Life is Beautiful

Life in Salt Lake is beautiful. I know I'm enjoying this phase of life very much. Sometimes I have an itch to move somewhere new and have new experiences, but I'm quickly reminded how much good is here in my hometown. The move will eventually happen but for now I'm going to take in as much family, pug, mountains, friends as I can.

I know that both Elliott and I have missed being in school and look forward to eventually throwing ourselves back in, but this time without it, I must admit, is nice. It leaves time for things like going to dinner, watching movies, re-watching all seasons of Mad Men, taking dogs to the park, going on trips to Disneyland, and spending time with the fam.

By the time I get around to blogging, all of my pictures have made their way around Instagram so they're probably old news for some of you who look at this blog. I just can't keep up, so that's the way it's going to be.

Part 1: Disneyland/Santa Monica/Magic Mountain

This trip was short and sweet. My brother and his girlfriend flew out from New York for the four day trip. We all revisited our childhood first at Disneyland, riding the same rides, getting the same treats, hearing the same music. It was great.

Sunday we drove to Santa Monica, the former city of my grandparents and our old stomping grounds when we were kids. The weather was beautiful. I even got a sunburn. We ate lunches, shopped, admired the ocean and it's calming waves, and sat by the pool. 

Monday we split parties and Elliott, dad, Nick, and I all took on Magic Mountain. I haven't been to roller coaster heaven for almost 8 years and enjoyed getting turned and flip every which way over and over again. Surprisingly (week of spring break), lines were short and the weather was perfect. We ended the day with the coaster X2, the best coaster we've ever ridden, agreed upon by all four parties. It takes you up backwards and facing the sky, and then it flips you in ways you've never flipped before. I didn't even know what was going on half the time I was laughing so hard. 

Tuesday was spent enjoying our last California hours, and then we flew home.

Part II: The transition back into normal life was made easier by our weekend plans. On Thursday we finally turned in our tickets for the live show Radiolab: In the Dark, which we had been waiting to see for months. Jad and Robert (the two hosts of the show) did what they do best and took us into different worlds with the aid of amazingly creative visuals and music. They handed out a makeshift flashlight to everyone to add visual to one part of the story. It was everything we thought it would be. Why are they so cool?

We also indulged in waffles from Bruges in downtown SLC and I have been very much enjoying all of the tree blossoms around town. They are right outside my work window and I sometimes sneak over to look at them when I have a minute.

Also, we of course went to the Real game, which they won 2-0.

Part III: Easter came and went and left us with church, dyed hard boiled eggs which promptly were turned into deviled eggs, a delicious dinner with roasted chicken, salad with every kind of veggie you could want, rosemary bread, homemade salted caramel ice cream, Easter baskets, candy, and one giant blow up T-Rex.

 It's been a great few weeks. The weather is shifting into spring mode which means more time spent outside and time to shave the legs more than once a week (good thing we just bought a gym pass which we've used once). Wishful thinking.

And probably the most exciting news of these past few weeks: Elliott aired his first radio show on the radio on Saturday! I listened at home and enjoyed it very much.It's been months in the making. Check it out:

Most of the Weekend

I don't think it's uncommon for people to try to make the most of their weekend. We are among those people, but it doesn't always happen. Sometimes, all we want to do is relax and watch movies. Sometimes, all we have to do is clean and do our heaping pile of dishes. Other times, we go out and do really cool stuff.

This weekend was one of those weekends. Friday night we went to a wedding reception and then went and saw the artist at The Broadway (by ourselves). It was a great little date accompanied by chocolate covered raisins and chocolate covered pretzels (which I almost ate a whole bag by myself). The movie was amazing. We left very satisfied and repeating to each other that we haven't seen a movie that good for a while. I went into the movie with lowered expectations because really, how good can a silent movie be? I was definitely proved wrong. We often rate movies based on if we want to add it to our movie collection. This one made the cut.

Saturday morning we slept in, ate breakfast, and then took off for Park City. We  I did a little shopping at the outlet stores and we grabbed lunch before we drove to Strawberry Reservoir for our first.. kite boarding lesson! This was Elliott's gift for Christmas and we finally booked it for Saturday. It was super windy and overcast, but we still had a ton of fun learning how to fly the kites. I definitely underestimated the power of the wind, which threw both Elliott and I on our faces a time or two. We didn't get to jump on our skis or board this lesson, but if we decided to try again, which we probably will, we get to go for it.

After our lesson we sped home and changed for the Real game. It was the home season opener vs. the New York Red Bulls (who have their fair share of arrogant and annoying players). There was an 80% chance of rain and high winds, neither which decided to make an appearance. We lucked out fo sho.

