Weekend Update: 2.17.2013

Friday

Friday after work I made the long drive down to Provo. Traffic Friday afternoon is a nightmare and it took me 1.5 hours to get from Downtown SLC to BYU’s campus. I met Megan and her other friend Megan for dinner at a new little spot called Awful Waffle. Can we talk about what a terrible name that is for a restaurant?! Why would you ever want the word awful associated with your food?! Anyways…It’s a big Belgian/Italian type place and the food was not awful (thankfully).  It’s so funny to go back down to Provo and see how much it has changed. This place is located in a brand new apartment complex, restaurant place thing. When I was at BYU, it was an elementary school which was torn down and remained am empty lot for years. 

After dinner we went to see BYU ballet’s production of Sleeping Beauty. I LOVE Sleeping Beauty. It is one of my all-time favorite ballets.  BYU’s production was fine. The best part was the little girl that spent the entire show dancing in the aisle like a ballerina. So cute!

Saturday

Saturday was so sunny and wonderful!! I miss seeing the sun! It felt like spring outside (even though it was only like 40 degrees). Saturday morning I played a tennis match. I cannot wait until it’s warm enough to play outside again!!!

 

Saturday afternoon Megan hosted a fab Valentine’s Day tea party!! The food was delish and the company was so lovely. There was a small group of us and it was nice to be able to chat and spend the afternoon together.

After the tea party, I booked it back to SLC to meet up with Emmalynn and some other girls in the ward to see Safe Haven. I haven’t been too impressed with the last few Nicholas Sparks movies so I wasn’t expecting much, but I LOVED it. Definitely one of the best chick flick movies that I have seen in the past 5 years. If you haven’t seen it, make it a point to!!

Sunday

It was a pretty normal Sunday. Lounged around in the morning. Church in the afternoon. My parents had their “empty nester” dinner and it was my mom’s turn to host so me and sister got to attend. The group started out as 5 couples with all their children gone but it the past few years, 4 of the 5 couples had their children move back in with them at some point. Ha. It was fun to go to their dinner-my parents friends are great.

The best part of Sunday (a Sunday miracle if you will) was that I found my Garmin watch!!!!!!!!! I have been looking for this watch for ages and was almost convinced that it was lost forever. I decided to scour my room one last time and found it lodged under my nightstand. HOORAYYYY!!!! Now I can really get serious about training for that half marathon I’m running in a month… 

Tuesday tunes: Safe Haven

Today's tunes are brought to you by the movie Safe Haven! I saw it last weekend and was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. Even if you aren't into Nicholas Sparks, check out the soundtrack. It's very great.

Brandi Carlile
Heart's Content

Tristan Prettyman
Say Anything

Enjoy!!!

2013 Goals: January check-in

This month was off to a slow start. I feel like all the snowstorms made me want to do nothing but curl up in my bed!! At least January is over-which means we’re one month closer to Spring!!!!!!

The accountant in me loves spreadsheets so of course I spreadsheeted (yes, that is a word) all my goals and made timelines to finish each one. Here is where I stand after January:

• Goal 2. Right on track to finish L’Alchimista by the end of the year
• Goal 3. I sent 5 pieces of mail
• Goal 6. I’ve broken up my goal to run a marathon into several mini-goals, the first one being to run the NYC Half Marathon!! Training has not been going great though. The snow+being sick+hurting my back=very limited training. I’m hoping that the fact that I’ll be running at sea level will help make up for my incredibly mediocre training…

• Goal 8. I actually finished 2 books in January!! I finished our book club book, Night Circus, which I LOVED! And I read the book Room. Both really great books! And this makes 2 months in a row that I’ve finished our book club book!

• Goal 9. My vacation plans are still in the works, but for now I’m focusing on saving monies!
• Goal 11. Caroline and I are making chevron quilts together. Crafting is much more fun when you have a friend doing it with you! We made the trip to the fabric store and bought all the fabric we need for our quilts! I’m excited-they’re going to be super cute!!! I decided to go with a yellow theme and Caroline is going with a blue and brown theme.

• Goal 13. I’m still working on getting into the habit of writing in a journal every night. Anyone have any helpful suggestions??
• Goal 14. I went through the Gourmet cookbook and picked out about 50 recipes that I want to try. Sadly, I didn’t actually make any this month.

Goals for the New Year!

Yes. I realize that it's already February, but better late than never right?! This year, I have made a list of 14 things I want to accomplish:

1. Be able to do the splits on both sides (inspired by watching Dance Moms...)
2. Read The Alchemist in Italian
3. Send 100 pieces of mail
4. Become a certified spin teacher
5. Attend the temple at least 12 times
6. Run the NYC marathon
7. Complete a triathlon (most likely a sprint triathlon)
8. Read 12 books and the Book of Mormon
9. Go on an exotic vacation
10. Improve my financial situation
11. Make a chevron quilt
12. Win a match in a tennis tournament
13. Keep a gratitude journal
14. Cook 50 new recipes from the Gourmet magazine cookbook

Some of these might be a little bit ambitious (sew an entire quilt?!) but that's what makes it fun right?! Stay tuned for monthly updates and photos!

Highlights of 2012...part 3

NYC trip

I was lucky enough to return to NYC in October!! I spent a few days in the city seeing all of my favorite people and then spent a few days in Queens hanging out with all the fam and the cousins. Everyone was there to celebrate my Aunt Juliet’s 90^th birthday and it was as always, a good time!

Denver trip

Shortly after I returned from NYC, I headed to Denver for a conference for work. Traveling for work is kind of lovely for a couple days, although I don’t think Denver would be my choice destination. I did get to meet up with Melanie, see the Denver Art Museum, and explore the 16^th Street Mall.

        

Elton John in Vegas

One weekend in October, I went to St George with the parents. October is the perfect time to get away to St George! It’s still warm enough to lay out but not so hot that you feel like you’re going to melt! The real reason for the trip was so that my dad and I could go to Vegas to see Elton John in concert!!!!! I had seen him in a couple free shows (one in Rome and one in NYC) so I knew it would be a good show! Me and my dad had a great time!

Jen and Russ's wedding

The last weekend in October, several of my NYC friends came into town to celebrate the wedding of Jen and Russ!!!!! It was so wonderful to be there to celebrate with them!

Bookbinding class

I signed up for a bookbinding class at the U in the fall. I took a class in college and loved it but had forgotten everything. It was a fun activity even though I didn’t finish any of my projects…ooops!

El Salvador trip

For Christmas this year, my family decided to go on a vacation together instead of doing a big Christmas at home with gifts and such. BEST. IDEA. EVER!!! We spent a week in El Salvador and it was fantastic! We were in San Salvador for a couple days then we headed to a beach resort for some R & R. The weather was perfect, the resort was great, and it was fun to spend time with my fam!!

I guess looking back on 2012 it was not a terrible year. I’m excited for 2013 and the adventures that it will hold!!