Back from Oklahoma.

Over 11 months of.....

• planning, scheming, emailing
• navigating flight patterns from 4 separate areas of north america and monitoring rental cars
• hiding "truths" from loved ones....let's call it what it is, FLAT OUT LYING
• and decoy blog posting.

......culminated in the BEST.SURPRISE.AMBUSH.EVER.  Thank you so much to everyone who helped us throw off the scent on this blog, on facebook, and especially to those who had to "lie" directly to someone's face (our first email to each other was on 12/23/08).  You helped us pull off an incredible weekend of fun times in Oklahoma.

Don't mind my cry-face.

I was sososo sad to leave my pretty friend.

As I have just walked in the door from the airport, I'm having difficulty formulating words on how moved I was to spend the weekend with some of my ultimate favorite people in the world.

yay!

I should probably head straight to bed to sleep on it; dream about moving Jamie and Hudson to the beautiful state and try to formulate some language on how to describe our trip.  Simply Wonderful are the only ones that come to mind in my sleepiness.

devon, trish, me, and amanda.

In the meantime, Lauren and Brad Schatzel, we have one last surprise for you:

Look who we hung out with!!!

Keep looking.....

 Your MOM and DAD.

Papa and Gaga with their favorite Cayuga girls at the airport.

Gotta hit the hay.  xo.

Surprise Visit!

Obviously, Devon being in town for a visit is no surprise to anyone who follows this blog...

Look, Brad!

We found that Portland-exclusive coffee shop that you were talking about.

There are so many places around the city I've been able to take Devon to, including a extra-long stint at the paper store to work on some wedding invitation stuff (thank goodness for my MOH!).  She's gotten to spend some quality time with Hudson (they're in love), Jamie, Holly Vetterli McCarthy, and even Ali (from camp).  Many hours staying up late, chatting and catching up like no other.  I so wish she lived here.

Fun night out in SF.

But, since she doesn't live near me, it's so fun to create a ton of fun surprises for her for when she gets to visit! 

including....

Look!

It's Amanda!

All the way from Vancouver!

It's been incredibly tough to keep my big mouth shut for so long, but since Amanda finally has weekends off now with her new job, she needed a getaway and what better timing than a weekend when Devon was in town! Oh goodness, so many food places to take them to...

First stop, to get some authentic SF sourdough bread!

And then we decided to take a walking tour.

Little did Amanda know....

Devon and I had a surprise for HER!

Look how cute we are - - Cayuga girls together again!

Keep your big mouth shut for one second longer, Leslie.

Hee hee hee.....

just a little bit longer....

Look who we found around the corner!!!!

 

It's TRISH!!  

All the way from Connecticut!

So exciting!

A reunion in the streets of downtown!!

You see, once Trish found out that Amanda was coming all the way from Vancouver,

she was jealous of our time together and knew she HAD to make the trip out from the east coast.

It totally worked!!!

SUCCESSFUL SURPRISE VISITS ABOUND!!

This has been so.much.fun.

And wait!  There's more....

Look who we found, just walking around the neighborhood!


An Random Guy with an OSU hat!

Thinking of you Lauren + Brad!

We're totally dorky, but this self-made video had us giggling for hours.

We were REALLY thinking of you guys.

Oooh...I almost forgot.







One more surprise......

Can you figure it out?

Perfect Food Thursday!

With my meat-loving fiance out of town and my veggie-loving friend hanging out for the weekend, there's plenty of opportunity to enjoy a mess of great meat-free dishes for a few days. This one was a super easy and relatively hands-free one to pop in the oven for a quick and easy lunch!

A tray of firm brussel sprouts, drizzled in extravirginoliveoil.

Course sea salt and freshly ground pepper coat the exterior of these little gems.

I used to totally HATE the bsprout because it was one of those things you're "supposed to" hate as a kid.  That and forced naptime and cleaning my room.  As a young tyke, I seemingly understood that sleeping during the day was a luxury...I secretly loved naptime.  As for cleaning my room, it gave me  pleasure to organize and archive the items in my room, finding new ways to hide those notes we passed around in the classroom instead of paying attention to the subject at hand.  But for all intents and purposes, I HATED brussel sprouts, forced naptime, and cleaning my room.

It works both ways.  I LOVED things you were "supposed to" as a kid as well...ie, saturday morning cartoons.

I digress.

Look at the yummy granules of salt waiting to be roasted in.

My appreciation for the veggie didn't come about until last year when a work friend pried open my jaw and shoved a pan-fried sprout down my throat.  First of all, omg it was HOT!  Once I got over the 2nd degree tongue burns I was able to cherish it's naturally mustardy spiciness, the tender individuals leaves melting apart all over my mouth.  Mmmmm....sold.

Some of you may remember last winter when bags upon bags of those things went through this household.  I have since discovered COSTCO SELLS BRUSSEL SPROUTS.  Yes!  So when Dev was going through the fridge today and saw a HUGE bag of bsprouts she said, "Hey, let's roast these for lunch."

Ain't she so smart?

20min @425degrees.

Perfectly delicious in every way.

Hudson awaits a visitor.

Devon's coming today?  Really?

When?  Now?

What do you mean by "later".

Is she here yet.

Is she here now.

I'm getting rather impatie....

 

Oooh, a bug.

*He has the attention span of a dog.