Going Home (part 1): Eating My Vacation Away

I love going home to New York. I love being with my family, I love the east coast and the trees and seasons, I love seeing all the things I associate with being home - like the park across the street that my family is at every day (and probably has been since we moved there years and years ago.)

You'd never guess that behind this hill of rocks was a park....

with a creek (and the baseball field in the background)

and really fun swings.

Anyways, a lot of my memories of NY also involve eating/food. In between Christmas shopping and work, I started trying to make a list of where I want to go. Some places I've been to, others I've just heard about and want to try.  We definitely can't do them all. But here's some of what we are choosing from:
(I had a couple pictures on here for some of the restaurants listed, but for some reason it wouldn't let me load with them on, sorry.)

hampton chutney - last time I was in NY, we took the subway out to the Indian neighborhoods in Queens and had some good authentic food. (Naan!) I've heard/read some really good reviews about this place.

jake's wayback burgers - I'm pretty sure my dad goes here at least once every week. The people behind the counter recognize him now. And I'm a burger girl. So yes, while I am on my way to get a delicious piece of junior's cheesecake, I will be stopping by.

cosi - kind of like a panera bread/zupas soup salad bread place. There is one close to my house and I can't even begin to count how many times I've eaten there. It's not a one-of-a-kind experience, but for me, it's a memory.

the bagel place at quaker ridge (which I just learned is officially called H&R Bialy. Who knew?!)  I used to get a bagel here before school very often (especially junior/senior year before AP tests when we'd go to school really early for extra review sessions. I'm pretty sure that was my key to success.). With a strawberry-banana-orange juice. I keep hoping to find a bagel place out here that comes close, but there's nothing quite the same. I like the bagels off the street vendors too, but this place is at the top of my bagel list. Neri's is up there too.

the mexican corner restaurant - I actually can't remember what I've eaten here. But I do remember loving it.

shake shack - again, burger girl here. I don't think I could say no to a burger/malt from there. Definitely going to keep this one on the list.

national underground - it's a music venue but it apparently has good burgers.
 also, it's owned by gavin degraw and his brother. fun little fact.

candle light - there is a facebook page dedicated to the wings. Yes, they are that good. Sometimes I have dreams about them. We've made some homemade wings that are pretty close to these. But it's not quite the same.

doughnut plant - I've always heard how the doughnuts here are pure bliss. And who doesn't like doughnuts? (actually, for about 2 years I just didn't want doughnuts after having them every week in seminary. But I wouldn't fight them putting in a Dunkin Donuts here in Utah. Please?)

grimaldi's - classic delicious NY pizza. That I LOOOVE. We drove to Vegas just to eat this (although, the boys thought we were going for basketball games, so the pizza was just my reason) once because it was the closest store to Utah. Oh, how I miss thin crust pizza I can fold and eat.

chinatown/pho - you know all the meat hanging in the windows of Chinatown? It's really good, according to David. I personally LOVE their sesame rolls with the different fillings.  And the pho places down the street. We had some really good food last time and I'm excited to get more.

quickly - their website makes me laugh. But we love their smoothies with the tapioca balls. Last time we ran around the city based on where the quickly's were so we could get more than one. Here was the last ones we had before we went home.

Anyone else have any good places I forgot? Because I am very open to more good food.
Next part - my list of what to do!

Linking up here:

Just throwing this out there...

So we have been talking a lot in our little household about an internship for next summer.
Now most of the debate is about whether or not I go with him.
  (And by debate, I mean, most of this is just me going back and forth)


Here is the basic situation.


I go with him:
- I quit my job -- but I'd look for one down there anyways.
- We have an adventure together
- He doesn't have to move there alone.(I don't have to be alone here.)
               - This is the biggest one. One night alone is bad enough....
- We don't save as much money if I don't get a job.

