diamonds for my best friend

last weekend my all time best friend and favorite person in the world GOT ENGAGED.

engaged to be married.

married people!

i am going to have a Sadie Sadie Married Lady for a BF come autumn

spencer did a good job on picking the perfect ring for katie bugs.

congratulations soon the be mr. and mrs. rogers

her proposal story is so sweet and fits her very well.

i am so unbelievably happy and excited for her!

this wedding is going to a blast and with the both of us planning it, whoa baby. watch out!

and it's like they say,

I am not losing a best friend- I am gaining another

haha

{gaining another best friend that makes my original BF even more complete and happy :)}

bye bye babies

well its the end of a great era.

i freaking love this baby.

he is just too cute to handle.

have you seen his adorable bed hair from his nap?

i hope when i have kids they look and act just like him

he is a dream baby!

what the?

when did this happen?

all the sudden neville got super attractive!

apparently they made him wear padding for the films and made him look nerdy on purpose.

who would have know this was hiding underneath

dang.

zoo day!

well i just finished my last day as a nanny

{my sister stefi is going to take over the month of august}

it is so strange to think how fast 3 months went by!

we have had so much fun together and i am going to miss those babies!

to end with a bang i took the chillins to the zoo- a classic nanny thing to do

i remember taking this exact picture when i was little too.

ps the zoo is totally revamped! it is super nice but i kinda miss the old set up from my elementary years haha

now that is one good looking babe!

best friends xoxo

thanks for the wild and hilarious times guys! i love you! miss you already!

i hope

when i am married my blog (if i still keep it around) will be more than about food, what i cleaned and convincing everyone how hot my husband is.

its good for you

do you know what is good for you?

reading outside your comfort zone and novels that are deemed classic and of literary merit.

if you don't understand why Hemingway, Faulkner, Austen or Steinbeck are so esteemed

go find out. they are for a reason.

go find out why some authors are award winning or talked about so much.

read them and if you don't like them then at least your opinon is well informed.

it bothers me beyond belief when people cricitze a book they haven't even read.

how am i even going to respect your thoughts on something you are totally ignorant of?

honestly!

it also bothers me when people snub a classic because "it's plot is boring/unpleasant. why would i want to read about real life situations".

not every character can't and shouldn't all be on a gripping quest for a ring, or dragon egg

or run around in some mythical world.

if the only books you read are thrillers you are be a one note bore.

not to mention it is a very low level of reading, people need t0 get over that once elementary school is over.

branch out, try and be more educated.

only lazy people stick to what they know and like.

only lazy people stay comfortable.

be brave and try something new.

you will be much more interesting because of it

not to mention you might have something valuable to a meaningful conversation

with bright people.

(people that don't play video games every night)

good literature exposes you to world you other wise wouldn't experience.

the plot may be about a dysfunctional Southern family which may sound dull or unpleasant

but what makes it great is how Faulkner writes

and makes the reader see through the lens he wants them to.

it is his style, syntax and turning words into art.

i may not personally love all the Greats but by reading them at least i can appreciate them.

A great book also summarizes and captures the time period in which it was written.

it helps you understand the mindset of that era.

if you made it through half of this post, not to mention the very end, i congratulate you!

and if you agree with a little bit of what i was saying go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back.

sorry for the lecture but it is my blog so i get to monopolize it with whatever i feel like,

oh the beauty of blogging.

and as my friend Abby said of this post:

"somebody needs to look out for the decline of western civilization" haha.

love birds

well it is safe to say that this summer is exploding of weddings for me!

i have two best friends getting married in august within 2 days of each other.

and i throwing them both bridal showers.

the first one for Carly was yesterday and i was really happy with how it came together.

the cute girls that came were adorable and made it fun- so thank you for all who came!

rachel, me, carly (the bride), alyssa, kylie

so for the theme i did "love birds" and here of some of the decorations i made.

everything was home-made and super easy, any one could do it.

for this i just cut some branches, spray painted them and cemented them in a bucket.

then i just photocopied the picture of the birds on the napkins i used to hang in the branches.

and ta dah!

for this display i bought some cute wrapping paper and framed it with a wooden frame i found and spray painted.

the matching vase i found at DI.

(i love this aqua color)

next i made a banner that said love birds.

i just used scrapbook paper and tulle

this is my partner in crime Alyssa.

i couldn't have done it without her.

she was kind enough to let us do it at her house and helped me plan it all.

for dinner we had home made cafe rio salads, Kylie has the best recipe for the sweet pork.

and the rest of our best friends brought the rest for it all to come together.

this was our dessert table.

Alyssa made the mini key lime pies (so so yummy!)

and i made the cupcakes -

vanilla bean with strawberry icing and chocolate with Bavarian cream

it seemed like everyone had a good time and thought the decorations/food was great.

we are so excited for Carly and just love her so much!

CONGRATS CARLY!

new things

i hope you had a HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

{never-mind that this picture was taken on the Sea of Galilee....}

i celebrated by picking up my RM cousin from the airport. he served in Germany.

he is in total missionary mode still.

he clasps his hands while talking to you, leans in to tell you with body language he is interested in your conversation and keep very strong eye contact.

its a little unnerving but still cute that he is such a missionary.

then made white chocolate popcorn and caramel popcorn. ate mexican food (oops- i should have eaten hot dogs and apple pie. shurg. oh well.)

then classic firework show at Holladay Elementary.

NEW THINGS TO DO:

1. check out the band "Young the Giant". the songs I like most at the moment are "Cough Syrup", "My body" and "Apartment".

2. go buy magnum ice cream bars. i first had them in Mexico, then Europe and last in Israel. and now they have finally made it to the states! (now if only pop rock choc would come over my homesickness for Jerusalem would cut down by half.)

they are magically magically decadent. Belgium chocolate covering creamy ice cream. there are many combos. my favorite is the vanilla + caramel (gold wrapper) and chocolate chocolate (red wrapper).

3. find a baby to imitate everything you do. it is hilarious and the most entertaining in the world. it takes up most of my day- trying new things for J to copy.

i am counting down the days till the girls and i jet off to Carlsbad California

for a girls trip round 2!

last time we when for senior trip and it was out of this world.

i am really looking forward to the sequel.

the only stressful part for a nerd like me is that we are going the week before the semester starts- but i am a Junior now. i can handle it.

and this seems like a very upper class-men thing to do.