A ladies Saturday

My ladies group had a really fun day together on Saturday, April 18th.  It was Brenda's month to plan and it also happened to be Brenda's birthday.  I also happened to be alone that weekend because Michael took the kids to Tucson so I could stain the bathroom cabinets in peace.

First I picked up Maryellen and we went to Starbucks so we could enjoy coffee and conversation.  I meant to take a picture while we were there, but the coffee and conversation were just so enjoyable that I forgot.  After Starbucks we met up with Lauren and Brenda and wandered around a little parking lot craft fair.  Then we went to the actual event for the day.  A free cooking class.

The teacher was a real spitfire.  I want to have that kind of energy and vibrancy when I'm of a certain age.

There was a large, angled mirror above the work space so you could see what she was doing.  

The theme of the class was cooking with whole grains, so I ate exactly 0 bites of the samples.

Since it was our first time at the class we all got a free loaf of bread.  My kids polished off this thing in less than a day.  It was a mini loaf, but still.  They inhaled it.

The cooking class itself was free, but it was held at a kitchen supply store, so they totally get you when you can't help but buy stuff after the class.

I ended up buying a cheese grater (that is exactly like this),

and a jar spatula scoop (that is similar to this, but more spoony at each end). 

Here's a funny story about the cheese grater.  We have a box cheese grater.  We've always had a box grater. We've never had a flat one though.  My parents do.  One time Michael was looking for the cheese grater and I got out the box one.  He looked at it and said, "No.  Not this one.  The flat one in the drawer."  I gave him a look and said "You mean the one at my parent's house?"

Then we just laughed for 20 minutes.

After the cooking class we met up with Joni and Shireen for lunch.  But first we had to wait for a table so we moseyed around a furniture store where Joni may or may not have wandered into a wardrobe and gotten stuck inside of Narnia.  We eventually found this huge couch and all sat down to relax a bit.  I said that we should take our picture for the day on the couch so we asked the next person to walk by to take our picture.  It turned out to be Joni's daughter's preschool teacher.  They hadn't seen each other in 3 years.  That was miracle #1 of the day.

Our table was finally ready so Brenda got presents before we ate.

After lunch I took Maryellen home, then I came home and worked out and stained cabinets.  Then, after several difficult hours apart, she came over and we had a glass of wine before we went out to dinner.

We were seated out on the patio and about a minute later our waiter came over.  Maryellen immediately recognized him as the host from the restaurant where we ate lunch.  That was miracle #2 of the day.  I mean, what are the chances that we would see the same person twice in one day at two different restaurants in two different cities?  And that he worked at both?  And that we decided to eat at both in one day?  It's just not possible.  We ended up chatting to him for a long time and his mom works at the restaurant too, so we ended up chatting with her as well.  And now we're totally facebook friends.  And it just so happens that his sister and I share the same birthday.  Month and day, not year, because she is young and I am ooooooold. That is miracle #3 of the day.

And yes, we made this 19 year old take a selfie with us, because it was just too good of a story to pass up a selfie opportunity.

And then, the fun day was over.  And the next day I just stained cabinets and went grocery shopping.  It was lonely and not nearly as fun.