The Golden Girls

A couple weeks ago four of us were sitting around on a random week night, flipping through channels, and somehow ended up on The Golden Girls.

Linds: That's going to be us when we're old.
Pamela: I get to be Blanche!
Me: She's kind of slutty...
Pamela: I know.
Linds: Then I'm Rose.
Me: Aww, crap! That makes me Dorothy. Why do I have to be the manly one?
Breann: So then I'm the super old one?

In a GG related story...In elementary school we were learning The Golden Girls theme song, "Thank You for Being a Friend", for some sort of production and it got stuck in my head a lot. One afternoon I decided to sing the song, really loudly, out the bathroom window (because why wouldn't you?). The next day at school my neighbor, who was also in my class, asked me if I had been singing the song outside the day before.

My response? "Pshh...no."

I may have been dumb enough to do it in the first place, but not dumb enough to fess up to it.

Conversation of the Day

Linds: What was it you said when we were getting out of the car?
Me: I don't know....Did I say something inappropriate?
Linds: Yes.
Me: Pamela, do you remember?
Pamela: I don't know. I ignore everything you say anyway.


And the quote of the day, brought to you by yours truly: "Well...thinking is hard."

The Minivan Weekend

May has been the month of traveling and visitors. By the time the month is over I won't have worked a full week, which is awesome and a little stressful at the same time. Especially since I'm a person that likes stability in her life.

Last weekend's trip was to SLC for the wedding reception of these two, Max and Chelsea, who are now living it up in Hawaii for the next year.
The weekend started off right with a free rental car "upgrade" to this beauty. Yes, that's a minivan. I was a soccer mom for the weekend and owned it. I'm not sure which was worse, the minivan or the baywatch mobile.I spent Friday morning working, the afternoon shopping and the evening with my family. I had wanted to bowl for several weeks so Brian, Amanda and I hit the lanes. I was absolutely terrible. I didn't break 100 either game; however, that was good enough for me to win the second game. Shameful.

That evening all of the Utah siblings (+ nephew) were able to go to dinner. I didn't take any pictures (which is so unlike me!) but it was fun to spend time together. For dessert Brian, Amanda and I hit up Baskin Robbins and got sundaes. I had a Peanut Butter Cup sundae that can only be described as INTENSE. It was like a PB Cup Blizzard on steroids. There may or may not have been melted peanut butter on it.

On Saturday Annie and I went to lunch and then made a quick stop at the Keith's. The kids are still adorable and Tatum is still funny.

The wedding reception was Saturday night and was delightful. The scenery was gorgeous and I may or may not have eaten fifteen cupcakes. Okay, I didn't but I wanted to.

Look at the view in the background! What's that? You can't see it because my shoulder pads are in the way? Oh, sorry about that.
The cupcakes.
Emily is one of my favorite people on the planet. She's always making me laugh and was kind enough to let us stay in her adorable new home.
No adventure would be complete without a self-portrait. Too bad it wasn't our camera. You're welcome, Em.On Sunday morning we had breakfast with Sarah & Steph and even had the pleasure of Todd's company for a few minutes.
As always, a great SLC weekend with some great people! I'm sure I'll be back again soon enough.

Midwest to West Coast

A couple weeks ago my parents spent a long weekend with me in Seattle. We saw the sights and ate our way through town. The weather even cooperated and we had a couple beautiful days.

Our first stop was Pike Place Market. I bought a bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day and some delicious peaches and pears. Dad got a jumbo tomato and some "crusty" bread.
On Saturday the weather was absolutely gorgeous. We visited the Reflections of Christ photography exhibit (which was fantastic), visited the temple grounds and Deseret Book.
Then we made our way out to Snoqualmie Falls. The drive was very pretty, but I was a little underwhelmed once we got there. From Snoqualmie we drove back to Seattle and made a quick stop at Golden Gardens to get a good view of the water.
Over the course of the weekend we did a lot of eating...Mondello's, Ivars, Blue Star, Cupcake Royale and Trophy's.
Sunday morning my Dad and I made breakfast - french toast with the new love of my life, cinnamon bread. I'm not much of a cook, but it's hard to go wrong with french toast. We hit up my ward for the first hour of church and then came home and made steak for dinner.

