Wonderful Weekend

What a great weekend! I really love my friends out here, they are so much fun. Last night I went to dinner with 10 of my friends. This has become kind of a tradition. I remember doing the same thing in college, but last year, we went to Chili's which is one of my favorite places to eat, for their Chicken Enchilada Soup and their Molten Chocolate Cake! So that was the plan, but apprently they were getting ready for me to come and I guess there were just too many candles on the cake, because they had a fire and were closed for the night! Boo. Change of plans, and we were at Macaroni Grill down the street instead, which is another great restaurant, so all in all, I wasn't too bummed. Plus, they let you draw on the table cloth! So here are some pics from that:

Leah & Blair

Lora, me and Leah

Brittney & Ben

Nicole & Abby, who was on her phone

David & Emily

And lovely Amber

My Super Eggplant!

After dinner, we hit the Target (always a good thing in my book) and then watched the Mormon "Pride & Prejudice" since we couldn't find "Return to Me". Jared came over later and he and Ben serenaded us all for a bit. It was really a great Birthday celebration! Thanks guys for coming!

Earlier in the day I rented a Zip Car to run some errands, which of course involved a trip to the fabric and craft store. While I was updating my computer so that I could sync Edwin with the rest of my life, I made this little butterfly collage. I was inspired by this one and thought it was so cute I had to re-create it! Firstly, I love specimen boxes with butterflies AND I love paper! So I thought it was the perfect combination! I got this shadow box on clearance in the Martha Stewart Scrapbooking section, which works perfectly. I love how it turned out!

I also started making an afghan which I'm really excited about. My roommate has a great knit blanket that her sister made her and it's one of the best things to snuggle up with on the couch, but I decided I wanted to crochet one, like my Grandma Weggeland used to make for us! I'm using this pattern from Vannah White's new line of books and yarns. It's for a baby blanket, but I really liked the pattern, and I can just keep going around to make it as big as I want. I got three "One Pound" skeins of yarn in turquoise, pink and tan. I think it's going to be cute!


Last week I went grocery shopping and got ambitious. I got the new Martha Stewart Everyday Food in the mail and there were lots of good recipes so I've been making yummy food all week. So tonight, for my dinner I made one of my favorite meals from Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals cook book, Maple-Mustard Pork Chops & Grilled Apples. It is so delicious and tonight everything came out perfect! Plus I have more for tomorrow... mmmm. I also steamed some asparagus to perfection. Such a good dinner! Also, all these pictures were taken by Edwin. He's so handy that way.

Yummy!

Perfection!

I made these little arrangements yesterday with some silk carnations I bought at the Dollar Store actually. I like carnations when they are clumped together like this, and these match our dinning room perfectly.

So it was a great weekend! Thanks to everyone for your well wishes and gifts! I have the best friends and family!