there's no place like home for the holidays

I'm home, I'm home, I'm home!! And I brought my husband with me. Look at his cute little stocking hanging with ours. It just melts my heart every time I see it.

Today we went to Philadelphia. It was rainy, but we still had fun exploring the City of Brotherly Love. Above is us trying to be cute at Love Park.

First we went to Reading Terminal Market for breakfast. In all my years as a Pennsylvanian, it was my first time going to that market. Next we went to some stores recommended by GQ's Philadelphia city guide. The one I have pictured with the cool hanging lightbulbs is called Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. It had a Warby Parker station, Hill Side ties and a lot of other chic knick knacks and clothes you would find on Tumblr. The fur coat I found at Sugarcube. I felt and looked like a baby polar bear. A Philadelphia experience wouldn't be complete without an authentic Philly cheesesteak at Pat's.

We also walked around the University of Pennsylvania campus. Sooo pretty. It's one of my top choices for Preston if he decides to get an MBA. Above is a picture I took in the fine arts library. I would love to study there because I would feel like Hermione studying for Ancient Runes.

Finally, today is my pretty mommy's birthday. Her candles say 25 cuz she still looks it.

I'm so thrilled to be home and with my family. Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy the most wonderful time of the year.

2013 holiday gift guide

Last year I decided to do a holiday gift guide and I had so much fun putting it together, I decided to do a 2013 edition. I asked for Preston's help with the guys' list again and this year he agreed to do the writing too. I apologize for his weirdness. So here are our gift ideas this year for your parents, siblings and significant others:

1. J.Crew Jeweled Fair Isle Sweater Sorry that a lot of my girls' items are from J.Crew but after 25-30 hours folding, putting away and restocking these things, you learn to love or hate them. And you also see just how cute they are in person. This sweater is a fun twist on the traditional fair isle print. Christmastime is one of the few times you can rock these crazy prints, but I think this sweater transitions nicely into other cold weather months.

2. Kate Spade Mini Bow Ring Jewelry is my favorite present to receive and pretty much every piece I wear everyday was a gift. I love staple pieces because you wear them all the time and are always reminded of the person who gave it to you. I would wear this Kate Spade ring all the time and it comes in gold, silver and rose gold so everyone's happy.

3. PLAY by Commes des Garcon High Tops Obsessed with CDG's PLAY line and these high tops are fun, super chic and sure to please the fashionista in your life. Also a girl can never have too many shoes.

4. Boulangerie Pear & Whipped Cream Candle A girl can also never have too many candles. Since moving into our new home, we have acquired an obscene amount of candles, and it's always growing when we discover new smells. One day while I was scouring Anthro's sale section, Preston came across this delicious jar. It's sweet and smells good enough to eat and if you think about it, how tasty would pears be with whipped cream? I have Volcano and an espresso candle from Anthropologie and both burn very nicely and fill the whole room with their aroma. This candle is next on my list to add to our collection.

5. J.Crew Leather Travel Wallet This is so cool and I gotta have it. It has a slot for your passport, boarding pass, IDs and currency, and all the slots are labeled. One of those things that no one actually needs, but once you have it you can't go back. Comes in black/white and red/sand.

6. West Elm Cast Metal Jewelry Tree Fun variation on the traditional jewelry box. Love this cuz you could hang necklaces, bracelets or rings off the branches. And it's a cool decorative piece by itself.

7. D&G 3 L'Imperatrice Perfume I have 5 or 6 favorite scents of all time and I think this is in my top 3. It's very fruity and has melon, grapefruit, kiwi and floral tones. I love anything sweet, fruity or smells like candy and this is all 3 of those things. This is also the top-selling scent from the D&G line.

8. J.Crew Thanks Tee I have the Kiss tee and we recently got the Hello, Thanks and Cheers tees and I need them all. It says "Thank You" in a bunch of languages! These shirts are also super soft and great to layer or wear alone when it's warm again. Plus the Kiss tee was featured in the fall style guide, so you know that thing sold out. Get one of these before they do.

