Here's a Diet Coke to Hold You Over

Here's the sitch.

I'm in the midst of packing and getting ready to bounce to San Diego for my Grandparent's 50th anniversary/family reunion shindig. 

Aka, I won't be here for a couple of days.

BUT,

 I have done some guest posting the past couple a days and hopefully that holds you over till I get back!

{The title is a reference to a family joke. My mom, aunts, husband and I love diet coke and if we are stressed or need to calm down, we drive through mickey d's for a dc to hold us over ;)}

{This is a DC in a boot. After the boys hiking trip. I guess this made sense to them.}

I did a New Years Resolution list on "Tales for Karina Marie"

With goals to: exercise more regularly, get crackin' on crafts, and to calllmmmm down!

 I also did the Marriage, Love, and Fun Feature on "Life Like Honey"

I asked Ryan if he would pitch it on this post and I'm really glad on how it turned out!

We tell the story of  how we met, some struggles that we have overcome so far in our marriage, and how to keep the overflowing love well, overflowing. 

This weekend is gonna be well-documented with my handy-dandyyyy Iphone camera!

{Mom's know what that is a reference too :)}

We are doing a huge family olympics, playing ping pong, swimming, taking family pictures, and throwing a dinner party in celebration of my grandparent's anniversary & of family being together.

PLUS

With all my new Christmas goodies {ok, just a bunch of clothes I picked out for myself that my mom wouldn't let me have until Christmas, she even wrapped it all}, I can show off all my new clothes and shoes! Oh the poor boys, they aren't huge fans of being photographers of my outfits. But that's why I love them, cause they do it anyways :) 

Welp, I'll see ya on the flip side! 

<3 Bri

A Fairytale Christmas

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Disneyland.

I don't care how old I get, or how many times I've been there, it's always so magical.

Plus I still have this delusion of one day being Sleeping Beauty or Rapunzel.

So the Grossman & Rios clan decided to hit up Disneyland on Christmas day after the opening and enjoying of presents.

Being from Southern California, you are able to gauge how busy the freeways will be at certain times and places, and when to go to Disneyland or not. 

Being so close to Disneyland {40 minutes}, it's not a big deal to drive all the way to Disneyland, only to turn around and hit up Newport or LA instead.

Coming into the Disneyland parking structure, we noticed that it wasn't that full.

SCORE, or so we thought...

But as soon as we hit the tram and they announced that all the: wheelchairs, lockers, and strollers were already rented out. 

We knew we were in trouble.

Regardless, we pressed on with our day. 

Rode the train all around the park, ate up at the French Market, and I coerced the boys into taking pictures with me.

We also hit up the newly re-done 'Star Tours' ride.

SO GOOD. It was the bomb! Highly recommended.

But, as always, don't ever eat before riding it. Motion sickness to the max.

We rode all the classics: Star Tours, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, the train, and finally Indiana Jones.

Ok, so here is a new tid-bit about Ryan.

He knows freaking everyone. Or so it feels like it.

We always run into some old friend of his in the most random of places, and Disneyland was no exception.

My family heads ahead of Ryan and I to get in the hour long wait for the Indiana Jones ride.

We start to head into the line when Ryan's face suddenly lights up and he starts attacking and hugging the random 'front of the line' guy dressed in the Indiana Jones-y attire.

Come to find out it's a guy he knew from his LDS mission from THREE YEARS AGO. 

WHAT THE HECK. 

The friend proceeded to laugh and say "Your family doesn't need to wait in line, get them up here!"

He gave us all fast-passes.

Muahahhahahaahahha! 

Pretty much straight to the front of the line, a whole 15 minute wait.

Now that's a Christmas miracle if I've ever heard of one ;)

The castle at nighttime. SO gorgeous!!!

What did you all do this Christmas? Any new traditions out there?

Hope you all had a good break!

<3 Bri

P.S. Stay tuned for a guest post from Amanda who pens at Little Tranquility!

A fun lil' questionnaire coming soon.