I don't go with him:
- We save quite a bit of extra money
- It is only for about 12 weeks and we can fly and see each other on the weekends
- We only pay one rent (his) so it wouldn't be as expensive as it sounds
- I keep my job which gives me something to do, plus it keeps my insurance. (Then when we move back in the fall, I will still have a job/insurance....)
- IT IS 12 WEEKS OF NOT BEING TOGETHER.


Plus other things that I maybe didn't list.
So, opinions please. 
Should I stay or should I go??

Thanksgiving.

Idea for this post from this blog.

1. Who do I appreciate? , my Heavenly Father, my family and friends

2. How am I fortunate? so many ways. my job. other job offers. that we have practically everything we need and want

3. What material possessions am I thankful for? home, working car, iphone

4. What abilities do I have that I'm grateful for? being able to listen to people yell at me quite often and not care -- maybe this isn't a great thing, but today, especially, I am grateful for it.

5. What about my surroundings (home/neighborhood/city/etc.) am I thankful for? the mountains!, snow falling, no humidity

6. What experiences have I had that I am grateful for? College Education, growing up in NY, being married young(er), lots of work experience, to make my own decisions, to be able to help others

7. What happened today/yesterday/this week/this month/this year that I am grateful for? Successful job interviews, being able to work in the nursery, playing the organ in church, spending quality time with family and friends

8. What opportunities do I have that I am thankful for? nursery (most of the time...), organ, having a job that allows me to interact with others, the chance to have new ones in different places

9. What relationships am I thankful for? my marriage! and my wonderful family and friends.

10. What am I taking for granted that, if I stop to think about it, I am grateful for? wayyy too much. sadly. but isn't that what Thanksgiving is for? 

Hooray for Fridays!

Fridays are my day off.

Best.Thing.EVER

I didn't even write myself a to-do list for today. 

Plus David is back from Seattle and isn't going on a plane again without me! 

(we leave for NYC together in 34 days!)

Thanksgiving is only 6 days away and I am just feeling so grateful right now!

Grateful for David getting interviewed.

Grateful that they went well (or so we think)

He did get to stay in some pretty swanky places - like Hotel 1000 in Seattle.

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Grateful I could spend time with his family while he was gone. 

Grateful he is home. 

It was bad enough without him for one night. Even more would be awful.

Happy Friday!

Memory

I have two distinct memories that I associate with this picture.

1. I lost my wedding rings. 

We were meeting by the side of the road next to a random field (see picture above? That's Utah Lake in the background.) to take my bridals. I was wearing my dress and I decided I wanted to put on lotion. But I had just gotten my rings cleaned so they would be all sparkly for pictures. So I took them off to put the lotion on. Bad idea. 

Notice the ruffles on my dress? My rings slipped under them and I completely forgot about putting them on. (Being engaged did weird things to my memory. I had a hard time remembering a lot of things.)

We get to the field, I get out of the car and my rings just slipped off my dress.

But did I notice? 

Of course not.

We just went ahead and did a 2 hour photo shoot - including driving from place to place... 2 large fields, one amphitheater, one gazebo at an apartment complex.

It was only when we were back in the car driving home that I realized I didn't have them. Or couldn't find them.

ANYWHERE.

So what do I do? Start crying and freaking out. 

We drive back to the first field - but how are we to know where exactly we pulled over on the side?
We pull over and get out of the car.
I'm still crying. And sort-of-not-really looking at the ground.
David at least has his head on straight.
The first place he looks is in the side of the door in our car.
And underneath all the junk,
there were my rings.

2. My wedding dress broke on our wedding day.

I know I mentioned it, but here's the whole story.
I got my dress altered - and by altered, I mean I needed to have the top completely custom built. The wonderful lady who did it for me had to put a whole new zipper in, so we just went with one of the cheaper/easier to do zippers. However, when I was trying it on, the zipper pulled apart. Luckily, we were able to fix it that time by just undoing it and redoing it. (But just in case, I sewed a handful of hook&eyes to help.)
Fast forward to our wedding day. I'm changing into my dress, right before we walk out of the temple together. And my mom and another sweet lady were helping me.
And my zipper did it again. Just split. We worked on it for a little bit.
Except this time, we couldn't zip it down and back up.
No matter how hard we tried.
Then the zipper came off on one side.
Oh man.

