a sit down with Callum

somehow i fell off the home video train and it pains me so.
i vow to do better for myself and these boys, nothing is better than watching a home video of your youth.
don't roll your eyes too hard, i edited out two adorable minutes of this interview with Cal,(even the end when he says "i yuff you!", but had to get the first part up just for my own sake.
i often say that Callum both thrills and terrifies me simultaneously all day long. he is so independent, and so different from his brother. he fears nothing, and has no problem blatantly ignoring everything i say. he is so nice and sweet, and then filled with righteous indignation moments later. 

he is wicked smart and still as fiery as he is, sweet as honey. i can't even label him or put him into any one category because he is so many things all at once. i love him so much, and can't imagine my life without this baby boy.

not what vegas meant...

we pulled out a spontaneous trip to las vegas last weekend and a few people asked how a family vacay to vegas actually goes down. oh you mean, not the sunshine and daisy instagram version? 

let's discuss.

after we pulled in, we were starved and Russ had rave reviews for Holstein's Shakes and Buns.

freaking killer burgers, mac and cheese like i've never tasted, even the caesar salad killed it.

friday night in las vegas at a trendy burger joint with overly-tired kids?

they held it together, and then started throwing stuff and climbing all over and putting their chocolate shake covered faces and hands all over young hotties. said hotties were loving it. (not.)

we pumped Hayes up about the long drive with promises of going swimming. 

he still thinks that the word "vegas" means "pool"

Russ and I discussed not worrying about naps and just letting them sleep where the may so we could get as much in as we wanted. but then we came up from the pool to get dressed and this happened.

for like three hours. 

you all know i don't wake a sleeping babe. under any circumstances save fire, quake, flood.

not what vegas meant by multiple sleeping partners, Hayes.

they eventually woke up and we went to the mall. at which point Hayes stuck a $13/pound purple jelly belly up his nose. then all hell broke loose. he screamed in pain and eyes swelled up, purple snot running down his face. 

we worked on calling the doctors in our life...

searching for a pocket of service in one of the most famous cities in the world.

hey AT&T let's change that slogan. 

all while Callum is just roaming freely through the mall. he cannot be contained.

finally we get the expert tip (how have i never heard this before!!) to plug the nostril that does NOT have the bean in it, put your mouth over theirs and blow. all manner of particles will fly out, and mostly land on your face. 

more swimming on Sunday. 

swimming made the trip so lovely and relaxing. 

80 degree sunshine on our winterized skin. heaven.

Cal especially loved it. he thinks he can swim, and his fearlessness thrills and terrifies us all.

we stayed at the Cosmopolitan and it is such a gorgeous hotel. we loved it. the bathroom is see-through for sexy showering and peeing (i guess?) and as my boys stuck their bum cheeks on the glass laughing, 

i kept thinking again, this is not what vegas meant when they made this shower. 

one day while i was getting ready, Hayes comes sauntering in with his spensy room service PB&J, his straw hat that he wouldn't take off all weekend, and nothing else, takes a wiz, gives me the head nod, and walks back out. such a boss.

and here was our hotel room view. not bad right?

so in conclusion. Vegas with kids is doable. fun even. but the odds are not in your favor. 

either way, we had a great weekend to leave our cares at the door, and just be together.

thanks LV!

nyc itinerary

I have a bout 1-2 gazillion things I should be doing, but instead I'm troubleshooting with a very unhelpful customer service rep, so naturally let's get a blog post out of this nonsense, shall we?

New York was a whirlwind trip to say the least. In typical Small Fry fashion we scheduled ourselves down to the minute to make sure we made the most of the trip.

Here's how the weekend went.

Wednesday night - RED EYE FLIGHT

11:30 pm to 6:30 am with delays. I swear with my whole soul I tried so hard to sleep. I could not. Every once and awhile I'd peek under my eye mask to see Jenna or Nicole trying real hard to do the same. They could not either.

THURSDAY:

We arrived at JFK and hopped in a cab to get to our hotel. No early check-ins, so we barged in on Bugaboo's PR wizard, Morgan, to change clothes in her room. Then to Central Park by 9:00 am to meet up with long time internet friend, Naomi Davis and her kids. 

Schlepped this tripod literally all over the city. Bruised shoulders and all.

Filming all morning and into the afternoon. I just loved Naomi, she is so great. So nice, so classy, and full of grace in her step and in her actions. Eleanor killed us all dead, and asked after grabbing my face "Are we fwens?" The cutest.

