Weekend Update-NYC Saturday! (October 13)

I am immensely behind. Sorry.

I had a lovely NYC Saturday morning. I was going to go to my most favorite spin class but stayed up far too late to think of trekking down to spin. I am sad that I didn't get my act together to make it to class. Instead, we slept in a bit and then got ready for brunch.

Oh how I have missed a good Saturday brunch! Some places in UT have brunch but it's just not the same. Jane, Ashley, and I went to one of my all time favorite spots, Isabella's on the Upper West Side. Love love that place. It was so wonderful to catch up with those girls over a delish brunch. Sharon was supposed to meet up with us but ended up coming after we had finished brunch so we went across the street to get her some Shake Shack.

After grabbing her food, Ashley and I met up with Kristin for some Levain's cookies and a good walk in the park. It was the perfect fall afternoon for park walking and the three of us had a really good chat.

After the park walk, it was time to trek out to Queens for the family events! Saturday night was my Aunt Julie's 90th birthday party. I cannot even fathom what it would be like to be 90 years old. That is SO old! People were supposed to pick an era and dress from that era. I chose the 60's and wore my MadMen dress. Love that dress and use any excuse that I can to wear it!

It was a great party with good food, dancing, and some good family time. It's always fun to see all of my cousins and aunts and uncles. Even Aunt Julie and my 85 year old Uncle Masih were out on the dance floor!

Cousin John and me at dinner

Auntie Julie blowing out her candles

Mamma, Aunt Joycelyn, and Daddy on the dance floor

HBBC Challenge: Week 2

The HBBC continues! This week we did a challenge at work to do some sort of exercise 45 min a day. I missed a couple days but overall did pretty decent. Here is my points breakout for week 2:

Tuesday: 15 min walking/bike, 30 min with personal trainer-3 pts
Wednesday: 2.5 mile walk-2.5 points
Thursday: 90 minutes of tennis-7.5 points
Friday: lots of walking at Festival of Trees
Saturday: 60 min spin class-6 pts

Total workout points: 19 (10 more than last week!)
Facebook bonus points: 6

Let's hope I can keep it up this week!

HBBC Challenge: Week 1

The HBBC is off to a slow start for me. It has made me realize how out of shape I have gotten and that I need to get back into a good workout routine! Here is my points breakout for week 1:

Thursday: Cottonwood Heights Thanksgiving 5k-3.1 points
Saturday: 60 min spin class-6 points

Total workout points: 9.1
Facebook bonus points: 5

Lots of room to improve for next week!!

Tuesday Tunes

two of my most recent favorites, both performed at the American Music Awards Sunday night...

Taylor Swift
I Knew You Were Trouble
I have recently (as in today on the drive down to Provo) become obsessed with this song.  I have been listening to it on repeat all morning

Ke$ha
Die Young
Yes, she may be trashy. And some of her lyrics are rather terrible if you listen to the words. But her songs are catchy and fun.

Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge: Round 2

Remember this from last year? That lasted perhaps a week until I found out I had a stress fracture and being the dramatic one that I am, life fell apart a little bit.

Well I'm back at it again this year!! I have been such a slacker when it comes to working out the past little while. Then of course getting back into it is just the worst because I'm so out of shape! I'm excited to do this challenge this year. I'm hoping it will be the kick that I need to get me back into some sort of workout routine.

There's still time to register if you want to get on board!
http://www.holidaybootiebusterchallenge.com/2012/09/5th-holiday-bootie-buster-challenge.html

Tuesday Tunes

It's been a while since I've done one of these. I realized that I discover most of my new favorites from TV show playlists. Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl have such fantastic music! Today's tunes are courtesy of Gossip Girl, season 6 (the last season! tear!)

Rebecca and Fiona
Dance

Charli XCX
Nuclear Seasons

**Disclaimer: I haven't watched the videos...hopefully they're not crazy...

Weekend update-home to NYC! Friday!

I was lucky enough to get to spend a weekend in NYC!!!!! The whole fam went out for some family events, which I'll talk about in Part 2 of the NYC weekend update but I spent Friday and Saturday morning in the city-going to my favorite spots and catching up with all my favorite New Yorkers!

I actually got in late Thursday night and spent the night at Jane's place. It was so so great to see her and we stayed up far too late chatting and catching up! Friday morning I slept in a bit and then went to my favorite nail salon, Bonnie's to get my nails done! Then I headed downtown to the good ole World Financial Center 2 to have lunch with 2 of my favorite coworkers.

