two whole years

Well, we finally made it up to Utah!  And we are so so happy to be here.  Get a load of that sunset??  Gorgeous.  It is oh so good to be back.  We've already had two or three summer rain storms pass through and I am one happy duck.

We stayed with David's brother and sister-in-law for the first couple of days we were here and this was the view we woke up to every morning.  I could get used to this:

And then on Saturday Dave and I celebrated our SECOND anniversary!!!!!  It's pretty hard to believe it's been two whole years since our wedding day.  Where does the time go?  I've gotten to the point where I can't really remember what it was like before David.  I guess that's a good thing ;)

We started the day off right celebrating with brunch at our favorite Communal on Saturday morning and ate the most delicious things.  Holy cow, we love that place.  Fluffy buttermilk pancakes, fried french toast, and our favorite biscuits and homemade jam.  Honestly, one of the things we miss most about our Provo (besides family), is some of our favorite eateries.  Maybe it's a good thing we moved away.  Our waistlines might be (might be) a little slimmer ;)

I think we might be doomed to have waiters who take not so great pictures of us on our anniversary.  (Proof here as well).  I guess we'll have to make a tradition of it.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying being in Provo and eating my favorite Hawaiian shaved ice.  Soooooo delicious.  I could eat that stuff all. day. long.

And that night we decided, even though it was our anniversary, we'd spend time with our favorite people.  We made our favorite pizza from this favorite Provo haunt with the Nemrow family and then ate dessert and played games with some of our favorite friends.  It was a night of favorites and the perfect evening.  Dave and I can have a romantic dinner together anytime, but while we're here we're going to spend as much time as we can with our best buds.

And there are only more fun Utah times to come!  Can't wait for this next week up at our cabin in the mountains!  Bring on the summer thunder storms.

the not so miserables

In an effort to make our 1st anniversary celebrations last into September, my wonderful parents gave us tickets to see LES MISERABLES for last Saturday night and, honestly, I was living all last week for Saturday . . . and it took for. ev. er. to get there.  

Longest.  Week.  Ever.

But it was worth it because we had the best time.

First we Yelped and found a place to eat before the show, which turned out to be a wiener, I mean a winner.  We ate at Garage Dogs, which had more hotdog options than I've ever been confronted with, the yummiest strawberry milkshakes, and some killer sweet potato fries.  Sadly, any hotdog joint makes me crave a Jdawg, but this one held its own and was so yummy.  Five stars.  Recommended.  Go try it if you're in Venture County.

Due to my over-excitement we left for Thousand Oaks an hour earlier than we needed to.  (What if we were late?  I wasn't going to risk it.)  So we ate, we found the theatre, we walked around some darling shopping centers - seriously, really cute shopping centers, with tons of restaurants and outdoors seating around a little lake - and then we sat outside the theatre enjoying the warm evening, watching the clouds turn pink and the hills turn purple (and playing a bit of Angry Birds too).

Again, the show was totally worth the wait.  It was fabulous!  And since David had never seen it before it was extra fun to be there with him for his first time.  Les Mis is one of my all time favorites and a soundtrack that I grew up listening to around the house.  I've got a soft spot for it and a love for the story and its characters.  Luckily David loved it too (as if he really had a choice) and we left the theatre arm in arm humming all the songs.

It was the best night and one I'd love to do again, and again . . . and again.  (So please feel free to give us theatre tickets whenever you want.  We'll make sure to free up our schedule.)

Thanks again Mom & Dad!  We love you!

1 YEAR

To celebrate our first 365 days of marriage, David planned a surprise celebration for the two of us, and, lucky for me, it involved delicious food.  He knows me all too well.

We got in the car and drove south to LA, got off at Santa Monica Blvd., and traipsed our way toward Beverly Hills.  We stopped outside a small little restaurant with a saber-tooth tiger skull hung up next to the door.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit hesitant about going inside, but I needn't have been.  THE SHERBOURNE might have some eclectic decor, but the food (oh the food!), and the delightful service were the best.

We had a fabulous time trying every dish that caught our eye (like tasting scallops for the first time), chatting up our server (an up and coming Hollywood actress), and enjoying the ambiance of the restaurant (saber-tooth tiger skulls and all).

We didn't enjoy any of that food.

Not at all. . .

And, yes, even though I hated to ask our server to take a picture with flash in this dark, quaint little restaurant, I did it anyway.  For memories.

It was worth it.

Cheers to our first year together sweetheart!  Let's have many more to come!

08.17.11

One year ago today, around 2:00 in the afternoon, David and I stepped out of the Newport Beach Temple for the first time as husband and wife.  Now 365 days, a honeymoon, a couple college graduations, a few burned dinners, a move to southern California, a new niece & nephew, and a new job later we're still just as happy and possibly having more fun than we were a year ago.

Love you David - I can't wait to celebrate with you tonight!