Taste Of Salt Lake

Way back in June, the girls, DMP, Chester and I participated in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Great Strides walk for work. As part of that, Ancestry purchased a table at their annual Taste of Salt Lake event and raffled tickets. We won and I had almost forgotten about it until I got the invite a couple of weeks ago.

As I looked at the invite, I noticed it said "Black Tie Optional". I had no idea what that meant dress-wise so I looked it up. Turns out, I had me a perfect excuse to get all fancied up for a big party. So I went shopping for a new outfit, and yesterday I got a massage and got my hair and makeup done to get ready. It was so fun. I mean, how many times do you get an excuse to get all dolled up and go on a fanny date with a handsome guy?

The best part of the event was that there was something like 30 restaurants from the Salt Lake area (including some super-fancy ones) that were all there with small portions of yummy food. We literally ate and tasted everything until we couldn't eat any more- which was a shame because it was mostly very, very delicious. I was in heaven!

The food highlights of the evening (for me) was the ahi tuna tartare (with a hint of wasabi and sesame) from the Sundance restaurants, a lamb and goat cheese cannelloni (sooo good!) and some super-delicious lamb from Mazza. Desserts were awesome and the red velvet cake from Everything Bundt cake was fantastic, and so was the chocolate berry custard cup from La Caille.

There was a silent auction there, too, and DMP and I bid on some things early on and got outbid quickly. We re-visited the auction about an hour before close, and bid on 3 things, thinking that we'd be lucky to get one. We won all 3!! It was unexpected but fun (and the money goes to a good cause). Now we get an overnight stay at the Mariott with dinner and breakfast, a bunch of eating-out certificates, and some other fun goodies!

Just for fun, I decided to take a "before" and "after" picture. BTW- I feel these pics make me look over-made-up, but it must be the lighting, because it looked great in real life.

It was such a great, fun night. Good food, handsome date, fun new outfit. My idea of a good time!

Gettin' My Swiss On

DMP and I headed home to my old stomping grounds this weekend to partake in all things faux- Swiss for the annual Swiss Days art/craft fair thingy. I have always loved Swiss Days and look forward to going most every year. It has been fun to see it grow over the years into a big deal.

Midway is a funny place- it was settled by a bunch of Swiss immigrants and their descendents (and the town itself) tries to hang on to that heritage by making little girls wear lederhosen (a.k.a the "Swiss Miss Royalty") and by incorporating Swiss-like architecture styles:

Oh yeah, and did you know you can make anything authentically "Swiss" by just adding "Swiss" to it's name. Nope- it is totally true. Swiss Hamburger? Sure! Swiss Shaved Ice? Why not? Finally, we have my personal favorite:

Ole! Speaking of "Swiss Ole", check out the special of the day at a local Mexican eatery (Tarahumara, BTW- super, super good- check out the massive salsa bar and don't forget to order the flan):

I asked the owner what, exactly, is involved in a "Swiss Enchilada" and she said that in the Chiuahua reigion, where she is from, there is seriously such thing as a "Swiss Enchilada" so it wasn't just made up for Swiss Days. That made me feel a little better.

DMP and I had a lot of fun. Grandma and Grandpa were kind enough to spoil the girls for the evening, so we had a Swiss Date (see? I told you, it works). We ate dinner and shopped all the crafty/arty booths. Funnily enough, our purchases were NOT made in Swiss Days proper, but in the surrounding shops and whatnot.

My best "find" is the beautiful, soft, hand-spun Alpaca yarn I bought for a very large amount of $$ (accountant approved). Seriously, this yarn addiction is getting worse, people! After observing my raptures over the lovely alpaca yarn and DMP patiently Oooh-ing and Ahh-ing, the woman who was selling the yarn asked if we were newlyweds. I guess only a newlywed husband would even pretend to be interested in yarn! Whatever it was, it made our day!

At the end of the evening, we stopped into a little antique shop where I found 2 old industrial wooden spools for $4 each! I've been casually shopping for some and they usually go for $15 each- score! Plus, they had a whole collection of antique beehive things and I limited myself to buying just one. I can't wait to display them!

Oh- one last thing. Apparently, my husband is running for mayor of Heber again. Can you believe it? They misspelled our name on the sign! Here is a picture of DMP pretending to steal a sign for his own personal uses (as far as you know he's pretending...):