Yearly Traditions

Every Christmas Eve we have the tradition of heading over to the grandparents.

We eat, talk, and do a short lil nativity skit that includes some acting and singing.

The catch is, that if you are one of the youngest cousins at the time, you get to play the acting parts.

AKA dress up.

So I've had many 'a years of being Mary, a wise man, an angel, then I finally graduated out.

Ryan wasn't so lucky...

Being the new son-in-law he got cast as the 'Roman' part.

He's still got a few more years of this till he graduates ;)

I apologize for the blurry pictures, but they had to be taken! {Gracias mom!}

This is my Christmas eve attire, finished off with this BOMB jaguar necklace.

 Sweater: Fossil. Jeans: AE. Shoes: H&M. Top: Loft. Belt: F21. Necklace: mom's.

My mom has had this necklace for ages and it hasn't been until now that I've really started to like it....

and want to steal it. And am going to steal it. 

It even has a matching claw bracelet. Ummm, there is the deal maker.

AND with my new hair cut, I'm able to tease the holy crap out of my hair to get that 50's 'do.

Ryan kept on calling me January Jones the whole night.

{from Mad Men}

We stuck to our Grossman Christmas movie night tradition, we hit the theaters to see whatever cool movie is out around Christmas time. The movie this year was Mission Impossible.

Way action packed! Definitely a must-see. 

BUT, if you don't like action packed, intense fighting, and on the-edge-of-your-seat moments, you won't like it. So don't blame me if you don't.

Well, I'm loving that I get to come home every year and join in {now with my bff} on all these Christmas traditions. Can't wait till I can make my own, but until then...

Present opening in 6-8 hours!!!

Hope you all have a 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

From the Grossmans and the Rios familia!

<3 Bri

Gifting Mania & Reality Shows

It's now almost 3am California time and I can't seem to fall asleep.

Here is my finished Christmas gifts, done while watching all the lame Real Housewives shows.

Definitely Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, none of that Atlanta crap. So un-classy.

I got lots of the cheap pretzel rods and dipped them in melted Wiltons chocolate.

Then they were sprinkled with with Christmas-y sprinkles.

DONE.

Here is my gift making table which includes:

Target dollar section buckets

Snowmen/Smores mugs

Pretzel rods 

Hot chocolate packets

Candy Canes

Kisses & Kit Kats

Gingerbread shaped marshmellows

Dollar store cellophane

Tupperware

Hot Apple Cider candles

Here is a tupperware filled with Andes mint cookies and Peanut Butter cookies. 

I've already eaten like 5-7 of each. 

I really need to hold up to that New Years Resolution of:

'Going to the gym on a consistent basis' 

Or I'm not gonna be able to fit in my clothes anymore after the break!

Here is my table filled of gifts! 

Friends and family who remembered to fork over their addresses, watch out for these in the mail with your name on it!

All in all, I love making handmade gifts, writing my own little notes and seeing the joy on friends&family's faces when they see the gift.

Another one of my favorite feelings ever :)

By the way late night MTV shows are all dating shows, cracks me up cause is this how people meet each other to date if they don't go to college?!

How do people find each their soulmate otherwise? Any stories to share?

I'm off to bed cause now I'm just rambling.

Night!

<3 Bri

Weird Things Wednesday: Braceface

I'm totally neurotic about my teeth.

It could be the fact that I have 3 dentists in my family, including my dad.

Or that I won "Best Smile" in high school and definitely take pride in it. {Sad huh?}

Or that I absolutely love smiling and laughing.

I got a semi-permanent retainer on the back of my top teeth and over the past few years it has started to unravel, it torqued my two front teeth to make one of them stick out in front of the other.

It has been driving me freaking insane over the past year.

Finally, I now have the time and courage to get them back on.

Which leaves me to now, officially with braces on again. 

Here are the weird things about them:

1. As soon as I saw myself in the mirror with them on, I instantly flashed back to my 8th grade year. Oh gosh. Everyone hated middle school for a reason.

