The Pingrees Take Paris

I've been putting off talking about our trip to Paris for weeks. I can't seem to find any words to describe our time there. It was such a special time and it hurts my heart to think about not being there. All I'll say is that exploring the city of love and lights with Chin, without knowing the language and only relying on each other without phones or internet and language barriers, was the best time of my life. 

Instead of doing multiple posts about our trip, I might save our stories for just Chin and me and my little travel journal. However, here are just a couple photos from our trip and a little video I made with footage from our trip. Enjoy!

So 22

I turned 22 yesterday. And ohhh what an age 22 is. I'd like to say it's the perfect age. You're still young and spry, but at the same time, you've passed that awkward bump that's 21 and are no longer considered "barely an adult." You have one whole year of adulthood under your belt and you've learned a thing or two since then. You're willing to take on more responsibility, and you're no longer "just another college girl." You're a functioning member of society with the ups and downs that comes along with that. So I'm happy to be 22. I liked being 21 too; the thrill of finally reaching adulthood and the sense of accomplishment that came with that, that was nice. But for me 21 was a growth period. I slumped and bumped along for half of that year, and then decided to make some changes to better myself. Now I'm 22 and the ball is rolling and I'm fresh and clean and it's just one more step in this progression. And I'm pretty happy about it. I won't be 22 forever, so I guess I'll enjoy it while I can.

 

Yesterday ended up being pretty low key. I've been on my sick death bed all week, so after a short (and pretty pathetic) attempt at picking up my exercise routine in the morning, I headed to Med School Wive's Club that my mother (usually it's just us med wives, but we were graced with the prescence of my mother, grandma, and a few family friends) offered to host for my birthday. I was blown away and honored that my mom went to so much trouble to make our luncheon special for me yesterday. She thought of basically everything and the table was a beautiful sea of pink and gold, my two favorite colors of all time. You're never too old for pink, right? She made, well, pretty much everything. You see it, name it, she made it. 

Homemade pom pom toppers on top of Wegmans cupcakes (I died).

 

I loved the little touches like the gold jungle animals (dollar toy stores she spray painted) and succulents for each girl, planted in a hand-painted tea cup.

(Photo below courtesy of Xan Craven)

My mother and I both share a love for decorating with Chinese takeout boxes, these were the perfect pink! I also loved the little Hors D'Oeuvres table!

My pictures, as always, don't do the table justice. I love the polka-dotted burlap runner my mother sewed, as well as the hand-dipped vase filled to the brim with Trader Joe's florals.

 

CUPCAKES.

  

 Chin and his buddies got out of class early yesterday, and since all their wives were over for the luncheon, they surprised us by popping in and studying at my parents' house for a few hours while we partied. Bless them.

So grateful for my friends and family (near and far) who made my day special. 'Specially love my Mama and the Wives Club (missing you Liz!), and Ali Kirk because I'm obsessed with her. 

My Grandma made it to the luncheon to give me kisses and tell embarrassing stories about me which I don't mind one bit. She's the best lady out there.

 

I took Lady to the vet for a checkup in the late afternoon, got a nap in (!), and then Chin and I went to dinner at Good Luck. I'd been wanting to try it for a while and we decided to go and were so happy about it. It's a Farm-to-Table restaurant where every thing they serve is made to scratch in house (so so fresh). They serve it to you family style, and slowly bring you out each course one at a time so you can enjoy everything on its own. Chin and I ended up sharing a Bibb Lettuce Salad with Pepperoncini Vinaigrette, the Good Luck Burger (a huge burger topped with McAdam cheddar, fresh slaw, and hand-cut fries), and chocolate cake with homemade ice cream. Our dinner ended up being 3 hours long, between long talks in between courses, lots of eating, and conversations with people around us. 

I'm grateful to Chin for getting me Lady as my birthday present this year, she's a gem (obvi since she's the CUTEST) and I love her to pieces. My birthday gift to myself? Losing 43 pounds and feeling so much healthier this birthday than last. You might not be able to tell a difference, but I think I look a lot different this birthday than last, and I'm pretty happy about it.

 

I'm like, SO 22 right now.

Updates on All the Things

I'm not really sure where to begin here I guess. These past couple of weeks have honestly been some of the craziest, busiest, hardest, happiest weeks of my life. It feels weird to feel so many emotions all at one time, and it's left me exhausted and ragged. 

Since the last time I posted, I graduated from college (!), packed up everything else I possess (that wasn't already packed away), said goodbye to all my friends and sisters and family in Utah, moved across the country for good, reunited with Chin, and started moving into our house and painting. 

I think all the excitement has been too much for me, because I'm writing this post with a sniffly nose, headache, and a big mug of chamomile tea. 

Saying goodbye to Utah was a lot harder than expected. I cried A LOT, and listened to a lot of John Mayer ballads. I spent a lot of time going from house to house saying goodbye to some of my favorite people on this earth. It's just heart-wrenching to not know when you'll see someone again. It's not like you're not still best friends, it's just that distance is hard for soul. 

Regardless, being back with Chin is the best Christmas gift I could ask for, and I've been keeping so busy that the hurt I feel from missing my loved ones in Utah is being masked by running to job interviews and lathering paint rollers in Benjamin Moore. 

I was a bad documenter (is that a word?) and used my iPhone instead of my camera to record what's happened in the last little bit, so here are some shots of life lately via instagram and iPhone pics.

1. Let it snow! We had a few days of heaping piles of snow in Utah right before I left. I loved it and think God gave me one final gift of snowy mountains before I moved.

