Christmas Gourmet Dinner Night

 

I promised a post on my Christmas Gourmet Dinner Night and dang it, I am going to deliver!   Everyone except my gourmet dinner night friends can leave now.  It is their duty to read this.  So let's get rollin'.

I LOVE Gourmet dinner night when it is at someone else's house.  Who wouldn't love showing up to a nice dinner with appetizers, main course, side dishes, fun beverages and a delicious dessert?  It is all fun and games until it is my turn to host.  I can decorate a pretty table:



But the food is my problem.   This year, I got smart and brought it my mother to do everything be my sous chef.  I helped throw her a birthday party the day before where I made vats of chicken salad so I figured she owed me.  Or at a minimum, she would come help because she is  my mom.  Here she is at her party the day before:

She came to my party and made the main course--Parmesan Crusted Chicken and rice.  She also brought leftover shrimp and fruit from her party.  All of this made me look like the Hostess with the Mostess. 



We had Ashley's hot artichoke dip to start.  yum.



I made my famous salad.  My friends had all had it before but no one complained:


I bought rolls from the Lion House Pantry at Deseret Book and tried to pass them off as my own.  They were disgusting and dry and in the end, I didn't even want to take credit for them. 

I was going to wow my friends with a fancy dessert but sometime around 3:00 in the afternoon, I found Buster sitting on my bar going to town on the sheet cake.  The aftermath:


Luckily, I was using a cookie cutter to cut out little cakes and the crisis was averted.  Here I am piping on frosting with a Ziploc bag:

The finished product:

The best part of the evening is our annual gift exchange.  Everyone brings three identical gifts that cost ten to fifteen bucks and we put them under the tree.  Then we each draw three names and we give our gifts to those people:

The gift giving:

Here is some of the loot:






I gave the Mindy Kaling books and lip glosses.

Everyone stayed until 1:00 am talking and laughing so I figure it was a success....



 

even if my kitchen looked like this the next day:

 



Best of Christmas 2012

I can't believe how quickly December flew by. Remember how November just dragged? Christmas is upon us. Thank goodness I have the entire day to myself tomorrow to get 'er done. I give you the Best of Christmas 2012:

Best Girls' Night Out: Gourmet Dinner Night at my home.

This is getting its own post.

Best Proud Mama Moment: Watching Ryan in his preschool program and dying at how cute my big boy is.

He is the biggest in the class and the sweetest child I have ever met.

Best Moment for Sammie: Having a gingerbread house party for five of her closest friends.



Guess which house is hers? (She loves pink!)

Best Moment for Luke: Having me help at his class party (I am in the top right corner in Ryan's reindeer antlers.) 



At one point I said to Luke "no, you cannot sit on my lap!" And all of his friends laughed. 

Best Moment for Mitchell: Going sledding with Grandma (photos coming!)

Best Moment for Ryan: Our annual tradition of riding the trolley at Thanksgiving Point and getting ice-cream in the malt shop afterwards. (flashed out pic with my super crappy camera):



Ryan was sick as a dog but refused to miss it.

Best Funny Photo:  my two lil' couch potatoes:



Best Break from the Madness:  Weekend trip to Vegas with John. 

Best Birthday Party: My mom turned 60 and for once, we really did it up right!

Best Christmas Miracle: Passing my eye exam at the DMV

 

 

Yesterday morning, I went to renew my driver's license at the DMV and failed the eye exam. I knew I needed to go home and get my contacts into my eyes or I would not be able to pass the test and get a new license. I first stopped at Walgreen's to see if I could get a pair of "readers" to get me through the test..but they didn't help.) I went on home. Miraculously, after 15 mins, I got the contacts into my eyes, drove back to the DMV and passed the test (I won't tell you how long it took me to get the contacts back out of my eyes last night!)

American Girl Doll Store aka the Time Grandma Linda Completely Blew the Wad

The whole purpose of the girls' trip was to take the little girls to the American Girl Doll Store in LA and it did not disappoint. Friday morning, we got up and drove first to South Coast Plaza, a true shopping destination. If you know anything about the Warner women, you know that for us, a beautiful shopping mall is better than any natural landmark or stuffy museum.

South Coast plaza was huge and we didn't have anywhere near enough time to do it justice. I spent a good portion of my time in Nordstrom dealing with an exchange of the awesome Hobo wallet I gave myself for Christmas. Mine was defective and I am getting a new one in the mail any day...because I know you care.



Anyhoo, after trying on swimsuits at Nordy's and spending our gymbucks at Gymboree, we met up with my sis-in-law Sarah and headed north to LA.

The American Girl store was so cute. It is in an outdoor shopping center with a trolley driving people around and palm trees...Heaven. We had the most fabulous lunch...seriously! Best food of the trip. We started with little sweet rolls, then they brought out more appetizers, our entrees and then these cute dessert plates. That little flower pot is mouse...it was all divine.



Don't think I didn't eat every thing that wasn't glued to the table. See post where I completely blew my fitness plan.



The cafe had little chairs and plates for the dolls and everything was hot pink and black! We ate out on the balcony and the weather was perfect. I never wanted to leave.



Then we shopped in the store. Just like Sammie, I found a doll that is my mini-me!



Grandma completely spoiled the little girls and they each left with a big bag of goodies:



Then we got back on the freeway and I drove two hours in the LA traffic back south (THANK GOODNESS for the Garmin!) What on earth did we do before navigation?!

My mom and I met my friends Greg and Julie for dinner at the Yard House. We had a blast and then drove back to my brother's house for the night (totally flashed out photo):



When we got there, Sammie and her cousin Kate had put out a display of their dolls and outfits...so funny!

