Positive Stress, Hosting 200 Women In Italy, & A Dreamy Oatmeal CC Cookie Recipe

Female Foodie Friday Vol. 18

Feb 22, 2025

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I’m level 10 excited that it’s Friday because this week has been b-u-s-y.

In less than 2 weeks, I leave for Italy, and the positive stress has officially kicked in (remember finals week in college?—that’s what this feels like).

If you’re new here, I host food tours for women in Italy in Rome, Tuscany, and the Cinque Terre & Bologna. It’s a real-life dream come true, and I have the absolute dream team helping me make it happen.

In Montana this past summer at a team retreat with Colette (our chief of staff at FF and trip leader for the tours) and Michelle (a trip host for 4 of the 8 tours this year)! I simply adore them.

This year, we’ll be hosting roughly 200 women on these various tours and can hardly wait to meet everyone.

When I first started hosting tours in 2022, I was nervous to have so many women together for 7 days. Now I know how amazing all of our guests are. It’s hard to say goodbye at the end of the week.

Here’s a peek into some of the last-minute to-do list items I’m working on:

prepare for our pre-trip meetings (something our guests attend virtually just before the tour, where we review the itinerary and answer questions)
make small menu tweaks with our restaurants and caterers to ensure we aren’t having too much or too little of anything over the week (YES, I have a master doc of all the things we are eating throughout the week 🙃)
buying little gifts for the amazing tour guides, villa hosts, and small business owners who help us piece together the most magical itineraries
combing over all of our emails and communications with guests to make sure we’ve taken care of every question, request, etc.
find the exact address for my favorite gas station in Italy to share with our bus driver for the Rome tour (s/o to the Autogrill!)
withdraw lots of cash for various expenses. Italians just love their cash.

And that’s just a sliver.

Date night’s on deck for tonight, and I’m ready as ever.

10 Things That Made This Week Great

I wrote last week’s newsletter the night before Valentine’s Day, so sharing some of my V-Day highlights. Pulled out all the stops for my kids (I’m the most uncrafty mom ever), and did heart-shaped grilled cheese sandos, pink heart-shaped pancakes, and used My Mind’s Eye paper goods to make it feel special.
I asked for flowers and got a gorgeous bouquet from my fav grocery store, complete with a box of incredible chocolates made in the PNW. For dinner, Cody surprised the whole family with an amazing charcuterie board that we enjoyed with a simple pasta dish. I was wildly impressed that he got the perfect smattering of cheeses, salty & sweet, and lots of textures.
Valentine’s Day Weekend date at our favorite Spanish restaurant in PDX that we planned together. The food was phenomenal; the conversation even better.
Stunning tray of tapas + my dapper date.
Last year, I stumbled upon Dean Sheremet’s Instagram account (thanks to this viral vid!) and have loved seeing literally anything he shares online ever since. This past week, I had the honor of hosting him on the podcast. Not only was the interview fantastic, but he’s one of the most hilarious people I’ve ever talked to.
I never thought the day would come when built-ins for a closet would be genuinely exciting, but here we are (and for the record, I am thrilled to have these in my kids’ rooms—getting painted next week!).
Since Italy tours are just days away, I’m officially in crunch mode and cooking significantly less. Last night, instead of making dinner, we drove 20 minutes to one of the best Mexican restaurants in the Portland area, and it was SO good. The panuchos, tamales, asada plate, and conchinita pibil are some of my favs from Ki’ikibáa.
Quality time with one of my dearest friends was a Sunday highlight. You know they’re a forever friend when they cook dinner with you, lovingly tell your kids to stop running amok (truth!), help clean up, AND talk for hours.
ILY, Carine!
PS- I forget how insanely delish this lasagna is until I make it again. The perfect meal when you have company.
These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with coconut just felt right after crossing the finish line of Friday.
A new-ish song that I’ve been loving. Do you use Spotify or Apple Music?
Cody and I did a fun exercise this week (100% his idea). We highlighted our 10 most meaningful moments from the past 10 years and listed 5 predictions or hopes for the next 5. We wrote our lists independently and compared notes at the end. Not only was it so fun to reminisce on our first full decade together, but we noticed that almost all of those meaningful moments coincided with struggle, growth, or being uncomfortable. If you’re in one of those seasons, remember this quote: