birthday dinner with the girls.

 

 remember how i said birthday week was over?  well...i forgot just one thing.  this fabulous dinner my friends had for me.  we went to california pizza kitchen and ate the most delicious food.  i think we ordered the best combination possible off their menu...you have to try it.  here's what you need to order:

spinach artichoke dip.

bbq chicken pizza with applewood smoked bacon {seriously so much better with bacon}.

the mac and cheese off the children's menu - so creamy and delish.

doesn't that sound amazing?  i can't wait to go back.  i love food.  and my friends! but mostly food...

photo of the day.

back when isaac and i were dating, my bffs and i went on a cruise.  i recently stumbled upon this photo and it brought back so many fond memories.  this us us in jamaica. this day of the cruise is probably one of the craziest/most adventurous of my life.  we let a strange jamaican man drive us deep into the forest...what were we thinking?!  pretty sure he took this photo.

haha.  see more of this sketchy, fabulous cruise here. 

happy christmas eve.

the little christmas dinner i had with my bffs was so much fun this year {we missed you kari & katie!}  we went downtown to eat at the delicious happy sumo and found some last minute gifties {a funny book for isaac and some mini cupcake ornaments for me...} at urban outfitters.  and of course we munched on my hand dipped chocolatey treats all night.  oh, and my sweet friends gave me the most thoughtful gifts.  i love christmas/bffs.

happy christmas eve!!  today is the anniversary of a very special day for me...the day isaac proposed!  it was just 2 years ago.  crazy how much i love that man.

sister/cousin christmas dinner.

one of my top five favorite parts of christmas is getting together with all my besties for dinner and fun. we {as in me, my sissy jenna and cousin dallas} have made it a little tradition to get together for dinner each month to catch up.  i love it.  especially when we to go yummy places like the nordstrom cafe and eat delicious salads.  and then still feel hungry after said delicious salad and order a pizza.  i wasn't even ashamed.  their salads/pizzas/white chocolate bread pudding are amazing.  try it.

are you going?

i absolutely adore bijou market, as well as the lovely girls who put it together. my mom and i are making a day of it on friday - complete with a little lunch date. if you're in utah you really must make it a priority to go, all the vendors are fabulous. the bijou market blog gives you a little taste of each of their vendors, see it here. they are also having an amazing giveaway, ending tonight! enter here. see you there!

oh my yum.

pudding on the rice...ohhh where to begin. my sweet cousins are currently living in portland, oregon and own the most fabulous rice pudding and crepe shop called pudding on the rice. their first store was in provo, utah where i whipped up hundreds of batches of rice pudding during my first years of college, it was the perfect job for me. i loved it. yesterday, my mother-in-law called me from her trip to portland to tell me she was visiting pudding on the rice! i was sooo jealous. you guys, their rice pudding is seriously delicious.

isn't the color scheme perfect? i wouldn't have done it any other way...the love for pink obviously runs in my family! and aren't they such a darling couple? if you live anywhere near portland, you really must give it a try. and then tell me about it.

today.

today i woke up in a very bad mood and i don't know why. i hate it when that happens. it makes me want to forget all the things i need to get done today {a good work out, grocery shopping, loads and loads of laundry, party planning} and just sit around and watch all the shows on my hulu queue. gaaah i hate that. then i stumbled across this picture of my sweetie and i on our wedding day and felt much better. i love how photos can capture such lovely moments and bring back such happy memories.

okay okay i'm ready to take a deep breath and get started on my to do list. here's to a productive wednesday!

cupcakes and birthdays.

dear self,
wake up!!
love, emma.
this morning, after a nice workout and getting caught up on bachelor pad {so trashy yet so good}, i am seriously fighting the urge to go back to bed. i am so tired! but i need to prepare for the afternoon/night ahead of me. today i'm helping a friend make 60 cupcakes for a baby shower {i've never made 60 cupcakes at once before!} and after the shower we're going out to celebrate my sweetie girl malorie's birthday! can't wait. so self, wake up. there is fun to be had.

lucky you.

don't we all just love my blog header?! i know i do. ha! i've talked about it before here, but i just love jenna and her blog designs. and guess what! she is giving away a custom blog header over on her blog q.a. design. isn't that fabulous!

head on over to her blog and enter! i just love giveaways.

giveaway.

stacey is doing a fabulous giveaway on her blog love and photographs and i just had to share it with you! you get to pick any item from the lovely etsy shop 28th street photo & gift! all the items are beautiful, go check it out!

my quilt.

the highlight of my surprise graduation party = this gift. here's the story. last year my aunts threw me the most wonderful bridal shower and my aunt sent everyone a quilt square and asked them to create it with me in mind. it then would be made into a quilt, i was so excited! my aunts/cousins/mom/sister/grandma/mother & sister-in-law all made me the loveliest quilt squares. after my wedding they were sitting in a box, waiting to be made into a quilt for over a year. for my graduation, my sweet husband decided he would have it made. with the help of my fabulous mother-in-law and mom it was made. i was so surprised! isn't it beautiful?! it has so much love sewn into it. and the colors!! my favorite.

