Best Cheap Eats in Provo

Whenever there are family or friends passing through town they inevitably ask "What are the best places to eat in Provo?" I have some good places up my sleeve and figured it was about time that I make a list and share it with all of you! If you're heading to Salt Lake? Check out this awesome list from Kelsey of the Best Places to Eat in SLC!

This is a total hole-in-the-wall taqueria that Ryan showed me when we were first dating. It's our secret favorite place that we hardly share with anyone...you lucky ducks! My go-to dishes are the carne asada tacos and carne asada quesadillas. A great place to get authentic Mexican food in Provo!

This place is known for its pie shakes and delicious burgers. Plus they have our unique Utah fry sauce that is perfect with their sweet potato fries. It has a total hipster atmosphere and is special only to Provo and Rexburg, so it's definitely worth the stop by!

Unlimited french toast anyone? Buttery, strawberry, syrup-y goodness on thick slices of french toast. Yummmm. Kneaders offers cozy soups, tasty sandwiches, and amazing eclairs along with other pastries. A great place for breakfast, lunch, or a treat!

They have an affordable and filling lunch buffet with chicken tiki masala and lots of naan bread. The service is on the spot and you get your food extremely fast. The food doesn't sit heavy like some Indian food can, it is very tasty and I always feel satisfied!

If you've never had Cafe Rio, I feel so sorry for you. The pork salad is perfection! Pretty much anything you get at this chain Mexican grill is amazing, you can't go wrong.

Their cream cheese filled croissants and orange rolls make me DROOL. All I can say is go over there right now and grab a box of pastry goodness for breakfast. Share with no one.

Located right south of BYU campus, it's the hip place to be! They serve massive pieces of unique pizza recipes, which make it stand out from the other pizza joints in town. 

This place tops Swig and The Slurp by a bazillion gold stars. The customer service is outstanding, the soda drink mixes are addicting, and the sugar cookies are absolute heaven. It's located on the back of a barber shop and is just a drive-thru or walk-up window. I honestly can't recommend this place enough!

One of my new favorite taco places in Provo. Compared to Taqueria El Vaquero, this tends toward gourmet Mexican food. They have this amazing chimichurri mac&cheese side, a huge array of tacos {Asian, American, and traditional Mexican}, and you can turn any taco into a taco salad. Sooo tasty!

Do you have any secret favorites you would add to the list or places you're dying to try?

Midway Ice Castles

Back in December I snagged a Groupon for the Midway Ice Castles knowing that it would be a perfect budget friendly date! Especially since it's hard to get myself to go out on dates during the wintertime...cause all I want to do is cozy up in blankets, eat pizza, and watch Netflix. We finally went this last Friday and it was absolutely breathtaking.

Even driving up to Midway was beautiful, I snapped this picture and just enjoyed looking at all the snow capped trees. Sometimes I forget how pretty Utah really is, so it's nice to have these reminders every once in a while!

Ryan was being a rebel and punching some of the icicles...that dork. It was cool to see these manmade ice castles and walk through all the different mazes and crevices they had to offer. At nighttime they have LED lights inside the castles light up to make it even more magical, how cool is that??

We even saw Queen Elsa and Princess Anna from Frozen come to take some pictures, and it just made me wish I was a Disney princess! Although, I do think that I have the whole Sleeping Beauty thing down ;) This is something that I would definitely want to do next winter, it's a good excuse to get out of the house and make the best of the freezing temps here :)

Another Sweater Date Night

Yesterday the husband & I ventured up to Salt Lake to do a little Christmas gift card shopping. We hit up Nike, Lush, Anthro {where I got the most adorable umbrella ring holder}, and instead of getting stuck in traffic on the way home we ate at Red Robin in SLC. I love that after being married for over 2.5 years, we can still have fun with something as simple as walking around the mall & admiring the gorgeous snow-capped mountains around us.

I will say, that after a couple of years into this marriage gig...it is way easy to knock down your 'date game' a couple notches. What's the point of getting dressed up and trudging around in the snow when I can wear my Wal-Mart sweatpants, eat Pizza Hut, and watch Netflix documentaries? Actually GETTING DRESSED makes a massive difference. Not only in how your spouse views you, but in how you feel about yourself! Granted, I'll take any excuse to dress to the nines {kinda like that one time I wore a sequin skirt to Smiths...} 

Which is why I was super stoked to test drive my new sweater from To Adorn! They sent me a couple of surprise goodies & I was pleasantly surprised when opening the package. This sweater fits like a dream, and while it is something I wouldn't have normally picked for myself, I ended up absolutely LOVING it! Comfy fit, gold thread weaved throughout, and a black lace back with polka dots...could you seriously ask for any more cuteness in one piece of clothing? 

{Sweater: To Adorn c/o // First sweater date night}

To Adorn is daily boutique site which offers awesome prices for trendy & adorable clothing, jewelry, and more! I paired this sweater with black ponte pants {for $13 from Tj Maxx}, Spellbound by Maybelline lipstick, Steve Madden bag {from Ross}, a Bebe druzy stone necklace {for $14, also from Ross}, and olive booties from Sole Society. 

