Dinner for Two

Guess who is the best wife ever? 

Not me, but I am a close runner up because guess who made dinner for the first time last night?! 

You see, cooking real food isn't exactly my strong point... I can make some pretty dang good cupcakes, but when it comes to actual nutritional meals, I fall a little short. 

My meals when I lived in an apartment by myself were usually cereal for breakfast... cereal for lunch... and cereal for dinner. I am a paragon of healthy eating habits, I know.

However, last night I decided that 

Jean Paul deserved a home cooked meal.

(It's taken me far too long to get around to this... 

any other man probably would have divorced me by now...).

So I made some fish tacos, refried beans, and homemade Mexican rice. 

It was prettttty tasty, if I do say so myself.  

(we won't go into details about the fact that the kitchen looked like a bomb went off after I was finished)

Guess Who had a Birthday...

... my little brother, Maxwell Kosey Collins. 

He is 15 years old guys, 15!

And he managed to somehow get a weeklong celebration with 

dinner at Tepanyaki on Thursday,  

breakfast at Magleby's on Saturday, 

and a party on Sunday (where he got 2 cakes? Go figure.) 

He is the number one favorite child in our family and knows it haha.

Pretty pretty girls! My cousin Caroline is on the right and my sister's roommate Emily is on the left.  

 Fun fact: Emily is the sister of my old roommate Rachel! 

When my sister was trying to figure out who to live with in the dorms, Rach and I came up with the genius idea to have our sisters live together and voila! They are BFF's.

This is how Sunday dinners always end up: The ladies all sit around chatting, and the men... I actually don't really know what they go do, but I'm sure it's very manly - right Jean Paul? :)

Hello Autumn!

I love the Fall. Love love love it! 

The clothes, 

the chilly mornings that fade to sunny afternoons,

 the colors, 

seeing friends at school that have been gone all summer vacation,

 all of it! 

I'm so happy it's finally here.

Things to do: long drives on Sunday afternoons, 

watch leaves fall from their branches, bike rides up the canyon, campfires at cabins. 

Things to eat: pumpkin cookies and 

ice storms from Nordstrom. 

Tomato Basil soup and homemade bread. 

Music to play: What the Water Gave Me by Florence + the Machine; anything by Mumford & Sons.

What to Wear: trenchcoats + blazers, 

woolen socks with tall boots, 

dainty earrings + chunky watches, 

bold lips + matte nails, 

long striped sweaters with longer skirts.

all images from pinterest

The Weekend: Pros and Cons

Pro: Discovering I can vacuum our entire apartment from ONE centrally-located outlet. Who says I'm not domestic?

Con: It was the first time I've vacuumed since we moved in.

Pro: Getting to spend Friday night with husband at a cabin up at Sundance!

Con: My imagination (fed by Hollywood) had me convinced that there was a high chance of a serial killer breaking in and murdering the both of us.

Con: We thought we had tickets to the BYU-Utah football game- then they fell through. 

Pro: But we found more tickets for husband and I to go to the game!

Con: However, BYU decided that they didn't want to play that day, and got slaughtered by Utah. 

Pro: I got all caught up on my sleep...

Con: ... because I slept in until 1:00 PM on Sunday, on account of getting sick Saturday night.

Pro: Husband set up our bookshelves and I organized them.

Con: There is no con, they are awesome. Pictures will be coming soooon!

Pro: I got some good hours of studying in (this isn't really a pro, but I was proud of myself)

Con: I have my first tests this week... wish me luck!

At the football game... before we were getting killed... 

*Sidenote* At one point during the game, husband was so frustrated with our team that he turned to me and said: "I can't believe this Grace, YOU could tackle better than our guys right now."

Ummmm, thanks?

Aww... look how cute he is, putting together our bookshelves.

 

 

Also, I am looking around for a new camera (it's hard to steal my mom's when I don't live at her house anymore) so sorry about the lack of pictures/good pictures.

Coke Bottle Dilemma: Solved

Remember when I asked your opinion about the Coke bottle favors for my wedding?

 

Well, the overwhelming answer was bows. 

However, my mom had already purchased 1000 feet of ball-and-chain, so we thought it was a shame to let it go to waste.