Bobby, Matvey and I were all interns together the summer of 2008. It was so great to see them and catch up. I don't miss work AT ALL but I do sure miss hanging out with these two! After lunch, I took to the streets and walked from downtown up to the West Village. Walking around the city is one of the many things that I miss about being in the city! I got tired of walking (my legs have lost their NYC stamina!) so I hopped on the subway to get some treats before going to visit Allison!!

Next time you are in NYC, go to the Doughnut Plant. It will change your life. I spent the afternoon hanging out with Allison and June. It was so so good to see them and I'm glad that they're so much closer now! Their current apartment has incredible views of the city!!

We did take some photos of us too! Once I get them I'll post a few!

After hanging out with Allison, I met up with Rissa and Sarah for dinner at Shake Shack and a broadway play! Oh how I have missed Shake Shack. Anyone that thinks In n' Out is better is crazy. 

After dinner it was showtime!! I had gotten us tickets to see Once. I had heard so many good things and was super excited to see it! When we got to the box office to pick up the tickets, I was told that there weren't any tickets for me for that day, but there were some for September 25 that hadn't been picked up. Somehow I had made a mistake and bought the tickets for the wrong day! I WAS SO DISAPPOINTED!!!!!  Unfortunately, the show was sold out so we couldn't get in. I was the saddest! We still wanted to see a Broadway show so we thought we'd walk over to Bring It On and see if we could get tickets. Luckily we were able to get tickets and they were cheap! They were of course at the top of the theater but all of the seats in the section in front of us were empty so we got to move down closer.

It was a fun show and took me back to my cheer days. AND one of my favorite SYTYCD dancers was in it! (Neil!) But I definitely wouldn't pay more than $40 for it.

After the show, I met up with some of the old dinner group crew at Juniors! It was so fun to see them and chat and laugh like the good old days! It's so crazy how much has changed with our group in just a few short months.

Weekend update-Rexburg!!

I haven't done a weekend update in ages!!! This month has been crazy-and while it's been great, I'm excited for things to quiet down a little bit. I'm exhausted!

I spent conference weekend (October 5-7) up in Rexburg Idaho visiting my dear friends Jen and Russell. Jen and Russ are 2 of my favorite NYC friends and they joined in the "Westward Ho" movement and have moved to Rexburg. It was so so great to see them!!

Weekend activities included:

Eating tacos in a school bus. Oh how I love tacos!

Finishing up last year's Christmas craft as we listened to General Conference:

In 2010, Jen and I started a tradition of making a Christmas advent calendar together every year. Last year we did these tins but I of course didn't finish mine. So before I could start this year's craft (part of the reason for the Rexburg visit) I had to finish last year's. After finishing last year's, I got started on this year's project: activity pockets!

Sewing is SO not my craft forte (I think craft delegation is my craft forte....I can plan out and assign a craft project like nobody's business) but the goal is to actually finish this one and be able to use it this year. I will post pictures of the finished product when it's done! Keep me accountable!

Eating delish pulled pork sandwiches and tater tots at a strange little restaurant:

We did NOT text and walk across the street at the same time, that's against the law apparently....

It was such a fun weekend and I loved seeing Jen and Russ!!!

TOMORROW!!!!!

I am going back to NYC tomorrow and couldn't be more excited!! I'm only spending a day and a half in the city but it is jam-packed full of friends, food, and loving my city!

I will leave you with a little Frank Sinatra....start spreading the news!!

Weekend Update

Friday

• I was so excited for this weekend!! Trina and I went to Bambara for SLC's Dine-O-Round (can we please get a better name?!). I have been dying to go to Bambara for ages and it did not disappoint! Hands down the best food I've eaten in Salt Lake. I had this delish corn and crab chowder to start. For the main course I had some amazing gnocchi with fresh corn, tomatoes, bacon, and some other delicious things that I can't remember. Dessert was a lovely peach tart topped with mascarpone ice cream. I definitely will be returning to Bambara!!

• After dinner we saw Pitch Perfect. If you haven't seen it, please go see it rightnow. It was fantastic. Just a fun, entertaining, hilarious movie. Loved.

Saturday

• Saturday was the big day-the RS Broadcast!!!! Our call time was 1:40 so pretty much we were there the entire day. It was such a fun experience and despite my complaining about the outfits, I am so so glad that I did it. It definitely was something that I won't forget. 

• Karen had a dessert night at her house afterwards. So many delish desserts!!!
• I saw Won't Back Down. Wow. Such a good movie. Another one y'all should go see!

