Love love love long-sleeves

I'm a bit obsessed with long-sleeved wedding dresses, maybe because I'm always secretly on the lookout for temple OK gowns. Maybe. I love this one. Not temple ready but beautiful.

Happy Halloween!

Matt and I entered the BYU newspaper costume contest yesterday. Early this morning when Matt was on campus he opened to paper to find that we WON (!) for most creative! How exciting. We won a $25 gift card to Target, I think. But really, HOW Exciting! We're the BP oil spill and Louisiana. Halloween is my favorite holiday. And tomorrow my lovely friend Becky is throwing me a bridal shower! I can't wait!

What a wonderful weekend.

The Hotel Pink Floyd

Last night Matt and I booked our hotel for Barcelona, but we had the hardest time finding a place to stay in Rome. We found this place called Hotel Pink Floyd, their own website made it sound pretty good -really close to the center of Rome, really cheap, bare bones but workable. We were about to book it when we read this review:

Where do I start? On arrival at Rome Termini, I spent a good one and a half hours wandering the streets of Rome looking for the ill sign-posted, Hotel Pink Floyd. On eventually finding it, I thought I had arrived at the scene of Dante's Inferno.

The decor can only be described as being that of a retro-sixties crack-den. The bunk-beds, whilst functional (insofar as you could just about sleep on them - and we only managed this because we went out and got bladdered to make up for the pain of having to stay here) were somewhat dangerous. I sat up a bit too quick and ended up with a sharp shard of metal scraping my forehead.

Now onto the toilets. Ah yes, I thought I was in Rome yet I got to see one of the world's natural wonders, Niagra Falls recreated before my very eyes as I attempted to flush the unit. We basically had to limit our toilet trips during the night so as not to create a flood.

We didn't have to co-habit with any humans, although I would say that Alexander Fleming would've had a field-day with the amount of penicilin available - so at least if you need antibiotics, you can probably help yourself to the vast array of moulds there.

Bare wires in the wall (apprantly a television arial), removable windows (see 3rd reviewers pictures) and a wonderful door which needed kicking down practically to get in, all added to the experience of one night in purgatory.

Seriously though, I've stayed in many hostels - and this is by far the worst I've stayed in. Hostel isn't really appropriate - this is merely a couple of rooms in a ghetto - no social life.

Why it's called Pink Floyd? Who knows? The only reason I can think of is that you'd require an LSD trip of Roger Waters proportions to enjoy. Please don't stay if you value your time in Rome - it almost spoilt ours.



We're not staying there...

A Left Leg Story

3 years ago I was a little freshman in Helaman Halls. It was the first time I wasn't in ballet for over 5 years. During an FHE people were showing off how flexible they are. I said I could do the splits. As I sunk into them I felt something rip behind my left knee...

Flash forward to last year. My leg was normal again though not as flexible as before. I had done yoga for a year and was in a ballet class again. My left leg was getting stronger and more flexible. Yay!

This last spring I was in a new yoga class. We were in downward dog position: 

Then we were instructed to lift our right leg and bend our knee drawing our leg to the left side to open up our hips. When I did this (not hard and not even very stretch-y) I felt my left knee rip again.

I went to the doctor and he told me to just stretch it. I did (sometimes). It hasn't really bothered me all summer through yoga- I've just noticed that my left leg is not that flexible. BUT today...

Today is my last day of yoga since I've canceled my gym membership. It's a beautiful rainy day and I was loving yoga. A little over halfway through the class we were in straddle position (standing with legs spread apart wide) and we bent forward from the hips (not hard, again). I looked underneath my legs to the mirror behind to make sure my hips were square and one wasn't higher than the other. I only had a tiny amount of adjusting to do, and my left knee ripped again!

So now, no more yoga, and I'm sitting on my bed icing it with green beans -awesome. I had to limp out of class early...

Autumn = Apple, Pear, Cranberry Pie

 I made an Apple Pear Cranberry Pie with an almond biscuit crust. This magical pie fed 9 people, 7 of whom were watching my FAVORITE Halloween movie: Hocus Pocus.

 I got the recipe for the crust from the latest Martha Stewart Magazine. For some reason she sent the November issue to me at the beginning of October -honestly 2 weeks after receiving the October one. Whoa, slow down there, let me enjoy both of my favorite months? Anyway, I was skeptical about the biscuit topping, but it was actually really good. I also loved the combination of pears and apples with the cranberries. And no, mom, I did not reduce the sugar. Who wants to eat low-sugar pie? If I eat pie, I want to enjoy it. I'll just have a smaller piece.

 A week or so ago Matt and I went for a little walk in Rock Canyon. We took a few photos. Mostly I had to beg him to smile in a photo. He hates the first one because he looks like he was trying to show off his chest by having his shirt unbuttoned so low. (He was.)

