My only candle!

My only candle this year was from dear, sweet Suzette! 

Thanks Suz for making a sweet moment in a very crazy day!

(Our Ragnar race started the next morning and we were all a bit stressed out!)

Happy Birthday to ME!

If you know me and you see this picture, you could definitely hear me saying....

"Happy Birthday to ME!"

This is the Cake and Shake at d bar Desserts in Denver.

But more about that in a minute.

 

For my birthday, we went with some awesome friends to Denver to see Rock of Ages, but we all love food, and so it became a glutenous food trip as well...to my delight, of course!

We flew out of SLC in the morning and were in Denver by lunch.

Our first food adventure was at the Sushi Den.

Delish!

 Rick and Heather Bastian, Eric and Laurie Pope and Us

 We went shopping in the afternoon and ended up at an awesome Mediterranean restaurant, Rioja, before the show.  The Zagat app was so great to have some fun guidance on picking a place to eat!

 Here we are at Rioja enjoying delish artichoke ravioli. YUM!

 The show was so fun, the crowd was a little quiet, definitely a little more rowdy in NYC, but still a BLAST!
A quick night sleep and a great run with Laurie down the City Creek trail in the morning, we were ready for Day 2!

 Zagat guided us to another local fave....Snooze!  We knew there would be a wait, but oh man was it worth it!

 It was a bit embarrassing.... how much we ordered, that is, but we all loved tasting everything!

 Pineapple pancakes, blueberry lemon pancakes, sweet potato pancakes, red velvet pancakes, a breakfast burrito the size of a "travel pillow," caramel pecan french toast, normal french toast, a custom omelet and the craziest....supercalifragalistix!  A peanut butter and nutella sandwich turned into french toast, cut into "stix" and dipped into a butter syrup.  OH MAN! Seriously amazing food! We need this restaurant here!

 

After breakfast there wasn't much time before the gluttony continued, so we tried to walk around town a bit. But then we had to hurry to hit our next food spot before catching our flight home. 

 

I almost didn't make them go because we were still crazy full from breakfast!  But this was one of the funnest experiences, I'm so glad everyone endured the pain!

d bar Desserts

We walked in and I immediately recognized the guy behind the counter and said to Heather and Laurie,

"I swear that guy is on Food Network."

So Laurie says, 

"Hey weren't you on Food Network?"

And he says, "I still am!"

It was Keegan Gerhard, he is the host of Food Network Challenge, specifically in the pastry department.  You know the one where they have to make tall cakes and transfer them from their work surface to the display table while everyone holds their breath!

He took our picture and was fun to chat with.  We found out that he was the chef at the Wen in Las Vegas when it opened and created the recipe for some granola and pancakes that Laurie has loved for years.  He gave her his email and said he would give her the recipe! Laurie was thrilled!

What a great birthday trip....back to Utah, a movie and more dinner (I know, I'm currently on a diet just because of that weekend)!

Thanks Hans love, Bastians and Popes for the great trip, it was so fun! Great friends, great food and great weather, a girl couldn't ask for more! I'll treasure it always....where is our next foodie trip?

PS. The chocolate cake and chocolate malt were divine! Seriously amazing.  I loved the idea of a shake instead of a scoop of ice cream melting into my cake. Love, love, loved it!

PPS. A final shout out to our SLC restaurant pick.  Cucina Toscana, best Italian in Utah. And plus I've received a kiss from the owner every time I've been there.  Heather's Spaghetti Carbonara won all our hearts!

Bear Lake Birthday

Chloe had a birthday this week!

13

She was at Girl's Camp

at Bear Lake!

I had the opportunity to go up to Bear Lake and to take her a cake.

Nutter Butter

Banana Cake and Peanut Butter Frosting...YUM

She "went under" in the lake and was freezing but loved it!

Fun 13th Birthday!

 

Then at the end of the week, we had a family dinner.  She picked Chicken Picatta, artisan bread, asparagus and personal size apple cobblers! Yummy meal!

We always love it when Grandma and Grandpa Pinegar have time for a birthday dinner!

 

 

 

Such a great girl!  We love you Chloe!

Beautiful Monette!

This beautiful lady was thrown a surprise birthday party!

She's 50 years old! 

(Said like Molly Shannon of course)

Beautiful invitations were sent, RSVP's which were followed by an invitation to wear hats or fascinators, all pulled off beautifully at the Hardware Building in downtown SLC...

these Maglebys know how to have fun!

Chloe, Josie and I had fun coming up with our own inventions!

We waited for her to show up....the rouse to get Monette there was a fake wedding reception invite that Lauren printed up and Eric said he needed to attend because they were in his BYU ward.  It was perfect, she had no idea!

Then the party started right away....the food was outstanding, a poem by Dayna (she is the best!), a live band, and then dancing, dancing, cake and more dancing!  So much fun!

 

Josephine, Dayna and Monette

 

Grayson.....no dancing....to cool for school.  I think Adam hit the dance floor a little!

This boy loves to move! He is a hoot!

WOW!

Beautiful Jayne and Dayna!  Chloe could not get enough of Jayne, she's such a doll, they played all night long!

Still groovin'!

 

Still no fun!

Cute thing, dancing with her Daddy!

Beautiful decorations by Lauren...she is so talented.  Look at all those tissue flowers, all hand made and hand painted by Lauren!

Tru came late, he and Max (Monette's son) were at the Jimmer Basketball Camp.  Also, part of the rouse!

 

These balloons were incredible!

 

Happy Birthday Monette!  Thanks for being such a fun, giving, awesome, sister in law and aunt! We love you!

Chloe runs.

Chloe is running track and loving it! She qualified for districts at the Hershey meet and is excited for next week!  She won this 100 M race by a good 5 M.  She's got her Daddy's speed!