Then it was finally time to eat! Lucky me I got to meet another long long time blog friend, Sydney and is the most rad, laid back girl. We grabbed Magnolia banana pudding (dynamite!) and lunch at the Little Owl which is apparently the apartment building where TV show Friends was based. Their burger was the second best I've had. 
#1 is still Umami Burger.

After lunch it was time to film our contest winners (they are freaking amazing, and we can't wait to reveal them soon!) we walked all over Grenwich Village where I saw Bob Novogratz and promptly yelled "Novogratz!" at him like I hadn't seen him since we played college football together. He was as tall as a tree and so handsome. Then to finish off filming at a park, where Daniel Day Lewis stalked us. Sorry, DDL you can't be in this one.

Small Fry split early to run and finally check into our hotel, the drop dead gorgeous Standard Hotel on the Highline. We changed, took weird showers while the others were forced to look the other way. The Standard is a couples only hotel so see through showers made for an interesting time. (pic by @morgansmith!)

Then onto the reason for our trip. BUGABOO! Every year they do a collaboration with an artist or designer and this year was the Andy Warhol Foundation. They hosted the most amazing party, and we had a blast! Keep those tiny Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolates coming! 

Is it still Thursday? Yes. We were starved so one more dinner before we headed home. This was the highlight of my trip food-wise. Willow Road. The food was insane, and their Sticky Toffee Pudding blew my brains heavenward. Lance Bass sat in the next table over, and that was hilarious. 

We finally took our weary bones home after 36 hours awake. Slept like absolute logs. 

FRIDAY:

We got to sleep in for a bit before brunch at Pastis with Team Bugaboo. Second favorite food stop of the trip. Eggs Benedict, Pain au Chocolat, and about six other pastries left me feeling so satisfied. Their CMO was a bombshell from Amsterdam and I can only hope to maintain that level of coolness into my forties (she might have even been 50, but she looked dayum good.)

just being a giant next to these pixies.

although i must give credit to Syd, the girl can eat. usually i'm eating most people under the table, atta kid.

After Brunch it was time to film Natalie so we met her at Columbus Circle and took in the Upper West Side and the Empire State Building ending at the Flat Iron for some much needed Shake Shack. Another darn good burger. 

It was at this point in the trip that we found ourselves with a couple hours of free time. Whaaaaat?! So we went shopping on 5th Avenue and then couldn't seem to get back to Chelsea and blew dinner reservations at the Spotted Pig. So, we scrapped that and ate at the Standard's Grill. I heard good reviews, but it was just okay.

Then we headed up to the hotel where we had a school girl style late night with Syd and Nat until 2:30 am. Cause who needs sleep, right?

sleepover!

 SATURDAY:

I woke up early and packed my gear and headed to Brooklyn to see my sister Charity. By God's grace she had delivered her first baby, Israel "Izzy" Adams a couple days prior. It was magical to be there with them in those early days, I miss it! But, not that much! 

And can we all give her a round of applause for going natural? She and I have similar birthing experiences, so she was walking around at a 7 before she started feeling contractions and had Iz only a few hours later. GO CHAR!

After a few hours together, I had to head back to the city, I was so sad to go! I made my way back and did a little food crawl at Chelsea Market with the girls. We ate delicious foods, specifically a lobster roll one chair away from Sex and the City's Berger, or Office Space too, I guess, altough it was his lesser role, if you ask me. and moved slowly through the market and it was so nice to just go at a regular person pace. 

We took another hour or so walking around Chelsea sitting at the tables in the middle of the street, enjoying the sunshine. It was so needed and turned my heart around for the city after feeling like I had been chewed up and hit by a bus.

Grabbed the world's nuttiest cab (he was a 25 year old cabbie named Assim, who although Pakistani, dreamt of being a Formula One race driver and showed us exactly how he'd maneuver if he was one. We were terrified.)

Hopped on a plane and after 3 solid days being together around the clock, we talked for 5 straight hours on the plane. People were pissed. It was great.

 And I'm still tired.

*Huge thank you to City Creek Center for hooking me up with some anniversary shopping just in time for this trip! It was at their grand opening where I first happened upon Cotton On which is now my preferred store for clothing. It made sense to pick up some more pieces from there on this City Creek's year anniversary! Pictured: the peplum white and blue floral top& the arrow graphic tee!

bijou this week!

I just got back from the most incredible trip to New York and I can't wait to share the run down, but no rest for the weary today, because Bijou Market is this weekend!

