Gingerbread

I can't wait for the holidays. I thought I would get in the holiday spirit, so I put together a gingerbread house this week. I think it is the best gingerbread house that I have ever decorated. The kit just cost $10 at Costco and it came with the grooved tray to build it on. It was pretty much fool proof.

Tim Tam Slam

Tim Tams are a chocolate biscuit made by Arnott's Biscuits, Australia. A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. According to Arnott's, around 35 million packs are sold each year – nearly 400 million biscuits, an average of approximately 1.7 packs per Australian.


So now that you know what a Tim Tam is, you are probably wondering how one "slams" a Tim Tam. Well you get a cup of hot chocolate, bite off both ends of the cookie, place it in the hot chocolate and suck the hot chocolate until the Tim Tam goes soft and you have to slurp it up into your mouth before it falls into the hot chocolate.

I attended my first Tim Tam Slam last week. My flatmate Emily was the reigning Tim Tam Slam champ. She ate over 26 cookies a the slam last year. Jon was the runner up. Here they are with their game faces on. Sure Emily doesn't look like she can eat a lot but this girl can pack it away when she needs to. She is a pie eating champ in addition to being a Tim Tam champ. I think we may start training for Coney Island's Hot Dog contest.


The rules of the slam changed this year. Everyone had 30 minutes after they put their first dipped their first Tim Tam in the hot chocolate to eat as many Tim Tams as they could. Emily was crowned the Tim Tam champ for the second year in the row. She ate 22 cookies in total. Jon tied for 2nd with Camille, who literally lost her cookies. I calculated the calories that were consumed. There are 190 calories in 2 cookies. That means that Emily pounded 2090 calories in one sitting. I believe that at least 2 packages are produced for Emily each year. Way to go Emily. Better luck next year Jon!

Wishing I were Lorelai

My favorite show in the entire world is Gilmore Girls. I have seen every single episode, some multiple times. I love the characters, I love the banter, and I love the coats. I blame my coat addiction on Lorelai. Here is a little sampling of my coat closet.

The coat below belonged to my Mom in the 70s. I love the feel and smell of this coat. The first time I wore it I found some tootsie rolls in it. I believe the were older than me.

My mom made me this coat for me. I love the red lining that she put in it. I wore it during my first trip to Italy.


I wore this camel colored coat on my visit to Maryland a couple of years ago. This coat is the perfect length and the hood has kept me dry several times.


I coveted this coat when my sister bought it. She works at Gap and used one of her employee discounts to buy it for herself. A few months after she bought one, someone returned one and she snapped it up for me. I love the empire waist.


My mom made the brown coat below for me a couple of years ago. She lost the buttons she had bought for it in our basement so it sat button less for almost a year. She came across the buttons last year and was able to finish it up. It is the nicest, warmest coat that I own. Thanks Mom!


The yellow number below was my first J CREW coat. It may be my favorite. It also started my love for all J CREW outerwear. It looks vintage but it is not.

I found this red J CREW coat at Down East Outfitters. It was a great deal. A button top was missing but my amazing Mom was able to fix it.


I found this coat at the Gap Outlet last Winter. I love the collar on it. I wore it last week to the Utah game. I also wore it on a blind date to the Cheesecake factory. Let's just say the cheesecake was fabulous, the date was not. At least I looked cute in my coat.


Amy got married last January. I was a bridesmaid and wanted to get a coat to match my outfit. I found this creme colored J CREW coat at the outlet in Park City for less than $60.


I bought this leather coat in Florence this past summer. It is light and perfect for the Fall. Leather may be my favorite scent.
I added these last two coats to my collection this past weekend. The J CREW Outlet was having an amazing sale on outerwear. I also had a 20% off coupon and I get 15% off for being a teacher. I got both for less than the price of one online.


I know this is a lot of coats. Again, I blame it on Lorelai. I hope I don't come across a pink or baby blue coat anytime soon. I obviously am not strong enough to resist.

GO UTES!

My parents took Benny and Max to the Utah game on Saturday. The boys had a great time. I have tickets a few sections away so I made my way over to visit them before the game started. Benny was so excited to be at a football game. He just kept pointing to the field and saying "football." We also taught him to say "Go Utes." Both boys loved seeing the jets fly by at the beginning of the game. Max also loved buying M&Ms at half time.



Utah played Air Force. The game was much closer than I would have liked. Luckily the Utes pulled out a win in overtime. I can't wait for the blackout game on Halloween.

A Weekend in Oakley

I met some friends up in Oakley for dinner and a night at a cabin this past weekend. We met at The Road Island Diner for dinner. The dining car was built in 1939 and was back on the East coast until 2007 when it was relocated to Oakley, Utah. I can't imagine it being anywhere but at the base of beautiful Weber canyon. I want to go back dressed up in period clothing for another slice of their homemade pie.

Lagoon

Fall Break was a couple of weeks ago. I went to Lagoon with my nieces and nephews. I learned how hard it is to get four cute little faces to smile and look in the same direction. First stop was the boats. As a side note, I never realized as a kid that all of the kids rides are the same. You just move around in a circle occasionally going up or down or pushing something to make a noise. It sure was fun as a kid though.


The train ride was great because we all could ride at the same time. Lagoon just purchased two white tigers and we caught a glimpse of them. For some reason the south end of animals is always a little to stinky for me.

This is probably my favorite picture from the whole day. My dad could not have been happier to walk around the park with three little ones holding his hands.



Mary I was sure to put Max, Emily, and Benny in the KSL helicopter.


Benny was brave and rode the cars all on his own. It may have been his favorite ride of the day, he didn't have to fight anyone for the steering wheel.

HANGING AROUND

My flatmates and a few friends headed up the canyon for a little aspen hanging fun. You can't go aspen hanging on an empty stomach so we stopped at Taggart's Grill. The food was AMAZING! I got a ham and apple sandwich wrapped in the softest pita. We shared a slice of turtle cheesecake for dessert. The ambiance at Taggarts is great. It reminds me a lot of Ruth's diner. Here are a few pictures of us at Taggarts. Aspen hanging night is also bandana wearing night. We didn't get the memo to Amy but she just joined us for dinner.

You can't tell but we are wearing glow in the dark bracelets too. They are apparently a must for Aspen hanging. The did come in quite handy.

So by now you are probably wondering what Aspen hanging is. I didn't know until last year when Emily and Anne set out on an adventure. Well you climb an aspen tree to the point where it starts to bend and then you just jump/hang until it bends and brings you back to the ground. Aspen trees are the most supple this time of year so it is the perfect time to go. Aspen trees are not exactly the easiest trees to climb. They are skinny and they do not have a ton of branches. The tend to shake from side to side easily. We tried to help each other up a few times, but it is hard to climb when you are laughing hysterically.

We wandered off the trail a little ways. When I asked where the trail was Anne, Emily, and Heidi all pointed in opposite directions. I felt very secure at this point and quite confident that it would be a long night.

Emily and Anne taught us how to pick a tree and how to climb. Emily is seriously a master tree climber. I attribute this to her childhood in Montana and her overall bendiness. We all got a few hangs in. Aspen hanging will now be a annual tradition. If you want to join us next year please send your application, two new members will be initiated.