Epicurean Style

Love Cafe Rio?

I sure do and Cafe Rio is opening a BRAND NEW STORE just around the corner from us, so in honor of this awesome occasion, Cafe Rio has graciously offered to giveaway 100 free meals.  The first 100 people to physically knock on my front door today will get one (limit of one per household). And FYI...I am not trying to be a 'word smith' here, I don't mean leave a comment and get it, I really mean knock on my front door 

 

Um, never heard of Cafe Rio.  

One Word. 

WHAT?! 

No seriously, what?!  It is the greatest restaurant.  We looooove it!  We have loved it enough in the past to drive 10 hours to get to one (okay, so maybe we had family in the area too, but I could've gone that far just for a Cafe Rio Fix). 

soooooo worth it!  

So if you haven't been there try one of favorites....

Just about anything with their Sweet Pork in it is great and  I am partial to having it in their Salads, Burritos, and Quesadillas.

Also, another awesome perk.  They give kids a free cheese quesadilla.  Great customer service.

Fun atmosphere and AMAZING food!

Those of you who have ever lived in Utah and then moved from that great state, know what a huge craving you can build up for a little Cafe Rio, so an opening in a new location outside of Utah and close by is fantastic news.  

Cafe Rio already has over 25 locations in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Colorado.  And it plans on adding another 20 locations in California over the next several years.  Yay!

Well, here's too you, you lucky 100 people that could get a free meal today.  

Good Luck!

Minky Baby Blankets

I am not quite sure why I never discovered these oh, so cuddly blankets when Jackson was a baby, but seriously, I should have looked high and low for one of these things.  

When this package arrived at our door, Bennett just happened to be sitting at my feet.  I opened the box and dropped the cuddly blanket on his head.  He wiggled out from under it and then laid down and pulled it up over his head again.  After he flipped the blanket off his head, he then grabbed a sippy cup sitting near him held the blanket in the other hand and drank happily.  And it has been like this since.  

Oh, and the big seller for me he will sit still on my lap when the minky blanket is laid over his legs. sigh. I love this blanket.  

So about this snugly thing...

It is about 36x30 inches.  It is Satin on one side and Minky of the other.  At Chic Monkey Boutique they let you customize your blanket, to match your nursery colors or your favorite colors. These blankets come in some of the most fun colors and there are more options than just what you see. Let me share a few...

You can also add monogramming to the blanket.  All the blankets are handmade at the time of purchase, so delivery may take a little longer, but it is well worth the wait, in my opinion.  You might just want to be aware if you are buying it for a gift.  

I have also washed ours and it feels just as soft as it did before I washed it.  Sometimes softness wears off with washing (you know when you get a brand new sweatshirt and you don't want to wash it because of how soft and fluffy the inside is and once you wash it that is gone? hate that.). Anyway, these blankets don't seem to do it.         

Since discovering this great online boutique I have seriously been coveting several items.  Plus, I am loving the name of the place, Chic Monkey Boutique.

I am thinking Jackson might see this snugly in his future... (isn't it awesome)    

But if I could just get myself to really commit I know he would love this JUMBO Minky Blanket (43x60), yes true love.

P.S.  I just found the blog and facebook and twitter accounts, for Chic Monkey Boutique, you might want to follow them.  Because by the looks of it, she does some great discounts and giveaways through them.  

Three things.

So first...Jackson started drawing people about a month ago and they are adorable.

 

Second...let me share with you a funny thing Jackson just said to Marc   

Jackson was in bed "sleeping"...when suddenly he called out, "Dad!  Dad!"  

Marc when in... 

Jackson said, "You forgot to give me medicine for my stomach."  

Marc,"I gave you Benadryl.  It's not for your stomach, but it is for your ears and nose and it will help you sleep better."  

Jackson, "I don't want Bennett Drool, it is just like water, I want medicine."  

Marc, "Ha!  I gave you Benadryl not Bennett Drool and it is medicine."  

Jackson, "Oh, okay." 