Sunday

• Churchy church. The meetings were really good. Sister missionaries from Temple Square spoke in sacrament meeting. Definitely was one of the best sacrament meetings we've had in a while-they were great!
• Funny moment in church: I was wearing a lace dress and managed to get myself stuck in the zipper of someone's scriptures as they were walking by. Sam and I just about died laughing as I was trying to get un-stuck. How did that even happen?!
• Had dinner with Karen and some of her ward friends. It was so fun-we had a yum dinner and then played cards for a while. A great night with fun new friends!

How is it October already?! This month is going to FLY by-every weekend is booked!

Weekend Update

Friday

• I went to the circus with Emmalyn, Courtney, and Stacy!! It has been at least 20 years since I went to the circus and it didn't disappoint. I was surprised at how much fun it was! They had these motorcycle riders that rode around in this metal globe, they had tightrope people and trapeezers. Of course there were elephants and all of the big cats. They also had a part where housecats did all of these circus tricks. I have to say that I'm now a fan of the circus!

Saturday

• We had our dress rehearsal for the Relief Society broadcast at the Conference Center. It was pretty cool to be sitting in the choir seats. That place is ENORMOUS. I think I'd die if I ever had to speak there. Look for me in the broadcast! I'm sitting the 5th row up in the middle section on the left hand side, 3 seats in!
• Karen and I went to brunch at Squatters Brewery. Pubs and breweries have some of the best food that I've found here in UT. Brunch is always a good time!
• I had a rough afternoon full of napping and a massage.  
• Went down to Provo with Rissa, Sam, and Melissa for papusas. They were delish and got me excited for our El Salvador trip in December!! 

Sunday

• Instead of regular church, we had the Brigham City Temple dedication. I went to the 9am session which was so lovely. Not so lovely-not knowing that the doors closed 10 minutes before the session started! Luckily there was a man letting all of the stragglers in so I made it but it was a CLOSE call.
• FHE planning breakfast at the Cannons. We planned some fun activities!! It's going to be a great fall!
• Sunday baking! I made caramel apple crumble bars. They were delish-especially with some vanilla ice cream
• Last choir practice before the big day! I'm getting excited to sing on Saturday!!

This week is kind of a quiet one. We had a work tennis tournament on Monday and other than that, not really much else going on. I am going to take advantage of it because October is going to be crazy!! Every weekend is already packed-fall is going to fly by!!

I Love This

Just discovered this song by Jamie Cullum. I'm of course obsessed. Enjoy!

Weekend Update

Friday

• Friday night was supposed to be a low-key night with Karen but she was super sick so instead I had a low-key night with the parents. We went to dinner with the Bosley's and then they came home and played cards. I went to watch a show and ended up falling asleep on my bed at 9. Party animal!! Turns out falling asleep at nine is not as wonderful as it sounds-I woke up wide awake at 2:30 in the morning and didn't fall back asleep until approximately 5am. UGH.

Saturday

• Went to a baby shower for my friend Annie! So fun to see her and can't wait to see her little girl next month!
• Got a mani/pedi!! I finally found a great place here in SLC that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. That is one of the few things that is cheaper in NYC-beauty and salon services. Sure do miss Bonnie's Nails and my $45 mani/pedi/chair massage. Speaking of chair massages, they are non-existant here in Utah. These people have no idea what they're missing out on! This place was great-the regular pedicure comes with a hot stone massage and a salt scrub!
• Spent the afternoon getting ready for Dinner in White!
• Dinner in White was really fab. While it was not as large scale is the ones in Paris or NYC, it was still fun and it was something different to do. Me and Jennica made a delish dinner of gnocchi with pesto (made with basil from the garden), sauteed chicken, green beans, and caprese. Then for dessert we made lemon french macarons. They were a little delicate-I think that we didn't cook them long enough-but they still tasted good. It was a fun little event and hopefully next year it will be bigger and better!
• I ran into a friend that I hadn't seen since Jr. High at the Dinner in White!! He was playing in the band that they had there. It was such a fun surprise to see him and catch up!

Sunday

• Church in the new building. Our stake rearranged the wards so now 4 singles wards all meet in the same building. It wasn't quite the logistical nightmare I had imagined-so that's good right?
• Made these! They turned out pretty good and were a good way to kick off fall baking! One tip-if you make them, use a pastry bag to pipe in the dough. They look a lot prettier that way!
• Choir practice dress rehearsal. We have to wear the most hideous outfits. They want us wearing extremely loose fitting, long-sleeved, white collared shirts, UNTUCKED, with a mid-calf length black skirt that has to cover our knees when sitting. I am borrowing one of Marissa's mission skirts. I look like a gem.



