Love Beauty & Planet

Since my mom started cosmetology school and has recently become a licensed cosmetologist (congrats mom!), I've been far more conscious of what I use in my beauty routine. She's passed on a lot of great tips, tricks, and products to help keep my skin and hair healthy. What I've learned is that I'm a sucker for a great product with an amazing scent :) 

Moving to the Little Blue Townhome

I don't think I've really brought this up here on the blog, mostly because there have been more important/exciting things to write about when I finally get the chance to hop on and write.

Back in November, Ryan & I were at our wits end with the yellow brick house management. They were threatening to kick us out over the dumbest things even though we paid our rent every month, took great care of the property, and even improved it at our own cost. The place didn't have proper A/C or heating, the utilities were split in (I'm sure) an illegal way, and the management company was dishonest and slimy.

We had been casually looking online for new places, but nothing ever felt right. Then if something was within our price range during our online searches; I'd think about all the time, effort, and money it would take to move. BARF. That would be enough to convince myself to be content for another month or so; or at least until another issue with management.

I started to get real fed up with the ridiculous high pricing of Provo family housing, especially since most of it hadn't been updated since the 80s.

"How can landlords get away with this here? It's practically stealing! I'm not paying $900 a month to live in a basement with rats."

That's a rant for another time ;)

Ryan took on the home search brigade and came to me the Tuesday before Thanksgiving with a listing for a 3bd 2.5 bathroom townhome on the west side of Provo. It looked beautiful. But isn't it too big? Do we need that much space? It might be a touch above our budget? But gosh, I'll finally have heating and A/C! I haven't had that in years!

We toured the place on Wednesday, then signed paperwork that night to move in on Friday (the day after Thanksgiving).

My family and friends love us a whole dang lot, because moving was a beast in the cold dreary weather. But we are all moved in and have been decorating up a storm!

You never know how much crap you have until you have to move and store all of it. We ended up selling, donating, and trashing a lot of our belongings and it feels like a good start to a new chapter.

We're happily on the other side of Provo, where I have a functioning thermostat and a washer/dryer all to myself. You could say we're pretty content over here :)

UNPLUGGED // A phone free networking event

Location: Sodalicious @ The Village Apartments (602 N 600 E Provo, UT)

Does anyone even remember the last time you didn't have a glowing screen in front of your face? Whether that be a smart phone, laptop, tv, or iPad...I constantly have one burning into my eyeballs! DevMountain is sponsoring this event: Unplugged/A Phone Free Networking Event, where you check in your phones at the door and get some much needed human interaction!

Come for a free Sodalicious soda, live music, face-to-face communication with rad locals, and to chill with a boa constrictor...for serious! 

REGISTER HERE

Halloween House Tour + Festivities

I am finally getting around to posting these Halloween decor pictures! Growing up my parent always went all out with Halloween and Christmas decorations, which definitely got passed down to me :) When my parents were in town, my mom helped finish the front of the house with this adorable wreath we made with stuff from Hobby Lobby. Late night crafts fueled by Sodalicious! 

I took these front room pictures right before my birthday party, and during the whole month of October I kept on adding more and more decorations. I love having people come into my home and instantly feel the Halloween spirit! 

On Halloween night Ryan was working until 9pm, so I dressed up as Minnie Mouse and passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. I only got about 5-6 groups of treaters the entire night and was a little bummed because a couple years ago we had non-stop kids at our front door! I think it's because all the local malls and shops were hosting trick-or-treaters all day long, so then parents didn't want to drag their kids out at night for candy. Lammeeeeeee.

A few weeks ago my friend Jess hosted an awesome Halloween party with a spook alley entrance and everything! Ryan and I snagged costumes last minute to be from the Top Gun movie, which is his favorite. Next year I'm definitely taking more time to find something as fun and creative as our Mario/Peach costume from last year. 

