{NEW YORK!!! Days 1 & 2}

Oh man! What a trip!! Seriously, what an absolutely wonderful vacation!! We are madly, deeply in love with New York City!! Love the atmosphere, the food, and all that there is to do! {But I don't really love the rats in the subway or the cockroach or the fact that it smells like human urine every 20 feet,! Anywho... :)} We had such an amazing time! We did so much, and took so many pictures - there's no way I could fit it all in one post, so I will start with days 1 and 2:

We got into NYC Monday evening around 5, we got all checked into our hotel and then headed out to grab some dinner and do some exploring! Our hotel was so close to Times Square! Oh man, I cannot even tell you how giddy Times Square made me - there was an absolutely fantastic energy, and I was loving every minute of it!!We were pretty exhausted from traveling all day, so we headed back to the hotel - but when we looked outside, we realized how close the Empire State Building was! This is the beautiful view from our hotel room! We decided to walk on the wild side and go see it at night! {10pm to be exact! We were such night owls on this trip! So not our norm!} We were hoping to miss some of the crazy crowds by going at night, I had heard some horror stories of people waiting in line for half of the day just to get to the top! Luckily, we only had to wait in line for about an hour! {I fit in some fantastic people watching during this hour - one of my favorite things about this trip!!} We walked around all 4 sides... man, what an absolutely magnificent city! We were smitten! Tuesday we slept in a bit {Since we were exhausted from traveling and staying up so late the night before!} Michael made a lunch reservation at a nice restaurant, thus our "dressier" attire :). This was THE cutest thing - Michael haling a Taxi for the first time! Man, isn't he a HOTTIE?!?! The restaurant was right by Central Park, so we did a little exploring before our reservations! Central Park is my FAVORITE!! The park is beautiful! And I love that in the middle of this crazy-busy city - there is this place of perfect refuge! LOVED IT!!Lunch was AMAZING!! {We ate at some of the most posh places while on our trip, this was what Michael was looking forward to the most, he made reservations at 4 different extremely nice restaurants, and they did not disappoint! He took pictures of all of the plated dishes, and sent them to his school pals - hmmm... maybe I will do a post on just the food! YUM!} After lunch, we headed to TIFFANY's!!!!!! Can I just say wow?! We went to the first floor, and I didn't see anything that I loved {well, loved in my price range ;)} But then I realized there were like 6 floors!!! I found the perfect necklace - a simple chain with the Tiffany's heart pendant, I love it so much!! I was so excited to get my little blue bag! On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by Rockefeller Center... That night some our best friends, Noah & LaShae arrived!! {They are in North Carolina for Noah's school, so it was just a hop, skip & jump away :)} We were so excited to have them with us for the majority of our amazing vacation!! Anyway... on to that night... This was LaShae's 5th trip to NYC so she is the Subway expert! {We were so grateful, it was a little intimidating!!} Our very first ride on the Subway: We went to a delish little noodle bar, Momofuku for dinner!! It was great catching up with them - it's been 6 months since we've seen them last!! Then it was to Rice to Riches pudding bar for dessert!! {Pretty good, but I think I would rather have ice cream rather than rice pudding :)} HAHA!!! Love this sign on the door outside Rice to Riches! LOL! {Ps - this is my STANK face :)}

Days 3 & 4 coming soon!!!

{I SMILE WEDNESDAY}

Going to be keeping my....

Short today because... we are in NEW YORK!!!

And I have seriously been SMILING from ear to ear!!

We are having an absolute blast! Seeing, doing and eating so, so much!!!!

Like... Empire State Building at night - AMAZING!!!!

Oh yeah, and I also got my TIFFANY necklace that I have been wanting for ages!!
Tiffany's definitely makes me SMILE!!!
More on our trip to come later... until then, I will be SMILING BIG, hanging out in the big city, with my handsome hubby!!!!

{i SMiLE Wednesday}

I SMiLE because after I got a parking ticket downtown {ON MY BIRTHDAY!!}

Michael was giving me a whole lot of crap - he was saying things like

"Well, now you only have $70 for your allowance"

{We each LOVE to spend money - Me on clothes and Michael on his hobbies or cook books or random things like that,

so we set ourselves an allowance of $100 per month for fun money :)}

or "Didn't you see the sign that said no parking??..." BLAH BLAH BLAH :)

But don't you worry, the VERY NEXT DAY, when he went downtown for his school,

he got his very own parking ticket!!!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

DEFINITELY makes me SMiLE!! Speaking of Michael's school... Remember how this week is his

VERY LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL EVER?!!?!?!?!!

YIPPPPPPPPEEEE!!!!!!!!

Michael has been in school our entire relationship - 7 years!!!

