Birthday Lunch Bunch

I work with an incredible group of ladies. All four of us worked nights together and became fast friends. It turns out Susan, Laura, Karen, and I all have summer birthdays. That's why we all get along so great! To celebrate our birthdays we all got together for a delicious lunch at Jax Kitchen. The food was divine and the company was even better. We had a blast catching up. 

Susan, Laura, and Karen enjoyed the soup and salad.

Susan looking as cute as ever

Love these two

I opted for the BBQ chicken sandwich- so good!

Karen, who organized the whole lunch, surprised us all with a slice of heavenly red velvet cake. It was the perfect ending to a perfect lunch. 

Macaroons

Made these this week. Boysenberry and Pineapple-Mango Macaroons. 

Recipe coming soon.

Layla Grace $1,000 Giveaway

This is awesome! I love just about everything at Layla Grace. They have the best decor all around. Check out their giveaway. Go like them on facebook. Click here. 

Kneaders French Toast

When Jordan and I were going to school in Provo one of our favorite places to go on a Saturday morning was Kneaders for all you can eat french toast. Now that we have long since moved away from Provo, I still crave their french toast.  This morning I had a little extra time and on a whim decided to try my hand at their french toast. Here is the result of my labors. 

Kneaders French Toast

You will need:

1 loaf of Cinnamon Bread (Like I said, I made this on a whim and just had some pugliese bread on hand from Costco, but Cinnamon Bread would taste much better)

8 eggs 

3 cups of milk

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of vanilla

2 tablespoons of butter

Butter a 9 x13 glass baking dish. Cut your bread into 8 slices. Mix all remaining ingredients, minus the 2 tablespoons of butter. Dip your bread thoroughly into the egg mixture, then place flat in the baking dish. Cut butter into pieces and place over the top of bread. Refrigerate over night or at least an hour. You can pour the remaining egg mixture on top, sometimes I found it can make it too "eggy" if you use all the egg mixture. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Caramel Syrup:

Now, the caramel syrup is what makes this french toast so delicious, and also so terrible for your waistline.

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of heavy whipping cream

1 cup light Karo syrup

Mix together and heat on stove top until smooth, serve warm.

Take your french toast, pour caramel syrup over top, and top with favorite berries and whipped cream. 

It's That Time Again...

This little beauty arrived in the mail recently. I LOVE Anthropologie! If I could live in that store I would. I would climb under one of their beautiful duvets,

And drift into sleep smelling the sweet aroma that surrounded me.

Then I would wake up and whip up a delicious breakfast for the two of us in my inspiring kitchen

And then I would mosey on over and pick out what I would wear for the day because I would have the BEST closet ever!

Oh that would be perfect... 

For now, it's that time of year again where I get to splurge a little at my favorite store because I'm the birthday girl. So excited to spoil myself. I could seriously go broke there, so I have to bring the Mr. along so he can keep us from going house poor.

The husband lounge, where the Mr. will be waiting patiently,

While I get lost in Anthro-Heaven.

Lovely Lauren

My cute sister-in-law Lauren celebrated her birthday on Friday. I love spending time with her! She has such a magnetic personality and you always have a good time when Lauren's there. She is caring, has a great sense of humor, and is just all around fun! Love you Lauren!

Lauren and her hubby Aaron at their wedding last October

Cinnamon Bun Popcorn

Caramel, Pecans, and Popcorn? Yes Please! This stuff is to die for!! It is so easy to make and it tastes delicious. Made some tonight for family to enjoy, it was a hit! Check out the recipe at Our Best Bites. Yummy!

Elta Lotion

I have always had terribly sensitive skin. As a nurse, the constant hand washing is really hard on my hands and I often leave my shift with bright red hands with millions of tiny cracks in the skin. It is extremely painful and putting the lotion on at work makes them burn worse. A couple of weeks ago, one of our night hospitalists, a hospitalist is basically the on-call primary care doctor for the hospital, brought me some samples of a moisturizer called Elta. It is amazing! It has really kept my hands from drying out so badly, and since I've been using it I haven't been getting the little cracks and bleeds in my skin. Try it out. Here's a link for some - Elta Creme Moisturizer

Happy 4th!!

Had a busy night on the floor the past couple of nights. I was bummed I didn't get to watch the fireworks with family, but it was fun spending time with some of my favorite gals at work. Although I did miss the fireworks, everyone did bring delicious food for our potluck. Some of us got together to snap a quick pic before we had to get up to answer the call light that was going off while we posed for the picture.  

Happiest Place on Earth!!

 It has been FOREVER since our last post, but life has been crazy. Jordan and I just got back from a quick vacation to the happiest place on earth- DISNEYLAND!!! Here are some pics of all the fun.

At the new Carsland! It was awesome!

Love Mickey!

At "It's Tough To Be a Bug" 

An absolute MUST at Disneyland- Dole Whip- yum!

Being an avid fan of Modern Family, Jordan insisted we stopped in to watch this-Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. 

Toy Story Mania- One of the best rides ever!