I cannot get over the untucking business. We all look so terrible. I suppose it will look good on camera or something? I couldn't bear to leave the house with my shirt untucked so I did a little bit of improvising until I got to rehearsal...



Coming up this week: dinner with some NYC friends, tennis match #2 (I'm playing up one level because there was no one else that signed up in my level....yikes!), choir dress rehearsal in the conference center, and India fest in Spanish Fork!

Weekend Update

Friday

• I went to the Greek Festival with Rissa, Jessica, and Angie. It was so much fun!! We used to go to the Greek Festival every year when we were little and it's amazing how much it's grown. We mostly just ate a lot of delish Greek food. I've made an executive decision that I must go to Greece soon.
• After the Greek Festival we went back to our house to watch a movie and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep about 15 minutes in....ooops

Satuday

• Went to the Farmer's Market with my daddy. I love the farmer's market-it's so fun to wander around and see what people have, and the people watching is pretty great too.
• Ran a handful of errands
• Saturday night was the evening session of our Stake Conference. Elder Tate and Elder Scott both spoke and they both were of course great. We actually ended early so we'd have more time to mingle (oh the joys of being in a YSA stake). I get gold stars because I mingled my little heart out.
• We were going to go up the canyon and do a bonfire for Allison's birthday but by the time conference was over it was too late so instead the girls had a get together at their house. It was fun, and of course there was more mingling since I didn't know very many people there. Between post-conference and the birthday party, I am all minlged out!

Sunday

• Stake conference was early-HOORAY FOR EARLY CHURCH! I miss the days of 9 am church so much. Elder Scott spoke again and it was super crowded. I ended up sitting all the way in the back on the stage. Mehr.
• Birthday brunch with Amber, Allison and the roommates!! I just love brunch!
• Baking time-I made delish mint chocolate chip cookies.
• Choir practice-I'm excited to sing in the RS Broadcast at the end of the month!!

It was a good busy weekend! Up this week...my first tennis tournament match, book club meeting for yet another book I haven't finished, and SLC Dinner in White!!

Weekend Update

Yes-I realize that it's already the weekend. I dropped the ball on this one...oops. I just love long weekends. Every weekend should be a long weekend I think.

Friday

• Since it was a holiday weekend, my manager told me I could leave work early! HOORAY!!!
• I love a good low-key Friday night. I caught up on my DVRed shows and took a little nap. Then Amber and I went to Cafe Rio for dinner and went to see Spiderman. Even though it was sold out, the lady at the ticket booth let us buy tickets  and told us there may be seats left. Turns out we found seats! Thanks lady!

Saturday

• Ashley and Eric were in town for the long weekend so we met up with them for breakfast! I just love seeing my NYC friends here in Utah and am trying my best to convince them all to move here. Ashley is a dear and brought me some of my favorite NYC treats: a cookie from Levain and some Trader Joes s'mores that I just love. And she brought me my passport that I left in NYC. So happy to be reunited with my passport too!!
• Went up to Swiss Days with sister and some other girls in the ward. We used to go to Swiss Days every year when we were younger. It was always so much fun! This year didn't disappoint. We ran into a good handful of people we knew-mostly from our home ward. We ate delish scones and swiss tacos (aka navajo tacos...). I bought some really cute recipe cards from Alli's booth. She was in our home ward. She makes the cutest recipe books with some fab recipes. You know that anything that comes from the Henderson home is going to be delish. I also bought some fun cookbooks from the daughter of one of our bishopric counselors. Her cookbooks are also super cute and I can't wait to try some of the recipes!
• Saturday night I hung out with my friend Jason who was in town for the weekend and our other friend Brad. We went to Jason's brother's wife's parent's house. Goodness. The house was out of control huge. They had an indoor wallyball court, indoor theater, home gym, chickens and horses, indoor swimming pool. It was insane. And so much fun to hang out with Jason and Brad.

Sunday

• Good ole church. I may have been late because I was hooked watching Andy Roddick's tennis match. Just love him. Can I retire when I'm 30 too?
• Dinner with the fam and Megan and Camilla! We had a delish summer BBQ full of new recipes I had wanted to try. It was fun to hang out with Megan and Camilla! And we definitely need to take advantage of these last weeks of being able to grill out. Winter is coming. :(

Monday

• Such a boring day for having a day off of work! I lounged around the house most of the day. Went to Home Depot to try to get this lamp fixed. I hate the lady that helped me. She was the rudest and didn't actually help me with anything. Why do people work in customer service jobs if they aren't planning on actually providing service?! Also went and returned some stuff at Target and got my car washed.
• Went to a movie and dinner with the fam. We saw Madagascar 3 (yes, we are all grown adults). I love loved the second one. The third was good but not nearly as good as the 2nd or 1st.

