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Went To Yale. Did Not See Rory Gilmore.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016
I want to talk about Gilmore Girls at some point, but I feel like not everyone has finished it yet and I don't want to spoil anything. Let's just say, I am NOT a fan. I kept watching and thinking it would get better, and it somehow kept getting worse? Idk.

Anyway, on Saturday we went to New Haven and explored. We live super close to New Haven, but usually don't go there because I read it's one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S. lol. The parts of New Haven we have been in before are really dumpy and dangerous feeling, but the area around Yale is a WHOLE new world! It's so clean and hipster AF. Aka, my kinda place! We started our day at the Yale art museum.



Can I have ceilings like this in my future house? K thanks.


These windy staircases give me life.


I just realized I didn't write down any of the artists names. #fail. But how cool is this piece? It was about how this guy (who was a big, important dude at Yale) was a slave owner. Like, it was challenging his importance and respect. Pretty cool, I thought.


ROTHKO!!!! Always a gem. It was cool to see a Rothko in person. Jake got me a calendar of his paintings last year, except he bought it on my Amazon account so I got the notification when it shipped lol.


THIS WAS MY FAVORITE MOMENT. You guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Basquiat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is my favorite artist of allllllll time. I remember when I first discovered him I was at a house party with some of my skater friends from high school, and I was just sitting in the corner on a couch because I didn't know anyone. There was this book there about Shepard Fairey that I started leafing through, and I came across Basquiat's "Riding With Death" painting. I remember just sitting there and staring at it for so long. Like it was literally maybe 10 minutes or so. 

Since then, my life has never been the same!! Nah, jk. It's been a pretty chill life, but Basquiat is bae. (See what I did there?) So, it was super cool seeing some of his work up close. 


This is a painting but I thought it was funny because it looks like a selfie lol.


I can't remember the story behind these either but I liked the symmetry.


We saw Picasso in the flesh!! Ok, you guys, I didn't realize he was such a recent artist. For some reason I thought he existed like hundreds of years ago like an idiot. It's kind of cool to think about what artists today are still going to be a big deal in one or two hundred years. (My money is on the naked sleepwalking statue at The High Line.)


Jake and I are really only fans of modern art, sorry not sorry.


HOW CUTE IS THIS COUPLE!??! Omgggggggg. They were going from painting to painting just chatting up a storm with each other. It was so cute to see them so in love and still enjoying a hobby together, all these years later. #marriagegoals


Dang, who that piece of art?

(Sorry 4 cheese.)


This beautiful stained glass was just chilling at the bottom of the stairs. I feel like if I would have been an artist in the olden days, I would have done stained glass. In fact, maybe that can be my hobby when I retire!


After the art gallery, we went to Atticus Cafe. You guys HAVE to add it to your Connecticut list. Here's the thing, if you come here to see the town that inspired Gilmore Girls, that's great and all, but there isn't much to do in that area (or Connecticut in general) so TRUST ME WHEN I SAY ADD THIS! For those Utah readers, it's kind of like the Atticus Coffee in Park City. They had tons of funny books and unique things. I got my mom some Jane Austen sticky notes in the shape of the characters lol.

I just grabbed apple cider and a croissant, but I think we'll be back for breakfast a different day! They have an Amelie croissant (which is my favorite movie, in case you didn't know) and it was so good and unique! It had pineapple? Like it sounds gross but it was actually so good. The apple cider was good as well!


Guys I am so upset. While I was in the museum, I accidentally switched to shooting jpeg instead of RAW!! AHHHHHHHHH. So I was trying to edit this picture of Jake and the shadows were so red. I was like WTF-ing for so long and then I realized it was F-IN JPEG UGH. So I turned it black and white because what else do you do. But I would be interested to know if you guys could tell the colors are weird in the photo above, of the croissant.


Yale campus is SO. PRETTY.






It's still very much fall, over here in Connecticut. It's almost a prettier fall than before, because it's yellow mixed with sticks, instead of yellow mixed with green trees. Anyway, the second I saw this tree I knew we had to get a pic.