Sunday we did our Sunday things (church, trying to entertain/teach ten 3-year-olds, sunday dinner, season finale of the Walking Dead). For dinner we made pizza on the grill. Four of them. They were tasty. For dessert we passed around a pint of Ben and Jerry's pistachio ice cream until it was gone.

This week is going to be a good one. I can tell. Thursday, the new shopping center City Creek opens just a few blocks from our house. Friday night we have tickets for the midnight showing of The Hunger Games. Sunday, after a very very long absence, Mad Men returns on AMC. This is one of our favorite shows on TV.  We will have to wait until Monday to watch though, we have tickets for a house show played by David Bazan. We went to his last one in Salt Lake. It was amazing. (I feel like I use amazing/awesome a lot. I need new adjectives. That's where Elliott comes in. Ahem).

Other than wanting to squeeze in one more ski day, I'm ready for spring! I want to:

Camp a lot, a lot
Canyon BBQs
Wear shorts
Go swimming
Go hiking (with Mollie. She needs to lose about 6 lbs. Yeah, only about 20% of her body weight, no big deal)
Try trail running?
Go to as many Real games as our wallet will let us
Go to California for Disneyland/Magic Mountain/Santa Monica therapy

Lately

Lately:

Mollie wants a selfish amount of belly scratches (which I love giving)

Fondue on valentines

Breakfast of choice: vanilla yogurt with granola and raspberries

Enjoying the new downtown Harmons

Sewing bday present for brother

Massive chocolate covered strawberries from Zupas

Blue Skies

Finding old favorite books at Kings English book store

I also added some sock monkeys to my Etsy shop.

Today Elliott is in his scuba diving class and I was supposed to go skiing. But today decided to be really windy and cloudy. So I finished some projects instead!

My little brother turns 16 this weekend. I can't believe it. I was just 16. I'm really excited for him though. He's one of my best friends ever....

So glad it's the weekend.

The Bug is Back

Elliott has been reunited with his BUG. This weekend we decided to zip down to St. George to grab Elliott's VW bug (finally). It's been getting fixed up and it's new home is Salt Lake. This car was Elliott's grandpa's and he gave it to him when he passed, so it's very special to Elliott. The look on his face when he turned that key and drove off was probably about the same as the one he pulled on that one Christmas where he got a bike for his paper route. On that note, it better last a long time now that it has a bunch of shiny (and expensive) new parts.

We also ate french fries twice on Saturday and went and saw The Help, which was awesome. On the way home we each were listening to Radio Lab. If you like radio shows this is a good one. Did you know that whales live on average 70 years? Their bodies also take 70 years to decompose (which sounds like a pretty interesting process actually, more than just blood and guts). I thought this was pretty cool: after they die they give back to the ecosystem for the same length of time that they were living.

Best Friends

Elliott and I have a new best friend. We've been hanging out every day. It's our new showerhead. It has a hose and 5 different settings. I don't know about Elliott, but my showers are a little bit longer than they used to be.

It's 4:31 on a Friday and I can not wait until 5:00 when I can go home. The sun is setting and I get to enjoy it on the drive home. This weekend can.not.come.soon.enough.

Weekend Agenda:

1. Massive cleaning
2. Massive grocery store trip
3. Massive homework
4. Hang out with friends (and hopefully plan a graduation trip such as a river or backpacking trip)
5. Soak up some Sunday goodness and inspiration (note to self: make up Relief Society calender. I'm pretty sure the only people who look at this are the older ladies... hence why I have to type in size 16 font)
6. Exercise exercise exercise! Work off the hours of sitting in class and at work

Friday

Friday. This week has been long for both of us, full of tests, homework, and work. I was up until 1:00 am this morning finishing homework and Elliott had a full day working an 8 hour day and going to class afterward. We did have time to slip in a couple of hours of free time and go to the comedy skit by Second City Comedy Club that was put on free for students. Elliott's covering free activities on campus for students so he brought a camera to catch some shots. This comedy club has churned out comedians like Bill Murray, Tina Fey, and Steve Carell. We needed a good laugh after a long hot day walking around campus (which is all uphill, both ways). Can I just say this? I was inbetween classes andwas behind a girl who making the steep journey from the Library up to the HYPER buildings. She was a double amputee below the knees. She had to prosthetic legs and was wearing sandals. She was awesome. I am greatful for my legs. And even though Elliott never posts on this blog, I know he is too.

