Best Of: Utah Edition

Ooh I love living in Utah!

There is so much to do! Winter or Summer. 

And there's so many great places to eat, as evidenced by most of my blog posts... moving on:

Not being in school this semester (hello graduated life) lets me enjoy a lot more of Utah than I usually do during this time of the year!

First up, skiing!!

My dad and I head up to Sundance resort -- I've been skiing there since I was 3 years old so it might not be the biggest resort in Utah, but I always feel like I'm home when I'm there, I love it!!

We went on the weekend with the HUGE snowstorm so the snow was A-MAZ-ING. And then it's decided to rain and be 50 degrees for the last two weeks so...

<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>

Next up: BYU Basketball games!

Which are seriously so much fun to go to. 

They're so loud and everyone gets so into it!

BYU played Gonzaga last night and it was the best game! 

JP and I got a little cameo on ESPN too! haha for like 3 whole seconds.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And then this isn't really a Utah-specific thing but...

HAVE YOU TRIED THESE?!?

Delicious. So so yummy. 

Get out to your nearest grocery store and purchase some! You won't regret it. 

The marshmallow crispy ones are my fave.

:)

Valentines Day: All By Myself

The actual 14th of February was spent watching my little brother play in his basketball games and eating thai food with my parents (I totally third-wheeled their Valentines date... and loved every minute of it haha)

Since JP had to be out of town on the official day of love, we celebrated early! And with our friends Eric and Kimmi too!

We headed up to the J&G Grill at the St. Regis in Park City (a favorite of JP's and mine! We've been twice before - our first time was when we celebrated our first Valentines Day together while dating!) 

where I had the best short ribs and tuna tartar of my life, followed up by a salted caramel ice cream/popcorn dessert that 

a) they had somehow made classy

and

b) was absolutely incredible. 

It was the best night and the best celebration of love a girl could ask for. 

:)

And now I'm just excited for JP to get home tomorrow! Woohoo!

An Afternoon in Salt Lake:

I dropped JP off at the airport this morning -- he's headed to Colorado for a law school competition!

So I decided to take advantage of already being in Salt Lake City and ran a few errands.

First, I had lunch with my mom - she's an attorney for the federal court and works in SLC on Thursdays. So we headed to a little restaurant we love named Shanghai for their noodle bowls!

Then, the obligatory wander through City Creek -- you know, Nordstrom, J. Crew, Anthropologie, etc etc. 

I'm still on my shopping fast (it's is going prettttttty well) so I didn't purchase anything, but it's still fun to look! Right? 

Wrong. It was an exercise in self control that I almost failed. So I quickly left and wandered through downtown Salt Lake until I happened upon that really cute blue boulangerie that everyone instagrams when they go to Salt Lake haha 

But, because I have been feel particularly nostalgic for Paris lately (JP and I are currently brainstorming good reasons for us to move back there this summer haha) I popped in and bought a florentine (and a diet coke)!

All in all, not a bad day :)

Valentine's Pizza Party 4.0

Since it's been like two full months since JP and I threw a party, we were getting a bit antsy. 

Luckily, Valentine's day is just around the corner so that means...

HEART SHAPED PIZZA + PAZOOKIES PARTY TIME!

See previous years here, here, and here!

Our friends Eric & Kimmi helped us co-host this year and it might have been the best year yet. 

I mean, if you combine:

>>> heart-shaped pizza dough, 

>>> enough pizza sauce to feed a party 5x's our size, 

(not a joke, unfortunately. Anybody need pizza sauce?) 

>>> half-baked cookie dough with graham-canyon ice cream, 

>>> and 9 couples, 

with our own version of the newly-wed game,

 hilarity has to ensue, doesn't it? 

There are probably too many pictures but there were so many good ones I couldn't narrow it down, so enjoy! :)

Now, I'm off to look up recipes on pinterest that involve pizza sauce. 

And now I give you: the most important aspect of our superbowl party

Oh man I just love Superbowl Sunday!!

And not really because I love (or even understand...) football, but the 30 people that come over do! And the excitement level is contagious. 

Also can I just say that watching any major event has become a lot more fun now that twitter is around? It's like watching the Golden Globes, superbowl, bachelor premier, or the olympics with all your favorite, hilarious people at once. It's the best. 

Anyways, the superbowl "snackadium" (get it?) was nothing short of spectacular this year, as you can see above. And I loved the halftime show (you can see when I met Bruno Mars in person here!) and I have to say, the commercials outdid themselves!

Fire & Ice Festival:

Here's what you will see of our Saturday night:

>>> kissing in front of ice sculptures

>>> kissing the ice sculptures themselves

>>> admiring reindeer and also trying to be a reindeer...

Here's what you won't see:

> the fireworks. They were AMAZING too. But you know what? Pictures of fireworks never do them justice, and plus I usually end up missing the fireworks show because I'm so overly concerned about capturing them on my camera. So now, I don't even try, and I have to say I enjoy fireworks a heck of a lot more now haha. 

> the marriage proposal that occurred in the middle of the fireworks show, it was beautiful and sweet and I didn't capture even one second of it because the camera was put away, as per the above reasons. 

> the delicious mexican food we ate afterwards. Why is mexican food so good when you're starving?!

> our attempt to be olympians, but you can see it here on my instagram. 

Here's to a new week! 

(and a new resolve to be more regularly about blogging! forgive me!)