Finally here is our pumpkins from our group date night with our friends! We did the Jack Skellington pumpkin, Lo & Kev did the pirate kitty, and Ariel & Connor made the minion. Jess & Dallin ended up joining us later for bonfire, hot chocolate, smores, roasted pumpkin seeds, games, and 2am Dominos pizza. The night was a serious BLAST. I haven't laughed that hard in so long! I'm sad to see October go, but I'm excited to see my family for Thanksgiving then to start decorating for Christmas :)

The Mouse Trap Truck Blogger's Night Out

One of my first visits to the Provo Food Truck Roundup I tried out The Mouse Trap Truck's grilled cheese sandwiches and fell in love. A few weeks ago I talked to the owner Dave about hosting a bloggers night out, and he was all for it! 

Most bloggers parties are about the glitz and glam, which isn't a bad thing at all because I love having an excuse to get gussied up! Though, I felt like it was time for a low-key bloggers night where we could talk, and have a good time with our friends over some amazing food. Leggings, sweaters, and topknots were encouraged! 

^^ Dave being awesome and hanging up adorable lights!

We got to sample Mouse Trap's most popular sandwiches and they are literally TO DIE FOR. My favorite is the Odd Father, hands down! The Nutell-Yeah is a close runner-up :)

Thank you SO MUCH to The Mouse Trap Truck (Dave, Skyler, Hannah, Brenna, and Brinley) for making this such a fun night! And everyone, make sure to snag an amazing sandwich next time you see this cute yellow & white striped truck scootin' around Utah Valley :)

Food: The Mouse Trap Truck

Photography: Les Dedrickson Photography

Tamarack: A Fantastic Addition to the Provo Food Scene

Does this logo look familiar to any of you Provo residents? Ryan and I have passed this restaurant going east on University Parkway numerous times and have said "Isn't that where the old Magleby's use to be? Well, this place looks cool so we should try it out sometime." Tamarack happened to invite Ryan and I to try out their restaurant, so what better time for a fancy dinner than on my birthday weekend?!

I never visited this location when previously occupied by other restaurants so I don't know the before/after transformation; but after walking around Tamarack I was stunned by the gorgeous interiors. If I could build my dream house it would be this blue, white, and brown color scheme and feel as cozy as Tamarack. 

We had SUCH a hard time picking out what we wanted to try out. When our waitress first brought the bread and butter, Ryan and I were already sold. Ryan kept on saying "this tastes like my Grandma's homemade bread on the ranch!" If we were so impressed by the simple bread and butter, we couldn't wait to dig into appetizers and entrees! We started off with some blackberry limaides and basa bites with berry dipping sauce. YUM. 

This pumpkin soup came with Ryan's entree, I was afraid it was going to be too sweet but it was actually perfect. Creamy consistency, sweet but not overpowering, and not super filling (which means you can eat the whole bowl and not be too full for more food.)

I got the shrimp fettuccine alfredo. OMG. I don't even know how to go about describing this deliciousness to you, but I'll try. The shrimp was large, perfectly cooked, and tasty. The pasta came with mushrooms, peppers, and bread with pesto/cheese on top. While the dish was a little more on the expensive side, I got a ton of pasta and even took home a box of it for later. Seriously, so good. 

Ryan got the "Tamarack Chop" which is a pork chop with a dried cherry barbecue glaze. He was in heaven!! 

We finished the night with a chocolate berry cobbler...which pretty much sells itself. It was a great ending to a delicious night filled with awesome food. Make sure to swing by Tamarack and try out this fantastic new addition to the Provo food scene!

Tamarack Cuisine: INSTAGRAM // FACEBOOK 

Flor de Luz Photo Shoot

This is a photo shoot that I did with Rachel (photographer) and Nassari (shop owner) a while ago and I just love how colorful and bright it is!! I was gifted this Mexican style dress and love the beautiful embroidery on it, plus it being the most comfortable dress ever doesn't hurt ;) 

Check out Flor de Luz for authentic & gorgeous Mexican dresses, blouses & blankets!!

SHOP // FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // BLOG