It was great to spend Mother's Day with my wonderful mom! I haven't been able to do that in a long time.
All in all it was a successful weekend! So fun to spend time with my parents and I was happy they got a chance to appreciate my new city.

On the Sea Side of Things

I'm spending the weekend in Seaside, Oregon with my fabulous friend, Cara. It took a little longer than we expected to get here (6 hours vs. 3.5 hours) due to holiday traffic, a stop at Taco Del Mar for dinner and dessert in Astoria. The drive was BEAUTIFUL and the company was great, so the extra time didn't bother me.
I should have taken more pictures of the drive...so much green! So much water! But I didn't really think of it until we were almost there and the clouds had rolled in over the water and the sun was almost completely set.
Plus, I kind of have a thing for bridges.
We're staying in a suite on the beach. Kitchen? Check. Living room? Check. My own bedroom and bathroom? Check, check.
My plan is to do a lot of the following: sleeping, eating, beaching and reading. We have no schedule.

It's going to be a great weekend.

Note To Self

Don't let the lady at the nail salon tell you that the color you picked is bad, believe her and then let her pick out a color for you. Your toes will end up looking like this:
Barbie called. She wants her toes back.

Crazy Train

I was watching Ellen this morning while eating breakfast since there are a million episodes piled up on my TIVO (sidenote: I thought Raisin Bran is supposed to have two scoops of raisins? Not in my box.). My style of watching Ellen is to fast forward through everything except for the guests I'm interested in. I can get through an episode in less than 15 minutes. Aren't you impressed?

On this particular episode one guest caught my eye. A nine year old kid came out with a guitar almost as big as him so I stopped and watched. He's from Japan and is a guitar prodigy and, apparently, a YouTube sensation. His favorite artist is Ozzy Osbourne and he played Crazy Train on the show.

Below is a clip of the show. It's long so just skip to somewhere in the middle to be amazed by his skills and then skip to 4:50 and just watch.

The look on that little boy's face! It's like all of his dreams just came true. Of course, I immediately started crying sitting there on the couch with my Raisin Bran. I just couldn't help it!

And this is why I have a job. If for no other reason than I would otherwise sit on my couch all day watching Ellen and crying at everything.

Conversation of the Day

This conversation was with a man who works in another department (where he is the equivalent of my supervisor) and took place in the elevator as I was leaving work today. We work on a "special team" together so we know each other a little. Plus, sometimes I see him on the bus and while I usually pretend I don't see him (because that's how I roll), I've acknowledged him once or twice.

[Elevator doors open. I step on.]
Me: Hey, how's it going?
Guy: Hey. Not too bad...Any fun plans for the weekend?
[Notices my purse and laptop bag on my shoulder.]
G: And are you sure you have enough purses there or...
Me: Well, you know...I could probably use at least one more. I'm heading to Seaside, Oregon for the weekend.
G: Nice. I hear it's on the sea side of things.
Me: Yeah, I was thinking it might be near the sea.
[Elevator doors open. Goodbyes are exchanged. I step off. ]

Things That Made Today Awesome

-Accidentally getting to sleep in by forgetting to set my alarm. This could have been disastrous had I not woken up in time, but since I did it was awesome.
-Having a new book to read on the bus.
-Learning that there is a code of conduct among panhandlers. A man (a panhandler himself) on the bus was telling a story of how he was so disgusted with someone he saw on the street that only approached women. "Women have enough to worry about without you bothering them".
-Thai food for lunch. I'm addicted to cashew chicken from a couple places around my office. This is not helping my weight loss situation.
-Catching the bus even though I left the office late.
-Shopping. It's always more fun with a "personal shopper" who is an expert on the product AND when you can buy a size smaller than you had originally thought.
-Hard core thunderstorm. It was the first I've experienced since moving to Seattle and I kind of loved it (even though I was caught in the pouring rain without an umbrella).
-Running into a restaurant to avoid the rain. Delicious, delicious bread.
-Singing Wicked very enthusiastically in the car with Pamela. We maybe had some sweet synchronized moves.
-American Idol. I still heart Kris and I think he did WAY better than Adam on the [already crappy] last song, despite messing up some words.
-Watching the Justin Timberlake SNL. So I'm a few weeks behind...
-Gregory Alan Isakov's new CD. I didn't make it to Easy Street so I had to download from iTunes. I got desperate.
-My bed. Sometimes I wish I could stay here all day. And by "sometimes" I mean "every morning".

