Am a Fan (Late Spring Edition)

Once again, I am copying my friend Marta's Am a Fan series and sharing my latest loves:

Chick-fil-a wraps.  These babies come with an avocado lime ranch dressing that I could drink by itself.  Add a Diet Lemonade and a large waffle fry and I am in Heaven.

Selling stuff on Ebay.  I just started and I am hooked.  I am selling everything from shoes to PBK bedding.  My used Lululemon workout clothes are selling for more than I paid for them originally.  The shipping situation still throws me for a loop but I am figuring it out.

Harmon's post office:  I am shipping a lot of stuff lately (see above.)  My mom just put me on to the post office inside Harmon's.  They have everything the real post office has without that super grouchy dude working at the Draper location.  You know who I am talking about.  I used to wait extra long to get the other lady working there just to avoid him.  Now I can avoid him all the time and the lines and hit the post office at Harmon's. 

Loft Sunwashed Tees:  Some people swear by Old Navy V-neck tees.  My favorite tees are from Loft.  They are soft, they fit well and you can get them 40% off almost all the time.

Pizzeria Limone: At Christmas time, my friend Mariah introduced me to Pizzeria Limone in Fort Union.  The place has tasty wood-oven pizzas, good salads, gelato, and every one's favorite fountain drink mixer extraordinaire.  It is delicious.  And now we are getting one in Sandy right by my brand new McD's!

Old Navy Work Out Clothes:  Old Navy has been putting out some awesome moisture wicking work out clothes lately. They have some great Lululemon looking knock-off items.  I love their compression capris, bra-tops and bright tanks.

The Mindy Project:  This is Mindy Kaling's show.  Remember when I told you how funny her book is?  Her show is just as funny.  She makes me laugh out loud.  Warning--Sometimes it can be a little crude.  It is on Fox.  DVR it!

 

Am a Fan

My friend Marta has an amazing blog. A reoccurring post she does on her blog is called "Am a Fan" and she lists her latest loves. I am copying her today.

Am a fan of Bath and Body Works holiday scent soaps. Especially Citrus Garland.

Am a fan of McDonald's holiday mint Mcflurry. Delicious. Egg nog...not so much.

Am a fan of my new black and white skirt from Ann Taylor.  I even got it on sale.  Someday I will wear something besides black and white to church!

Am a fan of Zurchers coming to Draper! (11400 South and State)

Am a fan of my new Conair curling wand. What on earth was I doing trying to do beachy waves with the old clamp style curling iron. This is 1000x easier.

Am a fan of SequinsandStilettos, a fashion blog. I think she has great real-life affordable outfits for moms.

Am a fan of Chili's again! When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong. And I was wrong about Chili's. Have you had their chips and salsa? And Quesadilla Explosion salad?  And Molten Chocolate Cake? I went on a date there and I am sold!!

Am a fan of selling toys on KSL. I have made about 150 bucks selling old toys from my basement. Super easy. Now I need to learn to sell on Ebay.

Am a fan of Expressionary.com. I ordered my mom a stamp for her birthday and she was thrilled..You can get 35% off right now by using code "VLEX12".  This is a great gift idea for that person who has everything. (Linda Warner I am looking at you!)

Am a fan of blogging! I just hit my four year blogiversary. Don't send gifts. That would just be weird. Remember my first post!

Corner Bakery Cafe Giveaway!

I promised a very fun giveaway to celebrate Spring and it's time to deliver! One of my favorite places to eat is Corner Bakery Cafe. They have the ultimate girl food..salads, paninis, soup and delicious desserts...but it is girl food that men love as well. If you don't believe me..go into the Corner Bakery Cafe up on Foothill by the zoo at lunchtime...the place is packed!



The great news for us is that we are getting a brand new Corner Bakery Cafe in Draper at 264 East 12300 South, next to Smith’s. Hallelujah! It is a stone's throw from my house and you better believe I will be eating the Chicken Pomodori Panini at least once a week for the rest of my life. They do an amazing breakfast there as well and I can't wait to try the Anaheim Scrambler. Delish.

My good friend's dad owns the Corner Bakery Cafes in Salt Lake City and he has graciously agreed to do an awesome giveaway for my blog. One lucky reader (probably needs to be local unless you want to fly in for this and you probably do!) will win a VIP preview lunch for six people (SIX!) at the brand new location in Draper from 11-2 on March 31st.



