Destination New York: 8 Interesting NYC facts

In December Ben and I headed back to the East Coast - with a quick stop to see the city. 

Now I'm headed back!

But instead of Ben, I'm partying with BYU's Model United Nation's team.

We have competition Tuesday-Friday, but yes, we're there a whole nine days :) 

I'm spending this first weekend in CT with my family,

and then spending a week with some of my new favorite people. 

In honor of my trip - here are some interesting facts about the big apple:

1. Dutch explorer Peter Minuit purchased the island of Manhattan (really its southern tip) from the Algonquin tribe for trinkets and tools worth about $24.

2. New Yorkers travel an average of 40 minutes to work each day.

3.  More than 47 percent of New York City's residents over the age of 5 speak a language other than English at home.

4.  New York's Central Park is larger than the principality of Monaco.

5. New York's Yellow Cabs are yellow because John Hertz, the company's founder, learned from a study that yellow was the easiest color for the eye to spot. He was right.

6. In 2007, 46 million international and domestic visitors came to New York City. They spent approximately $28 billion while there.

7. More than 250 feature films are shot on location in New York City each year.

8. An average of 4.9 million people ride the New York City subway each weekday. 

Here are some shots from the last time we were in the city:

Times Square

Central Park 

Central Park 

So if things are a bit sparse around here for the next week or so, just know that I'm having so much fun and I'll have lots of stories when I get back!

Love,

Elisabeth

ps: note to self - do not watch Red Eye between now and your midnight flight. 

From the Mouth of Babes

Living in Utah, I actually see more of my family than I did at home.

I am so lucky to have so many cousins, aunts, and uncles so close!

Last weekend, while Kate was in town, my grandparents were visiting from NH (they live with my parents back home). I loved seeing them, although honestly, it just made me that much more excited to see my immediate family in CT this weekend! 

Grandpa and Kate with Lizza (yes her full name is Elizabeth too :) 

Those two boys are THE cutest, me and the grandparents, my cutest cousin Olivia.

Just a few snippets of conversation at the dinner table with those two cute brothers.

"I wanna be girl trapped" = translation of Jacob's way of asking to sit between two girls.

"I don't know which the most beautiful girl in the room is, her or you. Wait, I know...BOTH!" Jacob in reference to me and Ellen. 

"I think we were on our way to Canada for a party or something"-Jacob

"No! It was because somebody died and we were going to a funeral" -his younger brother Jeffrey

"Oh yeah"-Jacob

"What are coodies? Oh THESE coodies?" Jacob points to his chest. 

"See ya ladies, peace!" - As Jacob left the table.

Jacob and Jeffrey at their finest. :)
Love,
Elisabeth 

Just Some Pictures: Temple Square

Here are just some pictures from out temple square date last week.

It was Kate and Hanna's last day in Utah and we headed up to Salt Lake to some church sites and delicious food. I love being on Temple Square. The Spirt is there, testifying of Christ and of families and of love. 

Happy Wednesday!

Love,

Elisabeth 

Holi Festival of Colors

Largest Hindu Festival in Utah:

10,000 mormons

24 Hindus

The Holi Festival of Colors celebrates the coming of spring. Everyone has colored chalk and you throw it at people as you walk by. The worst is when it gets in your mouth. (Gross fact: I blew purple our of my nose for two days). Somehow I've lived in Provo for 3 years and this was my very first Festival of Colors. Ben and I went with my old roommates and his friend Court - we ended the night with Thai food. (We were feeling ethnic and cheap, meaning real Indian food was out). 

This is what the color throwing looks like: 

Have you ever been to Holi Festival of Colors?

What did you think?

Oh and I leave for NYC in THREE DAYS!

The excitement at the prospect of seeing my family, 9 nights in TImes Square, and Model UN competition is almost unbearable :) 

Love,

Elisabeth 

Meet Me

A Reintroduction

Welcome to La Vita e Bella.
I am Elisabeth.
I am 21 years old as of now.
I look about sixteen.

I am studying International Relations.
I love dancing.
I love chocolate.
I love people.


This August I became we, when I married this amazing man, Ben.
We love rock climbing.
We love cereal.
We love sun.

