Say hello...

to the i-phone! As cool as it looks, I already hate this thing. My office is on the same block as the apple store and the line is wrapped around the block with smelly cranky people who have been camping out for days to get their hands on one of these puppies.

For some humor and sass re: this new gadget, visit one of my new favorite blogs, the fake Steve Jobs . Some anonymous guy writes this blog as journal entries of Steve Jobs, head of Apple. Pretty clever!

Coney Island Crowds

Note to self, when going to a popular summer attraction, check if there is a parade going on first. We headed out to Coney Island on Saturday with Kristi and Noah, only to discover that Coney Island as we know it had been overtaken by all sorts of crazy mermaids! I guess the mermaid parade is fairly notorious event @ Coney Island that celebrates, as Dan put it, "the free bohemian spirit of NY and Coney Island" though some locals also know as a gay/lesbian pride parade, while I wasn't quite sure what to think of it, it was funny since most people used it as an opportunity to wear scandalous outfits the probably shouldn't be seen in(excessive cellulite+spandex=yuck!). The heat, combined with the crowds, combined with the fact that none of the food nor attractions were accessible because the parade route basically cut everything off made it an eventful but exhausting day. Still we managed to get some good pictures and enjoy the atmosphere a little! I had to include this photo because it is sort of an inside joke with Missy and Aimee!
These two little kids were so cute!
You can see how crowded the beach is behind us!

Jill and I spied these rad light fixtures in Nolita and thought they were pretty stunning, I saw them a couple days later on the graham and greene website! my mind is racing with the possibilities, I think they would be amazing for a garden party or evening wedding, too bad they are so expensive

Far Far Away

Do you ever get homesick for places you've been in your life? Like the other day I was stepping out of the subway and smelled the yummy sweets baking at the nearby Hot & Crusty (NY bagel chain) and thought, "that smells like the air in Paris, and I miss Paris!" I have been to Paris twice but it is not like I have spent enough time there to really miss it, but I do!

There are a lot of places I find myself getting homesick for. Newport Beach tops the list right now. I have been there more times than I could probably count and I would probably say it is one of my favorite places in the world. I have so many great memories, riding bike or Rollerblading on the boardwalk, shopping at Fashion island, getting seaside donuts when they are fresh at midnight, getting frozen bananas on Balboa after riding the ferry, and if we are lucky, getting to see bio luminescent waves at night

(If you never seen it, it is amazing how the bacteria in the water makes the ocean glow, I got this pic off the internet, but doesn't it look like Rob Theurer?)

I also find myself getting homesick for another place I love, Florence. In college I spent a semester abroad in Firenze and I can't tell you how often I find myself wishing I was there. It is such a romantic and magical and historical place and strikingly beautiful. I was able to spend almost six months there, although you wouldn't know it by my Italian speaking skills, and it is one of my favorite places on this earth. Part of my time there was spent taking some amazing art history courses that took me all around the museums and monuments. I kept detailed notes thinking how one day I would bring my kids back there and tell them all about the amazing art and history of Firenze, well I don't know where those notes have ended up, and I certainly don't remember a lot of what I learned, but I still ache to go back there, hopefully sometime soon!

After we got married and I moved back to Utah while Dan and I finished school, I remember aching for New York! I missed it so much, the culture, the food, the museums, the shopping, I missed just the feeling you get being in New York and being part of New York, which is something you can only really experience living here, something that Dan has also come to appreciate in the six months since we moved back together.

This will sound so random, but I have also had moments where I am homesick for high school. Maybe it is just being at a point where we are accumulating so much responsibility and seriousness in our life, but I'll be honest, sometimes I do miss high school. I really loved my time at Highland and I feel like that was a time in my life where I was really making the best of myself, sure there were things about it that were hard, but I feel like in high school, lots of things made sense. I met so many amazing people through all the activities i was involved in and I really felt like I learned a lot about myself, being who I am.

