Pizza Party!

Two's company, but three is a party!! And what do you serve at a party? Why, pizza of course!

One Saturday, Keizo and I made a quick trip to Costco, which is barely 10 minutes from my parents' house. As I pulled into the parking lot, he uttered an amazed "We're here already?" The Costco in Japan is about 30 minutes from his apartment, making it a rather inconvenient place to pick up just one or two things.

We stocked up on some household staples and grabbed a plain cheese take and bake pizza. When we got home, we got started assembling the toppings bar; we had spinach, sausage, bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes, olives, onions and mushrooms!

We also picked up some wine, and since we were at my parents' house, there were actual wine glasses to drink from!

One of my best friends from high school joined us for dinner and we got started decorating our own pieces of pizza. Then we popped the whole tray in the oven at 400 F for about 10 minutes and we were ready to eat.

Jenny and I showing off our mad pizza decorating skills on round 2.

After dinner, we were joined by Jenny's husband and we brought out the board games. First we played Jenga, then moved onto Pictionary, which provided us with hours of entertainment. I don't think they left until after 12. I really hope we'll all get a chance to do it again...just not quite sure when that will be.

Zion--Picnic Paradise

I know I said that the Bellagio's gelato bar was our last stop in Vegas, but our last stop was actually Food 4 Less to pick up supplies for a "picnic" dinner after our arrival in Zion. The drive took a bit longer than expected and we didn't end up checking in to the Zion Lodge until around 11 PM. I didn't need too much of a dinner after that, but we did open up the bottle of chardonnay we purchased and snacked on some crackers before turning in.

The next morning, breakfast was included in the price of the room, so we headed to the dinning room to fuel up for the day. I had a nice cheesy omlette and Keizo had some bacon, sausage, eggs and hash browns, and we both enjoyed our first decent cups of coffee of the trip. We spent the rest of the morning sightseeing and doing a short hike.

We stopped for lunch on a bench overlooking a small stream and opened up the cooler to enjoy the first of several picnics over the next few days.

We had crackers with Swiss cheese and spreadable herb cheese, avocado, carrots & hummus, and grapes. And of course some chocolate to finish it off.

I really don't need anything too fancy to make me happy.