I am excited to bring to you today an amazing giveaway hosted by Hello Fab. One lucky winner will win a Year's Supply of Essie Nail Polish! That's right, 12 bottles of your choice from Hello Fab. Good luck everyone!
"If you come to san francisco, summertime will be a love-in there"
I was able to kill two birds with one stone off of my twenty five before twenty five list this past weekend! Me and my best girlfriends from back home have always complained about the fact that when we all come home to visit it is during a holiday or family event where we don't have much time to really hang out. So we have always talked about doing a girl's trip sometime. Well, we finally DID IT.
We picked San Fransisco because Michelle would be participating in an Opera Company there this summer, and it is a place we all thought would be fun. I was particularly excited because it is a place I have always wanted to go! I went when I was little girl, but hardly remember it. So to me, it was like the first time.
Can I just say San Fransisco stole my heart? Let me explain why. FOOD. I am pretty sure there is no such thing as a bad meal in San Fransisco. We ate our hearts out! I will get into that more later. I also love the vibe of the city, the buildings and amazing architecture, the history. It totally reminded me of Europe. It was very reminiscent of Paris. Just the way the whole city functioned made me think I wasn't in America. I loved all the diversity.
Our hotel was built in 1929. I love the architecture of it. It still has the same operating elevator! It was fun, and kind of creepy all at the same time, haha.
Saturday morning we got into our hotel and then headed off to catch some breakfast at a place my friend had recommended called Stacks. We got caught up with each other while we each enjoyed our stacks of pancakes. I got the Macadamia Nut, Banana and Coconut pancakes. Oh my heaven. It was too rich for me to even finish!
We then made our way to Alamo Square, but not without getting distracted first of course. I love all the fun things always going on in San Fransisco! On our way we stopped by a garage sale, and spent time admiring
all the beautiful houses. I love me a good bay window.
It was the perfect sunny afternoon and we laid in the grass, people watching and playing with all the dogs. What is up with San Fransisco and all the dogs? Lots of dog lovers there. Speaking of dog lovers, one dog decided I was his new best friend, and wouldn't go back to his owner. I didn't mind, I almost put him in my purse and walked away :) It was super windy, but it felt great since it was actually a pretty warm day, which was a nice treat in San Fran from what I hear.
We obviously looked at the Full House, house. I have always wanted to
see that! Childhood dreams accomplished.
We had walked through Japan Town and it had sparked the urge for Japanese food that night. I was so excited because walking through Japan Town looking at all the different restaurant options it brought me back to being an exchange student in Japan. I can't tell you how authentic is was there. Everything looked just like Japan did. Everyone speaking in Japanese and the plastic replicas of the dishes being offered in the windows, everything was the same.
For the first time since I went to Japan I had some authentic Japanese food! Oh my gosh I inhaled that Beef Udon so fast! And I ate my tempura shrimp slowly to make sure I enjoyed every last bite! We went home stuffed and satisfied. If only I had, had room for more.
To end the night off right we headed to the store and picked up candy and treats for a night in, in our pajamas. I also had to grab some aloe, story of my white girl life. In between chewing on peach rings, and chocolate we talked the night away as if no time had ever passed between our middle school sleepovers ten years ago.
Sunday morning we went to a place called Kate's Kitchen that Allie had recommended. To anyone passing by it doesn't look like anything special, nuzzled between an apartment and a place that sells medical marijuana... but let me tell you, this place has THE BEST breakfast I have ever had in my life. The menu is so hard to choose from and as you see plates come out of the kitchen, each time you think you must have ordered wrong because "whatever that is look amazing!"
But it is impossible to order wrong at Kate's Kitchen, it is all amazing. I got the orange spice french toast with strawberries, blueberries, bananas and lemon curd. The tastes all came together beautifully, not just beautifully but perfectly! The orange spice was just the right amount of hint, and the fruit was fresh and the lemon curd just topped it off! I didn't want the experience to end.
After breakfast we walked around some of the shops, such amazing book stores and vintage thrifting going on in San Fran. After we had explored a bit we headed out to Fisherman's Wharf to see Michelle perform. It was nice to have a lazy Sunday morning and get to hear some great musical performances. It had been a pretty drizzly day so after the performance all we wanted was some warm hot chocolate. We headed on over to the popular Ghirardelli Square. Of course by the time we got there we got distracted, and ended up getting ice cream sundays instead! What can you do, I am in ice cream girl at heart.