{6 years married, about 1 year dating :)}
To say this makes me SMiLE would be the understatement of the year! He really enjoyed culinary school - {And man can he cook!!!} but we are both just so excited for him to be done!!!!{FYI - He wasn't in culinary school for 7 years - he got his Bachelor's degree in Biology at the University of Utah first :)}

I am LOVING the Bachelorette this season! Ashley is just too freaking cute!! But do you want to know what makes the Bachelorette even better? Watching it with Michael! It was so funny to watch it from his point of view... I was seriously cracking up the entire time! Here are a few of my favorite of his comments:

When Ashley was kissing Ben F:

"Watch someone have herpes and spread that shiz around!"

When Ashley was talking to Ryan P:

"Why does he always do that stupid ass head tilt?!"

During the group date while they were all talking about Ashley:

"They are all so full of shiz!"

There were many more, but a lot of them prob wouldn't be Laura blog appropriate :)

Oh how that kid makes me SMiLE!!P.s. Please take note of the X on Bentley's face. Yeah, he bugs, and definitely does not make me smile :)

{My Birthday weekend!!}

WOW! What an amazing Birthday I've had!! We celebrated

ALL-WEEKEND-LONG!!!

{And last Sunday too, if you remember from my last post!}

We started on Thursday, going to dinner with Michael's family!

It was Allison's birthday last Sunday, so we decided to combine the celebrations with one of my fave's {to Michael's great dismay! HA!}

The 2 Birthday girls: The adorable Mateo:
The Bishop/Burtis & Meza fam:
I took the day off on Friday so I could spend some time with my hubby, since he had to work Saturday and Sunday {I'm SO happy to say this is the LAST weekend he is working for a loooong time!! YAY!}
I slept in {Oh how I LOVE my sleep!!!!} while Michael went to school. Then we headed to lunch at my new fave: Culver's for some marvelous fried cheese curds {YUM!} After that we went to see Midnight in Paris - {Didn't love it... pretty entertaining, but I probably wouldn't recommend it, however - it does have my gal Rachel McAdams - I would totally see it just for her :)} Saturday I went to get my hur did! {Love my hair girl and great friend, Britt!}
We CHOPPED my hair! It's SO short...It's so different, I'm totally liking it though!

{Although, I may like it a bit more when it grows just an inch or two more :)}
Saturday night we went to my absolutely favorite Sushi place, Tsunami, with some of my favorite people!!

It was such a fun night, I'm so grateful to have such wonderful friends in my life!! Sunday {My actual Birthday} I slept in, then met Michael for lunch at Pago {Delish!}
After lunch, Michael went back to work and I went SHOPPING!! I went to our outdoor mall, The Gateway! It was a successful shopping trip... and an absolutely gorgeous day!

Here are some of my fun purchases: I really did have such a wonderful Birthday! I'm so grateful for my fantastic family and friends who made it so special and definitely spoiled me rotten! Thanks to my amazing hubby who put up with my "Birth-week" and definitely made it fabulous!!!!

Until next year... :) :) :)

{I smile Wednesday!!}

It's Wednesday again which means it's time for....

I SMILE because Michael's little Brother, Jesse, graduated High School!!!!
We are so proud of you Jesse! {What is Michael doing with his arm?!} We had such a fun day hanging out with Michael's family @ Jesse's Graduation!

Some pictures from the graduation that definitely make me SMILE:

Michael and his Grandma Pat:

My handsome guy and I:

Whenever Michael plays with our nephews and nieces it definitely makes me SMILE! He is so dang cute with kids, and I know he is going to be the best Daddy!

{2 or 3... or 4 years down the road :)}

Have you seen this blog: What would Emma Pillsbury Wear?

I was seriously so excited when I found it! Every episode of Glee, I adore what Emma wears! This is a fun blog with information on what she's wearing and where it's from! Absolutely makes me SMILE!

Meeting a local celebrity definitely makes me SMILE! Michael and I went to the food expo at the South Towne Expo Center - and guess who was there?! My Poly brotha: BIG BUDDAH!!

He was SO dang nice!! {And the event was absolutely fabulous - tons of free food & drinks!}
Birthday week officially kicked off on Sunday at dinner with my family! My sister, Kat's Birthday is May 29th, so we did a joint Birthday dinner - and man was it delish! My mother makes a MEAN Beef Stroganoff! YUM! The Birthday girls:

And this adorable little girl just had to get in the picture taking action...

How could her sweet face not make you SMILE?!

Birth-week absolutely makes me SMILE!! {How am I almost 26?! What the?!}

{Fascination...}

I don't know what it is... but ever since I can remember, I have had a huge fascination with Polygamy. Maybe it's the fact that I was born and raised in Utah... or maybe it has something to do with being born and raised in the Mormon religion {Although, I'm pretty sure the other 14 Million members (give or take) don't have the same strong fascination as I do}. {And FYI - The mainstream Mormon church officially ended the practice of polygamy around 1890}

{Picture above is from the HBO show Big Love}

Being in Utah, I've seen a few Polygamists {At my local Walmart, or at the store when I was in St. George}... there is also a huge Polygamy house not even 2 miles away from my house, and there have been a couple of times that I have seen them outside playing in the yard :).

