Grace and JP in the big city!

We've moved!! 

Yes, I've been completely MIA for like 2 weeks, but that's because boxing up your life, loading it onto a moving truck, unloading it into a brand new (to you) place, and then wondering why you have so much stuff as you are attempting to fit it all into new cupboards and bookshelves and closets takes up a lot of time. Leaving very little time for blogging. 

But I'm back! And hopefully I"ll be posting more regularly as I am getting back into more of a routine... because guess who starts medical school on Monday?! THIS GIRL!

I cannot wait. I feel like I have been waiting FOREVER to start and I am so excited I can hardly stand it. 

Other updates:

+ pictures of our new place are coming soon- it's a fabulous little basement apartment in Salt Lake City. It also has a washer and dryer, a luxury we are unaccustomed to. #parentlaundromatforlife

+ our car got broken into (we're definitely not in Provo anymore...) BUT they took everything out of the back that we were planning on throwing away or donating anyway so... jokes on them. #winning

+ JP still has 1 more year of law school at BYU in Provo so he will taking the train down south probably 2-3 times a week for class. (I won the "who should commute" battle). 

+ Best thing so far about living in Salt Lake City? THE FOOD. We haven't cooked yet because there are just too many new places to try!

Which leads me to the focal point of this post (and most of my posts...):

When in Salt Lake City and craving mediterranean street food, you must go to Spitz SLC and get anything on the menu (seriously it's all so good). JP loves the donor basket and I got the street cart donor but I truly I am going to order something different each time we go back because everything looks fantastic.

We are loving it up here already, I've been amazed at how much it already feels like home! 

Also - any SLC recommendations are much appreciated!

Provo just keeps getting better and better...

Provo made food trucks legal about 1 year (maybe 2 now?) ago and it was the second-best thing that's happened in Provo in recent memory (the first best thing is a toss up between the Chick-Fil-A on the corner of bulldog and state street or the recent acquisition of Rock Canyon...), anyways... I digress:

Since they were made legal, a waffle truck was the first and now there's all sorts of unique deliciousness available from vehicles-turned-restaurants. 

There's so many now that they've begun gathering together every Thursday night at a little something called the 

"Provo Food Truck Roundup"

and it's the greatest dinner spot ever. 

JP and I went for our first time just this last week and met up with some friends and sampled all the different trucks (well not all of them, although we did manage to try three!)

We had a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich (it had pot roast AND bacon AND turkey), a sweeto-burrito that had tater-tots INSIDE the burrito, and finished up with a wood fired pizza. 

It was seriously amazing. 

If you haven't been, go. And we'll see you there because we're already planning on going again next week haha. 

More info about the food truck roundup can be found HERE!

Lucky 13

The weekend went by WAY too fast... and then daylight savings threw me for a loop too... I mean, when I walked outside this morning to go to work it was STILL DARK OUTSIDE?! What kind of cruel sorcery is this?? 

I'm joking... It's like this every year, you'd think I would get used to it by now haha. 

Anyways, what a great weekend we had!

Friday, I went to a bachelorette party for my cousin Caroline!! I love bachelorette parties and I love throwing them for people, but you don't get to enjoy it in quite the same way when you're the host, so it was really fun to attend purely as a guest!

Saturday, I had another bridal shower in the morning (and it was one of the classiest affairs I've ever attended, they had monogrammed napkins and toasts to the bride-to-be! I loved it. The bar has definitely been raised for future showers.)  and then that night we went out to eat with Eric and Kimmi! 

We absolutely love trying out new places and decided that tonight was a good night to redeem our attempt to go to Lucky 13 (we've tried once before but SOMEONE... i.e. me... forgot their ID so we couldn't get in...). 

This time around we got in without a hitch and ordered their amazingly delicious burgers (you should probably check out their menu here, they've won all sorts of awards for their burgers!).

And let me tell you, they did not disappoint. They are AMAZING! Oh my goodness I could go for one right now.

Then, on the drive home, we were stuffed but somehow there was still room/a desire for dessert (funny how that happens) so we swung through the Iceberg drive-thru (random I know but just wait) because this month only they have RICE KRISPY TREAT MILKSHAKES. I repeat, Rice Krispy Treat Shakes!!!!!

Go get one, they are a GAMECHANGER. 

JP and I split one and I really wished I'd had my own haha perfect way to end the night. 

^^^ crazy eyes. And sorry about the iPhone photos... It wasn't really a good place to whip out the dslr haha. 

Ice Castle Fairies

We joined the rest of the BYU student body (haha, not really, but whoa it was hopping!) this weekend and went up to the Ice Castles in Midway!

They use sprinklers to make these amazing labyrinths and mazes of stalactites and stalagmites (which are slightly terrifying when you're walking beneath them... but it's worth it). 

Everyone kept saying they felt like they were in "Frozen" 

(which I haven't seen yet... I'm still trying to wear JP down haha)!

We went with Eric and Kimmi and had the best time! 

Which was equally due to exploring the ice castles as it was to where we ate dinner -- we ate at the Snake Creek Grill afterwards and my goodness, it was my first time and I am sold. 

Get the gingersnap ice cream sandwich dessert, you'll die. 

^^^ yeah... we had to. ^^^

Weekend Recap:

I officially feel like fall has arrived. 

