...

on my way down to southern california i stopped for a few days in st. george, utah to spend some time with kaleo.

i've always wanted to go to zion national park and so he finally took me!

we were sort of in a rush since we had to wait until he was out of his football meetings to go.

we had to drive fairly quick through the park to see as much as we could before it got dark.

we didn't get to go to some of the areas that we had planned on seeing, but it was still so beautiful! 

my favorite part, however, was the adorable little town of springdale that you have to drive through to get to the park. 

it was full of rustic charm- it's streets lined with antique shops, gift shops, cozy cafes, and restaurants.

on our way back through we stopped at the zion pizza & noodle co. to have pasta.

it was so cute and i would have taken pictures if it wasn't dark out!

(i've had my nikon for like three years now and i still don't know how to take night pictures- stupid, i know.)

but we had so much, like always...

we will definitely be going back!

 

his professional photographer pose ;) 

 and most likely, when you give a boy your camera he will abuse the privileges and something like this will show up! 

 

ok, so kind of a -you had to be there to find it as funny as we did- story...

as we were driving through the park i saw the most perfect picture spot so i made kaleo stop the car so that i could take some pictures.

being no parking spots, we just thought it would be cool to pull off to the side of the road.

no big deal.

twenty minutes later as we're walking back to our car we notice, it's half in the road. 

(totally was worse than it looks in the picture).

i start dying laughing, seriously i just thought it was the funniest thing ever.

 we stop walking, being too embarrassed to claim that the car is ours.

we watch for a while as cars have to slow down and wait for oncoming traffic to pass so that they can get around our car.

so we decide to play it cool and continue to walk slowly to the car.

we were like- wow, who's that idiot who parked his car in the road? 

and then when no one was watching and there were no cars, we ran to the car, slammed our doors, and drove off as fast as we could.

 you just had to be there...

...

it is my day off and i am off to south coast plaza for some shopping and (hopefully) maybe some celebrity watching- fingers crossed! 

...

 

hey, all my lovely followers :)

that is if you are still following along with me! 

i have been MIA for a while now only because i have been moving into my new orange county home.

i absolutely love it here.

but more on that to come in a different post!

on to a more personal subject...

a month or so ago we were given the horrible news that my granddad is very sick.

over the last few weeks all of my family has been traveling to montana to spend time with him and for some of us- to say goodbye. 

right before i made my move to california, my family and i drove to montana to see him.

amongst the fear and pain, we were still able to have an amazing weekend together.

of course, i'm kicking myself for only getting out my camera once during the entire time we were there.

but this is a little bit of what my weekend consisted of:

1. going through multiple packages of double stuffed oreos (you can't even imagine what i would do to have one right now!) 

2.being introduced to diet coke with lime (delicious.)

3. being crammed into a tiny little house with lots and lots of people everyday (seriously would not have it any other way!)

4. discovering that downtown helena is absolutely the cutest thing ever (only took me 22 years to notice...)

5. freezing our butts off at the carrol college football game.

6. embarrassingly getting kicked out of our seats at the game (cause well, they weren't really the seats that we paid for!)

7. then having to sit in front of the fans from the away team (and being oddly entertained!) 

8. family rounds of apples to apples, spoons, and liar.

9. sitting around the campfire and listening to my granddad tell stories (i learned some craaaazzy things about him...)

10. making a very interesting and awesome family-planned first impression on a cousin's new boyfriend (we failed, but it was still fun)

11. watching friends.

12. being reacquainted with a cousin that i haven't seen in years.

13. eating amazing food (enchiladas, tacos, pizza, homemade salsa, etc...)

14. enjoying the wilderness (seriously the house is surrounded by mountains, pine trees, deer and everything- it's amazing!) 

15. realizing that nothing in the world can prepare you to say goodbye to someone who has been a part of your life since the day you were born. 

so she's not that great at liar...

reppin' indiana

on our way to get bread guts before the football game.

love.

cali trip via instagram+pixlromatic

southern california has always been somewhat like heaven to me.

ever since I was little we have spent weeks during our summers and christmases there, visiting our family.

it’s always been a happy place for me to be.

but now that I’m older, it’s different.

now it’s a place that helps me to escape from reality.

all of the stress and worries of my everyday life just seem to fade away while I’m there.

to me it’s a reminder of how big this world really is, and how many opportunities really are out there.

and the feeling of being surrounded by my family- there’s nothing quite like it.

i’d never trade it for anything…

usually we go in july, when the weather is hot.

but this year we had to go a month early for my cousin’s wedding.

sadly, it wasn’t warm enough to spend the majority of our days lying on the beach like we usually do.

