My 44th Birthday

My 44th Birthday

My birthday always falls during Farm Chicks weekend and it usually gets lost in the shuffle. Prior to Farm Chicks I was somewhat annoyed with Reilly. She told me that she was planning on heading to St. George, Utah for a weekend of fun with her friends. I wanted her to stay home and save money. I know, buzzkill. Whatever. I'm the mom. It's my job. I told her that I didn't think that it was a good idea and that I thought that she should stay home and get in some more hours at work. She just purchased a car, a Jetta, and she could use the extra cash. She told me that she would *think* about it. Then I found out that she had been invited for the weekend to stay with my mother-in-law and had declined due to her upcoming trip. I again called her to discuss my *concerns*. Again, I was pretty much told "Thanks for the advice, Mom, but I am a big girl and I'll make my own decisions." (Ugh. I REALLY hate that.) The night before Farm Chicks as I lay awake with insomnia due to excitement and nervous energy I decided to check her location. (Being able to do that has been my saving grace this year.) Her location showed her in her apartment. Good. Glad she made a wise decision.

Little did I know that she had pulled the ultimate fake-out. She switched her location finding thing to her Ipad and was actually driving through the night to Spokane to surprise me for my birthday. No one had ANY idea. She arrived in Spokane at about 1:30 am. She used her key and let herself in the basement door, surprising Kameron, whose room is downstairs. Then she crept upstairs and climbed in bed with a dazzed and confused Bryn. (Bryn has a double bed in her room.) I got up bright and early and was getting ready for the show. I had showered and was getting ready to blow dry my hair when someone started pounding on the bathroom door. I was super annoyed!! I was trying to get ready and get out the door on time for heavens sake!! I angrily yelled, "WHO IS IT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?! I AM TRYING TO GET READY!!!" Then I heard a little voice in a funny accent say, "It's your favorite child, Mama!!" I stared confused at the closed door...because it sounded just like Reilly when she is being funny. I cracked the bathroom door. There she was with two bottles of my favorite sparkling grape juice, Cold Duck, in each hand as she yelled, "SURPRISE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!" Then the tears started flowing as I hugged her and bawled my eyes out. That girl loves to surprise me. She did a great job. While I was in the shower, she, Bryn, and Ailey went downstairs to hide in Kameron's room. Not even Tyler knew that she was there until right before she surprised me. He went downstairs to the basement to turn on the sprinklers and there she was! I was sad to leave for the show...all the fun was at home!

Around noon I left the booth for a minute and when I returned there Reilly was with a vendor badge on and ready to help out. So fun!! We went to the vendor lunch area and grabbed something to eat while my mom and Stacey held down the booth. We walked around and she visited with a bunch of our vendor friends. Then we went back to our booth and took over while my mom and Stacey went to lunch. She was a huge help as a bunch of furniture had sold and everything seemed to be getting picked up at the same time. She helped me pull out the big pieces and re-merchandise all the smalls.

After the show was over I had a fancy grown-ups only birthday dinner planned at a restaurant that I had been dying to try, Wild Sage. It came highly recommended from several people and I couldn't wait to go. It kind of reminds me of the restaurant in Beaverton, OR where my cousin Paul is a chef. Actually one of the chefs at Wild Sage went to culinary school with Paul. It was fabulous. Tyler, Reilly, and I were joined by Kelley and Stacey. It was such a fun night!! We laughed our heads off and enjoyed a delightful culinary experience. So many amazing dishes to try!! It was fabulous. The restaurant is very small and upscale. Many of the patrons in the restaurant had been to Farm Chicks that day or were also vendors. We had several groups stop by our table to chat and several tables joined in singing Happy Birthday to me when they brought out my passion fruit coconut cake. OH.MY.GOSH. It was such a great night of community, celebration, and it was a memorable culinary delight. Not a bad way to ring in 44!! Wow. I cannot wait to go back!!

We did witness something terrifying on our way to dinner. Tyler was driving with me, Stacey, and Reilly in the car on our way to the restaurant. We were getting on the freeway when we noticed that a man had hopped the fence by the overpass. Tyler said, "Check out that guy on the other side of the fence." It didn't register for a minute what was going on. Then we realized that he was attempting to commit suicide. By that time he was hanging off the side of the overpass. I quickly dialed 911 and reported what was happening. By then the man was hanging from the middle of the overpass right over the freeway. The 911 operator let me know that the police were already on the way. It was terrifying seeing him dangling over the freeway. We said a prayer for him as he faded from sight while still clutching the overpass. It was absolutely terrible. Luckily this story has a happy ending. The man ended up being rescued by firefighters. Thank goodness!!

