The grinch's heart that grew 10 sizes

Confession: I used to be the grinch who stole Christmas.

It's true, when we got married I told Andrew he could forget about any decorations and I only very grudgingly agreed to let him get a tree.

I guess I've gradually softened up, though. Our second Christmas together I made some ornaments, and little by little by decorations have evolved into handmade everything.

On a side note, Andrew and I have a running disagreement about lights on Christmas trees. I think colored lights on trees are hideous/tacky and detract from the ornaments. Andrew thinks trees with only white lights are completely bland and boring. Fortunately for me, it looks like my aesthetics have won (at least for now).

What do you think?

Also, neither of us are red people so most of our decorations are pink and teal (each of our favorite colors).

ABCs of me (aka worst post title ever)

Age: 23.5
Bed Size: Queen, and it's also the canopy bed of my childhood dreams.
Chore you hate: Anything involving a bathroom. Also, yard work.
Dogs: I want a Yorkie SO bad.
Essential start of your day: Putting in my contacts so I can see what the world looks like again.
Favorite Color: Coral, aqua, mustard yellow, navy blue, grey...I love colors.
Gold or silver: Both.
Height: Just under 5'7", but I swear I used to be 5'7.5" so I think I might have osteoporosis.
Instruments you play: I took piano lessons for 10 years...but don't ask me to play for you because I might cry.
Job Title: Substitute teacher who's teaching herself graphic design and very slowly/lazily working on stuff for an Etsy shop. And hoping to go to grad school.
Kids: None, much to my mother-in-law's chagrin.
Live: SLC, UT
Mom’s Name: Michelle. As a child of the 1960s she got the Beatles song sung to her all the time.
Nickname: My family calls me "El" and Andrew calls me "bestie."
Overnight Hospitals Stays: None.
Pet Peeve: When strangers (especially girls who are around my age) call me "hun." Um, I don't know you and I'm definitely not your hun.
Quote from a movie: From Le Fabuleaux Destin d'Amelie Poulain. "My little Amélie, you don't have bones of glass. You can take life's knocks. If you let this chance pass, eventually, your heart will become as dry and brittle as my skeleton."
Right or left handed: Right.
Siblings: One sister and two brothers. They're the best.
Time you wake up: As late as possible.
Underwear: Yes.
Vegetables you dislike: Jalapenos.
What makes you run late: Picking out an outfit/changing outfits/despairing at having nothing to wear as I look at a closet out of which clothes are literally spilling.
X-rays you’ve had done: My teeth.
Yummy food you make: Andrew likes my homemade pesto, but I think I'm a little more partial to desserts I make...like chocolate chip cookies stuffed with s'mores.
Zoo animal: I don't like zoos. But I like zebras.

Washington DC

This past week Andrew I were in Washington DC with his family. While I fell in love with the Virginia countryside, the humidity made me rethink my plans of buying a cottage and a farm and settling in. Here are some pictures compliments of instagr.am.

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

Great Falls Park

Great Falls Park

Mt. Vernon

Colonial Williamsburg

Richmond, Virginia

On a side note, how did people live before macaroni and cheese was invented (read: we ate some really good Southern comfort food while there)?

Happy Birthday Andrew

Last year was Andrew's golden birthday (26 on the 26th) but this year he turns 27 and since 27 is one of my favorite numbers, I wrote up a list of little known facts about Andrew/things I love about him.

This will probably embarrass him, but I don't care.

1. He is a smarty-pants. I mean he's the smartest person I've ever known. Ask him a question, any question about anything, and he'll know the answer. Try it.
2. He's a photographer. Here's his Flickr.
3. People love him. I get told all the time by strangers, family members, and friends that he's a genius/super talented/movie star handsome.
4. When we got a new wireless router, he surprised me by naming our new network "Cupcake" because I love cupcakes so much.
5. He understands me perfectly and knows what I'm thinking before I even say it most of the time.
6. He's a really hard worker and very accomplished.
7. He takes an interest in decorating our apartment together, and he also cares about his clothing.
8. He's endlessly patient.
9. I've never had a problem Andrew couldn't figure out or fix for me (specifically computer related problems).
10. He loves food and he's good at cooking.
11. He tells me I'm pretty several times a day.
12. He's interested in almost everything and one of the funnest people to go vacations with.
13. He never says something unless he means it, so I can always trust his opinion.
14. His biggest dream is to be an astronaut.
15. He is always willing to help anyone out when they need it.
16. He has excellent taste in music and collects vinyl LPs.
17. He thinks there is nothing better than watching an episode of COPS while eating a big bowl of ice cream.
18. He loves his family's dog he grew up with and promises me we'll have a menagerie of our own someday.
19. Almost every day he thanks me for marrying him and being with him.
20. He's really good at picking out presents for people and he loves giving gifts.
21. He thinks I'm really funny.
22. He's generous and kind.
23. We agree on almost everything (excepting some food and movies).
24. If Andrew could have one wish, it would be to make tomatoes extinct. He believes eating them will cause his untimely death on the spot.
25. He wants to live in a cottage on the beach or the forest with me.
26. We met in the summertime and whenever I think about summer I'm reminded of him.
27. He's the best person I know.

