Only for Jane...

Only for our dear and beloved friend, Jane...

could I talk my husband into basically abandoning our beloved boys for over half a day...

ignoring the freshly powder-laden mountain, softly beckoning...

braving the snowy roads...

and driving "all the way" up to Salt Lake for a Movie Marathon,

not to mention "strange" exotic food and entertainment.

Trust me...

My man had to be well-bribed!

(Sitting through TWO movies in a day

and the uncertainty of dinner at a new, somewhat questionable-sounding restaurant

is NOT his forte!

He'd much rather have chosen an afternoon of skiing!)

But alas, he let me win this one...

And off we went.

While everyone else in our group saw "The Tourist",

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(which we saw and I LOVED a few weeks ago)

we opted to meet Danny and Angi for "Country Strong"

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which I thought was great, and Matt thought was... well, grueling.

In my defense I make 4 points.

First, I do love Gwyneth.

I just do.

Second, she made me want to be a Kelly Canter fan.

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Really.

She was darling.

How could you not love her rockin' those leather jeans in this scene

with that eat-him-up cute little Travis?

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Third, I found myself, against my better judgement, really wanting

her to pull her mess-of-a-life together and get well...

(Which must mean she did a very believable job of being a mess in the first place, right?)

And lastly...

I am almost ashamed to admit how much I LOVED that gold dress from the Dallas Concert...

Wow.

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A-MAZ-ing...

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I could totally wear it at the kitchen sink doing dishes, right?

Or while I fold laundry?

{Sigh}

I guess it is best that my life holds no event worthy of me ever wearing such a gown.

Temptation gone.

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But on to dinner...

To try something different, Dusty chose Cedars of Lebanon,

which turned out to be a cozy little place with great ambiance,

fun, not-your-ordinary-everyday entertainment

and

INCREDIBLE food!

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Here are half of us...

Our party of 13 included the Blanchards, Us, Rhodes, Taylors, Birchalls,

Danny & Angi and Becky.

Who knew we'd be fans of Lebanese?

But yum!

It makes my mouth water and my tummy rumble just remembering it!

We will definitely make a return visit!

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We also learned some very valuable life lessons...

Like...

Always wait to tip the belly-dancer until the music tempo slows...

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And never accept an invitation to share a hookah

with the aging gentleman at the next table over.

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(Seriously, Angi... what were you thinking?)

And lastly, that 35 can look amazing if you welcome it and accept it with grace.

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So Happy Birthday, again, Janey!

We loved sharing it with you!

(And please forgive me for swiping these pics off your blog...)

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Our evening concluded with full bellies,

grateful that only the birthday girl had to participate in the belly-dancing spectacle,

a darling birthday cake

(Way to go, Dusty!)

and then off to another movie.

The late show was this little number...

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which I still can not ever remember the name of

and was surprised not to love.

I thought it was just... ok...

But interestingly enough, Matty actually liked it better than the first!

Ha!

I guess we're keeping things even, at least!

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So chalk up another super fun evening, friends.

Great company!

My belly still hurts from laughing so hard!