There have been a handful of times in my life where I've felt like someone needed to pinch me to convince me the situation was real. One was when Tanner proposed to me, one was when I was on my way to the hospital to deliver my first son, and one was when I won the interview portion of the Junior Miss competition in 2003...no judging on that one allowed.
This is how I felt at the end of September when Tiffany of Offbeat + Inspired asked me if I'd like to come along with her to Jackson Hole with the Jeep brand. Uh...yes? What? Hold on....hold the phone...is this real?! It most certainly was. Plans were made, bags were packed, and at the end of September I found myself in Wyoming. Getting to plan a girls weekend with the Jeep brand was an INCREDIBLE opportunity. More so than that though was getting to meet Tiffany for the first time IN PERSON. I had to keep reminding myself that we hadn't met, because it truly felt like we had spent summers together as kids and lived a lifetime of adventures already!! We'd met a couple of years earlier over the internet and were going through similar heartaches and trials, but also we sometimes would just laugh about cats for three hours via Skype, and sometimes we would literally write out plans for our business ideas...which may still come to fruition. Fingers crossed.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I found out that the third girl would be Elizabeth Cauvel. Many of you know her from the last season of Masterchef! She is amazing. I kept telling both of the girls that the weekend could have gone down in flames if even one of us didn't get along with the others. I couldn't have picked better people to spend the weekend with! Elizabeth is hilarious, and it was so easy to be real with her right off the bat. It's like we had all grown up together!! Nuts!!
Jeep brought us together to explore Jackson, style a glamping tent, cook a farm to table dinner with the head chef at the Teton Mountain Lodge, and roast homemade artisanal marshmallows from Persephone Bakery under the Tetons. OF COURSE I took pictures, but Jeep filmed the WHOLE thing and I'm sure that will be much more fun to watch!! Here's the video, and I've posted a bunch of behind-the-scenes pictures (all taken with my iPhone) -- let me know what you think!!
Our first stop was Cosmic Apple Gardens..where we met up with Chef Wes Hamilton and picked vegetables out of the GROUND. WITH OUR HANDS. I definitely want to do it again sometime...I can't believe I've grown up around farms my whole life and have never done this. I want my OWN farm now, or at least a CSA.
We picked kale, fingerling potatoes, beets, carrots..and a few other things that went into the dinner we made.
We got to explore Jackson, and shop in the COOLEST stores!! First up was Mountain Dandy. This place was straight out of a DREAM! Everything from the chesterfield sofa, to the Tom Ford coffee table book, to the vintage tumblers....it was all incredible. I really hope they'll join us for our Salt Lake market!! Just a quick note, Jon and Christian have their store online...so if you see something you like, head to their website!
I'll take one of everything, please.
Persephone Bakery was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. We learned how to make homemade marshmallows here, and sipped on Intelligentsia coffee!! Mmmmm. They also provided lunch for us during one of our all day shoots, and served the best food....and sweets!!
This is Brian. He was our sound guy, and we all just loved him!! As it turns out, he also knows Kelli from doing sound for her episode of House Hunters!! Super small world. We miss you Brian!!
Delicious sweets and treats...
And me looking like a baffoon because I've ALWAYS wanted to yell "ACTION!" and snap a slate like a pro. My expression does not say "I am slapping this slate like a pro."
Next up...dinner and GLAMPING...under the Teton Mountains!!!
We used furniture and props from Mountain Dandy to style the glamping tent, and ate dinner around a gorgeous table in a field of horses. I don't even like horses and I almost cried at the beauty!!
I don't HAVE to say any of this, but I thought I would include a quick note about getting to drive around in the Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel. It was an experience!! They have heated seats, and COOLING SEATS...meaning that there's a FAN for when you're hot and sweaty and sticking to the leather seat. We played around with the adaptive cruise control (you set it, and it will automatically brake if a car slows down in front of you. SO PERFECT for stop and go traffic!!) and the GPS navigation. I've been so spoiled using my phone that I forgot how nice an in-dash navigation system is. I also LOVED the back-up camera. It was life changing for me actually...after I came home, I was staring at my dash waiting for the camera to pop up.....I did that two or three times the first day I got back. I would definitely own one of these if I had the chance!!
I took this right in front of our dining table....horses in the field!! Tetons in the background!! SO GORGEOUS...
This experience was one I'll never forget. I'm still pinching myself. Have you gone on an adventure like this before?? Would love to hear your story!!
* This post was brought to you in partnership with the Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel
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