More England and Ireland Pictures

Wow, I feel like I've gotten so behind on reading blogs/writing my own posts I don't know if I'll ever catch up.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip. Andrew still has two rolls of undeveloped 35 mm film, so I might be putting some more up in the future.

We went to England with my family because my dad was invited to speak at a conference at Oxford University and my parents decided to rent a house and said Andrew and I could stay with them for free. My dad has a Masters and PhD from Oxford in Anthropology and I was born in England while he was attending school. When I was little we lived in England and Africa (where my dad completed his anthropological fieldwork) before moving to the United States when I was almost 5 years old. Before this trip I hadn't been back to England since I was 15, so needless to say, I was really excited. I think I have Andrew almost convinced to buy a cottage in the Cotswolds and move there permanently. We'll see, haha.

...and We're Back

Although I miss England already, I have to say it's good to be home. Especially home in a country where there are free drink refills in restaurants and lots of air-conditioning, haha.

These pictures were all taken using the insta.gram app on my iPhone, but Andrew took a lot of cameras with us, so I'll post some much better pictures (including Polaroids!) soon.

We had a lovely time and I can't wait to put more pictures up.

London Underground

Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

I don't know what these flowers were called,
but they were everywhere

Old garage by the place we were staying in Oxford

Randolph Hotel in Oxford

St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin

A park I don't remember the name of in Dublin

James Joyce Centre in Dublin,
"The Dead" is probably my favorite short story

Door from Leopold Bloom's apartment in Ulysses
that actually existed in real life

Cotton Candy Hair

Some days (like today) I really wish I had pink hair.









All images via Pinterest.

P.S. I'm leaving for England tomorrow. I'll have my iPad with me, but posting might be a little scarce around here over the next few weeks.

Packing List

I'm leaving for my trip to England one week from today. Is it just me, or is packing to look cute on vacation really hard? I usually arrive, look at the selection of clothes in my suitcase and think "What was I thinking when I packed?!" Also, by the end of a family vacation (especially one in a foreign country) I feel walked to death and so tired that I don't even care what I look like.

However, I am determined to look cute this time, so I made a packing list like a month in advance (and I've been fine tuning it for the past week or so because I'm OCD like that) and I also looked over Lauren Conrad's Style book that I received for Christmas last year. LC has some pretty good travel wardrobe tips.


Anyway, my main issue of indecision right now is deciding whether or not to bring these babies across the pond with me:

via

How do you pack when you travel? Any tips?

Today, I love Chevron Stripes

I know some people are getting sick of chevron stripes (because they're everywhere), but I have to say, I'm loving them more, not less, as times goes on.





I especially love this iPhone case.







Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Haircut

Because I force Andrew to get his hair cut at the same salon as I do so his hair can look stylish/adorable, our haircut expenses are $$$. I forgot to take into consideration the fact that boys get their hair cut every few months or so, whereas I get mine cut maybe twice a year if I can get the nerve up (does getting their hair cut give anyone else extreme anxiety?).

For the past little while I've been begging Andrew to buy a clipper set and let me cut his hair. Despite serious misgivings, he finally broke down last week, and after watching exactly one Youtube tutorial (did I mention I've never cut anyone's hair before?), I started snipping away. Up until the first few hairs fell, I was all confidence and Andrew was all nerves.

About 1.5 minutes into the haircut, it proved to be a lot more difficult than I had anticipated and panic welled up inside me. I hesitatingly informed Andrew that I had never felt less confident about anything else I had ever done in my life. Mr. You're probably going to scalp me/accidentally cut my ears off replied (cool as a cucumber) to just keep cutting and everything would be okay.

1 grueling hour later Andrew declared his new haircut a 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 10 and I nervously patted myself on the back like 5 times because our experiment didn't turn out like Even to Save Cash, Don't Try This Stuff at Home.

Before:


After:


Note: this haircut took place a few hours previous to the demise of my elbow.