2. This was my capstone group for the semester. We spent a lot of quality time together and I love them. These kids are the salt of the earth right here.

3. Saying goodbye to AlPal was excruciating. We went out with a bang by watching Where the Light Is and eating costa vida, followed by me crying and Ali thinking I'm insane because I cry all the time over everything so that's good.

4. One last shot of the Brimhall building, where I basically spent every day in college.

5. My love triangle and first real friends at BYU. Kir and Liza got me through just about everything these past 3.5 years and I can't wait for what our future friendship holds.

6. Saying goodbye to snowy mountains on a teary/anxious plane ride back to New York.

 

You probably think I'm a freak and you'd probably be right since I was a mess last week. On a brighter note, things have been MUCH happier since being back home with Chin and my fam. 

7. Chin and I in front of our new place. We look cray because we had been moving stuff all day but we love it!

8. My favorite place, like ever.

9. I'm not made to make huge decisions apparently because picking out paint colors for the rooms in our house has been like, the hardest thing ever. 

Here are some "before" pictures of our place. As you will see, we have a LOT of work to do. The house has a lot of natural charm, but hopefully after we're done with it, it'll look like new. 

That couch came with the house, we're getting it reupholstered with some awesome fabric. I'm obsessed with the fireplace (that we can actually use!), the barn ceiling, and the built-ins in our living room! 

Are those curtains not the most awesome things you've ever seen? They'll be the first thing to go when we get to work on the living room. 

This is our master bedroom. It's the first room I wanted to tackle because that awful yellow paint and tacky window valences are going to drive me insane.

This is our sun room. It's actually pretty awesome and is getting new tile put in over Christmas. It used to have this disgusting plush green carpet. Hallelujiah for tile.

This is the dining room. We're taking down the wallpaper and painting it light grey, and hoping that I can scratch that tacky floral print out of my eyeballs.

Ohhhhh the kitchen. It's by far having the most work done to it. The linoleum floor is being replaced with tile, the countertops are being replaced with granite ones, and we're getting a new sink and some more cabinets. We're hoping it will look brand new when it's all done!

Some progress: I started painting the master bedroom today. It looks blue here but it's actually a darker grey that I'm still adjusting to. Luckily anything is better than yellow. I didn't picture our other 2 bedrooms or bathroom, but they basically look the same. Lots of potential. :)

Weekend Bliss

I've been MIA recently because I haven't had a whole lot to write about. I figured instead of blogging about things that would probably bore you to tears (like my fall TV show list and how much time I spend looking for apartments online), I would just stay silent until something worth blogging about came along.

So here it goes, this weekend I took another trip to Rochester. It was the weekend from Heaven. The first few weeks from when I got back from Rochester the first time seemed to go by pretty quickly. I was busy enough that October got here earlier than expected, but the last two weeks have dragged on and this weekend couldn't seem to come soon enough.

I took a red eye Wednesday night so by the time I got to Rochester Thursday morning I was exhausted. But after a shower and a nap I was ready to go, and Christian got home early from school so we got to spend the afternoon together.

We did a lot of my favorite things this weekend. Living in Provo by myself, I haven't gone out and done a lot this semester (which has been admittedly hard for me), so not only was it amazing to be with Christian, but it was so fun to get out and do things together. 

The weather in Upstate New York is my favorite of all time currently. Chilly with a crisp breeze, and crunchy leaves under our feet. The leaves were just at the final moments of their fall transformation this weekend, right before they fall and leave the forests barren for Winter. 

Between the colors and breathtaking landscapes, I spent the whole weekend telling everyone, "I can't believe how pretty it is here!"

You would have thought that I had never been to the Northeast before- let alone lived there. 

Here are a few shots from one of the best weekends I can remember:

A shot from our walk around Mendon Ponds Park, a park close to my parents' home.

Thursday afternoon we went to Powers Farm Market, a small local produce store that I've been going to during the fall since I was a child. In the fall they have fresh apples, a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, and man-made corn husk TeePees that they fill with lit jack-o-lanterns.

Chin and I spent the afternoon drinking hot cider and eating pumpkin donuts, exploring the TeePees, feeding the goats, and picking out the perfect pumpkin. In my definition, pure bliss. 

A few more shots from our walk in the park:

On Friday we went with my parents to one of my favorite eating spots in Rochester, Olive's Greek Taverna.
I've mentioned it a lot on here (like, it's a strange obsession), but I always find myself wanting to go here every time I visit. 
Their chicken gyros and Greek feta dill fries are incredible, and so fresh and light (as light as french fries can be). 
Post dinner we went to see Perks of Being a Wallflower. I haven't read the book so I'm not sure how it compares, but the movie was amazing. Funny, but touched on a lot of intense issues that don't often get portrayed in film.

My view from my parents' deck Saturday morning.

Saturday night we had some of Chin's friends from medical school over for dinner. I had met them once before but felt like I knew them already because Chin talks about them so much (and they lived up to all the hype- here's hoping I did too!). 

On Sunday, my flight left in the early afternoon. After church Chin and I took my pup Rusty on a walk around my parents' pond and the neighborhood. Rusty decided to be rebellious and run off and get himself in a little trouble, but we had so much fun chasing him around and keeping him out of his pond. 

Overall, it was an amazing weekend, and it was really REALLY hard to leave. Sometimes I wonder if it's wise for me to even visit at all, because every time I leave it gets harder and harder. But, it's so worth it to see Chin. 

P.S. Sorry for the picture overload, I'm trying to document our time together as much as possible this semester.

How was your weekend?