home for christmas ::: 2014

christmas is extra special when you get

to come home to celebrate. it makes it

feel like even more of a special occasion,

and we look so forward to it! this year

was a little different with my parents 

being in south africa, but we loved our

time with my siblings + chase's family

and all of our good friends...and, i get

to visit my parents in a few weeks, so

christmas will just extend until then! :)

we're tired after going from event to event

and seeing so many people, but we loved

every second. the best part is, we even

got a magical white christmas! nothing

better. it's so true what they say :: 

there really is no place like home.

^^ after a crazy rainy day in san francisco and some 

canceled flights, we made it to salt lake city at 1 AM. 

even though it was late we stayed up and talked to 

chase's mom for hours that first night. we had to!

^^ the drive up to my parents house will

never get old to me. i mean, look at it!

my christmas eve salad ^^

dunn christmas sledding tradition in neff's canyon ^^

market street brunch on christmas eve 

with chase's cute parents. yum! ^^

^^ i missed my mom's eggs benedict + homemade 

sweet rolls, but i loved getting it at market street.

the temple square lights will never get old ^^

sugar cookie goodness + the perfect 

gift from the sweetest friend ^^

loved spending time with my cute gram. 

just look at her christmas tree pin! ^^

^^ a fun night the christmas village with chase's

family riding the festive {but freezing} train around.

thank goodness for fire pits all along the 

path for us freezing californians ^^

rigby fam ^^

^^ we had our tempest-dunn annual dinner which 

felt like the closest thing to being with my mom

since ann is her twin / best friend and she made us

chicken madeira! // also: look at those tree napkins!

^^ we had to make it to penny ann's cafe 

for their famous fluffy pancakes one morning.

christmas gifts to remember -- i'm most excited to take

chase to see newsies when it comes to SF soon! it's his 

favorite and i saw it in NYC without him, so i had to

surprise him with tickets. it will be so fun. 

^^ chase tracked down my favorite candy we found
in canada this fall and had it imported as a surprise
for one of my gifts...haha love his creativity, and now
i have a few pounds of this to eat so help me!
// also fittingly, my aunt gave me jim gaffigan's new
book that i can't wait to read because he's hilarious.

on christmas eve chase's cute mom set up a service

project at primary children's hospital where we

crafted little santa paper plates for kiddos that

had to spend the holidays in the hospital.  ^^

it was a different christmas eve, but really so sweet.

it's one i will remember and it made us so grateful. ^^

^^ i fell in love with my dream house in salt lake city, 

and chase knocked on the door to meet the owners

since it's not for sell...maybe it will be in a few years

if we end up moving back :) // also, we bought this

couch here to store! it was a great christmas gift :)

^^ real temple // gingerbread temple

neff's sledding followed by our FAVORITE 

lunch at citris grill {new location!!} ^^

chase's cute mom collects nativity sets, so we hunted

one down in india {painted on a leaf}. she is the cutest! ^^

dunn fam, minus my parents! 

we facetimed lots this week ^^

pretty hike before the snowfall on christmas...

now this same view is blanketed in white! ^^

love these people ^^

and these people! we did a fun dinner at sawadee,

went to the movies to see unbroken, (amazing)

and ended with shakes at hires. fun fun!

a last breakfast at brady & mindy's cute house ^^

and...we about died over this license plate.

maybe this is a sign for us to come back one day? :)

^^ one last play in the snow before heading to

the airport and being stuck on the tarmac in

that snow for a few hours on the way back to SF 

speaking of SF- my favorite gift 

from chase this year ^^

and, a blurry picture to end with.

salt lake, you gave us quite the christmas break.

we may be away next year, so we really soaked

it up this year. we don't know when we'll be back

next, but we love you home sweet home!

xo

see our fun time spent with friends here!

january and i get along better in california

dear january,
you've been so lovely.
you and i get along much better in california..
help me remember that!

between kicking you off by skiing at alta to ring in 2014,
to our lovely trip to sonoma + napa and staying in our favorite place ever...
to making brunch at home...to focusing on new year's resolutions...to
taking a thai cooking class together and announcing my parent's big move...
to exploring gorgeous lands end and hiking down to sutro baths, and
falling more in love with the town of tiburon..to finally visiting the
SF de Young museum and then welcoming the strongs to town for a visit
and biking the city on a tandem with them.. to focusing on healthy eating,
to finding a new brunch spot..to juicing at the ferry building and 
ice skating in union square...to finally hiking mount tamalpais, 
and a girls trip in las vegas...it's been a golden month! 
if this is how the rest of 2014 is, i like it a lot.

here are some tidbits that didn't quite make it 

in those posts but that we loved

in january..

^^ gorgeous peony blooms in january..i walked past this

flower cart in union square and had to snap a picture.

^^ one of the highlights of my month was getting this

first "weekly email" and one every week since.

one word: lucky. two words : love him.

^^ monday nights call for peonies + pie.

...right?

^^ pretty thank you cards for christmas lovelies

pool playing + tennis date night with our bffs

^^ hiking in gorgeous los gatos

so nice exercising outdoors all winter here!

^^ thai takeout at our apartment = happiness

night out in SF at the opera house ^^

^^ chase casually getting interviewed for

his thoughts on the shen yun opera show..haha 

clearly he was loving the limelight!!

^^ our cute new friends//twins

who went to see the shen yun show 

with us...quite the experience!

^^ this chinese TV station loved the boys!

^^ a shot i took while running on the

most gorgeous day..i thought it would

turn out blurry, then looked at it later

and...wow. it captured the gorgeousness.

orange trees everywhere. need i say more?

tennis at google..so glad i married a boy

who will play my favorite sport with me!

is it sad or fun that we have meals

on our coffee table in our tiny apartment?

^^ caught my husband jumping on the bed

when we arrived late at night to a hotel 

while road tripping earlier this month...

shh! don't tell!

^^i have an irrational need to send chase my outfit

if we don't see each other in the morning because

of one of us leaving too early...so he gets weird

pictures like this yet still loves me.

thai cooking class in SF. AKA the best night.

strange how our apartment magically cleans

itself moments before visitors arrive to town... :)

pb lovers-- beware...i discovered peanut butter & co.

and my life is changed...dark chocolate pb? pb with

honey mixed in? life doesn't get better.

sometimes necessary. ^

^^ final semester! please end!

^^ yayyy packages! yay bffs!

breaking news, we have reached the

half-ponytail stage! {he's wanting a

ponytail for our europe trip in feb. so

he can blend in with the locals hehe}

thank you katie for setting up my

pump when i am late! trying to

go to body pump more often so i can

beat chase in an arm wrestle one day..

what kind of dad randomly

ships his daughter new running

shoes? the best kind of dad. that's who.

and lastly, found this little treasure...

my passport from when i was 9! 

the beginning of my love for travel.

what are some of your january highlights?

xo