I think it had something to do with it being conference weekend, as well as Utah experiencing the first truly *cold* day since summer ended. I got my winter clothes out of storage and even put up Halloween decorations (!!!). 

Full disclosure: the winter clothes are still sitting in their boxes in my living room. BUT, they are out of storage :)

I also managed to watch the entire first season of Friends (thanks to a birthday gift from my sis-in-law!) and am currently scouring the internet for access to the 2nd season. Even though I've already seen probably 70% of the entire series... It's fine, I don't have a problem. 

Speaking of TV shows, DOWNTON ABBEY IS BACK! I watched the season premier, cried my eyes out, loved every minute, but no spoilers! I haven't seen the latest two episodes yet. 

Okay, now just so you don't think my life is entirely lived vicariously through others on my computer screen, a little weekend recap:

>>> A few girlfriends and I made it up to City Creek Mall on Saturday and managed to find a few things that we couldn't live without ;)

>>> I also finally tried my first authentic dirty diet coke (think DC + lime + coconut). And I mean, come on, I'm already a huge fan of diet coke so I didn't need much convincing of it's deliciousness. 

>>> We also went out to eat at Pizzeria 712 for the first time in a while, and my goodness! I'd forgotten how much I love that place. 

>>> We had a Sunday brunch with my fam and walked around my parents' block. There really is nothing like Utah in the fall. 

>>> And last, but not least, one of my absolute best friends in the entire world GOT ENGAGED THIS WEEKEND!!! Markell and Jordy! (We sort of dubbed him 'Jordy' because we already had a friend who was a girl named Jordan and it was just far too confusing)

They're one of those couples that are so perfect for each other, they just radiate happiness when you're around them. 

I just couldn't be more excited for them!!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Our time in Vienna has come to a close! 

We've had so much fun these past few days, I can't wait for Eric and Kimmi to move back to Utah so we can hang out with them again!!

We did so much yesterday, and had such good weather too! (The heat wave toned it down a bit, thankfully).  The Reas are such good hosts, we felt like we were right at home!

So, without further ado, here's Vienna round 2:

*rhyming unintentional, but it rolls right off the tongue doesn't it?!

> a traditional Austrian brunch at Cafe Sperl, a place that used to be frequented by Hitler...

(JP was the mastermind behind this outing, what did I tell you about him and local food? ;)

> shopping, because for some reason all the stores collaborate and WHAM, they all have massive sales on the same day. 

> exploring around Belvedere Palace! Such a beautiful palace and the grounds are stunning! (You'll see below, I took plenty of pictures don't worry haha)

> dinner at a scrumptious Italian place named Vapianos (apparently they have these on the east coast in the US too! Anyone ever eaten there?)

>watched "Queen of Versailles" a documentary that I've been wanting to see ever since it premiered at the Sundance film festival last year!

> said some tearful farewells this morning and are currently sitting in the Vienna airport waiting for our flight to Paris! 

(Kidding about the tearful farewell part, Eric's work contract is up in a couple weeks and then they're coming to Paris! Hooray!)

^^^ Yeah. JP thought it would be hilarious to pick me up while we were trying to take a photo. My face clearly indicates I didn't think it was that funny... haha

^^^ We had to. 

Countdown to Freedom!

Just checking in here!

Guys, I'll be free in 5 days! No more studying! No more practice tests! 

Let's keep our fingers crossed that it all pays off, shall we?

Anyways, it hasn't been all work and no play, we did celebrate two birthdays (shout out to my brother and also to my sister-in-law shayla!) and I also managed to see The Great Gatsby again, so you don't have to feel too bad for me ;)

I've been stockpiling a list of "things I'm going to do after the MCAT is over" and it's getting quite long... most of it consists of things like:

> find passports

> get ready for France 

(cause THAT won't take long........)

> clean apartment 

(this shouldn't have to be on a list, but unfortunately it is)

> do laundry

 (sometimes JP and I like to play the 'lets see how long we can go in between laundry days' game)

> update computer

(does anyone else also have a million windows open at all times and having to close them all and restart your computer to install updates is the WORST THING EVER?)

and other normal everyday things that somehow get put on the not-everyday-things list when you have a huge standardized test looming in the near future. 

And now, some fairly random pictures from the last week or so,

Enjoy!

 ^^^ Breakfast club with my best girls. I ordered the "Silver dollar pancakes" and ended up with enough pancakes to last through the weekend.

(we went to Joe's Cafe -- I talked about this place in this post!)

 ^^^ JP does love milk but no, that is not all for us haha. 

^^^ our resolutions to not eat out usually last anywhere from 24-36 hours. and that's on a good day. 

We just committed ourselves again yesterday so lets see how it goes! :)

Provo Food Crawl: Lunch Anyone?

Provo Food Crawl: Breakfast Edition

I get a lot of questions about mine and JP's favorite places to eat go out to eat, because apparently it seems like we eat out a lot... haha... maybe I should start cooking more. 

Anyways, I've decided it might be kind of fun to put together a little series of good restaurants around town and keep them all under that tab up there labeled "Eating in Provo"

So without further ado, here's the first installment of some of our favorite breakfast places to eat in Provo!

PS: we're always looking for new options... So if you have a favorite breakfast place please leave a comment and share the love!