I just started laughing.
Of course something like this had to happen.
Luckily, after one phone call, a group of seamstresses come upstairs to help us.
They unstitched my whole dress in the back, reconnected the zipper, and sewed it all back together.
Then after they had zipped me up and fastened my pointless hook&eyes (great job, Nat. They didn't do anything.) they did a couple stitches on top of my dress. Just to make sure I could go the day without any more trouble.

I love this memory. I'm sure David was just sitting out there wondering what could have possibly happened to me. And no one told him what was going on. Mostly, I can't believe I didn't cry. (That is my go-to reaction for anything - happy, sad, angry. Sad, huh?) I laughed.

Because if that is the worst thing that could happen to me on my wedding day, then that was great. We were married already and nothing - not even a broken zipper - can make me give this up.

Hope

Today has been all about this:

I'm not supposed to get my hopes up. But I can't help it. 

in transition.

I think this title kind of sums up where I am right now with my blog. I'm trying to find a look I like, but nothing is the way I like it...... ugh. Plus it keeps doing weird things with my pictures, so if you can't see them or if they are weirdly huge, I apologize.  I guess it's one of those days.

David comes back from Dallas tonight! I never knew I was such a baby on my own, but after not really having to be apart, I really miss it.  But his trip to Dallas went well, so I guess I'm okay with missing him for a night.

His plane gets in at 9 which means I get to go walk around the mall (specifically the new H&M!) and buy Christmas presents.  Also. I bought a bathing suit today from Jcrew. Normally $104, I got the top and bottom for $10. I love good deals.

Also.
David just told me he was hungry.
So I told him to go eat. Except my phone decided to tell him go war!
haha!

11.11.11

Today is LAURA's birthday!!

Tonight we are heading up to dinner in Salt Lake, staying the night at a cabin in Solitude and partying all night long.

I wanted to show you the cake I made for her. I don't remember what I asked for when I was turning 12, but my mom gave me cake decorating lessons for my birthday. It was the Wilton classes at the local Michaels. Definitely fun, but I don't think I fully appreciated it as a 12 year old. I learned a lot there about icing and using different tips, etc., but this was my first time making fondant. I had a blast. Definitely not professional quality, but it was exciting seeing that I can make stuff like this. And I'd had this picture pinned for months so I was excited to finally do something off of pinterest.

Because of my lack of professional materials, we decided to make the bottom in a 9x9 and the top in one of my pyrex dishes. The hardest part was figuring out how much time to bake them for because those pans are not listed on the back of the cake mix.

Here are the few pictures I remembered to take:

We ended up making 2 of the little round cakes just to use up cake batter and just in case the other mini one had an accident.

Covering the cakes. Little is definitely easier. And it is surprisingly hard to get it smooth. 

Ignore the fact that they are not all smooth.....

The mostly finished cake! I attached the giraffe pieces (like how I told you what the pattern was supposed to be so you wouldn't have to guess wrong? yeah, me too!) using a small brush and water. The hardest part was trying to do it before the other pieces started to dry

My artsy shot - with stuff in the background. Clearly, I need to work on my photography skills. But right now, I'm pretty proud of my beginner cake decorating skills.

This was my inspiration:

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Maybe I should go see if I can find a blue giraffe or a pretty flower laying around. Or I can go clean my house.

Happy Birthday, Laura!

♪ All I want for Christmas is you ♪

Everyone knows that Thanksgiving is pretty straightforward - lots of traditional food (turkey, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, etc.....), but everyone's Christmas wish lists are different. We all want things that make us happy (or that we think will make us happy).

All I really want for Christmas is to have a good internship set up for David for next summer and to spend some quality time with the people I love (and to quit my job and just craft and sew all day long, but that is just a daydream).

