O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A

My company hosted a staff appreciation night at Discoveryland, an outdoor theater that performs the play, Oklahoma!. Ty and I had both seen Oklahoma! as kids, but had never been to Discoveryland. We were given tickets for a ranch hand dinner, snow cones, ice cream, popcorn, and pop.

There were a lot of activities before the show and Ty attempted cow roping.

The pre-show was a western revue with a special performance by Native American dancers.

I had forgotten how cute Oklahoma! was and we really enjoyed the show. Ty has been singing The Farmer and the Cow Man Should be Friends non-stop and I'm trying to work the phrase, "Oh foot!" into my vocabulary.

Greetings from Nashville

Ty and I went on a recruitment trip/conference together this past week. I love that he is able to travel with me as an ambassador. He always does such a good job talking with prospective students and pre-med advisors.

Laura told me about Design Sponge's travel reviews and I will never go on a trip again without looking at her site. The post had so many great suggestions.

I wish we would have had more time to explore the city. We spent a lot of time around Vanderbilt and Ty shadowed one of our alumni, who now works at the Vanderbilt medical school. It is such a great campus and the surrounding neighborhoods are very fun.

The Parthenon

Took a walk on the pedestrian bridge to get a good view of downtown


Dinner one night at the Tin Angel; Lobster & shrimp risotto with red & yellow tomatoes.


Dinner downtown at Jack's BBQ






Belmont University campus

We tried to go to lunch in East Nashville at I Dream of Weenie, a hot dog stand, but they had closed up early. Very cute set-up though!

Instead we ate at Marche Artisan Foods and enjoyed homemade ice cream at the Pied Piper Creamery. The strawberry was oh so good!

Nashville is a very friendly city. And those accents. Oh, those accents. I wish I had a southern accent. I just loved it.

City by the Bay

I went to San Francisco last week for work. I LOVE this city!

I stayed at the W and they had these great window seats.


I had a great view of the Bay Bridge.


I went to an alumni event for our doctors at a winery. It was on Treasure Island and we had to drive across the Bay Bridge to get there. The views on the bridge were beautiful.




View of the city skyline from Treasure Island.




I went on a run one morning and discovered Yerba Buena Gardens next to my hotel.

There were a lot of people out doing tai chi, walking and jogging.

I had a morning to roam the city and I went to Chinatown in search of the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory. It took me almost an hour to find the place. It is located in an alley and my iPhone located it, but I kept walking past it. The sign for it was tiny and it wasn't quite what I had in mind, but the cookies were fresh and oh so good!

See that yellow sign on the right hand side. Yeah, that's the place.


Tiny place


My purchase


They give you a handful of unfolded cookies with your purchase.


Chinatown is so colorful!






After Chinatown I headed to Ghiradelli Square to visit my favorite little store and eatery.
{see pics of the store in this post from my April visit and here for more about my trip last Spring.}

Salted caramel hot chocolate




Yummy cupcake




You can't visit San Francisco without riding a trolley.




I saw the Rangers signing autographs outside of their hotel.

I left the day of game 1. We won't talk about the outcome of the series. :(

I really want to take Ty to San Francisco one day. There is so much to do there that I haven't had a chance to do on my work trips. Things are always better with him. :)

Utah

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent 8 days in Utah for a work trip. I had been once before a couple of years ago and it was gorgeous. The beautiful state did not disappoint.

My boss and I traveled all over the state, but our main bases were Salt Lake City and Provo, where BYU is located.

Dinner at Pizzeria 712. Some of the best food I have ever had. Oh so yummy!

The Chocolate--A Dessert Bakery

My hotel and the pathway directly behind it.

Train ride!

The train ride was 3 hours and incredibly long and you went about 10 mph, but the views were gorgeous!

A trip to Ikea was a great way to stretch my legs after the train ride! I love that place!

Ignore the horrible picture from Ikea. I love when restaurants leave water on your table. I drink a lot and love being able to refill my own glass. I decided we needed one at the house.

Thank you google for a better picture!

A beautiful drive on the Alpine Loop on the way to Ikea.

An eventful trip to the Great Salt Lake in a pencil skirt, a silk blouse and a cardigan. It was on the way back to the hotel from a career fair. I wish I would have been in a bathing suit. The water was amazing!

The water was so smooth.

The water was extremely clear. I was standing in the water looking down at the sand. I think the water was about mid-calf. I loved the pattern in the sand.

My legs looked like I had a bad case of dry skin after they had dried off from the water. They were covered in dry salt. So weird!

Yummy mexican food at the Red Iguana.

I love the iPhone app, Hipstamatic!

I was told to go to Hatch Family Chocolates for the best hot chocolate. It was AMAZING! Hands down the best hot chocolate ever. What my sweet blog friend forgot to mention was it was owned by The Little Chocolatiers! I was so shocked when I walked in to see them standing in the store!

picture via

My favorite chocolate was a peanut butter truffle with sea salt. Oh so good.

Big thanks to Emma for all the great restaurant recommendations!

I didn't edit a single picture for a couple of reasons.

1. I'm lazy.

2. The landscape is so beautiful. It really doesn't need anything extra.

If you are interested in more Utah posts you can read about my trip two years ago here, here, and here.