The guy we asked to take a picture of us both was a photographer. Don't you love it when that happens?!



When I was a kid I hated the colors red and yellow together, but now I love them paired with green. It's so cozy and Christmas-y to me!


All in all, it was such a fun day exploring! It literally might have been my favorite day out of all days living in Connecticut! There was also a Shake Shack right by Yale, but we weren't hungry. But for any of you visiting, definitely give it a go!


Visiting Yale got me real confused about my childhood. Growing up in Utah, everyone's end goal is BYU because it's like, the big Mormon school. So, naturally, that was my end goal as well and I was really happy and proud to get in. Now that we are in the northeast, I'm like WTF?! Not that BYU isn't a great school or anything, but I don't know why more people don't shoot for the Ivy Leagues? Not that I could have gotten in, but if I could go back in time I would definitely try so hard! We are planning on staying in this area forever and I hope that my kids' goal is the Ivy Leagues! I told Jake that we will have to nonchalantly condition them to want it lol. 

Anyway! Sorry for the novels lately? I feel like I have been writing more, but #idowhatiwant.

XOXO
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Thanksgiving Festivities

Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Guys! Our first Thanksgiving on our own! We have been married 3 years, but have always spent the holidays at other people's homes (partly because we lived in my mom's basement and partly because we lived super close to both our families). 

It was SO FUN to do our own thing. I love being on my own schedule and being able to have a say in what we eat and do. Call me a control freak, but whatever. I just like being able to do what I want on holidays haha.

Neither Jake or I really like Thanksgiving food, so we went out to dinner. It was the most perfect rainy day and all the street were empty.


The restaurant we ate at was on the river and so pretty!


Ah, my two favorite things in one picture: my cute bb and shake siding lol.


Plz ignore this picture and the obvious bang crisis I am experiencing. 


GUYS I ATE FISH. I have been a vegetarian for 7 years whatttttt. Lately I have been wanting to eat meat again, but my conscious won't let me. Just knowing all the cruelty behind it and knowing that an animal had to die for me to eat my meal makes me feel SO BAD. After much consideration, I decided to eat fish and see how I felt. So, I got this salmon in a sweet pea risotto. The salmon was pretty good, but that risotto tho. TO DIE FOR. 


Anyway, I was doing pretty well with the whole eating salmon thing, but then once we got home I just felt like kind of full and heavy? Like idk. Eating vegetarian you're always eating light foods and don't ever feel "stuffed". So I felt kind of gross after eating the salmon and decided to not eat meat again, unless I feel like it is a once in a lifetime opportunity (like sushi in Tokyo next month).


Jake got a steak which he enjoyed. Lol I never know what to say for Jake, but since this is the journal of our life I feel like I have to say something.


We got pumpkin cheesecake for dessert, which is, arguably the best cheesecake flavor. The pumpkin cheesecake from Trader Joe's is pretty good, fyi!


They had cute twinkle lights, but there wasn't anywhere to set up my camera so this will have to do!


We went home, changed into our Christmas pajamas, and finished our Harry Potter marathon. It was such a nice, chill Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is probably my least favorite holiday, btw, but this one was good and chill!

P.S. I have started a food Instagram for the New England area. So go give it a follow if you wish! @newenglandgrubs 

A Happy List: 144

Monday, November 28, 2016

Exploring Yale and New Haven. There are actually some pretty decent places there!
Eating the first gingerbread loaf of the season from the cutest cottage Starbuck's.
Seeing the my first New England Christmas house! I love the style!
Getting so close to being done with Gilmore Girls.
Getting $100 worth of Zoya nail polish for $30.
Getting better at watercolor calligraphy.
All my Utah friends' snow pictures.
This Black Bear remix.
Pumpkin cheesecake.
Lora Zombie's art.

