Tricia's Going Away Party- and the Primrose Retreat (day spa)

Tricia is moving away...  Very sad news (I'd like her to stay...even if that meant that I couldn't buy her house).  I guess Las Vegas and dental school mean more to her and her family than her friends here mean to her.  Hard to imagine but there you have it! Luckily, the day keeps getting pushed back more and more and so we are now into July.  Cross your fingers that this trend will continue and she never leaves.

If you haven't met Tricia, she is the one with boundless energy and talent.  In fact, she is multi-talented-- I still don't know how many businesses she really has because I keep hearing of new ones  (sign language for babies, decorating for receptions, teaching voice lessons....I know there are others that I can't remember).  And, she is nice enough to invite a group of us singles over to her house to celebrate our birthdays, plus she makes great dinners!  And her 3 kids are adorable.  If I do buy the house, maybe she can leave one or two of them there for me to enjoy... And maybe her energy and talent will stay in the house and become part of the new owner.. one can only hope!

Tricia is in the picture, second from the left.  Lindsay (the one on the left) organized a great going away party yesterday at the Primrose Retreat, a day spa in Spanish Fork.  I hadn't been there before but was excited to party with some friends AND see what the spa had to offer.  Before lunch, we got to wander around a bit as everyone was gathering-- and waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.

Great place to have a party for Tricia because Primrose Retreat is also multi-tasking.  Nice fountains and trellis outside.  Inside there is a large banquet hall where you can have weddings, catered meals, and there is a Luau every Friday night with entertainment for $20/person.  Would love to go back for the Luau sometime-- you do need reservations if you plan to do this though.

  An area that I will probably never use, but I thought was awesome, was the "Spoiled Rotten" section where you can have birthday parties for little girls complete with princess outfits to wear, makeovers and mani/pedi's, face painting, tea parties, a runway for modeling... anything a young girl could want!  There's a whole listing of different theme parties to choose from.  I could see that being really fun for the girly-girl, Princess type.

Every place I have gone lately seems to have a counter with cupcakes and other treats.  Quite the trend--and a great treat-- but I'm afraid sometime soon people are going to realize that this stuff really isn't that good for you!  But it is tasty, and until that time...

Before I sound too much like a commercial for the Retreat, let me go back to the party and our lunch there.  How does this sound to you?  Artichoke/spinach dip, fresh fruit, and mozzarella sticks to start...  Yum!  I thought Lindsay got us a great deal on lunch, $10 for drink/entree/cupcake/tip.  The appetizers were extra.  I was torn between the Chicken Salad sandwich (their specialty) and the Tower of Turkey sandwich so I ordered one and Sheia got the other and we split them.  Both were excellent, but I think that I preferred the turkey one a little more.  Served on a croissant with lettuce, tomato, cranberry, and cream cheese!  Tasted great!

Several of us ladies had scheduled spa treatments after lunch, but it took forever for us to be served and so all of those appointments ended up being canceled.  We weren't in any rush, but I thought the slow service was the only drawback to the whole meal.  All of the sandwiches people ordered looked good; the salads looked ok (a little on the small side) except for the chicken crunch salad which also looked wonderful.

We had a whole assortment of cupcakes served to us for dessert.  The chocolate ones looked awesome, but I chose a coconut one and wasn't disappointed.  Definitely homemade and the crumb (don't I almost sound like a food critic talking about the crumb?  Thanks, Food Network) was perfect.  There is definitely a difference between a homemade crumb and that from a box. These cupcakes were probably better than those I have tried recently at some of the specialty bakeries. Only thing that could have improved them would have been if the frosting was at room temperature rather than chilled. 

Now, back to the commercial.  I want to go back sometime and get some spa treatments done!  There is a whole menu of items to choose from, including some packages that also include lunch.  Check out the website to learn more. http://www.primroseretreat.com/ .  Lots of treatments to choose from, including:  Sexy soles pedicures, Citrus Blossom Manicure, Aroma Transformation (wonder if you can choose what you transform into?), waxing (ouch!), Pure Fiji Coconut Bath,... the list goes on...

Anyone up for a ladies day out?  Let me know.