Here's a couple details for you lovelies...

There is a pick-up giveaway is going on today on Bijou's blog.

There's a $150 shopping spree giveaway going on at our Instagram account @bijoumarket. All you have to do to enter is post our flyer with the #bijoushoppingspree to enter and then of course, like the pick-up giveaway, you'll need to come claim your prize this week at the market. (You can send a friend in your place if you can't make it!) 

Please stop groaning at me, I hate Insta giveaways as much as the next gal, but hopefully $150 will cut me some slack? 

If you're going RSVP on Facebook will you? Love you all.

good hair day / 6

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Today's good hair day is all about big hair. Big is back, and after Salon K's bumble blow out, I believe it whole heartedly.

Salon K is a Bumble and Bumble Salon so they carry their awesome line in house, and gave me a blow-out with the mousse and contour creme in their Thickening line, and as you can see, it works.

Kayti and me. Higher the hair, closer to God, right?

If you need your blow-out to last a good week, this is your bag baby. It's a good solid blow out that gave me the most volume of my life.

Ask for my sister Bethany, she's the best. Doi.

chicks, man.

so Russ is named after his Grandpa Bernard (pronounced Ber-nerd, I kid you not) and Bernard was a lifelong farmer. Bernard died right before Russ was born and I think they met up for lunch had some wink and snap transfer of knowledge and desire to farm, because Russ has it in him and it cannot be explained, he just wants to be a farmer goshdarnit.

if you recall there was that time we were moving to Minnesota... then there was that time we were going to be 20 acres of lake front farmable property a few cities North, Russ looked pretty aggressively at land all over Central Utah, Idaho etc, but there are so many things that get in the way of dreams, aren't there?

money. time. jobs. loved ones. 

all strikes against Russ' dreams so he sort of shelved them for awhile.

then one day the spark reignited. without so much as a heads up, he went to the local nursery for his usual round-up of fruit and vegetable seeds for the garden this year, but picked p a few extra supplies as well...

1. Dello. 

Cal called her dello because she was yellow, and that's how he says it. totally stuck!

2. Ozzy 

with the black beak.

3. Harriet

 with the red beak. 

Harriet is especially curious. Harriet the Spy is one of my childhood favorites, so that worked well.

and Dolly Parton. truthfully we can't tell her apart from Dello except for the fact that she's quite a bit - ahem - larger, if you catch my drift.

they're residing in our garage for a few more weeks until Russ builds them a chicken coop that after seeing the plans, i was preeeetty jealous of. its every mid-century lovers dream, really. 

to farming:

whether you're on 20 acres or 3/4ths!

29

For Russ' birthday we had big plans to go the Morrissey Concert!

got our babysitter in order, had a nice dinner planned and then the Moz canceled, again!

this show was actually the raincheck for the original November show, which he also canceled. 

get it together, man.

we were sort of bummed, but took advantage! since all of Russ' best friends were heading into town for Malcolm's wedding, we threw in a little party for Russ while we were at it.

we are big fans of Hang Time in Orem, and it's basically a teenage boy (or a teenage boy trapped in an adult male body's) dream. slam dunk contests, dodgeball in a room full of trampolines, foam pits and more. they had to kick us out at closing time. really. multiple times they begged us to leave. 

the jerseys were not planned really. it helps when one buddy runs a vintage sports apparel shop on eBay. but it definitely made us all feel more legit.

happiest birthday Russ, i'm happy Moz let us down so the buddies could party, too.

malc + annie belle

Another buddy got hitched last weekend and it was such a wonderful time from start to finish. Once again we're thrilled at the wife selection, Annie Belle is certainly one of the top 5 nice and sweetest people i know and we're just totally pleased seeing them both settled together.

 here's a peek at the weekend:

 

at the reception the boys really took to the dance floor and i might never have been prouder. Hayes was head-banging and following my every move. they both stole the show and i loved seeing them (and everyone else) enjoy their moves so much.

 the only time i could get Cal to hold still the whole night, he was running around the place all evening. he does this hilarious little thing where he puts both his elbows up like he's doing the funky chicken almost like they're helping him steer when he's taking sharp turns. he would sometimes stop to bob his head and bounce his knees a few times, or the occasional swim-move he loves so much. basically picture him laying on his stomach which his arms and legs ever so slightly in the air and they move up and down like he's swimming through water. that is is signature move.:

any excuse to get the buddies together is fine by us, but a wedding is the best reason ever. Congrats Annie Belle and Malcolm!