Last Wednesday, I was given the opportunity to fly to Oregon for an event on behalf of Harry and David. I had to go – I’ve had a leeeettle obsession with Harry and David since I was a youngin’ because my dad would always get these wonderful gift baskets and pear boxes and truffle towers sent to our home from clients, and my mom WOULD NEVER LET US EAT THEM. Ever. I mean, she would be all “we are going to save this for a special occasion” and run away with it. And my brothers and I were all “ugh SERIOUSLY? How can you do that to us?!” And I sort of think my dad felt the same way. Because after my mom’s attempt at hiding the basket or tower of goodies (if it was fruit, we would be allowed to immediately consume it…), the three of us would search that baby out, find it, and secretly devour the contents. But it wasn’t so secret because less than a day later my dad would most likely also go in search of the basket and do his own bit of damage. And then weeks later my mom would want to beat us all. Moral of the story: I will find a better hiding place for my treats when I have children. Heck, I’m gonna build some sort of secret underground or something.

So on Wednesday, I went to the airport at 3AM. Yeah… Oregon is sort of far away. But a nice lady offered me a peach on the plane, and I was grateful for the kindness of strangers. Except I was too afraid to eat the peach because I was inwardly afraid that it would be laced with some sort of LSD and I would die. Raise you’re hand if you agree that I’m COMPLETELY INSANE.

Anyway.

This event was organized by Sandy from the Reluctant Entertainer and oh my gosh… I’m pretty much in love with Sandy. She had us over to her gorgeous home for dinner and made us the most incredible meal. Her family is fabulous (totally reminds me of my own!) annnnd I’m about to invite myself to move in with them.

Sandy shared a ton of shots from that night and details on lots of the food she made for us, so I encourage you to check it out. You know how lackadaisical I get with my camera.

I can’t tell you more before mentioning the other girls that were there with us… because I adore them so. There isn’t even a word for how much I adore them, so you have to check out the sites of Rebecca (amazing), Maria, Lori, Jenna, Amy, Bridget, Heidi (omg… because she hilarious), Kristen and Rachel. I am insanely inspired by all of them.

I had a mini meltdown when I met Bridget because I admire her so, so much. Beautiful person inside and out!

The rest of the trip we did fun things like explore the pear orchards and the Harry and David chocolate factory (yes, the entire time I was like OMG) and drink wine and eat cheese and eat more cheese and drink more wine. We had gorgeous views for dinner and such incredible food. Oh… and it was like 110 degrees and I thought my face might melt off. This required lots of hair-wearing-up.

You may recognize baby Caleb from Maria’s blog. Gahhhhh can you even take him?!

Here is my plate one afternoon. There are a lot of vegetables on it!

No worries. I more than made up for it after.

Oh and right after I took this photo of this beautifully crafted zucchini bowl, I definitely knocked two over and completely destroyed the set-up before everyone ate. I’m such an embarrassing mess.

Hi Rachel. You are sooooo cute. You are hilarious too. And you live in Texas so I feel totally comfortable busting out my big, hot-rollered hair in your presence.

We got to paint our own chocolates and put them in little egg molds. In true I-love-the-90s-and-all-things-glitter-pink-and-sparkly fashion, I painted different colored hearts on my eggs. Don’t even tell me you’re surprised.

On the last night we made our own little makeshift happy hour where Rachel, Jenna and I squished our faces together. Jenna and I ordered margaritas… but then regretted our decision and ordered mojitos after one sip. We aren’t indecisive or anything.

Perhaps the best part was our trek to the Harry and David country village, which I can only describe as even more amazing than Trader Joe’s. And you know how much I love my TJs. Let’s just say I did quite a bit of damage in that store and when the products arrive on my doorstop on Tuesday (yes, couldn’t even fit that much in my suitcase) I might have to frantically hide them from my husband so he doesn’t see how much I spent. Or devour six wedges of smoked blue cheese before he gets home – whichever comes first.