Lunch with Em and Ivy

Yesterday I had a day of freedom. A day of no work and all play. Well not exactly all play but I did have a chance to go to lunch with Em and Ivy. Em and I picked Ivy up from school and went to Brentwood for lunch at Belwood Bakery. It was delicious. We spoiled ourselves with some yummy desserts. I am so happy I had a day off to do normal human things like going to lunch with friends. Em is a famous scrapbooker who is traveling all over the world teaching classes so we don't get to see each other much. I am always so happy when I get to spend an afternoon with her. I always feel so inspired after being around her and I am so grateful for her friendship. I will post pictures tomorrow of the other half of my day.

P.S. Ivy took the picture of Em and I together.

The Peanut Butter Ball Saga

Every year around Christmas I get this guilty sick feeling in my stomach every time there is a knock at my door from one of my kind neighbors or friends with delicious holiday goodies. I always have a hard time enjoying these treats because I never have anything prepared for them. This year I decided I would make Valentines treats to thank everyone for Christmas treats. I went to Target and found these adorable buckets to put the treats in and I had a recipe in mind. I decided I would do a dry run about a week before Valentines. I got through the first step with no problem it was the next step when I hit the wall. I have always had a hard time with recipes that require items to chill. This gives me time to sit and relax and become totally unmotivated to continue on. Well to make a long story short, I went through three batches of peanut butter mix chilling and being thrown away because of chilling for too long in the fridge before I finally found enough strength to begin the even longer second step of dipping each ball in chocolate. Sunday evening(yes 11 days after Valentines) I finally finished all dipping and bow tieing and delivered all my Peanut Butter Balls with delight. I would like to thank all who have been a part of this month long of Peanut Butter Ball making--Heidi for introducing this recipe to me. Morris who fulfilled my request for Valentines day gift of helping roll balls, all 3 times. Morgan for being a baking genius and answering all of my questions regarding paraffin wax and last Vicki from work who I conned into help dip chocolates and rolls balls from the last batch.

Girls VS.Boys

On Saturday Morris and I went to stay the night at my sisters house. My sister, Brooke went to IKEA on Saturday and came home with loads of furniture that needed to be assembled. In the process of moving out to Vegas Brooke gave away a lot of furniture and now that they are back in California they had to go buy new furniture to replace what was given away. One of the items she purchased was a new kitchen table--something she desperately needed. Brooke and I decided Saturday night we wanted to put the new kitchen table together. We asked the men in the house for help but they were too tired so we decided we would do it ourselves. The men sat there laughing at as we attempted to follow directions and decipher screws and nuts from washers. After we finished assembling the table we decided we would have a race to put the table benches together. The boys vs. the girls. Lets just say the women prevailed even with a pregnant belly. I won't mention the boys bench was missing two holes that needed to be drilled. The girls still walked away with the blue ribbon and the sweet smell of victory.

P.S. My Bro in Law is a construction guy.

Older and Wiser

Today is my 25th birthday. I am a quarter of a century old today. This morning I treated my ugly toes to a pedicure. It would have been very nice treat except that it has been far too long since I had my last pedicure and they had to do a bit of damage control to get these babies looking good. When I got to work this afternoon my boss had this beautiful arrangement on my desk for me. Another great treat. I have to stay the night at work tonight and tomorrow night so it is a good thing Morris and I have already celebrated. Happy Birthday to me. I hope Meredith does not die on my Birthday!

Love for the Bay

Morris and I had a fabulous weekend in San Francisco. We were able to accomplish all of the must do's and many of the maybe do's. We arrived on Friday night checked into our hotel and headed to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory on the terrace. After dinner we walked around town just soaking in the goodness of the city. Saturday morning we woke up early to warm sunshine and a list of things to see. We started off with a walk to Grace Cathedral to see Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise. From there we headed up to see Lombard Street. We rented some bikes after Lombard and biked across the Golden Gate bridge. We spent the afternoon recovering from our ride in Sausalito. We had lunch in a cafe and walked some galleries and shops in Sausalito and then hopped on the ferry to head back to San Fran. We enjoyed some free entertainment provided by the street performers near Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. The evening was topped off with a sundae at Ghiradelli Square and a cherry on top. Sunday we went to Lincoln Park to the Legion of Honor Museum to see "The Thinker" by Rodin as well as many other wonderful pieces. Next stop was the de Young Museum at Golden Gate Park for a quick peek at some highlight pieces and a Sunday stroll and swing dance lesson in the park. Our last Museum for the trip was the SFMOMA, three was all Morris could handle. But since the trip was for my birthday he went along without a complaint. At the SFMOMA we took a tour of pieces by some new young artists and spent lots of time admiring the exhibit on modern furnishing--this was my favorite. We were both exhausted and decided to head back to the hotel for a quick nap, well the nap was not very quick for me. I ended up sleeping for about 3 hours and did not wake up until 11:00 PM. Since we had fallen asleep without dinner we decided to head out about midnight and see what we could find. We ended up at Lori's Diner for shakes, burgers, and fries--the best food to be eating at midnight. We checked out of the hotel on Monday and headed to Chinatown. Chinatown did not really do much for us so we walked a few blocks and moved on. We grabbed lunch and then stopped by a Frank Lloyd Wright building near our hotel I really wanted to see. We spent our last few minutes in the city basking in the sunlight in Union Square. We had such a great time in San Francisco and we can't wait to go back and do it all over again. It is nice to be back but it is always more fun to be on vacation. Hope you have enjoyed the play by play of our weekend.

