For Jane... and the girls!

When our bestie from Boston visits during her birthday week, we ladies rally!

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The guest of honor requested uniquely "Utah-fare"

and La Jolla Groves never disappoints...

Every dish is de-lish!

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(Shannon, Susan, Jane, Becky, Caryn {who apparently did not get the stripes memo!}, Summer with Baby Graham & Me)

Since movie picks were a bit on the scarce side, we opted for pedis instead!

(They sort-of turned out to be "mini-pedis", really,

and only for just half of us...

but the evening was really just about the company, anyways!)

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(Me, Caryn, Becky, Shannon, Daphne, Jane, Susan, Summer & Lil' Graham Cracker)

And please forgive me,

(maybe I'm feeling overly-sentimental..?)

but I just can't help saying

as I look at these ladies, I count myself blessed to be amongst them...

I see mothers... daughters... sisters... friends...

balancing so many things and doing so much good in our circles of influence,

no matter the size...

whether relatively small, or literally global in our reach.

I see creative energy that has no bounds.

Boxless.

Ever changing.

Unintimidated and unabashed.

Talent. Tenacity. Ambition.

I see true beauty, both inside and out.

We are loyal and kind.

We love fiercely...

Passionately.

Laugh.

(A lot!)

And listen.

Compassionately.

We have suffered unspeakable, unimaginable loss.

Both individually, and even collectively.

Have struggled and overcome.

Have stumbled. Have risen. And continue to press forward.

And to thrive.

I see strength.

Raw, undeterrable discipline.

With grace. And unassuming poise.

I am amazed at breadth of experience we embody.

Such a spectrum...

Each our own heartaches. Disappointments.

And yet... Inconceivable triumphs.

And through it all, we smile,

Warmly. Genuinely.

With gratitude.

Committed to ensuring that the best is yet to come!

Oh, how grateful I am for each one of you, girlies!

How very grateful indeed!

My friends.

I don't see you all often enough, but oh how dear you are to me!

Sigh... pretty feet...

Thanks to Cheryl for squeezing me in to her already busy schedule

and giving me a good excuse to indulge in Lunch and a Pedicure this afternoon...

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(Wait...who am I kidding? I can't even reach my feet... isn't THAT an excuse at this point?

And, honestly, I never need an "excuse", anyway, do I?!)

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Cheryl's French Toes turned out just darling... I am totally jealous!

I can't WAIT to be able to do them again!

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(I, on the other hand, am still growing out a bruised big toenail that went completely purple

after I stubbed it really hard last Spring. I have had to do a darker color to cover it for over a year!

But it is almost done. Yea! ...So maybe next time!)

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So thanks to this dear and wonderful woman, who is solely (no pun intended!) responsible

for my always beautifully maintained feet...

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Kristi Liam at ProNails has been doing my Gel-Pedicure monthly(-ish) for nearly 3 years now and trust me... She is the BEST! AND I just adore her!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Cheryl Dear...

One of my favorite people in all the world had her Birthday last week...

We neighbor girls finally found a night when we could take her out to celebrate for a belated Birthday Dinner.

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PF Changs... always a treat!

And despite our onery waiter (seriously, sooooo rude!), we managed to have a fun Girl's Night out!

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So Happy, Birthday Cheryl!

You know I love you to pieces... you are truly one one of the most sincere and genuine people I know. Such a wonderful friend to everyone.

I am blessed to have your friendship and influence in my life. I can always count on you!

...Not to mention, you $ave me thousands in therapy!

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AND you love treats as much as me!

(Yeah... it's all about that Great Wall of Chocolate! Mmmm!)

Happy Birthday, Daphne!

We took our "Latin-Hearted" Daph out for her Birthday Lunch a few days early

and tried out this tasty new little authentic Mexican Restaurant,

Las Tarascas...

(which just won an award for best in state... Wow!)

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Back Row (Left to Right): Me, Suz, Gina, Jen, Caryn Front Row (Left to Right): Caycie, Daphne, Jane (and little Crew in front!)

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I can't remember what I ordered, but it was so pretty...

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... and Yummy!

Happy Birthday, Daph... Hope it was the wonderful day that you deserve!

You are truly one of my favorite, most admired people... like sunshine in a bottle!

Love you, Girl!

GNO...

I had a fun Girl's Night Out with a few of my very favorite ladies (namely Jane, Daphne and Caryn) on Saturday evening... (thanks girlies, for making the time!) :)

We went to Carrabba's for dinner. So yum! And I mean YUM with a capital Y-U-M! It is my very favorite food in all the world, I am fairly sure. If I had to choose just one thing to eat from today until the end of time, it would be the Fillet Bryan from Carrabba's. Of course, I may weigh 300 pounds by this time next year, because I always order it with grilled veggies AND garlic mashed potatoes (which are to DIE for!), but seriously... how DO they make that food taste SOOO good? I could eat there every day and NEVER get tired of it! If you haven't eaten there, crawl out of your cave... you HAVE to try it... TONIGHT! It is seriously the BEST food I have ever eaten.

http://www.carrabbas.com/

It has been Matt and I's favorite restaurant for several years now, since it opened here in Orem. It is starting to get more crowded (secret's out!), but you can call ahead! The service is always personable and prompt and the food is perfect EVERY time! Almost everything on the menu is incredible, but I always order the Fillet Bryan. It is the very best steak I have ever tasted and has this amazing lemon-butter-basil sauce with sun-dried tomatoes. This photo (off their website) is of the Chicken Bryan, same dish, just chicken instead of steak. Both de-lish!

Anyway, eating there always makes me happy, so thanks Ladies for indulging in my craving with me! It's always nice to have good company for a FAB-ulous meal!

I wish I could say the same for the movie... SORRY! (It was totally MY pick!)

We went to see Fool's Gold, which I had high hopes for because I LOVED "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" and LOVE Matthew McConnaughey and Kate Hudson together in anything, even interviews... such great chemistry. I thought, "sweet, cute Kate", "toned, tanned Matthew" (with his shirt off for 2 hours)... what's not to like?

Well, I'm thinking maybe this was written during the writer's strike? Okay, just kidding, but seriously, it was THAT bad! REALLY corny characters, and totally implausible action scenes, cheesy camera angles, I could go on and on. The worst part is, I actually paid for it TWICE! When I bought the tickets online on Friday afternoon, I accidentally got them for Friday night instead of Saturday night. I realized my mistake as I was leaving Saturday and had to buy them AGAIN! Just my luck that the movie SUCKED!

And I know I am not the only one who was SHOCKED at the "topless flashing"... Since when do they show fully exposed boobs in Movies rated PG-13? I feel like an old-fogey saying it, but really... what is the world coming to these days? Thank goodness my boys (all of them!) were at home watching motor-cross! :)