I usually come home looking like a lobster from my stubbornness to put on any sunscreen while lying out for hours.

this time though, I came home niiice and white.

we still had an incredible time though.

we got to hit up disneyland, hollywood, beverly hills, san diego, and my favorite…laguna beach.

the wedding was on a boat in newport harbor.

it was beautimous!

i tend to leave california with my head up in the clouds and it is very hard to adjust back to good ole idaho living.  

it’s been a few weeks and i still have not adjusted…

i hadn’t planned on making a video from the pictures of this trip.

so during our last two days, we were so exhausted and tired of pulling out our phones to take pictures that our picture taking basically came to a stop.

but here’s just a little peak into some of the fun that was had!

(sorry in advance for the not-so-great quality. it’s youtube’s fault.)

and this next one is just for funsies.

this is how to do the robot on a very empty dance floor...

 

 

my ten reasons why...

so as most of you know, i got to spend the weekend in st. george with my bff.

aka- the coolest boy in the world and most sweeeetest boyfriend, ever, evereverever.

i got home this morning and to put it quite simply, it's been a rough day.

i have a to-do list right now that's about as big as i am, but instead, i'm doing this...

because tomorrow's valentine's day and i am trying to feel the love even though i am all alone.

every day, every hour, every minute when i am with him i am reminded of why i am the luckiest girl in the world.

so i just wanted to share my top ten moments from this weekend that reminded me of why i wake up every morning and give everything i have to this long-distance relationship that makes my life so worth living....

1. the feeling that i still get (after six years of dating) when i'm about to see him.

you know, the one that makes your heart start beating so fast and you start thinking that if the people on this plane don't start moving faster, you're just going to have to trample them.

it's the walk from the airplane to his car where he's waiting that seems like it couldn't be any longer.

but then when you see him, you start to feel so nervous and somewhat shy, like it's your first crush all over again...

2. it's the way that everytime we're sitting at a red light, he misses when it turns green because he's too busy singing to me.

or dancing, or just talking to me.

 and it's the way i feel when he says that that only happens when he's with me...

3. it's the way that we love to go out together and have fun.

we get so excited weeks in advance just to spend a few hours in vegas.

it's the fact that we know whatever we will be doing, even if things don't go as planned, we will have the most amazing time, just because we're together.

this weekend we went to the eiffel tower restarurant.

we got such a thrill out of being in such a fancy place together, we still can't stop talking about it.

4. and it's the way that at that restaurant, we wanted to try something new.

so we had duck liver as an appetizer!

we're not afraid to step out there and experience new things, and it makes life so exciting.

(he also took me skydiving for my 18th birthday, by the way.)

5. it's the way that he watched six hours of the bachelor with me on the internet because i don't have the time to watch it when i'm home.

it's the fact that he didn't have to watch it with me, but he did because he knew it would make me happy.

and it's definitely the way that i think he got more into it than i did...!

(i hope i don't get in trouble for saying that.)

6. it's the way that when we took a walk and it was just me and him out there, everthing was perfect.

and i felt like there was nothing in the world that could take away from my happiness.

and also, it was the way that he thought it would be fun to look for bugs in the creek ;)

7. it's the way that we love to go out and have a good time, but we also just can't get enough of cuddling up together to watch movies.

this was definitely a redbox weekend, and those are the best.

and it's the way that he's not embarrassed to search for a movie like this in order to stay out of the freezing, blowing rain...

8. it's the way that when we went shopping at wal mart, he told me to stand in front of him on the cart so that we could run through the parking lot in the rain.

it's the playful side of him that i could never live without- the part of him that makes me laugh so much it hurts.

9. and it's the way that whenever we go to the movie theatre, we always get skittles or sour patch kids, and he always eats the green ones that i don't like.

it's times like those where i feel like he truly is my other half.

cause what would happen to all of those greens if i didn't have him??

10. and last, but definitely not least, it's the way that he holds me when i always cry the night before i leave.

and then when i'm done crying, he asks me why i'm so pretty when i cry.

the only reason he lets me do it in the first place is because he knows it hurts me a lot less to cry when i'm with him than when i'm alone.

the only thing is, i definitely didn't get it all out this time, and it's been a day full of tears.

but every tear is a reminder of how lucky i am to have someone like him in my life...

and those are just a few of the reminders that i had this weekend.

vegas...we are coming baaaack!

okay, so i'm going to get a little off topic here, but...

i can't believe that spring is almost here!

with every new season, i always wonder how i could have possibly thought that the season prior was my favorite.

yeah, i'm one of those indecisive people that can't decide on a real favorite.

for example, if you were to drive with me in a car you might get sick of me saying, "oh turn it up, this is my favorite song!"

i've been told by a few people that i can't say that about every song.