2. Ryan has always said he liked the fact that he married someone younger, now everyone's gonna think I'm 16 again. Hooray for him?

3. As soon as I walk in the door my brothers they can't take their eyes off my mouth. 

Then they start laughing. Thanks guys.

4. I keep running my tongue over my teeth cause it doesn't feel real. I'm in a dream!

5. When I told the orthodontist {who is a perfectionist} that my teeth were bugging me, he looked at them and said "Oh ya, they are bugging me too". Skunk! haha

6. Now I have to practice smiling with my mouth closed, I never usually do that cause people tell me I look pissed! 

and

7. Only 4-6 months of the weirdness! 

Be prepared for random brace posts and awkward smiling pictures.

<3 Bri

A Christmas Picture Book

This is what I call a 'Picture Book' post.

Lots of pretty pictures to look at with some quick story captions.

Have fun!

My parents love decorating...there's no mystery where I got that from!

They did a "The Grinch Stole Christmas" themed decor.

Everything bright green, red, with some crazy accents!

The Grinch-y stockings with fun ribbon everywhere!

This is our back patio, decked out in greenery, lights, and ornaments.

This is part of the front yard, another tree decked in ornaments!

I promise I'll take some pictures of everything lit up, it's magical :)

My mom cut out the wood, sanded it, and painted both the Window Santa and Hanging Snowman.

She is so dang talented and the most creative person I know!

This is my bestest friend Sterling Addison Randle.

He is serving an LDS mission in Roanake, Texas.

He got hit by a car earlier this week while on his bike. 

She nicked his back wheel which caused him to flip forward off his bike and he landed on his feet in the middle of the street.

Luckily he made it away safe and sound. The bike sadly did not.

Knowing him, the dork was probably upset someone didn't film it, and put it on youtube.

Grateful for all the many prayers and blessings that go out to the missionaries :)

A Christmas miracle!

I've now recruited my youngest brother Jesse into taking pictures of me.

I decided Evan and Ryan needed a good break.

I LOVE this motorcycle jacket. I got it from Styles for Less ages ago and it goes with absolutely everything. From dresses, to jeans, to dressy and casual. It was only 20 bucks too. SCORE.

Jacket: Styles for Less. Jeans: Forever 21. Scarf: Loft. Flats: H&M. Bracelet, Necklace: Fossil. Top: American Eagle.

I couldn't balance to save my life and actually almost fell off.

I need to start hitting up some more Zumba classes to get my balance back!

Not like I was that coordinated to begin with...but at least it motivates me to hit up the gym, right?

So I have a "Weird Things Wednesday" guest post lined up for tomorrow here!

Stay tuned!

Annnnddd on top of it...I'll be a braceface again tomorrow. An explanation post soon so come.

<3 Bri

Fa La La La La

Here is my Christmas-y church attire for today.

I sang a solo in church today and ROCKED it.

{Here is the sheet music-When Mary Sang Her Lullaby}

I love love love to sing.

The worst part about singing in front of people is the waiting part.

At the beginning I'm like yeah! I can do this and not mess up!

Then I start fidgeting, my mouth starts getting dry, my hands get sweaty, my body starts shaking, then it's finally my turn, and I feel like a newborn giraffe trying to walk up to the podium.

Even with all the times I've sung in church meetings, baptisms, auditions, national anthems in high school, or even giving the announcements over the school loud speaker every day, I still get these mini heart attacks. I kick myself in the tush that I've done this how many freaking times and I still am a mess?

But.

I don't know what it is, because as soon as I get up the microphone, all the jitters go away.

I open my mouth and start singing along to the melody of the piano, and lose myself in the music.

Hitting every high note, breathing at the right times, and looking at the faces in the crowd enjoying the peaceful melodic line of the song.

This is one of my favoritest feelings in the whole entire world.

Other than drinking hot chocolate and snuggling. Obviously.

Maybe one of these days I'll put up a lil' video of one of my favorite songs to sing.

We'll see how confident I am to put up a video of me singing for the world to see.

Yikes!

