Back from New York and into a new home!

I feel like I have been absent for a long time on this blog! And here is why: I spent the last week in New York City with family and---

Andrew and I bought our first house! We are not in your typical first home buyer category, we bought a duplex! We will be living in one side and renting out the other. Hello landlording (it's a word I have just now created). Question: am I a landlady?

Anyway, we currently don't have Internet (or water! Ahh!) so I am blogging from my handy dandy iPhone. Once we are a little more settled in and not living out of boxes anymore, I will share with you my trip to New York!

xoxo

Mixtape Monday - April Edition

It happened again. Mixtape Monday on not a Monday. I've been prepping for my trip to New York (we leave tonight!) minus the whole packing part...I haven't done any of that yet. I dislike being so unorganized so I did make a list of the outfits and different things I need to pack whenever I get around to it.

Here is April's playlist - an upbeat little collection of happy songs that make me even more excited for warm weather!

New York here I come!

xoxo

Good Eats Friday - Gracie's

Gracie's has been getting a lot of hype lately with a lot of radio advertising and apparently it's a hang out spot for some firemen and cops. On St. Patrick's Day we stopped in to eat with some friends and listen to the local bagpipes group perform. It was an extremely loud atmosphere, but I didn't expect anything otherwise. Our waitress disappeared for a time, a long time, when we wanted our check...so Andrew had to hunt her down. Anyway, Andrew and I really enjoyed our food, our friends did not. One of them ordered the shepherd's pie and said it was horrible. I was okay to leave as I was beginning to feel stressed in the environment, but maybe that's just because it was a holiday. I did like the place, but I wasn't sad to leave.

andrew - macaroni and cheese

me - blackened salmon with fresh mozzarella and the soup du jour

Yes, I ordered the soup du jour. And yes, I did ask our waitress what the soup du jour was and I wish she would have answered "soup of the day", but I did throw in the "I'll have that". Finally.

xoxo

happy spring!

I am such a warm weather birdie and I love going outside without a coat these days! Andrew and I have been extremely busy lately, hence my lack of blogging.

Today, however, was a cold day, so I have been staying warm with my windburned face and hazelnut steamed milk. Yeah. Wind, you can go away. You are my least favorite part of spring and my skin must be so sensitive that even just a minute or two outside my face and lips are windburned and chapped!

Anyway, here are some lovely photos of things we have been doing lately.

Photos: Reading the Hunger Games. Loved the book, not in love with the movie | Boy duckies chasing girl duckies at the park | A berry apple spinach salad Andrew created | My new favorite fruit | Andrew coaches Skyline rugby | Cheap nail polish lovers unite, new spring colors!

xoxo

our celebration of saint patricks day

Since moving to the city my eyes have been opened, a lot! In Vernal all I can remember St. Patrick's being about was wearing green and eating green food all day. That is pretty much the same here, but the fact that it is a drinking holiday and it is just one more excuse for women to wear nothing because it's a "holiday" was new to me. It was entertaining though!

Can I tell you just how happy it made me to see so many people wearing green? You can bet I did, all day long. I wore a green dress to a church meeting I had in the morning and even woke up in a green t-shirt (I wish I could say it was on purpose). You can't pinch this! Andrew had a rugby game to coach and he made sure to wear his green winter coat (because suddenly it's winter again?! boo!).

A friend of ours wanted to see the Salt Lake Scots Pipe Band and since we missed their concert the weekend before, we made sure to eat at Gracies where they were stopping in to perform. Here is a little tidbit of what we heard last night. There is something about bagpipes that I just adore.

We finished off the night at Capo, you know, because there is nothing that says Irish like gelato...

Until next year, day of Saint Patrick!
xoxo

Good Eats Friday - Lonestar Taqueria

Thanks to a recommendation from a friend we stopped into Lonestar Taqueria and I am just now learning from their site that they were also featured on Diner's, Drive-ins and Dives! The food was muy delicioso! I had the best fish tacos I have ever tasted and Andrew had a big ol' burrito. The atmosphere is a fun little hangout place - and from what I hear it's always packed. There is a bar full of different sauces and salsas, we tried them all and liked each one, but the green sauce was Andrew's favorite - it's sugary!

andrew: some burrito (I don't remember if it was beef, chicken or pork!)

mine: fish tacos

The photo above is just another reason to love this place. First thing I thought?: "Did you tell him dey were de Lord's cheeps?" Nachooooo!

 

xoxo

our weekend in v-town

Our trip to Vernal was so great, it is always sad to leave! We spent a lot of time with Ross, had lunch with some friends, tried new foods, learned some Spanish and welcomed new members to the family!
Andrew learned that Wendy's will fill one of their largest cups with frosty for you, if you are willing to pay. Also, it doesn't matter that Ross has not bowled in 2 years, somehow he will still beat me twice. It is easier to ask for forgiveness (if you are someone who has been gone from the home for 2 years) rather than permission from my mom to bring ducks to our family "farm".  I am rather enjoying the farm atmosphere, you know, gathering eggs and feeding chickens and ducks. And Ross sure learned how to cook and bake German pancakes and Pupusas!

ignore his glazed eyes, just focus on the frosty!

The view from my parent's front porch is beautiful. We enjoyed weather in the 60's all weekend and spent a lot of time on the front and back decks, I even got a bit of sun on my face! I hope these warm temperatures are here to stay, this post from A Beautiful Mess got me all sorts of excited for summer parties!

xoxo