nantucket!

hi, hello.

a few weekends ago i drove down to hyannis with some lady friends, we boarded a ferry, and then 2+ hours later we were in nantucket! it was a little colder than i would have liked but we needed to go before friend mel moves so we went earlier than we probably would have done otherwise. for the first little bit i was kind of depressed that in still looked wintery in most parts (which you won't really see because i didn't like taking pictures of that) but as soon as we started walking around i quickly forgot about my sadness and became obsessed with all of the shops and homes and whale paraphernalia errrrrywhere. 

 i loved this back road so much

nevermind the dead trees LOOK AT THAT GREEN GRASS

 that little house in the background was a sandwich shop we ate at for lunch and the tiny little shed with a door next to it was the bathroom (cutest outhouse there ever was!) and they even sold nantucket nectars drinks! i looked down as i drank it and blurted out "hey guys, we're here!" (referring to nantucket) which made me feel kind of juice famous. also, i just noticed that little lighthouse on the label. it is the very same one in the first picture of this post! CUTE.

they had the best flower boxes 

(which is something the east coast is really good at in general) 

 coffin park. uncomfortable.

we perused so many fun stores.

 how about those doll chandelier things hanging from the ceiling? classy

 i spy tennis rackets

 i still mourn the fact that i didn't buy a whale plate

 i went to the second floor of a book store to find all of my friends just reading their hearts out. i had no idea half of them were even in the store, apparently one by one they went up the stairs and just never came back down. one even read the entire book "of mice and men" hahah weirdos

the world needs more cobble stone, brick, and flower trees.

 self-time fail/success

 kristin is way good at holding lots of stuff

 these guys and that sign!

 and then it was time to head back because the last ferry leaves at 5:30 in the off season. 

don't be deceived by amber's smile, we were sad.

then the "we realized we had not taken even one photo together the whole day" picture happened right before going home. so glad we snuck it in there! 

and then just like that our nantucket day was over. 

thank you for joining me! on a photo recap of this lovely day. 

april, i'm sad you're over!

..i always really like april.

 note to self : never stick something under your arm at a store that is carrying a bag - you will walk right out of the store and not realize that you have committed theft until you are almost home. 

as part of my birthday present i made j-man come get mani/pedis with me. sadly the place was really busy and they did a terrible job so he probably will never do that again but it was still fun! 

after weeks of taking a break we went back to my favorite thai place and i think i'm getting sick of the phad thai and IT MAKES ME SO SAD. i hate when food that once brought you so much joy just makes you sick. 

and, after months and months and months of not seeing old companion sister starley she happened to be in boston for a work trip! we met up in the north end for lunch and cannoli and it was so fun to catch up with her. 

my grandpa had a 90th birthday surprise party!!! i really hate missing out on things so my dad was sweet to facetime me. sadly i forgot what time the party was and was actually on my way to go sailing so it was kind of a miracle that we even connected for a few minutes!  

i was happy to see him and be a part of his party! (kind of)

then the sailing happened after the facetime failed. thanks captain chip! or whatever your name was

seasonal mount auburn photo with the nat

and a bonus picture with sister jordan! natalie is a good person and takes the sisters out to dinner regularly and then sometimes i join her. sister jordan is a convert and has worked for gladys knight the last five years in vegas! i told her to tell gladys hello for me. 

bonus picture number two and three would be facetiming with this dear ashlie friend of mine. it was one of the happier hours of my recent life. ashlie come to boston already!

i need you to imagine me and about 10 other girls doing yoga on the grass in the picture above. sunset yoga is one of the best things that has ever happened to me and i need to figure out a way for it to happen every day. 

and look! it's my netpal! me and my homegirl sonam have been writing emails back and forth for the last few months through a program my work has with a local middle school. we got to go to their science fair and see their projects and then eat lunch with them. i got my last email from her today which included this - "I'm gonna miss reading and writing emails to your fun, excited, and always interested personality! Everyone was like, "OH MY GOSH, YOUR NETPAL IS AWESOME! SHE'S SO YOUNG AND HIP!" And I'm just like, "Yeah, I know right!" *hair flip* haha, I'm not kidding though!"

yep guys. if you want to feel good about yourself just start emailing a 7th grader.

also, can we talk about how the last few weeks of spring blossoms have been unreal? new england sure knows how to do spring and fall right with all of these trees everywhere. i've taken 4,934 pictures of them so don't worry, you'll get to experience it too.

natalie was nice to gather some gals together for a belated birthday dinner. i'll tell you something, you can really tell who has lived in utah and who hasn't just by someone's enthusiasm for texas roadhouse rolls. some people just don't get it!

and then the next night i went to A CIRCUS IN A TENT. i got there a little late and walked in as the horses were running around and i guess i looked really excited by it all because the usher was like "oh i can tell from your face that you haven't been in here yet, let me help you to your seat" haha.  i loved that it was small and intimate and i'll say it again - in a real tent. old circuses have always fascinated me so it was fun to feel like i was at one for a minute. 

