Saturday Night Surprises

Caitlin and I played this past Saturday.  We didn't have much planned: Shop here a little, shop there a little, return an item, you know.  Pretty boring.  So we were pleasantly surprised when we happened upon a free, outdoor concert down at the Riverwoods in Utah.

 

 

They had 3 local bands:

Blue Aces: Three 16 year old girls and a 14 year old girl on the drums provided quite the amazing experience! We were rather impressed, especially for their age, and their amazing energy and stage presence!  We secretly hoped that they would win.

The New Electric Sound: There music was fun and energetic, but it felt similar to the Neon Trees.  We didn't care too much for the voice of the operation, but it was fun all the same.  We felt them to be the lesser of the three bands.  However, they took away the first prize of a thousand dollars.  We were a bit disappointed at that.  But they were still fun, I suppose.  Judge for yourself!

D'if:  Similar to the Postal Service.  They had a great sound and was very enjoyable to listen to.  We liked them a lot and would have been happy if they took first.

Meanwhile, as we listened to the bands, we got FREE chalk!

It is for their upcoming event in September, "Chalk the Block".  So of COURSE, we immediately had to chalk it up.  Pronto.  Besides, I won't be in Utah in September.

 

Free chalk, free music, great company....Seriously...All the night needed was a snow cone shack just behind us.  Then it would have been perfect.  

Oh, and check out the sunset:

Gorgeous, eh?  It was quite the fabulous evening.  Now, for picture overload:

This is Erin and Caitlin, signing off! Happy day to you, good person!

Car Shopping is Haarrddd....

Ryan and I are in the market for a car.

But apparently we are in the wrong market for the car that we want.

Introducing, the Honda Element:

It is fast, it is shiny, it has a ton of room.  It's what we want.  But apparently, with all good things, their has been quite the opposition.  

First:  The Honda Element is now an extinct species.  The last model came out last year, 2011, and they are not making any more period.

Second: Apparently, the owners of the remaining species refuse to give up their beloved vehicle, for once you buy an Element, you fall in love, never wanting to part from their side again.  This has made it nearly impossible to find at any dealer.  In fact, we have found 4, which brings us to our third problem.  

Third: There are only 4 Honda Elements within a 100 mile radius for sale at a dealership.  However, at least 2 of those have already sold.  So we have a choice of 2.  One is a great choice, the other, a subpar choice.  But...

Fourth:  The 2 remaining Elements are currently being sold at a HORRIBLE, no good, dealership.  We went in with every intention to buy the great choice of a Honda Element, only to find that they were trying to scam us in every way possible.  (Who decides that optional features are now mandatory and MUST be sold in order to make a so-called profit?  Why does the price of the vehicle seem to keep getting higher the longer we stay there?)  It's a long story, but trust us...It was no bueno.

So we are currently stuck in our car buying situation.  It seems we have no choice but to look for new options.  Le sigh.   I really hate car shopping.

Ryan, sporting the Honda wear while at a Dealership.

Florida Trip!

My weekend in Florida was wonderful!  Here's what happened:

My amazing packing job! *Pats self on the back*

Last day of work before Florida.  I can hardly wait, I am so excited!

Me.  At the airport.  Waiting in Denver for my red eye flight to Miami, THEN Tampa.

Waiting for my brother-in-law to arrive in Tampa.  So we pulled out a board game because we're cool like that.

Pedicure for beach day, compliments of my fabulous Mother-in-Law.

Siesta Key, Beach.  Love.

Got to spend the vacation with the cutest baby ever.  Seriously, she will melt your heart.

Downpour!!

Florida+Rain=Love

We shoot ze guns!!

Admit it.  I look awesome.

Now I shoot ze guns!!

Ryan is the king. Does that automatically make me the queen?

By the way, I had an interview while in Florida.  I totally rocked it.  We are coming to Florida starting August 8th, 2012.  Watch out, Florida.  It's going to be an adventure!

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Less Than Two Weeks...

In just less that two weeks I will be in one of my all-time favorite places.

The place that I dared to try something new.

The place that I left home, and lived in a place far, far from home.  No four hour drives to and from home, but somewhere that I wouldn't be allowed to visit for a few months.

The place that I spent my first Christmas away from home, and you know what? It ended up okay.

The place that I made some of my best friends for life.

The place that I ended a relationship, which opened up other possibilities that I needed for my life.

The place I constantly yearned to return to.

The place that my husband-to-be would live most of his life and would call home.

The place where I was proposed to, and began the great journey of eternity with my love.

The place that feels like home, even though I have never lived there for more than 4 months.

The place that is so close to my heart, and hope to one day return to raise my family.

Florida.

I'll see you oh, so soon Florida.

While on the way to Seattle...

While on the way to Seattle, our first gas stop was in the middle of nowhere, Idaho.  Yet, it was quite the surprisingly, charming stop.  Even though the gas was a grand $4.56 a galloon, it was worth every penny due to the following:

First:  Alpacas.  Two of them. (Do you see the second one?)  They were both here to great you first thing as you walked into the store.  I actually didn't notice them until the way out.  Funny how something so obvious should slip my vision.

This is Zuni and Sam the Alpacas welcome sign:

You enter in, and they had the great Idaho Tumbleweed on display, and the pathetic Utah Tumbleweed in comparison.

