Where my girls at?

Last weekend, I went to Phoenix for a girls' trip. Now, this wasn't any ordinary girls' trip. See exhibit A:




This is my friend, Heather, looking hot as always. The entire trip was devised around a date for her... so you KNOW it was good. Needless to say, this trip had a lot to live up to.

Not to mention, some of the moms had never even left their kids overnight, so that was kind of a big deal. We wanted to go to Phoenix, so that we could lay by the pool, shop, eat and talk about girl stuff... believe you me. You don't want me to go into detail.

Here are the girls: Andy, Amy, Holly, Jenna, Jen, and me. (Note: Heather not pictured because she was on her date. Boo yeah! Our plan totally worked!)




We ate AMAZING food at the restaurant behind us (cornbread croutons? WHAT?) and even though we missed Heather, it was worth it because we got to hear all the juicy date details. Us marrieds were living vicariously through her.

Here we are at the Mondrian, where we stayed. It was perfect!




My top 5 favorite parts of the trip:

1. Calvin. Need I say more?

2. Jenna taking us out to eat.. and believe me, she knows her food. Plus, we ate at Grimaldis! That was our favorite pizza place in NYC and the nephew started one in Scottsdale. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was pretty close.

3. Heather wanting to kill the baby sitting behind her on the plane ride over.

4. Laying by the pool.... in March!

5. Staying up every night until at least 2 am talking.


And one more for good measure and because I can't resist.


6. Show and tell.



Thanks, girls! I had so much fun. Who needs kids when you have me? (See Andy below.)




Love you, sluts!

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

My little brother turned 24 yesterday and my aunt wrote the most amazing birthday post. Check it out; everything she says is so true! I thought that I would follow suit and let Tyler know how much I love him; always have and always will. Hope this year will bring you luck and love. xoxo.

Aren't you embarrassed?

Craig and I were at Wal-mart the other day. It's a long story, but needless to say, we weren't happy about it. Our worst fears were confirmed when we saw this car parked in front of us.





Oh wait... what is that library book in the window?





Oh, good. It's "Succubus on Top." I totally agree with Vicki- no other succubus will do!

PS Love the outfit.

Wallpaper

I love wallpaper. When Craig and I buy a house, I want to put really cool paper up but have been pretty intimidated about the actual "putting it up" part. So, I did a test run here in my apartment. There's a little nook in my studio and I thought it would look perfect with a busy wallpaper. Since we are renting, I found pre-pasted, easy- remove paper thanks to the apartment therapy blog. Then, I did what all smart people do. I googled how to put up wallpaper. I was pretty nervous because this wall paper has a very distinct pattern so has to be matched up perfectly. But, I have to say, I am impressed with my skills. I love how it turned out. What I didn't love is that is took me about 4 hours just to do this nook. Hopefully, I'll get faster with practice?





Now I just need to find something to put on that table. Maybe a great lamp?

Rockband: Friend or Foe?

As many of you may know, I've been against video games since, oh I don't know, the beginning of time. Then, this Christmas happened. We had some Christmas money to spend (thanks Gary and Mignon!) and Craig decided that we should use it for a "blu ray player" otherwise known as a PS3. After much debate, I agreed under some strict guidelines- no more than 1 hour a week. Well, that has been shot to hell, which on most days, makes me hate my life.

But then days like this happen:

(I've been meaning to post this for month. Sorry for being so slow.)




Holly's perfect score on vocals:




Is is really 4 in the morning?





Obviously, it is.




So, sometimes, the PS3 isn't all that bad.

Holiday recap

I love the holidays:

1. You eat and eat and eat. (New Year's Resolution: starve, starve, starve.)

2. You get to see old friends that reconverge on Zion (That's one perk about living in Utah. It was so fun to see the the Winkels, the Linds, the Bowens, the Thomases and the Perrys. We miss you guys!)

3. You don't have to work (I KNOW my Christmas was good because I stayed in my pajamas for 3 days straight. No joke. Gretchen called me out.)

We had the best time.

First, I went to CA to visit my family.

We went to Brookstone. Why do they sell this here? So you can practice bull-riding from the comfort of your own home?




The boys rocked the family Christmas Pageant initiated years ago by the Stone-von-traps.




We watched a ton of good movies.




And got in the Christmas spirit. (Jordan and Tyler DID wear this hat outside.)





Then, I came back to Utah Christmas Eve to be with Criag. I wrapped presents all day. I love doing it. I know, it's weird.





We invited ourselves over to Marc and Gretchen's for Christmas morning because what's Christmas without kids going crazy and opening presents?




These guys are so cute. Thanks Marc and Gretchen for letting us crash!


Then, we headed up to Craig's parent's house where we were greeted with a white Christmas. It was beautiful. This is the view from the the front porch.





I'm glad I have my new iphone or else Christmas wouldn't have even been documented. Hope you all had a great Christmas, too!

Self Defense?

Sometimes I worry about Kristin walking to her car by herself at night. I mentioned this to a friend and he told me that he had heard something about people using crazy bright flashlights as a crime deterrent. I googled it and I don't know if I'm just living right or what but this is what I found. I didn't buy either of these but based on the cover I think I have a working understanding of the techniques.

Phil's technique relies almost entirely on confusing the potential attacker with your unexplained use of a flashlight in broad daylight. Though somewhat effective Phil found there were some situations where normally non-violent people punched him simply because he was shining a flashlight at them in the middle of the day.


"Light Him Up!" had more parenting advice then I was looking for. Steve uses the flashlight as a tool to squelch Steve Jr's rebellions. Since Steve started disciplining with the flashlight Steve Jr. is back wearing the family t-shirt and haircut, but he's still not happy about it.

I think I'll buy her some pepper spray.