First Full Day in Utah!

For our first full day in Utah, we woke up early and spent the day at the Salt Lake Temple. It was SO amazing and definitely the best way we could have ever spent the day. When we left, we went across the street to this really cute outdoor mall (and changed because walking around in the dress was going to get cold) but since we were going to go to an outlet mall later in the week, we didn't buy anything.  

From there, we went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where I thought we were going to look around ourselves but Ian had asked for a tour. I love how I just have to look at him a certain way and he knows what I am thinking because with one look, he asked for the short 20 minute tour (I was SO hungry!!). Well our tour was a private one and it was REALLY good so we told our tour guide to take his time and show us everything he could and we totally lucked out! We must have passed two signs on our tour that didn't allow tourists but he got us in!!


We passed by the family history center and they have this really cool photo-op that takes you back in time:

Our tour guide who got us into places we weren't supposed to go (he was from Finland and had the coolest accent ever!!! Seriously such a cool man!)

From there, I was so hungry I could eat raw broccoli (those who know me know that I hate broccoli!) so we pretty much ran to the Olive Garden where we took advantage of unlimited breadsticks (I LOVE THOSE BREADSTICKS!!). Since we had to pass by Draper to get back to Orem, we dropped by my Aunt Katy's house where I got to see the Christensen babies!!!! I can't believe how much I missed those cuties and no matter how much I loved every bit of this trip, my highlight will always by when little Heidi just cuddled next to me to read a book. That alone made me want to move to Utah!

Last Day In Vegas/ Road Trip to Utah!

There was no way we were leaving Vegas without trying our luck out... we weren't very lucky but at least I have a cute voucher for the scrapbook!

Then we hit the road towards Utah!! I started the drive and I really missed driving in the city because driving through a mountain was really scary!

We loved the mountains but the drive got really tedious when it was just flat land. That's when Ian took over 

In Toronto I had made an awesome mix cd filled with amazing Britney Spears, Nsync, and Katy Perry but it mysteriously wouldn't work (I say mysteriously because I don't have any solid proof that Ian stopped the recording but he seemed way too happy to not have music on the road trip )

We made it to Utah at around 7:30 and it was awesome to finally have family around! I really missed my cousins!

Second Day in Vegas!

Turns out the late night took its tole on Ian and I because we slept in very late. Our initial plan was to wake up early and hit the strip all day but we made it for the afternoon.  Since our late night Burgers were SO much food, Ian and I didn't do breakfast, but I got hungry so I went for what we had in the room...

This was the first time I had ever had a burger for breakfast (it's also probably my last) but it was SO yummy!

Last time I came to Vegas we did the around the world Coke tour so I really wanted to do it with Ian! At the Coke store, you get a tray of 16 different pops (Coca Cola owned of course!) from all around the world! We tasted them all and felt bad for dumping it so we finished all the 16 cups...

Some were GROSS!

This one looked like pee in a cup and I really didn't want to try it and by the looks of it, neither did Ian

Japan's pop was some veggie pop that I refused to try! NO WAY I was having veggie pop but when Ian got my to try it, it wasn't that bad...

Rainforest Cafe at MGM Grand

I was SO bummed that this show starts right after we leave!!! I LOVE BRITNEY!!!

Ian doesn't love her as much....

We had planned to come back to the Strip at night for dinner at the Paris hotel but after the Coke tray, we actually got pretty sick and just crashed at Circus Circus and explore our hotel a little more. We found a McDonalds and the menu was so different from Toronto's, Ian ordered the weirdest things on there and it ended up getting him even sicker!

Las Vegas Christmas!!!!

Our Christmas gift this year was a trip to Las Vegas!! I was SO excited when we decided and when the tickets were actually booked, it made it totally real! The last time I was in Vegas was when I was around 16 with my awesome Tio Servio and Tia Lissy and it was SO much fun even though I was underage. Now I was not only of legal age, but I got to go with my best friend.

After a super long flight and a pain in the bum airport visit (I was SO happy to leave the airport) we drove toward our hotel. We stayed at Circus Circus because we got an awesome deal that involved a $20 food credit that we lost as soon as we got it. There went dinner! We got up to our room at about 7pm and we planned to just relax for about an hour and then go out for dinner on the strip then come home because we were SO tired,but then "The Strip Effect" kicked in and we didn't come back to the hotel until 2am. We found free parking at Planet Hollywood (the middle of the strip and where the great Miss Britney Spears was going to be doing her residency) so we walked around and came up with a plan: I pick dinner one night and Ian picks the second night. Since I was picking and we were in Planet Hollywood, I ran like a crazy person to the restaurant of my culinary hero: Gordon Ramsey's Burgr. Yup: this was really happening! I was in Vegas, with my amazing hubby, about to eat the genius burgers that Ramsey came up with! I got our names on the list and gave Ian the camera and just said "start shooting! we need proof we were here!".