It was a good weekend. This week has been decent too-more time with NYC visitors (I'm trying my hardest to convince them all to move here!), some tennis in preparation for my first tournament, and that's about it. So excited that it's the weekend again!

365 Days of Erin

Check it out, I've finally updated my photo a day blog!

http://365daysoferin.blogspot.com/

I've only missed 28 days since March 1. I consider that pretty good!!

Weekend Update

Friday

• The weekend started early with our work summer party!! We got to leave the office at 11:30 for a picnic lunch and a game of Amazing Race, SLC style. We literally ran all over downtown in 90+ degree weather. I was completely worn out by the end. It was a lot of fun though and definitely beats a Friday afternoon in the office!

My team-we had to put on swimming gear and stand in the fountain at Gateway

• Amber and her roommates had a timeshare in Park City for the weekend so I went up there and hung out with them. I forget how great Park City is. I need to make it a point to go up there more often. We had dinner and walked around Main Street for a little bit. Then we went back to the timeshare and hung out in the hot tub, chatted, and played games. Apparently I'm 97 years old and was so tired by 11:30.

Saturday

• Drove back from Park City. The leaves are already changing colors. That's not allowed. It's still summer!
• Karen had texted me and invited me to go to her ward activity. They were going boating so of course I couldn't pass that up! It was a lot of fun. I love to be on boats!! I don't particularly love getting in the water but nothing beats spending an afternoon cruising around on a boat. I need to find some boat owner friends by next summer...
• Relaxed at home a bit, cleaned my room, attempted to make lemon macarons and failed. I was so disappointed they didn't turn out. I think I overbeat them. I had to throw all of them away. Boo.
• Went to a birthday party for a girl in my ward. It was fun-I learned how to play bumper pool and played Just Dance

Sunday

• Church
• Lemon macaron attempt #2. It was a success!!! I was super careful with those egg whites and they turned out perfect!! I love macarons and am so excited that I know how to make them!

• Choir practice. Our stake was invited to sing in the choir that's going to sing at the RS General meeting at the end of September and we had our first rehearsal. It was COMPLETE chaos. It took them over an hour to hand out the music. Once we started actually practing though things calmed down. The songs are really beautiful and despite the crazy clothing standards (long black skirts and an UNTUCKED white shirt...who wears their shirts untucked these days?!) I think it will be a fun experience. Or something.

It was a good weekend. I can't believe that this upcoming weekend is the last weekend of summer! Nothing too crazy is going on this week...FHE, hopefully playing some tennis, and going to see To Rome with Love!!

Basil everywhere!

If you follow me on instagram (@erinmasi), you've already seen my enormous basil plant. At the beginning of the summer, I wanted some bruschetta. I went to the store looking for some delish fresh basil to use and all I found was a little plastic container with some pretty pathetic looking basil inside. I decided that I was going to grow my own fresh basil! Buying a basil plant had to be cheaper than that horrible grocery store stuff and it couldn't be that hard right?

Well, fast forward 4 months later (how have I already been in UT four months?!) and we now have 2 happy, ENORMOUS basil plants, producing more basil than I know what to do with!

So this is where you come in! I need some new ideas! Send me your recipes!! What are your favorite things to do with basil?

Start spreading the news...

....NYC I'm coming for you!!! October 11-14. I could not be more excited about this little weekend trip! I get to spend a day and a half in the city, loving it. I'm already trying to figure out how to fit the most I can into my short time there. And then a couple days out in Queens with the fam to celebrate my great Aunt's 90th birthday and the 10 year anniversary of my grandfather's passing.

Central Park in the Fall!! Yayyyy!!

Weekend Update

It was a good weekend. And I am behind in adding pictures to these posts....ooops...

Friday

• Went and saw Aida at the Sandy Amphitheater with Megan. We got there super early so we could be sure to get the best grass spot possible. It ended up not being as crazy crowded as the Abba concert was so we probably didn't have to be there right when the doors opened but oh well. It was a fun show and the main people were really great!

Saturday

• Ventured to the farmer's market at Pioneer Park. There were so many wonderful things there! Fresh fruit and vegetables, great people watching, delish food. I definitely must return before the summer is over!

