weekly 10: utah edition

7 things that made me happy this week . . .

one: surprising my sister with a weekend trip to utah. i called her right before i got to her house and she totally didn't believe me. she even called home to double-check and my sisters played it so well. it was so fun to see the look on her face when i walked in. priceless.

two: the adorable shoes i found at the Nordstrom Half-Yearly Sale. they're a little out there, but i love them. there is a downside, though. see below.


three: eating at one of my favorite provo/orem restaurants, pizzeria 712. i am always blown away by the amazing food and great service. it is a must every time i visit. that and guru's sweet potato fries. can't be missed. we're trying some new restaurants this weekend and i can't wait.

four: finally watching Tangled. loved it. it was one of those movies that while you're watching it, it feels like everything is right in the world. and zach levi was hilarious. it's now my go-to happy movie.



five: discovering new blogs, like bleubirdvintage.

six: this outfit from kendieveryday. i love dresses, but i usually wear them with cardigans. i love the idea of a blazer instead. now i have to find one.



seven: the two-hour nap i took today after going to 9 AM church with my sister. there is something magical about sunday afternoon naps, i tell you.

. . and 3 that didn't

one: i wore the previously mentioned shoes to the airport. brand new shoes. lots of walking. let me just say, i limped onto the plane kicking myself for thinking that the airport was a good place to break in shoes.

two: getting to the airport at 11:30 for my 1:10 flight and finding out it was delayed until 3:00. huge bummer. luckily i had snacks and reading material.

three: leaving oregon in the pouring rain and coming to utah and it's raining. yay. definitely not a trip to get tan. but a great trip nonetheless.

are you sure you want to read this? it doesn't have any pictures!

7 things that made me happy this week . . .

one: seeing a movie with my sister at 10 in the morning. half-asleep because we'd stayed up so late the night before. now it makes sense why i was laughing so much more than everyone else in the theatre.

two: a few days of really beautiful weather. maybe this time i can put away my sweaters?

three: justin timberlake on snl. knocked it out of the park.

four: ryan gosling in the trailer for crazy, stupid, love. hello!

five: baking cookies, by myself, on a saturday night. while listening to my adele pandora station. there is something so relaxing about sifting flour. although it did not make my cookies any different. huh.

six: book club this week for half the sky. have you ever had six layer coconut refrigerator cake with sour cream icing? well, that's what we eat at my book club when we read really grim, depressing books about everything horrible that's happening in the world. that and lots of cheese.

seven: finally getting around to reading water for elephants. really enjoying it so far. anybody read it and see the movie? what did you think?


. . . and 3 that didn't

one: watching home movies and realizing how bossy i was as a kid. yikes.

two: and we're back to the rain. here's to hoping summer gets here before august.

three: no pictures. wow, this no camera thing is terrible. i'm going to get right on that.

i should have been doing something productive on my lunch break, but instead . . .

i made the mistake of browsing around j. crew yesterday and found these two dresses. i promptly fell in love and then couldn't find them in my size. of course. now i need to go find the cheaper alternative at target. probably not possible.

i never know what to title these.

7 things that made me happy this week . . .

one: upbeat, fun songs that keep me running long after i want to quit. onerepublic/good life, hot chelle rae/tonight tonight, glee cast/born this way, and glee cast/somewhere only we know.

two: this post from the lovely meg. her writing is always beautiful but especially so today.

three: my cousin phil, who gave my computer a good scrubbing and helped me realize how much junk i had on here that i definitely do not need anymore. now i feel all organized and streamlined.

four: SPOILER ALERT! this week's episode of parks and rec [are you tired of hearing me fawn over this show yet?] was squeal-tastic. i might have watched the kissing scene more than twice. worth the wait and so satisfying. now if only i could get that much excitement and romance in my life!

five: getting my hair trimmed. so long, split ends! and scalp massages and having someone else blow dry my hair. life's little luxuries.

six: painting my nails with essie's "turquoise and caicos" and loving the change from boring pink. it might be raining outside, but it's summer on my nails!

photo from essie.com

seven: these outfits from my pinterest boards. i'm going to try to recreate them- we'll see how that goes.


Nine de la Fressange via rdujour.com


lucylaucht.com


emersonmade.com


. . . and 3 that didn't

one: losing half of a week and valuable training time because i was sick. let's hope that doesn't happen again anytime soon.

two: being unsatisfied with last summer's clothes and wanting to buy everything everywhere. i hate that feeling. i need to learn to be happy with what i have. boo.

three: buying a ring on a warm day and having it fit perfectly until the weather turned cold again. it got too big and fell off my finger and i lost it. moral: buy rings on cold days only.

thanks, mom

my mom saw my whining about not being able to figure out the scanner so she kindly uploaded these for me. so a couple days late, here's a couple great photos of my mom and me.


knee socks and an incredible homemade christmas dress with a pinafore.


don't you love her purple dress?! and my dad, tom selleck?



i had to share this one of my little sister and me because my mom made these easter outfits and got us hats, gloves, and little purses! incredible! see also my wall of bang.


looking for these pictures made me realize that i don't have a lot of photos of just me and my mom. mostly because we're the ones taking the pictures. all the more reason to get a better camera and stage some photo shoots.

how was your week?