Occasionally I find myself homesick for Utah, mostly for the mountains. I never really appreciated the Wasatch mountains, or the beauty of the Utah outdoors until I lived away, now I find my self in moments where I just feel like I need to be in the mountains, which is not really an option in the middle of the concrete jungle of NY City! I guess next time I am in Utah I'll have to go on a hike! Anyway, the point of this post is just to say, it is funny how places become part of you, your identity, and how you see the world, and if you have a time, leave a comment about a place that has been important to you.

what we've been up to lately

I am so bad at keeping up to date with pictures of what Dan and I are doing, so I thought I would get it all out of the way with one post. We have had two kids of weather in NYC lately, humid heat, and humid rain. Either way it is sticky and hot, but we are doing our best to enjoy the summer. Lately we have been taking a lot of walks along the east river esplanade and up to Carl Schurz park. There are beautiful views of lower Manhattan and it is fun to just walk a long the river.
We've been taking lots of pictures too of anything and everything. I am trying to train my self to keep my camera in my bag everywhere I go, just in case I find something that is worthy of taking a picture of!
We got new shelves for our bedroom that look really cute, Two of these are hanging side by side!
We lucked out by getting the good seats to one of the Yankees/Red sox games. My work has a bunch of season tickets and they are amazing seats we get access to often. This was such a treat, and Dan wanted to make sure I let everyone know that we were sitting right behind home plate and Bob Kostas and Billy Crystal were a couple rows ahead of us.
Our picture to commemorate our presence at the Yankees/Red sox game.
This is central park on an especially crowded day. It always seems like half of New York is in the park on a sunny day. The other night when we were walking home from the west side, we walked through the park at 10 p.m. It was so beautiful because it was virtually empty and really quiet. It felt like a really special New York moment. The best part was when a micro burst appeared out of no where and we were drenched by the time we got home, I felt like we were in a movie!
Picnicking in the park!
Since we don't have any cute little baby, or nieces and nephews to take pictures of, we have been taking entirely too many pictures of each other lately. This one of Dan looking so stoic is at Wrightsville beach in North Carolina!
I loved this brick wall in Wilmington, it was so cool to photograph because of all the textures and colors. Wilmington is a darling little coastal North Carolina town, where they used to film Dawson's Creek. I recognized some of the areas from the show. So weird! I love this pic of our feet in the sand! This picture is so Dan! I am definitely going to frame this one!
Our attempt at a Jonathan Canlas-esque photo!
this little market was so cool and I thought the colors in the photo were such a neat combo!
The two of us at my cousins Katrina's wedding.

In addition to all this, we have been looking for a new apartment, studying for the series 7 (Dan), Cooking some yummy dinners (I will post a recipe soon for the petite filet with apricot chutney I made for fathers day, so good!), Enjoying the city, sitting in front of the air conditioner, making trips downtown for Cafe Habana and The Shake Shack, going to the gym (I finally broke down and decided to spend the small fortune it costs to get a gym membership in the city, but I am loving it!) , Blogging, Hanging out with friends, avoiding the hot subways and walking to work, cleaning out closets (I have sold a ton of stuff on e-bay) . So far the summer is shaping up to be a good one, and hopefully it will include some trips to the beach and some visitors.

Same great style, just a little bit smaller

I am in love with the crewcuts collection at J. Crew. I seriously wish I had a cute little toddler to dress up in some of their adorable outfits. I'll admit it is a little pricey for kids, but the sale stuff is not so bad, and I especially love some of their special occasion outfits and their looks for summer camp are pretty adorable as well! Too Cute!

Something New

At this point I am sure most of you are familiar, will wall words. It is a cool concept but I have seen many people go way overborad with it. I was excited when I read about this company, wonderful graffiti who pared down the concept a little bit to a simple monogram. I love these! I think one of these would be great over a mantle, headboard, or even at an entrance of a home or over a crib in a baby's room. the best part is they have an array of colors to choose from so you can cater the monogram to match your decor. They advertise these to use as wedding decor which could be really cool to. I would love to get one of these at some point!

Happy Birthday Kathryn

I do not even know where to start when talking about Kathryn. As Dan's oldest sister, she is always looking out for and taking care of his whole family. She is without a doubt one of the most considerate and thoughtful people I have ever met, and she has more close friends than anyone I know.I will never forget how she would call me to hang out when Dan and I were dating. I don't think she realizes how much she helped make me feel welcome in the Creer family. She is one of our best supporters and was the first one to come visit Dan and I when we moved to New York. I feel so blessed to have her in my life because she is like the big sister I always hoped for, and I know how much Dan looks up to her and loves her. Anyone who knows her feels lucky to be part of her life because they can instantly feel her love and loyalty. Happiest Birthday wishes Kath! We love you so much and wish we could be there to celebrate this special day with you! Yesterday was her actual Birthday but I didn't get around to doing a post so hopefully this is better late than never!

