What George eats for dinner...

So, pretty sure I had never seen anyone more famous than President Hinckley (not that that wasn't awesome) until last summer, when I saw James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley) at Universal Studios in Orlando (see this post). Well, here we go for famous person number 2 (or 3 I guess, since Fred and George were 1 and 2).

So usually I don't work on Monday nights. However, I was scheduled tonight (Divine inspiration? Entirely possible), and when I got to work, who should I hear had a reservation there, but Jason Alexander! That's right, ladies and gentlement, this character right here:

Best known for his role as George Castanza on Seinfeld. Apparently he's in town doing some sort of acting seminar at UVU. Well, kids, I about flipped out. In fact, I did flip out. And definitely acted like a creeper for the rest of the night. He came in at 6, and I watched him go back with his little entourage to the private terrace dining area. Then, I went back to the kitchen and giggled myself silly (a ridiculous nervous reaction that I sometimes have). So then I spent the rest of the night creepin' on him through the windows and trying to get a picture from the bakery (there is a window that separates the bakery and the terrace). I did, however, get to go into the terrace to deliver food to one of his group members (thanks to my awesome manager for that one).
So around 8-ish (when I was in the bakery creepin' again), he and his entourage quickly got up from their table and made to leave. So, like a good little stalker, I went and walked out to the main dining room, trying my best to come up with a fast plan to get a picture or video as Mr. Alexander walked by. Well, as he got to the front, the server who had served his party asked if she and the managers could get a picture with him. He obliged, and I shot up to the front and leaned against the wall hopefully. And THEN, after they took their picture, I asked if I could take one of my own, since my dad is such a HUGE fan. And then he was like, "what, are you not cool enough to be in that group?" And I was like, "apparently not, haha," and then, after some height adjustment (he about came up to my shoulder), we took a picture. AND HERE IT IS:

That's right folks, I met and took a picture with freakin Jason Alexander!! KRISTIN FTW!!!! Anyways, this moment totally made my week. I kind of felt like I was living out my dad's dream (he is LITERALLY the worlds biggest Seinfeld fan. I'm not exaggerating in any sense. In fact, that's probably a gross understatement). So yeah. Freaking awesome night. Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, he had the salmon (with no sauce) and diet coke mixed with cranberry juice. So, if you want to eat like a star, come on in to La Jolla Groves and try our oven-fired salmon :D

The obligatory Valentine's Day post.

Hey friends. So I'll be honest. I'm only posting about Valentine's Day to brag. Hans did an excellent job this year, and I just want to show off :)
So first of all, we had to celebrate on the 15th this year, since Hans was working on the 14th. No big, it's not like the date actually matters, it's just a fun excuse to go out and give each other stuff. So I got home from work on the 15th and hurried to get ready, since we were supposed to leave once Hans got home. Well, I get done with my shower, and what do I see when I exit the bathroom?

That's right. My cutes husband smiling at me from next to a carefully displayed vase of beautiful flowers and the BIGGEST box of chocolates I've ever seen. Seriously. It's hard to see in this picture, but here's one that I took for scale purposes:

See?? It's GINORMOUS! I was...astonished, I think is the right word. AND....this part just made my heart melt...the flowers, Hans explained, were chosen specifically because they were our wedding colors. HOW FREAKING CUTE IS THAT?!? And you think guys never think about detaily stuff like that. That's why Hans is so awesome.

Beautifulllllll!! And they really are light purple. I know they look pink. But they're not.

So then that night, Hans took me out to Macaroni Grill (he picked, I told him I would have no part in the choice. LOVE IT.) And I had the most DELICIOUS meal of my life. I THINK it was called Chicken Scallopini. But I can't really remember. But in any case, it was delicious, and I reccommend it to ALL OF YOU.

 Soooo yeah. It was pretty great. Oh and then afterwards, we went to play laser tag with some friends, which is a new weekly hobby that we recently discovered. It was actually kind of funny...Hans's friend texted him to see if we wanted to laser tag as usual that night, and Hans (being ever so thoughtful) texted me to see if I wanted to, since it was "Valentine's Day" and all...and I honestly did, so I told him yes. And this, he informs me, is why he likes me so much...because I'll go play laser tag with him on Valentine's Day :) True love.

And now I will leave you with more photos of my giant box of chocolate. I hope you can tell how excited I am about it. I'm not even halfway through eating it. (Not to mention the box of Belgian chocolate I got from my dad...I'm such a lucky girl :)  )

A note on restaurant service

Dear world,
Let me just start out by saying this: if you cannot afford to tip your server, then you cannot afford to eat out. Go eat at Burger King, Tabo Bell, Zupa's, or Costa Vida, where tipping is not necessary.
Now that we've covered the basics, let me explain how to tip, since obviously, a lot of you have forgotten. The STANDARD for tipping is 15%. That means that if your server is STANDARD, you should give them 15%. If your server is, in any way, above average (say, extra friendly, gives you good recommendations, refills your drinks, etc.), you should tip them 20% or more. ONLY if your server is INCREDIBLY below average should you tip 10%. And by this, I mean that your server either COMPLETELY ignored your, or very obviously spit in your food for no other reason than that they felt like being an idiot to you. If your food took a long time, NINE TIMES OUT OF TEN, it was NOT your server's fault. DO NOT penalize them for this. Most of the time, they are in the kitchen, trying their hardest to get your food out to you faster. IN ABSOLUTELY NO CIRCUMSTANCE should you EVER tip your server under 10%. You might think you're making a statement, but let me tell you what you're ACTUALLY doing. You are SCREWING OVER YOUR SERVER'S LIFE. In case any of you don't know, servers make approximately TWO DOLLARS an hour. That's not even a THIRD of minimum wage. In other words, SERVERS RELY ON TIPS. So when you think you're being smart by not leaving any sort of tip, or leaving your pocket change, you are not only RUINING that server's night, you are also WASTING THEIR TIME, because they could have spent that time they spent on you taking care of another table that actually knows how to tip. So next time you go out to dinner, think to yourself before hand, "Hmm, do I have the money to leave a decent tip for my server?" If not, rethink your decision to dine at a restaurant, and maybe go pick up some Lean Cuisine from the grocery store. Thanks.

Much love,
Kristin

Yay Hans!

So Hans just got accepted into BYU's school psychology grad program! I'm so ridiculously happy for him, I knew he could do it! At this point we're just waiting to hear back from U of U, because that's our other top choice, but as of now, we at least have some sort of a plan! ...which is much better than having a wishy washy plan and like 10 back-up plans haha :) Anyways, short post. But I am so, so, SO proud of my amazing Hansy. YAY!!

Just a short rant...

I don't know what it is that makes people think they can tell other people how to do their job. I mean, okay, if you're in the same business, and you're genuinely trying to be helpful because you are also good at that job, that's one thing (still sometimes obnoxious, but more generally acceptable). But when you literally have NO IDEA what you're talking about, you probably should not try to give others advice on what THEY do for a living. For instance: I have been doing newborn photography for almost 2 years. I have photographed literally HUNDREDS of babies. I also have a degree in photography. So yeah, I'm pretty good at photographing newborns. I know what I'm supposed to do because there is absolutely no variation in my routine from baby to baby. Soooo thanks for all those "helpful" tips you're trying to give me, random relation of mom in hospital, but I'll be completely honest, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine without them. I mean, were you in there when mom was delivering, too? Maybe telling the doctor that he should do something this way or asking if he's sure that will work? No. I didn't think so. So kindly stop bothering me with your obnoxiousness. Thank you.