Play Day (Part 1)

Most Friday's start out the same. We wake up at 6:30, have breakfast as a family and spend a few minutes reading from the scriptures. After that I get dressed and ready for the day, then the carpools begin...first to the junior high to drop of Blondie and her two friends and then to the elementary school to deliver the Ballerina and her friend.

Today was a special day for the Ballerina. It was her turn to take the "snack bar" for her fifth grade class. Last night we made mini cheese cakes with raspberry topping. She said they were a hit, which I knew they would be! :-)

Each Friday morning (and Monday's too) my three friends and I head to Einstein Bros. Bagels for an hour or two of "therapy" over bagels and diet Coke. We usually head straight home to take care of our "duties" for the day, but today we made a stop a Michael's to pick up a few small decorative Christmas trees. Well, that really got us in the mood for shopping, so one of my friends and I decided to make our way to one of my favorite shops in all of the world...Broadbent's. My friend's 21 year old son (who had the day off from work) asked his mom if she was just going to play all day. Can you guess what her answer was?

Last year when my friends came to Utah for a quilt retreat, we made several stops at Broadbent's in Lehi. Broadbent's is the oldest family run department store in the United States, established in 1882. For such a small store, they carry quite a variety of seasonal decoration, quilt supplies and other odds and ends, including some furniture. Years ago, when I made my first trip to Broadbent's I was in search of RUFFLEY slips to go under the Christmas dresses that I had made for my two (at the time) daughters. That would have been ten years ago, as I remember being big and pregnant with the Balleria in those Christmas pictures! At that time Broadbent's only had a small (but good) selection of quilting fabrics. Now it seems like the quilting area gets bigger each time I visit!

Anyway, at the time of the retreat, Broadbent's was filled with all sorts of fall decorations. As wonderful as that was, Christmas is my all-time favorite time of the year to visit the store. The place is decorated from head to toe with holiday cheer! Here's a little eye candy for your viewing pleasure.....
These decorations make me feel like I'm in a winter wonderland. I picked up a decoration here to send with my mini tree skirt swap.

Their decorated trees are out of this world! I think there were at least 10-12 decorated trees in the store. And the great part is that if you see something that you like on the tree, you can take it off and take it home...for a "small fee", of course. (I hope the woman in the picture doesn't stumble across my blog and find her fanny on display for the whole world to see!)

And speaking of behinds...I'm really bummed that my pictures from the room with the nativity scenes, didn't turn out. They have the largest selection that I have ever seen in one place; from the fabulous Fontanini creches down to the fun and whimsical sets. It think I've bought at least two or three sets here.

This room is filled with decorations for cowboys and outdoorsmen. There were three or four different trees in this room, but most of the pictures came out a little blurry.

The above two pictures show the area dedicated to decorating your kitchen. Feels pretty festive, huh?
Oh, yeah...I'd better show you some pictures of the quilt shop. LOL!

That's all for today, but if you'll stop by tomorrow I'll show you some pictures of where we went after we left Broadbent's!