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I was complaining all day that we didn't have any pencils so I couldn't paint. Later in the day, Jake mooned me and I took a picture of it lol. He walked away and then said, "Is this a pencil?!"
I said "Where?"
Jake didn't say anything back. 
I said, "Where, Jake?!?!?!"
He said, "I was just kidding to get back at you."

XOXO
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Everyone Must Belong Somewhere

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Every time I'm on an airplane I listen to Bright Eyes. Every time I listen to Bright Eyes I think a lot about where my life is and how far I am from where I want to be.

I don't know where I want to live when Jake is done with his MBA and we are ready to buy a house. I don't know if living in New York City is worth it if you don't have a car to explore all the beautiful places in the northeast. I don't know if it's worth it to live in a boring rural area if you can only take 2 trips a year.

Sometimes I think about all of this and I feel like I need to have it all figured out right now. It doesn't matter that I haven't even started my master's degree, or that Jake is still a year out from even applying to his MBA program. It just feels like I need to know where we are going to settle down.

But then I remember that I did move out of Utah. I did live in New York City over the summer, and even though it wasn't everything I thought it would be, it helped me learn what I want. I know I want a cute little house with a backyard for our Bernese Mountain Dog. I know I want a car so I can explore ever inch of my surroundings. I know I want to live next to a city so I can stay entertained. I know I want a lot of options for weekend trips and I want the to be affordable.

When I remember all of this I remember that I can get this in the northeast. I remember that I have already decided I want to live here forever. And even though that isn't a specific city or state, it's a specific area of the United States.

And it's one step closer to being settled than I was before.

XOXO
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OUR FIRST REAL CHRISTMAS TREE!!

Friday, November 25, 2016
YOU GUYS!!! THIS IS THE MOST EXCITING THING I HAVE EVER POSTED!!!!!


On Saturday we got our first real Christmas tree!!! I am very obsessed with it and don't know if we'll be going back to an artificial tree anytime soon.

I was torn between waiting for snow to get our Christmas tree, or putting it up at the regular time (the day after Halloween). I waited as long as I could, but then I had to get one! We went to Jone's Family Farm in Shelton, Connecticut. The drive through all the winding streets was #toocute. It's still pretty fall-y here. I think I missed the best week of fall when I was in Utah but hey, what can you do.

I will forever be obsessed with New England style homes. They are so cozy and charming.



This is one of my favorite roads to drive down in Connecticut! Second to the Merritt Parkway, probably.


We were planning on cutting our own Christmas tree (because ultimate control) but I still am not allowed to lift more than 5 pounds from my breast reduction surgery. So we decided to save that adventure for next year!



We picked a pre-cut tree and had the nice employee help us load it up. I thought they were heavier than they really are? Lol.



HOW CUTE IS THIS SANTA CORGI!?!? Jake wants a corgi sooooo badly, but I don't know if I could handle the shedding.


The Christmas tree farm was up on the hill. It had some really pretty views of Connecticut, which of course these pictures do 0 justice for. One of the things I miss about Utah is being able to go to lookout points and chill! We used to always go to the three story park in Cedar Hills and look out at the valley.


I think we are going to go back when it's snowy and do our Christmas photos with a tripod lol.


LOOK AT HOW PRETTY.



Another thing I love about Connecticut is all the little rock walls everywhere <3







I had high hopes for our Christmas pictures. One of them was us in this exact photo below, except I wanted there to be snow. I guess we will just have to wait and buy another Christmas tree! (Not lol.)




Can our first house look exactly like this? Thanks.


We got 5 Guys for dinner. (What else is new.)


Us + bae first real Christmas tree = a good life. (Santa is bringing me a photography light, so I'm hoping our indoor pictures together will improve 100%. Wish me luck!)


Now I just need to remember to water the tree every day and we'll be good! I already forgot yesterday and it was COMPLETELY out of water. Is that bad? Does that mean the little water holes are going to close up and we'll have to recut the bottom of the tree? Because those pinecones were very hard to get to stay and I would not like to deal with them again lol.

XOXO 
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