Dress, Bracelet: Fossil. Shoes: ?. Sweater, Belt: Loft. Necklace: gift. Lipstick: Revlon.

In the meantime, go listen to the new "She & Him" Christmas album by my girl crush, Zooey Deschanel, or Michael Buble's Christmas album.

Merry almost Christmas!

<3 Bri

"Final"ly Done!

WE. ARE. DONE. 

Holy moly I'm so glad that I'll actually get to enjoy the Christmas season!

Ryan, Evan, and I are taking a quick break before we start packing up and head out to Southern California tonight.

First though, I have a fuuuun story for ya.

All I had left for today was my last two religion class finals.

The plan was to take them today, in the testing center which closes at 10pm.

Come to find out the religion tests are in a different building. {The Wilk}

So Ryan and I trek back over to the Wilk building and see a sign on the door:

"Closed @ 4pm"

SAY WHAT?! IT'S 4:05!!!

We go racing in there to find out if we would still be able to take the tests.

 Come to find out we had been graced with the nicest testing center people ever, and they tell us we have an hour to take the tests.

I had TWO FINALS to take in an hour.

I wrote the crapiest final essays ever in 45 minutes, then ran over and grabbed my multiple choice test and finished that in 15 minutes.

I'm at that point that all college students get to where I could care less about school or anything anymore.

We left, and then I realized...

Holy macaroni. 

I'M DONE.

I feel numb now from all that stress, studying, and lack of sleep.

I don't have to go home and study!

HOOORAYYYY!

So there's my lovely story. I really don't ever like cutting stuff like that so close

Phew!

 Anywhoodle, now we are watching the British version of "The Office" and being procrastinators....

Which is what got me into the whole "taking 2 finals in an hour" mess.

Lesson Learned. 

Won't be doing that next semester!

This is our "we are so happy we are finally done with this crap" faces.

Now off to tidy up a bit, scarf some pizza, and pack for gorgeous California.

What's in store for the next couple weeks you may ask?

Crafts galore with mi madre

DISNEYLAND {I love Disneyland with all my heart. It doesn't matter if I'm 20.}

San Diego family reunion

Working in the dental office {mo money mo money mo money}

Putting together Christmas goodies to mail off for friends

Best friends birthday!! {Sam, love you!}

LA Fashion District visit

Shopping at Loft, Charlotte Russe, Fossil, and Anthro

Eating lots of delicious foods

Hunington Beach/The Pier

Can't wait to share with you all my hometown and all the fun Cali adventures.

Happy no more finals day and Merry almost Christmas!

<3 Bri

Weird Things Wednesday: Today

Today has been one weirddd day.
Lots of firsts, weird looks, and other interesting things.
CHECK IT.

1. After being all gung-ho on getting a move-on at 9am this morning.

Ryan & I slept through the alarm...3 different times. Woops. 

11am it is.

2. My first ever guest post!

I was featured on 'For Scarlet', written by my Montana friend Hannah.
{Not Miley Cyrus! But wayyy cooler than her.}

I answered questions about my blog and gave some styling tips.

Check it out!

3. Taking these pictures in the middle of the freshmen dorms...yup, lots of weird looks.

Plus.

This dress is definitely from Wal-Mart. There is actually some pretty cool clothes at Wal-Mart.

Who knew?

Rabbit Fur Jacket: gift from dad. Dress: Wal-mart. Tank: AE. Sweater: Buckle. Necklaces: gifts. Tights: F21. Boots: Breckelles. Earrings: Francescas. Scarf: Windsors. 

4. Took a final today where 50 out of the 65 questions were True or False.

What the heck!? Pretty much everyone is gonna fail.

I might as well have not studied and marked True on everything.

5. Finally, had my first ever giveaway on another blog!

Log onto 'Genri Lee's' blog, scroll down to Breezy Days and you'll just get linked back to my page.

Check out my "Shop" page for instructions and to look for stuff to win! 

Welcome to all my new blog friends! 

