Two posts in one day?!? Well...don't get used to it!

I didn't want to put ALL the pictures in one post. It will look better on my blogger stats if I've published TWICE in March!

Afternoon Tea at the Grand America Hotel!
My fellow teachers and I were recognized as the 5th grade team with the most growth on our reading scores between the beginning of the year and the mid-year reading fluency test. We were invited to "Afternoon Tea" at this Hoity-Toity hotel in downtown SLC. This is where the presidential candidates and sports stars stay (we saw the Miami Heat leaving while we were there).

We started off with a little tea (or hot chocolate in my case). It was almond something. Pretty much amazing.



For the "tea" we had quaint little sandwiches. I felt very British.



Of course, we wrapped it all up with some pretty amazing desserts. The best ones were on the bottom.



We were also visited by a TV news anchor who expressed her appreciation for us and sat and chatted with us individually for a few minutes. It was really nice that she didn't just come in, say thanks and leave. It was nice to feel appreciated! I also got a autographed copy of a book by one of my FAVORITE authors (Shannon Hale). Pretty amazing afternoon!

I had a birthday! Shout hurray!



My cake(s) were pretty much amazing. Red Velvet and Tuxedo Chocolate Mousse. Thank you Costco for making such delicious cakes! The best thing about your birthday is that you can eat cake for breakfast and not feel guilty. Or, at least, I didn't. I'm thinking we need the Red Velvet cake for our family gathering. No worries, I'll pick it up on my way to mom and dad's....

My birthday dress. I love it!!! I wore it to school a few days after my birthday and I overheard some 3rd graders talking about my outfit. One of the girls said, "How come Miss Vance always dresses so cute?" Another girl responded, "Yeah, she has the best clothes!" Praise from a 9 year-old? I'll take it!!






(This one is a weird angle, but I was trying to take a picture before I headed to church and no one else was around to take it. Well, Ella and Sam, but lack of thumbs kind of cancel them out.)

My birthday meant that I needed to renew my driver's license, something I last did 5 years ago. A lot can happen in 5 years.


Here's to a fantastic and astonishing year of my life!!

(P.S. I love how my post is almost all pictures of food and my last picture is celebrating my weight loss....Ironic.)