The next day...my actual birthday...was crazy busy. It was the last day of the show and tear down. After doing the money and celebrating our success, I went to dinner with my own family to celebrate my birthday. We headed to a nearby Mexican restaurant and ate our weight in chips and salsa and virgin margaritas!! It was another fantastic night. There is no greater gift than having all my family together!! Our dinner was a lively one full of so many laughs that I left the restaurant with mascara running down my face.

I heart the Johnsons!!

Then we decided that there was still probably room for ice cream so we went to a new gourmet ice cream shop that just opened near us...Brain Freeze Creamery. Again... so good!! I chose the Huckleberry RedBull. FABULOUS!!

Delish!

Then we drove around our area showing Reilly all the new things that had been built or changed since she was here at Christmas. I love that Reilly has a hometown that she enjoys coming home to visit. I always wished that I had that! Sprindell is the closest thing that I have. I hated moving so much as a kid and Tyler and I always wanted our kids to "be from somewhere" and to have a "hometown." I am thrilled that we accomplished this goal for Reilly.

Back at home in a state of near exhaustion I made a wish and blew out a candle on my 44th birthday.

Exhausted but very happy...terrible picture...but oh well!!

Reilly left the next day to drive back to Utah. Such a short but very sweet visit. Reilly drove all the kids to school that morning and then we ran some errands that Reilly needed to do while she was in town and then we managed to squeeze in a quick lunch, and a visit to Tyler at work, before she drove back to Provo.

It's so hard to say goodbye!! 

I stocked her up with a new cooler, drinks, snacks, podcast suggestions to listen to, and tracked her drive home. THAT IS TORTURE!! Your child driving 12 hours by themselves while you wait for phone calls and texts from various stopping points along the way, convincing them to pull over and sleep for awhile when they get tired, and chatting them all the way home the last hour of the trip at 2am isn't for the faint of heart. Reilly is a gutsy girl and strong and capable. She did great...but I really PREFER her to fly!! Got that Ry??

You might think that my birthday celebration was over...but it wasn't. After Farm Chicks was over and we had recouped a bit...Tyler made me my favorite birthday dinner. Finger steaks with ranch dressing and mashed potatoes...my yearly treat... not healthy but so tasty. He made me one of my new favorite birthday cakes. The Trisha Yearwood Key Lime Cake. It is FABULOUS!! You can get the recipe here: http://www.mastercook.com/app/Recipe/WebRecipeDetails?recipeId=394680

Ailey and Bryn decorated once more:

And...I went to pick out my birthday gift:

My new paddleboard!! I cannot wait to hit the lake with this!!

I had a wonderful birthday week full of fun, crazy surprises, seeing good friends, and having all of my family together. It really doesn't get better than that!!

Farm Chicks 2016

Farm Chicks 2016

Farm Chicks weekend was an absolute whirlwind. A fun whirlwind but a whirlwind just the same. I think I am still recuperating from it. Farm Chicks actually begins a few days before the big show with trailer drop off. If you don't get a good spot for your trailer unloading and loading will be a big nightmare. Tyler, awesome husband that he is, waited in line for hours at trailer drop off. He is the best!!

Then the day after that is set-up day. This day is fun, frantic, and stressful. But it is awesome to see so many friends at set-up and to catch up with them. The vintage community is full of love! The downside of set-up day is the stress of having to do a rather elaborate booth design in a limited amount of time. Not fun.

This year we filled our trailer twice, our suburban twice, and our Honda. My mom had her large trailer packed along with her SUV. Stacey had her trailer packed and her SUV along with her husband John's truck. All of which had to be unloaded. As usual Tyler helped out with 3D design. His help is so valuable!! It is so nice to digitally place all the big and small pieces and then print off a "map". It totally cuts down set up time. This year we went with an extra large 4 booth space in a square configuration so it took a little extra design work.

Some pictures of our booth this year:

A picture of our booth from one side of the square.

