The Boston Years

I have a handful of girl friends from college that I've been friends with since freshman year. A few of them grew up together, a few of them know each other from the dorms and a few of them I know from the dorms and together we make this random group of wonderful women I wish to be more like.

About a month ago we all met up in Boston. Kate's little Harvard Business School apartment was turned into a major slumber party for seven woman (and a baby!) for a couple nights and we explored Harvard campus and Boston before driving out to Cape Cod for the evening.

I should have blogged about it right when I got home but how can I adequately describe how much fun I had. I love these women. I love their strength, they're struggles and their support. I felt so loved all weekend and remembered how much I loved them all and how much I wished I had lived with them in college. (I was on my mission when they were finally all roommates or close neighbors.) I didn't want the weekend to end, and as I told the girls, I felt a little like Anne Shirley when Marilla is taking her away from Green Gables and Anne says, "Just fixing Green Gables in my memory. In years to come I'm going to look back on Green Gables as a beautiful dream that will always haunt me." (Just substitute Boston in for Green Gables.)

Here are a few pictures from the weekend taken by Cath.

And my favorite picture I took on my phone:

me with Steph's adorable, adorable little girl. seriously, cutest, darlingest baby girl ever. i miss her. seriously.

Oh, why meet up in Boston? We had an idea that we would all live in Boston together someday. "The Boston Years". I think this fall is supposed to be "The Years Abroad". I should probably start planning for that...

I went to Duck Beach...

...and came home with a sunburn and a handful of pictures.

pictures I wish I had taken:

our ridiculous mafia game where i won as the remaining mafia! wahoo!

the best, most delicious dinner ever cooked, coconut rice, mango, pork

running into old friends from college, and reminiscing on good times (ie, Jerusalem)

a really great group picture of everyone in our house

it was a great weekend.

and it's hard to be back at work.

Debbie got married

Last weekend I went to California for Debbie's wedding. It was in Oakland, and so we took off Friday and went to San Francisco before hand. The weather fantastically cooperated despite the call for rain and we had an absolute blast. It made me miss the west so much.

view of Golden Gate from Alcatraz

the DC girls with the bride

I had a fantastic trip. San Francisco was awesome. Debbie was the prettiest bride and I loved being on vacation. Someone get married so I can have another. Please?


and for my embarrassment, the photographer had all the bridesmaids and groomsmen pair up. see how there are two separated, on the ends? yeah. one of them is me. i'm going to be forever single apparently.

yes I realize I'm being completely ridiculous.

Cake

I spent all day Saturday making cake. Well making frosting and assembling cakes. (With a quick break to Michael's and JoAnn's fabrics.) I was exhausted and I didn't even take my own pictures of the creations. Here is one I requested from the instagram taker with each of the birthday girls holding the cakes I made for them:

Domineau's cake is a chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting and a chocolate ganache drip. Milan's is a cinnamon cake with a spicy "Mexican hot chocolate" frosting. I thought they were both so good and certain elements of both cakes will be added into my cake files. (I won't tell you what this critical baker will change for next time.)

Happy Birthday birthday girls! Don't they look cute in their tiaras?

Weekend Review

1. National Kite Festival at the Washington Monument

2. Watching General Conference while baking cake (and waiting for Elder Archuleta!!)

3. Moving Shannon's box spring up to our house. Yeah, we really drove like that.

 4. Making homemade ice cream (Roasted Pistachio and Fresh Banana) to go with the strawberry cake (although that's not my picture, it's the recipe's picture, I forgot to take a picture)

5. Playing catch, or watching catch while enjoying a beautiful sunny evening. (And it's DOMINEAU'S Birthday today and her birthday week so she gets to wear a crown a few days early)

So in other words, it was a super chill, awesome weekend.

Things not pictured:

1. the cake obviously

2. watching conference with two kids under 3. (didn't hear a lot)

3. trying on our bridesmaid dresses to figure out accessories for next week's wedding!

A special thanks to Allie, Domineau, Lisa, Shannon, Laney and Tracie for making the weekend great!

Girls Trip

Last weekend was Debbie's last weekend as an East Coast resident. We decided to go out of town for the long weekend and head up to Pennsylvania.

Highlights include:

• our decked out bachelorette mobile (aka mini van)
• visiting Amish county (specifically the quilt museum in Intercourse, PA)
• seeing the Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts at a cool old theater (my favorite was The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore)
• going to a family ward for church (especially the deacon who was half flirting with the girl at the end of the row)
• our gorgeous bed and breakfast (especially the feather top king sized bed)
• delicious dinner (but really I loved my dessert)
• bachelorette games (specifically pin the kiss on Ryan Gosling)
• catching the season finale of Downton Abbey (LOVED it)
• massages (there was a heated table)
• seeing This Means War (thought it was going to be dumb, found it surprisingly good)

This was one of my most favorite East Coast weekends. Maybe it's Pennsylvania. Or maybe I just need to get out of DC more often. But either way, I love all these girls. They're all fantastic. 

