Saturday, June 30, 2012

A very pin-teresting weekend is back!

My very deepest apologies for letting the one thing that was supposed to be consistent about this blog disappear.

But after the chaos and of Paris and coming back and settling in....
a very pinteresting weekend has returned!

Here are some of my favorites:
All these DIYs for beloved dresses/outfits from stores like Anthro that I could only dream of affording
Board: DIY

This hilariousness. I need to become an avid watcher of this show.
Board: Laugh.
The fact that this child is so undeniably fabulous and I want her to be mine.
Board: Children

 Egg whites and honey whipped pancakes baked with fruit
Board: Yum.
 This Gatsby sweater that I absolutely must own in time to see the movie
Board: Pins and Needles
 This getup
Board: Alpha Male Suave
 Everything about this whole sexy man scruff-ness.
Board: Alpha Male Suave
 Quinoa fruit salad with honey-lime dressing
Board: My Vegan Future
 This beautiful excerpt from something
Board: Food for Thought
 Reliving Paris memories
Board: Paris, je t'aime
 The absolute and utter repulsive adorableness of the lovely Emma Stone and SMOKIN' Andrew Garfield
Board: Pretty People
 The back of this dress. Absolutely dying.
Board: Honey, go buy yourself something sparkly
 This child.  I mean, just look at it.
Board: Children
And this breathtaking dress
Board: Pins and Needles


Welp, that's all for this weekend, folks!
After a fun (and way late, and somewhat ghetto) evening with my dear Laura at the drive-in, I am off to bed to rest up before testing out my new climbing gear on the rocks outside!


All my love, B.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

OLYMPICS MUSIC

Exciting news!
My boys from MUSE made the cut to have their new song be the theme song of the London 2012 Summer Olympics! (But I mean, it's MUSE.  It wasn't really a fair competition, in my opinion.)

This song is pretty intense and totally captures the crazy competitive and passionate spirit of the Olympics.
Give it a listen!


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Right, so....

This was my day.

And I guess a little bit of "homework", "laundry", "essay-writing", and "eating" too.
But mostly just sitting here, finishing season 1 and fangirling.

But! The most productive part of my day was that 
I ordered all my new climbing gear! And it's already shipped! How efficient of you, backcountry.com!

I need a real job....
and for this weekend to hurry up getting here so I can go back to Salt Lake for my very first drive-in movie!

All my love, B.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

sometimes best friends leave for 2 years

Today was for the most part pretty slow
Slept in (whoops)
Did some homework reading
Went to my last class of the week (and it's only Tuesday! The rest are canceled-summmmmmerrr YAY!)
Studied for a bit
Went to try on gear at the climbing gym and realized quickly that I have a nice $200 charge coming soon. (Sorry mom-it's cheaper in the long run than blowing $5 on rentals every time I go in, right?)
Came home intending to do research work but then ended up watching Suits and fell asleep until now.

And then I realized one of my best, BEST friends is leaving on his 2-year mission to Ireland and Scotland TOMORROW.

Whenever a new friend leaves, it always seems like a far-off sort of thing that isn't actually happening until it DOES.  And then I start crying like a baby, like right now. 

It's always such a bittersweet thing when this happens.  I am so, so, SO proud of all of my friends who have lived their lives so wonderfully, so righteously, so gentleman-like, so worthily so that they can go out into the world and serve the Lord.  But then I realize I don't get to see them or really talk to these people that were just a phone call or skype call away for two years. And THEN I realize that I might not even see them for three or three and a half years, depending on if I end up serving my mission!

So here's to you, Elder Crosby.  I am so proud to call you my friend.

Go out there and serve the Lord with all your heart, but kind of hurry back, ok?

All my love, B.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

happy sunday

So I've been blessed with two wonderful days.

I was in the climbing gym for a good 3 or so hours and tackled my first 5.10a
(believe me, for a girl with next to no upper body strength whatsoever, this is no small feat!)

Then went to make some amazing banana chocolate chip muffins to share with roommates.

Then finished off by going to dinner and seeing "Brave" with a friend from last year.

But today, Sunday, I was reminded about how incredible our gospel is and how much my testimony has grown.  I am in a "Teachings of the Living Prophets" class this summer, which includes quite a bit more reading and studying than I had anticipated, but instead of being worn down by all the assignments and the talks, I am finding that I actually look forward to reading the words of our prophets, apostles and other leaders.  They are so inspired.

I am also in a class about the Doctrine and Covenants (for those of you who don't know, this is a book of modern revelations given to Prophets about how to set up and run certain aspects of our church....that's probably not an adequate description, but if you have any other questions, I invite you to follow the link on my "I do believe" tab).  In this class I am having a similar experience, where I am excited to read and gain a more complete knowledge, understanding, and respect for Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and many of the early prophets of our day.

Today at church in Relief Society (our womens meeting), a girl I have not yet become acquainted with shared a beautiful lesson about remaining faithful and keeping an eternal perspective in the easy and difficult times in our lives, and I think that is so important. 

I've recently started learning the piano music for this song and practiced it a little more today. I know I've shared this link before, but take a few minutes today to listen  and reflect on all the wonderful things that exist in your life thanks to our Heavenly Father. You don't have to share my religious beliefs, but I am absolutely certain that we all have things to be thankful for.


All my love, B.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Brace yourselves...

So over the next few weeks I'm going to be switching up my blog layout and design.  If you haven't noticed, I've had two themes going on for the past little while-
Music. Love. Sunshine. Life 
and 
Birdie in Paris   
I'm trying to transition over to all Birdie in Paris now.  I know that Paris is over, but it's definitely a part of who I am now and I don't want to ever leave that totally behind. 

So I apologize to anyone who visits in the next few weeks-don't get scared off by the lack of organization you are sure to see!

**IMPORTANT: 
If you have one of my buttons, I would appreciate it so so so much if you'd grab my new "Birdie In Paris" button off the sponsor page.  I'll come out with new sizes soon if mine doesn't work for you.  But I think that should help to alleviate some confusion over the true identity of this blog. I'm working on it! Promise! What is summer for if not huge, time consuming projects?

ANYWAY, 
what I'm not loving:
City parking stress
9,000 reading assignments and a 12 page paper hanging over my head
Still....no job.

what I am absolutely loving with allllllll of my heart:
having no school on Fridays!
Meeting in SLC (I told you I'd find any reason to come out here) to go to the arts festival with my beautiful twin friends/old roommates!
**I don't understand why this text decided to highlight itself white? Ok. This blog definitely needs some work.

please excuse my giant man-arm

Finally getting to visit the SLC library-my not-so-inner nerd was going craaaazy!

free Chobani yogurt!
City creek mall and french baguettes from the new city creek Harmon's

This weekend's off to a great start!

All my love, B.




Monday, June 18, 2012

upon my return.

So I spent last Thursday through Saturday driving through like half an hour of Oklahoma, forever and a day of desolate Kansas wilderness, the breathtaking gorgeousness of Colorado Mountains, and the wonderful everything of Southern Utah. I came with my grandparents, and that was just such an amazing experience.  I have NOT gotten to spend an adequate amount of time with them in years.

So, when I arrived, what I expected was to constantly be making this face
HOOOOOOORAYYYY for webcam!

because of what an instant party it was supposed to be.

But instead I've found myself making this face a lot.
Exasperated/cynical/stressed/ugh
Shirt: Muse Concert 2010. Permission to be jealous granted.  It was fantastic, thanks for asking.

Because I got locked out
And I don't know the majority of my roommates
The one that I do know is engaged, and you know how THAT goes.
And I have no room for my groceries or storage needs
And I can't decide what groceries I need, because I'm trying to be healthier and that involves cooking.
And I realized that I actually have to start school.
And I still have no job.
And I don't want to sound like one of "those" girls who studied abroad and can't be happy where she is, but let's be honest....
Everything pales in comparison to the last seven weeks of my life in France.
Also after writing this, it looks like I need to update my blog layout...France being over and all.

Just one of those moods, I guess.

But I'm optimistic!

Got to see old friends and spend plenty of time in Salt Lake, my absolute favorite big city
Was reunited with a great friend, who, after two whole years of distance, I'll finally get to spend a consistent amount of time with (is that a sentence that makes sense? Grammar today=no.)
Said friend taught me slacklining and then made me the most amazing Vegan Tomato Basil Soup off his mother's website (go check it out!)
And we made plans to go see the Dark Knight Rises in July
And join the climbing gym
And take Intro to Outdoor Rec together
And do other things on a long list of must-do accomplishments
And I'll go to concerts
And see old friends
And make new ones
And maybe get called back for any of those jobs I applied for.
And read books
And see plays (Les Misérables at the Shakespeare festival in Cedar City? YES.)
And catch up on Mad Men
And watch Suits (AMAZING show.)
And spend this week with my sister.

So bring it on, summer, is all I'm saying.

All my love, B.

Friday, June 15, 2012

100!

Bonjour friends! 


So I was just looking at my blog homepage, fully intending to do a really deep reflective post about the end of my trip and my too-short weekend home, but then I saw that my post count was sitting at 99 and I decided that was NOT gonna fly.  So today, on June 16, 2012, marks the monumental event of me having actually stuck with this silly blog that is often embarrassing and uninteresting and just basically one more therapeutic dumping ground for all my random thoughts... for a full 100 posts!


So here are some pictures of the number 100:









So I was going to try and find 100 creative representations of the number 100, but I got on google images and after about page 3, things started getting weird. So there you have it!

~*~*~*~

Now, to celebrate my 100th post, I was trying to think of a list of 100 anythings to share with you.  But as my brain is currently roadtrip fried, I decided to steal 100 questions from the world of 
mYsP@c3 <333 and do one of those cute (barf) 100 questions surveys. 

Enjoy!! (Or please, please don't.  You have the chance to turn back now.  I do advise you to take it.)

~*~*~*~

__Basics__

1. Name: Brittany
2. Nicknames: BIRDIE, Britt, Brit, BT, BLT, Bee, Nit-Ney, MoMo, BTMoMo, BlondieSauce, the list goes on and on and on and on and-
3. Birthday: Next month! You'll know when it gets here!
4. Place of Birth: San Antonio :) love of my lifeeee....
5. Zodiac Sign: Cancer
6. Sex: Cancer
7. Class: ?
8. School: BYU 
9. Occupation: Student/Researcher 
10. Residence: Provo Bubble
11. AIM: lol

__Your Appearance___

12. Hair Color: blondiesauce
13. Hair Length: past my boobs! (finally)
14. Eye color: bright blue
15. Hairstyle: long, some layers
16. Height: a freaking INCH too tall to be Tinkerbell at Disneyworld.  That's all that matters.
17. Braces: once upon a time.  And thank goodness.  
18. Glasses: Yes :/ it's about Lasik time I think.
19. Piercings: 1 in each ear and a scar leftover from that rebellious month of freshman year when I pierced my cartilage
20. Tattoos: Nope....and sorry if this makes me sound less-than-classy but...IWANTSOMEEE.
21. Righty or Lefty: right

___Your 'Firsts'___

22. First best friend: oh goodness...I honestly have no earthly idea.  San Antonio people.
23. First Award: First one I can remember was my 4th grade music participation award.  I was so sure that meant I was going to be a prodigy...meh.
24. First Sport You Joined: Soccer....HAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHA is all I have to say about that.
25. First pet: About a thousand fish and then my hamster....Hammy.  SO creative.  And I got bored after a week.
26. First Real Vacation: Camping in the mountains with California family!
27. First Concert: Trans-Siberian Orchestra....LOVEDIT.
28. First Love: oh you know, that cute little mormon 6th grader who's now in jail for who knows what.

___ Favorites___

29. Movie: The Count of Monte Cristo
30. TV program: How I Met Your Mother/Parenthood/So You Think You Can Dance
31. Color: Turquoise
32. Rapper: lol
33. Band: Mumford/Muse/City and Colour
34. Song Right Now: uhhhh.....Nous Restions La-Pierre LaPointe. 
35. Place to be: Monte Carlo Beach.
36. Sweet: Peach Rings-or Peach Apricot nectar
37. Sport: Dance
38. Restaurant: Panera.
39. Favorite brand: JCREWWW
40. Store: uhhhhhhhhhh^?
41. School Subject: Psychology/French
42. Animal: I had this weird obsession with white tigers at one point.  I don't do animals but...let's stick with that.
43. book: HP/Screwtape Letters/Perks of Being a Wallflower/A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
44. Magazine: Let's be real....Seventeen.
45. Shoes: TOMS

___Currently___

46. Feeling: nostalgic/excited/happy/twitterpated/happy/sad/happy/incomplete/happy
47. Single or Taken: at this very second extremely single
48. Have a crush: um
49. Eating: my sorrow over leaving france
51. Typing: this
52. Online Right Now: yuh
53. Listening To: RIGHT this very second I realized I awkwardly have my headphones in but no music playing...uhh
55. Wanting To: see my best Utah friends again! Less than 24 hours! 
56. Watching: this
57. Wearing: pjs

___Your Future___

58. Want Kids?: only if they speak french.  you think I"m kidding until you realize that is literally the most adorable thing on the planet
59. Want to be Married?: durrr
60. Careers in Mind: Human Resources
61. Where do you want to live: East Coast or right this very second, freaking Colorado mountains.  This is GORGEOUS
62. Car: Dexter :)

__Which is Better With The Opposite Sex___

63. Hair color: Color doesn't matter as long as it looks NICE
64. Hair length: not buzzed but clean cut
65. Eye color: Again, color-eh. Overall look and eyelash length-<333333
66. Measurements: If by that you mean body type? They're usually tall and skinny but toned.
67. Cute or Sexy: A generous combination of the two.
68. Lips or Eyes: Teeth.  OHMYGOODNESS teeth.  And mouth in general.  If I look at you and I can't see myself kissing your mouth, you're done.
69. Hugs or Kisses: I'm a hugger.  But if we're already kissing, I am definitely a kisser too.
70. Short or Tall: Tall.
71. Easygoing or serious: situational
72. Romantic or Spontaneous: kind of the same thing?
73. Fatty or Skinny: uhhhh....I'll let you answer that one
74. Sensitive or Loud: not really in the same category.  Sensitive and charismatic
75. Hook-up or Relationship: Relationship
76. Sweet or Caring: who wrote this?
77. Trouble Maker or Hesitant One: Somewhere near the middle of the spectrum, but leaning toward troublemaker

___Have you ever______

78. Kissed a Stranger: no
79. Had Alcohol: no
80. Smoked: nope
81. Ran Away From Home: when I was like, 12? And then I got scared so I hid by our side door.  My mom called my dad home from work and my grandparents and everything.  It was hilarious.  BUT SO BAD (serious face)
82. Broken a bone: wrist
83. Got an X-ray: mhmmm
84. Been with someone: in a relationship "with"? yeah
85. Broke someones Heart: I sure hope not
86. Broke Up With Someone: not exactly
87. Cried When Someone Died: of course
88. Cried At School: mhmm

___Do You Believe In___

89. God: yes
90. Miracles: yes 
91. Love At First sight: lust at first sight, love comes later
92. Ghosts: no, but then I watch fact or faked and I'm not quite sure.  Spirits, yes.
93. Aliens: not really
94. Soul Mates: I wish.  That sounds so epic and romantic. But, I believe that there will always be people that we connect with far better than others, but there isn't only one.  It all depends on your choices, where you choose to live, go to school, how you act, etc.
95. Heaven: Absolutely
96. Hell: Outer Darkness yes
97. Angels: Yes
98. Kissing on The First Date: Not from personal experience but I guess if the date's going SUPER well....who knows?
99. Horoscopes: Nah, but they're scary accurate sometimes

___Answer Truthfully___

100. Is There Someone You Want But You Know You Can't Have? Hahaha...no.  What a lame last question.

Well there ya have it, folks! 100 posts of complete mundane Brittany-ness.  Thanks for sticking around!

Also, keep your eyes peeled for a post-France reflections entry on the blog...I promise it'll be up sooner or later.  SO HAPPY to be back in Utah tomorrow! Yay!

All my love, B.