Then they called our names and our experience began. First off, the place is SO COOL! It's not gorgeous high end but its very classy business casual (I definitely noticed that if the waitresses made one wrong move and Victoria's Secret would be exposed) and when the food came, the plates and glasses we the coolest ever! The menu was a really cool paper folding thing that I ended up taking home and we each ordered (wait for it) burgers!

Ian had a shake and I had a fountain pop that they never let get lower than halfway before refilling it (challenge accepted!) and I ended up racing the pop refill lady to finishing my Mountain Dew before she switched it (I won once) and Ian's shake was more like a dessert! It was so thick we thought it was a pudding instead of a shake but it was SO delish! Then the burgers came and I tasted heaven! I had no idea what to expect (how can you make a burger gourmet?) but then I bit into the most amazing burger I have ever had in my whole life! I didn't even know you could season anything to that level of perfection than my burger.

I was about to finish my burger when I saw another table have their's packed up in an awesome bag and I stopped so I could get the bag (totally worth it!).
I don't know if Ian is just so over the whole Gordon Ramsey thing because I seriously LOVE his cooking shows and his cook books, but Ian was not as impressed as I was. He ordered his burger well done and since they grill them over apple and alder wood, it was a little charred. I swear, if Gordon were there, he would have been SO not impressed with Ian's review of his burger! I could just see Ramsey yelling at Ian about the char! Then he proceeded to say that he "doesn't see what the big deal was" and that the burgers I make were yummier. Here I am, about to cry from the perfect of my Gordon Ramsey burger and Ian was just "meh" about it!
When we finished (and I very reluctantly left) we decided to walk it off a little with some sightseeing in one hotel then we would go back to our room and just sleep. We crossed the street to my absolute favourite hotel on the Strip: The Belagio. I knew they were going to be decked out for Christmas but holy cow was it decked out!!! It was so gorgeous, even Ian was speechless!

So our back-by-9 dinner turned into a whole night out until 2am and it was SO MUCH FUN!

My First Quilt!

I have always wanted to make a quilt but I have never gotten around to buying the fabric or picking a pattern that I liked until i found a cute one on Pinterest!!
Here's the backing colour that is SO cute!

The batting that goes in the middle:

I positioned the layers thinking this was how it would work out but as soon as I saw this, I kind of panicked because I had no idea where to go from here:

Where do I go from here?!:

So I re-positioned some things and got to this:

Then I layered everything again and it made a lot more sense:

Here is how I did my corners:

I added an embroidered message and I was done my first ever quilt!!!!

Brazilian Date Night!!

Ian and I are trying to do a date night every Friday night and there was this one date that we had been putting off: cooking together. We made Brazilian Cheese Bread and oh man was it an experience! For starters, NO ONE sells tapioca flour!  I went to an Asian market because that's where I was told they would sell it and I got SO lost!

Ian and I made it step by step and more than once, we thought it was not going to work! The dough was SO sticky that I thought our Brazilian night in was going to end in pizza but it all worked out :)
The almost impossible to find tapioca flour:

 At this point, we thought we had messed up and were ready to make something else:

By this point, we were more optimistic (this was right before we added the cheese and put it in the oven):

They looked so ugly that when we put them in we just thought "well, at least we tried":

After 20ish minutes, they looked much better than expected:

 Fresh out of the oven! 

The center of the bread was SO cheesy!

Dolly was a HUGE fan of these and asked for a piece of every little cheese bun:

Brazilian Cheese Bread Recipe

Ingredients
*1 cup milk
*1/2 cup veggie oil
*1 tsp salt
* 400g tapioca starch
*2 eggs
*1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Instructions
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees
*Combine milk, oil, and salt in a saucepan bringing it to a gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from heat when you start to see bubbles come through the milk
*Add all the tapioca starch and mix together until you see no more dry starch. The dough will be grainy and gelatinous
*Transfer the dough into a stand mixer and with the paddle attachment, beat the dough until it is smooth and has cooled
*Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl and slowly add into the dough with the mixer on medium
*Add the cheese until fully incorporated. The dough will end up being between the consistency of cake batter and cookie dough
*Using a spoon, scoop out rounds and place on baking sheet. (i dipped my spoon in a glass of water to avoid sticking)
*Bake for 35-38 minutes until they puff up and look dry but just as they start to colour. DO NOT OVER BAKE!