One day I randomly entered an Instagram gift card giveaway that Sole Society was hosting, and I ended up winning! So I patiently waited {with baited breath} for these studded puppies to go on sale, when they did I pounced which presented me with the grand total of $9. Awesome deals just make my day, ok?

Weekend Update: Cornbelly's

Growing up I absolutely LOVED Halloween, probably because my parents would go all out for decorations and costumes. I still relish the Hallowen decorating, wearing fun costumes, watching Nightmare Before Christmas, making Halloween treats, and handing out candy. My dad & I even bought a remote rat one year for Halloween! We hid in the window, watching the front door for trick-or-treaters and would then race the fake rat up and scare little kids with it. Cheap entertainment! Ryan on the other hand is a little freaked out by Halloween, mostly because he grew up thinking there was a cucuy living in his closet...so I gotta make sure my decor is "cute-sy" enough so it doesn't scare him. 

I found a Groupon to hit up Cornbelly's in Lehi, a corn maze/pumpkin fest, and snatched it right up. It was our first time going {and doing really anything Halloween-related} and it was super fun! We took the hay ride, walked through the little kid corn maze, played beanbag games, looked at all the fun Halloween decor, watched a pig race, and picked out mini pumpkins. Nothing too scary ;) Then we ended our date with Cafe Rio pork salads & burritos, what better way to cap off the night?!

What's your favorite part about Halloween? 

Are you a scared-y cat?

Weekend Update: Uber Late Date Night

Right after Ryan got off work on Friday night {around 9:30pm} I hustled his bum out the door cause we had a movie to catch at 10:30. I spent all this time getting dolled up for our uber late night date and gosh darn it we were gonna see Despicable Me 2! Usually I would not even be alive at 10:30 at night, but you gotta do whatcha gotta do when the husband isn't home 'till what feels like the middle of the night. At a company picnic a few weeks ago Ryan wrestled the holy tar out of some other sales guys and won us free movie tickets. Ohhh the perks of having a super buff husband...that other guys are scared to wrestle. Mwhahaha! Our date night consisted of hilarious minions, homemade quesadillas, and a super late bedtime {that we could barely handle....we are so old!}. How was your weekend?

Brother-Sister Date

If you've been following me for a while you should know a truckload about my brother Evan, who is 15 months younger than myself and only a couple grades behind me in school. He was up in Provo going to BYU at the same time as Ryan & I, so we got to spend a lot of time with him before he left for his LDS mission in Villahermosa, Mexico. 

This is my brother Jesse, he is 5 years younger than me {although some of my friends have mistaken him for being older & flirt with him...haha} and now that I'm living in SoCal for the summer I made it a point to spend more time with him because we are finally in the same state! 

Last week he took me out on a brother/sister date to go see "The Great Gatsby" {which we LOVED by the way}, then we spent time just talking about life & eating our pizza at BJ's. It's funny how some siblings will go through life and not take the time to really get to know one another. I'm just grateful that I have the opportunity to form a stronger relationship with Jesse before he leaves on his own LDS mission! 

{Btw, he will be available in 4 years for any adorable girls who want to be my sister-in-law ;)}

Weekend Update: Baby Showers+The Doctor

This past weekend I went with my mom to a baby shower for a girl, Kayla, that I grew up with {pictured above}. We totally showed up late, I didn't have my glasses on when reading the invite and thought it was 10-2 when it actually ended at noon...at we totally showed up at noon, oops. On the up side, it was nice to have the extra time to chat & narf all the extra goodies! It's just crazy to me that people my age are married as well as adding kids to the bunch. In LDS culture it's the norm to have kids pretty early on {within the first couple years of marriage}, and because of that I always get the "when are you having babies?!" question, it's about once or twice a week I swear. That's not in my plan for another couple years people! Gotta get my bum graduated then get Ryan graduated then I'll start thinking about that! 

After enjoying just looking at all the cute 'lil baby clothes/blankets my mom & I met up with Ryan/Dad/Jesse{youngest brother} for dinner then Jesse ditched us which made it a double date to Start Trek and Coldstone. That's my dad with me in the pic above aka The Doctor as we like to call him {he's a dentist}. Whenever we have a random question that we can't answer but really don't need the answer to, Ryan and I consult the Doctor and will be like "Hey, you're a doctor {meaning you're smart & should know lots of things}...what backpack is the best one to take on a Europe backpacking trip?" Then we get an hour long tutorial on the pros & cons of which backpack would be best for both men and women. I swear he is a walking encyclopedia/google, hence him becoming THE DOCTOR. Ohhh the power that comes with that name, he is pretty much the next Chuck Norris. By the way Star Trek was awesome and Coldstone is delicious. 

End of story. 

And also...

The winner of the Albion Fit Giveaway is...Ellen Casper!

You'll be getting an email from me soon.

NOW, it's end of story. Happy Monday :)

A Prolonged Valentines

Obviously I have no shame.

I know when I do good and I have noooo problem shoutin' it from the rooftops.

Or the blog for that matter.

My present got lost in the mail and won't be here till Tuesday, but who really cares you know?

