Monday, February 25, 2008

One Night as a Hopeless Romantic....

I am a die-hard romantic. I was the little girl who wanted to grow up to be a princess. When reading any romantic books or watching romantic movies, I grew up thinking that every man gazed upon his lady love with a look only described best by writers like Jane Austen, and that every relationship began with letters dripping with romance, coy innuendos and formal requests to "call upon you again".
So when I received an invitation from my dear friend Amanda George, and her friend Heidi, to come to a "romantic girls' night," I jumped at the chance! My invitation was filled with rose petals and a tissue, as well as movie list including Emma, Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice as well as Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. I had my top pick, and all I had to do was RSVP.
Before arriving at the movie party, all us girls (about 12 of us I think) thought we were in for a night of homemade chili, snacks and a nice romantic movie...oh, and did I mention the dress code? Pajamas!
Upon entering Heidi's home, there was a trail of rose petals leading to her door, where I noticed a shelf of letters with various knick knacks partnered with each one. After a hearty chili dinner (yummm) our hostesses told us that before revealing the movie of choice, we were to watch a movie montage of different clips from all the movies. And that each girl had to read one of the "mysterious" letters which "appeared in Heidi's mailbox" that afternoon. The letters corresponded with each movie clip, featuring love sonnets from Mr. Darcy, Gilbert, Professor Behr etc....After gushing over the romantic writings of our fictional "gentleman callers" we popped in the movie of choice....Little Women. A quarter way into the movie we heard something hitting Heidi's french balcony doors. Snowballs? Who would be throwing snowballs? All of us girls ran over to the balcony doors and flung them open to find three, attractive, singing, men below us. They were serenading us, complete with guitar and the song, My Girl!The men (who turned out to be Heidi's brother and his two roomies, Arnie and Martin) proceeded to come up to the apartment and tell us how they saw us gorgeous girls from afar, and had to meet us in person! Cue the salsa music, and each gentleman picked a gal and started dancing! After dancing with all of us, we all received a red rose.
Then, the movie started up again and all of us looked around and said "did that really happen?" hearts a flutter, and cheeks rosy with a "puppy love" flush, we all looked like little girls, who just got done dreaming about their prince charming...only we had LIVED the romance!

After the movie, we sat around chatting about the night, the movie, our favorite characters and just relaxed. It was a fantastic Saturday night, and I could never be more in debt to my "very organized and super planner" hostesses than I am now...thank you for letting me live a romantic dream, to think that there really are Mr. Darcys still in this world and that though cheesy, and overdone by today's standards, our night of rose petals, love letters and dancing was just with this gal needed...and it was so much fun I wish I could re-live it night after night!

Friday, February 15, 2008

A Look at Valentine's....

February 15th...a day of relaxation! The hustle and bustle and pick ups and deliveries during Valentine's Day are now over and it's time for a breather...
Valentine's Day was busy at The Chocolate Season, with lots of chocolate covered strawberries, truffles, gourmet apples and some special requests like peanut clusters, and uncommon Valentine goodies like cheesecake brownies, cheesecakes, cookies and other sweets for your sweetie :0)

Enjoy a couple pictures that show just a *tasting* of what we did this last week!

On the homefront, my husband was kind enough to cook a gourmet meal of feta cheese crusted top sirloins with merlot sauce, steamed asparagus and served it with my favorite wine, Vin du Bugey. He also picked up a pretty chocolate dome to share for dessert and we ended the night with a movie at home....which was perfect after a loooong day at work!
We also exchanged gifts after dessert and he picked out a top from my FAVORITE store, Francesca's Collection as well as made a homemade card, complete with pictures from the last year....*awwww*

What did everyone else do for Valentine's Day? Do you prefer to stay in or go out? Whatever you did, I hope that everyone ended the night with something delicious...because it just wouldn't be Valentine's without a little chocolate.....

Monday, February 4, 2008

Chocolate for Breakfast?




What a fun weekend Brad and I had! We started off this Friday by attending Van and Bonnie's annual Chocolate Breakfast at the Living History Farms in Des Moines. A truly family affair, my mom came to Des Moines the night before to help set up my table and then that night my sister Amanda and husband Brad helped me cut fudge for samples. They both also stayed with me all morning, 4:30 am to 10:30 am, manning the table.
It was hard to keep count, but we're pretty sure we served 1,500-2,000 people that morning, with most people saying they had an hour wait outside....in the cold weather....just to browse through the Chocolate Breakfast. (those are truly chocolate fans!)
Another highlight that morning was getting the chance to talk on the Van and Bonnie show as well as to personally meet and chat with these radio superstars....
Later that night Brad and I attended and catered a First Baptist Church marriage retreat. The menu? A fondue dessert bar with angel food, cookies, pineapple, strawberries, dark and milk fondue and the the crowning touch....homemade marshmallows! The retreat was a lot of fun and a very worthwhile experience, and the response to the marshmallows was so strong, that i might start offering them on-line as a full-time product...what do you think?

Lastly, my sister Amanda and husband Brad (yes, there are two Brads in the family) hosted us for the weekend, letting us stay in their home and took us to dinner and church. To make the weekend complete, my brother Michael, wife Crystal, and niece and nephew Hannah and Ian came out to Granite City to share dinner with us, and it was truly a treat to see them (thanks for making the trip you guys!!!)
Thanks again to my wonderful family for such a fun and busy weekend, and thanks to Van and Bonnie for hosting such a unique event and letting us be a part of it!

Also...new specials at The Chocolate Season! While supplies last, you receive a 1/2 lb of assorted specialty bark with a $25 order, and there is a 25% discount on any Rocky Road popcorn size! Just enter in the coupon code, popcorn08 during check out!

Hope you enjoy these new specials, and check out a limited edition Valentine's Day box for your special someone this holiday! http://www.thechocolateseason.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=4

(just be sure to order by Feb. 10 if you'd like it shipped for the big day!)