Met this friend at the market. The man in charge wanted me to pet it. That sure was not happening...

• Went and got a massage. Oh how I wish I could have a personal massuese!
• Ran a few errands including a trip to Barnes and Noble. I could spend my life's fortune in there! I always come out with more than I intended to buy. I purchased this month's book club book. For once, I'm going to finish the book and actually participate in the discussion!
• One of my college besties was in town!!! It was so fun to see Lara and chat and catch up. She had to go and move to California so we don't get to see each other much these days. Boo and boo. We just hung out at my house then met up with Amber for dinner at Settebello. It was a lovely, low-key evening.

Love this candid!

Reunited!! Lara-move back please!!

Sunday

• Church and a munch and mingle.
• Mario and Dale came over for dinner. Rissa made pulled pork and I made my potato salad, special request from Dale. I also made a delish peach crumble and had my dad make his famous homemade ice cream to go with. It was a lovely Sunday dinner.

• Caught up on Dance Moms. Does anyone else watch this ridiculous show?!

This week is looking to be kind of a quiet one. My tennis lessons are over (sad face) so I need to come up with something else wonderful to fill my time with!

Weekend Update

Friday

• I only worked part of the day because I went to sister's convocation in the morning! Yay for graduating and yay for only working part day!!!

• We had our ward overnight activity. Does anyone else find it odd that we had a ward slumber party? Nonetheless, it was lovely-lots of delish food and it was fun hanging out with the wardies

Saturday

• Yogurland time with Karen!! I wish that place wasn't so far, although perhaps it's a good thing it's not just around the corner...
• Kathryn's bridal shower!! She is so excited to get married and she received some lovely gifts. It was an all-white theme so I got to test out my white dress I'm wearing to dinner in white!

• Family dinner at Bombay House to celebrate Rissa walking at graduation. Rissa had never been to Bombay House so that was her pick for dinner. It was delish-definitely up there with some of the best food I've had since leaving NYC. Oh how I miss eating good food all the time...
• Watched the Olympics and Fast Five. I was so tired from the ward slumber party that I just wanted to veg Saturday night.

Sunday

• Just the usual-church and choir practice, delish Sunday dinner, getting my last bits of relaxation in before the new week

Up this week...I'm in charge of our ward FHE this week-we're doing an Iron Chef competition, home ward garden party, tennis and tennis, and my college bestie is coming to town!

Weekend Update

This weekend was good and relaxing!!

Friday

• Took a half day at work!! YAYYY!!!!
• Drove to St. George with Megan to spend the weekend in our house down there-since we left in the early afternoon we didn't hit any traffic on the way down!
• Saw The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Tuacahn indoor theater. The show was SO funny. I really liked it! The actors were great and the music was fun too. Would definitely recommend this show!

(apparently I need to work on my self portrait skills...)

Saturday

• Brunch at Bear Paw Cafe. Unfortunately, this place was not nearly as good as the first time I went there. I think I need to find a new St. George brunch spot. Any suggestions?!
• Perfect St George Saturday-pedicure, nap, and pool time
• Dinner with the padres
• Saw Hairspray at the Tuacahn outdoor theater. I was nervous we were going to get rained out but thankfully the dark clouds blew over. The show was fun. The girl that played Tracy was really good but I wasn't a big fan of the guy that played Link.

(photo of the scenery on the way to Tuacahn)

Sunday

• Drove back early in the AM
• When I returned home I had 2 packages waiting for me! I love getting mail!! One was some Percy and Penny Pigs (delish British candies from Marks and Spencer). And the other was some new stationery that I ordered!

• Watched some of the women's marathon before going to sacrament meeting. Oh. My. Goodness. These women are incredible. They run SO fast. It's so inspiring to watch! I haven't finished watching the race yet and I have managed to avoid finding out who won. Can't wait to watch the rest!! And even though I already know who won the match, I can't wait to watch the men's tennis final match!
• Sacrament Meeting
• Rissa made us Mongolian beef for dinner. I was bored so I made her put on a cooking show for me while she cooked dinner. So fun!
• Made French macaroons with Karen and Aubrey. They actually turned out REALLY good!! I was so impressed with our baking skills! I LOVE french macaroons and it wasn't incredibly hard to make them. So excited to keep experimenting with different flavor combinations!

