if this vacation was a snapchat filter

i had three weeks off of work in june, which was a little blah,

but i got to go home for a week!

i mostly went on runs (which was good cause the abundance of horseflies actually made me run),

went to the beach, and watched hgtv with my mom.

i also cleaned out my old room and that was buckets of fun.

i'm a winner! some of these are for softball & tennis, but most of them are for honor roll, 

perfect attendance, and writing. so now you know how cool i was. 

when i was young and angsty, i loved this spot in my little town.

i accidentally took this on a run one night, but i'm a little obsessed.

my step dad gave me this old camera of his, and one day i'll have enough money to restore it. 

i can't get over how classy it is.

and i leave you with the artistic brilliance of 2.5 year old Erin:

#merica

finally.

i'm a little bit in denial that it's the end of july and my favorite holiday is way over.

i'm not going to lie, i was a little sad at the prospect of not being in utah for the fourth.
it's a pretty great place to be during the summer.

but i got over it cause, dc, duh.

we went into dc in the morning to catch a parade and eat homemade pop tarts. do yourself a favor and get the peanut butter bacon.

then after a nap and the customary outfit change, i barbecued with my favorite cousins in virginia, and we watched some magical fireworks with the mall in the background and i officially called the day a success.

NYC highlights

- I made everybody listen to this song as we drove into the city and it was magical.

- Computers & Cameras! Jk. Late Show, though!

- We didn't go see good ole David, but we did see Cinderella! Carly Rae was out that night, but Fran Drescher was amazing, and who knew so many ex 30 Rock guests were on Broadway?!

- Late night Halal from THE HALAL GUYS. It was like 11 pm, and there were lines a block long. That is what dreams are made of.

- Stalking my Mormon mommy bloggers at Stake Conf. at the temple church.

- Levain Bakery. It took me a whole 24 hours to finish that dang cookie (I got the dark chocolate chocolate chip). So worth the 4 or 5 dolla bills.

- Top of the Rock. SO GREAT. Apparently cheaper, less crowded, and a way better view than the Empire State (also, you get to actually see the Empire State). Empire State selfie seen here.

- Walked through Times Square, which was a little eh, and then strolled and sat in Bryant Park, which I loved.

- On our subway ride to the Staten Island Ferry, a group of old men got on our nearly empty train and sang This Little Light of Mine. It was fabulous.

- Wafels & Dinges, Alice's Tea House, a tiramisu cannoli (funny story: the only cannoli I've ever had was in Italy, and I did not love it, but Little Italy made things so so right), and The Melt Shop. The adults went out for their anniversary one night, so the little girls and I ventured out for some dinner. Buttermilk fried chicken grilled cheese w/ red cabbage slaw and rosemary tots. You guys.

- And finally, the view from our hotel room at night. The last night we were there I couldn't stand it, so I went on a walk and it was beautiful.

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 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

legality: the final frontier

21, yo.

i got my hair did,

ate lunch at sweetgreen,

and shopped too much.

and then i watched pitch perfect at home with my sister.

it was not what i pictured 21 to be.

but it was happy.

and happy is all i asked for.

hollydayz

In November through last week, I worked a lot. 

Holy holidays in retail. People are insane.

And I was tired. But it was mostly fun.

Other things that happened:

+ My coworker and I took pics with Santa at the mall, obvi.

+ I said goodbye to some sister missionaries.

We have some amazing Sisters here in DC South, 

and Tori will be pretty cool in CA I guess.

No more Sunday School snapchatting for me.

+ My sister got me Pitch Perfect, fleece lined leggings, and the cutest Anthro mug,
so I need literally nothing else to live.

+ I spent Christmas with my favorite cousins in Virginia & it was so perfect and fun.

+ The week after Christmas I got enough time off to go home!
I baked, slept, and played with the dog. It was the best.
We also went to the farm (!!!) and I over-snapchatted it.
It's seriously gorgeous, though.

 







aaaaaand that basically brings us to now.

about 3 weeks ago, i started working at bath & body works.

it's a job.

