The Mission Inn

There is this hotel in Downtown Riverside called the Mission Inn, who decks out their interior and exterior with amazing lights and Christmas decorations every year. Plus, in the walkways around Mission Inn there are booths selling mini donuts, hot chocolate, and other delicious treats to snack on while admiring the lights. Yummmm. The last time I had been was in high school, so I was stoked about taking Ryan to check out all the gorgeous lights with some of my good friends on a group date!

When walking around we saw this Cinderella-like horse carriages taking visitors around the Mission Inn streets to look at the lights, and being the girls we are...we all really wanted to hitch a ride. My best friend Sam's stud of a boyfriend David took it upon himself to run to the Carriage Booth and claim the next ride for us. We were bummed to discover that they had closed up for the night, until this women randomly drove up with her horse & carriage saying "I'll take ya for 40 bucks." We couldn't hand her the cash fast enough!!

After scarfing down our mini glazed donuts, taking the princess carriage ride, and admiring all the gorgeous lights we slowly walked and caught up on each other's lives while making our way back to the car. Sam {the girl in the the second couple picture} and Taylor {the guy in the last pic} have been my friends since middle school, so it was pretty surreal to see them getting to know & hanging out with my husband. I sat there imagining what our lives would be like in another 5 or 10 years, and where would we all be? Though, seeing my Provo and Corona lives collide to create such memorable nights like this make me extremely grateful for the friends & family in my life :)

A Realistic Gift Guide For Your BFF

Scarf // Earrings // Tights // E.L.F Holiday Kits // Mugs

Is it just me, or is anyone getting tired of these unrealistic Christmas gift guides? I love my friends & family with my whole heart, but an 80-dollar pair of gloves for my best friend is ridiculously out of my college/newlywed budget. So here is a short 'lil gift guide & some ideas for anyone stumped on what to get their best friends!

Gift Ideas:
+ Fill up the Anthro mug with some hot chocolate, peppermint candy canes & marshmallows
+ Pair the Modcloth tights with tech gloves, hand warmers, socks or other winter essentials
+ Gift the Old Navy sweater scarf with furry ear muffs, to keep your best friend cozy
+ Wrap up those adorable Francesca's earrings with one of the E.L.F. holiday make-up kits, all tied up with some festive red & white bakers twine

Secret Cheers

I've written about this before, and seeing as how we are LDS...that means weddings galore every Spring/Summer time. This summer we had the pleasure of attending Callie & Jesse's wedding in the San Diego temple and Aj & Rachel's wedding in the Los Angeles temple. I'm super happy that we just happened to be working in California this summer which meant that we were able to attend both of these weddings, score! I love visiting the temple because it brings such peace to my heart amidst the whirlwind of life and I also love being able to share in the joy that is my friends being eternally bound to their sweethearts. To be honest, I'm always a little selfish when it comes to my friend's weddings...because I secretly always cheer to myself "Hooray, for more married friends! I get to put together even MORE awesome parties and group dates! Muhahaha! {I don't know why there is an evil laugh, but there just is}."
Well, it's not much of a secret anymore...

Weekend Update: Six Flags + Newport Beach + Yardhouse

My weekend actually started on Thursday and it has been party central ever since! First off, I got coerced into "chaperoning" a group of my brother and his friends to Six Flags this past Thursday and had a blast. They seriously ran me ragged around the whole dang park, and we made sure to hit all the most important rides. Goliath {biggest drop ever}, the new ride, and of course X2. Then we ended our night with In-N-Out {like good California kids should} and made our way home at 10pm. 

Then on Friday it was time for our huge group of family & friends to make a trip to Newport Beach, where it was PERFECT weather. The last couple times I've been to the beach it has been overcast, so I was elated to see that the sun was out & shining! Yet again, I was coerced by the boys to get in the water and swim through some waves. I made it through the waves alive then dried out in the sun on the sand {and got a little toasted}. 

After the beach I made my way over to Fullerton to meet up with one of my bestest friends Sam. She is one of those friends that no matter if we haven't talked in a month because of busy schedules, it's like no time has passed when we finally get back together. We caught up on life and were joined by another childhood friend, Taylor, for dinner at Yardhouse. I had the most amazing BBQ bacon burger while having awesome conversation with some of my oldest friends :)

Now I'm exhausted from all the partying and need a restful weekend ASAP!

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Little Lucy

This past Saturday I went to Emily's baby shower to celebrate her little girl Lucy coming in August! I have grown up with the Fardig girls and have known them for 10+ years, enough time to see them go off to college, get married, and start having kids of their own. It's such a blast to see them whenever I go home to California; and whenever I run into them in Utah, it's nice to see a familiar face that feels like my own family! The shower was in their backyard and it was gorgeously decorated, all the pink & frills & flowers makes me want to have a little girl just so I can dress her in tutus and bows 24/7 :) 

Congrats to Emily & Todd on your new little one! 

Weekend Update: Baby Showers+The Doctor

This past weekend I went with my mom to a baby shower for a girl, Kayla, that I grew up with {pictured above}. We totally showed up late, I didn't have my glasses on when reading the invite and thought it was 10-2 when it actually ended at noon...at we totally showed up at noon, oops. On the up side, it was nice to have the extra time to chat & narf all the extra goodies! It's just crazy to me that people my age are married as well as adding kids to the bunch. In LDS culture it's the norm to have kids pretty early on {within the first couple years of marriage}, and because of that I always get the "when are you having babies?!" question, it's about once or twice a week I swear. That's not in my plan for another couple years people! Gotta get my bum graduated then get Ryan graduated then I'll start thinking about that! 