(photo courtesy of Karen)

It was a really good weekend. I love going to St George. It's always super relaxing! Up ahead this week: stake FHE at the Bees game, tennis and more tennis!, Rissa's graduation, and the ward overnight trip. Anyone want to be penpals? I have some new fab stationery that I'm dying to use!

Weekend Update

This weekend was a good one! And it passed so quickly! I cannot believe that it's August tomorrow. This summer has just flown by.

Friday

• Went shopping at the outlets in Park City. I found the perfect dress for Dinner in White and found another great summer dress for like a million percent off.
• Went to the Deer Valley Music Festival. They performed the 1812 Overture with real cannons!! So cool!!

Saturday

• Went shooting with a group from the ward. It was my first time shooting shotguns and I actually managed to hit one of the pigeons! We also shot handguns. Turns out I like handguns a lot more.
• We had our ward summer BBQ. They had a big slip 'n slide which kept people entertained for hours. In the interest of not breaking any bones or hurting myself (which I seem prone to do) I elected to observe.
• Took a lovely Saturday nap
• Went to an ABBA tribute concert!!! I kind of love ABBA. A friend on facebook posted that she had a couple tickets she couldn't use and that they were up for grabs so I grabbed them! It was the perfect night to be outside and the tribute band was actually pretty good!

Sunday

• Good ole church. Nothing too exciting. Although they did announce that we're moving buildings! Apparently it's a big deal.
• Lots of Olympic watching. I wish I could take the next 2 weeks off to just watch the Olympics!

Should be a good week this week! One of my NYC favorites is in town, tennis lessons 3 times, and a trip to St George next weekend!!

A few new favorites

I have a couple songs that I cannot stop listening to. I may have listened to the first one for most of my 10k yesterday and have had the One Direction song stuck in my head most of the day today.

This video is actually from So You Think You Can Dance. I was lucky enough to score tickets to an advance screening of Step Up Revolution on Monday night. Perfect FHE right?! Of course I went home and promptly added the soundtrack to my spotify playlists. This one actually makes for a perfect running song. And I LOVED the Step Up Revolution preview on SYTYCD. Is anyone else watching this season? It is So. Good.

I think this song is just adorable. And so catchy. Love and love!

Weekend Update

This weekend was rather low key.

Friday

• Had dinner with the fam. When we were little, me and Rissa used to take turns picking where to go for dinner on Friday and my parents would go out without us on Saturday. This week it was my turn to pick where we went and I wanted to order pizza and stay in. Pizza is pretty much the only thing you can order in around here...miss you Seamless Web! It was lovely though.
• I fell asleep on my bed around 8:30 pm. Party animal I know. I woke up around 10:30, changed into my pjs and went to bed.

Saturday

• I think I slept for approximately 11 hours. It felt great.
• 4.4 mile run. I didn't wake up early enough to run outside so it was another treadmill run for me. Oh that treadmill is torture. But I refuse to run in 80 degree weather. Thank you Golds Gym for the cardio cinema. Makes those miles on the treadmill pass just a little quicker.
• Brunch time with Karen!! We went to Milcreek Cafe. It was pretty delish.
• Ran errands...returned library books, washed car, tried in vain to pick up my dry cleaning, etc etc
• Megan and Kathryn's birthday party!! To celebrate the last year in their 20s, they threw a 20s themed party. Those girls always do such a good job with their parties and it was fun to celebrate with them!!

Sunday

• Churchy church. We had an FHE committee meeting and I was put in charge of our Iron Chef activity next month! I'm excited-it should be fun!!
• Dinner with the fam and Mario and Dale. For dinner I made the most delish lasagna. I got the recipe from the cookbook I bought it Italy. Such a good purchase-the lasagna tasted almost exactly like this yummy lasagna I had in Florence. Can't wait to try more recipes!!
• Watched the Next Food Network Star finale. I am so so so disappointed that Ivan didn't win. So sad. Hopefully they'll still have him do something on the Food Network. I just adore him!

Like I said, it was a pretty quiet weekend but apparently I needed to rest and catch up. This week should be a good one! Advance tickets to Step Up Revolution, mid-week holiday, tennis lessons, and the Deer Valley Music festival!!

Everything You Didn't Do

What better way to start off the weekend than with a new Jamie Cullum song. From what I can tell, this song was only released in Spain. Fingers crossed this means there are more new Jamie Cullum songs to come!

New blog-check it out!

I have been working on a new blog. Check it out:

365 Days in Pictures

I have been trying to take a photo every day. All of them are on that blog with a couple sentences about the photo. Let me know what you think!

Joshua Radin comes to SLC!!

