Palm Springs

Valentines Day wasn't over on (last) Tuesday for me, or Maddy. Our husbands continued surprising us with an overnight trip to Palm Springs. They almost surprised us, that is until Maddy and I were talking on Friday and both of us said we were going somewhere for a night, but neither one of us knew where. While we may have spoiled the surprise a little, the destination was still kept secret. We left early Saturday morning, stopped at the Cabazon Outlets for some bargain shopping and then checked into our hotel. We spent the afternoon by the pool, it got a little chilly as the sun went down, but still so nice to be outside. We went out to dinner on Palm Springs Blvd and walked the streets, enjoying good people watching. The next day we went to the pool for a few hours, walked downtown again, and then made our way back home. I sure hope I don't have to wait until next Valentine's Day to go to Palm Springs again!

Poor Maddy got thrown into the pool, you can partially blame Chad for putting Eric up to it.

Our many attempts to use a tripod and self timer.

"Happy Friday"

It seems most of my emails that I receive at work begin with that phrase on Fridays. Gotta love the office lingo (i.e. Case of the Mondays, Hump Day Wednesday, Over the Hill Thursday, just kidding I made that last one up). Anyways it is a Happy Friday, I woke up at 7 am to my natural alarm clock. This allowed me to have more than 15 minutes to get ready before I had to be on my way to work. I used the extra time to put on my big girl lipstick. I’m an amateur lipstick wearer; this morning it really showed. I smeared my red lipstick on my cheek, and could not get it off. I went to the bathroom to apply some foundation to cover it up, but red is HARD to cover up. I had to remove my make-up on that part of my cheek and re-apply. But I didn’t forget the most important part of lipstick wearing, to blot.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, I get Monday off so it makes for even more of a Happy Friday!

Valentines Day Recap

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I hope you all had a Happy Lovers Day yesterday. I have mixed feelings about Valentines Day and have not always been into celebrating it. Sometimes I feel like it's not special doing something for Chad because I am supposed to, but this year I decided what the heck Valentines Day promotes love and I'm all for that. Our celebration began the night before when we were invited to Chad's parents house to make heart shaped pizzas for dinner. His mom had the whole house decorated so festively even had Strawberry "Crush" sodas for everyone. We had a great time playing 2 truths and a lie as a couple and sharing stories of our relationship. Tuesday morning Chad surprised me with a few gifts and made the rest of our crepes for breakfast. That evening we went to see The Vow (which I LOVED), when we got there our friends Eric and Maddy where there as well, little did Maddy and I know our husbands planned together to take us to the same movie. It was a simple Valentine's day but I enjoyed the mid-week date night and extra focus we had for each other.

I really love this guy. I was thinking back to our first Valentines day (6 years ago), we were in Rexburg and I had gotten money from my grandparents and ended up spending most of it on a gift for Chad. My roommate helped me heart attack his room, and leave a box of gits for him. At the same time (little did I know) he was doing a scavenger hunt at my apartment. We both got home and found the surprises, I remember how fun it was to celebrate Valentines Day (I'm pretty sure that was the first time I did).

I also decided to get a little festive with my nails. Idea found here.

Sunday Morning Crepes

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It was a tradition when I was younger that my dad would make "Peach Crepes" (the only thing he knew how to cook) on special occasions. i.e Mothers Day, Mom's birthday, and conference Sundays. 4 times a year was standard, if it was more than 4 than we thought we were lucky kiddos. I've continued the tradition as I got married, although we will come up with an excuse to make a Sunday special to cook up the crepes.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 egg
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt

Directions
1. Beat melted butter and egg, then add in the milk and vanilla
2. Combine the dry ingredients, (if you have time sift flour)
3. Gradually add in the dry ingredients to the wet and beat until smooth.
4. The consistency shouldn't be to thick, or too runny (how's that for a description)
5. Melt butter over medium heat, pour about 1/4 - 1/3 c batter and twirl the pan so it is even.
6. When the crepe begins to have little bubbles appear, flip and cook on the other side (Chad always does this part because I end up burning my fingers)

The fun part is the topping/filling, really it is up to what you like. Growing up we ALWAYS had frozen whip cream, chocolate pudding, and warm peaches. Now Chad and I mix it up and will do strawberries and/or bananas and Nutella, powdered sugar + lemon butter, or heat up frozen berries and combine with the frozen Cool Whip.

For the peaches this is what I do:
I let a bag of frozen peaches thaw out a little, then I combine some brown sugar, butter, nutmeg and cinnamon to create a syrup, then I add the peaches and cook them in the syrup goodness. Combine this  with frozen Cool Whip and you will thank me later :)

Park Date

I'm still trying to catch up blogging about the weekends. Last weekend I went home and caught up with two of my best friends from high school, Ashlee and Lauren. And making a special appearance was Lauren's little girl Baby J. The weather was perfect so we went to the dog park to let their pooches get out and play, and get our daily dose of Vitamin D. Baby J was a perfect angel, the dogs were a little "wild" let's just say they really REALLY liked each other :) I love having girlfriends I can meet up with, even if we don't get together often, when we do reunite it's as if no time has passed. Of course we took some time to take some pictures

This picture cracks me up, just as Lauren was snapping the shot the dogs decided to dance.

 

Thanks girls for the afternoon in the park, love you both!

Dear Santa Barbara

Thank you for being so beautiful during our visit two weekends ago (I know I'm behind). Chadwick had to work on Monday and got a hotel on Sunday so I could come and join him, because work is so much more fun when we are together. We left after church and took PCH all the way up, I love that drive, having an ocean view the whole time is so relaxing and therapeutic. We decided to get out in Malibu at a surfing spot Chad likes and see some hardcore bikers who stop to get a drink (not pictured)

His shirt says it all

We got into your beautiful city and stayed the night at Hotel Santa Barbara on State Street. After quickly checking in we walked down to the beach to catch sunset. The sunset is different here, it's not right over the water from where we were, I loved seeing it peek through the palm trees.

After Sunset we went back to our room, put on some warmer clothes and in no hurry at all looked for a cute restaurant with a local feel. I even put on red lipstick for this occasion, although Chad isn't a huge fan, are guys in general lipstick fans? I like to tease him its because he then can't give me a kiss whenever he wants :)

1. Pretty lights 2. Red Lipstick 3. Tower or terror elevator in our hotel

 The next day Chad had to work. I was able to sleep in, take my sweet time getting ready and do some shopping on State Street. I took a few pictures on my phone of my day there.

1. Lunch @ Silvergreens 2. Pretty stairs 3. Chevron flower pot

 I love this city, the "Santa Barbara" style is so pretty to me, the vibe of the city is laid back and beachy. I hope that we can come back soon.

Self-Control



I do not have the best self-control when it comes to candy, treats or anything I find yummy at the moment. As a little girl I remember going to a friends house who always had candy in little dishes around the house. By the time I left those candy dishes were wiped clean. I laugh now thinking about the mom noticing all of her candy is gone, and totally knowing it was me, even thought I thought I was very sly in snagging each piece.

I like to think that as I have gotten older I can now refrain from over-indulgence, but this week I have proven myself wrong. I ate a whole box of these Sweetarts (before 9 am) and now have a raw tongue, finished off this box of Goldfish in one day, and have eaten 5 blood oranges this week.

What can I say, when I like something I can't help myself! Am I the only one that does this?