We are crazy about each other and sweet potato fries.
We get excited about weekend excursions and late night frosty runs.
We love the Lord and the strength He gives us.

La Vita e Bella is a place where I share our lives, loves, fears, thoughts, and joys. Its a mix of fun, hard, exciting, and dreamy.

A few other posts to get to know me, us, and our life:
I think I'm the luckiest.
Some people think we're crazy for being married so young.
We got married August 6.
Stupidity annoys me.
I'm a New England girl, through and through.




A Second Reintroduction: 

This is something I started a few months ago. 

It has helped me look for little blessings everyday, 

little pieces of happiness,

little bits of beauty. 

Right now I've counted 69. I have a long ways to 1000. 

But here, it is the journey that counts. 

70. Waking up to kisses.

71. Lovely bloggers and their inspirational blogs.

72. Friends that fly all the way to Utah to visit me.

73. Late night girl talk, that turns into memorable conversations.

74. Questions that make me think.

75. Coconut popsicles. 

76. Plane tickets with my name on them to NYC.

77. A husband that supports me, always. 

78. new apartments and old friends.

Lizzie's Kitchen: Tomato Bisque and EASY French Bread

Good Morning! 

Last night Ben and I turned off Psych to get ready for bed. We were asleep before we ever got out from under the covers. It means that I woke up with that unbrushed teeth feeling and 8 hour old gum in my mouth. gross. Now I have a morning of econ before I go take my exam. Yikes. 

But as promised, here are my recipes from yesterday :) 

This bread recipe is my go to. Its so easy, and way faster than regular french bread. If you're looking for an easy addition to any meal, you've found it. 

Yield: 3 Small Loaves

Prep Time: 25 minutes 

Total Time: 2 hours

Dough

2 cups warm water

1 package yeast (1 tbsp)

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon of salt

5 to 5 and 3/4 cuts of flour - here I like to substitute some of the white flour for whole wheat or white whole wheat (if you haven't tried that I highly recommend King Arthur's While Whole Wheat flour ...its great!)

softened butter

1. Dissolve yeast in water in a mixing bowl.

2. Add sugar and salt. 

3. Add flour (if using kitchen aid, add one cup at a time). The key is to have the dough stay sticky but no longer sticking to the edge of the bowl. 

4. Knead dough by hand for 15 minutes (when I use the kitchen aid I put it on low for about 7).

5. Let it rise for half an hour. 

6. Divide into three loaves 

7. Let rise for 20 minutes.

8. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the top starts to golden. 

9. Best served warm, cut in slices, and buttered!

Roasted Tomato Soup with Basil

I've never made tomato soup that didn't come from a can so this was an experiment. It was more work than I'd like for a soup, but it leaves so many leftovers that I'm thinking of making it a weekly endeavor. 

taken from here

Ingredients

• 4 lb tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 6-8 garlic cloves, left unpeeled
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons fresh oregano, minced [use only 1/2 tsp if you used dried]
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced [use only 1 tsp if using dried basil]
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350°F.

Arrange tomatoes, cut sides up, in 1 layer in a large shallow baking pan and add garlic to pan. Drizzle tomatoes with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes and garlic 1 hour, then cool in pan on a rack. Peel garlic.

Cook onion, oregano, basil, and sugar in butter in a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, and stock and simmer, covered, 20 minutes.

Puree soup in batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids), then force through a sieve into cleaned pot, discarding solids. Stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste and simmer 2 minutes.

Divide soup among 8 bowls.

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Enjoy!

When Its a Hot Soup and Bread Kind of Afternoon...

[K & E Adventures] Art Museums and Homemade Bread

You know those afternoons when its just gray. 

It isn't warm.

The sky is hardly inviting.

And yet, its cozy.

Forced inside, Saturday afternoon we took to my favorite local museum. While it wasn't great le Louvre or the MFA, there is no person I'd rather enjoy an afternoon of art with. If you're in Provo and haven't driven the 15 minutes to the Springville Art Museum, it comes highly recommended. (and more on how to enjoy your time in an art museum coming soon). 

I also discovered its way less awkward taking pictures when Kate is just making you laugh..