The store officially opens to the public on April 2nd. Just as a side note, the first 100 people in the door at 7:00 am on April 2nd get free coffee or soda for a year (a year people!) and a free coffee mug and t-shirt to commemorate the occasion! Check back here that day as well because I am going to give away a catering package valued at $120.00...this is where I wish I could win my own giveaways!!

So, let's get down to business. Simply leave a comment (with your email address) and you are entered in the giveaway. If you have eaten at the Corner Bakery Cafe before, tell us your favorite item. If you want an additional entry, link to my blog post on Facebook or mention the new Corner Bakery opening in Draper on Facebook and then come back here and you can leave that as an additional comment for an extra entry. Simple right? I will pick a winner using random.org on Tuesday, March 20th. Good luck!

My Trip to Visit Ashley

I returned home from my trip to visit Ashley on Sunday evening. Here it is Thursday and I am finally blogging about it. Re-entry to the grind was hard. I am still doing laundry and battling a nasty head cold. But it was all worth it.

The trip was anything but relaxing. She lives in the Bay Area and there is a lot to do. Ashley had us booked every minute and I never knew from one minute to the next where we were headed. But she is a great hostess and I had a blast.

Here is what was waiting for me on her bed (we sleep together when I come!)



There are movie passes there, warm socks, trashy mag, and an assortment of other goodies. When she comes to my place, she is lucky to find a clean towel.

Here are the highlights of the trip:

The Eating:

The meals are a big deal for me and Ash. This time we shared almost every entree so we both felt better about eating out for every meal. This trip wasn't quite the binge fest that we've done in the past..but the food was still delightful. We ate at a place called Xanh with the Mostess (Kaari) and another friend from the blogging world, Kristine. The food was to die for. Here we are outside the restaurant:



We went straight from dinner to see Moneyball..fantastic.

We also got to go to lunch with one of Ashley's old bosses who we are friends with on Facebook. He is hilarious and he definitely entertained us. We ate at an Italian restaurant in a shi shi little area of town called Santana Row. Ashley and I outside the restaurant:



We also ate at our beloved CPK (where the waiter thought we were twins. We got that A LOT on this trip). We also ate at Chevy's. We split the fajitas and Ashley admitted to me she has never had fajitas before...what the?

We made a short trip into San Francisco and ate at Boudin Bakery in the basement of the big Macy's there. We were impressed with this new diet coke fountain machine that makes your diet coke to order with lime, orange, cherry, etc...snazzy.



The Shopping:

Ashley and I did a ton of shopping. That's what we do. I won't bore you with all the stores we went to but we did find 40% off at nearly every one of them. Ashley was completely bugged by this. "Oh look! Another 40% off sale..no way!"



Here we are in one of our favorite stores..can you tell where we are?:





I love the Container store's Christmas gift wrap section..so festive:



Ashley spent her time looking for a brown cardigan to go with some brown riding boots she is getting. I teased her the whole trip about how the brown boots are a mistake and she will call me in a month and tell me as much.

Here I am in my favorite store WHBM. I shopped so long they had to bring me water:



Ashley did find this awesome canvas in TJ Maxx for above her bed. I have to admit I was horribly jealous of it and was trying to think of any way I could to buy a matching one and take it home with me....but no dice.



Activities:

Hot stone pedicures: These are the bomb ladies. We went on a rainy day and I loved being in a cozy place getting a pedicure.





The Temple: Ash and i did a session at the Oakland temple. It was nice and I felt better about all of our shopping. I also went to church with her for all three hours on Sunday so that should count for something.



It was just really fun to have all that time to chat with Ashley. Everytime I am with her, I am reminded what a good person she is. Plus, we laugh a lot and she just gets me. I can't wait for our next trip.

A very hearty thank you to my mom and dad, Sam and Tyler, who made this trip possible!

It's My Day--It's My Time a.k.a. the Birthday Extravaganza

I had to channel my inner Michelle for a minute. I've never said "It's my day" on my birthday but I do believe in planning my own birthday celebration and spoiling myself and I'm never disappointed! I've probably never said "It's my day" because I believe the birthday festivities should last an entire week!