9. Alexa Chung's "It" Book Because who doesn't want stories and pics from the queen of cool? This a combination of a coffee table book and style guide which everyone needs in their life.

1. Rose & Fitzgerald Bell Jar Lamp I love lamp.

2. Penfield for J.Crew Irondale Gym Bag Being a busy professional man, I have to squeeze in my workouts whenever I can. With this bag, I can bring my gym clothes in style. I hope no one is taking my descriptions of these things too seriously.
3. Kiwi Shoe Shine Care Kit One of my favorite tactics for escaping the third hour of continuous snuggling with Ynna is to shine my shoes. Hopefully every guy reading this has at least one pair of shoes that need to be shined- and a lady that likes to snuggle- so he can do this too.

4. Diptyque Feu de Bois Candle Imagine yourself, wrapped in a blanket, lying on a bear skin rug in front of a ragin fire in a cedar log cabin. Oh wait, you're not actually in a cabin you're in Nordstrom, smelling this dang expensive candle and wishing you could afford it.
5. J.Crew Fisherman's Cable Knit Sweater I feel like a fisherman, getting off my "skiff" on a breezy Maine morning when I put this on.
6. J.Crew Pajama Set Ynna said "enter sandman" when I came out of the closet in my pajama set the other night. Now I just need to find one of those little caps. Oh, and by the way, those PJs didn't stay on for very long, if you know what I mean.
7. Uniqlo Ultra Light Down Jacket Ducks sure got this one right. I think down is nature's best insulator- it keeps you warm when you need it, but doesn't smother you in heat as soon as you walk into a heated building.
8. Topman Fair Isle Toque I labeled this item in honor of my native land. My dad had one just like this.
9. S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst This book was near the top of my wish list from the moment I heard about it. While we were in Austin over Thanksgiving break, we visited this popular bookstore, where S. was in the main display. After browsing the store, we were on our way out when Doug Dorst himself came around the corner! So I quickly bought a copy and asked him to sign it! I'm saving this book for Christmas break so I can really get into it. Read the synopsis, it sounds like a really unique reading experience.

Hope y'all are enjoying this beautiful time of the year. Happy giving!

just the two of us

Happy December! Sadly our weekend of celebration and treats is coming to an end, but I'll re-live it via blog for you.

I celebrated my 22nd birthday on Wednesday which was the beginning of a 4 day treats fest. Birthday celebrations were simple but happy and included my favorite things. This is the 3rd birthday I've celebrated with Preston and in his words "I really got the best of your young adult years!" Weirdo. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving and our very first spent away from our own families or adopted ones. Every year at BYU Preston celebrated Thanksgiving with the Baker family and I was adopted by roommates and the Bakers my senior year. Shoutout to everyone who's ever hosted me, by the way. You guys are the best. I was nervous for this year because we made everything ourselves :-O and I thought I would be super sad not spending the holiday with a big family or my own. Ok, some things we cooked were not from scratch, whatever. After a mandatory run, we set to work cooking our turkey. Then we lounged around and waited to make the rest of dinner, and guess what? Turkey turned out great! It was my biggest worry and a few days before I asked Preston if I could buy a prepared one from Whole Foods. But alas, with the help of my parents, the Internet and Preston's butcher skills, we managed to prepare and cook a delicious 10 lb. turkey that we are still eating. We both felt super accomplished and full after the biggest meal we've ever prepared together. I'm still really proud of us. Directly above is a picture of our dinner and the very top picture is my very cute husband anxiously waiting for me to stop taking pictures of our food.

Friday morning we left for Austin because why not? Preston rented an apartment through Airbnb, and we spent the weekend eating and shopping in a new city. We had an array of foods because Austin is home to tons of famous, not-so-famous, but all delicious restaurants. We also visited the capitol and ran around UT campus. My favorite thing I ate was a donut from Gourdough's. It's a little trailer that serves the most incredible, hot, specialty donuts I've ever had. We tried the Funky Monkey- cream cheese icing, caramelized bananas and brown sugar. Ugggghhh. There were so many I wanted to try and if you're ever in Austin, you gotta look this place up. It's fantastic and the flavors are so unique. 