Tomorrow.

I've been counting down to the day Gregory Alan Isakov's new album comes out since I saw him for the first time in February. He's one of my new favorites and not just because Brandi Carlile sings on his new CD.

Just listen to his voice and you'll know why.

Quote(s) of the Day

Brought to you by The Number Five:

#1
Em: "Look how big my boss's goat is, you guys."

#2
Steph: You follow Soleil Moon Frye on Twitter?
Em: Yeah dude, she's all over the place.
...
Em: Punky Brewster is important.

Dear Enterprise

Dear Enterprise,
Thanks for the free "upgrade".
Now I'll be able to pick up every child in the Salt Lake valley from soccer practice. Just like I was hoping I could.

Love,
S

Almost Famous

Guys, remember when we took a trip to Portland last October to visit Roloff Farms? Well, there was a moment on the farm when Lindsay got trapped in a corner by the boom mic operater. And it was awesome. And it was on the show this week.

Peanut Butter Cup

Today at lunch I was informed that there is a Blizzard Fan Club. As in, Dairy Queen Blizzard. As in, my favorite delicious frozen treat. And not only did my co-worker KNOW about this club, he's already a MEMBER. I think I'm just a little sad that I didn't know about it first.

On an unrelated note, I got my trash kicked at the gym twice in 12 hours earlier this week and I'm still feeling the effects. My ribs hurt to the touch and I had a sneeze earlier that almost ended in tears.

For future reference, if someone tells you to assume the push-up position with your feet on a 10 lb. weight and then to walk on your hands across the room while dragging the rest of your body behind you, all while maintaining that push-up position, DON'T DO IT. Your sneezes will leave you in tears.

You know, maybe that's not so unrelated to my first thought. Maybe I thought of the gym because I was feeling guilty about lusting after a Blizzard and my brain said, "Hey Fatty! You want to know why you get rocked at the gym? Because you've eaten a few too many Blizzards. Now get on the treadmill."

Sounds about right.

Spotlight

When I was in college our ward got together every Sunday night on the "balcony" outside my apartment for ward prayer. I'll be honest, this wasn't really my cup of tea. You were more likely to find me at home at the kitchen table, in my pj's, frantically studying for a test or writing a paper that was due the next day than you were to find me there. There were, however, times when I could be convinced to show up.

One of those times happened to be when the ladies of my apartment were the lucky recipients of the "Spotlight". (This just keeps getting better and better, right?). Some people got creative when it came to spotlighting their apartment by writing/singing songs, poems, etc. but that was just too BYU for us. We chose the simple route and each took a turn introducing one of our roommates with the one rule that we could say whatever we wanted. That's a recipe for disaster if I've ever heard one.

I can't remember who introduced me and I don't remember everything she said about me, but I do remember a this: she gave everyone in the ward the key to making me uncomfortable.

You see, I have this list of words that I can't stand. Every time I hear them I cringe. And it's not because of the meaning of the word. It's just the way they sound.

moist.
panties.
lover.
indentation.
ointment.

See what I mean? Say OINTMENT a few times to yourself and then try and tell me it doesn't make you shudder a little. The complete list was much longer than that, but I can't totally remember all of them. Or maybe I just don't want to tell you.

Anyway, one of my dear roommates chose that time, in front of my entire apartment complex (and the neighboring complex + random nearby houses) to announce that I had a list of words that I hated. Can you guess what happened next? Everyone started using them in sentences and shouting them at me. And pretty much anytime they saw me after that point. Awesome.

I thought of this story today as typed about wiping my finger with an alcohol swab. WIPE. Yeah, that's on the list. If it wasn't before today then it is now.

Oh, and one of the other tid-bits my roommate chose to share? The fact that I have a Big Head Complex. As in, I'm sensitive about the size of my huge noggin. So as I stood there in front of a mass of people staring at me, she basically invited them to shift their attention to my head and silently judge me for how large it is.

And next time you see me, you'll do the same. Just trust me, it's grande.