This year, my birthday fell on a Friday and I told Sam, I didn't want gifts. I just wanted him to do some kind of blog post for me and I wanted to have Saturday off. Ashley was coming into town for the day and we made plans. Here is how I celebrated my 34th birthWEEK!

Monday night was the Bachelor party. This kicked off the binge-fest that was also lasted the whole week (post on Club-Phat still coming...)

Tuesday night, I went to dinner with my neighborhood friends. I love these girls. Three of us have birthdays in March and we hit Rumbi's for some good post-Bachelor discussion:


Thursday, my friend Heidi came over for lunch and somehow, I didn't get a picture. We had Hagermans and she made me the world's cutest wreath. I've been coveting her's for over a year. I am soooo happy with it.


Friday was the actual b-day and I got a massage in the afternoon. Javier did not disappoint. I always go to Sanctuary and I think it might have been my favorite massage ever.


Friday evening, Sam and I went to Market Street for dinner. I didn't order the Lobster this time. The funniest thing happened though. After dinner, I went to use the women's restroom. As I walked in, I notice that the W and the O was burned out on the Women's sign so it just said "men's" if you weren't really looking at it. When I was in the stall, I looked down and noticed the feet in the stall next to me. They were huge and wearing gnarly man shoes. Then I noticed they were facing the toilet and the person was peeing. It hit me IT WAS A MAN!

I walked out of my stall to wash my hands. The guy was peeing with the door open!! I waited for him to turn around and see me. He looked surprised. I said "Dude, you are in the women's restroom." He looked totally embarrassed and got the heck out of there (didn't wash his hands.) As I was walking back to my table, I passed his booth and gave him a little finger point. He was embarrassed. Funny stuff.


Saturday, I woke up and went on a run. I listened to the Beatles. Did you all know The Beatles are now on i tunes? It brought back major memories of high school. Back then, I always listened to the Beatles greatest hits in my car on the way to school.


I met Ashley and my mom for lunch at Food for Thought. I have decided it is my all-time favorite place to eat...yummy soups, salads, sandwiches, mint brownies, lemon bars and big diet cokes...all in a little house in Draper. I'm telling you--it is the BEST! We were the only ones in the restaurant.


Ashley's darling Bennett came too:


Then my mom took Bennett home and Ashley and went for pedicures--I was the one in the nasty foam flip flops:


Then it was off to Nordstrom Rack where we both bought cardigans and jewelry and tried on tons of dresses that were all too short.

Then we went to Old Navy and Ashley spent the next 20 minutes telling me how much she hates Old Navy clothing while I shopped. Notice the matching handbags:


Then we went to South Town Mall, Tai Pan, Fashion Place Mall--Macy's, Gap, White House Black Market and Nordstrom. Someone better ban me from WHBM. I don't need any more black and white church clothes. I love that store---don't ever let me go in again. At Nordstrom, Ashley began her holy grail search for high waisted jeans. She is tired of showing crack every time she bends over.

Ashley don't hate me for this but after trying on the high-waisted Joe's and Citizen's she moved to the old lady dept. She blew through the Davin Kahns and went to the ultimate mom jeans--Not Your Daughter's Jeans!!!! She doesn't even have a daughter. She loved them. But decided they were too formal so she is still hunting for the perfect high waisted jeans...any ideas out there?


We were starving at that point so we headed to Mrs. Fields for huge diet cokes and a brownie for me and then we headed to Smoky Mountain Pizza and Pasta for dinner with my parents and sister in law Katie.

Sunday, I busted out the Easter clothes because they are long sleeved this year and Easter is really late in April. I want my kids to get there wear out of them. It did my heart good to go to church in coordinating clothes.


Sam left on a plane for Dallas and we headed up to my parents house for a special dinner.


Buster and Bennett finally got to spend some quality time together:


I got to eat my mom's delicious chocolate cake and open presents from my parents and kids. I look at this picture with my kids around me and I realize I don't need to wish for anything! I am one lucky girl--how cheesy is that!


It was a great birthday! If anyone is still reading this...come back in a day or two. I am doing my first-ever give-away. I recently bought the world's BEST swimsuit. So I approached the company and they agreed to let me do a give-away for my blog readers. I'm not kidding these swimsuits will change your life (think underwire!!)--See you soon!

