The Sugar Bowl - YUM

I like to schedule business meetings with my favorite people outside of the office. The day can be long sitting inside, so why not get out and talk work over something yummy?

I've worked with this particular sales rep for the past 3+ years over the course of 3 different jobs! He sells newspapers in many different markets and makes it a "one stop shop" for me and my media buying. It has become tradition for us to skip the usual business lunch and do dessert instead.

This past visit, we went to the Sugar Bowl in Old Town Scottsdale. I've wanted to go here for years now and finally had an excuse! You may recognize this ice cream parlor because it has frequently been featured in Bil Keane's Family Circus cartoons.

I had the Top Hat Sundae. It is FABULOUS. It's a HUGE creampuff filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with hot fudge. It's the most popular sundae on their menu and according to them it's enjoyed by several area baseball stars.
My rep Rich and the company's VP of Interactive Media each had banana splits. They were giddy over them and they disappeared before my eyes!

It was such a great meeting (yes, we were productive too) and needless to say, I didn't eat dinner that night :)

A Letter.

Dear Mr. Catered Sandwich-Maker Guy,

Why must you insist on putting DISGUSTING condiments on sandwiches that you know will be offered to many different people with different tastes? Doesn’t the bread get all soggy and gross after sitting around for an hour waiting to be eaten? What about those people who don’t like nasty condiments that you so easily assume that they do? Isn’t it just easier for you to skip the application process and allow the recipient to determine the fate of their sandwich? Noooo…you must slap that nasty egg-and-oil heart-clogging crap on the once beautifully-naked bread and RUIN lunch for me…uh, I mean, for those who don’t like that junk.

May you have to wipe your bread clean with a napkin in front of your coworkers some day. Peace.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Plain Jane

Girls Night

My good friend Kelley celebrated her 30th Birthday this weekend and what better excuse for Girls Night?! We met up at San Tan Brewery in Chandler for some drinks and dinner. My "sister blogger friend" who I only before knew through Kelley (they are BFFs for the last 17 years!) - Kerry - was also celebrating her 30th! We follow each other's blogs, so it was nice to finally meet in person!

Kelley and Kerry - The Birthday Girls

Me, Kelley and Tina

Birthday girl having fun!

Tina, Edie and Denise

All of us from left to right: Denise, Edie, Kristin, Kelley, Kerry, Me, Amy and Tina.

We all had such a great time and stayed up extra late to watch the birthday girls open presents and eat some delicious cake that Kelley's sister Kristin made from scratch! Such a great time!

We've All Done It

So let's see how good you really are!

I stumbled upon this site that lets you judge a book by it's cover. Let me know how you do. Apparently, I suck. I got 2 out of 10 ratings correct.

WANT.

In yellow. Pretty please?

I got this pretty picture in my email from DSW yesterday and can't stop pulling them up online to oogle.

A Visit with Kathy

I have been looking forward to a "date" with Kathy for a few weeks now. It's hard for us to organize some time together for a few reasons, with one of the main ones being that she has 4 BOYS (5 including husband) at home to take care of! I don't know how she pulls it off, but she does and does it gracefully :) 

Anyway - we finally got together after work today and it was really nice to catch up and see her. We met at the mall and started off by getting something to eat. I had gotten there earlier (and did some shopping - the sales this week are DANGEROUS!), and was spying Panda Express before she arrived. It really isn't that great of a place, but once in a while it's nice to have some horrible-for-you Orange Chicken. Well, let me tell you. Panda Express is now off of my list for good. It really should have been a long time ago anyway, but today's experience totally put me over the edge. Wanna guess what happened? For the second time in one week (almost)? I got my Orange Chicken, Beef w/Broccoli and Fried Rice combo and made it back to the table...only to look down and see a PEANUT smack dab on the top of my food. I swear, either someone is playing some kind of cruel joke on me or I need to get a reality check. Luckily tonight I did not ingest any peanut and instead took the plate right back to Panda for a refund. And got pizza instead. Please save me from the day that people put peanuts on their pizza. I swear I will just dig myself a hole and crawl in it. I don't know what/where I can eat anymore. 