Have fun reading  :) 

<3 Bri

1, 2, 3 Update

I'm just stopping in real fast to share a few things with you:

1. A quick n' easy lil' recipe

{Turkey Croissants}

Ingredients:

Honey smoked turkey

Cream cheese

Croissant rolls

Directions:

1. Heat up the oven to 375 degrees

2. Roll the turkey and a little bit of cream cheese into the croissant

3. Place on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for 11-13 minutes until golden brown

4. Voila! Eat with any kind of jam. 

2. There is a giveaway going on tomorrow on Gentri Lee's Blog.

Check out my new "Shop" tab to see what's up for grabs!

3. And finally, I just wanted to thank you for being a reader and follower of Breezy Days.

With all your encouraging and kind comments, it makes me excited for the many blogging days to come! 

Wish me luck on finals!

<3 Bri

Pinterest Picks: Jewelry

If you haven't heard of Pinterest, you are one lucky dog because it is completely addicting.
Almost as addicting as: facebook, blogging, online shopping, and shoe shopping.
It's that serious.

It is an online site where you can see something you like, and you can post it to your own virtual pinboard.

It has an array of: outfit ideas, jewelry, beautiful heels, DIY project tutorials, how-to's, business ideas, recipes, workouts, inspirational quotes, cute printables, you name it they got it!

Cool, huh?

Here is the site link to sign up!

PINTEREST

Here are some of my favorite jewelry pics that I have pinned to my own board.

via 

 via

via 

via 

via 

via

These are just a few of the bazillion pins I have. Take a look and follow me there!

Have fun! 

<3 Bri

Blogging Hiatus

I'll tell you why I've had to take a few day break from the blogging scene.

I had one of those:

"Why the heck am I blogging" phases.

Just the whole, do people care what I write? Am I just doing this for the heck of it? Do I even know why I'm blogging?? What is going on with my life? I need a nap.

 I decided to take a breather. Take some pictures just in case I wanted to start sharing again.

And now I'm back on here. 

I've come to the realization that sure, I'm not gonna get a bazillion followers in one month who love everything I wear, eat, say, and breathe. 

But hopefully, steadily, I'll get the few 100-200 followers that will be loyal and love my sarcastic snottiness, my obvious learning on how to take decent pictures {I'm not a photographer or a graphic design major fyi}, and my outlook on life's trials. 

So there. 

In the meantime, I made sure to take some pics of a couple easy & yummy recipes I conjured up the past couple of days. 

COLLEGE KIDS. PAY ATTENTION. EASY. CHEAP. FOOD.

Enjoy.

Blueberry & Strawberry Smoothie

I liked this recipe because it filled me up, and also made me feel like I was being all mega healthy and what not. Delishhhh.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of frozen blueberries

1 cup of frozen strawberries 

1 1/2 cups of milk

1/2 cup of yogurt {can also use frozen yogurt}

Directions

1. Puree in blender till smooth and then gulp it down!

Brown Sugar Beef

This is one of my favorite recipes EVER. 

It's super easy to make and a total crowd pleaser. 

Ingredients

3-4 lbs. of beef chunks

1 cup of brown sugar

3 Tbs. soy sauce

1 jar of mango salsa

Directions

1. Throw all the ingredients into a crockpot for 5 hours on high or 7 hours on low.

2. Shred the meat and use how you would like!

Note: You can experiment with the amount of brown sugar, soy sauce, or different types of mango salsa. I like mango salsa cause it makes the meat sweeter. But you can try out what you like! 

Garnishes & Extras

Taco Lettuce

Tortillas

White mexican cheese {the cheese that is round. I can just sit and eat this whole round of cheese.}

Sour cream

Now that you have some wonderfully delicious and easy recipes to check out, I just wanted to show off my creations this week! 

Here are some Christmas baby headbands I started making. 

I gots: snowflakes, candy canes, berries, you name it, I got the Christmas-y fabric to make a flower out of it. 

These are going into a salon soon to be sold. So email me if you want one! 

Happy almost done with finals! 

<3 Bri