Tagged!

I've been tagged by Mel - so here go my answers! I tag Natalie, Sara, and Shannon!

1. Best thing you cooked last week.
Definitely my apple pie. In Alex's words, "the crust is tender and flaky, and the inside is not too soupy."

2. If money and time were no object, where would you go and with whom?
I would buy one of those around-the-world plane tickets and Alex and I would hit places like Japan, Australia, Brazil, Africa, any island in the Pacific. And then to top it off Alex and I would move to Ireland. :)

3. When was the last time you cried?
I think it was when I was watching High School Musical 2 when Gabriela is breaking up with Troy... :)

4. 5 things you were doing this month 10 years ago.
1) I was a Junior at Woods Cross High School
2) I was playing soccer
3) Although I have no concrete evidence of this, I'm pretty sure I had a sleepover with my friends this month
4) I went to Sadie Hawkins with JD Dunn
5) I'm assuming I went to a halloween party

5. 5 things on your to do list today.
1) Make a roast for dinner
2) Pack up my work computer for work tomorrow (my team got to work from home on Friday)
3) Get Sam's b-day card ready to go
4) Get Alex's cousins wedding cards ready to go
5) Email my family about my mom's b-day present

6. 6 favorite snacks:
1) Red vines
2) Jelly Bellies
3) hummus and pita chips
4) a bowl of fresh fruit
5) chips and salsa
6) beef jerky - especially when traveling

7. 5 bad habits:
1) I have bad skin and I itch it
2) I don't write in my journal
3) I let the recycle bin overflow and take over our house before I take it out
4) I take the clean clothes out of the dryer and put them in the hamper to be folded, and then never fold them
5) I check travel websites at least once a day to see if there are any good deals

8. 5 favorite foods:
1) Gyoza
2) Cheesecake
3) Kung-pao chicken from PF Chang's
4) European chocolate
5) Gelato

9. 5 places I've been:
1) Ireland
2) The Bahamas
3) Germany
4) Portugal
5) England

10. 6 favorite memories:
1) Traveling with Alex
2) Playing soccer and being awesome at it :)
3) Spending Thanksgiving up in Park City with my family skiing, drinking hot chocolate, and watching Anne of Green Gables
4) Any family get together because it's always an adventure, especially with the family growing!
5) Doing my MBA with Alex
6) My dog, Indiana

Great Harvest - The Freedom Franchise

As I was driving home from work today I was listening to NPR and there was a story on Great Harvest Bread Company. They were interviewing a man who owns a franchise, and he was talking about how much he likes the freedom that this franchise gives him. Freedom franchise means that they are pretty flexible with how the owners run their own stores. The only three things that are required by Great Harvest are:

1. The franchise has to display the Great Harvest logo
2. The franchise has to make the signature honey wheat bread
3. The franchise has to grind their own flour every day

That's it (well, I guess the franchises are encouraged to offer free samples)! Other then those three things, the owners are free to run their stores any way they want to and to make whatever kind of bread they want. It's suddenly making sense why I see Great Harvest at farmer's markets all of the time...

After hearing that story all I wanted was Great Harvest bread! I had flashbacks of high school when we would go down to Keva Juice and get smoothies and then go next door and get a free hugely thick slice of bread at Great Harvest, and we would put butter and honey on top of the bread. Smoothies and bread - you really can't ask for a better combination! Yum!

I don't want to get old

So my grandma has been having a hard time this past week. She has been overdosing on her meds, and had to go to the ER last Friday night. It's hard because I'm so close to her, and part of me wishes I could be there for her. But the good thing about my grandma (and my mom) is that we can always find humor in the silliest things.

I guess grandma wasn't taking one of her medications that calms her, and she was very anxious and emotional. My mom took her on a walk and when they got back my grandma burst out in tears. My mom was trying to figure out what was wrong, and she said she knew something bad had happened to me and my brother. After some coaxing, my mom found out that she thought I was on drugs (I know, so characteristic of me :)). My mom called me and asked me to reassure my grandma that I wasn't taking drugs and our conversation went something like this:

Grandma: "Kristin, tell me that you're not on drugs."
Kristin: "Grandma, I'm not on drugs."
Grandma: "Are you sure?"
Kristin: "Yep, I promise."
Grandma: "Oh good."

Now, this is a conversation I honestly thought I would never have - especially with my grandma. All the while Alex was sitting in the other room listening to only my end of the conversation...

Anyway, so this whole story reminded me of my old roommate's grandma. Mel's grandma lived near us in Provo, and she would call and leave the most classic messages on our answering machine. "Melanie, this is your grandma." It just brings a smile to my face and reminds me of how I don't want to get old! :)

Here's a picture of Grandma in a hat my mom knit for her a couple of years ago - isn't it great?!

Fall is here!

The temperatures have definitely dropped here in Philly. Early last week it was record high temps in the high 80's, and then one day the temperatures were in the low 60's. We're still waiting for the leaves to turn, but I have a feeling it won't be too long until that comes. We tried fresh apple cider donuts yesterday for the first time. We didn't think they tasted a whole lot like apple cider, but Alex ate one while drinking apple cider and he said it was the perfect combination!

On Friday night we made our first visit to the Museum of Art. We ate dinner at the museum restaurant, in which we were surrounded by a lot of "older" people (I think we were the youngest ones there by about 50 years). And then we enjoyed some jazz by a New Orleans style band. It was a great atmosphere! We visited the Japanese tea room in the Asian art wing where they have authentic Japanese buildings, and live plants growing. Very cool!

Saturday we had a ward mission temple trip. We went to Manhattan, and had a great experience. It's so hard to go to Manhattan and not stay to see or do anything! Alex and I keep saying we need to just take a weekend and head to Manhattan to go to a nice restaurant and see a show. And, of course, maybe stop at Canal Street and do some bargain shopping!

I put up all of my Halloween decorations, and now I'm just ready for some trick-or-treaters! I have a feeling I won't be getting any, but I can always hope! Every year since we've been married I've bought bags of candy in hopes of handing them out, and every year we don't get any trick-or-treaters. Maybe we're living in the wrong places, or maybe times are changing. It's so sad because I remember going out to trick-or-treat with my friends, and there were always loads of other kids out. Now when you drive around on Halloween night, you're lucky to see any. So sad.