October

There was not one bad day in all of October.
It's not like I was expecting any; I just had lofty expectations.

On the 9th day I went to the airport in the dark, and woke up to the most incredible sunrise over Cincinnati.
I can't even begin to describe the depth of the colors and the way the light sparkled.

Just a few hours later, our pilot declared that we must all look out our windows right now. It was a funny moment--never have I heard a pilot insist we observe the whole descent into the Salt Lake Valley, but we did and I would have watched for hours.

I decided right then that if I had to pick a favorite day out of 31, that would be it. 

And it wasn't even 10 am.

brooklyn, ny

everyone has a song, or two

a song you drive to

a song that makes you

feel

my summer song was the same as a million others'

my night song was cliche

but you were listening to Sam Cooke

dark eyes focused on my shady refuge

shoulders unapologetically leaning away from yours

a light changed

a smile, a wave

and Sam Cooke was gone

the question

By December 31, I will have visited Utah four times in 2014. 

The number of days spent in its borders hovers around one month. 

Why don't you just move back?

When are you moving back?

Just move back.

I hate to even say I'm visiting because I'm forced to remember I don't belong.

Not right now.

That fact isn't inherently bad. 

I have a home that I love.

It's just that I have many homes that I love.

photo credit: Ahlstrom Productions

My sterile, rented walls act as a vision board. Words barely held up by polka dot tape.

"I have left my heart in so many places"

 Heavenly father

Is all that he offers

A safety in the end

bon iver, heavenly father

(please listen to this cover)

I'm currently catching up on this weekend's General Conference.

I'm excited to dig in to those spiritual nuggets,

but for now, I'm just grateful for a lot of things.

(NYC/Sundance)

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:

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.

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.