It just means the Valentine's will be prolonged for another few days!

Huzzah!!

After our Outback date on Friday night, we lazily woke up Saturday morning and got ready for the movie theater. I was dying to watch the new & improved romantic movie for Valentines...Safe Haven.

Ryan said it was pretty much the same as The Vow from last year, but it's been re-named to make more moolah. PSH. Who cares, it's romantic!

Anddd what's cooler is that I met a blog reader in the bathroom at the movie theater.

If you're reading this, hi Natalie! It was so nice to meet you :)

We devoured some Zupas then I headed off to work for the night.

Not a very exciting weekend but it was nice to take a quick break before delving into the hectic school week. Now I'm looking forward to California for this upcoming weekend, so stoked to see the fam!

{A V-day snail mail present from the bff Sam in CA}

Welp, off to another hectic school week.

When will this semester be over?!

P.S. Check out the new Sponsor page!

The November I Can't Remember

Would you believe me if I told you that I've had this outfit for a MONTH now, and I've just been biding my time until I could wear it for our Valentine's dinner?
I call it being prepared people.

After a long day of school, homework, and the gym we met together at the house and went out on our date Friday night. While we were getting ready, Ryan asked if I remembered our first "official" date. Ryan always makes fun of me because I honestly can't remember anything from when we first starting dating. It's ok, he didn't drug me, I checked. We always joke that it's the "November I Can't Remember" and I always bug him to tell me stories from that month, kind of like a kid who bugs their parents to re-read their favorite book time and time again.

He proceeded to tell me the story of our date, he said that it was the first time he actually noticed what I was wearing when we went out {he was very vague about it though when I asked what I was actually wearing, I guess almost 2 and half years will do that to you!}.

To get prepared for the date, he stalked my Facebook to see what my family's idea of "dressing up" was. Come to find out, in every family photo my brothers and dad are always wearing a t-shirt with a button-up over the top. At least it's predictable right?!

As we were driving, he said that in preparation for our first "official" date that he asked my friends what one of my favorite restaurants was....Outback of course! Yummmm.

When we first started dating we liked to play the "Question" game. 

It was a way we could ask each other the hard questions to get to know one another better.

Ryan explained that he always loved playing this game with me because I was transparent & honest and it was the fastest way to get to know me.

On our first date I confided in him that one of my fears is being stuck.

Stuck in a situation or place that I didn't feel comfortable in or that I couldn't get out of.

He turned to me that night and sweetly said:

"Bri, I'll never let you feel hopeless like that again"

A little forward for the first date huh?

Supposedly I was just quiet after he said that, because I'm sure I was mulling it over in my mind to see if that is what I really wanted. To be stuck with him for all eternity....

How about a resounding YES. 

On our probably bazillionith "official" date the other night, we ate at Outback, used our Kohls cash to get Ryan some shirts, played the question game, and we took outfit pictures {his idea}!
Oh how I love these themed dates from the "November I Can't Remember" :)

The Ultimate Beach Date!

I don't know about you, but around this time of the year I start really missing the sun & beach!
We are all in luck because the Provo Beach Resort is hosting an awesome event for all of you.

They have generously donated their facility to help the youth of The Boys and Girls Club.
 The kids get free reign of the Provo Beach Resort from 3-5pm {how cool!}, then it is open for the public from 5-10pm on February 12th.
An admission fee of $15 will go towards unlimited access to:
 bowling, ropes course, Lazer frenzy, Indoor Croquet, Gold Simulator, and Flowrider!
And some live music by The Brocks and Robert & The Carrolls!

A portion of the proceeds will go towards helping out The Boys and Girls Club of Utah County.
So if you want to take your honey on an awesome pre-Valentines date night and help out the kids of our community, then you gotta check out the Facebook page for more info!
Ryan & I of course will be there, and would love to see all of you! :)

Ruffle Monster

I remember when I saw this shirt on the hanger in the Anthropologie sale section and was like:

"Ummm, who would wear that ruffle monstrosity."

My mom convinced me to at least try it on, and much to my surprise it looked bangin'.

Another point for you mom!

So now I'm the one who would wear that ruffle monstrosity.

The plan was to hit up a dollar movie on Saturday night, so I hurry to get dressed, I walk out of the bathroom to show off my date look and Ryan looks at me and says:

"Bri, you look hot. But you know that we are going to see a dollar movie...in Provo."

So what! I needed an excuse to dress up :)

In the end, the dollar movie was a bust so we meandered Barnes & Noble and Best Buy, then went home to make dinner together and cuddle and watch a movie.

Top: Anthro//Jeans: AE//Hoops: Target//Belt: F21

And during this photo shoot, these dumb shoes broke.
As soon as I'm makin' boo-koo bucks, I'm investing in some nice-ace shoes.
Steve Madden, Zara, ShoeMint, etc etc.
No more of this:
"I'm gonna buy this really cute cheap pair of shoes and they will last me forever!"
Yup, that's false.
Anyone read that "Fast Food Fashion" book yet? Cause I think that's the jist of the book.

Now I'm off to convince my body to get up and work out.
Or at least just to put on the work-out gear.

<3 Bri