A few weekends ago we celebrated Miss Lindzee in style in Walla Walla. Crissie planned the entire weekend and it was fabulous! We stayed in an amazing house that fit all 10 of us called the James McCool House (if you go to WW, you must stay here), drank lots of vino and had even more laughs. Thanks for a fun weekend Cris! Cheers to Lindz as she winds down here last few months as a single lady!
May 5th, 2011
Asiago’s = Amazing
I have to share how wonderful the staff at Asiago’s was for Suzie’s rehearsal dinner. Bottom line, amazing. They were beyond accommodating with our ever growing reservation count and were more than gracious in allowing us to have separate tickets. On top of the superior service, the food was downright delicious. We were starving when we arrived and boy oh boy were we happy we came here. I didn’t hear one person out of the 22 say they were less than thrilled with their meal.
So if you are looking for a non-pretentious, delicious meal downtown Asiago’s is your place.
May 4th, 2011
Bachelorette Fun
Trevor’s Aunt Suzie was married here in Boise last Saturday and to celebrate we took her out Thursday for some bachelorette fun.
We all met up at Twig’s Cellar and had the most amazing time! Not only was the food super delish, but the owner and our waiter spoiled us rotten. I had not eaten here before but had heard great things about it so I wanted to try it out. It is a tiny little place that does not disappoint. We were lucky enough to have the semi private room off the front which was handy so we didn’t bother any of the other guests with our obnoxious laughter and naughty presents.
Please, please if you are looking for a great place to dine in downtown Boise visit Twig’s Cellar. You will be super happy you did.
March 20th, 2011
Sunny Solvang
Trevor and I just returned from a fabulous and much needed getaway together. One of our favorite spots to visit when we were dating was Solvang, CA. I remember leaving after our first trip there and on the drive back to LA, I realized I had fallen in love with Trevor and he was the one. Oh to be 25 again. :)
So Solvang has always been a special place for us and we were very excited to return. We stayed at Hotel Corque and it was AMAZING. The rooms were huge, the beds comfy, the view wonderful and location perfect. We will most definitely stay here when we get to go back. We also dined at Root 246 for dinner and it was beyond delish. I ordered the chicken which is a close contender to the best chicken I have ever had from Gramercy Tavern. Anyway, if you are in the Santa Ynez valley, please visit Root 246 you will love it.
While there we visited loads of wineries: Gainey Vineyard, Sunstone, Buttonwood, Zaca Mesa, Koehler, Curtis, Firestone, Bridelwood, and Roblar Winery. We had such a great time and really enjoyed being there on the weekday versus the weekend. We had lots of time with the staff who really made the tastings personal and full of neat info and history. Overall, the winery with the best wines was Gainey. We LOVED all of them on the tasting menu and did not find that at any other winery. Most of the others just had 1 or 2 wines that stood out. But our favorite for overall atmosphere and staff would be a tie between Curtis and Roblar. At Curtis we were able to pair our tasting with a chocolate tasting…it was tasty! Who knew chocolate could have so many flavors? And at Roblar, the grounds are gorgeous and really relaxing. Lots of space to wander and just sit and relax. We soaked up many sun rays on their patio.
When we weren’t tasting yummy grapes we were be-bopping around Solvang checking out the little shops. One of our favorites was Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery. I think I gained 5 pounds from eating so many tasty meringues here. We also loved having breakfast next door at Paula’s Pancake House. We lucked out and were able to hit the Farmer’s Market on Wednesday and snag 3 baskets of raspberries. I shouldn’t admit that we ate them before we had walked 2 blocks.
So there you have it. We ate, we drank, we played. And most importantly we loved. Thanks hubby for a wonderful trip to one of our favorites, love you!
March 13th, 2011
Cake Pops
Today was a super fun day. My sister and her boys picked me up and we cruised over to our Mom and Dad’s place to make cake pops. Fun, fun! I have been inspired by all of Bakerella’s cake pops lately and decided to give it a try. Let me start this by saying they aren’t the easiest thing to do. But with a little patience and practice I think it wouldn’t be hard to get in a groove with them. But most importantly, they are delicious!
*Photos courtesy of Bridgette :)
Baking, Family, Fun | 
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February 13th, 2011
Catch me if you can
I promise it won’t be hard. I was the slow poke of our snowmobiling group for sure. But I have to say that cruising along at 35mph the first time on a sled in 9 years was a huge thing for me. I was pretty proud of myself for keeping up and not crashing or falling off.
Trevor and I went up with my Uncle Clint, my cousin Derek and his fiancé Bree. We cruised around on my Uncle Warren’s land outside of Ola at Timber Flat. So pretty and we were blessed with a gorgeous day — I had to take of my jacket it was so sunny!
Thanks Uncle Clint for taking us out and showing us a great time!
December 23rd, 2010
Christmas at Grandma’s
Tonight we celebrated Christmas at my Grandma Budell’s house. She cooked an enormous feast for our largest crowd to date- 18 peeps! It was a lot of fun to see all of my cousins and catch up. And Grandma spoiled us all rotten, we even had a visit from Santa– woo hoo!
Cheers to a wonderful way to kick off our Christmas!
December 21st, 2010
Christmas Lights
Tonight hubby and I went with his parents, Larissa and her two boys to check out several different Christmas lights in our little corner of Meridian. And I am happy to report they were fantastic!! I am now officially full of holiday cheer and ready for the party extravaganza to begin.
I was able to video a few of our stops–you’ll have to excuse our commentary in the background, we were having fun!
Here is a helpful link in case you want to look up lights in your area.
Family, Fun | 1 Comment »
December 4th, 2010
Cookie Party Extravaganza 2010
You know it is Holiday Season when Lindzee throws her annual Cookie Party! It is oh so much fun. Each person brings 5 dozen cookies to the party (or in my case cupcakes) and then you get to go around the table and load up with 5 of each cookie. You leave with a full tummy and a huge variety of delicious treats.
My new favorite this year was Celia’s Frosted Lemon Cookies. I ate all 5 of them tonight! Not to worry though, I have emailed her for the recipe. My fingers crossed she will share.
Thanks Lindz for throwing a fab party for all of us–it is one of my favorite traditions!!
Crissie, Lindz and me
Loading up on treats
Bridgette, me and Cris
November 15th, 2010
The Palouse
Well I can’t say that Idaho brought home a win. But…we did score twice against those Broncos and I’ll take what I can. It was a trip going back up to Moscow with my parents and hubby. So much is new and different. New buildings, new stores, new apartments. But some things never change…it was deja vu seeing some of the kids run around and tailgate — although it made me feel a wee bit old.
Here are a few pics. Look how great my parents look in Black & Gold!
