christmas baby

meet our new christmas baby, mowgli (like the jungle book). 

he is a chocolate lab and probably the cutest little guy i have ever seen. 

mowgli was a total surprise. i landed in las vegas at 11:45 christmas eve night, went to my apt for a quick second, repacked my life, and then the husband and i drove to utah. watching the sunrise christmas morning was stunning. we got to surprise all my family and play santa claus. so fun! the looks on some of their faces was priceless. 

we were running on no sleep and lots of excitement. after making the rounds with my fam we headed over to the in-laws in the afternoon. (now that i think of it, the husband was acting very shady;) i couldn't tell then though because i was near delirium). we visited fast because they all wanted me to go out back to see how big the great dane puppies got...they are huge. amongst five great danes sat a little chocolate lab with the cutest green eyes. he had on a red collar that read merry christmas on one side. *i still had no idea puppy was for me! i was like, "how cute. this is the puppy we want. he even has a cute merry christmas collar." still no clue. how embarrassing. i was on no sleep though, remember. the husband then said, "well, what does the other side of the tag say..." i flipped it over and it said,

MOWGLI 

with my phone number.

instant shock set in. i was holding MY puppy. 

i am in love.

merry christmas. 

xo

its already christmas eve?!

the husband left me today. sad. this last month was filled with so many new experiences and fun adventures. i'm going to put this out there and say chicago is in the runnings to be my top favorite city. thats huge. i am seriously going to miss it, but i am soooo excited to be able to go home for christmas. i can't wait to see my family and spend some much needed family time together during this holiday season. 

i also miss my bed. my body is literally falling apart. i think my leg could actually detach from my hip. is that even possible? all this walking and dancing and playing. geez. i love it though. i wouldn't have it any other way:)

this week we tried to get into the holiday spirit by making a ginger bread man and woman in our hotel room. ha. 

but the best way we got into the spirit of christmas was by going to the chicago lds temple. with all of our running, shopping, dancing, and exploring it was so good to go and do what was most important to us. i love this holiday and i love all of the traditions, and i especially love that it is all about the birth of our savior and the celebration of his life. how cool.

merry christmas to all. 

i will be in an airport. yippee (heavy sarcasm). but that means i get to see the husband and my familia real soon. yippee (for real)!!!

xo

our first week in chicago down... and it did not disappoint. 

chicago is amazing. i am in love. its the nicer, cleaner, less crowded version NYC. the husband arrived on tuesday. i can't believe how happy i was to jump in his arms. 8 days away is too long if you ask me. we have been exploring since the moment he got here. 

did i mention that i love this city?

rehearsing at the oriental theater. another amazing venue. 

celebrating our opening night at quarantinos with some of the cast. oh and donny sharing his birthday popcorn from garret's....yummm

sears tower=ellis tower 

it was really scary. 103 floors up. but the view of chicago was breathtaking.

we went to navy pier on pearl harbor day. we even got the entire ferris wheel to ourselves.

i had to get a pic with the two most famous women of chicago.

exploring this city and experiencing some tasty food. i may or may not have gained 10lbs this last week.

my sis and her hubby flew in sat for a quick visit. they pretty much flew in, came to my show, ate lots of pizza, shopped, went to the amazing ryan adams concert at the cadillac theater, ate more yummy food, and flew home early mon morning. it was fun to have them here even if it was so short. the concert was sooo sooo good! i got over the fact that he is married to mandy moore by the first song. that guys is a musical genius. love him.

chi town

we made it to chicago!!! i can't even express how happy i am to be out of detroit and in a city where there are people out and about and just civilization in general. detroit was a ghost town. i never really felt totally safe walking the few places i did. im happy to report that day 1 in my new home has already brought me grocery shopping at trader joes (so happy about this), h&m, nordstrom rack, and a froyo on the corner of our hotel. yipee. there is much much more too. can't wait til tomorrow when the husband arrives so we can explore all this great city has to offer. 

opening night at the oriental theater tomorrow! 

xoxo

get me outta here...

my final days in detroit and im not one bit sad about it. i will say the fox theater was the most beautiful theater I've ever performed in...but thats it. (that was kinda dramatic)

we ate at the hotel bar pretty much every night. good thing it had yummy food and stayed open late just while we were in town. 

the famous signature wall at the fox. i spy frank sinatra. 

this building was by far the coolest broken down building in detroit (they're all pretty much broken down). we had a photo shoot in front of it but all the pics are on my camera....which i always forget to pack my camera cord. oops. *husband can you remember to bring that with you when you come :)

i'm sad we found this hole in the wall restaurant the last day we were there because it was sooo good. shawarma's are my new fav.

a week in detroit and now onto chicago. our tour bus was pretty sweet. rounds of intense catch phrase made the drive fly by.