Friday Randoms

1- I have finally found it.  IN UTAH.  A cupcake shop that impresses the
cupcake snob in me...

The Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe

(I borrowed this image from their blog to entice you)

If you live anywhere near Provo, GO.  It's in Brigham's Landing
(just down the way from Burgers' Supreme)  

And they have. . .  get this. . . NON-DRY chocolate!  It is literally the first time I have experienced that in a cupcake shop.  And if there's anything I hate, it's a dry cupcake.  Please go visit them.  I need them not to close and I can't support them all on my own.

2- We are making it through the summer one crazy day at a time.
Most days we have at least 15 conversations like this one:



Because independence requires opinions.
Strong opinions.
And right or wrong, stubbornness.

3- Ben's show has 10 more performances.  . .  if you haven't seen it, go see it.
If last night's performance was any indication, you could get more entertainment
than you bargained for. . .  which  kind of makes me want to go back again.
Because who doesn't like some drama?

4- Inception.

SEE IT.

I predict now that it will win best picture.  And totally deserve it.

5- Ben and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on Wednesday.
Seriously?!
When did that happen?

And how do I get this hair back?

Loraine Came to Town

Our dear friend Loraine came to town this past week. . . 

And since she is the one who introduced us to the joy of the Sundance brunch, we had to make a trek up there.  And we had to take pictures. . .

Friday Randoms

Maybe I should start calling this "Every OTHER Friday Randoms".  sheesh. . .  

On to the interesting stuff:

1-Kevin and Vanessa welcomed their sweet little baby Olive into the world last Wednesday!  Finally, the much anticipated wee girl made her appearance several days late and after torturing her mother with many hours of pushing.  . . And was she not worth the wait?  LOOK AT HER!  (hopefully they don't mind me putting her face on my blog. . .)  

Nolan has already staked his claim on her, which I think is understandable. . .though I think he may have a fight on his hands.  I hear she already has many suitors.

2-  Because of dear little Olive's arrival, and the drawn out nature of it, Kevin, of course, decided to be at his wife's side in the hospital while she delivered, rather than singing with the broadway stars at the Hale on Wednesday night.  Which meant. . .  Ben got to go on as File that night!  AND, to add to the excitement, Nick, Cort & I were at the show!  It was a very last minute decision on Kevin's part, to say the least.  Ben was working on lines and running scenes with Audra all day, but the final decision was only made 10 minutes before curtain!  And I have to tell you. . . Kevin is GOOD in this part.  Ben was nervous in a COMPLETELY understandable way.  Big shoes to fill doesn't even begin to cover it. . .

But Ben was AMAZING.  Just wonderful.  & the thing I appreciated about it most was that he didn't try to mimic Kevin.  He put his own spin on it, and it worked out beautifully.  Will & Audra were beyond gracious and the rest of the cast showered him with well deserved compliments when it was done. . .  

What a great night.

 (If you want to read another account of this show, this one is pretty awesome,

from the fabulous Marvin Payne.)

A picture exists of us with Will & Audra after the show, but I need to get it from the resident photographer (Korianne), so I will have to add it later.

3-  To follow up that joy, I headed off to CA last Friday morning to hang with the girls from my mommy board for a crafty weekend.  We did the same thing last year, in St. Louis, 

but this year we picked a really cool crafting house in Southern California (Temecula, which is basically the middle of nowhere) to host the retreat.  And it was DIVINE.  So much relaxing and chatting and SO much productivity!  

I managed to finish 25 taggie blankets in one weekend!  Some of them already have babies to go to, as you can see by the initials. . .  I can't wait to see what we follow it up with next year, because this year was AWESOME. 

4- We celebrated Trish-mas this week on Trish's birthday, by visiting the cemetary and going to PF Changs.  I can't believe it has been a year already. . .  And we still miss her. . .  of course.

Friday Randoms

1- I'm going to drag Nolan with me to see Justin Hackworth's 30 strangers show tonight.  This is a pretty incredible event that Justin stages, and a pretty awesome opportunity he is offering for you to get a photo shoot and help those in need at the same time.  I went last year and LOVED it.  Got my picture taken by Justin and LOVED that too.

If you're anywhere near Provo tonight, come on down!  (I'll be the one trying to keep my 2 year old out of the cupcakes.  Or exiting quickly when I see that there are NO other children in the building)

2- Inspired by Kevin & his newsies shoot. . .  Tamera tried one of her own, and Nolan got to play again.

That gives you a pretty good idea of Nolan's skin tone next to other people, doesn't it? Poor fair skinned child.

3- You know you're boring and old (and also too busy) when the news that your boss is letting you out of work early on Friday inspires thoughts of stopping for groceries on the way home.  What is WRONG with me?

4- Last Sunday we joined Ben's family for a little picnic in Kim's back yard. . .  all of Ben's sisters were in town, which is always an event to celebrate.  It didn't last long enough.  I love to have other kids and a dog for Nolan to run around with in a nice safe back yard.  What could be better?

ps. Nolan learned his made hulahooping skills from watching me do Wii Fit.  Can you tell?

5-  I'm making birthday cupcakes for Audra McDonald tomorrow. . .  this is making me more nervous than I would have thought.  I'm making the same kinds I've made 100 times, but still. . .  it seems like they should be fancier.