Shopping in UT

Utah has been known for it's serious lack of fashion and good retail stores in the past. I would think that until recently this was very true. In the past, I would always have to save up for trips to CA to go to my favorite stores and even then it was limited to whatever was in stock that one random weekend. Thankfully this is all changing.

Here are some upcoming events to keep your eye out for: (thanks to Your Heart Out for keeping track!)

American Apparel - They are opening a store in Trolley Square closer to the holiday season. I am so excited for their classic tee's and sweaters.

Mode boutique in Provo - It's already open and running, but if you haven't had a chance to stop by, it's supposed to be great! 45 N. University Avenue

Kaleidoscope - Also, already open and running, but for those who see this post in time, they are having a party tonight with discounts and door prizes. Riverwoods.

Urban outfitters - They haven't opened yet, but I know they are gearing up for it, because they said it was supposed to be early autumn. They will be at the Gateway where the old Virgin Records store was.

Steve and Barry's - Sarah Jessica Parker's new (and cheap/chic) line will be available whenever they open their Murray doors sometime closer to the holiday season. I have seen quite a few pieces of her new collection featured in Blueprint and Real Simple. (And it's all in the ~20-40 range!!) Amanda Bynes and one of the Williams sisters (tennis) will have their lines featured as well.

Also, as an FYI - Forever 21 is now open at the University Mall, and it's huge, and it has it's own door to the outside. That's pretty cool for the University Mall.

Now all we need is an H&M!

Hip Hoppin' Holt House Party

Friday afternoon, a bunch of my friends joined Bart and I for a fun weekend up in Huntsville. It was pretty crazy Friday night because there were about 18 of us packed into the house. It was so much fun though to have everyone up together hanging out! There were lots of tours around the place, a late-night movie in the theater/downstairs family room, and lots of sitting around chatting with Allie Berding who just flew in that night to visit.

On Saturday morning, as everyone started waking up, we followed Jordan and Brig out kayaking on what's left of the reservoir. For breakfast we had my Grandma Holt's famous pancakes and then lazed around for a few hours. It was kind of a bleak day, way overcast and raining off and on so there wasn't a whole lot we could do outside. Some went out and played soccer on the fields in front, and later we shot the potato gun at the boys to see how good our aim was.


The highlight of my day was taking them all to the Shootin' Star, the oldest working saloon in Utah. They have the best hamburgers ever and the atmosphere is definitely that of a smoky old town saloon. It's such a funny place and everyone loved it.


(Forgive Bart's dirty shirt and face, he was riding his dirt bike right before lunch on his homemade track!)

After everyone left later in the day, Bart, Rachel, and I decided to play sardines with Price, my mom, and my dad. It was hilarious!! The basement was off limits to help shorten the search time, but holy cow, it still took forever to find my mom hiding in the coat closet. In the second round, my dad hid and he totally cheated. He waited for us all to leave the room we were starting in, before he went back into that room to hide. Of course we didn't check in there until we had pretty much given up, because he wasn't supposed to move after we had started looking! What a cheater.

We had an absolute blast the whole time and we really appreciated everyone coming up to hang out with us and visit the house.

Big FAT Cookies

Yesterday, my friend and neighbor Ashley came upstairs and made cookies with me. She had this cookie recipe book called the Big Fat Cookie book. We both that it could have done a much better job coming up with a title that didn't emphasize the fact that these things are fat. I guess it was a good way to guilt us into eating only one cookie afterwards. But they were good, that is for sure! Lot's of chocolate, and as Paula Dean says, "Lot's of butter!"

Back in the saddle!

On Wednesday, Bart and I went horseback riding! I haven't had the chance to ride in more than half a decade, so I was so excited. A man Bart works with lives down in Payson and has 4 horses that he wanted us ride… in exchange for Bart setting up his wireless internet of course. He is the nicest man for letting us ride them! I was sooo happy to finally get back on. I absolutely love horses.

All I wanted to do was go fast! But there were too many rocks in the fields, so I could only get up to a canter on the dirt path.

My horse's name was Dusty and Bart's was Copper (I think).

They were so awesome, I can't wait to go back!

Things to Note

1) Today is September 11th. Try to take a moment and remember those that were lost.

2) Tomorrow is Conception Day in Russia. Everyone gets a day to go home, and ya know, procreate. They want to increase their population. Apparently it's low enough to convince companies to give people the day off to go home for 'business time'. Don’t forget to 'celebrate' it! :)

3) Martha just started her new season. Oh, and every other show we're obsessed with is kicking off this week or next week too! Set your Tivo's/DVR's!

4) It's officially fall in my book. Hooray for jackets and jeans, hot chocolate and comfy couches, Thanksgiving and Christmas! (And my house, and my birthday!)

Lots of little white tees

This past week, Bart's dad has been in town so they have been riding their dirt bikes constantly!! Bart took Thursday and Friday off to ride and 'play' (which means spending hours in a garage taking their bikes apart and putting them completely back together again) with his dad up in Huntsville. I went up and stayed the weekend with them too after work. I had a lot of fun working on baby gifts and going through old boxes brought up from Alamo. It's amazing how much crap my sisters and I accumulated growing up; lots of stuffed animals and photo albums.

Saturday, our friends Bryan and Dawn came up and stayed with us, and the Holt fam, so that Bryan could go riding with Bart, his dad, and his brother Brad. They were out literally all day long, so Dawn and I hung out in the basement watching chick flicks. While watching the chick flicks, we multi-tasked. Dawn studied and I painted the golf tees on the golf-tee-mural. So far we're (my dad and me) still painting the white tees, but it's pretty cool to start seeing things come together. I know it doesn't sound like a blast to most people, but I had fun! (Dawn did too, I swear!)

A little R&R

What a weekend! I decided that I needed a break from the UT scene and took a trip to southern CA to visit my mom-in-law and friends.

I got there on Saturday and immediately went to the beach! It was abnormally hot and Salt Creek had no breeze, so I didn't end up laying out for more than a couple hours. I made my way over to see my friends Moranda and Clark. They were house sitting a neighbor's beach house in San Clemente and so we went down to the beach there and had an awesome time! (Not without eating a little Pedro's first!) The waves were really fun and we got to play for a few more hours before I was beat and headed home. Kim, Scott, Jake, and I went to CPK for dinner and then watched a previously mentioned favorite old movie, Charade. Something about grown men fist fighting in suits over a Givenchy-clad Hepburn is just perfect for me. I also realized there is a seriously funny 'adult' undertone I had never noticed before between Grant and Hepburn. It's amazing what goes over your head as a child.

Sunday, I went to church with Moranda's family and then Monday was back to the beach again. I definitely had the relaxing weekend I was looking for! We played in the waves again for hours and upon leaving we had two celebrity sightings! First was Ryan Sheckler, a pro-skateboarder, just hanging with his friends. Second, was Kelly Slater, the best all-around surfer in the world (7 or 8 titles, I can't remember), hanging out under a pink Roxy umbrella with some exotic looking chica. The ultimate bachelor.

Yesterday, after some fun shopping with Kim, I took a nap and finished up playing some Guitar Hero with Jake. We pretty much rock.

It was such a great weekend and Kim and Scott were so accommodating and generous. (I got to drive the beamer all weekend!) I love them and can't wait to go back already!