luna luna luna

a few weeks ago i went to farmington to watch kate and nate's little girls while kate worked and nate studied his brains out for pharmacy school finals. it was so much fun.

zoe did my hair

we had a silly photoshoot so she would stop crying

i didn't know i could look like a mole rat before...

how could you not love millie's little face?

i loved being able to spend some quality time with these little munchkins! they are so sweet and quite the handful. i am so grateful to be their aunt and watch them grow! thanks kate and nate for letting me play with your little kiddos. i absolutely love them!

why do monday's hate me?

i just made the most wonderful discovery tonight.

pushing daisies.

may be the best show ever. i had never seen it before until tonight and i LOVE it. really i think it is the most darling thing ever. when they kissed for the first time in the body bags...stop it. or when they made the little gold monkeys kiss. i thought it so fitting for the mood and the characters in the show. how did i miss this show in the past?

m.i.a

dear blog...

i am sorry for my long long long absence in the blogging world. i have no excuse other than i have been really busy and the lack of internet in my humble apartment makes it a little difficult to post anything. as of late i have been working my little tail off, not running, and not spending any money which has been hard. i miss running more than i miss spending money. looking at my bank account balance has been an actual pleasant experience! you haven't missed out much on my life unfortunately. i went to flaming gorge again. i went out with jw again. i found a new love in frozen yogurt...yummy! i have fallen in love with Smart Cookie's sugar cookie! i went there today and as i was leaving the parking lot of work i felt like i was cheating on Paradise. i mean their cookies are good, but really Smart Cookie has got the sugar cookie thing down to a t! god bless Smart Cookie! Shade has come out with a lot of cute things that i have been purchasing in moderation. i have been thinking about my Halloween costume and have been drawing a big gigantic blank! i mean last year i was Oprah! how can you get much better than that? if you have any suggestions, please send them my way. i bought a new kitchen table and 4 chairs from Craig's List for just $50! i am going to repaint and reupholster and hopefully it will be a fun 'before and after' post down the road. well i am thinking that my luck with the wireless internet gods have ran out, so i will bid you adieu and farewell. despite my absence, i still love you and will be back soon...

yours truly

aly

dear mrs. grewal

dearest kc.

i am writing to inform you that this lovely evening here in pleasant grove, i went to the local macey's grocery store to pick up a few items for a bonfire that i would be attending later this evening. upon heading to the deli for a 'kong kone' with my friends i was drawn to a very familiar scent...my nose led me to the baked goods. i perused the selection of bakery divineness and stumbled upon an old friend. macey's bakery chocolate chip cookies. you may remember the frequency at which we would consume these cookies. i believe that we both had at least 4 in one day...pre cleanse. i bought them for old times sake and already tonight have eaten 4 cookies. if you would like i could mail you some...but i do believe that part of their goodness is the fresh factor. they are just a chewy and gooey as ever. i do miss you terribly and wish that you could be here to enjoy them as well. give my love to your folks and your one and only. hope to see you soon.

all my love,
aly

ps i know that divineness isn't a word, but i really wanted to say that.

sunlight...and soccer games.

...sounds of summer fill my ears
if i live ten thousand years
i'll never feel as good as this
moments before our first kiss...

...simple things turn magical
minutes freeze like popcicles
and drip their seconds down our shirts
i love you so much it hurts...

i am pretty sure that mason jennings is a genius.

thanks jw. lonestar tacqueria was amazing

like the darkness between the butterflies

last night when i was 'camping' up at mutual dell, after we had saran wrapped mike, andrew and tyler in their pop up camper {more to come on this topic}, we were lying on the grass and looking at the stars i realized that i really haven't taken that time to enjoy summer this year. i have missed so many clear nights to star gaze and hear the crickets chipping. i have ignored the warm gentle summer breeze as i am outside. and i haven't had nearly as many smore's as i know that i could have. the point is that i think i got too busy for summer this year. i hate that i have to work full time and not take a break for a weekend camping excursion. not like i am a huge camper or anything, but just being outside makes me feel good sometimes.

as i was standing in a clearing last night waiting for dinner to be ready {rather than help} i looked up and saw nothing but green leaves and clear blue sky, i heard the chatter of the babbling stream near our camp and felt the cool mountain air...i knew that i was in such a beautiful place. i could actually feel it's beauty. as lame and weird as it sounds i felt so beautiful being there. i felt like i have purpose and meaning, even though i wasn't doing anything to get dinner done faster.

