Hello there.....one more post for you today. This one is totally dedicated to my dear friend, Nichole, and will give you a glimpse at all of the other fun things we did while she was here visiting for a few days. Oh, how I love this girl. Who knew a few years ago, how much we'd have in common and how close we'd become? I certainly never would have guessed it but I'm so, so thankful that the Lord saw fit to bring this girl into my life because she's become so dear to me. She's such a great mom, a loving wife and a HARD worker, so my goal when she came to visit was to make sure that she got to rest, relax and have FUN! And since she & David and Bart & I are all such foodies, taking her to some of our favorite restaurants was at the top of the list of things to do as well.
When she planned her trip to come here, it was scheduled around the fact that The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) was going to be here doing some book signings on her new cookbook tour on Monday. Sunday night after we picked Nichole up at the airport, we headed straight for our favorite Mexican restaurant and then we stopped for gelato on the way home. Mmm, mmmm, good!
Monday morning when we got up, our first order of business was our first appointment with The Pioneer Woman. After that, Nichole and I headed to a few stores that I thought she might enjoy. First up, Dean & Deluca.
It was SO fun to see her taking in all of the sights and flavors in this gourmet foods store. Here she is in front of the honey selection.....being a tea drinker, she was just about in heaven! :)
After Dean & Deluca, we stopped in at Crate & Barrel for a bit of a browse and then we headed to lunch at Andre's. I've told you about Andre's before.
Andre's is a chic little Swiss confiserie where you can purchase all sorts of Swiss confections but they also have a great little tearoom with a very European feel about it. I just love it there. The menu is very limited but changes daily. On this day, we both opted for the cheese pie, creamed spinach (a first for me), and a tasty green salad. So good.
Here is Nichole as she selects a tea bag for some hot tea to go with her lunch.
I, on the other hand, couldn't resist the Mocha. I can never resist the Mocha. Isn't it just beautiful? And it's every bit as tasty, too.
This is one of the fancy little pastries that we had for dessert. A pastry is included with the purchase of your meal, and they bring out a tray for you to choose from that has about a half dozen different little treats.....each one as beautiful as the next. When we left Andre's, we stopped in at Archivers -- a must see for a paper-crafter who doesn't have this store in her own town.
That same night, we had another Pioneer Woman book-signing event to attend but Bart went with us to that one. I know.....he's a gem, right? He wasn't the ONLY guy there. Marlboro Man and P-dub's boys were in attendance as well! :)
Before we walked across the street to the book-signing, we walked around the Plaza for a bit, stopping in at Anthropologie, Paper Source and the Better Cheddar and then we went to McCormick & Schmick's for a fabulous seafood dinner. For you foodies out there, we had grilled salmon with a spinach orzo......oh my stars, I could have eaten buckets of that orzo. Buckets. It was just that good.
After dinner, we went to our second appointment with The Pioneer Woman and while we were sitting in the auditorium waiting for our turn to meet Ree, Bart suggested that we stop at the Cheesecake Factory for some cheesecake on the way home. Can you see why I love this man??? (Seriously, it's a darn good thing we don't eat like this all the time!!)
We selected slices of cheesecake to take home to have with coffee/tea while we stayed up late chatting.
The next morning we slept a bit later and then did some blogging after breakfast. Bart came home early that day and he took us to Oklahoma Joe's for some of our favorite KC BBQ.
After lunch, we hit the road for a little road trip to Atchison, Kansas where we visited Nell Hill's and then on the way home, we stopped in at the Briarcliff Nell Hill's store as well as Urban Arts & Crafts. Here are some shots in the Atchison Nell Hill's store.
Bart found a cozy chair to hang out in.....but he didn't sit for long because he had photographer duty. He's such a great sport. :)
He snapped this one of us in one of the cozy rooms at Nell Hill's. After all of the shopping, we headed for some Kansas City steak at Hereford House and when we were done with dinner, we went home to relax for awhile followed by a little late-night paper crafting. :)
Bart was such a dear to play photographer once again before he headed for bed and left us in the studio for some crafty time. It was getting late and I think we were getting a little loopy.....Nichole suggested we take "Senior Portraits"! Now I have to interject that this is usually Mish's suggestion when we're all together. Mish always suggests that we strike some super silly senior portrait pose for the camera and boy, we've laughed until we cried over some past Senior Portrait moments! So the following are our Pioneer Weekend Senior Portrait photos! LOL!
(Yes, those are my glasses that Nichole decided to use in her Senior Portrait....she looks so studious, don't you think???)
And this? This is my ridiculously cheesy Senior Portrait photo. Emphasis on ridiculous. And cheesy. Oh my goodness, we were laughing so hard. I have to say that these past few days with one of my best friends in the world was such a treat. We didn't have any work we had to do. We didn't have anything on the agenda other than fun. I will remember so many moments about this weekend for years to come......so many snapshots in my mind of quiet, cozy chats over coffee/tea, so much laughter, so much inspiration. This was definitely a weekend to remember!
Spending time with this girl is just good for my soul. There's just nothing like having a friend that 'gets you'.....a friend that likes her brownies the same way you do and her steak cooked the same way as you. A friend who can quote Anne of Green Gables with you and who can make you laugh till you almost wet your pants!
I'm so, SO glad you got to come visit, Nichole. You're a peach and I can't wait till we can get together again!