Our booth from the other side of the square.

One of the things that I love the most is seeing all of our vintage friends together in one place. Even though Farm Chicks is super busy and we don't all get a ton of time together; I love the time that we do get. I wish that I had pictures of all of them. :(

I love our friend Penny with her vintage $1 store and our friend Rebecca who has our favorite clothing line...Peace Within.

I love these two "literally" sweet ladies!! Sally and Judy who own Sweet Frosting Bakeshop!! They are the best and they kept us supplied with all the cupcakes and macarons we could eat!! I adore them.

These are my two very favorite flavors...Strawberry Champagne and Salted Caramel...even though it is very difficult to pick a favorite as they have so many varieties and there has never been a cupcake flavor that I haven't liked. But both of these are my top two and I have had birthday cakes made out of both of them over the years. Delicious.

But the very best part of the weekend...which also happened to be my birthday weekend...was the surprise arrival of Reilly!! My birthday was on day two of Farm Chicks this year and she surprised me by driving up from Provo to spend my birthday with me and to help out with Farm Chicks. More on that later but it was the definite highlight.

I love that daughter of mine!!

After it was all over we had the best tear down crew...Tyler, Reilly, Kameron, Stacey's husband John, and my sister, Kelley. It was the fastest tear down on record.

Even though this pic is a little blurry, I love the love and support that it shows. (Ailey was also a huge help babysitting Bryn, Elle, and River!) I am grateful for my family and all that they do to support my dreams!! It was a wonderful show!! We loved every minute.

May: Things I Am Loving

May: Things I Am Loving

1.) The Pop Cast Podcast with Knox and Jamie

This podcast got me through May and Farm Chicks prep. It is hilarious!! It's about all things pop culture. The Mother's Day episode is awesome. Tyler was home from work sick for three days this month and he ended up listening to several episodes while I was working around the house and he found it hilarious too.

2.) Brunch

You are either a bruncher or you are not. I am definitely a bruncher. It's my favorite meal to eat out. I am not a morning person and I never feel hungry until about 11 am. So while I enjoy going out for breakfast I never feel that I get my money's worth because I am never hungry. Brunch, on the other hand, is all the breakfast foods that I enjoy + lunch foods that I enjoy + dessert. Money well spent! Because there is nothing I love more than eating delicious creme brulee french toast, a couple of crab legs, some shrimp, a small slice of prime rib with horseradish sauce, with a slice of coconut cake on the side. Brunch...it's the best.

3.) Conference calls with my siblings

Or as we call it in my family: Calling 3-way and 4-way because we are children of the 80s. I remember the joy that I felt in the 80s when I figured out how to call 3-way and have simultaneous conversations with two of my friends!! It was nirvana!! I am even more delighted now as an adult and have the capability of actually calling up to 5-way, which is perfect, because there are five of us McClellan siblings and we often have things to discuss. You know what I mean? :) Sometimes there are conversations that are too long for texting threads. My mom gets annoyed because she is positive that the 5 of us have our own texting thread that doesn't include her...correct. She is also positive that we talk about her on it... also correct. (I am SURE that three of my kids already have a texting thread wherein they talk about me..so all is fair.) This came in VERY handy this month!! Because sometimes you have to talk about your mother...or your brother...or whoever. ;)

4.) Staycations

5.) Lily of the Valley and Homemade "Perfume"

This year I had a great crop of lily of the valley in my garden. One day to keep Ailey, Bryn, and Elle busy after school; I taught them the joys of making homemade "perfume." This was one of me, Stacey, and Kelley's favorite things to do as kids. We would pluck the petals off of all kinds of fragrant flowers...roses usually...but with the girls we used lily of the valley and violets that were growing in our yard. Growing up Stacey, Kelley, and I each had a vast perfume bottle collection. Our mother and our Grandma McKinnon were our chief suppliers. Oh the joy when they handed you a bottle that still had a few squirts of perfume left in it!! Our next door neighbor, Mrs. Cragun, taught us how to make the "perfume". Fill an empty perfume bottle with petals, add water, let it steep for two weeks, add a drop off food coloring. Boom. Perfume. Not really...but kind of. We loved making "potions" and "perfume" when we were kids and Ailey, Bryn, and Elle are no different.