for only the 2nd time in my life {and i know this isn't a common experience} i stayed up the entire night talking around a camp fire rather than sleeping in a tent. we had every intention of sleeping in sleeping bags and tents, but at about 3 am we had decided to just stay up the whole night. i got to see a different side of a few girls and get to know and understand them better. and they also saw a crazy and delusional side of me when i am extremely tired. it didn't matter that we were eating pasta salad at 4 in the morning, that we made up an imaginary pet raccoon named roger or that we swear on the holy bible that we were witnesses to the 3rd nephite...the important thing was that i had fun and felt like i finally was enjoying my summer!

a lot of things happened last night/this morning and i will post more about that later when i upload some pictures, but i think that after the day i had yesterday, it was just what i needed. to be around good people who built me up...all except kyle...who loved me and who i felt safe around. i am so grateful that i am blessed in my life to know such great people, otherwise i may have wound up sitting at home eating ben and jerry's all night.

r.i.p little roger.

stop, collaborate and listen.

i forgot to make one very important post!

back when i was in california visiting my dear friend kc, we went to a little place called the broadway grill. we happened {well planned actually} to go on motown monday. this is where a little band named pure ecstasy performs all your favorite hits from the motown era! it was such a blast! the best part was that kc and ashton had a gift certificate for a free meal...awesome right?

well the catch was...i had to pretend to be ashton's sister mala! now i have never met mala before, but i have seen pictures of her and let me tell you, we look nothing alike! heck ashton and i look nothing alike! but i was mala for the evening nonetheless. ashton was so worried that they would ask for id, that i had to hide my purse all during dinner so that i could make the claim that i didn't have any id on me when questioned!

the best part of all of this was that pure ecstasy was the band the performed at kc and ashton's wedding almost 2 years ago. during the middle of the show as preston {the main guy} was walking around getting the names of all the birthday folks in the house, he recognized the grewal's and started chatting it up. it had been a year and half since their wedding and he still remembered where the reception was held. now that is customer service if i have ever seen it!

after we had happy birthday sung to all of us it got a little crazy! everyone was up dancing, everyone was singing, and the table next us of middle aged women were drunk and putting the vibe on preston. preston deep down loved us so much that he came back to our table! i got up and danced with him, to which he exclaimed...'go mala, go mala, go mala...and he repeated that like 20 times in a row. that isn't even me exaggerating either! it was like an awkward pause that lasted 1 whole minute. it was an awkward chant of encouragement!

all in all it was a really fun night and the best part, they didn't even ask for id and all i had to do was write down my {mala's} email on the back of the certificate! i learned a lot being mala for the evening!

me with 'my' gift certificate

thanks to kc for the pictures as i couldn't use mine cause it was in hiding in my purse under the table!

kc and the 'birthday girl' mala

me singing with preston's buddy

my generous hosts for the week

this is how 'into it' ashton got...i am sure if he ever looked at my blog he may be embarrassed of this priceless gem...sorry ashton!

what's a girl to do

tonight i was reminded of a random moment thanks to mr. james.  you may recall the my dad suffers from dementia, or early onset alzheimer's, so sometimes throughout the day you are either laughing at how random he is or so annoyed with him.  anyhow, one night i was cutting kc's hair and i think char and randy were trying {unsuccessfully} to open their huge ginormous safe which was funny in and of itself.  but the even funnier part is when upon hearing char say something about ziploc bags, out busts my dad from his room holding a box of gallon size ziploc bags.  we all looked at each other with an odd expression wondering why the hell did dad have an entire box hidden in his room?  he acted like it was totally normal of course and forked over the box and went back into his room.  we all died with laughter much like the fit of laughter i endured while remembering this incident.  i have heard of alzheimer's patients hoarding random household items like remote controls and peanut butter...so is my dad now that bad that he is hoarding ziploc bags in case he were to need one in the middle of the night?  oh well.  i guess that all comes with the woes of the disease.  me and my sister have decided that the reason we laugh about it so much is because the only other option is crying.  crying cause our relatively young dad who was never really that involved enough to have a relationship with, is fading slowly and it is too hard to really accept what will end up happening.  we have been thinking about putting him in an assisted living facility.  i don't want to remember my dad this way, but i don't want to remember him in an assisted living facility either.  it is a whole jumble of mixed emotions.  cruel mixed emotions.  

