42 Hours in Boise

This past weekend Dh and I took a quick 80 minute flight up to Boise to see my cousin play college football against BSU. In addition to visiting another new state, we had the pleasure of meeting some of the nicest people EVER. I swear, Idaho, no idea how you do it but your people are so warm and kind.

Boise is a lovely city with a vibrant Basque scene as well as multiple breweries (hurrah for craft beer!). And you can't forget about Idaho potatoes.. just delicious. We had a great time walking the city - because Boise is fairly flat it's easy to walk around to and from attractions (no need for taxis, either!). We had a great time at the Boise State tailgate, made some friends and went to a space bar, and I tried a bison burger for the first time (and I liked it).

Until next time Boise.... thank you!

Sour beer at Bittercreek

Stuffed beignets at the farmers market

Inside the Capital building

Boise State Helmet on a golf cart..

Boise Depot

Albertson's Stadium, aka Smurf Turf at BSU

All the way from UL!

Bison burger + Laura fries at Boise Fry Co

Awesome street art

Crossing the Snake River

If you go...

Eat/Drink:
Boise Fry Company - pick your potato and fry type, and then prepare to mix sauces and salts to a come up with your own french fry creation. Also, try the bison burger. Yum.
Boise Taphouse - huge beer selection and tv's galore for football Sunday.
The Basque Market - an awesome basque tapas bar with crazy good croquettes and meatballs. Definitely don't forget the chocolate pudding for dessert.
Bittercreek Ale House - fantastic late night happy hour, and the poutine is out of this world.

To do:
Space bar - get your retro game on with pinball, 80's arcade games, and super nintendo while sipping local beer at this awesome spot.
Idaho Capital Building - a gorgeous capital building open on weekends with lots of history about Idaho and it's counties. Plus, the dome inside is absolutely gorgeous.
Albertson's stadium at Boise State - Smurf turf. Enough said.
Basque Block - Basque culture in Boise condensed into a block of it's own.
Boise Depot - What remains of Boise's train depot, along with a beautiful garden and ponds overlooking the city.
Capital City Public Market - An outdoor market with one requirement - everything has to be made in Idaho (try the BuckSnort root beer and look for some huckleberry goats milk soap!)

Stay:
Hotel 43 - lovely boutique hotel within the heart of downtown, and a complimentary airport shuttle with 1PM checkout.

Question and answer Monday linkup

I saw this over at Pretty in pink Megan and thought this would be a fun idea for a normally bland Monday here in the office. :)

1. favorite place you've traveled. Wow... that's hard. I love all of Europe. Italy is amazing. Paris was romantic. London is full of adventure. Amsterdam is so charming with its canals... so that will have to do.

2. where would you want to go if you could have a paid ticket and hotel? Istanbul!

3. if you have a trip planned, where are you going? We have several this year.... Hawaii in March for a wedding, Denver and Philly in June for two weddings, DC in September and November, and our honeymoon in Europe in the fall.

4.Were you an honor roll student in school? Only in college.

5. what was your major in college English language literature. ;)

6. Ever go to camp? Never! :(

7. favorite tv show of all time Oh that is so hard. I've been watching AFV for years!

8. What was the last thing you ever got grounded for? I never got grounded. O:)

9. What was your childhood nickname? Laura Fo

10. what would your dream job be? Travel photojournalist / animal sanctuary owner.

And so this isn't lacking..some pics from this weekend.

 Pretty flowers at one of our favorite brunch spots on Saturday morning.

 Rosie loving on my slippers (odd cat, at least she has good taste)

The new starbucks Valentines day cups - they always put a smile on my face!

 

And stay tuned later... I'll have my Jason Wu for target haul post! Happy Monday!

Weekend Review

A little hard to believe that its already 7:20 on Sunday night - where did this weekend go?  Here's some shots from this weekend...

My friend Nikki walking the runway at a Mary Kay/White House Black Market event. Her hair and dress were outstanding!

Pretty pumps that may or may not have hitched a ride home in a shopping bag...

My work outfit on Fridayin the newest section of my office. Sweater and striped buttondown, Madewell. Jeans and shoes, Banana Republic.

Hipstamatic photos from a bar called The Owl's Nest on Friday night with friends. Loved the lighting in the place!

 Not quite sure what's better than a Louis Vuitton cupcake... If only all cupcakes came with a Vuitton bag as a cherry on top then I'd be happy!

Grey suede pumps that may or may not have also stolen into my bag today.... decisions! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend - January is almost over! I'm so excited to move toward another new month and see what February has in store. Plus... its a short month, the super bowl is coming up, and how about that Jason Wu collection for target that's being released on Sunday? (Get ready ladies, I'm first in line!)

Weekend photo replay

Some photos that I snapped this weekend... the first three are from my massive walk on Saturday morning throughout Nob Hill, Russian Hill, North Beach, Telegraph Hill, and the Embarcadero.

I love sidewalk art... little reminders to be happy and smile

There was some major pollination going on at the top of the hill...

I loved this perfect pink little rose hiding on the stairs to Coit Tower

The last one is how Rosie got her nickname Chomps...

Watch out, she'll chomp your feet..

Also in big news we're about to sign our wedding contract for August 11, 2012! I can feel the stress leaving my shoulders as I type this. The next big thing I want to knock out right away is our photographer.

So that's about it for now - I can't believe July is already coming to a close and August is knocking on our doors. Odd to think that I'll be 27 in a month - jeesh that sounds... old. :O

Happy Monday!

weekend in pictures + wardrobe musings

I thought this might be a nice thing to start doing on a weekly basis. Now featuring - laura's weekend in pictures wrap up!

On Saturday morning we had quite a bit of rain here in the city. That didn't stop Dave and I from being able to get out of the apartment for a bit. We went down to the farmer's market on embarcadero had picked up some yummy jam, tried artisan cheeses, and were able to try our hand at pressing fresh apples to make apple cider.

After we dried off a bit from the rain we headed south to half moon bay for the wedding of a childhood friend. The wedding was gorgeous and the clouds gave way to some sunshine for the bride and groom. We had a great time (even a little too much champagne) but that can never be a bad thing when you are happy! I had a great time celebrating with Dave, my sister, my dad, and my sister's boyfriend Ray. It was probably a good thing that we had our own table to ourselves since we were pretty entertained by the seashells, cake, and anything else that we seemed to get our hands on at that point in time.

After the wedding Dave and I headed back up to the city for Halloween Eve with some friends at a club. We got home really late but had a great night dancing and admiring other people's costumes.

Sunday was a lazy day - we had brunch at once of our favorite restaurants in Nob Hill, took naps, did some housework, and had a great dinner with his mom and sister in Jack London Square. The sunset was fantastic!

Because of a gift exchange I did on one of my forums I finally got my paws on one of the chinchilla bath houses (as shown above). Frankie loves it so much he really doesn't want to share with Ollie and I might have to get him his own.

The weather is definitely changing here - I'm not complaining. As long as the skies are clear, the air is crisp and there's no rain I'm a happy camper.

Anthropologie and J Crew have definitely been my source of fashion as of late. H&M has actually had some pretty good sales too (I think I saw a sign up today - buy 1 sweater, get 1 free - oh noes!). Quite frankly if I had the cash I'd redo my entire wardrobe - but until I win the lottery I don't see that happening any time soon.

Anyway - today is Tuesday (and it's after 12 already, yay!) so get out and VOTE if you haven't already done so and have a great day! (And be safe if you partake in any post-giants winning the world series celebrations).