A Perfect Blend...

This weekend was a perfect blend of entertainment, relaxation, indulgence, and solitude. Jared and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. We had planned on doing something special for #5 but then had a nursing baby so that changed things a bit. We certainly made up for it this year :).


It all began Friday evening at ASU's Gammage Auditorium and a production of WICKED! Prior to one month ago I wasn't familiar with any of the songs and only had a very broad grasp of the storyline. We borrowed the soundtrack from a friend and began "studying." And it totally paid off. I LOVE all the songs and constantly have one stuck in my head (happily stuck, that is :). I even had dreams of running up on stage during the performance - and totally upstaging everyone of course :). It was fun for Jared and I to put together pieces of the puzzle and guess at what more the storyline could present, fun to analyze the lyrics and catch poetic foreshadows, fun to talk about the deeper meanings behind the essence of the play... the applications are endless! The power of public perception is huge both in how complete strangers view you and in how you see yourself - how labels compel you to act in ways you might not have otherwise done.



Anyway, in short... it was AMAZING! I wondered if Lion King could be beat because that was so entertaining and had a huge WOW factor, but WICKED far surpassed my expectations and highest hopes. By intermission I was already telling Jared I wanted to come again. It really is that good. And sitting in Row 11 made it that much better! Thank you Jared! I still am so impressed that he had made plans and knew exactly the day and hour tickets were coming available and purchased the tickets back in April! It was perfect!



Then we headed over to the Inn at Eagle Mountain for a two-night weekend getaway. The location was breathtakingly beautiful with a feeling of seclusion and relaxation while still being within 10 minutes of the city. The view from our balcony was amazing especially as the sun sets on the mountains. After my sister Holly blogged about her stay here I knew I had to try their "french toast" for breakfast... jumbo cinnamon rolls grilled to a crisp yet gooey icing goodness with maple syrup. Yum! Jared had the Eggs Benedict with hollandaise sauce.

Our Villa


The View from our Balcony


The View from the back

We enjoyed the pool and hot tub to ourselves most of the time and soaked in our very own 2-seater jacuzzi. Saturday was all about relaxing and just being together. For dinner we decided to try something new. After doing some internet research looking for a sophisticated and subdued atmosphere we settled on The White Chocolate Grill. Let me tell you... HEAVENLY! I can't hardly wait to have another "big" reason to celebrate. It might just have to be a tradition for our anniversary. I'm still having sweet dreams about the food. We got the "Date Night Special" which includes a four-course meal for two at $29/person.

Appetizer: Four Cheese Spinach and Artichoke Dip with chips and salsa. (NEED this recipe)

Salad:
Me - WCG (White Chocolate Grill) Bleu Cheese Salad with bacon and candied nuts
Jared - Field Greens Salad with goat cheese

Main Dish:
Me - Parmesan Crusted Filet (I thought it was going to be a filet of fish, but really it was a filet mignon - super tasty)
Jared - Balsamic Ribeye

Dessert: White Chocolate Brownie with homemade vanilla ice cream and a chocolate/carmel sauce.

We ended up cutting our stay at the Inn a little short because our bed is more comfortable at home and we would have had to get up at 5:30 am to pack up and get home in time for Jared to get ready and attend his meetings before church on Sunday. Everything about the weekend was PERFECT! It'll be another 5 or 10 years before we do anything like this again, but it sure was nice to INDULGE for a moment.