Girls' Day

Today was our much anticipated girls' day out! We met at Kierland Commons for some pre-holiday shopping and lunch. Erin, Eliza and I did a little shopping before Deb, Emali and Kami arrived. We made sure to not hit the "hot spots" before the Crouses came! Eliza loved the Christmas tree and the Santa station. We had fun browsing through Z Gallerie, Crate and Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Anthropologie and JJill. Our lunch was at Cheesecake Factory, as usual. We had a delicious lunch of stuffed chicken quesadillas, tamale cakes, sliders and we split two pieces of cheesecake....their 30th anniversary special, which was two layers of chocolate cake and two layers of cheesecake, topped with a fudgy topping and whipped cream. The other one was strawberry cheesecake. Eliza chose them both. Good choices, Eliza! Kami was a perfect little shopper. She ate at the right times, took a nap at the right time and was pleasant the entire time. Sorry, Em, for the picture....it's the only one I took of you! (She was feeding Kami....but she's well covered with her cute coverlet!)
After lunch we did a lot of browsing, but not a lot of buying, which was fine. I bought some of my favorite bowls at Anthropologie and Deb and I each got a couple of pretty white plates. The real reason we bought there was their adorable wrapping. They featured a sturdy chipboard box, but the trim was the real pleaser. It was a long piece of white fabric, about 1" wide. It was long enough to go around the box a time or two. One end (about half) of the fabric strip had various sizes and colors of buttons stitched on it, while the other end had button holes every inch or so. The idea is to wrap the fabric around the box and button it on. The display had every other button hole used so there were little loops between each button. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. When I get a package wrapped, I'll post a picture.
It was a fun day and we're all looking forward to next year's day already. We're just hoping for a larger group next year!

Bread Day

Today was bread-making day at Erin's. We get together about every week or 10 days to bake bread. It goes pretty quick, thanks to Erin having two ovens! Ellie is usually our right-hand helper, but she was feeling a little under the weather and was with Grandpa getting lunch during the mixing process. As a result, Hattie was our new little helper. And quite a helper she was! I think she finally realized what she's been missing out on....because she's usually asleep while we bake. But today I had a Dr. appt. and Erin had a VT appt., so we got a late start. Anyway, Hattie LOVED wearing her apron. In fact, when we tried to take it off later, she protested loudly! She still has a bit to learn to catch up to Hattie, but she's the best taste-tester around. She's a little snitcher!!



After we finished the bread, Erin took Ellie to the Dr. and we stayed with Hattie and then Mark picked Eliza and Libby up from school. By the time they got home, Erin was back and we headed home to meet Brian. We get a priceless opportunity one afternoon a week to have Brian all to ourselves. He has his Master's classes on Tuesday nights, and he stops by here on his way. We usually have something for him for dinner and he takes a few minutes to kick back, relax, and have dinner before he's off to class. We enjoy his visits a lot.

Then tonight, Mark and I made a dent in our Christmas shopping. We're done with several people on our list, but still have a way to go before we're done.

Tomorrow is a long-awaited day for the girls of the extended Bowler family. It's our yearly "girls' day out". We started the tradition the last year Mom was alive at Thanksgiving time....six years ago. It's hard to believe it's been than long. Anyway, we go to Kierland Commons for some girl shopping, then to Cheesecake Factory for lunch. There's a lot of giggling, laughing and sharing of food! It's a wonderful time to reconnect with sisters, aunts, and cousins. I'll post pictures later this week. Ellen, Audi, Kamille, Chris, Michelle, Patti and girls....we'll miss you this year. Hope you can make it next year!!