#2682 weekend wrap-up

I've had a pretty nice weekend so far. 

Yesterday, I stopped by my favorite French pastry shop, Les Madeleines, to get some breakfast. I got a kouign-aman, a pain au chocolat, and a latte. I gobbled the chocolate croissant in my car, which was a mistake. The croissant is so flaky and delicious, it really needs to be savored, but I was hungry and didn't want to wait. 

It was a beautiful day, so I drove up to Red Butte Garden for a stroll. Coffee in hand, I sauntered through the Garden, taking in the green leaves of the mountain mahogany trees, a few early hardy yellow daffodils, the ice-covered pond, the bundled up cypress trees, and the gorgeous view of the valley from the top of the water conservation garden. Here are some pics:

This is one of the mountain mahogany trees. On the ground, you can see some tiny, white flowers called snowdrops.

This is one of the paths through the forest, still a bit snowy.

Can't NOT take a photo of the waterfall whenever I am at the Garden. 

Here is the ice-covered pond.

Another view of the pond and a couple of my favorite trees, the white birches.

Look how clear and blue the sky is! The temperature as I walked around was nearly 50 degrees F - that's 10 C. I was wearing a long-sleeve t-shirt with a heavy sweatshirt on top, joggers, and sneakers. I was perfectly comfortable. There was no wind and it was dang pleasant out there.

I got home in time for my book club discussion. We are reading It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. It is different from most books we read because it is kind of a romance. Having read another book by this author, I think there might be some kind a weird twist coming up. I mean, there will definitely be a twist, because that is plot, but it might be kinda weird, based on the other book we read of hers. 

After book club, it was time to eat my KA. It was so, so very good. Crunchy and sweet on top; tender and buttery on the inside; caramelized chewiness on the bottom. I'm drooling just remembering. Those pastries are so decadent, I limit myself to one a month. Plus, having that limit practically guarantees that I will love it each time I have it.

Later that night, MT and I went out for dinner at Copper Creek Pub. For dessert, MT wanted a frozen custard from Culver's, which is next door to Copper Creek. He ordered one concrete mixer (that's what it's called, don't ask me why), paid the money, and was told to pull ahead and they would bring it out to us. We were in the drive-through. The two cars behind us were given their food before MT ever got his mixer. We waited nearly 30 minutes before MT kind of lost his sh*t and went stomping into the restaurant to either get the mixer or his money back. He got his money back. I don't know what the problem was, but whoo-boy was MT cranky!

This morning I took the puppers to the dog park. MT didn't come with us because he wanted to work on getting the tax information together, plus he said he wasn't feeling very well. Mac and Harley had a great time running around with their dog friends, and for a bonus treat, I took them with me to the Starbucks drive-through where they each got a pup cup (that's a wee cup of whipped cream). It was fun to watch them eat it, and also pretty messy. The barista was generous with the squirts of whipped cream, so on the first lick, whipped cream went flying all over my hands and onto the seats and floor. The girls got it all cleaned up, though, and I could see they were very happy. Here's a pic of them waiting for the pup cups.

This afternoon I went to lunch with my friend, Liz. We went to Fiddler's Elbow in Sugarhouse. I'd never been there. It's a cool space, and my French dip sandwich was delicious! We had a nice conversation about travels and books and other stuff. She and her husband are heading out on a two-week road trip through the southwest, stopping at several national parks along the way. They were supposed to be going to Greece with a tour group, but the agency cancelled the trip. What a bummer! I was looking forward to hearing about it. I will be glad to hear about her road trip, though. I haven't even heard of some of the parks they are planning to visit.

When I got home from lunch, MT said he was feeling very poorly. He is cold, his body aches, his throat hurts, and he has a headache. Uh-oh. I went to Walgreens to pick up some at-home covid tests. (I haven't ordered any from the government. Yet.) He took the test and it was negative. I'm still going to sleep in the guest room for a few nights until he feels better. 

It's been a pretty busy couple of days, but busy in fun, good ways! I love that I have tomorrow off to do a few things around the house and relax a bit.

I hope you are having a nice weekend, too!