My cousin Katrina got married last weekend in North Carolina. She was probably the most calm and peaceful bride I have ever seen! I love this picture of her and her dad. Her husband Matt is the sweetest and we are excited to have him as part of our family!

A pleasant surprise!

Last night I headed down to Herald Square to check out a few sample sales. While in the area I though I would stop by what is usually one of my least favorite stores, Macy's. I'll admit, I do go there once in a while to check things out, but I almost always leave empty handed and overwhelmed because of the crowds, and the size of the store. Well last night at 7:30 it was actually pretty empty which gave me time to really explore without being forced out by the chaos. The reason I had headed there in the first place was because of the dress commercials I had seen on t.v. I had been skeptical of what I would find, but my friend Emilee assured me she could have walked out of there with 10 dresses. So, I thought I would give it a chance. I was amazed. They have practically devoted an entire floor of the mammoth department store to some of the cutest summer dresses I have ever seen! Although most of them were sleeveless and strapless, which don't really work for me, they were all adorable and I ended up trying on about 8 of my favorites. I checked online for some pictures of the cute ones, but they weren't there, so I'll guess you will have to go to a store to see for yourself. There was one I particularly fell in love with but they didn't have my size. Too bad, even so, it is definitely worth checking out their selection.

SO, this is a little weird

First of all I have to say that I would consider myself an open minded person, and my personal belief is that everyone needs to make their own choices in life that are best for them, and stand up for those choices. SO, on that note I feel really hypocritical writing this post. However, ever since I saw a t.v. special on this family about a year ago, I have wondered, WHY?

Meet Jim Bob(who really has this name) and Michelle Duggar, and their 17 kids (one is on the way) whose names all begin with the letter J. Seriously, Joshua, Jana, John-David, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, Joseph, Josiah, Joy-Anna, Jedediah, Jeremiah, Jason, James, Justin, Jackson and little Jennifer Danielle along the way. Now I ask you again, WHY? An article in the most recent issue of people magazine said they spend about $2,000 a month on groceries alone. Can you imagine the cost of feeding, housing, clothing, and educating that many children?

Now I must say, I love kids, and like the Duggars, I think children are the greatest blessing there is, but I DO NOT think it is healthy for their social,emotional and personal development to try to raise 17 children at one time, don't even get me started on the mom basically being pregnant for the last 20 years. the kicker is they waited four years to have kids, so they could have had 21 kids by now! They say in interviews that they plan to have more. I can not imagine how exhausted that mom must be, and as a side note, Jim Bob served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003 and was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2002.

This image totally reminds me of Dan's Parents! I think his dad even has a red swimsuit that he wears sometimes, and I can just imagine little Dan playing a trick on his napping Daddy! Check more of these out at this blog which I was tipped on to by martawrites, another design blog I love to read.

Elder Creer

We were in North Carolina this past weekend for my cousin Katrina's wedding. It was fun to see some of my cousins who live all around the country and check out the great state of North Carolina. I have more pics of our trip to post later, but I had to share these pics (mostly so our family could see) of what was maybe one of the funnest parts of our trip. Dan's younger brother James has been serving his mission in Raleigh North Carolina and since we were in the area, we thought we would drop in and surprise him, it took some thoughtful planning but we managed to pull it off. We showed up at his ward on Sunday for Sacrament meeting, and as you can imagine he was shocked and little surprised to see us there. We lucked out because as it turns out, he was speaking in church that Sunday and we got to hear his great talk. We could not believe how much he has grown up in the last 2 years! He is about 3 inches taller than Dan and so mature! It will be fun to have him back with the family when he comes home in August. It was great to see him in the missionary role out in the field. We wished could have spent some solo time with him, but as all you former missionaries know, you are pretty much attached at the hip to your companion. We went to breakfast the next morning with James and his companion, and their other roommates. We can't wait for him to come home in a couple of months and come visit us in NY!