I am a HUGE Joshua Radin fan. I have lost count of how many times I've seen him in concert. Suffice it to say several. Anytime he's performing in a city that I'm in, I will be there!!

This week he was here in SLC! We were one of the first stops on the first leg of his tour promoting his new album (comes out July 31st! eeeek!!) As usual he didn't disappoint!

Trina, Megan and me waiting for Joshua

Amber and I with Joshua in the background

Joshua singing away. Just love him.

Video of Joshua singing one of my favorites. For whatever reason, I can't get the video to load...

Such a great show!! Can't wait for the new album to come out July 31st!! Mark your calendars, it's going to be a good one!

Weekend update

It was a rather quiet weekend this weekend. Yet it passed way too fast!

Friday

• Friday night we had a work BBQ. Pretty much everyone I work with is my parents' age but it was fun. And I wowed everyone with my delish potato salad.
• Went to bed earlier than early so I could wake up for the Lavender Days 5k on Saturday. We're talking in bed at 10pm early.

Saturday

• Woke up practically in the middle of the night to drive down to Mona, Utah for the Lavender Days 5k. Not quite sure what possessed me to sign up for a 5k so far from home! I ended up making it down there in record time and had a while to wait before the race.
• Ran the Lavender 5k with Megan and Karen. And by ran with, I mean we all ran it, none of us actually ran together. Ha. It was a lovely little race with great race souvenirs and yummy post-race food!

• Had brunch with my friend Kiersten who I hadn't seen in at least a year. So fun to catch up with her!
• Nap time!! I may have slept for 3 hours. It was so great.
• Dinner at The Porcupine Grill with the parents and the Shermans. Love the Porcupine-their nachos are out of this world.
• Played Shanghai Rum. I was leading the pack for a while but a few bad hands knocked me all the way to second to last place

Sunday

• Delish french toast breakfast cooked by Daddy
• Ward choir practice. 
• Churchy church. Can I just say 2 things: 1-why on earth is church 3 hours?! 2-we totally rocked the music number
• Ward mingle. Got to spend some time chatting with fellow ex-New Yorker Chad.
• Sunday relaxing time. 
• Sunday dinner and Next Food Network Star. Please go vote for Ivan at foodnetwork.com/star. He is such a dear and would be so great on his own show!
• Ward Prayer. So much ward time today. But it was fun!

This week is going to be great! I'm going to see Joshua Radin on Tuesday! Love love love. And I signed up for another session of tennis lessons! YAYY!!

Share it maybe

I'm sure most of you have seen this floating around the internet, but just had to share incase any of you haven't. I DIED laughing.

And now I want a cookie...

Weekend Update

It has been quite a while since I've done one of these. Let's be honest, it's been quite a while since I've been a consistent blogger (perhaps never?). This past weekend was a fun one!

Friday 6 July

• Saw the Utah Symphony play at Thanksgiving Point with Jane, Megan and Trina. I had never been to a concert at the Waterfall Amphitheater at Thanksgiving Point and it didn't disappoint. It wasn't super crowded, it was perfect weather, and the symphony played all kinds of patriotic songs in honor of the 4th of July. We made a delish picnic, thinking you could eat inside the amphitheater and were disappointed when we couldn't bring in any food. We ended up spreading our blanket on a spot of grass in the parking lot and picnicking there before going into the concert. During intermission, I was lucky enough to meet Vladimir Kulenovic, conductor of the Utah Symphony. He is so precious and such a dear! The night ended with a lovely fireworks display. Such a fun night and so glad we went!

Saturday 7 July

• Went to Tawni's baby shower! It was so fun to see Tawni. I don't know how I've been here in SLC three months and we hadn't seen each other yet. She's having a little girl in September! Eeeekk!

• Ran errands and went and picked up my new tennis racquet! YAY!!!
• Went to the Bees game with Amber and friends. I hadn't been to a Bees game in ages-it was fun. We sat on the grass and mostly just hung out. I don't think any of us were paying much attention to the game and they lost terribly. How embarassing! We also ended the night with a fireworks show. So fun.

Sunday 8 July

• Picked up Sarah from the airport! She came to visit for a few days before heading down to a fam reunion in Cedar City.
• Went to Karen's ward to see her speak. She gave such a great talk, I told her she can give all my talks in church from now on. If only that was really an option...
• Hung out with Brad and Anita for a bit. So fun to all be reunited here in the West!

• Made a delish spaghetti dinner for Sunday dinner. Yum.

It was a great weekend!! I loved having so many NYC friends in town!!