go and do sealings together, which was very cool. I've never done sealings before and it was a very neat and memorable experience.

(Primroses on the temple grounds. I love primroses.)

An unexpected blessing of going to the temple was seeing this:

That's right- a car with eyelashes. I noticed the car right off but couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was adorned with until Michelle recognized them as, of course, eyelashes. Of course.

The Distribution Center is another must-stop to replace things not easily found in my neck of the woods.

Miranda and I went to see what all the fuss was about at Alice Lane. (More on the visit with Miranda later-)

And of course, no trip to Utah would be complete without a stop (or two) to Cafe Rio. Home of the well-deserved famed pork barbacoa burritos and salads.

And last but not least, Iceberg! Who could resist their 'mini' shakes and accompanying onion rings? Not I! It is probably for the best that I do not have an Iceberg within reasonable distance to me, although it sounds blasphemous to say.

Not pictured, we also went to the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU, which was stunning and very touching. Michelle was kind enough to sit with the girls in the lobby while I finished going through it alone, in peace, since she had already been a couple of times. Afterward we made one of two stops to the Creamery while I was there, both of which times  I had Graham Canyon, which may have changed my life. It's made with graham cracker ice cream, people. Why didn't I know that existed? 

We went for sainthood by taking all the girls to the dinosaur museum, which Michelle photographed since I left my camera at home.

I went to DownEast Basics to get a couple (though not enough)  layering t's as well.

Overall, I felt like I hit all the stops I needed to while in Utah, was still able to get together with friends a few times, but still felt relaxed and stayed home most of the time. Just the way I like it.

 

{Our little cartoon character, just for fun.)

Now that I've broken it in a little, maybe it will be easier to delve into the rest of the photos and the rest of the trip!

Utah SP Collective

Here is a collection of random SPs taken while I was in Utah, with more detail on the trip to come:

I Think I Got It Backwards

{View from our front porch the night before we left NC}

It was snowing in Utah when we landed last night and again this morning.

Most people go on vacation in search of better weather than what they have at home.

Our weather in NC right now is about the best part of the year.

I am afraid that when we return at the end of the month my beautiful azaleas will be done blooming, and full-blown summer will be right around the corner. (Azalea season is arguably by favorite 2 weeks of the year-)

The company is so worth it.

p.s. But seriously, I think I need to remind myself not to to travel in April. I actually miss my azaleas.