I love reading books about Polygamy! I love learning more and more about the Polygamy culture... Here are a few of my favorite:

Stolen Innocence is the story of Elissa Wall growing up in a Polygamous community, how she was forced to marry at the age of 14, a guy who was 19 - who she absolutely couldn't stand. When she finally ran away from her abusive husband (and situation) she lived in her car, and had to go through struggles of a young girl who knew nothing of the world outside the Polygamist community - but all the while, keeping her hope! It's a very good read, and I would definitely recommend it!
The Chosen One is a crazy good read about a little 13 year old girl who has just been told that she has been chosen to marry her 60 year old uncle! This book is so well written, it starts out with her telling "her sins": Books- {She often sneaks to the County Book Mobile to read forbidden books}, and A Boy-{she meets with another boy in her community, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her}. Her father tries to fight the marriage to her MUCH older uncle, only to have the family threatened!
Such a great book!

Under the Banner of Heaven is one my all time favorite books {In fact, it has been a while since I read it last - I'm thinking it's time to read it again!} This book is based on the true story of two Polygamist brothers: Dan & Ron Lafferty, who murder the wife of their younger brother and their 15 month daughter because they believe they received "revelation" that it needed to be done, and they were the ones to do it {Extremely disturbing}. This book also goes into details of how the Mormon Fundamentalism emerged from the Mormon religion. I loved this book so much ... But I could see how it has the potential to offend some people - it's definitely a conversation starter "Jon Kraker poses some striking questions about the closed-minded, closed-door policies of the religion - and many religions in general" - Publishers Weekly

The Lonely Polygamist is the book that I am reading right now... I am about half way through it, and it has so far been a very entertaining book! It's a little bit, okay, a lot a bit :) inappropriate at times! This book is the story of a Polygamist who has 4 wives, but is going through a mid-life crises. He is feeling very overwhelmed with the size of his family - {and the nagging of all 4 wives!} There is heartbreak, dysfunction and comedy. So far, a very good read!

Those are just a few of the books on Polygamy I have read {And I have 2 more in my bookshelf just waiting to be devoured :)}

Michael and I also loved watching the HBO series Big Love {This show caused a lot of controversy, and was extremely racey at times... but it will always be one of our faves!}

I think I will always be interested in learning more about Polygamy... But I will say this: I am SO grateful Michael is a one woman man! I am just too high maintenance of a gal to have to share! :)

{I smile Wednesday #3}

It's Wednesday!!! Wanna know what makes me smile?! Going to get pedi's with my Sisters, nieces & Mom.... {It was my mom's FIRST pedi!!! She loved it, just as we knew she would :)}

Getting pedi's definitely make me SMILE... but getting them with fabulous ladies to celebrate this fabulous gals birthday - makes me SMILE even bigger!! {HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAT!!!!}

The sun is finally starting to show in SLC!!! It's been a very cold and rainy Spring, and I am definitely ready for some HEAT and SUN!!!! Oh how Summer makes me SMILE!!!
***

Seeing my extremely handsome hubby in his element absolutely makes me SMILE {especially when he is making butter burgers that are melt in your mouth delicious!!} And ummm... not to brag or anything {Okay, maybe I'm bragging, but just a little bit} But remember how my personal chef has been making me dinner 4 nights a week, since his school schedule has him just after 2 everyday! Oh, and not just dinner either... he makes amazing desserts too! In just the past two days, we've had strawberry shortcake {Completely homemade} Then with the left over short cake, he made spectacular bread pudding tonight! I AM SPOILED!!!

It is finally JUNE!!! Which means it's my BIRTHDAY MONTH!! {Oh yes, I am one of those people :)}. I absolutely love my Birthday month! One of my favorite things, is getting random coupons and discounts to some of my fave places for June {$10 gift card from Victoria Secret, $15 towards a meal at Happy Sumo - one of my FAVE sushi places, 15% off to Anthro, and $10 to American Eagle!!} They definitely know the way to my heart :)
***
The fact that we will be going to NEW YORK in less than 20 days makes me absolutely makes me SMILE!! We have started really planning the trip... So far, we've booked tickets to Wicked AND Lion King! {I'm SO excited!!!}

And while Michael has been planning our meals... I've been planning our shopping :) :) :) {We all know how shopping definitely makes me SMILE!!!} We will absolutely be making a stop at this place:

Any suggestions on the best shopping in NYC would be greatly appreciated... :)