Weekend Scenes

I've been trying to take more every day photos because A.) I like having things to edit. B.) I like being able to look back on the smaller things in life.

Saturday we drove down to Staten Island. Jake built a computer and sold it, like whattt?! We drove on the Meritt Parkway and it is SO PRETTY right now with all the leaves changing. One of my favorite things about the area we live in/maybe the whole east coast idk is all of the trees. I have so many tree pictures in this post, but it's because everywhere is so pretty. Like we don't have to drive to a "certain area" that's pretty and fall-ish. Just everywhere is beautiful! AGHHHH

We like always go to Donut Crazy haha. They have these crazy cool donuts, but we usually get hot chocolate and their breakfast sandwiches or a bagel.

I guess they also have a lil' donut truck!?!?

Below is my favorite park of driving the Meritt. If you are in Connecticut in the fall, definitely add it to your list. 

I CAN NOT TELL YOU HOW GLAD I AM THAT WE DO NOT LIVE IN NEW YORK ANYMORE. To be honest, I think it is the prettiest place still. I love love love cities and think they are prettier than the country or suburbs, BUT it's so nice to have a car and a spacious apartment and not having to use public transportation haha. If I were to get a million dollars, I would buy an apartment in East Village or somewhere downtown for sure.l

Driving across the Brooklyn Bridge was funny because there were all these tourists looking down on us lol.

Brooklyn for a second. Jake would loveeeeee to live in Brooklyn. He's weirdly like super ok with cities.

Jake selling his first computer! Kinda coo.

Trying to take a selfie with a 50mm (on a full frame, or a 35mm on a cropped frame) always turns out like this lol.

We stopped at Fab Cup in Staten Island where I met this friend. If you're in the area and need a good hot chocolate and apple cinnamon scone, I would recommend it! I wouldn't go out of your way though.

NEW YORK U SO PRETTY.

I feel like I want to start a Tumblr for lil' pics like these. Thoughts?

One of my favorite things about the northeast is how charming everything is. When we first moved to Connecticut we were slightly bother that everything was "old" and "dumpy". But I feel like the longer we are here the more charming it is? Like look at this little stone bridge!! There is stuff like this everywhere.

We went to Micro Center to get supplies for Jake's next computer. (Side note: Do you guys remember the micro penis episode of New Girl? It's all I could think about when I heard "Micro Center" and it made me lol.)

We then went to Primark in Danbury. If you guys watched my haul video on YouTube you know how I feel about this!! Here is photographic proof of how big it is. I think it goes back past the brick too.

Sunday morning I made us German pancakes, but I made them too thick like a friction' newb. Also discovered we don't have a cupcake pan? Like WTF?

Ummmmmm I think this was Sunday night. We tried to recreate the potatoes we had in New Haven (see in our video here) and Jake did a v good job. I also made myself a skull egg bagel sandwich lol. 

All in all, it was a v good weekend! Life has been weird lately because working from home doesn't really give me a ton of opportunity to be creative. So I am trying harder to not just like, let this phase of life go to waste, ya know? 

Although, I am not going to lie, I am VERY EXCITED to start school again in January! It will be fun to go into New York City once a week and to start an internship where I can interact with real humans lol. 

XOXO

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E

A Happy List: 139

My Trumpkin is getting gross and caved in lol. In other news, if you have any interest in this election, definitely go watch Black Mirror, the Waldo episode! I think there are a lot of similarities to Trump's presidency in it.

Every Friday Jake's work has 'Bring your dog to work day'. Every Friday Jake sends me pictures of dogs.

This punk skater couple I follow are going to have a baby. I'm excited to see it! I love skater babies.

Jake went all the way to this out of the way grocery store and bought me Halo Top ice cream!

Cody and Lexy videos. They edit them with funny sound effects that make me lol.

The religious aspect to Supernatural. It's apocalyptic and so cool.

Finally figuring out how to keep my basil plant alive.

