Christmas Day 2013

We have this tradition eeeevery year, to take a picture on the stairs before opening up our stockings & gifts under the Christmas tree. So there you have it! Christmas Eve was filled with family festivities at my Grandparents, then we drove home from Anaheim and enjoyed some hot chocolate around the bonfire with my favorite people (minus Evan). Then Christmas day was so low-key, fun, and relaxing. We had a blast opening presents, talking to our missionary, and then eating a delish turkey dinner!

My dad thought it would be funny to get me and my mom some plastic sharks to warn the men in our lives of that time of the month...obviously the boys thought it was hilarious. Me and mom on the other hand?! A little less amused...

Ryan got an orange in his stocking because he had mentioned that is what he got growing up, so Santa threw it in there for good measure ;) Andddd I also unwrapped another shark, this time and ornament *face palm*!

Another family tradition is picking up some new Christmas pjs, and because my parent's house is decked out in Grinch-inspired Christmas decor Jesse and I decided to match :) This Christmas break has been one of the most relaxing by far for Ryan and I, and we can't wait to tackle what this next year has in store for us. Graduating BYU, finding a career/direction, and planning more family trips! 

A Christmas Throwback

I realized that I never posted my pictures from Christmas last year, and still want to share them with all of you. Thus, a Christmas throwback! I was working retail during the holidays and was not able to leave Utah, so my family came up from So-Cal to spend Christmas with Ryan & I in our 'lil yellow brick house.

I went all out with a real tree, stockings for everyone, and lots of Christmas decorations to help them feel like they were at home. I absolutely love decorating for Christmas, it's so festive & fun! Our Christmas decor theme is a "winter candyland", so we have lots of candy ornaments on the tree and even a little light-up candy house. Plus I looove penguins, so they are all over our house! 

If you haven't noticed, Evan is a total ham when it comes to Christmas photos! After opening up presents, we made a turkey dinner topped off with Evan's homemade apple pie {yumm}. Then we hit up the theaters for our Christmas movie tradition, and finished off the night by a warm fire. I was so grateful that my family came up to be with Ryan & I for the holidays, it was fun hosting them for Christmas. This year we will be going down their way for the Christmas break, and I can't wait! :)

Rios Family Pictures

The day after Thanksgiving we all did some Black Friday shopping and took our first ever set of Rios family pictures! We went to Portrait Innovations, and our photographer was a weird duck for sure. He thought Ryan was the father of the family....say what? Maybe it's the mustache?? Then when we clarified and explained all the relations to which he replied {to cover his bum} "oh, we get a lot of 'different' kind of families in here." I guess that would make sense seeing as how we're in Portland! 

Left to Right

Back: Stuart, Ethan, Ryan, Taylor 

Front: Jenny, Suzy, Me, Nikole

The photographer then proceeded to keep on saying "after this we will take the funny awkward family pictures." Ummm, isn't that what we've been doing this whole time?! The picture above is case & point, Ryan was told to "hold my hand"...

{Remixed: Chambray Top // Pants}

It was super fun to mess around and take pictures together, and I'm super stoked to finally have some Rios pictures to add to my gallery wall!

Thanksgiving Day 2013

This Thanksgiving was the first holiday that I've ever spent away from my own immediate family...and I was a little worried that it wouldn't feel the same. We made the trek up to Portland to mix things up a bit and spend the holidays with Ryan's family, so I was already a little out of my comfort zone. My family has traditions for holidays; and for Thanksgiving that usually includes a deep fried turkey, stuffing with apples in it, and a movie we all see together as a family. What if the new traditions didn't feel like they could become my own?

Ryan & I got all gussied up for the Thanksgiving get-together and at this point I was still a little nervous as to how this holiday with the in-laws was going to turn out. We pulled up to the house and walked in to a kitchen chock-full of turkey, mashed potatoes, pies, and stuffing with apples in it. Score! So much hard work had been into this meal which made it feel pretty special, and it was also the first meal that everyone in the Rios family {including wives} had shared together {craziness}!