Above is a picture from Uncommon Objects, our new favorite antique store. This place was so beautifully decorated and it didn't feel as grimy as some other antique stores we've visited here in Dallas. And oh man did they have the most amazing things. We wanted to buy everything, but left with some antique keys that remind me of the scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when he has to use the broomstick to get the right key at the end. 

So we mostly ate in Austin and I'm not mad at all about it. Above is me at Rudy's, a really fabulous barbecue place with outstanding service. The brisket was insane, as was their creamed corn and ribs. I am one of those people that will wait 2 hours for what is supposedly the best BBQ in whatever city. Preston is not, so Rudy's was a great compromise and we both left happy. Other notable places were Sarah's Mediterranean Grill & Market and Homeslice Pizza. Sarah's had the best shwarma and falafel wraps and if there was one in Dallas, we would be regulars. Homeslice is a pizza place that serves it by the slice. We thought maybe it might be a Slab competitor. It's not, but it was good pizza and I'd go again if I were in Austin.

We did do some things besides eat in Austin, but I won't lie about it being our main activity. This afternoon we went the Zilker Botanical Gardens and had lunch at Zilker Park. Hopefully we'll be back in September for ACL :)

That's how I spent the last 5 days and I'm trying very hard not to be sad that tomorrow is Monday and holiday hours have been implemented at J.Crew. 24 days til Christmas, 19 til I fly home and 24 more days of Justin Bieber's Christmas album.

reunited and it feels so good

Above is this year's Christmas card. Just kidding, but can you believe we found 6 matching gingham shirts for $3?

What a fun weekend it was in Dallas, Texas. Callan was working at The Color Run this past weekend and Kev, Molly and Grady managed to find some cheap flights to join him and we had little reunion. It was such a treat to spend a couple days with these people. We miss them so much and are always reminiscing on how nice it was to be 5 minutes away from (or living with) all our best friends in Provo. It was great showing them our little home and city.

 This was taken Friday night at the Crow Collection of Asian Art ^_^ This was pretty cool cuz there was an Ai Weiwei which we pretty much stumbled upon and the Dallas Museum of Art is huge and always enjoyable to walk through. Kev is an art history major and I always like seeing and hearing about his favorite pieces. Besides sharing Dallas' art scene, we ate a lot of delicious foods including the best BBQ I've ever had and discovering a new donut place. If you've never been, Dallas is predominantly eating and shopping, so we tried to show our friends the best of it. We also shared our favorite little shops in the Bishop Arts District, which I talked about in my last entry and the craziest antique/thrift/vintage store we've found, which I talked about a few months ago. Also it is mandatory to at least visit the JFK memorial and Dealey Plaza if you are in Dallas. The 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination is tomorrow and it is so surreal to live a few miles away from the site of such a historic event.

Here's the main reason we got to see our friends last weekend. Callan works for The Color Run, the Happiest 5K on the Planet! It was pretty happy and I got a free tutu. It felt good to get some exercise and since hurting my foot last winter, I was proud of myself for running all 3 miles. Above is Callan leading the party and dancing with him.

The Neiman Marcus flagship store is right in downtown, only a few blocks from our apartment building. For most of November the windows were veiled and said their holiday displays would be revealed on the 16. Ta-da! The Neiman Marcus Crawl. This is literally a mini maze through the store windows of Neiman's. You had to sign a waiver and the average age of participants was 6. When Molly and I got in line they looked at us to sign and then looked around us to see where the children we were supervising were. Oops, we're doing it. Earlier that night Molly and I walked through and cried over Louboutins and I have to say the Crawl was 100% more satisfying.

