san francisco, part one

our weekend in san francisco went much too quickly and i already can't wait for our next trip out to the beautiful bay area.

it started with an early morning last friday, as we had an eight 'o clock flight to catch at the salt lake city airport. we had stayed at kendrick's parents house the previous night, making our morning commute much more convenient. our first flight arrived in los angeles around ten o'clock and was followed by a two hour layover, which allowed us the perfect opportunity to charge our phones and grab a quick snack. our next flight was right on time, getting us to san francisco around one o'clock in the afternoon.

neither of us could hardly wait to get into the city, and after dealing with the rental car agency (and a particularly sassy african american man named "lord"), we were on our way. this wasn't my first time in san francisco, but i was about ten the last time i visited, so it was just as new to me as it was to kendrick (this was his first time!). i'm pretty sure i fell in love with the city immediately, it's absolutely beautiful and there really isn't another place like it.

we immediately regretted having a rental car, as there is quite literally no place to park in the city without spending an arm an a leg. also, we quickly realized just how good salt lake has it with its easy-to-navigate streets, because it did not take us long to accidentally turn onto a carpool lane, that soon merged into a freeway entrance, and then quickly turned into the bay bridge heading out to oakland.

however, this wrong turn worked out in our favor, as it brought us out to the oakland temple- one i've always wanted to see! this temple had some off the most breathtaking and well-kept grounds that i've ever seen, and the view overlooked the entire city of san francisco. while the day was very sunny, there was a bit of fog surrounding the golden gate bridge in the distance, and seeing the tall red poles poking out from the clouds was completely picturesque (and ironically, i didn't get a picture of it- go figure). 

we were welcomed by an older missionary couple who chatted with us for about forty five minutes, and gave us a nice tour around the temple and some great recommendations on food. they were two of the kindest people we've ever met and it was honestly so nice to have that after a long day of grouchy airport and car rental employees. one thing that i found particularly interesting about this temple was the amount of people sitting around it, gazing at it or sketching it in their notepads. i'm not kidding- there was even a small art class going on right behind it. however, as soon as the missionaries approached any of the bystanders, they would completely shut down when it came to hearing any kind of message. the sister missionary said it best when she explained "they may not understand what this place is for, but they do recognize that it is a holy place".

we decided on dinner at a pizza place right up the street from the temple. the pizza was surprisingly delicious and the perfect start to all of the wonderful food we would be devouring on our trip.

after dinner, it made sense to head to san carlos and check into our hotel. we had a looong day of site-seeing the next day, and we wanted to be well rested and ready.  

nostalgia

on saturday morning, kendrick and I had the opportunity to do sealings at the salt lake temple. first off- i don't think there is any better way to start off a weekend. 

for some wonderful reason, i was hit with a large dose of nostalgia of my wedding day that morning. everything was reminding me of that special day, from watching a bride prepare to walk out and greet her friends and family to being in the same small restroom that I remember checking my make up in before getting sealed- seriously, everything. and then, lo and behold, the sweet man who ended up conducting the sealings was the same person that sealed kendrick and I a year and a half ago. it was such a wonderful reunion to see him again.

i could feel the spirit so strongly as i was once again reminded of that day that i was sealed for eternity to the love of my life. like i said, it was the perfect morning.

later that night, we joined my family in touring the new provo city temple. this temple is absolutely beautiful on the outside, and the inside is just as stunning. i love temples- for the direction they provide, for the peace they give, and for the promise of being with our families for eternity. i can't think of anything i could ever want more.

cheers to wonderful weekends!

p.s. this was a picture taken from my apartment deck, and as the cool kids say, #nofilter.
winter sunsets are the prettiest!

be my valentine?

i honestly don't think i could have come up with a better valentine's weekend in my head- everything was perfect. also, not to mention, it was a three day weekend, which obviously tripled the greatness.

on friday, kendrick surprised me at work with a stunning bouquet of white tulips and light pink roses (my favorite flowers). i also learned that not only did he pick out every single flower to go into the bouquet- but he also arranged it himself. um, where did my manly husband go? the bouquet consisted of twenty four long stem light pink roses, twelve white tulips, and twelve branches of mini roses- pictures honestly don't do it justice.

also, along with the bouquet came a large box of chocolate covered strawberries and a bag of chocolate covered cinnamon bears (my obsession). i'm telling you, i married a keeper.

that night was pretty low-key, as we watched our niece zoey, which neither of us minded one bit. she is hands down the cutest little girl ever, and every time that we watch her, we don't want to give her back to her parents. she's also the easiest kid to watch, because all she wants to do is watch elmo or stare at kendrick (she loves him and thinks he's the funniest person ever. me too, zoey, me too).

she also had an adorable obsession with my flowers, and kept leaning over to sniff them. however, i think that she's seen people smell flowers before, but didn't exactly understand the concept, as she kept blowing her nose on them rather than sniffing, haha.