How kate was feeling when I made her take a million pictures? maybe :) 

blazer: Papaya/blouse: Nordstrom Rack/ jeans: GAP/flats: GAP

On the way back from the art museum we stopped at the grocers to pick up ingredients for the perfect cloudy day meal. The bread is something I make all the time - its so quick, easy, and delicious! If you want a sweet twist on this classic recipe, try one of these options here.  The soup was a first time, but it was tasty (and gave me leftovers for almost a week :) I'll post recipes tomorrow! 

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I hope you guys are having a wonderful Friday!
I just have an economics midterm to get through.
Wish me luck!

How to Spend a Perfect Saturday Morning

That internal debate when all you want to do in the moment is stay curled up under the covers, but you know you'll be so much happier in a few hours if you get up right now and start your day. Am I the only one? 

---

My house guest from yesterday's post arrived at 9:20 pm to Salt Lake City.

After a late night of partying, we collapsed into bed.

Kate started her day off with a 45 minute run (while I was still fast asleep). 

And then we headed over to Shirley's Bakery. 

Its the cutest little place nestled just a block behind my apartment I discovered recently.

If you live in Provo, be sure go to.

And when you do, get their walnut cinnamon twists. 

A fabulous thing to wake up to. 

What is your perfect Saturday morning?

This little bakery was made for Kate's visit. 

The last time we had pastries for breakfast together was the boulangerie across the street from out third floor hotel room in Paris. It wasn't quite a nutella croissant, but I'll take it. 

How to Impress a Houseguest

I spent the past 4 days with one of my absolute favorite people. 

We did/ate/wore way too many fun/delicious/cute things to one blog post. 

And so I'll start at the beginning. 

[K&E Adventures] The Party of Parties

If you want to impress an out of town guest:

1. live in Provo

2. know a Covey

3. coordinate her visit with a party thrown by #2

Friday was my friend David's birthday (which he almost managed to keep secret), and also the night he was throwing a St. Patrick's Day party. The event was held at his grandfather's house here in Provo, and let me tell you, the Covey mansion lived up to my expectations :) 

Kate's first comment: "Is this your typical Friday night!"

It was a night of food, swimming, friends, dancing - and we skipped out on the sand volleyball and trampoline..but that's okay :) 

The party - yes, this is at a house in Provo. 

reunited at last :) 

cute little decorations on all the tables

highlight of my night (the rope swing, not some guy covering his eyes)

the birthday boy :) 

we even got to meet some leprechauns!

So no, extravagant parties are not a typical Friday night, Kate, but they're great huh? 

Blogger Meet-up. Check it.

What: BYU Blogger Meet-Up

When: March 8th.

7 - 9pm

Where: The Chocolate

Who Came: The most awesome group of girls. Just see for yourself:

The night was filled with raffles from some of our fabulous sponsors.... 

really yummy food.... 

(I was a little bitter I didn't snag a german chocolate cupcake - but the turtle brownies were divine)

We wrote letters tot he military...

And took awesome pictures! 

A huge thanks to Carly, our fabulous photo booth photographer for these great shots :) 

Check them all out on her adorable blog here. 

A few thank you's are in order: 

Here are our awesome sponsors. They made for a terrific night of giveaways and prizes! 

3B Yoga
Quincee's Boutique
Crowley Party
Heaps of Love
Sprightly So
Vivileen
Printed Peaks
Flowers n' Frills
Native and Pilgrim
Livy Love Designs
Sami Jo Photography
Belle and Whistle

Another thank you to all the girls that came! It really was so great to have so many of you there. I know I didn't get a chance to talk to a lot of you, but I love your blogs (and if I don't already I'm excited to find them) ... and a September meet up may or may not already be in the works (shh, its still a secret). 

Here's most of the group: 

And last but not least, a huge thank you to Brooke, Madison, and Lauren. 

It was back in January that I started thinking about the fact that all these girls blog and go to school with me... and how great it would be to actually meet you guys. There is no way we could have pulled off such a fabulous event without these three awesome girls! Thanks guys, you're the best :) 

Here's the link up where you can find all the cute little bloggers that went..

if you haven't linked up yet - be sure to! 

P.S. I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I have one fabulous guest in town and I'll have updates on all our fun happenings soon. Promise :)