{Remixed: Necklace&Sweater // Boots // Dress}

To top off the day of over-stuffing ourselves, someone in the family overheard my family tradition and suggested that we go see a movie. I was ecstatic!! Plus it felt nice having some of my own traditions included in the holiday! We saw Frozen {which was adorable btw}, then grabbed hot chocolate from 7-11 on the way home {my fave hot chocolate} and then ate Marie Callender's Dutch Apple Pie. I shouldn't have been worried about what traditions would be had, because it was fun to spending time getting to know everyone in the family. Seriously couldn't get any better :)

Shopping Marathon

We pulled in to Portland around 8pm on Tuesday night, where I promptly konked out on the couch until Ryan woke me up to go to sleep in a bed. Wednesday my sister-in-law Nikole, Ryan's aunt Michelle, and I all had the most intense day of shopping. We seriously hit all the best stores and malls in the Portland area, it was awesome!! 

We started off the day with caramel apple spice drinks from Starbucks and some light shopping,  then Michelle brought us to the adorable Grand Central Baking for the most delicious sandwich. It was called the Sas-Squash: maple and sage roasted butternut squash, Fresanero mayo, cheddar cheese on Peasant bread and with a sausage patty. Are you drooling yet? I scarfed that thing down in no time! 

{Remixed: Pants // Booties}

We finished off our sandwiches on our way to Buffalo Exchange in Portland, and it was the weirdest dang thing ever {the store, that is}. I totally didn't fit in to the downtown hipster Portland-stereotype {plus there were scary people there that you get with being downtown} and the prices at Buffalo Exchange are ridiculous!! I was super stoked to go because I've heard so many good things, but was totally let down :/ Maybe I'll give the ones in So-Cal a try before I write off the store completely. After our adventure in Downtown Portland we headed back home where I again, totally konked out. Being sick on vacation really harshes my mellow! 

Pit Stop in Logan

This past Monday Ryan & I started our 14 hour trek from Provo to Portland for the Thanksgiving weekend to visit his family. Instead of doing the whole ride in one shot, we decided to stay with our friends Shane & Amelia for the night. Logan is about 2 hours north of Provo, a place where all of our Utah State friends reside.

Being the tried & true Aggie fans they are, Shmelia decided they needed to try and convince us that Aggie ice cream beats the BYU creamery...I'll consent and say that it is a pretty close tie ;) We had the Aggie Blue Mint ice cream, mint ice cream with cookie pieces and white chocolate chunks, which was deeeelish! 

Before our ice cream trip, we hit up the most amazing Indian food ever! Granted, this is probably only the 3rd time ever that I've had Indian food but I couldn't stop stuffing my face with the Butter Chicken curry and Garlic Naan bread. Therefore, now I'm a connoisseur of Indian cuisine ;) This place is attached to a random gas station in town, so of course it totally looks sketchy! But it's one of those special hole-in-the-wall places that only the locals even know about, so I felt pretty cool pretending to be a Logan-ite for the evening. After a fun night of amazing food & card games, Tuesday morning we picked up Ryan's brother and his wife and started our road trip up to Portland!

Festive Dots

{blouse c/o ever+mi crush}

I don't know what it is...but I am always in serious need of blouses. I guess skirts, dresses, and shoes are always so much more fun to shop for! I get so distracted with all the pretty skirts that I just forget that something needs to be put on top! So when Ever+Mi Crush sent me this adorable red & white polka dot blouse I knew that it was just BEGGING to be worn with a festive outfit for the Fourth of July. White denim cut-offs, Sam Edelman fiesta wedges, and some classic red lipstick made for the perfect low-key Fourth look :)

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Our Fourth of July

This was my first Fourth of July in about 3 years that I've spent in my hometown, and it was a blast spending the holiday with my family! Ryan had to work during the day {lame sauce!} so we hit the theaters and watched The Lone Ranger {awesome action} then we filled up on some soup at Kings Fish House before heading home to ready all the food for when the boys would get off work at 4pm!

The crew was playing roundabout ping pong while the rest of us were preparing ribs, burgers, fruit salad, deviled eggs, pasta salad, chip&dip, and our brownie dessert. Yummm! We all scarfed our food then made our way over towards Canyon Lake to watch the fireworks, which was an awesome show! Such a fun and low-key day! I don't even drink but I seriously feel hungover from all the partying yesterday...

Happy birthday America!