Christmas in the Mini Apple

I can't believe how fast this Christmas Season is going by!! I wish I could freeze time and savor it all. Ryan and I had such a great time on Saturday. I finally had a Saturday off, so we went to Downtown Minneapolis. We found ourselves at Macys (its one of those cool old Macys that's 12 stories tall) and saw the Santaland Display on the 8th floor. Its been a Minneapolis holiday tradition since the '60's and this year it was "A Day in the Life of an Elf" it was really cool and at the end of it, we got to sit on Santas Lap!! After Macys we watched the Annual Holidazzle Parade, and then went to dinner at Hells Kitchen. What a great day in the City with my Husband!! I loved it. Merry Christmas!

So it's not quite Rockefeller Center....

I LOVE T & Co.

Who doesn't love the little blue box? Especially at Christmas time, with the exclusive RED ribbon? My story is not about a recent gift ... its about why we should all have a little more love for Tiffany.

My story begins 4 years ago, when my parents gave me a birthday present. They gave me the Tiffany Elsa Peretti "K" key chain. I love the gift and every time I saw it on my keys I thought of how sweet my parents are to give me such a gift. Recently, after moving to Minnesota, I realized that the "K" on my key chain had disappeared!! I was devastated as I knew I would not be able to afford to replace it. I decided I would go into T&Co here in Minnesota and see if anything could be done. There's no hurt in asking, right? So, I walked into T&Co, go straight to Customer Service and plead my case. Their response? "You know, that key chain is discontinued, we don't have one here in our store, but let me find one for you and we'll send you a new one". Wow!! I knew I loved Tiffany! Where else do you find such excellent customer service?!

Oh Tiffany, I knew I loved you for a reason. You are just so classy.

Thanksgiving in Utah

It started with a 4am wake up call. By 5:30am we were parking the car and by 6:00am we were walking through Security at the MSP Airport. Luckily they lost our seat reservation, so we got booked to the back of the plane ... perfect, right? At least there was one seat next to me that wasn't taken, so I got to take a little nap on the way over.

We went straight to Grandma and Grandpa Pixton's house for Thanksgiving Day. It was so much fun to spend the day with Ryan's family, I loved it. Great food + Great company = a great time.

In an effort not to bore anyone with the complete details of the weekend, I'll just post some pictures. All in all we had a fantastic time. We got to see friends and family and spend some time back in the familiar community of Provo, Utah. Its weird that I only lived in Provo for 2 years, but when I go back, it feels so comfortable and familiar, its always great to go back (never thought I would say that!).

Turkey Day








Our Lil Dessert Party
Ryan's Mom, Jeralyn, spent the day with me in the kitchen baking up a storm for our Party. Trifle, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Bread, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cake Bites and Buckeyes---YUM!! Thanks Jeralyn!

My Parents surprised me and drove into town. They crashed our party with the Jacksons.











GAME DAY
Kelsie and Malcolm have been my besties since we were in diapers --- pretty classic, right? The big game day is in reference to the BYU vs. Utah game. Quite the rivalry. OT made it a nail-biter, luckily we pulled it out. Good Job Cougs.

We met Kelsie, Cameron and Malcolm for lunch.






We got to hang out with the Boys.


Ashley rocking out with the Band






Storming the Field.






Happy Birthday Ashley!!!

Sneak Peek!!
under the sheet hehe ok ... into our bedroom

So this may be the only peak you guys get into the newlywed bedroom ;)

We just got our bedroom set and I have not been this excited since our wedding/honeymoon!! I love the new furniture smell, and walking into our room and seeing this beautiful new set that we now own... its been pretty amazing to say the least. So, I thought I'd share in my, um our joy and show some pictures of our beautiful set. Also, let me know what you think of our bedding?? After much thought I went with Charcoal and lavender ... I mean, come on, do you see that green I am working with?? AND no judgments with my lopsided pillows ... I didn't notice that when I took the pictures. Sigh.

Our Home

I know I have been promising photos for a while, and I put these together last week, but then I looked at them again and realized how dark these photos were :( Also, I took some time to include little Call-Outs to tell you little stories about things in our house...make sure you click on the photo so a bigger one will come up in a new window. Hopefully you get the picture. I'll be posting pictures of our new bedroom set in our room soon!

It's like an Early Christmas Eve!!

Tomorrow we are going to be the proud owners of this beautiful bedroom set (Well, technically we bought it 4 weeks ago, but they are bringing it tomorrow)!! I am so so so excited. There is a company that is coming to set it up and everything for us. I can't wait to have a dresser to put my clothes in, and have our room feel more homey and beautiful with this new collection!! YAYYY

I used to Babysit this Kid.
Meet Issac Russell

My best friend Malcolm Jackson is the backup vocals and keyboard. So proud of these guys!! Currently on tour with Pete Yorn and then John Mayer in March!! Sign up for his email list HERE and get a free download of his new single House of Cards.

LION'S TAP


One of the things Ryan learned about me real quick when we first started dating is that I am a fan of little restaurant dives. He knew he would impress me more with a local hamburger stand in PG than a P.F. Changs, or the like. So, when Ryan took me on a date to The Lion's Tap on Friday night, I was loving it! They even serve 1919 Root Beer on tap. The menu is short (think In N Out) and the food is great, and the atmosphere is even better. Next time one of y'all come to visit, you can bet we'll take you there!

Leaf Update

Just when you thought I couldn't say anything else about leaves...

One of the great things about where we live is free leaf pick up day. It happens a few times in the fall, and all other days you just have to bag your leaves and pay $2/bag to get rid of them. Since we would end up with at least 50 bags, this would be expensive, so naturally we waited until leaf pick up day for the City to take care of our leaves.

Leaf pick up day was Thursday this week. We found out on Wednesday that they will only pick up leaves on the front street that borders our house; not the other side. So, what did we have to do? At 9:30 last night when Ryan got home from work, we raked leaves all the way over to the front side of our house. Resulting in a huge leaf pile. It was at least 30 feet wide and 3 1/2 feet tall all the way across. Crazy.

LEAVES!!

Lot Size = .23 acres
+ Trees (Large) = 5
+ Trees (Small) = 3
_______________________

= ONE HUNDRED MILLION LEAVES!

On Saturday, Ryan and I decided it was time to attack the leaves piling up in our yard. In some spots, the leaves were 6 inches thick, just layer after layer after layer of leaves on our grass. I have honestly never seen so many leave before in my life. It was overwhelming, but luckily together Ryan and I pulled it off. We're a great leaf team! :) So, 7 hours later, we finally got our grass cleared of all the leaves and Ryan even borrowed Ernie's Lawn Mower (our neighbor next door) to mow the lawn. Our yard never looked so good! (Well, at least since we've been the owners-- I need to develop a green thumb). See pictures below:

Side Yard:






Those piles may not look tall in this picture ... but they're up to my knees!




Ryan hard at work.



Front Yard:

Fall

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night's decay
Ushers in a drearier day.
- Emily Jane Bronte