The smell of McDonald's hamburgers (weirdly).

Preparing for our trip to Japan!

Trixie's Halloween costume.

Apple cinnamon scones. 

Running on a treadmill.

XOXO

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E

New YouTube Video!

Check it out here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2WmDsM-oPA

XOXO
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E

When A Dog Park Is More Beautiful Than 80% Of Places

Can you guys believe this dog park?!?!?! Idk, maybe I just got used to Utah's flat/tree-less-ness, but like seriously this dog park is the cutest place IMO. Also, sorry to always be such an asshole about Utah. It's just that ever since I was like 15 I wanted to move outside of it, and people were always jerks and told me I would move back and finally appreciate Utah. I guess I never felt like anyone took me seriously or like genuinely tried to help me with my anxiety or depression. They just tried to lecture me about how great Utah was. So, it's just nice to finally be out and to be able to be like, "I told you so." in regards to still not wanting to move back.

I mean, there's a lot I can appreciate about Utah now that I am gone. It's really clean and has really good food and lots of young people. But there's also a lot of really great things about the area we live now, like being so close to fun states for weekend trips and all the trees and privacy. So I really don't mean to keep coming off like some jerk who hates Utah, because I don't. I thinks it's a great place to live and I am happy that so many people love living there. That being said, I am also happy I love living in New England! Every drive is so pretty and the houses are so cute and cozy. We most likely won't stay in Connecticut forever, I'm thinking we might end up in New Hampshire! We are going one a trip there in November and will probably check it out as a place of future residence.

ANYWAY! Thanks to everyone who has always been nice and supportive of my dreams to move and pursue my career in therapy. You guys are the best!

XOXO

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E

A Happy List: 138

I made a Trumpkin lol. Something truly scary.

We found all these cool stick shelters in the forest, I'll put the footage of them in my weekend video, but they were definitely like witch-crafty.

Jake gave me a back rub with a guided meditation haha. It was all over the place.

I got booked for a couple's shoot! It's the first since we moved to the east coast!

Jake cleaned out my pumpkin for me because he knows I hate the goop.

We are going on a SUPER fun trip in December and it just got booked!

Chrissy Tegan and John Legends baby, it's so cute OMGz.

We found the cutest little coffee shop in New Haven!

The everything bagels from Trader Joe's bakery.

The fall foliage in Connecticut is to die for!

Planning my school schedule!

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Here's some funny things people said this week:

We watched the hotel series of American Horror Story the past few weeks. One night Jake said, "You never know what the Gaga's going to be up to."

We were talking about what to name our future daughter (We have 1 name and that's it!) and Jake said, "I've honestly never liked the name Regina." Like he has know tons of girls with the name hahaha. 

We were in the drive thru and I forgot to order something after we had started pulling away. I told Jake to just forget it, but he was like, "Em!!!! Dreams come true when you're in the car with me!" and reversed lol.

XOXO
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New YouTube Video!

Hi guys! I made a haul video from the other day at Primark. It is the MOST amazing store and you can't shop online, so basically I will centering my life around living by a Primark from now on.

XOXO
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DIY $5 Marble Coasters

 

Guys! This is the cutest and easiest DIY! And it's like under $5!

Get some oven bake clay. I got this and this. Then take a chunk of whatever you want the major color to be, and mesh in chunks of the secondary color. Then twist it like a log, roll it out, and cut it into whatever shape you want!

Baking instructions will be on the clay package! I baked these for 15 minutes at 400 degrees I think. 

Just make sure you roll them to be really even so your drinks don't spill when you set them on the coasters!

XOXO

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E

A Happy List: 137

We always go to breakfast at this place called Donut Crazy (they have good egg sandwiches and hot chocolate) and Saturday we found a really pretty picnic spot close by it. Needless to say we will be breakfasting here from now on. 

Fall is just starting to hit Connecticut and I'm SO EXCITED. I feel like New England does fall better than anywhere else.