We headed home to dry off and ended the night with some make your own pizzas at a pizzeria at the corner of where we were staying. Again, it was amazing! I love me some artichokes on a pizza.
being silly :)
Monday morning we couldn't stop thinking about how amazing Kate's Kitchen was, so we obviously went there again. This time Michelle was able to join in on the fun and the four of us each had a new dish that was amazing. I tried their cornmeal pancakes with the same toppings I had, had on my french toast. Let me just tell you, I have decided that all pancakes needs to be cornmeal pancakes! Holy Cow! The texture, the taste, all of it was just great! I will be learning how to whip some of those up that's for sure. Michelle has some pumpkin, chocolate and whip cream french toast and I decided it just might be worth it to fly to San Francisco to eat at Kate's on the daily... just sayin'
When can I move in? Kay, thanks.
After brunch we headed on over to see the infamous Golden Gate Bridge. It was pretty foggy so it was hard to see at first, but we enjoyed walking along the pier and seeing the city skyline. Just as we were leaving the clouds cleared up and I got myself a good glance at the bridge! Loved it.
We all decided we needed something sweet and got some baked goods at a pretty popular bakery in town. I got myself a lemon square and that thing was probably the sweetest food I have ever had! It made you pinch your lips, in a good way!
We parted ways with Michelle who had to practice and we headed back to the hotel to figure out our flights. We had all gotten notice that our flights had been delayed over three hours! Apparently the weather had been so bad several flights had been delayed and even canceled. We couldn't be too upset because that just meant more time together. We ended up getting dinner together one last time before heading out to the airport. Michelle was a sweet heart and drove us all back, and it was nice to have one last moment all of us together.
The delays made me miss my connecting flight, which turned out to be a mini miracle for me because I got stuck in a city that my husband happened to be living in currently!! It was a sweet surprise for us to spend the night together! Even if it was super short, it was much needed. I had been missing that boy terribly and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. So thank you delayed flights and bad weather!!! :) :)
I loved everything about this weekend. San Fransisco is such a special place, and to explore it with people I love was such a treat. I love that no matter how much time passes we maintain the bond we have shared since we were little girls. They have been with me for every awkward transition into adulthood and I couldn't think of better women to have by my side. I can't believe we are all grown up. In reality, our lives are just beginning, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us.
*Due to being out of town the last four days, I will not be doing the tid + bits link up this week, but make sure you have them ready for next friday! :)
tid + bits of life via instaLOVE♥
Here we are again for our tid + bits link up! Happy to see you guys link up over the week, keep it up :)
Every time I think Fall will steal my heart, Summer comes around and reminds me I am a true sunshine girl. I love everything about summer time. In Provo there is this amazing shaved ice shack (as seen here, here, and here) that I wish would just stay open all year, but alas, it is on the summer time where I can get this amazing ice cream, ice, sugar, and condensed milk master piece. I think I being frequently stopping by. Last week I went with my future sister-in-love Wendy and we met up with my brother and his EFY Group. It was fun to remember all the excitement and hormones going on at age 16 :)
Last week I also got to meet up with my Mom's best friend from High School! We met up at Blue Plate Diner, which is amazing if you haven't been, best eggs ever. Danny is the sweetest guy ever, and so talented, I love talking to him. He is a famous performer, director and choreographer and was in Salt Lake City to set up the Jersey Boys Show! Can't wait to see it :) LOVE YOU DANNY!
I swear, working at a beauty school you get suckered into trying so many new things. First the tinted eyebrows, then the platinum hair, and now, eyelash extensions! Not going to lie, I was hesitant to try them out! I am still getting used to them but I will tell you it was nice not having to put any make up on this morning! I will give you more of an update as I have them on longer. If you live in Utah and want the girl's name who did them, I would be happy to pass along her info, she is great!
I am pretty dang giddy right now, tonight I get on a flight to meet up with my besties since middle school in the beautiful city of San Fransisco for a well over due girl's weekend! I miss these three on the daily, and am so excited to spend some quality time with them! SO EXCITED!!!! Any last minute recommendations for what I have to do in San Fran?!
♥♥♥
If you plan on linking up to my blog, please make sure you put a link back to the series, or use the button I created for the link up!
Apricot Lane Boutique Summer of Style!
We're throwing a party, and you're invited! Join us on Thrusday, June 27th from 6-8pm at Apricot Lane Boutique in The Shops at Riverwoods. It will be a night filled with fun and fashion--you won't want to miss it! For more details, visit the event page on Facebook.