Home sweet home

Our visit in Utah over memorial day was filled with lots of fun, but the highlight was probably seeing all the nieces and nephews. They are all at ages where they are changing so much and it was fun to see how much they have grown in the last 6 months since we have seen them. Dan and I can never resist taking lots of pictures of them, and they love it too, here are just a few from our visit.
Jonas devouring homemade strawberry icecream! Yummy!

Harrison, Weston, Isaac and Sam goofing around

Me holding darling little Amanda Jane who is a true princess!

Samuel who gets cuter and cuter every time I see him!

Amanda Jane peacefully sleeping. I would kill to have her eyelashes, they are amazing

Dan and I in his dad's notorious Ford Falcon. We love to take this to drive in movies and for shakes at Hires!

Dan and David swimming in the pool! David is one of the happiest babies I have ever seen!

Dan and I with Harrison, Weston and Sam.

Some of the highlights of the visit included:
Jonas saying our names
Cafe Rio
Golfing for Dan at Glenwild and Old Mill
Seeing Friends
Watching the Jazz/spurs playoff games
Going out to eat with my mom and dad
Meeting little Amanda Jane
Hanging out with Missy and Caitlin Barker
Sunday dinner in the back yard at Dan's parents
Cruising in the falcon
Hires
Shopping at the gateway
Driving to Park City with Kathryn
Eating at The Dodo! yummy Tollhouse pie
Playing tag with the boys in the pool (which basically ended with them almost pulling my swimsuit off! oops!)
Getting bumped from our flight and getting $1200 in delta vouchers
Shop n Go
Seeing Laura's demolition which is soon to be her new kitchen!
Driving down the familiar streets and feeling home!

Another one bites the dust...

I have dubbed this year the year of weddings since there seems to be one after another. I haven't loaded my pictures from NC yet so I'll update on that soon, but for now I wanted to share some of the most exciting news in my week, one of my best friends from high school and in life is getting married next month. Congratulations Erika and Kurt! Due to trying to coordinate family schedules, Erika has about 7 weeks to plan her wedding and being the organization queen that she is, I am sure she will get it all done.

What can I say about Erika-she is the best. She is one of the most caring and thoughtful people I know and she has this amazing smile that just makes everyone around her light up. I have so many great memories with her from high school and college and especially Senior year when we were in student government together. She is the greatest!She and Kurt are finally tying the knot after about 2 years of dating and I couldn't be happier for them since we've all known they were made for each other for quite some time!

It will be great to sneak in another visit home to hang out with the posse and have some serious friend time before Erika joins the club of married women and Molly becomes a mom! Yikes, we are all growing up!

Oh the places you'll go!

So I know that title is a little cheesy, but I have been feeling a travel bug lately for far off places and it seemed to fit. Dan's parent's hopped on a plane to Peru this morning and they are off on a South American adventure for the next couple weeks. Their prime destination is Machu Picchu (which I would love to go to someday!) but they will also be going to Bolivia (where Dave served his mission) and we are all so jealous. Can't wait to see all their pics and hear their stories.



On that note, I had to post about the coolest thing I saw on the discovery channel (one of my new favorites) the other day. The show I was watching was about this lake somewhere in Micronesia called lake Palau, where hundreds of thousands of jellyfish live. At one time there was some sort of underground tunnel connecting this lake and the ocean that the sea creatures could swim through. When it collapsed, all the creatures that had migrated from the ocean were trapped there, and thus began the evolution of the Jellyfish. Because they had no predators in this lake, over time they lost their ability to sting, so today you can scuba and snorkel in this lake with thousands of jellyfish. Doesn't that sound amazing? I bet it would be so weird to get up close to them, almost even gross. If I am brave enough maybe someday I will have to try it!
click here for more information.
A couple of weeks ago, when we were flying back from Utah, Dan and I ended up getting bumped from our flight and getting a significant amount of flight vouchers from Delta. We are now in the process of deciding where to go with them. We have been wanting to go to Thailand for a while, so that is a definite possibility but I would love to hear from any of you about cool places you have been on vacation that you would recommend.