and then that is the end for now because i got overwhelmed with how many photos i have of life and had to stop going through them. but when i bring myself to blog again you can look forward to weekend trips to nantucket/cape cod and brooklyn! and many blossom photos in between. 

birthday week twenty thirteen

guys. i turned 26. 

i had really high hopes for my big day but spoiler alert i got super sick and felt sad and sorry for myself all weekend instead. but feeling this was the lamest birthday i've ever had isn't going to stop be from documenting it! i'm just not going to sugar coat any of it so i apologize now for making you feel uncomfortable :) 

left : this picture is here to not only tell you i matched my phone cover one day but also to say i'm still wearing sweaters. GO AWAY WINTER

right : i had to say goodbye to my utah license and get a massachusetts one. i'm still mad they took it away and even more mad i couldn't talk myself into pretending like i lost it so i didn't have to give it to them. damn you honest nature!

i went to fhe for the first time in weeks. you tell me we're making sushi and i'll be there, every time. 

above: john and i walked to davis square one night to grab dinner and this little band was the best surprise! i was really happy to watch them and could have done it for days

below: maybe you wonder why john and i never take pictures together but maybe these photos should help you see why. he is five and refuses to cooperate 95% of the time.

brynne emailed me and brought some of her early blog posts to my attention. 

hours later i had read everything she posted from 2007 - 2010 and found plenty of great pictures of us along the way.

i was really good and proactive and made not one but five images for the reallifeanswers blog! 

this time a picture of john made it in there, a few week's ago grandpa made it in and kloe and jackson did a few weeks before that. if i have photos of you then i will probably put you on there eventually so stay tuned! also stay tuned for when they redesign the blog because it is embarrassingly ugly at the moment.

thursday i went to my friend carly's spring concert at the catholic school she teaches music at. they all performed songs from musicals and i loved every minute of it, especially all these parents and their electronics. (for the record, this is the day that my body decided to start feeling weak and sad.)

saturday morning we hit up kelly's diner - triple d visited so it seemed like a good idea. i thought it was nice and fun but can't really tell a difference from any other diner breakfast i've had so sorry kell. 

my body was starting to feel progressively weaker and had body chills but dang it i was not going to miss everything so we decided to go to a reenactment called "parker's revenge"

in case you were wondering john and i have very different taste in sunglasses so don't think i approve of those! he loves the dad shoes and dad glasses and sometimes you just have to pick your battles haha

best friends

didn't really get why this was happening but i liked it. i just realized i forgot to put any pictures of the actual reenactment but it's fine. just try to imagine it. 

that night we walked around china town, the theater district, and little italy. the book of mormon musical is playing in boston right now so members and missionaries had a suit case of book of mormon's ready for anyone that wanted one. 

by this point in the night i thought i was going to die. i was just really weak and tired and cold and my birthday break down ( i have one every year - it is normal) was starting to kick in. john was sweet to let me be cranky but even i didn't want to be around myself! 

sooo  let's fast forward to sunday - my birthday. 

i woke up and felt TERRIBLE. i showered, laid down for a few minutes, tried to get dressed, had to lay down again, put on make up, laid down again , and the rest of the morning went on in this pattern. 

when i got to church everything had gotten so bad that i couldn't speak very well and when i tried hot tears would just stream down my face haha. i really had no idea what was going on but knew i couldn't handle crying at everyone who said hello anymore so i went out in the hall and lasted long enough to take the sacrament and then john took me home. well, he took me to go get nyquil and cough drops, and then took me home. 

by that point the tylenol i had taken that morning had started to kick in so i listened to a session of conference while i cleaned up my room. i started inhaling the cough drops but they weren't very helpful (and no one told me you shouldn't do that but i soon found out after getting tons of sores in my mouth. thanks for nothing, halls!). around 3 john came and picked me up and we drove around mt. auburn cemetery in hopes to find spring blossoms - we found like three trees that had some so that was short lived (but nice). we then went back to his house and made chicken enchilada soup and watched life of pi. i got to facetime with my family which you will see below (and which were the only pictures i took of this day) which was happy and sad all at the same time because i miss those guys! i had a good cry after i got off the phone while john got home taught which felt nice - just needed to finish up the birthday break down and feeling sorry for myself moments on my own haha. and well, i think that is about it. 

i have no idea if this video is going to work but my brother rob had two of his girls send me some birthday wishes and i just cried as i watched it over and over - that little video meant a lot to me and helped me snap out of the funk i was in. even though i don't love getting older or feeling like crap the days before and after my birthday i do love my sweet family and friends. 

i received letters and phone calls and sweet texts and facebook messages and even this caticorn birthday photo from from ashlie! i have a nice boyfriend who stayed with me the entire weekend. i have family and friends who love me. i now, a few days later, have my health back too so i guess it wasn't all that bad but john and i proooobably decided i should take a birthday raincheck and that might be today so i'll tell you how it goes haha.