As part of our collaboration, Apricot Lane is giving away TEN $25 gift
cards to spend the night of the event. Enter to win by using the
Rafflecopter below. The more requirements you complete, the greater your
chance will be at winning.
Ten winners will be selected on Wednesday, June 26th and contacted via
email. The gift cards will be awarded by Apricot Lane Boutique the night
of the event.
Polar FT4 Review...
I have had a few people ask me about my Polar FT4 Watch, so I figured I
would do a quick review of it for you! I have the basic Polar FT4
watch. I say basic because there is a whole line of Polar FT watches
and they can get more and more advanced as you go up depending on what
you want it for.
The watch comes with a strap that you attach to your chest. This device records your heart rate and sends it to your watch while you are working out. People have asked me if that strap bothers me, but I don't even feel it when I am working out. It is made of very comfortable material and like I said, I hardly notice I have it on. The watch shows you where your heart rate is and tells you if you are in the right "zone" or not. I absoulty love this feature because I can look down and see if I need to step it up or not. It is a little motivator saying, "Alycia, pick it up!!"
You enter in your age, sex, height and weight, so that it can accurately calculate based off that and your heart beat how many calories you are burning. I love to see how many calories I am burning because as I mentioned before, I do count calories. I like to have a general idea of how much I am putting in my body, and how much I am burning off. This is a feature I really like because before I would just go off of what the machine I was working on said, but I realized that, that can't possibly be accurate. It is going to say I burned the same amount of calories as someone twice my size on that machine, so it is nice to have something more reliable and specific to my body. I also like it for when I do workout videos. I have a few videos that I have always thought were a great workout but never really knew what kind of workout I was getting from it. The watch has showed me which of my videos are real calorie burners and which ones aren't.
The watch stores all my work out data, so I can go back and see how much I burned, what my heart rate zone was during all my workouts. Like I said, this is a pretty basic Polar FT watch, some of the watches do even more then this in recording your body and work out data, but for what I need, this watch is just right. I would highly recommend this watch if it is something you are looking into trying. I would also recommend looking into the other watches to see if there is one that is a better fit for what you are looking for. I got my watch at a local sporting goods store, but you can also find them online!
What work out gadgets are you loving?
I talked about this watch on a segment I did on the Daily Dish.
meeting my love in the red rocks...
Over the weekend I drove down to meet Trevor in St. George. I can't believe this is only the second time I have seen him in two months. Saying good bye to him is like slowly ripping a band aid off. When I am home I can distract myself with work and friends and then when we see each other I am reminded of just how much I miss him and it sucks. I am happy that this is the last summer we will have to be apart like this.
Summer internships and associate positions are just apart of Law School life, so knowing we have one more year left and then we don't have to be apart of our summers ever again is really exciting! I feel guilty even complaining because I know there are so many families that have husbands and wives deployed for years at a time and I just can't imagine that. You guys are amazing!
We made the best of our short weekend and went out with his family on their boat. The weather was perfect! Not too hot, but just hot enough to make getting in the water the most refreshing thing ever. I love boating, but was reminded just how much I need to work out my arms and legs because I am so sore even today two days after!
After the morning and afternoon on the lake we decided to walk around the red rock cliffs. We hadn't been there since the summer we were engaged, and it was fun to just walk around and talk. We were pretty hot after our hot and windy stroll through the red rocks so we decided to grab a drink at the ever so popular "Swig" here in St. George. How a place that pretty much just sells soda can be so popular is beyond me, got to love Utah, haha. I got myself a "dirty" Root Beer which is Root Beer with a shot of coconut syrup in it. It was scrumptious. Trevor got their popular Mountain Dew and Mango combination. After we refreshed ourselves we hit up a movie and had dinner in this adorable diner. It was nice to actually have dinner with my husband! I miss just talking to him in person, so it was nice.
Sunday came too quickly. After breakfast and Father's Day gift giving and a great lunch we were packed up and heading our separate ways. Thankfully I have a lot going on the next few weeks to keep me preoccupied, but I feel bad for Trevor who has to be alone in Vegas with no friends or family. I think it is harder for him then me for us to be apart :( I love the summer time, but this is one summer I want to go by quickly, I want my husband back!
Check out Natalie and her adorable blog...
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ALYCIA GRAYCE CROWLEY
Thanks for stopping by! My name is Alycia, and this blog has been such a fun space for me to share everything from the very meaningful, the mundane, and the frivolous stuff that falls inbetween. I guess you could say this is a digital journal of sorts! I believe that life should be enjoyed and celebrated, and invite you to join along in the party! ❤
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