Understandable right? 

But the bows were so cute, we couldn't not use them.

So we compromised: bows for the silver bottles, and chain for the red.

How do you think it turned out?!

PS- these are some pictures that a family friend took, I should be getting my real wedding pictures from my photographer in about 2 weeks. I can't wait!

100 Years in London Fashion

This is beyond amazing. 

I'm so intrigued-- I think I've watched it no less than 25 times in the last 12 hours. 

I love trying to figure out which styles are representing which decade!

Black and White is the New Technicolor

Somedays, I just want to stop. Stop studying, stop going to class, stop planning, stop moving. 

Today, for example, I woke up at 6:45 AM, worked until noon, had class until 6:00 PM and didn't leave campus until 9:30 PM.

And while I was driving home I was thinking about the two quizzes that were due before midnight, the 36 pages of reading assigned for tomorrow, and the fact that I haven't done laundry since I've been home from Hawaii. 

But then my day turned around the second I walked in the door because my husband had a full dinner waiting (that is supposed to be my job, but some days it just can't happen)  and just grabbed and hugged me for about 4 minutes. 

It was the best. thing. ever. 

And it made me step back and realize how easily I let trivial things completely overwhelm me.

So, here's to moving forward! And with much more peace than I was feeling a few hours ago.

"Later she remembered all the hours of the afternoon as happy-one of those uneventful times that seem at the moment only a link between past and future pleasure, but turn out to have been the pleasure itself."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tender is the Night)-

These pictures make me happy, which is why they are included with this post. 
All photos taken by the talented Tracy Hill!

Make Use of Every Moment: 9/11/11

“God bless every soul that we lost. God bless the families who have to endure that loss, God guide us to our reunion in heaven, and God bless the United States of America.” 

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, speaking at the memorial service in New York

A Few of My Favorite Things...

So our apartment has couches, a TV, coffee table, and kitchen supplies so it is definitely livable, but when it comes to decorations/looking cute, it's pretty sparse right now. 

(It's a work in progress, okay?)

However, there are a few details that I love about it, so I thought I'd share them!

First, my ring bowl:

I put my weddings rings in here at night, when I shower, etc. because the husband is very concerned (paranoid) I'm going to lose them haha. 

Second, our shower curtain:

I love this not only because I think it's maybe the cutest shower curtain ever, but also because it originally cost $118 and I got it for $15!

Third, the vase of fresh flowers from my garden. 

 If you can't remember how excited I was about my garden, I reported the progress of it here and here. 

Fourth, measuring cups!

 They were gifted to me by one of my very good friends Natalie, and I loved them so I decided to hang them up instead of stick them in a drawer. 

And last, but definitely not least, my shoe shelves in my closet.

This might be the best feature of our apartment. 

We randomly have a HUGE walk-in closet and I get 6 shelves for my shoes!! 

(One shelf isn't pictured... it holds my black heels and is therefore over by my dresses)

Anyways, I've never had such an organized way of storing my shoes and every time I grab a pair I get just a little bit giddy inside :)

Embracing the New

 

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure to embrace the new.

But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.

There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, 

for in movement there is life and in change there is power.”

quote by alan cohen.

photos by Tracy Hill.

Labor Day Weekend...

 Jane and her Camelbak

Toms.

Husband. Creepin.

... means I have no work or school.

... is a good excuse to go on a hike.

 ... is best celebrated by eating at our favorite Mexican restaurant in the world Midway.

... calls for long chats with a fabulous friend.

... is the perfect opportunity to buy furniture for our apartment (SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!).

... allowed me to take a 4-hour Sunday nap (what?)

 ... was over far too quickly, in my opinion. 

Hope your weekend was lovely!

Kauai: Instagrammed

So I still hate pictures from honeymoons, 

but I've gotten a few requests so I decided that I will post some of the pics I took on my iPhone while we were in Kauai... (That way they don't really count as honeymoon pictures, right??? Right...) 

 I know what you're thinking and yes, we blended right in with the locals.

Farmer's Market Purchase

 Matching shirts? Sure why not!

 Shaved Ice.

En route to the airport to fly home