this weekend i went home to farmington and spent time with kate and nate.  zoe is almost 3 and millie is 2 months now.  

we had a lovely dinner {sans kids} at sampan in slc

watched enchanted

ate macs and cheese at 10 am...it is never a bad time of day to have macs and cheese...

nate studied for his finals

millie slept

kate slept

me and zoe bonded over wall-e

had a hearty dinner of wendy's spicy chicken sandwiches

and tried {sorta successfully} to recreate my mitchell's ice cream experience in san fran {pics below.

all in all it was a nice time.  it was sprinkled with the rest of the family in there too.  i slept in until 9:45 on saturday...the longest i have slept in since my vaca to cali.  it was heaven.  

you can't go back now

so i gave up on doing a daily log of my trip.  for some reason that fact that i had it all planned out made me not want to do it anymore!  if only i didn't have to be so freaking structured!  anyway i will now give a brief summary of the rest of my trip in the form of a list...why?  cause i love lists.

thursday:

walnut creek for kc's dr. appointment

shopping some more

experiencing my first {and not last} piadine from tomatina's...yummo!

picking up in and out for the entire family

friday:

delicious breakfast at copenhagen in burlingame

shopping in burlingame at the cutest store therapy

finally site seeing in the city

golden gate bridge

lombard street

the sea lions at the pier

the ever busy pier 39

ghiradelli square...2 samples

house of nan king...best chinese food in china town...thanks again ck

mitchell's ice cream...best i have ever had in my life

saturday:

lounged around and read while kc went to cousins track meet

pedicures

dinner with ashton's parents

my first red mango experience {funny i had to go to CA to experience the mango}

sunday:

sacrament meeting {i am a horrible influence for the grewals}

kc and i ventured to half moon bay and watched the sunset {in the top 3 favorite things of my trip}

monday:

hard rock cafe for an early lunch

people watching at the pier

alcatraz {so cool}

i pretended to be mala and got a free meal at broadway grill...the funnest night ever!  thanks you guys!

tuesday:

walked the dish with kim and her baby

lunch in pluto's in palo alto

fraiche in palo alto {red mango, but not as creative toppings}

reluctantly packed up all my stuff.  surprisingly it all fit.

went to airport, had a tearful {not} goodbye scene with kc and flew home

used the airplane bathroom for my first time ever.

it was a really fun trip and i can't thank the wise family enough for their hospitality!  menlo park is a beautiful place and i want to go to there again someday.  everything was green and lush that i felt so relaxed somehow.  

i will post pics later cause i am tired.

crush crush crush

i have become so unmotivated with blogging lately and i am only on day 3 of my trip.  i know that you all have been sitting on the edges of you seats too.  [that was sarcasm]

day 3 we went to santa cruz...beautiful by the way.  is is a short hour drive from menlo park and the cutest beach town in the world.  i acted like a dork the whole time driving around.

this is me showing off  my favorite sunglasses ever.

just us driving to santa cruz

look how beautiful this is!  i loved this spot.  we even saw a little whale in the distance. there is just something about being right by the ocean that i just adore.  it is so calming and relaxing.  the whole time i would say things like 'when i move here this will be my spot to come and think during a hard day'.  i think kc got sick of hearing that.  we drove a little bit more and saw the pier with the roller coasters and ferris wheel and i have never been more excited in my life.  it felt like a moment from a book and i wanted to drink up every bit of it.

so we went to downtown santa cruz for a little shopping and lunch.  the best part was the parking cost us $.75! 

we stumbled upon my fav urban outfitters!  i pick up a few accesories that are so fun!  i loved this urban in particular for some reason unexplainable.  then we stopped at pizza my heart for a little slice of pie and some aqua!

i even got a piece with mushrooms, which if you know me, you know i hate them.

then we headed home for a little relaxation.  

we ate dinner of chili [and for me cottage cheese] and fritos.  then we made cookies for american idol!  kc and ashton had a few friends over and we watched the show.  after i called to vote for matt for 80 times and never got through.  that is not even an exaggeration either.  80 unsuccessful calls in about 30 minutes!  i was furious when the next night he was in the bottom 3.  whatever.  

anyway so tomorrow we head to walnut creek for an exciting dr.'s visit!