Can't Get Enough Cheese

You're not going to believe this, but I actually got up at 7:00am on a Saturday of my own free will and went walking. I know! I can't really believe it either. This is totally something that my optimistic late-night self would plan, but that my weary early-morning self would laugh at and veto immediately. But this morning I actually woke up at 5:51am on my own (weird) and then went back to sleep until 6:50am. I really can't properly express the rarity and amazingness of this event. It could have something to do with me going to bed at 9:30 last night, but still.

{Photo of my hill, but not taken today.}

My walk was rather nice, though it was my first time tackling the beasty hill so far this year. It was rough. I seriously feared that gravity would push me back down, but I huffed my way to the top like a champ. Woohoo. (Is having the words huffed and champ in the same sentence an oxymoron of sorts?)

Even being up and going so early I still managed to leave the house 25 minutes late to go pick up my new blogging friend Becky. I guess I wasn't stressed about being exactly on time because I was picking her up at her mom's house (as opposed to meeting her somewhere), but I still felt like a putz for arriving late.


We went to Johnny Carino's for a very tasty lunch. I had the 6 cheese tortellini (because clearly I need more cheese) and she had the Chicken Parmigiana. We thought we were too full for cheesecake, but ended up sitting and talking until we felt we had enough room. We got a piece of Turtle Cheesecake and New York Cheesecake with raspberry sauce to share, they were so good.


Becky brought me this multi-pack of mini tissues because she saw them and thought of me. Isn't that nice? I love these little packs and carry them with me all the time.

I had to dash off to make it to Bella's baptism by 2:00. I made it there in time to run over to Adam and Amy's house to change my clothes and then get to the church 10 minutes early, phew.


We gathered at their house afterwards for some good food (though I was still pretty full from lunch). I made Michelle's toffee dip and must say it tasted better than ever today. I don't know what the deal was, but it was fantastic (if I do say so myself). Amy's brother Chris actually said, "I love it, I want to eat all the time." I found this highly amusing, but part of that was the way he said it so you'll just have to take my word for it. Maybe it was the awesome Mexican vanilla I have from Jenn, hmm. Just in case there's anybody who doesn't have this recipe yet, here it is.

Toffee Dip with Apples
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 c. toffee bits (3 broken Skor bars are even better)
1 c. pineapple juice
6 Red Delicious Apples cut into wedges
6 Granny Smith Apples cut into wedges
(Any apples are great with this dip, these are just the suggested kinds.)

Combine sugars, cream cheese, and vanilla in a bowl. Beat at medium speed until smooth. Stir in toffee bits, mix well. Cover and chill.

Combine juice (to keep the apples from turning brown) and apples in a bowl; toss well. Drain apples. Place in an airtight container and chill. Serve dip with apples.

So that was my day. It felt a lot like a Sunday because of the baptism and the church clothes, and since I wore church clothes for the funeral yesterday as well my body clock is in a serious time warp. It doesn't feel like it should be Sunday tomorrow.

**Do you make this toffee dip?
Do you enjoy little packs of tissues?
What's your favorite cheesecake?
How would you do with 3 days of church clothes?**