I ordered this rug for our living room. I think it is the cutest thing and am so excited to get some color in our place!
Jake notices like, the littlest things. Like if I have wiped down a counter or mopped. It makes me lol.
We finally got a step-up-lid trash can and it has already changed my life, just like I knew it would.

I finally made a consultation with a plastic surgeon for a breast reduction!
Finalizing my food plans for my trip to Utah.

Figuring out dairy doesn't make me sick.

Beagle's little roos when they bark.
Rewatching trip videos.

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Jake to the dog we were babysitting: "How would you like it if I peed in your crate?!?!"

XOXO
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Boston For A Day!

So, one of the biggest reasons we moved out of New York City is because we wanted a car to explore more of the east coast! New York is great and everything, but it is extremely limiting to live there unless you have money to rent a car (which we didn't). 

A few weeks after we moved to Connecticut I went on a little day trip to visit my friend Hailey in Boston! She goes to Harvard and is just an AMAZING person. We went to high school together and it's so nice to have a friend from home out here in the northeast with me, even if she is 2 hours away!

Our apartment complex is right by a river and it's always so foggy in the mornings. I love it!

I love the drives here! All of the highway are 2 or 3 lanes and lined with trees. Utah has one freeway that goes down the middle, so you basically just get on and take one exit. Here there are a bunch of different exits that lead to other freeways. It's definitely more confusing, but it also is a little bit more interesting when making long drives.

I brought my lil Polaroid Snap along on this trip and took lots of cutie pictures. I love the personality film has. It feel so authentic and genuine to me. 

The first thing we did was tour Harvard! Can you spy a baby Hailey in the photo below? Lol.

The Harvard library was SO beautiful. 

Then we went to Faneuil Hall! I love how clean Boston is. I want to go back in the winter when it's all cute and snowy. (It snows there, right?)

We walked through Quincy Market and I spent $10 at a chocolate shop because it was cash only and the card minimum was $20. It was delicious chocolate though. Quincy Market felt like a Pike's Place market type thing and I loveeeeee those.

We then walked around some parks that I can't remember the name of. But one was by the aquarium and super pretty! While we were there we met a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog and it's for sure the dog  I want to get when we get a house. It was SO NICE AND BEAUTIFUL! Ughhhhhhh dogs

Also I love this picture of Hailey so much. <3

The one park we went to had these little vine covered walkways that were so beautiful. This was where we met the Swiss Mountain Dog lol.

We went to a vegetarian restaurant in Cambridge for dinner and I tried goji (goja????) berries for the first time. It was with granola in soy milk and was SO GOOD. 

Ok embarrassing story. So, the place I parked at was cash only. I was short like $3. It was around 8:00 at this point. So, I found an ATM a few blocks away, walked there, tried to open the door and found it was locked. I called Jake panicking that all the banks were closed, and he told me to find an ATM outside of a bank. So, after like 10 minutes of panicking, I figured out you swipe your card to get into the building area with the ATM. So, I went in, I swiped my card, and it just spit out a receipt. I thought maybe I chose the wrong option so I did this a few more times and it still didn't give me any money. So, I walk out to try to find another ATM. It's was now like 8:30 and there were homeless people and it was dark and I was scared and just wanted to be in my car on my way home. So, finally I found another ATM inside of a bank where I could swipe my card and get in. I went in and there were 3 ATMs. I swiped my card at the first one and it did the same thing as the other one. I started FREAKING OUT and called Jake almost crying and so frustrated and scared. I went to the second ATM and it did the same thing. I started tearing up! Jake told me to try a different card, so I reached in my wallet and realized I HAD BEEN TRYING TO WITHDRAW USING MY FREAKING CREDIT CARD!!!! UGHHHHH

I am an idiot.

We use our cards for everything for the sky miles so I guess I got in the habit but I mean, REALLY!! The worst haha. I'm glad no one was there to see me in my panic though.