Club Phat

Buster

So Buster is 9 months old and he isn't the only one with a little extra chub around here. I still have 10 pounds (15 cough cough) to lose to get back to my normal weight. Usually, I'm not an all or nothing gal. I believe moderation in all things. But guess what? The weight hasn't been coming off and I'm tired of not wearing my normal clothes.

Last Sunday night, my friend Mandee emailed me about a Biggest Loser type competition called Club Phat that started the next day. And I agreed to it for several reasons.

1. I've got a solid 10 pounds to lose.

2. What I've been doing ain't working.

3. There is prize money at the end...the kitty may well get up to like 400 bucks.

Also, I like that this competition is not about just weight loss. You can't starve yourself and win this thing. You get points each day for doing a bunch of healthy stuff like:

no soda/no alcohol
no treats
getting 7 hours of sleep
no eating within 2 hours of bed
taking a multivitamin
drinking 48 oz of water a day
eating three servings of fruits
eating three servings of veggies
a point for each half hour you work out up to 3 points a day

You also get three cheat points a week to use if you mess up on one of the above things except you can't use cheat points for working out. I messed up twice and ate within two hours of bed.

At the end, the person who loses the greatest percentage of their body weight in addition to having the most points wins.

I already work out about four days a week but I've had to kick that up to 6. I also hate veggies but I'm not about to give up a point a day for that (did i mention how competitive I am?) So Sam has been buying me these big relish trays. I also chug V8s to get a couple servings there.



So here is the deal. I've been on the program a week and the first few days were the worst. I thought the no diet coke thing would be the hardest but I was wrong.

The no treats has damn near killed me.

But you know what? That is what is going to make me lose the weight. I will never O.D. on real food. Until I started this, I didn't realize how much garbage I was eating during the day. In fact, now that I'm doing this, I have struggled to find real food to eat. My biggest temptation came Friday night when I took my kids to Mrs Field's at the Mall. Oh how I LOVE those little nibblers with a big Diet Coke. That was a tough night but I pulled through. I have already lost a few pounds.

I even worked out every day this week except today (Sunday). I'm determined to win this thing. To be honest, if I lose the weight, I will feel like a winner regardless of the money.

I promise not to talk about this all the time. Is there anything worse than hearing about someone else's diet or workout plan? In the meantime, I'm going to go chew a piece of gum and look at all the veggies I don't want to eat...5 more weeks...

What's Your Sin?

I'm guilty of most of the 7 deadly sins right now.

The first being Sloth. I haven't posted in over a week. Pure laziness coupled with nothing good to say. November is busy and boring at the same time. Let's get to Thanksgiving so we can chow down and start decorating for Christmas!

The second sin I'm guilty of lately is gluttony. I have a new addiction. It is the salmon salad at Cafe Rio.


I know what you're thinking--that's not on the menu. No my friends, but give it a try. Get the creamy tomatillo dressing and you will be in Heaven. I ate the whole thing tonight and the shell and now I have a major gut bomb. The scary thing is I think we are eating there again tomorrow night with friends before New Moon. By the way, if you want to read a very funny critique of New Moon, go here. Christie is one of those bloggers who makes me laugh every single time she posts.

The third (and worst) sin of which I am guilty is envy. I have it bad. My friend Mandee just had her cabinets re-done by Telisa. Mandee will probably be mad at me for posting this picture because the kitchen isn't done yet--they are still doing a back splash, etc but I had to share--Isn't her kitchen lovely? I'm so jealous. And yes, her whole house is this cute.


Fourth, I have so much hate in my heart for everyone who is trying to eat at In-n-Out Burger this week. You are killing me people. I can barely get out of my drive-way before I hit major traffic. We are talking horrendous, can't even go near 12300 south, horrible traffic--cops are everywhere directing cars. It is crazy. For the love people--wait a week or a month. I want a burger too, really bad. But I can't take this. Artic Circle ain't a bad second.


Finally, I'm guilty of greed and pride. I pray constantly to have Heavenly Father take away my pride. I'm not joking on this one. I love nice things. So much. I love cute clothes. I just bought myself this jacket at the Loft. I'm adding it to my Christmas list and then crossing it off myself. Clever right? I have a Friends and Family pass at the Loft good through Sunday I can email out if anyone needs it.


So what sins are you guilty of lately?