More humor:

Now THIS was quite the treat.  Ryan and I approached ever so carefully, apprehension growing as we climbed the steps to peer over to see those little snakes:

They got us.  They got us good.  

Hello, Seattle!

Can I tell you how much I love road trips?

I love road trips.

Road trips renew my soul.  They give me insight, hope, and direction.  It's just you and your thoughts while on the big open road.  I needed this trip.  Desperately.  I was on the verge of my breaking point.

Thank you Seattle, for showing me the light.

More to come...If you're lucky!!!

Summer Rooftop Concert Series

Erin, Callie (our darling little sister), and I went to this last Friday:

And then we acted like this:

and this:

 this too:

We had a ton of fun. It was so good to spend some quality time with each other. If you haven't been to a summer rooftop concert in Provo you should make the effort to go. There is a concert held the first Friday of every month during the summer. And to make it even better all the concerts are FREE! Here is the website to see what bands are playing this summer: Click Here. I am looking forward to seeing The Fictionist this year on September 7.

Erin and I noticed a couple of trends that are hitting this summer.  Since the attracts a trendy 'hip' (I feel old saying the word hip) crowd we thought we would share with you what we observed.

Here is our list:

High waisted skirts

Floral

Stripes

Colored skinny jeans

Glasses (Most likely fake glasses)

Buns

Red lipstick

and of course fedoras!

Links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10

Julie & Julia

My husband is doing his programming homework.  So I watched Julie & Julia.  I love that movie.

If you are familiar with the story line, Julie Powell has decided to take Julia's book and accomplish all of her recipes in exactly 365 days.  It is not an easy task, but she is dedicated, and accomplishes the impossible.

Now, I don't think I could ever commit myself to such a task.  First of all, I could see the pounds coming on quite fast.  (Especially since every recipe tends to feature butter, butter, and more butter!)  Second of all, I don't think my wallet (or Ryan's!) could afford that kind of exquisite cooking day in and day out.  Third of all, I'm not that determined.

But, I do want to become better at cooking.  In fact, I did try something new this week.  I cooked with pork for the first time ever.  I didn't even need to call my mom.  (A simple feat that I am quite proud of!)  It turned out delicious.  I need to become more brave and adventuresome with cooking.  We have had too many meals of soups and sandwiches and spaghetti.  My poor husband. 

So I'm off to become a better cook.  Not quite like Julia Childs, but better, nonetheless!

Bon appétit! :)

I may or may not have added this book onto my wish list after watching Julie & Julia.

I'm a prisoner here.

Saturday Night

Happy Saturday!

Do you ever feel like you've wasted your Saturday? I sure do.  Sure, I was productive at times...but for the most of it?  Pure laziness.

I need a hobby.  A real hobby.  Something I can do at home that will entertain me for hours, if I so choose.  But see, the problem is I get bored easily.  Oh, and frustrated.  I've tried sewing...but I only get frustrated if things go wrong, or it takes too long.  I get bored of drawing.  Or reading.  Or writing.  And the list continues.

The internet is NOT my hobby.  Well, truth be told, that is where I spend my time when I'm bored.  I surf blogs, pinterest, and Facebook. I could probably do it all day long, just wasting my time.  That's the problem...at the end of surfing pages and pages of nothing, I find that I've accomplished just that: nothing.  I feel as if my brain has been sucked out and replaced with fluff.

I need a real hobby.  I also need to spend less time on the internet.  I hate that I have wasted so much time today whether it be on the internet, sleeping, or doing absolutely nothing.  Help?

Pins That Work

Today I am letting you in on my Pinterest undertakings.  On my Clean House, Happy Heart board, I have managed to implement a few pins and to much surprise, have found great success in doing so!  Check it out:

Vanilla Pin

Claim: Put two TBS of vanilla extract in an oven-safe cup/bowl, then place it in the oven at 300 degrees for one hour. Within twenty minutes the whole house smells like Heaven. It's actually a common realtor trick.

Result: My apartment smelled FABULOUS!  It smelled like fresh baked cookies all throughout the apartment.  The down side: The smell quickly faded after it was taken out of the oven.  I would have loved the smell to linger a bit more.

Newspaper Pin

Claim: Ball up Newspaper and stuff into refrigerator when it SMELLS BAD. Change out papers every 2 hours until smell is gone! (A plumber recommended this to us when we returned from vacation to find a basket of rotted spinach!!! IT WORKS and worked after 3 changes - we had already tried everything else!)...wonder if it would work in a microwave where someone burnt the popcorn?

Result:  Worked like a charm after ONE try!  However, I only tried this for the microwave.  You know that nasty smell that builds up in the microwave? Yup.  This solved that problem.  I will forever be using this trick.  I have yet to try it for the fridge though, since we haven't had problems yet, though I imagine it works great.  No down side.

Shower head cleaner

Claim: 1/3 cup baking soda -1 cup white vinegar -1 plastic bag -1 large bag twisty tie Let sit several hours or overnight.

Result: Amazing!! Our shower head was completely blocked and water was coming out of it irregularly. After an overnight treatment of this, it flowed nicely and opened up holes that hadn't been used in a loooong time.  Highly recommended.  No down side.

There you have it!! I tried it, faced success, and now encourage you to do the same!  Don't you just love Pinterest?  I'm addicted.