I'm in love with a plant

My friend Faith always seems to be a step ahead of me in life, literally and figuratively. I met her in Columbus when her husband, Chad, was doing his residency and Larry was just starting medical school. Since then they've done a fellowship in Toronto and moved to Salt Lake City where Chad is now a "real" doctor and Larry is doing his fellowship. I look up to Faith a lot (that makes her sound like an old lady, and we are pretty much the same age) because I think she's perfect. Ok, no one is perfect, but she is good at all of the things I'm not (amazing cook, always spotless organized house) so I feel like I'm just absorbing as much as I can when I'm around her. Do you have any friends like that?

Anyway, I just feel so happy when I am around Faith so I've been really looking forward to a little shopping trip with her today, and I was not disappointed. I love learning about the area where I live from someone who lives around here because they know all of the local secrets that I might take ages to discover on my own or sadly never even discover at all.

Today we went to three of Faith's favorite stores. First, House of Bread at 2005 E. 2700 S. SLC. A little local business that uses all natural ingredients and no fat to make the most amazing bread and treats. Your mouth will start watering just from the smell in the parking lot. When Faith moved here, one of her neighbors brought her a loaf of apple cinnamon swirl bread (she says it makes the best french toast) and now Faith has a tradition of bringing her new neighbors the same bread so she treated me.

Second, across the street is Cactus & Tropicals. I'm a totally copycat and had to have this little ornamental plant that Faith has. Isn't it cool? It's called a pincushion plant and the berries are supposed to last through fall season. I always hoped to find a local nursery like this in my neighborhood in Columbus, but never succeeded. I have this thing for ususual plants. I like impatients and mums and marigolds, but if I'm going to go through the effort of planting something and keeping it alive, I want something that catches your eye because it's beautiful and different or I want something that would make beautiful seasonal decor. This is exactly the nursery to go to for something like that. I was drooling over the ornamental cabbage and I wanted to drag home every single varigated pumpkin. The pumpkins had just arrived and will be for sale later today or tomorrow so I'll have to head back soon.

Finally, we stopped off at Real Deals, a shop with inexpensive decorative stuff much like Tai Pan Trading. It's only open on Thursdays and Saturdays, and the ladies who work their are so nice and love to have kids in the store (that alone made me want to buy something). Most of it is not really my style, but there are some really inexpensive basics and their inventory changes quickly. Faith says she loves to check their for affordable holiday decorations. We hit the location at 4048 S and 2700 E, but there's one in American Fork too. I headed home happy with this $7.00 garden cloche that fit my pincushion plant perfectly.

So often we don't give much thought to how lucky we are to have our local favorites. I loved seeing a few of Faith's favorite spots. I think this is the best way to discover a town. When I travel with my parents they always avoid tourist hot spots and ask locals where they like to swim, where they like to eat, etc. How do parents get so smart? I guess I'm lucky to learn from the best. So what are your favorites? What's not to miss in your city that other people might not know about.

And PS- Is there a store anywhere in Salt Lake that sells really cool Halloween decorations? I love the Curio Cabinet in Columbus and The Gatehouse in Orem, and there must be some amazing store somewhere in Salt Lake, don't you think?