Sunday was 85 degrees and our little Utah eskimos got to go swimming and sunbathe with us. The days with our friends were too short but we were so thankful to spend the time with them and miss them already. So now you should visit Dallas and we'll show you a good time.

awk-tober

Happy November, month of giving thanks, turkey, shopping and my birth. October was a busy, busy month, hence my lack of blog updates. In summary, this was October with the Kutneys.

At the beginning of the month we went to the State Fair of Texas which was quite a spectacle. Texas has the biggest state fair in the country and it lasts almost a month. The beginning of October was still hot, hot, hot but we braved the heat to enjoy the farm animals (yeah right), weird exhibits, butter sculptures and of course the fried food. Visiting the fair took me back to my senior year of high school and pretending to be the queen of the sweet Lampeter Fair. Another story for another time my dears. The best of the fried food was the fried Reese's cups and fried PB&J. 

 We also discovered a new favorite neighborhood in Dallas called Bishop Arts District. Preston read some reviews for the Spiral Diner & Bakery, a completely vegan restaurant and bakery. Obviously I was skeptical because I LOVE CHICKEN and like vegan what? But it was so delicious and the whole time I kept saying "No meat?!" Right nearby was this little neighborhood of trendy shops. Above is a picture from my new favorite store in Dallas called Society. It's an interiors shop but mainly sells delicious smelling candles. If Tumblr were a store, it would be Society. We also discovered a pie shop that sells pie by the slice called Emporium Pies and the sweetest little store called We Are 1976  that sells all things Asian and cute. It was almost annoying how adorable everything was. Also I am concerned why I have been suppressing the all matching kitty stationary, pencils and pencil pouch side of me. I bought a little notebook adorned with bows to help revive my Asian schoolgirl side.

Another fun part of this month was visits from friends!! Come visit us you guys, we are actually kind of fun!! AJ Swartwood came a couple weeks ago for the Texas A&M vs. Auburn game and was staying in Dallas so we hung out with him and went to the Dallas Museum of Art's "Late Night at the Museum" night and introduced him to the best cupcakes in the world. The same weekend Nate and Zoe Bleak were in town and we spent a few hours with them looking at the JFK sites. The following weekend Spencer Montgomery was in town for an interview and we had dinner with him. It was so fun to see friends from school and hear about the cool jams in Provo. So if you miss us, come visit and we'll show you a good time. We probably miss you too :)

Last weekend was our Halloween. We dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Fox from The Fantastic Mr. Fox NOT that terrible music video "What Does the Fox Say." Honestly 24 people asked us if that's what we were and we both had no idea what they were talking about. I thought it was only a song because my spin teacher would play it during class, but I never knew it was accompanied by such a weird and stupid Youtube video. No guys. Mr. and Mrs. Fox. Much, much later that night we went to a Daft Punk tribute. What better group to see play a tribute than one where you don't know what they actually look like and it's all electronic music? This was really fun and probably the latest we've ever stayed up in our lives. And now for the grand finale of October which literally happened yesterday. I went to get a shot at the doctor yesterday morning. After receiving the shot, I felt lightheaded, passed out and hit my head. I woke up on the ground, cried a lot, called Preston and we went to the ER. I was diagnosed with a concussion and was told I had undergone a vasovagal syncope due to the shot. I've gotten lightheaded giving blood before but never passed out. I got the same shot a few months before and walked right out of the doctor's office feeling 100% normal so it was unusual I had such a different reaction yesterday. Above is my only proof I was in the hospital minus the paperwork they gave me which I probably shouldn't post on the internet. Preston probably has an embarrassing picture of me in the ER but the world has yet to see that gem.  It feels so weird that only Preston and my managers at my jobs know about my accident. I guess that's what it's like when you're alone in a city. I think that's why I cried a lot. I don't mean for this to be a depressing post. I'm really happy in Dallas, honestly. It's like a big new adventure. But I do miss my best friends and having more than one person know about the comings and goings of my life.  The weather is considerably cooler and this month is full of things to look forward to. Hope everyone else had a great October. Happy November!