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: