A partial summer update!

This summer has been a good one, and rather than trying to catch up on e'rrything, I'm just gonna do a quick, partial update – but with lots of pictures!

DC FRIENDS

This might be a bad thing, but I'm gonna look at it as a good thing Aside from becoming friends with my co-workers, I haven't really expanded my social circle much. I have a small but good group of DC friends who moved to Utah before I did (and Maggie who has since joined the fold!). Between that, my family, and DC friends visiting Utah, I've had my social calendar covered. :)

Some of our summer adventures –

On one of Maggie and Bremen's first weekends in Utah, a group of us headed down to Pleasant Grove (my first time there) for the Strawberry Days rodeo. Of course, our experience would've been incomplete without trying the strawberries and cream.



(more photos after the jump!)


There was also the time Mel and I hiked in City Creek Canyon and made wishes on giant dandelions. See Mel's IG video here if you want. :)

Hiking in the Albion Basin!

photo cred: kind strangers using Mel's camera

Or when Mel, C$ and I went to a local Buddhist festival a few weeks ago:

Or when Mel and I went to an outdoor concert near Temple Square and caught some amazing sunset photos of the temple.

The girls' outing Kate, Megs, Mel, and I took to Park City! (Dinner on Main Street + s'mores at the St. Regis = most romantic girls' night ever. Lol.)

photo cred: Mags + my selfie stick. #noshame

UTAH VISITORS

Let's start My VERY first visitor was Jimmy! Jimmy was my Comms co-worker back in DC. I loved working with Jimmy! He's basically the annoying older brother I never had. ;) Jimmy's visit deserves its own post, bc we took a zillion photos, but for now, I'll leave you with this one from our excursion to the Bonneville Salt Flats:



Over Memorial Day weekend, KK came to visit! She was one of my last two DC roommates, and she's basically one of my favorite people ever, so I was excited to see her. :) I visited her family's home in American Fork and got to enjoy the hot tub and this amazing view –

Then, of course, priorities. We stayed up late and watched the remaining episodes of The Mindy Project and New Girl. We used to watch both shows together every week in DC, and when I moved before the seasons ended, we made a pact to NOT watch any episodes until the next time we were together. Awww. :) It felt like we were teenyboppers having a sleepover and watching girly TV late into the night.  Ha ha!

I'm excited to see her again this weekend for Blake & Tory's sealing!

Also, Brad came into town and hiked with us!



C-LIN VISIT

Caitlin debated a lot about whether to come out for our friend Erika's wedding (that deserves its own post also!), and I'm so glad she did! It was really fun to see her! Mel had spent the night on my new couch, but Caitlin was my first real out-of-town guest to use it. (I'm happy to report both girls gave the couch a thumbs up!)

On her first day here, I picked her up from the airport, and we went back to my office. We ate a quick lunch, and then we both worked in my office the rest of the day. :) That night, we went to dinner at Copper Onion (SO good! All the thumbs up on their burger and pasta carbonara! Their burger is currently tied with Lucky 13 in my book for best burger in SLC.), and the BEST part is we WALKED e'rrywhere! It's maybe three-fourths of a mile from my house to the restaurant, and then we just walked all over downtown. I even made sure we rode Trax so she could get a real feel for SLC, and I'm happy to report she left impressed! ;) And have I mentioned how much I LOVE my neighborhood?? 

Dinner + a walk downtown!

And I'm not gonna lie – most of our other adventures also included food. Like... when we ate Ruby Snap cookies. Or got breakfast at Eva's Bakery before the wedding (chocolate croissants... Mmmm!).

When we weren't busy eating, we got mani-pedis and met up with some of our DC girlfriends. :) We watched an outdoor (Sundance!) film at Red Butte Gardens with Camille, Maggie, and Tory.

And we met up for Provo's rooftop concert series post-wedding with Mel, Mags, and Lauren (Mel's little sis).

And we did try to burn off some calories with a quick hike to Ensign Peak.


SUMMER IN SLC

Summertime in Salt Lake is a great time. Lots of outdoor festivals, concerts, and oh, I just love living within walking distance of downtown!

Sugarhouse Truck Fest (every Monday night)

Granary Row (every Friday & Saturday)

Discovering graffiti on a walk downtown!

Lake Mary. I haven't done NEARLY enough in the outdoors, but Utah in the summertime is GORGEOUS!

WORK STUFF

Work is going well! I've been here a few months and am feeling more settled. Plus, my co-workers are awesome, which always helps!

The boss, talking to media.

The time we had a fundraiser, and my boss told the little boys to give away the flowers to pretty ladies, and I got a bouquet. :) 

BRB while I go try to live it up some more this summer. ;)