A Snowy Spring

It's funny how the weather never does what it's supposed to do. Today is the first official day of spring, and I'd guess we have about 6 inches of snow out there on the ground and it's still coming down. It is very pretty, and I have noplace to go, so I'm okay with it. I've actually been enjoying a typical "snow day." I baked a scratch angel food cake this morning and made the kids some homemade granola bars for their snack. My 9-year-old has a friend over for the day who is also spending the night, so they had their snack in her room, along with chai tea with a fancy tea set. Very cute!

The angel food cake is a bit of an experiment. I am having a "house concert" next month (a first for me) and will hopefully have a house full of guests. I'm going to put out what I hope will be a very nice spread of appetizers and treats. One thing I want to try, that I've never done before, is chocolate fondue. Angel food cake cubes are something I've listed as a good option for dipping in the fondue, so that's what I'm trying tonight. I had 10 eggs that had just expired, so it seemed like the perfect time to whip up angel food and give this a whirl. I'm planning on trying several things prior to the concert/party to make sure I know what I'm doing!

It seems like so much has happened since I last blogged, and I guess it has been a long time! Two weeks ago I had what I consider the best weekend of my life, and I just haven't come back to earth since then. My favorite singer, Suzy Bogguss, was in town for a show over in Overland Park and it was a wonderful time. I got to talk to her for awhile (she's a friend these days, which is truly a gift!) and catch up with a friend from Des Moines who came in for the show. I got home very late that evening, and then headed out the next day for Hutchinson, Kansas, for another show. I went with my friend, Mark, and we had an amazing time!

Traveling with Mark is always an adventure. He prefers the road less traveled, and avoids the interstate most of the time. I've blogged before about our trek to Colorado a couple of years ago. Well, for this trip, he took me along part of the route that we took that fateful night. He even drove by the hotels where we almost stopped, for fear of bad weather, but didn't due to price or occupancy. And we even stopped in the same convenience store that was our oasis that night. It was amazing to see it all from a non-snowy perspective and realize exactly where we had been when all we had been able to see was solid white blizzard.

We made it to the show in Hutchinson just in time, but getting there had been almost as much fun as the show. During the concert, I tried the venue's House Sangria and liked it very much. Okay, I liked it TOO much. If you know me, you know that I very rarely drink, and so the Sangria hit me harder than I anticipated. I had a reallllllly fun night, but parts of it are a little fuzzy. ;-) Suzy got a kick out of it, though. She told me that I was cracking her up, and did the coolest thing as we were leaving. She teased that she was afraid that I wouldn't make it back down the stairs to get outside (the venue was on the 2nd floor of a building), so she insisted on walking Mark and I out! We ended up standing just inside the doors, just chatting, for quite awhile. Suzy is such a sweetheart!!

The next day we met up with one of Mark's friends for brunch and then a matinee of "Alice in Wonderland." It wasn't as horrible as I expected. :-) After the movie, we had to head back to Kansas City, and we actually took a little interstate due to time restrictions. We got to town and then headed for a local pizza place for karaoke. No, I didn't sing, but Mark is a wonderful singer! He did several great performances and even sang along with my friend Claudia's grandmother, which was adorable!

So can you see why I've been on Cloud 9 since? It's been hard to get back to reality, and now I have this house concert to plan, which is its own kind of fun. The performer we're having is Bill Isles and his wife, Kate. You can check out their website. They are really fun people and Bill writes wonderful original songs. I'm looking very forward to the show. I just hope I can get my house clean and ready in time and that all the food comes out! If you're in the KC area and want to come to the show, please let me know . It should be a great time.

Anyway....I guess that's the update from me for now. Oh, and don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't yet! I don't have many entries for a $25 gift card from the Kroger Family of Stores. You have a great chance at winning!!!