girl scout cookies?

um, yes please!

super easy to make and super yummy!

my only modification to the recipe: reduce the bake time. cookies are definitely better when extra soft!

recipe here.

wedding love.

my all-time favorite bridal boutique, Avenia Bridal, has posted the sweetest lil' post about our wedding story!

wanna see??

http://www.aveniabridal.com/blog/2011/03/29/portraits-of-real-brides-leah/

it's making me want to get married all over again!
(with the same handsome groom, of course)

me & the talented Nancy Barrus at one of my fittings! love her cute little dog in the background? me too :)

enjoy!

xoxo

a bunny update.

we had our couple friends, Carrie & Jason, over to play with the bunny.

Apple loved it (I'm especially sure he was loving that last picture)

now we just definitely need to move him out of the laundry basket...

Apple can jump!

best of both worlds.

this summer, I had the best of both worlds:

DESIGNER & bride!

I loved being able to design with myself as the client, and for a wedding, nonetheless!

It went so far that for my last of four bridal showers (hopefully some pictures to come soon!), I designed my own bridal shower invitations.

and I totally loved it! 

Big thanks to my best friend Courtney for throwing me such a fun bridal shower, and letting me be a control-freak and design for my own shower :)

we designed it postcard-style, which made the mailing & printing process so much easier.

the back! 

cutesy-cute.

goals are a big deal over here at the mag. we made them at our first staff meeting, refer to them and overall, love them.
last year, our little goal sheets were simply adorable, made by jessica.
lots to live up to!

this year, I busted out my extra-cutesy fonts and color palettes
(nevermind that it happens to be part of my wedding scheme..shhh)
and ta-da! a cutesy-cute goal reminder-thing.

 

ps. I have, in my possession, the bridal shower invites I made for my own AZ bridal shower! I'll blog about all that cuteness super soon. so excited!

a baby!

introducing...

a baby bunny! baby Apple, to be exact.

he is tiny and fast, adventurous and daring (he has jumped out of his cage every.single.time.)

and we love him.

welcome to the fam, baby A!

our first family pic! haha

took some glamour shots. bahaha

so little!

look how cute! I absolutely love how he will stand up on his hind legs and peer around.

back to the recipes.

did you think I forgot about my recipe challenge?

think again!

I made Classic Chicken Parmigiana and it was delicious. yumm.

Find your recipe here.

such a filling meal! And not too tricky at all (right up my alley!)

mmm...now I'm hungry again.

a birthday party to remember.

it was a Buzz Lightyear party at the Wasson's.

it was awesome and so fun.

and of course, a pinata.

sarah & erik made some epic bacon baked beans for the bbq. yuuum.

my best friend & I made some Toy Story cupcakes!

the birthday boy, upon waking up from his nap. look at that hair! and that precious nap smile :)

a party wouldn't be complete without a pinata! Buzz Lightyear, of course.

a party!

and our cupcakes! taa-daa!

one of his presents, a squirt gun, which he loved.

my dad. so cute!

pinata time! love the galoshes? meeee too.

love my brother :) 

happy birthday, baby ryan! thanks for letting me stress out over alien cupcakes and aluminum stars :)

ryry.

my littlest brother has turned three! and this weekend, I was there for the big bash.

things I'm loving about this cute, cute little boy:

he is a total boy. he loves hitting balls, riding on his scooter and playing with action figures.

he loves to vacuum. I could not get enough of this early morning outfit — pj top, "big boy" underwear and of course, sandals.

he woke me up every morning saying "Dragons movie!" and we proceeded to watch How To Train Your Dragon (sometimes twice).

I'm the luckiest big sista ever.

being a mommy.

no, not a REAL mom!

but I think I just might be ready to be a bunny momma.

actually, I keep going back & forth. so let's make a

bunny-momma pro/con list

pro:

-an adorable, fluffy, mini (yes, a mini version) lil bunny!

- a lil' friend to play with

- he can hang out in our garden this summer while we're gardening (sounds so cute, huh?!)

- bunnies can be litter trained and require minimal care

- bunnies loooove attention & being played with

- it's a fun animal without being too high-maintence like a dog

(or a baby)

con:

- I really hate the way animals smell...can I handle that? hm.

- it's a big responsibility for such a small little guy!

- what if I can't litter train? I've never had my own animal!

this is mostly a ridiculous post. 

but I'll welcome your thoughts/help/advice?!

here's the truth.

I think I can safely say this weekend has been the best married weekend thus far.

(as far as hangin-out-at-the-house goes)

good thing, because I just read my dear co-workers blog about married weekends, and I related all too well.
Let's just say this: the title of her blog is "The Truth Is Lame." 

But luckily, here is my truth for the weekend 

(and it might not be as lame as previous weekends!)

Friday, we bought tennis rackets and tennis balls 

(now we're totally tennis players.)

we went out for our belated Valentine's Day dinner

(yum!)

we bought our favorite candies for a Friday Night Treat

(did you ever do that as a kid?? we totally did, and we totally love our treats)

Saturday, we played tennis! 

(toldja we're tennis pros!)

had a yummy lunch at Subway

(it's pretty healthy, had to go along with our active morning!)

took a 2-hour afternoon nap and then spent a few hours at Borders Bookstore, reading and drooling over books we wanted to buy.

(look! it's our magazine in the middle! I had a moment of excitement)

Sunday, went to church, which was great of course!

took another 2-hour nap

(hooray!)

kyle & I worked on our "design off" project for Blickenstaffs

(maybe more to come on that later...)

talked about adopting a bunny, which we will be all white and we will name Apple

had a yummy, yummy dinner

(if I do say so myself!)

of Cheesy Bacon Chicken Avocado Quesadillas

and the grand finale?

we watched Jaws

(my first showing!)

and that's the whole truth.

reason #2343242 why I love my job.

I love taking photos.
I love food.
I especially love fine dining food.
I especially love it if the fine dining restaurant is Provo's award-winning Chef's Table.

and most of all, I love being able to take food photos at Chef's Table.
Here they are in the latest issue of Utah Valley Magazine
(ps. I think it's our best issue yet, no?)









see this little beauty? yes, I even got a take-home box with this deliciousness. mmm.

true dat.

happy friday, loves!

from computers to snail mail.

so much skype loving.

tonight I chatted with the fam via skype, and it was great.

it was my littlest brother's 3rd birthday!

that's right folks, I'm young enough to have a 3 year-old baby bro. haha

also. I came home to this surprise on my coffee table:

let's take a closer look.

quite possibly the best letter I've ever gotten, from my 8-year-old sister.

did you read that "p.s."? it says "are you having a baby! Let me know!"

and to the left, "All the hearts is how much I love you!"

I'm pretty much in love with this letter. everything about it.

and from momma, BR $$! such a mom thing, to randomly send us an envelope with kid love and ice cream money. yay!

I can't decide which one I liked better, modern-tech Skype or good old fashioned snail mail!

Don't make me choose.