i love love love it.

what day is it?

i saw these lovely desktop calendars featured on another blog {i can't remember which one!} and was so excited to discover you can get them for free! aren't they pretty? waaaay better than the weird wood panel looking background isaac had on our computer before! the website so charming, you can get the desktop calendars as well as downloadable wallpaper to use to wrap gifts, cover books, and do other crafty things with. go here to get yourself a pretty calendar.

thank goodness for calendars, i would not be getting through all the things i have going on without my google calendar. do you use it? it's a lifesaver. i even have a calendar dedicated to tracking my migraines...yeah, i'm a dork. less than 2 weeks before i'm done with school forever!!! sorry if i start a more frequent countdown...i'm just so excited!

beauties.

i am in love with this dress from anthropologie. isn't it just light and breezy? i love how simple and fresh it looks, perfect for a summer night on the town. my fingers are crossed it goes on sale.

while out celebrating ike's bday with my brother and sister-in-law, we stopped in anthro and spotted the penguin classic books! they are so beautiful. we promptly purchased emma to start out our collection. i told isaac we must pick one up each time we make our way downtown. or check out amazon...i bet they have them for a steal. i think little women will be my next choice.

i love turquoise everything.

this is my dream kitchen, isn't it fabulous?! oh, to dream.

image via house of turquoise, one of my very favorite design blogs.

sunday edition.

hello hello! i hope you are all having a delightful weekend. i'm feeling a little down because my hubs is currently on his way back to st. george for the week. but i'll be okay, i'm one busy little bee trying to finish up my last 4 weeks of school.

plus i've found a few things that have cheered me up a bit! real simple just sent me their daily recipe email and to my delight it contained a recipe for the ice cream cake pictured above. doesn't it look delicious? can you tell i'm on an ice cream kick? i'm going to try it with butterfinger....or maybe snickers. yum.

so you think you can dance is now on hulu! for a girl who doesn't have a tv, this a dream come true. ike watched an episode with me earlier today and i remembered how much i miss dancing. i'm determined to start dancing again once i'm done with school. i'll be a total spaz, but whateves.

and lastly, i'm going to take a nap right now. and that always makes me feel better. adios amigos.

holiday love.

{weheartit}

hooray for the holiday weekend! i'm finally going to get out of my little school shell and forget about all my worries all weekend long. and my hubs is home! we've got some big plans up our sleeve...like cooking a big homemade meal {i haven't cooked for so long!} and going to see eclipse tonight. tomorrow we're heading up to his family's cabin for some yummy food and relaxation. and possibly a small town rodeo with fireworks and cotton candy!

i've been struggling to plan exactly what i want to make this weekend, i have so many things i want to try! and pioneer woman's berries for the fourth post gave me even more ideas. what to choose, what to choose. i want to make all of it. i'll let you know what i end up creating!

as of now, i think i'll throw on my new swimsuit and do my homework out by the pool. i need some sun in a big bad way.

happy fourth of july weekend!

birthday cake.

{we heart it}

hooray for sunday! the day is just going by too quickly if you ask me. we're spending the evening with the westwood family to celebrate my brother in law's birthday! i made him a special birthday cake {i actually had to make 2 because i didn't spray the pan enough on the first one and it broke in multiple pieces when i tried to get it out...grrrr} but the second one turned out beautifully. thank you isaac for spraying the pan with your magical hand.

i wish i had made these cupcakes instead...it's my dream to spend an afternoon making all different flavors of cupcakes and frosting and decorating them in beautiful ways. and maybe own a cupcake shop?! ooooh i don't know. perhaps when i'm done with nursing school...

my mantra.

i need this for my kitchen. it is so me, don't you think?

tommy toms.

i've been wanting a pair of toms for quite some time, but i haven't found the perfect pair for me until now. i think these teal darlings will look super cute on my feeties. i need some new shoes to wear to school. after all...this is my last semester of college forever {i hope}. i should stroll back and forth from the trax train in style, don't you think?!

happy happy sunday.

{weheartit}

sunday has become my very favorite day of the week because isaac and i get spend the entire day together. it seems like every other day one of us is spending part of the day working or at school, but not on sweet sweet sunday. he even has to work tomorrow, on memorial day! how dare his company stay open on memorial day. luckily he's getting off a little early and we're going to spend the evening in style. i'm hoping we'll go see the movie babies. have you seen the preview?! i can't wait to see it. i just love babies. and treats. isn't this image magical?! i'm going to use it as inspiration for a little summer party. and maybe i'll invite you!