How Puzzling

Anniversary number one was spent in Park City, UT. A happy event made more fun by the Kimball Arts festival, which was in town that weekend. All of Main Street was lined with stalls of glass, pottery, paintings, photographs, statues and all other imaginable kinds of artwork. Since year one anniversary gifts are meant to be something paper, Jared and I searched everywhere with some little success for such a gift. We thought about getting a photograph of a beautiful vista of the American west, or a painting of an Italian countryside. Unfortunately at this point in our lives, any of those items were a good $2500+ out of our price range (unless we wanted to buy a 4x6 print...which we didn't). Instead I did what I always do when faced with a financial dilemma: to buy or not to buy? The answer is always not to buy.

We decided instead to use our many overseas experiences to print out some smashing good shots at Costco and use those for decoration instead. Not that we didn't get any souvenirs. Quite the contrary.

However, those souvenirs were more along the lines of, That looks delicious. Take a bite. Confirm. Purchase. So, at the Mount Olive Oil Co. we bought a bottle of Maple Balsamic vinegar to be used on waffles in the future (come back for details). From a stall we bought a strawberry rhubarb jam. At Harry and David we bought 3 jars of salsa: peach, black bean and corn, and raspberry chardonnay. And of course we ate ice cream at Java Cow (Strawberry and Coconut Joy), and bought a caramel apple at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Co. Dinner was a succulent Kobe Bleu burger at Bandit's Grill and Bar.

For us, those kinds of souvenirs are the typical, the standard, and the tradition. On our honeymoon we bought a Blueberry Balsamic in California; a gem that features amazingly on salad and surprisingly well on vanilla ice cream. I also want to try the Maple on some pork chops.

But enough about food, we also finally were able to watch the Olympics since the Opening Ceremonies. Since our apartment does not have cable we have been trying to satisfy ourselves by reading the news, and the social network feeds, and hearing the gossip about who is winning what. With wondering awe we watched Michael Phelps win the 200 m butterfly final, and Katie Ledecky win the woman's 800 m freestyle. Our room was situated literally right next to the pool, so with our cheering echoing around our small room, and the smell and splashing sounds from the pool outside our door,  it seemed almost as if we were there.

Saturday saw us at the Outlets for the majority of the day. We made an excellent haul, and I even bought Jared's Christmas present. Dinner at Caffe Molise, Salt Lake City was divine. Truly, if you live within 80 miles of this place you must dine there at least once, it is that phenomenal. I will spare you my raving and just let you slobber over these pictures. I have never wanted to lick my plate clean more than that night. My mother would be proud to know that I did not.

Finalement a le fin de la notre, nous trouvons un cadeau. We bought a puzzle! Which is of course, French themed. Not that you can really tell from looking at it. It's a taste theme.