May

May

So much of May has been spent in an absolute frenzy preparing for this show. Farm Chicks is one of the biggest vintage shows in the nation and luckily it is held in my town so I don't have to travel to participate in it. It is an absolutely amazing show. Dreamy, in fact. I love being a vendor. But months and months of work are required to prepare for it and May is the final crunch time. It's chaos here.

In other exciting news...

The first grade had their big spring concert and it was western themed. Yehaw!! It was so cute!! Brynnie was just singing her little heart out and dancing around. Darling.

Track has also taken over our lives for the past two months:

Kameron is always so happy that I am taking his picture! :)

Great little cheerleaders!! Bryn really took an interest in all the events this year and talked to me several times about what events she wants to do when she is old enough. I love it!!

Yes, I know his shirt says cross-country but we were at a track meet. Kameron runs distance so his event is the 1600.

Kam ended his season on high note...a PR. He had a couple of those this season. He enjoyed it and has improved so much. It was fun to watch!

Ailey has been baking up a storm. Cookies, cupcakes and muffins. It has been GREAT!!

Kameron has also been very busy with marching band. His school marched in the Lilac Parade which is the big parade that we have here. They did a fantastic job! Kam was NOT A FAN of their marching band outfits and I am not allowed to post a picture BUT I can add some video.

Bryn and Ailey waiting for the parade to begin.

From another location and angle:



In other news...Bryn FINALLY lost her her other front tooth that made her look like Nanny McPhee:

Her front tooth flat out refused to fall out. Before she lost her other front tooth she slipped on the floor in the kitchen where she had been running around in socks and smacked her mouth. It jammed one of her front teeth at a weird angle. The dentist checked it out and said that since her other front tooth was loose to just let them both fall out on their own. Well it never happened. It got loose but it was jammed in there at such an angle that it wouldn't fall out. Then it started turning grey and then the permanent tooth started coming in over the top of it and she had a crazy double front tooth. It was time. I tried pulling it. Then I tried using tweezers...anything to get that darn tooth out. No go. Finally Tyler grabbed some little pliers and out it came. We were all thrilled!!

This past month two houses on our street burned about two weeks apart. The first house started on fire early on a Saturday morning. It was across the street from us and over three houses to the right. It started in their garage. Then at about 11 pm the Sunday night over Memorial Day weekend another house burst into flames. This time it was also across the street but three houses the other way to the left. Tyler and I had gone walking at the park late that night when we heard a lot of sirens. Then Kameron called us to say that the house across the street was burning and that you could see flames shooting out of the roof. It ended up being a full response. There were 5 fire trucks, an ambulance, police cars, and even the TV news were all there. The whole back side of the house burned. The firemen were up on the roof using a chainsaw to cut holes in the roof. It was crazy to watch. Luckily everyone got out okay. When Tyler and I left that night to go walking there were a ton of cars over there and some kind of party going on. When we returned the whole back of the house was on fire. They think that the fire started on the deck and moved to the house.

So sad. The house looks okay from the front but it is inhabitable. The people who lived there were renters and we really didn't know them. It was horrible to watch and the clean up is still going on. This brought back memories for Tyler. The house that he, his mom, and brother were living in after he got home from his mission burned down and with it most of the memorabilia from his childhood and mission. :(

On a happier note...Friday was the last day of early morning seminary for the year. Woohoo! An event celebrated by Tyler, Kameron, and myself. Tyler takes Kameron to seminary on his way to work and then I pick him up and drop him off at school. 5 years down and 11 more to go. All in a row. Kameron had a great seminary year. He loved his teacher and even though Kameron is NOT a morning person, he got up early every day without complaint and was on time. This is the complete opposite of the previous 4 years with his sister. It was appreciated.

Kameron auditioned for Jazz Orchestra which is the top Jazz band at his high school and made it. He was super excited. He is killing it as a freshman in the music department.

Kameron has had multiple band and jazz band concerts and performances this month. It's been fun to see how far the kids have come over the course of the year and how fantastic they sound.

Our Memorial Day weekend was spent loading the trailer, designing my part of the Farm Chicks booth with 3D imaging, tagging, and packing about a million items. This is one small corner of my house and trust me...no room or flat surface was spared...including deck, basement, garage, and storage unit. It was crazy.

Just like the entire month has been!!

Onto June...