(how rude.)

i think it's a good thing.

it just means that i've got a lot of love in me!

but all of this talk is besides the point of this post (the one that i am writing instead of reading my geography book- which i will be angry at myself for in the morning. thank you to those who have taught me that procrastination is okay- you know who you are...)

i just wanted to share about how happy i am for spring to be on it's way.

the sunny, clear skies, and 50 degree weather is just too exciting for me. 

i keep pushing it with wearing thin sweaters instead of my coat and rolling down my car window while driving- both of which i immediately regret.

i just have to be pateint for a few more weeks.

it's times like these that i feel so blessed to live in idaho where we are able to experience all four seasons.

but anyways, seriously now...

very soon (ten days to be exact), i will be in st. george, utah visiting my boyfriend.

which i am even way more excited about than spring!

since st. george is just a short little drive from vegas, we will be spending an evening full of sin city.

okay, so we will probably just go to dinner and a show.

maybe some dancing.

maybe more....

cause you know what they say....

what happens in vegas, stays in vegas!

just kidding.

we really are only going to dinner and a show.

but still, vegas is the one excuse that girls have to dress like a hoochie mamma, even if you are just going to dinner and a show.

so i'll be hoochin' it up.

(but in a classy way...really.)

so i was going over a list of things in my head this morning that are essential for my evening in vegas (but really, things that are essential for any evening out.)

and i was thinking, i really could never live without these things- so i should blog about them!

there are lots of products and accessories that play a part in acheiving a fabulous look.

i'm just going to share with you my top 6...

warning: they are a bit pricey- i don't normally spend a lot of money on beauty products but these are a few things that i think are worth splurging on.

so first, i have to introduce to you to, the miracle of mystic tanning...

i'm sure that most of you have already discovered spray tanning.

isn't it the greatest?

really, life would be easier if uv tanning wasn't so dangerous to our skin.

but it is, so we have to resort to other ways of staying beautifully golden brown.

(especially if you are naturally very pale, like myself- it can be a bummer.)

i go to palm beach tan, where i can get a month's worth of unlimited mystic tans for around $60.

it's definitely a bit pricey, but some things are just worth the extra cash.

for those who aren't willing to spend that much, which is totally understandable, here is a link to a product that i have used and loved for years!

fakebake

my second i-would-die-without product...

bronze goddess soft shimmer bronzer by estee lauder.

i swear by this bronzer.

and i don't swear by a lot of things.

this was another item that was originally stolen from my mom.

gosh, i am so sorry again mom.

i have gone back several times and re-stocked on this stuff.

i get it from dillards, around $30.

eeek, i know, kind of expensive for bronzer.

but the color is so pretty and natural and it doesn't fade.

there is also a lot, so it will last you for quite a while.

i wear it every single day on my face and chest.

never had a bronzer quite like it...

my third (and probably favorite) item....

my "diorshow" mascara.

now this i really do swear by, even more than the last product.

i'm very lucky to have naturally long eyelashes, but it was never brought to my attention before i started wearing this stuff.

i am constantly being asked now if my eyelashes are fake.

that's really all that there is to it- this stuff is awesome!

it makes your eye lashes so thick and long and it doesn't flake off.

i get it from sephora around $25.

no alternative for this one.

the fourth love of my life...

my clip-in hair extensions.

these are new for me!

for years i have wanted hair extensions.

for some reason, my hair just never would cooperate and grow for me.

but hair extensions were never an option because they are so expensive.

so the last time i was with my hair dresser she told me about clip-in extensions.

i seriously went and got some the very next day.

i got them from sally's beauty supply for about $110.

they are like a tenth of the price of regular extensions!

and they look so natural.

i am wearing them in both fashion posts i recently did if you would like to take a looksie.

the ones that i bought are 18 inches.

they are so easy to put in, it takes me about five minutes.

the only downside i must tell you- if you are wearing all eight peices, by the end of the day they can make your head feel somewhat sore.

but i really only wear mine for special occasions, so it doesn't bother me at all.

if you are thinking of taking the hair extension route, look into the clip-ins first!

and for one that we all know and love...

i've used these babies for years.

i've used bleaching kits from my dentist and also have experimented with other store bought brands, and nothing beats these.

i believe they're about $40 at wal mart.

there are cheaper kits made by crest, but what i love about the professional effects is that you see results very fast and they also whiten your teeth to the very tip-top extreme.

you just have to stay consistent with them.

it's worth it though, i promise.

and here's my very last essential for vegas...

a forever21 little scandalous dress.

forever21 has the best dresses for going out and they are soo cheap!

i think the one that i bought to wear was under $20.

so thankful that boise finally got one of these stores...

so there you have it.

what would you take to vegas?

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