Happy Family

Today I got yelled at by a homeless woman. 

It really took me a second to realize she was talking to me because she was yelling ridiculous things. 

Things like, "I don't support your lifestyle!" 

(How does she know I'm Mormon?) 

"You shouldn't be raising children!" 

(Well, I don't have kids, but I think Mormons make great, loving parents.) 

And then I realized this is what she was looking at:

And I realized she thought Lisa and I were partners 

and that we must be raising two darling little girls together.

Let me clarify. I am straight and I am open to dates with MEN ONLY. 

And these are Lisa's nieces.

Today Lisa's sister, Traci, asked if we would watch the girls while she picked up some things for work. We happily agreed because 

1.) We love Traci and 

2.) We love the girls.

So we took them for lunch and ice cream before returning them to their mother. 

Unfortunately about three minutes after leaving us, Traci's car had other plans for her afternoon. And those plans involved two FBI Security guards and a kind stranger pushing the smoking car across Pennsylvania Ave. Yep, the car broke down.

While Traci called AAA and her husband, and Lisa metro-ed home to Arlington for her car, and roommate Katie met her at the metro with her car so she could drive back into the city to save the day and so Traci could get home, 

I took Leah to the Natural History Museum:

The car will be fine. And hanging out with kids is always a good way to spend the day. 

And I guess I always have a back up plan...

Kidding! But let me remind you, I am:

1.) Open to dates.

2.) Men only. 

3.) I am open to dates.

Procrastinating

I want to procrastinate right now. So I am. I can't write a lot because I have a lot to do.

I had a fabulous weekend. Peter, a friend from college, was in town and I haven't had so much fun in a long time. Maybe it was because he mixed up a bit. But that's probably mostly because he's male. Or maybe because he's really funny. But I feel like the majority of my social life is spent with women, which is usually more fun anyway, because then I don't have to be on "good behavior". And you know what? The weekend might have been fantastic for the sole reason that we cooked ALL day on Sunday! Woohoo! I love cooking! I made apple German pancakes with buttermilk syrup for breakfast, then helped Lisa make a delicious rainbow birthday cake (that is the birthday girl in the link. Yes she's only 2. Yes she needs a six layer cake...) while preparing a roast for dinner.  Everything turned out delicious. Well, except my roast. I felt like it was a little dry. Gravy was necessary.

On Monday we hit up the Wizards/Jazz game only to have my first time rooting for the Jazz be a bad luck charm because they lost to the Wizards. The worst team in the NBA. How embarrassing for Utah. Better luck next time Jazz fans.

The long weekend was closed out with Good Stuff Eatery, SNL videos and Grey's Anatomy. I think it was basically the best weekend ever. Well, the best long weekend staying at home and not venturing off to some new city.

Oh, and I cleaned my room really really really well on Saturday, so I was really productive too, getting the one thing done that I really needed to get done. I'm awesome.

Last weekend in Utah

I went to Utah last weekend because Liz got married. Hooray! And here are the pictures I'm borrowing from my friends (thanks Erin and Amy).

From the dinner the night before the wedding. 

Left to right: Erin, Steph, Linds, LIZ THE BRIDE, Cath, me, Amy

Us as the bridesmaids minus the bride.

Me with the beautiful bride. Doesn't she look so pretty?

Pictures I can't wait to see from the official photographer:

• My sister Cami boxing me out, basketball style, to get the bouquet. (I would have gotten it too.)
• Dancing in a huge circle adding on to the dance move done by the person before.
• Liz and Mark leaving on their vespa after running through sparklers.

Pictures that I wish would have been captured but most definitely weren't:

• My sister Emma picking up a peach that fell out of a flower arrangement and eating it.
• The band playing a cover of Ice Ice Baby only identifiable by "All right stop, collaborate and listen." Otherwise it would have been completely lost.
• My sisters dancing.

And a picture I'm glad was not captured? My sweaty back from dancing. Ew.

DC Temple

August 2009

with Miss Laney, my first trip to the DC temple, picture taken because we were wearing the same colors

June 2010

with Miss Debbie and Miss Laney at last weekend's ward temple day (the picture was supposed to be from waist up...)

How much of a difference a few months can make on appearance! But the temple will always look and be the same.
It's so comforting to know that.

(Thanks for sending me the first picture Amy! And, just for you, 3 weeks, 1 day!)