Every week I look at MSNBC's This week in pictures. It's awesome. They have photojournalists around the world send in their weekly photos covering current events, crisis, triumph, and just average people. After you look at a week's collection, you get to vote on your favorite and then look at the poll of everyone else's vote. This week, this was the winner:

I can just picture Mollie in one of those mini life jackets (except she hates water). Anyway, the pictures are always amazing and it's a good way to keep up with a few things going on elsewhere.

Weekend plans:
1. Movie (the social network) vs. BBQ up Milcreek Canyon
2. Homework/Studying
3. Football (I won't be watching but Elliott will. He's a coach afterall and has to see how his players did in fantasy. What a good coach).
4.Banana bread baking
5.Canyon Drive/hang out
6.Bike Ride?

Last Night's Soundtrack: Mumford & Sons

Mollie & the Dane

Fall weather is creeping in to Salt Lake. The days are cooler and the leaves are falling one by one. Today, after a long week, we slept in. Until 9. It was great. It's much easier to sleep now that the weather has dropped a few degrees. We can't wait until it gets even colder and we can actually get under the covers.

My brother Nick had a football game today and we went and watched. He played such a good game and scored two touchdowns (and also broke another kids rib, on accident of course). We brought my family's dog, Mollie.

This is Mollie:

There was also a beautiful great dane at the game. His name was Honda. he noticed Mollie right away and immediately wanted to play with her. His owners said he loves to play with small dogs. Mollie was a total wuss at first and kept her distance.

Honda was a really laid back dog. He got down on Mollie's level and started to army crawl over as to not scare her. She let him come over and check her out.

We had fun playing with him too. We just loved his floppy lips and huge paws. 

(possible future pet?....)

Even though the dane drew most of the attention, Mollie got some quality Elliott time too

(she's loving it, can't you tell?)

The rest of the day we just ran around. We went to Pictureline which is a really nice photography shop here in Salt Lake. We went grocery shopping (which has become a chore for us both lately) and now we enjoying our newest Netflix movie, Blood Diamond.

Tomorrow is our annual peach pie dinner with family. Beth's mom is making fresh peach pie and we're making homemade vanilla ice cream. We got mix from Williams Sonoma and it. is. amazing.

Yesterday we saw Mates of State at Redfest. Pictures to come.

^  (they're so good)

Perfect Saturday

Last saturday was a great day (except for the fact that elliott had to work). But I was able to help my parents work in their garden in the morning and afternoon. It was in the 70's and it was nice to finally be able to get some sun. After Elliott got off work, he rode his bike over to my parents house and we (elliott, my mom, my brother and I) went on a long bike ride. We rode up to the Zoo, along Wasatch Drive, over the freeway, through Holladay, and back to Salt Lake. It was so much fun (despite some of the very steep hills) and nice to be outside on such a perfect day.

Afterwards, Elliott and I went to dinner for our anniversary. He surprised me and took me to PAGO which is one of my favorite restaurants which is hard to frequent due to the price. Everything is bought local and the chefs are amazing. We both ordered the fried chicken. Now let me set the record straight for all you KFC lovers/haters. This was not like KFC fried chicken. There were no bones and the bread on the outside was so much better. It was served with fingerling potatoes, roasted greens, and white raisens all with some sort of sauce (I forgot what the waitress called it). It was the best fried chicken I have ever had and one of the best meals I've ever had. Even better, it was a meal they were test running for their new menu (coming out today...which means we have to go back) and so the price was nearly half of a normal entree.

If you haven't had a chance to try PAGO I highly highly recommend it (it's a little more on the expensive side so be prepared) but it's well worth it. I love local restaurants!

A few of our other favorite local Salt Lake restaurants include:

Eggs in the City
-1675 E 1300 S-

What we get: biscuits and gravy....best I've had. They also have great breakfast burritos and french toast


Curry in a Hurry
-2020 S State Street-

What we get: chicken curry plate


Ekamai Thai Curry
-336 W 300 S-

What we get: anything
This place is locally owned by two young parents. Elliott interviewed them for a story he wrote for the Utah Daily Chronicle and you can find it at http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/arts/a-taste-of-thailand-1.2207112.
They're really cool and the foods great!

Sawadee
-754 E South Temple-

What we get: orange chicken, yellow curry, veggies, beef and broccoli
Fast service!


Rio Grande
-270 Rio Grande Street-
Family favorite!

What we get: our entire family almost always gets a cheese or chicken enchilada muckers style(with sour cream and pinapple)


The Red Iguana
-736 W North Temple-
Very popular but worth the wait
Now I'm hungry and stuck at work.