And this is a photo of one of the creatures infesting our yard and eating my dying plants. My pumpkins are pretty much dead. All the leaves have withered. I can't imagine why! I water them and love them and pray for them. But they are dying. I have three pumpkins that will not turn orange! One of them looks like a cat has been attacking it in the night. There are lesions all over the surface -poor thing. I doubt we'll even be able to get seeds from the other two. They're too green.  I'm so sad.

Croque Monsieur

This photo is accidentally emphasizing the pomegranates. It's the sandwich on Matt's plate that you should be interested in.

I had this cheese sandwich for the first time in Avignon, France. I fell in love. Surprisingly, I hadn't made it for Matt until tonight. While he shelled a pomegranate, I buttered bread and sliced up a small block of $10 Gruyere cheese. Matt says nothing constitutes buying a small block of $10 cheese. Too bad these sandwiches were constitution enough.

The sandwich.

Buttered bread with Gruyere cheese and a slice of ham. Toast on both sides in a pan. THEN add Béchamel sauce over the top. (Butter and a bit of flour with milk, salt and pepper, stir until thickens to desired consistency) I added a bit more cheese to my sauce. I stuck the sandwiches under the broiler just to make everything a bit more cripsy. (The croque of Croque Monsieur is from the word "croquer" in French which means "to crunch")


Awesome. We also had a side of minestrone and a bowl of pomegranates. Very delicious, highly lactose-y dinner.

Wouldn't it be awful if your last name was Whitehead?

It's a real name. gross.

Speaking of gross, why is everything at the mall so gross? People cannot honestly buy/wear 80% of what they're selling. No more mall for me. I'm sticking with JCrew (sales of course).

I had my first midterm today. Poly Sci. I think it went alright.

I guess this is a wrap up post.

10 days ago Matt and I drove to San Bernadino for our marriage license. We spent the night in St George with two London-y married people Josh and Misty Everett. Lovely to see them, but in the morning at 245a Matt and I were on the road to CA. We were in California for a total of 1.25 hours before we were back on the road. Matt drove 15 hours that day (he wouldn't let me drive his car :p).

It's kind of autumny. The leaves are changing colors. I love autumn so freaking much. No other season is even .05% as good as fall. I could live all year long in perpetual fall. I really really could.

I've had very little work lately so not a lot of money which equals not a lot of food. But today I spent $12 and bought things to make a really delicious dinner:

Sage-Rosemary Chicken stuffed with...

Apple, Cranberry, Hazelnut stuffing. (bread courtesy of old cheesy biscuits) This is honestly the best stuffing. I had too much for the chicken, so while that is cooking I'm just munching on the stuffing. Love love love!


I hate school this semester. But I am determined to do just as well, because being engaged is not an excuse. And right now I'm blogging instead of studying. Boo.

First Wedding Present!

We received our first wedding present today from my great-uncle Richard and wife Nancy. Thank you both for the $50 Macys giftcard. That was super generous and we're so thankful!


Woo hoo!

'The whole wood is full of her spies. Even some of the trees are on her side.'

Remember earlier this month when I made a gingersnap crust pumpkin pie?

Remember how it was a stroke of genius and extremely delicious? (I don't mind saying something I've made is delicious when I eat it and cannot get enough, sorry humility.)



WELL! In the November 2010 issue of the Martha Stewart Magazine, in the "Save Room For..." section she featured a, ahem, pumpkin pie with a gingersnap crust!

I'm proud to say I did it before Martha (not that I really imagine I was the first). Also featured in the issue was cranberry tarts, which I made last year and Nicole and I have been dying for since.

Oh Martha, you're so Lana.

Has anyone ever died of being engaged?

What a horrible infliction -similar to teenage years. A pulling stuck feeling where you don't belong before it and you can't yet belong after it.


ready for marriage

Better late than never; good wedding ring photos:

I can't take it

I don't like scary movies. I like some movies that are creepy but end well or have a great twist that nullify the former creepiness, but I do not like scary movies. I try to like them, heavens knows why. Matthew loves them, and I wish I could be there for him. But I can't. I'm too sensitive. I still cry when I think about The Shining. Matt says he'll save the really scary movies for when we're married so I wont have to go to bed alone afterward. I really don't think that will solve the problem. It is inevitable that I will at some point be alone and when that happens, the scary scenes will visit me...

Now, I do love Halloween, though. But I love Hocus Pocus, and Halloweentown, and Casper, and Sleepy Hollow, etc. I love the Happy Halloween movies.

I tried to watch The Omen with Matt tonight. I got half-way through before I asked him to turn it off. We spent the rest of the evening watching Nicolas Cage montages and the end of City of Angels. I feel a little better now.

I wish I could like scary movies. But they are just too real for me, and they stay with me for YEARS! I'm too sensitive and impressionable -but I don't really mind, in fact I kind of like being sensitive.