After the peanut fiasco, Kathy and I got to catch up. She had brought 6-month old twins Benjamin (Amie nickname: The Silent Smiler) and Timothy (Amie nickname: The Droolmonster) with her and they were just so sweet. They have gotten so big! We also did some shopping (this time, for baby clothes) before she had to leave to pick up one of the boys from church. 

It is nights like these (and girls night last Friday, and dinner with Kelley last Thursday, and lunch with Tara yesterday) that I feel so grateful for the friends I have and the time I have with them! I used to hate Arizona because I didn't have any friends here, and now I can't imagine what my life was like before I met my girls! xoxoxox!

Bridesmaid Bonus

I just had to post about the cute bridal party gifts that Tricia gave at the rehearsal dinner. Each gift was very thoughtful, special, and useful!

* Land's End monogrammed bag: very sturdy, lots of pockets, and I think it's even the first monogrammed item I've owned!

* Personalized stationery & pen: again - monogrammed. With my new-ish initials. Love it! BONUS: A pad of "Amie's To Do Lists". Does she know her sister or what?

* Bath & Body Works lotion and body spray

* The Giving Tree:  she used it as the card and wrote a VERY nice note inside. I will cherish it forever!!

* Wedding Party Coozy: super cute with everyone's names on it

* Jewelry Travel Case: looks like a small handbag! I just love it and can't wait to use it next weekend when we travel to Kansas City!

* Candy & Gum

I can't believe the time has already come and gone. The two lovebirds should be returning from their honeymoon in Ireland later this week. 

Girls Night

Friday was girls night! Tara, Krista, Kiera and I all got together for some girl time. Unfortunately it started off with a lesson learned by me. Upon arrival at the Blech's house, I saw a big container of pretzels open on their couch and helped myself. After about 2 or 3 chews, I tasted the peanut butter and went on high alert! Thanks to everyone there, I remained rather calm and luckily I hadn't swallowed anything. 4 benadryl later, my tongue swelling went down and the rash on my neck went away. My peanut allergy is such a scary thing and sometimes I let my guard down when I shouldn't. Next time, I'm going to ask before I help myself to other people's food! 
We headed to downtown Chandler for dinner and ate at El Zocalo. It was delicious and their patio was perfect for a nice summer night! We had great conversation and the mommies in the group were very happy to get a little time away from home :) 
We were also celebrating Kiera's birthday - so the entertainer made us go up on "stage" so he could sing to Kiera. 
Thanks girls for a fun night!!

Sweet Republic - UPDATE

I found out about Sweet Republic solely via Twitter. After seeing their tweets about ice cream flavors such as Sweet Corn and Jalapeno Avocado, I decided that I had to give it a shot. How can one not be curious about corn ice cream?!

I finally got the chance yesterday and was not disappointed. I enjoyed samples of several flavors including Lavendar (very refreshing), Salted Butter Caramel Swirl (YUM - and their most popular flavor), Peaberry Espresso, and Sweet Corn. They rotate their flavors about every two weeks and use strictly fresh local ingredients. Other seasonal flavors they did not have but I can't wait to try are Chocolate Guinness, Eggnog, and Pumpkin Spice.

Since I couldn't decide on just 1 flavor, I ended up getting a scoop of Sweet Corn and a scoop of Salted Butter Caramel. I topped it off with Salted Butter Caramel sauce, whipped cream, and a homemade marshmallow that they toasted to perfection. MMMmmmmmmmm!

I highly recommend this place - only suggest that you tell me when you go so I can go with you! They are located on the northwest corner of 92nd Street and Shea in Scottsdale.

UPDATE: Tara and I went again less than a week after trip 1. Once again, they did not disappoint. Tara got Mint Chocolate and Rocky Road and I got Bananas Foster and Salted Butter Caramel. We were both in heaven!!! Thanks Tara for calling me just like I asked :) Sooooo glad you made the trip!!

Roundabout Ignorance - A Pandemic

I stole this pic off a friend-of-a-friend's facebook account. It reminded me of this post. Apparently, Arizona isn't the only place that people need a refresher on roundabouts.