9 months of job searching in provo got me nothing, 

and here, i had two offers at the end of one week.

i actually don't hate it, and I feel blessed to have it. 

but it's not perfect.

so i'm looking for another part-time to fill my time, i guess. 

i was kind of hoping i'd be able to relax on the job front once i found something.

looking for a job is a job by itself. 

now would be a good time to be crafty enough to sell things.

anyway. i've gotten to babysit for my brother's kids a few times,

which is super fun because they are moving soon!

the perfect combination of cash money and people i love.

if you don't have instagram, this is how cute they are:

(i made the second one to show my friend how they say certain russian words)

i'm doing that church thing, of course, so that gives me some things to do.

i've written a bit about byu single's wards before, and i could write even more about mine here. 

i will one day. 

i've also done a little, but not enough, of this:

and super cliche, but i cannot believe how fast this month is going. i've almost lived here a month!

easters

I wore a skirt made from one of my mom's dresses from the '80s,

and my trusty Old Navy shirt that I wear like 3.5 times a week when it's warm (I own 5 of them).

I scared everyone in the home ward with my new hair. I am a whole new woman, apparently.

My sweetest cousin surprised me and Megan with our very own Easter basket!
I always forget that I actually really like jellybeans. Maybe only on holidays.

And we hung out with all the babies.
It was a good Easter Sunday.

WHAT UP

Yesterday was my birthday.
52 minutes ago was the first day of my 20th year and it was perfect.

I slept in (cramps. also, my birthday),
ate chocolate covered strawberries in bed,
was a superb grocery shopping companion for Cameron,
talked to all my favorite people,
and was thrown a great party with amazing cupcakes by my brand new roommate.

Seriously, she hasn't even known me a week, and she did so much for me today.
It was the best.

So please, head over to my instagram to see the ridiculous amount of photos I posted today.
It's worth it?

something about vampires and werewolves

On Saturday we had brunch at the top of the Space Needle. 

It was expensive (included a tour & photo), 

but it was beautiful and the rotating restaurant only made us slightly sea sick. 

This was the most legit brunch I've ever consumed. 

Three courses, people. And they bring bread and juice.

I can't believe only took one picture.

I had the salmon torte, hazelnut crusted french toast with crazy bacon, and white chocolate macadamia bread pudding.  I can't even think about it without getting sick.  So. Much. Food.  

The Space Needle is actually a lot shorter than I thought it would be, but still tall enough to get a gorgeous view of Seattle and the mountains.  Also, I really should have done my hair that morning.  And I never have eyes in pictures ever.

Then we walked around Pioneer Square and probably did some other stuff that I don't remember.  I just remember it was pretty and hot and my feet hurt.  Sorry, posterity.

And then we saw Utilikilts.  And then we saw someone wearing a Utilikilt.  That made it all better.

On Sunday we took a cab to church which was hilarious and felt weird, but was one of our best cab rides during the trip.  Church was funny and great.  I love that I get to feel the same spirit wherever they go.  However, they do it a little different in Seattle:

After Church we took a bus down to the waterfront for some less than impressive fish & chips.
And then we took a ferry to Bainbridge Island!  I could live there.  It was so pretty and quaint.
They also have the best ice cream ever.

When I am rich, I am buying millions of these:

Sister Lindsay wanted a seafood pot/boil/whatever and I decided to do it with her.  It was interesting? 

It was good.  I just wasn't super hungry, and plain seafood isn't always the thing you want when you aren't starving.  Or maybe it's just me.  But it was fun cracking those crabs.  

This picture was taken outside a very fancy hotel where we tried to sneak in and pee, but couldn't find a bathroom.  We were about to get on an elevator to explore, but we got nervous so we booked it out of there. We weren't even convincing ourselves trying to act like we belonged.
It was actually really funny, I promise.

Sister Larissa's birthday was Monday morning when we were all leaving, so we snuck in some yummy cupcakes to celebrate Sunday night.

And that concludes that trip.  I'm sorry to my sisters for all the complaining and stuff.
Let's do it again sometime, yeah?  Maybe next time I won't post any embarrassing pictures of you?  Maybe.

pt. 1
pt. 2