Girl Weekend

So about a month ago I went to Arizona for a girl party for my moms birthday. My mom knew about the party, but she didn't know that i would be coming. So, Sanya picked me up from the airport and we met Tamra and Tara at Mom's house.

Mom got home around 1:30 and after the cheesy unveiling of me we partied it up!! We ate delicious burritos curtsey of Sanya, then we went to QT, walked around Hobby Lobby, then headed over to Harkins and watched "The Help." Afterwards we went to Grandpa and Grandma Hatch's for a wonderful visit. That night we had dinner at Sauce.

The next morning we got ready and had a delicious, humongous breakfast at Crackers. Then we went to the temple. Afterwards we all went shopping and got some amazing deals! That night we talked about "our true natures" aka what personality type we are according to the book "It's Just My Nature." (if anyone is curious, i am a type 3)Tamra gave us all pedicures while we discussed our personalities and watched a movie. Tamra got this family tree made for Mom. I think it is so awesome!! i want one!

Then on Sunday the boys and kids met us for church. It was a lovely weekend!!

Successful Outing

Yesterday Mark had the day off. Yesterday the "apartment stylization" fund in our budget had some money in it. So, yesterday Mark and I went out looking for ways to spend that money.

First, i must give a little bit of history. The first year Mark and i were married, we were trying to decorate our first apartment. We had most things, except we both felt our couch needed some accent pillows. (after all, pillows are an essential part of all living rooms) For probably an entire year we wound up at Kohl's about every week to every-other week looking at their pillows. We NEVER bought anything! we would show up, go straight for the pillows,  look around, gough at the prices, and leave.

Yesterday we bought pillows at Kohl's!!! it was maybe the most ironic thing ever. at least to us. The best part is that they were 50% off! AND, we had a $10 gift card! That is the first successful part of the outing.

Successful part number two: we bought new towels. Our towels were getting pretty gross. we are both quite relieved to have new ones.

Successful part number three: we bought some accent pieces at TJ Maxx. On a side note, Mark almost kidnapped a small child while we were there. Or at least that is what her mother thought. So i was in line to purchase our items when we remembered that we had something to return in the car. So Mark ran outside to get it. There was a family standing in the parking lot right by our car (i'm assuming they were parked nearby). As Mark ran near our car, one of the little girls from the family (probably about 3 years old) stepped right in front of Mark. He essentially was tripping over her and was holding on to her to keep her from falling down. It was at this moment that the Mom saw what was happening and yelled out " Oh My Gosh! Oh My Gosh!!" as if Mark was trying to run off with her. I thought  it was pretty funny, but Mark was pretty shaken. Ha ha!!

Successful part number four: we had lunch with Mark's cousin Briant and his wife Camille! We hadn't seem them in ages and had a great time with them! not to mention, we went to Texas Road House!!! Yummy!!! I'm going to eat the leftover rolls for breakfast!!!

Overall, it was a successful day! mostly just because Mark didn't have work and i had him all to myself all day!!!

 That tall black vase was one of the accent pieces we got.

These are some built in shelves. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to put here, so in the meantime it has been accumulating piles. I added the bowl (accent piece). 

I plan on putting something cooler in here, but until i figure it out and buy them, mark put golf balls in there. I better hurry and figure something else out or he could get used to it.

SF by CC

 This past weekend Mark and I rented a Volkswagen CC and took a little road trip to San Francisco! We had a blast! here are some pictures from the trip!

On our way there, we stopped in Sparks, NV for the "Best in the West Rib Fest" This was the original purpose of the trip before we decided to keep going to SF. 

I had to get a picture with the Aussie guys of course!

We tried two different kinds of ribs. these guys were the BEST by far!! Yummy!!

 I also had to get some fried pickles. Unfortunately, they were disgusting and i had to throw them away. I guess Mark will just have to take me to Salt Lake to get the good ones!

 We noticed that most of the people there were quite overweight. probably because they were all consuming these huge plates of potato chips

We didn't try their ribs, but i liked their armadillo grill.

Luckily they had these hand washing stations! we were so messy!!

After lunch, we hopped back in the car and drove another 3.5 hours to San Francisco! Here we are on the Bay Bridge.

We stayed with our friend Dave who lives a block away from AT&T stadium. So we bought some tickets from scalpers and went to the Giants vs. D-Backs game! Unfortunately my D-Backs lost, but it was really fun!

The next morning we got up and went to a farmers market. We tried these Vegan doughnuts which for being Vegan doughnuts were actually pretty tasty!

Then we got in the car and drove to see the Muir Woods!

On our way back we did some sight seeing. unfortunately because of the fog there was not a lot of seeing to do.

We spent the rest of the day at Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, eating a yummy lunch, and going down windy Lombard St.

The next day we got up and drove to San Jose so Mark could show me where he used to live. We had lunch at the restaurant he used to be a server at and then drove up the coast back to SF. 

After a nice nap at Dave's place we drove to Oakland to see the temple.

After the temple we ate some delicious goat-cheese pizza that was to die for!! i want some right now!

We had a great trip! Thanks for being such a great host Dave! we loved your apartment and  you were a fantastic tour guide!