Third...

 

 We are loving this drink today, Ocean Spray 100% Juice.  We went through a bottle and a half today.  It is just about all the Jackson would eat/drink all day and since I still haven't been eating much and I am worried about getting bladder infections (confession, I get bladder infections super easy and have since I was a kid) I decided to try out this juice.  It is delicious and 100% juice, no sugars added.  You'll have to try it.

help.

I am going crazy around here. 

 I can't quite get on top of things and it seems we have a nasty flu going though our family right now.  Jackson started throwing up a few days ago and on Saturday evening when I was offered a piece of Chocolate and thought I was going to throw up, I knew something was wrong. 

I was down and out for all of Sunday and have just crawled out of bed this morning.  Lucky for me, Marc was around yesterday to take care of ALL of us or we probably wouldn't have survived.  

I have so many things on my to do list--like Sanitize the WHOLE house!  But those things are being shoved aside right now, because I just wanted to sit here for a second and check email and eat a little cereal.  Lets hope it stays down.  :)  Poor Jackson has already fallen back asleep on the couch and says his ear is driving him crazy.  I guess with two sleeping children I better take advantage of this Rare....extremely rare moment and pick up  around here.   Here's to hoping today is better than yesterday.  Hopefully all of you are surviving cold and flu season.    

Doily Pillow

I am in love with this tutorial and will definitely be making one of these lovely's...(especially with our grandma furniture it will fit right in. ha.)  Check this tutorial out...Smile and Wave

(Photo taken from Smile and Wave's blog)

Behind.

I feel like I have been a step behind this whole week.  My family came to town (yay!) and then our car got broken into (boo!), I am hosting a baby shower tonight (yay!), and I have been trying to get things organized around the house (boo!), but today just has to be the day that Jackson wants to drag everything out of his room to play with.  I feel like it is the days I am the most busy or worried about keeping the house clean that Jackson decides to be his messiest.  Like this morning when he decided to do a water experiment and plug up his bathroom sink with tissue while I was in the shower (ahhhh!).  My little friend J.T. I blame you for this.  I just know some how you taught him about water experiments.  joking.  

 

 Anyway, can I restate the most horrible part of everything...our car getting broken into!  Seriously and all for some stupid ipod.  Luckily we didn't have anything of real value in our car, but what a horrible feeling.  You come back to your car after a fun day only to find the passenger side window bashed in (glass EVERYWHERE!) and a riffled though car. Your personal things being touched by a stranger and a dirty and disgusting stranger at that.  Who breaks into a car?  Only really creepy yucky people!  Are you kidding me?  

Let me just share the stupidest thing about this guy, well he left a 10 dollar bill sitting on the car seat.  Maybe that was our payment for him violating us, breaking our window, and stealing the ipod, but I actually think it was a $10 bill that slipped out of my pocket and I left in the car.  What an idiot.  Glad he didn't take it, but what an idiot. 

 

 And Jackson was really stressed by the situation, poor guy.  But when he climbed into the car and got cut by a piece of glass (I really thought I had checked everywhere, but apparently not), a flood of tears came and it was hysterical crying.  It took a good portion of the ride home for him to calm down, but eventually he did.  And his conclusion was, If he could have been there he would have pow-ed the guy into the ocean, before he decided to pow our car.  ha.  

Anyway, the window has been replaced $200 dollars later (booooo!), but at least the car is functional again (yay!) and now I can run the errands I desperately need to run before tonight.  Wish me luck.  

Also, I have some fun things coming in the next few days...so get excited, get get excited.  I really should've been a cheerleader in high school.  :)

    

Freezer Paper T-shirts

This was Soooo much fun.  Seriously, Jackson and I both had fun creating this little project.  Jackson told me what he wanted on his shirt and then we both worked on it in different ways.  

 

 With Robots on the brain, Jackson of course picked this for the design.  When you do decide to do this project think about the edges of your design rather than the middle (the silhouette of an object).  I planned our robots to just be Silhouettes and then decided to add an extra stencil in the middle to give added texture, but this isn't necessary, a solid shape would work just as well.  