Girls' Trip 2012 aka The Time I Totally Blew My Fitness Plan

Last week, Sammie, my mom and I went on a short girls' trip to Southern California. We met up with my sis-in-law Sarah and her daughter Kate. Both Sammie and Kate got American Girl dolls for Christmas so the point of the trip was to visit the American Girl doll store in LA. Wow. It was fantastic!



We flew in Wednesday night and ate at California Pizza kitchen. This was no small victory for me because my mom has never been a fan of CPK. But I think the chopped BBQ chicken salad and tortilla soup won her over.



I am going to divide the trip into two parts--Disneyland and LA (lucky you!)



Thursday morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Disneyland. (First time ever without a stroller!) I was able to talk a worker into letting us into the park an hour early even though we didn't have the early entry passes. There may or may not have been some deceit involved.



I have always wanted to eat lunch at the Blue Bayou...something about being on Pirates and looking up at all those lucky people eating in there and the sound of the silverware tinkling. Since we didn't have my other kids, we ate there. It was good but very expensive.



Our favorite thing was the salad...delicious. I didn't realize the Monte Cristo sandwich was deep fried and I had to kind of pick my way through it.



The rest of the day was really fun. My brother Rex and his family joined us.



Sammie loves the big rides like California Screamin' and Space Mountain. The park was really empty and we walked on most of the rides.



The weather was perfect. I am sold on Disneyland in January. The best part was that "It's a Small World" still had the lights up and the "Christmas overlay" which was adorable.



And we happened to catch a parade right at the end of the night. Disneyland doesn't do anything half-way:



On the way out of the park I got the most delicious almond hot chocolate...probably the best treat at Disneyland next to the peanut butter cookies at Pooh Corner! Tomorrow I will post about LA!

Best of San Diego

Sam and I returned Sunday evening from a trip to beautiful San Diego. The Utah Bar conference was there this year instead of Sun Valley. Sam and I decided to make it a real vacation and leave the kids home. I love San Diego. I lived there for five years when I was a kid and if money was no object, Sam and I would move back tomorrow. Here are the best things from our trip:

Best Meal: Blue Ribbon Pizzeria in Encinitas. Sam and I were driving up PCH on Sunday before going to the airport and found this pizzeria. They do the most divine artisan pizzas. Everything is organic (which is very important to me (wink) and they have the best bruschetta I've ever eaten:



Best Dessert: Ghiradelli's malt. Sam is not one to go light on desserts. My cousin told me about a place called Extraordinary desserts that we also hit hard, but we both liked good old Ghiradelli better. We ordered a malt and a brownie sundae but the malt was the best. We went to a movie after eating both desserts and I felt so sick the entire time. I've got to stop eating to the point of complete illness--I did it at least three times on this trip.



Best Company for a Meal: My aunt and uncle and cousin Kelly, and my parents. My cousin Kelly is one year younger than me and we grew up together. She is hilarious and my aunt Pandy and uncle Mark and like second parents to me. I love them!



Best Pool: Marriott Marquis downtown San Diego. This one seems obvious since there was only one pool on the trip. But this pool was the nicest pool I've ever been to in my life, even nicer than our pool in Hawaii...palm trees everywhere, shade, waiters bringing me fruity drinks at the snap of my fingers...I don't know why I came home.



As a side note, I felt very mom-ish in my tankini. I honestly think I was the only woman out there not in a bikini. Young, old, big, small, everyone had on a bikini. Which leads me to...

Best Awkward Moment: There were two extremely beautiful, blond, tan teenage girls (from somewhere in Europe) directly in front of us by the pool. (I referred to them as the Swedish bikini team). They both removed their tops and were sunbathing lying on their stomachs. At one point, they both sat up and veeerrrrry slowly put their tops back on (exposing their breasts for what seemed like an eternity.) I looked over at Sam, who was locked on, mouth slightly agape, making no attempt to avert his gaze. No, I did not get a picture.

Best Book: Tiny Fey's Bossy Pants. I think Tiny Few is sooooo funny. Sometimes I would laugh so hard I had to put the book down. Do yourself a favor and buy it today.



Best Shopping: Horton Plaza (only because it was within walking distance from the hotel.) I did some serious damage at Nordstrom and Gap--40% off sale stuff plus I had a coupon for an additional 25% off. Think how much I saved!! Two of the outfits I purchased for Sammie:




Best Shopping Companions: Paul and Linda Warner. My parents were at the same conference. When Sam would go on his four hour bike rides, I would go shopping with my mom and dad. I totally felt like I was back in high school, with mom showing me all the "really amazing" bathrooms, and my dad paying for lunch. He has the patience of Job when it comes to my mom's shopping. The man can follow her for hours and not say one word.

When we were at Horton Plaza, my dad and I got laughing about when we were there on a trip when I was in high school. I was in the Jessica McClintock store trying on Homecoming dresses (they were the rage in 1994) and I left my jean jacket (also the rage) in the dressing room. We came back an hour later and it had been stolen. That was a tough day for my teenage self.


Mom and Dad in front of "the Del"

Best Fast Food: La Salsa. I ate lunch here two days in a row with the 'rents. They love it. The shrimp tacos are really good.

Best Binge Meal: El Torrito in La Jolla. Fajitas, excellent salsa and gigantic Diet Cokes. What more could a hungry girl ask for?

Best Tourist Trap: Seaport Village. I love their Christmas shop "Mistletoe." They also had this restaurant that made me miss my little Chubby:

Best Laugh: Finding Spanx for men at Nordstrom. There is justice in the world!



Best Celebrity Meeting: CJane in the San Diego airport. I promise I will never bring it up again!