Another Allen

On Friday my little brother--Todd asked Kim to marry him. They will be getting married June 30th. I am so happy for the two of them. Kim spent Christmas with our family in McCall and it was so fun to have her there. I am so happy she will be joining the Allen family. Congratulations Todd and Kim.

For My Valentine

Last night for Valentines I made a delicious meal complete with sparkling cider and candles. Nothing pleases my husband more than coming home to dinner on the table. His face lights up when he walks through the door to the aroma of food and dishes set out. I rushed home from work and was able to have dinner ready, cake made, and presents wrapped by the time he got home. After enjoying our meal we exchanged gifts and then had some yummy strawberry cake, it does not look nearly as cute as I imagined it in my head but it tasted delicious. I gave Morris sessions 1 & 2 of The Office on DVD. The Office is our favorite show, we watch the episodes over and over again. Morris surprised me with a nights stay at the Anniversary Inn next time we go home and flowers at work. Well the flowers I actually did not get until this morning when I arrived at work because they were delivered to the wrong house. The flowers were a special treat this morning when I arrived at work even though the surprise was foiled. Tomorrow we are off to San Francisco for a long weekend. I can't wait.

Weekend Update

This is the first weekend in a long time Morris and I have just had time to get some things done around the house. We have been so busy this new year with company in town and with my sister moving and then moving back(long story) we had seriously neglected many things that needed to be done around our apartment. We went to dinner on Friday night and then went and had gelato for dessert. As may of you know I am a big fan of ice cream, I have been very reluctant to try gelato because of the relationship I have with ice cream. Friday night I took the plunge and tried it, here are my thoughts--very rich, way to expensive, and no chocolate chip. So ice cream and are back in a committed relationship and I will not be straying for any more gelato any time soon. Saturday I convinced Morris to go to the gym with me. I have been going with my friend Deb to the gym 3 times a week but this Saturday she was out so Morris had to fill in. Morris is more of a work out at home guy right now because he has very little free time. After the gym he agreed to run a few errands with me which ended up taking much of the afternoon but he was a good sport. One of the many errands on Saturday was to Target. Each time I am at Target I browse the $5 DVD section and to my surprise this week they had Clue on DVD. Morris and I decide this $5 classic was way to good to pass up. Saturday night we watched Clue as we folded laundry. I love that movie. Sunday we had a Valentines Party with our adorable Sunbeam class at church. We had so much fun coloring and sharing Valentines with each other and decorating heart shaped cookies. We had friends over for a quick dinner and ice cream of course on Sunday. And then I started Clue for the second time.

Our Dream Home

I drive by this home everyday on my way home from work. It was not until a few months ago that I felt like this was a home I could see myself living in. I have a tendency to change my mind quickly about certain things ok so really about most things. Morris has mentioned several times he would like our future home to be built out of brick. Me being a lover of modern architecture and furnishings would never think I would fall in love with a brick exterior. Brick is the most practical exterior for harsh Utah weather conditions--but lets be honest; when am I practical? I knew if it would be brick the only way to go would be red brick. Morris and I have spent many afternoons on UCLA campus admiring all of the beautiful red orange brick buildings and it was not until many hours admiring that I felt like I could actually be happy with a brick exterior. I drove by this home several times before I felt like I liked it enough to show Morris I actually might be willing to build a home we could both agree on. Last week when we were on our tour of Beverly Hills homes we finally stopped by. He loved it. I was so happy. Since the initial drive by we have had several conversations about all of the features we love about the exterior. We have also tried to come up with a plan to get a tour of the interior, more pictures of the exterior, or best of all a set of blueprints(which of course I would begin red lining immediately). My last hurdle would be how to give up my modern interior, this may be the most challenging for me. I just do not see how to fit modern furnishings in this home. I know it will be many years before Morris and I will build a home-especially one this grand but at least I can continue to dream.

Top Design

On Wednesday Bravo premiered a new show called "Top Design". I was excited about this show for two reasons, the first being that I am an interior designer and love see to see the work of other designer and second well I guess third is because I love the show "Project Runway" and TD is produced by the same people as PR. The show is filmed at The Pacific Design Center(PDC). The PDC is the design mecca of the west. When I first moved to LA I worked as a showroom manager at the PDC. Although it was the worst job I have ever had it is still fun to see the showrooms I used to see and walk through daily in the show. Many of the pieces used in the first episode came from the showrooms on my floor. I am excited to see the personalities of each designer develop on the show and to see the new ideas each designer will come up with and the crazy challenges the producers will come up with.