ANYWAY! Boston was really fun! I would definitely go back!

XOXO

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E

Photo An Hour: Week 3

6:00 - Having hot chocolate on the balcony is one of my favorite things! It's getting colder and colder and pretty soon I'll be able to be out there with a sweater drinking cocoa and I'M SO EXCITED.

7:00 - Taking Jake to work! Sometimes I drive him so I can have the car and not go crazy being stuck at home.

8:00 - Look how cute Jake's work building is!

9:00 - I started Breaking Bad last week! As I'm writing this, I am on season 4 lol. #whippinthrough

10:00 - I love and miss my colorful keys! They were getting a little ratty so I took them off.

11:00 - Jake bought me some mambas as a treat when he went grocery shopping the other day. I mad this butterfly because I have no friends except origami probably.

12:00 - I have been trying so hard to grow my nails out and they are looking A+. I found this organic gel polish call Bio Seed? But it's made of seaweed or something. I want to try it so my nails will stay really strong and not chip!

1:00 - OK SO: The Pumpkin O's from Trader Joes are SO GOOD.

3:00 - Realizing I skipped 2:00.

4:00 - How cute is my lil photo wall? I actually changed it again yesterday, but I did like the little simplicity of this one.

5:00 - I finally got ready for the day! 

6:00 - We hopped on a train to New York City. I loveeeee the train. It's so calming and comfortable and just all around wonderful.

7:00 - Grand Central station! If you get off here in the morning on a weekday, it's like walking in a sea of suits lol.

8:00 - We ate dinner at Cask Bar & Grill! It was SO LOUD. Maybe it's just us, but like all the restaurants we ever went to in New York were so loud. It drove me nuts. If you know of a way to find regular noise level restaurants in New York please let me know. #dying

So I got the mushroom pasta and it was really good! My favorite thing from the whole night was the cauliflower appetizer though. It had like a sweet and spicy sauce? I don't know, but it was my first time having cauliflower and I loved it. If you guys have any cauliflower recipes plz send them my way!

I didn't take any pictures the rest of the night, but over all I think I did pretty good this day! It's so hard to do photo an hour when I am just home working 8 hours a day haha. That's the true creative challenge!

XOXO

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A Happy List: 136 + Anxiety Confessions

Do you guys like my Jorden Keith-esque editing? I am convinced that all photographers have constant editing crisises BUT THAT'S ALL IN THE FUN RIGHT. (Said sarcastically.) Anyway, I have come to a partial peace that I always love moody editing when other people do it, but I'm not the biggest fan when I myself do it. Whatever. We're moving on.

Having our first LDS conference weekend in our own home! Here's the thing about living in the same state as all your friends and family: Basically all of our holidays were spent at someone else home because someone was always hosting something! I am a total home body and my biggest stress was figuring out how to balance being polite and going to people's stuff, but also paying attention to my own needs/wants. Anyway, it gave me the worst worst worst anxiety because there was always so much going on and I always felt like everyone was looking at me to make a decision. And I never made the right one, really. Because I was either turning someone down to do what I wanted, or I was accepting someone's offer and not doing what I wanted. UGH THE STRESS. Totally gives me anxiety even talking about it for real. Anyway, this weekend was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. because there was zero stress with all of that. We got to be in our own home, guilt free! And I got to make like three new recipes. yay!

Jake brought me home this chocolate that looked like a mountain from Ukraine and it was v delish.

The feeling of knowing our kitchen is fully stocked for delicious meals all week long.

When the golden retriever we were babysitting would lay her head on my chest.

Jake gave me another full body amazing massage. Salon quality, yo.

I made the BEST pumpkin curry. I am obsessed with it.

I got another job editing photos for a photographer. 

Officially moving past pre-training in BBG.

The way Jesse talks in Breaking Bad.

My mom's Snapchats of Trixie.

XOXO

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