7 things that made me happy this week . . .

one: the 70 degree day we had this week. i drove with the windows rolled down and remembered what it was like to be warm. now if we could only have that every day.

two: the tuscan white bean minestrone at california pizza kitchen. so delicious. i'm working on my own recipe so that i don't have go drive over there every time i get a hankering. side note: all of cpk's soups are vegetarian!

three: finishing two books this week, one of which i'd been reading since january.

four: finding these gems at the library.



five: clean sheets and a clean room. i always sleep so much better when my sheets are warm and crisp and i don't have clutter everywhere. mind-boggling.

six: attending two family dinners and an adorable robot-themed birthday party for a two-year-old. family time is great. it might have been a lot for one weekend, but it was lots of fun.

seven: buying my mom a massage for mother's day so that i can get one, too. win-win!

. . . and 3 that didn't

one: getting a cold. i hate not being able to breathe out of my nose. it makes sleeping so miserable.

two: not having a good scanner so that i can upload a picture of my mom and me like all of the cool kids are doing.

three: thinking i had more time before my next semester of classes and realizing i start up again on wednesday. oh the things i was going to do!

need a laugh?

i have a new favorite show. i tend to be picky with my comedies, so i don't often get excited about new sitcoms, but this is one worth sharing.



happy endings is about a group of friends who have to figure out how to stay friends when a wedding goes awry. it stars casey wilson from saturday night live, elisha cuthbert from 24, eliza coupe from last season scrubs [did you watch that? totally loved dave franco!], damon wayans, jr., zachary knighton from flash forward [i think only three people watched that, so it might not be relevant], and adam pally from nothing i've ever seen before.



it is exactly my kind of funny. casey from snl steals every scene and i am officially in love with adam pally and his insanely long eyelashes. that's not weird, right?
the dialogue is fast and witty and damon wayans, jr. makes me giggle nonstop.



it's on abc on wednesday nights, right after cougar town. there are already 7 episodes, but they're quick and you can catch up on abc.com or hulu.



check it out and let me know what you think!

this is my 101st post!

what's that you say? people don't normally celebrate 101 things? well, they do if they didn't even notice when they reached 100. but that's not important. i have a book to review!



i preordered this book as soon as i heard about it because, well, i'm lazy and i like getting packages. i was also incredibly excited because tina is easily my favorite person ever. and she's hilarious. i've been a huge fan since her weekend update days and she's still making me laugh.

bossypants is a quick read, more like a collection of essays than a typical book. tina shares how she went from working at the YMCA in Evanston, Illinois to creating 30 Rock. i opened my book to read before bed and was laughing out loud by the second paragraph. then i had to laugh inside because i remembered it was midnight and other people in my house were sleeping. and that's pretty much how the whole book went. i was reading it while eating lunch and had to hold it in because the other people at the restaurant were looking at me in annoyance. i read it while in a rehearsal for a church performance and happened to be silently laughing uncontrollably during a really serious part.

here's some gems:

from the chapter "there's a drunk midget in my house", tina offers some parenting advice. "'sleep when your baby sleeps.' Everyone knows this classic tips, but I say why stop there? Scream when your baby screams. Take Benadryl when your baby takes Benadryl. And walk around pantless when your baby walks around pantless" (243).

from a FAQ section about 30 Rock-
Q: How come Liz Lemon talks so much about food and overeating but she's not fat?
A: The character Liz Lemon has a rare condition called "orophasmia," where everything she eats immediately falls out her bottom like a ghost. This was established in episode 219, "The One About Liz's orophasmia"

so just go out and buy yourself a copy because you will enjoy it. or if you don't like to read, buy the audiobook so tina can read it to you.

if you just can't get enough tina, she's on late night with jimmy fallon tonight, and hosting Saturday Night Live on . . . wait for it . . . Saturday.

may day

7 things that made me happy this week . . .

one: finishing my classes for the semester. now onto exciting things like cleaning out my car and organizing my enormous stacks of magazines.

two: finding amazing deals, like these beautiful rifle paper co. cards



and baggu zipper bags



three: scary movie night with friends. i brought lots of treats but we never got around to eating them because the movie was so good and scary!

four: a lesson in church about journaling and getting excited about writing again.

five: realizing that i am not such a grump after all and that i can enjoy a good royal wedding now and then.

six: my new favorite song from the newest noah and the whale album. the best line? "don't be shy, be brave little champion." i'm trying to make that my motto.

seven: taking my sisters to see african cats and crying before the movie even started. an incredible movie and so much better than going to a zoo and seeing animals in little cages. whoops, almost got up on a soapbox there.



. . . and 3 that didn't

one: paying $25 for a pedicure that was as good as when i paint my nails. i guess i paid for a foot massage.

two: deliberately not setting an alarm this morning so i could wake up whenever i wanted. hello, 7:30 A.M. sunshine! on my shopping list? blackout shades.

three: finding tickets for adele's concert and then seeing the price. $170 and up. insane.