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{love}
randah

i love the day of love

Ahh . . . Valentine's Day. It was a fun few days of celebration. Here's a rundown:

My sweet Edward treated me to a delicious dinner on Saturday at Sawadee, one of my favorite places to dine. Scumptious Thai food. Mmmm mmm mmm. I do love massaman curry. :o)

No, this photo is not from Vday weekend, but we didn't snap any new
shots, and this is one of my favs, so I'm including it anyway.

We decided to celebrate Valentine's Day on Saturday to avoid crazy masses of people at restaurants on actual Valentine's Day. We also got together Friday, Sunday, and Monday. Monday, we just enjoyed a nice casual meal at Cafe Rio. It was great!

Edward spoiled me with a new charm for my Pandora bracelet. He got me this cute new panda charm. My nickname with my family since I was a baby has always been "Randah Bear." Plus, Randah rhymes with panda . . . so it was perfect! And P.S., "he went to Jared." haha. We laughed about that all weekend.


Because I do so love the day of love, I decided to be super creative and domestic, and I made cake balls to share with my co-workers (and Edward's co-workers) and the girls Tricia and I visit teach. Here are my yummy cake balls. Confession: I might have eaten a few too many of these over the weekend. Oops.


Mmm. Cake balls. What are your favorite combinations? I did fillings of chocolate and strawberry--with milk chocolate and white chocolate on the outside. They turned out delicious. :o)

What did all of you do for Valentine's Day?

community classes = fun (surprising, huh?)

So, my roommate Tricia and I, along with our friend, Amanda (and their moms), have been into community classes lately. Who knew community classes were fun? We've taken two cupcake decorating classes and then Tricia and I also took a pizza-making class. Here are some photos:

tomato basil soup {pure heaven}

Yummy. Try this. You won't be sorry!
This was my dinner last night.

Samira's Tomato-Basil Soup
(My awesome roommate, Tricia, works for O.C. Tanner. Her company cafeteria has a professional chef who makes lunches. This is his recipe.)

28-oz. diced Italian tomatoes (canned)

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons dried basil leaves

1 carrot, pealed and diced

1/2 cup celery, diced

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 cup butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup cream

salt to taste

white pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat sauce pan. Add oil and butter. Saute vegetables, garlic, and basil lightly. Add tomatoes and broth. Cook 15 minutes. Add vegetable mixture with cream and puree in a blender.

Serve with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Ahh . . . a perfect dinner for a cold winter night!

edward

I've been silent for far too long. Sorry, blog world.
Things have been . . . busy.

Why?

Well, mostly because I spend most of my
free time these days with a certain fella.
Edward.
He is so dreamy and so fantastic.
And sweet.
And handsome.
And I could go on and on.

So please forgive my infrequent blogs.
I'm just enjoying my time with my guy. :o)

new favorite breakfast spot

Yesterday morning I met some girlfriends for breakfast. We decided to try something new. We stumbled upon Normandie Cafe...and oh boy, am I GLAD we did! Besides each opting for the croissant breakfast sandwich (which was created on the flakiest, buttery-est, most delicious croissant ever made), we each also ordered dessert. Don't judge. haha Dessert with breakfast? Yep. And I didn't regret it!

If you find yourself in the SLC and are wanting to try something new, go here! I know they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I will be frequenting this spot from now on during my monthly get togethers with old college friend, Risa.

Here are some rough pics of our a-m-a-z-i-n-g feast!

in love

Yep, I'm officially ready to admit that I'm in love...with THIS lipgloss. Mmm mmm mmm. Philosophy's Red Licorice lip shine is delectable. It's goes on in an awesome reddish/pink berry color that is super chic. And it tastes divine--just like licorice. It's been my favorite for a while. And I felt it was time to share. It's one of Philosophy's limited edition flavors--so it's usually only available in a kit like this. But you should try it. The end.