After enjoying just looking at all the cute 'lil baby clothes/blankets my mom & I met up with Ryan/Dad/Jesse{youngest brother} for dinner then Jesse ditched us which made it a double date to Start Trek and Coldstone. That's my dad with me in the pic above aka The Doctor as we like to call him {he's a dentist}. Whenever we have a random question that we can't answer but really don't need the answer to, Ryan and I consult the Doctor and will be like "Hey, you're a doctor {meaning you're smart & should know lots of things}...what backpack is the best one to take on a Europe backpacking trip?" Then we get an hour long tutorial on the pros & cons of which backpack would be best for both men and women. I swear he is a walking encyclopedia/google, hence him becoming THE DOCTOR. Ohhh the power that comes with that name, he is pretty much the next Chuck Norris. By the way Star Trek was awesome and Coldstone is delicious. 

End of story. 

And also...

The winner of the Albion Fit Giveaway is...Ellen Casper!

You'll be getting an email from me soon.

NOW, it's end of story. Happy Monday :)

A PR Giraffe

{Drawing by Grant Myres}

I had a quiz in my Intro to Public Relations class today, and no matter what age you are...

quizzes are always bad news bears.

 I'm pretty sure the whole class did horrible on it {which is oddly comforting} judging from all the groaning that went on while correcting it.

The quiz was about ethics in public relations...hopefully this giraffe will save us all.

tender mercies

I haven't been feeling well the past couple of days.

The whole body ache, head ache, stomach ache, lack of energy thing.

You are totally nodding your head right now, knowing exactly what I'm talking about.

Instead of telling you all how insanely crappy I feel....
 I wanted to tell you about some little blessings that have come my way today.

1. My Assistant Manager at Francescas is just awesome, she was able to let me come in for part of my shift tonight. And another Frannies friend covered the rest of my shift so I could go home and crash, they are so sweet!

2. My dear husband was more than happy to drive me to & from work. Plus he took care of me all day today with hugs and Zupas.

3. After posting on Instagram that I didn't feel too well, a friend offered to send me notes for a class that I had missed. She just added the class to her schedule and realized that I was in her same section, what are the odds??

4. During my 2-hour shift, a little bloggy friend popped in, anyone know Rachel Sayumi?

It was completely by chance that she was coming in to look for jewelry for her bridal shoot {how fun!!} and I just happened to be working.

Holy moly, she is too fun to talk to, she definitely lifted my spirits!

5. Finally, after Ryan & I got home.

I barely get situated on my couch to die, then hear the doorbell ring.

I am wondering who the heck is coming over at 9 at night {I know, I'm old..9 is late for me}.

I open the door and practically hyperventilate.
 It is one of my best friends, Erik, from my Freshmen summer here at BYU.

He is back from his 2-year LDS mission, and is now living in Provo.

He just randomly decided to walk over to my house to pop in & say hello.

{All the guys in this picture are my best friends, the two guys on the left and center are still on their missions, and the guy on the right, Erik, is the one who popped by! This picture is from 3 years ago, so weird!}

It's sure nice to know that my Heavenly Father is making sure I'm doing ok by sending these awesome people my way!

Any tender mercies come your way this week?

<3 Bri

the thing about joy

While out running some errands today, I was tagged in a picture on Instagram by my friend Bree at
  The Thing About Joy. 
I found this and was totally excited!!
Sooooo dang cute and it totally made my day!

Not only is she an amazing artist, but she is the girl behind my blog design and re-vamp on color!
She has so much patience with me and my color ADD.
Just wanted to post about how awesome of a blog friend she is :)
Go meet and get to know her!

<3 Bri

Benexa

Ryan & I looove to double date, and we especially enjoy our couple friends.

Instead of saying both of their names, which is suuuuch a hassle, we like to make things easier on ourselves and give them celebrity names.

Hayley & Rob= Hob

Kimberly & Kyle= Kimmel

Taylor & Nicole= Niccog

Kyle & Ashley= Kashley

Ben & Alexa= Benexa

It was Alexa's 21st birthday on Saturday, March 3rd.

She erroneously thought her boyfriend, Ben, wasn't throwing her a birthday party, so she threw one for herself the night before her birthday.

Texas sheet cake, Salvadorian food, Spanish karaoke, birthday candles, and friends were all there.

Little did she know that Ben had something else planned for her....

For two weeks, Ben had in place, a surprise breakfast party at his apartment planned for Saturday morning.

I was enlisted to help, so I showed up to help make the french toast.

The apartment was PACKED with all of Alexa's bestest friends.

The party hears the couple inching towards the door, we hide.....then, SURPRISE!!!!

She covers her face when...WHAT THE HECK.

WHAT IS THAT SHINY THING ON HER LEFT HAND!?

Ben had picked her up from her apartment, proposed, then scared the holy tar out of her with a surprise birthday.

Suffice it to say it was AWESOME.

We wrapped up the party and rushed over to Ryan and Ben's flag football game. 

We watched our men completely DOMINATE.

We finished the day with Benexa.

 Heading up to Park City to shop around, eating Cafe Rio, watching Jeopardy, and talking/laughing the rest of the night.

They'll be married this summer! 

Um, so stoked??

<3 Ryan & Brianna Rios= Brios