I made a stencil out of Freezer paper, first by drawing the image I wanted on the freezer paper and then cutting it with an x-acto knife.  I haven't master curved edges with the x-acto knife yet and thus I was glad Jackson picked robots in all the hard/straight edge glory.  :)  

Lay your freezer paper waxy/shiny side down (against your t-shirt) and then lay a piece about the same size on the inside of your shirt shiny/waxy side up (this holds the stencil in place a little better).  Iron over the freezer paper for about 10-15 seconds to hold the stencil in place.

Paint in the stencil using any fabric paint and paint brush.  We first painted in Ivory and then flicked a paint brush to make brown speckles on top and around the robots.  Once it has been painted let it sit until dry and then peel off your freezer paper.

I then used a fabric marker to make the little black details on our robots.  I used an Iron to heat set the paint and the fabric marker.  

I haven't added this part yet, but I think I might do some "messy" stitching around the edges of the robots in bright thread colors.  I'll show you when I get it done, but for now enjoy the cute robots as they are.  :)

This is a really fun activity.  Jackson loved painting the robots and I seriously was able to back away and let him enjoy doing it, because I knew the stencils were stuck in place and we had plenty of excess freezer paper surrounding the stencil.   

 

 

...so you want an apron?

.....head on over to Redhead Recipes to enter to WIN one!  Sarah is hosting a giveaway for either Penelope or Paisley apron.

Good Luck!

Winner Winner.

Congratulations too...

Ashlee Warner: Oh how cute are those? I NEEEEED one!

email me and I will pass your email and information on to Kelley, 

so you can pick your Camera Strap etc. 

{ epicureanstyle (at) gmail (dot) com }

***Thanks again to all of you for entering and a hUgE thank you to Kelley for allowing me to host this little giveaway.   If you didn't win head on over to her etsy shop and buy one of those cute straps.

Giveaway--Sugar Pop Designs

Can I just start by telling you what a cute girl Kelley is?  Seriously, Kelley is the type of person that just makes you smile.  I've enjoyed getting to know her a little through my sister-in-law and I think you will all enjoy getting to know a little about her today...

 

Kelley (a professional photographer) started Sugar Pop Creations, knowing just what other DSLR camera owners would love, a cute and colorful camera strap.  Seriously, what a great idea!  It adds a little something extra to your camera.  Plus, lets get real, who doesn't want a little strap of Minky wrapped around their necks?!  I love comfy things, but sometimes comfort and style can't mesh.  However, these great camera straps do not sacrifice anything...comfortable, function, and chic cuteness.  

Lets delve in and explain.  

minky and 100% cotton fabrics....comfort.

a camera lens pocket....function.

colors, fabric, and color combos....chic cuteness.

Let me just share a few of my fav's.

  

  

 

 Are you loving grey and yellow as much as I love the combination?  

I seriously love these two colors together.

Now you yourself may or may not have a DSLR camera, but with their intense popularity right now, I can almost guarantee that you know someone who does, so enter this giveaway because a special occasion will arrive that you will need a gift for that person and now you will have it. 

And in all seriousness, if you live in Utah, do yourself a favor and contact Kelley to get pictures taken, extremely talented, lovely photo's.  You will not be disappointed.  And can I say she does all of this while raising three of the cutest kiddos.    

          

 Now enter this great giveaway!  To enter the GiVeaWaY....

      * Leave a comment below in the comments link.

      ***Want to earn an extra entries?  

                    -Facebook or Twitter this giveaway and earn ONE extra entry

                    -Blog about this giveaway and earn TWO extra entries

 (if you do either of the above be sure to tell me in your comment so I can give you credit for it and leave a link you your blog so I can see it.  What's that you say?  Your blog is private no biggie.  Just let me know and I'll trust you.).  :)

Good Luck!  The winner will be announced on....Sunday Feb. 7, 2010