lost my groove again.

selfie with the empire state building.

one day i'll tell you all about it.

THIS GIRL.

my initial excuse for this trip was that my fave little sister* turning 18 at the end of march!

*maddy may technically be my cousin, but we're not big on technicalities over here. if you've lived together as long as we did, you're sisters.

it didn't work out for me to be there exactly on her big day, but that turned out to be a huge blessing.

my timing was pretty dang perfect and i'm proud of that!

we had sleepovers all week long, and her reaction to me showing up will forever be one of my favorite moments.

 

basically counting down the days until i get to see her again, except this time, i'll be sleeping over in her dorm room! 

i have the best family ever.

i went to temple square with my girls and it was the best ever.

almost done with utah posts, i promise.

the sunday i was there, i went to church in slc with these ladies,

& then we napped and walked temple sqaure.

and it was beautiful outside,

so it was basically the best sunday in history.

it was really nice and interesting to just walk and talk about life,

but also about the gospel.

i mentioned during my relief society lesson a few weeks ago

that discussing the gospel with people i love and who share similar feelings as i do,

is how my testimony grows the most,

and that made the day even better.

*the clipboard in the God's Plan picture was found outside of a movie screening room in the temple visitor's center.

it still makes me laugh.

PTOWN

you may or may not know that i'm a little obsessed with provo.

i feel like that's hard for people who haven't lived there to understand.

because byu & provo are the same, right?

but i feel like i have popped the dang bubble and i am in love!

(remember that all of my friends are there and i'm glorifying my youth, but still!)

i spent two afternoons in provo doing the one thing that allowed me to fully enjoy all of my people.

i ate all the food!

actually, i had quite an ambitious list of places i wanted to eat,

and i barely scratched the surface.

that's what this summer is for.

first stop: sammy's

sammy's is famous for their pie shakes. 

like they put a piece of pie and some soft serve in a cup and blend it up.

one time i had a pineapple cheesecake one that was pretty yum.

but generally it's just the novelty, so i usually just take a bite of hannah's.

cause sammy's is kind of our spot.

and she always has coupons.

i usually get the chicken poly style sandwich, which is amazing,

and i used to get the battered fries and die of happiness/clogged arteries, but then they got rid of them.

so now i just get me a sammy's sammy and one of the fancy sodas they have.

please appreciate how we are the same.

i love this girl.

she was telling me about some research that shows that after 7 years of friendship, people generally stick together.

and then we realized this is our 7th year!

happy almost anniversary sweet cheeks! we made it!

second stop (not pictured): guru's

whenever i needed time to myself, i would get a waldorf salad to go (blue cheese, not vinaigrette) and eat it in the parking lot across the street from the temple. sometimes i sat on the grass, but bugs/snow. 

anyway, obviously the waldorf salad is my fave, but sometimes i'll also order a cup of the mulligatawny cause it's incredible, and it helps to have a friend with you who orders a giant sweet potato fry to share.

pro tip: enliten bakery & cafe next door is a prime place to study/eat croissants/drink tea. you won't regret it.

third stop: saigon

this place is only a little scary, but one of the best kept secrets. $6 SPECIAL COMBINATIONS! i try to always get something different, because it's all delicious and all equally bad for you. you get soup, an egg roll, and your main and rice. comfort food at its finest.

also, free delivery on orders over $15.

they have one big party table that has a lazy susan on it, so we tried taking a panoramic.

it worked well...

usually they are super fast and we hang out forever,

but this time i was actually on my way out of town and in a bit of a hurry,

and it took two hours!

we sat there for 45 minutes before they even took our order.

but it worked out because i really just needed to be with these kids.

places i have to hit next time:

cubby's (still haven't been!)

slab pizza

jdawgs, duh

sodalicious

and more. but this is getting depressing.

bison or buffalo?

my second full day in utah was kind of great.

i played with babies some more.

i had a fro yo lunch all by myself.

and i went to antelope island!

i lived in utah for 6 years and had only been to antelope island once!

all i remember is that it was october, so it was gorgeous,

but it was also real cold, and we thought it was a good idea to stick our feet in the great salt lake.

this time, however, was amazing.

i might have begged mother nature for perfect spring weather on this trip, 

and she definitely came through. 

we took pictures with the antelope and the bison,

climbed some rocks for the best view ever, 

lassoed/got lassoed at the ranch house, 

played "guess the bon iver song" (new favorite game, for reals),

and talked about life and the future and basically all the good things

cause it was so ridiculously beautiful that i could not get over it.

 for your enjoyment:

 i could have leaned out of the window and stroked this beast, it was so close.

 i found this terrifying gem in the house on the ranch.

do yourself a favor and go visit before it gets too hot!

and then tell me about it cause i'll be so proud,

but don't give me too much detail cause i might be sad.

i took myself on vacation

i went to utah!

it was sort of a birthday/boredom/i have skymiles trip. 

and it really did need to happen. so happen it did!

i had a layover at jfk on the way there, which was a little funny to me because i've never been to nyc (but i'm going this month!) so this was my first look. the airport is self is a little crazy. i arrived about 3 gates down from my departing gate, so i didn't do a whole lot of exploring, but i did buy this lunch right here for $19. yay new york food? it's not even real new york food! i'll feel better about paying that much when i'm not sitting in an airport. the juice was delish though. i could totes get into juice. not pictured: the smell. the ipad booths (nyc is too fancy for regular seating at gates. the abundance of power outlets was appreciated, however). the jacket sitting next to me that magically turned into a sleeping woman. me peeing in a nasty bathroom while holding my coat, bag, and pillow. the young hipster drinking some cocktail with maraschino cherries, and probably writing poetry while we waited for our flight. the most magical beard. me staring at everyone who could maybe be famous. it was obviously a memorable experience.

so then i got to utah and my lovely cousin megan picked me up from the airport (on her & her boyfriend's one year anniversary! she's the nicest). then i surprised the rest of the fam! it was the best ever. i really decided to do that just because it would be fun for me and i need some fun, but it ended up being perfect for all parties involved. anyway, a lot of crying happened that night, and it was wonderful.

 

waking up to the mountains was pretty sweet.

i started the morning by surprising more family and snugging babies.

then, i made kyle come have lunch with me and it was the very best.

i miss my best friends so much.

then i surprised my karlie's family. if i can't have her, they're the second best.

but really they're all the best.

i am so lucky to have such great people.

the rest of my day was spent surprising one more bff, 

a trip to target, 

and perfect park weather.

also, i drove my old car around all week (thanks, maddy!) 

and was seriously nostalgic about all the things.

intermission:

you have to wait for the rest cause i'm tired and it took me 2 weeks to write this. xo