But since half the fun of Christmas is making a list, here are some of my wants (which, Christmas or not, I will probably end up going to buy them for myself). (in no particular order....)

1. This bed frame. It is actually plans for you to build your own. I want one to build one in black to  match our dresser. Like really really really want to build one. (We just don't happen to have some of the tools that are necessary......)

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2. Speaking of beds, I want new bedding. Just to change up what is on our bed to give it a new look. I'm looking for something bright and fun. Kind of like these: 

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3. A magazine rack, because all of our lids are just in a cupboard right now and sometimes it drives me crazy.

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4. This haircut! (And I apologize, but I can't find the original source from Pinterest. I end up at twitter every time.) I want to keep my hair long, but I am getting antsy for something different.

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5.  Juniors cheesecake. ooooh. Cheesecake. Why are you so bad for me? Remember this post? My parents brought me one over the summer when Will got married. I died a little. It was wonderful. Definitely on my list of what to eat on our NYC trip.

6. New make-up! Don't tell anyone but I've been using some stuff for 2+ years. I'm amazed that it is actually still going, but I definitely need new ones.  I've looooved my bareminerals make up. Definitely on my list to get again. (I'm in the "medium beige" category for foundation, and I am always pleased with how it evens out my coloring. Plus their eyeshadow comes in colors that I love.)

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7. Toms. The regular kind. and I wish I could get some of their ballet flats too! All images from here.

8. This skirt/shoes. Maybe you have seen this on pinterest, but I WANT this outfit. I am thisclose to just going out and buying material to make my own skirt. Red is kind of colorful for me. So I haven't yet. But what a perfect Christmas skirt!

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9. A vacation with David! Did you know he and I have never been on a vacation by ourselves?! Shocking, I know. We've always talked about places we are someday going to go, but I'm thinking a post-graduation vacation should be in the works. Here are places I think would be amazing/incredible/wonderful/fantastic to visit:

Can't find the source of the picture, but this is in the Atlantis in Dubai.

Again, no source. Thanks pinterest. But this is in Santorini, Greece.

Paris! via

10. Scissors. To make my sewing experience a lot easier. I don't think kitchen scissors are quite making it.

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11. A Clarisonic face washing brush.  I've had my eye on this for awhile now. Just have yet to go and get me one.

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12. One of these. HA. Just kidding. It's $4,410. A little too pricey to ever get. But look how pretty it is. LOVE.

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13. This headband!

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14. A nice nice camera. which David said is so unreal of a Christmas list. I'm not allowed to put a picture up.

That's all I can think of right now.

But really. All I want is an internship we love. 

What is on your must-have list?!

11.10.11

1. Sometimes I have trouble communicating what is in my head. Does this make me crazy? Perhaps.

I just have all these thoughts and ideas and images and i just can't seem to get them down on paper/on the computer. There are days that I feel like I have all these ideas bursting to get out of my head. And then days like today.

2. Did you know it takes me quite awhile to write one of these posts? like almost a whole day. I actually started this yesterday afternoon.

3. I made fondant for the first time. It was mostly successful. Except where it says to add 3/4 of the powdered sugar. And I only added 3/4 c. Yeah. WENT GREAT, except I couldn't get my fingers apart because of all the marshmallow on my hands. 

4. Sometimes I have really weird dreams. Like last night, this old lady kept calling me on the phone and telling me I was doing everything all wrong. And I wanted to fight back but non-confrontational me couldn't do it. Even in a dream. Sad.

5. I have have considered buying multiple things today. And have struck out on ALL of them that I actually put in my basket/called about. 

And I really want this bathing suit. I have it bad for ruffles.

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6. Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away!

7. POLL time: Which city is better/cheaper/more fun/awesome/etc? 

AND WHY? tell me! I love hearing opinions!!

Chicago

Dallas

San Francisco

Seattle

Atlanta

Richmond

New York