belated saturday adventures

ok, so I'm obviously rather behind, and I could just skip ahead and forget about the days between now and my last post, but Saturday was such a lovely day!
Ryan and I spent all day in downtown Salt lake City, which is a pretty rare outing for us,especially with my schedule and the hour longish drive, but it was so worth it. oh, also, these are all camera phone pictures, we didn't lug our baby around everywhere.

First we found a thrift store I had never seen before, and we got some cool old books for 50 cents, one of which is covered in embossed animal footprints. Then we dropped into Les Madeleines, a little French bakery tucked away in the south side of the city, and pretty unassuming from the outside. We had heard about their famous Kouing Aman dessert, but weren't quite sure what to expect. Since we rarely ever go out for a whole day like this, and don't eat out very much anymore, we indulged and ordered one Kouing Aman, one lemon madeleine, one almond shortbread cookie, and some cool flat flaky spirally pastry, whose name escapes me at the moment. Also, a teacup of chamomile.

Dipping our delicious pastries in the tea while it drizzled outside felt so nice and cozy, and I was able to experience a legitimately Proustian sense-memory wave as I dipped my madeleine in my tea. We used to have these biscuits in our snack cupboard all the time in Switzerland, and chamomile was my favourite when I was younger, so smelling and eating the combination again brought back wonderful memories of being twelve and exploring all the grounds around the century old farmhouse we lived in.

After that we went to the antique district on third and third and explored some antique and retro-inspired stores, and I finally got to see the inside of Frosty Darlings, the cutesiest boutique in Salt Lake. Ryan played the old pinball machine and won some bouncy balls. I wanted everything but bought nothing. overpriced. but so cute.

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of the adorable ginger cat I befriended at Retro Rose, a two story antique store sorted by colour. I was in the basement looking around when a big fluffy orange striped cat started weaving around my legs and rubbing its face into my feet. It was so friendly and followed me around the rest of the way. I wanted to take him home and call him crookshanks.

Then we got hungry and had lunch at Settebello, a really good pizzeria that makes pizza the way I know and love- super thin crust that's blackened on the bottom, but still gooey on the top, thin sauce and fresh tomatoes and real cheese. mm. Also didn't take pictures:( but it was good!

Then we went to gateway, the outdoor mall thing, and we played with ipads in the apple store, looked for a graduation dress at anthropologie, played in an arcade for a while, and ran across a store dedicated to hot sauces. Ryan sampled like 8 different sauces at the bar, and took a toothpick full of the hottest one they have. The results were pretty predictable and humorous. It was obviously super spicy and painful but Ryan just raised his eyebrows a couple times and started breathing in through his mouth in little sucking bursts and briskly walked to the food court. I bought him some ice cream.

THEN we went to Bruge's Waffles, a teeny tiny little brick building that houses some of the best liege waffles I've had. We got a waffle with a bar of dark chocolate melted inside and creme fraiche on top. It was crazy crowded so we ate in the car, and then went to Caputo's, the Italian Market across the street. They have a huge imported chocolate selection, and you can take chocolate tasting classes and cooking classes. We bought some red currant mustard and were tempted by all the cheeses.

Afterward we headed over to Decades so I could continue to search for a graduation dress. I found a cute blue pleated dress on the 5 dollar rack, and a nice pink one with lace on the bodice for 38, which, since it was a special occasion, I felt good about.

ok, THEN, my sister's art was being displayed at the Gallery Stroll in a hair salon downtown, so we helped make refreshments for the show. We made mochi for mango and strawberry daifuku, some mango rolls, and some inarizushi and set up a donate for Japan can. Here are some pictures of the art show:

These are my sisters minus the youngest, Becca, who was babysitting, as always. We are goofs.

THEN I found my first ever food truck! It's like geocaching for FOOD. so fun. The Chow truck was stationed by another art gallery, and had some interesting asian-mexican fusion options. I got a barbacoa pulled pork quesadilla with chipotle crema and mango salsa, and Ryan got a braised brisket taco with apple cider slaw and feta. I was delighted and impressed. Also, they had lychee and coconut drinks!

whew. so it was a jam-packed weekend, filled with more action than I've seen all semester. It was so great to just wander around in the city. Hope to do it more when the weather's better!