(and apparently our TV is inconveniently too far away from our couch...)

saturday morning had a slow start, but sleeping in was exactly what we needed. once up and ready, we headed out to city creek for a full day of shopping. i'm calling it a valentine's day miracle, because our tax refund hit our account right before the weekend, allowing us to pay off all cards, put a generous amount in savings, and have a little left over for spending. funny thing is, whenever i actually have money to shop with, i am incredibly picky, and usually end up leaving most stores empty handed...which is exactly what i ended up doing this day. however, kendrick picked up a new pair of ag jeans at nordstrom that he was particularly giddy about (they hemmed them for him and everything- he said he felt extra fancy). 

sunday started out with breakfast in bed for kendrick, and then church at eleven. a new married couple in our ward spoke in sacrament meeting, and i leaned over to kendrick and told him we were next. sure enough, we were pulled out of sunday school with an invitation to speak next sunday. sometimes, it's no fun being right. ;)

the rest of the day was filled with my favorite part of the entire weekend- chick flick marathon! this was kendrick's final valentine's gift for me, as he's not a fan of rom-com's and watching them in our household is a rare occurrence.  however, he must have been feeling extra generous because we watched four back-to-back- four! i'm calling this one a valentine's miracle as well. 

monday (president's day!) was spent in park city, shopping and enjoying the pretty scenery. i had a lot more luck with this shopping trip, and had fun spending the remainder of my tax return "shopping fund". 

the rest of the night was spent watching the bachelor in our cozy apartment, while eating big daddy's pizza.

so grateful for weekends like this, and my forever valentine!

best team ever

discouragement is never a good feeling. 

that's what i had been feeling at work lately- discouraged that i wasn't doing enough and discouraged that what i was doing wasn't meaningful.

what i didn't expect was to come into work on a dreary monday morning to find a large nordstrom bag sitting on my chair. inside that bag was something that i have wanted for years, but couldn't see myself spending the money to get. it was a gorgeous navy blue tory burch bag, along with a card, thanking me for all i had done for the team during busy season. 

i didn't know what made me want to cry more- the generosity of those on my team or the fact that i was now the proud owner of my dream bag. i quickly made my way around the office, thanking and hugging everyone for their kindness. i learned that at least twenty people had gone in on this bag for me- twenty people that appreciated and noticed the work i was doing. 

i literally had a smile plastered on my face for the rest of the day... who am i kidding, i still do! 

i feel so blessed to be working with such amazing people, who make it a priority to make those on their team feel valued and appreciated.

(kendrick is especially grateful that he's now off the hook from buying me one... haha)

best.team.ever, right?

p.s. this is the first year that i've truly appreciated the beauty of winter (i finally love it!), but i'm ready for it to be over riiiiiiiiiiiiight about now. #stopsnowingplease

it's a sprinkle, not a shower

over the weekend, my cute sisters and I had the privilege of throwing wendy a baby "sprinkle" for her new little girl. my dad tirelessly made fun of the fact that we were calling it a "sprinkle", instead of a "shower", but we thought it should be more low-key with this being her third child (but first girl!) however, I must say, in relation to her gifts- she was definitely more "showered" then sprinkled. ;)

knowing me, I waited until the night before to create the decorations, but I was really happy with how my pom-pom rain clouds and glittery rain drops turned out! 

harmony brought the cutest banner to drape across the mantel, along with all the components for a delicious parfait bar. 

nicole and jade covered the desserts, which included a delicious assortment of chocolate dipped oreos, confetti cupcakes, and mini cheesecakes (all covered in sprinkles, of course!)

I'd say the highlight of the shower was watching jade triumph in transporting sprinkles from one bowl to another, using only a spoon held by her mouth. I'm telling you, the talents that girl has...

watching wendy open all of her presents was definitely another highlights. what is it about little girl dresses and shoes that is so unbelievably cute?

(every time I see a cute little baby dress in the store, I have to hold myself back from buying it. that's not weird, right...? right.)

it was the perfect afternoon.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, my sisters and I make a good team.

weekend organizing

what kind of respectable weekend is spent organizing, you may ask. a great one, that's what kind.

kendrick and I spent half of our saturday cleaning out our closet, ironing shirts, and creating a rather large "discard" pile. I was able to round up a pretty nice sized stack to sell in my shop, so that's always a success in itself (I tend to create emotional attachments with my clothes, and parting is never easy). 

we finally decided to get ready (and ahem, shower) around five o'clock to meet up with one of kendrick's work friends and his wife for some dinner. they ended up bringing their baby girl, which was one of theeee cutest babies I've ever seen and kind of made me want one (kind of). kendrick ended up texting his friend the next morning saying "thanks for bringing your super cute baby you ass, now my wife wants one just like it." haha!

tonight we are meeting up with some friends at bombay house, and I am pretty excited to stuff my face with delicious indian food. what's better than friends and good food? nothing I tell you, nothing. 

the ball drop

no, i'm not referring to the infamous ball drop in new york city at the end of each year. i'm talkin' about the highly anticipated game at nickle mania that is just as addictive, if not more, than cocaine (not speaking from experience)

this is how we spent our friday night- a group of twenty-four-and-up year olds (and a newly 16 year old), hovered around an arcade game, cheering and fist pumping each time the button was pushed just in time for the ball to drop smoothly into the hole. I think total, we scored around three thousand tickets off that game alone- and don't even ask how many nickels it took to get there... (but can you think of a more fun way to spend money?)

kendrick celebrating after one of his victories.

my game of choice is those nickel slots that you slip your coin in, causing it to push the other nickels forward, and a certain amount of tickets is awarded depending on how many coins fall over the edge. this game is vigorously addicting, and kendrick says watching me play it gives him a glimpse of my future as an old lady in vegas fixated with the penny slots. I sure married a charmer, huh?

it was such a fun night acting like twelve year olds and spending half our life savings in nickels. but i mean, priorities, right? 

keep em' coming.

here's to many more night that make me wish I was in middle school again.