Take me back...

TO THE FAIR!

I absolutely love the Utah State Fair. Just ask me how many times I went this year... 2. Because one time just wasn't enough for me.

Just a few reasons why I love the fair...
1. COTTON CANDY. See image below, I was so excited.
2. Baby animals. Baby anything! But seriously, I was lovin' up that calf. See picture below.
3. Gypsy rides. No doubt the rides are missing a few screws... They are out of control and I love it!
4. Such a good date night.
5. People watching! Wow, Utahns don't mess around...
6. Again, baby animals.

Dinner Date

You know how much I love hosting a good dinner date. I live for that kind of crap.

Last week Raymond and I hosted our best dinner date yet. We set up in the art gallery! As Ali said, it was totally bachelor status (yeah, we are referring to the show on ABC). After dinner we took full advantage of the space and our artistic abilities... if can't tell from the pictures, we were dipping our hands in wax to make a mold. Then we filled the molds with wax and voila! we had casts of our hands. 

Too much fun.

The Good Life

Not a whole lot has been happening around the Hollowell household.

We are simply enjoying just being us, together.

Most nights are spent curled up in bed watching movies on my little laptop.

We rarely cook dinner. Instead, we do things like eat cereal straight from the box and drink a whole pitcher of kool-aid. Dinner of Champions.
We are still vegetarians. And we still do not have a television.

Yes, we are crazy cat people. At least we fit in with our neighbors.

I've been sewing a lot lately and Raymo has started painting again. 

Life is so good.

I'm a Legal Beagle!

21

Finally! 

My birthday was so wonderful. I could not have planned it better myself.

Big shout out to Raymo for spoiling me rotten.

Raymond and I started the day with breakfast at The Original Pancake House. So good. I munched a massive Dutch baby and it was so worth the wait. Afterwards we hit the salon for much needed pedicures. Yes, Raymo got one too and regardless of what he says, I know he enjoyed every minute of it and will be back for another I am sure. 

Somewhere in the day I had to work.

Then it was off to the birthday celebration! My mom had the whole place decorated in pink and green with a handmade birthday hat to match. For my sister's birthday my Mom and Dad made her a darling birthday hat that I was mucho jealous of so you can only imagine my excitement when I saw my very own birthday hat sitting in the middle of the table.  So cute, right?

And then, as if I wasn't spoiled enough throughout the day... we opened presents. YAY!

Husband of the year award goes to Raymo for getting me... a video camera!

What a stud. 

I also got a sewing machine that I am super stoked about. 

To end the night, Raymo and I celebrated with Martinelli's and chocolate dipped strawberries. We toasted to 20, after-all, it was a really good year. We also toasted to 21 and asked it to please treat me nicely. When we drank from our glass we even linked arms like they do in the movies... it wasn't as hard as it looks.

 It was the perfect ending to the most wonderful day of my 21st year (so far).

Thank you, Thank you to everyone that celebrated with me (near and far) on my birthday. I love you all.

There is nothing better...

Than new baby kittens!

These little boys are less than 24 hours old.

I am in love.

Oh my Helper!

We ditched Salt Lake, again, and hit the mountain lands this weekend. My dad was involved in an art weekend in Helper, Utah. If you have never heard of Helper just imagine Radiator Springs from the Pixar movie "Cars" and that should give you a fair idea of what this place is like. Let's just say Main Street is not exactly hopin' these days... Although the town is mostly run-down, there are some redeeming qualities about this little town. 

Helper is an art colony. It is known for its great artist including David Dornan, Paul and Silvia Davis, and David Steele. During the winter this little town is not much of anything but during the summer it is buzzing with artist and art students. It just so happens that the "Salon" Raymond and I stayed in is also home to many student participating in art programs taught by David Dornan.

We had such a good time supporting my dad in Helper. It was so nice to get-a-way before summer is officially gone. 

We were lucky to see the very talented David Dornan give a painting demonstration. I love to see the process it takes artists to get from a blank canvas to a beautiful work of art. David has one of the strangest methods I have seen yet... For the first few layers of paint he basically slaps in on there and rubs it around with his fingers. I just love his finished pieces though.

I'm still not sure if you would classify our accommodations as a hotel or a hostel. The room wasn't so bad and it was indeed private, but the bathrooms were shared and nothing short of scary. I didn't dare take a shower without my flip-flops on... Despite the interesting hotel/hostel situation, Raymo and I made it fun, as always.

Park City Get-a-Way

This last week we decided to ditch Salt Lake and head for the mountains for a much-needed family vacation. Although we didn't go far, it was so nice to just "get-a-way". We love spending time with the family and it was especially fun to be with the nieces and nephew so much. The girls are pretty much in love with Raymo and it is so cute to see them play with him.

While we were in Park City we hit all the best shopping and ate at all the best restaurants. It was basically a non-stop party! Thank you, thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for yet another wonderful family vacation.

Here are a few pictures to highlight the trip...

With a group as big as ours we had to do a lot of waiting around for dinner... Our main source of entertainment during these times was taking pictures and playing with the camera.

We hit up the Park City Mountain resort to celebrate Emma's 9th birthday. The Alpine Coaster is an absolute blast. It's for sure better than the Alpine Slide. 

Michael was genuinely smiling and we were lucky enough to catch it on camera!

These two little girls are so NOT afraid of the camera. Not only would they actually smile for the camera but they would pose too! I love them.

A peek into the future maybe? So. Dang. Cute.