Say Goodbye Good

Remember when you graduated from High School and/or College? For me there was a sense of dreamy foreboding and a small departure from that previous life I just lived. I can still remember what it felt like.

Last week I said goodbye to a work-friend, as she's moving out of state, and made her a mix. It's a Say Goodbye Good Mix, which also fits this time of year when people are moving on from school and friends:

1. Goodbye... Silver Scooter
2. Marching Bands of Manhattan... Death Cab For Cutie
3. It's All Good... El Perro del Mar
4. Where Does The Time Go?... The Innocence Mission
5. In My Life... The Beatles
6. Past In Present... Feist
7. Living Life... Ben Kweller
8. I Wish You Love... Rachael Yamagata
9. Ageless Beauty... Stars
10. Feels Like Home to Me... Chantelle K.
11. Now It's On... Grandaddy
12. Country Mile... Camera Obscura
13. Paper Boat... Belle & Sebastian
14. Losin You... Amy Millan
15. Always Love... Nada Surf
16. Say Goodbye Good... The Promise Ring

You can sample it via iTunes here.

Thanks, I Guess.

While teaching a lesson to my Young Women, one of them said something funny, which made me laugh. Right after I laughed, one of my other Young Women said:

"Wow, when you laugh your teeth look really big."

My reaction... Stunned.

But, I said "Thank you."

Blogging 'Dance'

Look what I found... A blog devoted entirely to 'So You Think You Can Dance!'

The blogger follows up with past SYTYCDancers, including Benji, Travis, Jaymz, and Donyelle.

Also, the blog has video of the supposed new contestants, who are amazing... I think Jaime Watson could be the next Allison.

View all these goodies here!

Hmm...

While sitting at a camp spot, enjoying Midway's landscapes on Sunday evening, my family started playing a game. You picked a card that stated a question, and then you had to answer it.

I got this question:


My answers:

Strengths? I'm hilarious. (Guess I'm not humble.)

Weakness? I'm very impatient. (Blogger's taking forever to upload this picture!)

Now, I'll relate this question to the blog-o-sphere:

Strengths? I've posted something almost every weekday. (Hmm, could this be a weakness?)

Weakness? Still shy about commenting on "stranger's" blogs. Although, I would like to comment, just haven't yet... But, I'm working on it.

You wanna share?

3-Day Weekends

I thoroughly enjoyed this 3-day weekend. Jeff and I got so much done. We planted our tomatoes, romaine lettuce (a first for us), and basil:

Visited the new Ikea not once but twice. (Even had our first purchase- cinnamon buns not included.)

Breathed in the fresh mountain air in Park City:

Watched Cavin fly high in the sky:

And, finally found the color we'd like to grace our walls.

(Picture coming soon.)

Oh, and watch the Jazz lose. Miserably.

Shouldn't every weekend be 3 days?

The Beehive House

“Remembering the past gives power to the present...”

Bitten

"Fashion is not a luxury, it's a right."- Sarah Jessica Parker

Quite a quote, huh? I saw Ms. Parker on Oprah last week promoting her new clothing line, Bitten. Did anyone see it?

SJP has created a clothing line, which debuts next month, where each and every piece is under $20. That's right- $20! How durable can that type of clothing really be? She swears it's made from great materials, and from the looks of it, she may be right.

She features an array of different pieces from casual to dressy. The website's in Flash, so I couldn't grab any pictures to show here.

But, you can view the clothing line on the Bitten website. (Why Bitten? She relates it to the feeling she gets while performing in the theatre. She was Bitten by the theatre bug. And, she wants us to get bitten by her clothing. I almost got bitten. Almost. )

The line will be sold in Steve & Barry's department stores. They, of course, are not located in Utah. The closest? Arizona, Colorado, and California.

Cut It.

Ahhh… I went to get my hair cut and colored today. What is it about the shine and smell that can never be replicated no matter what I do?

I was this close to cutting all my hair off today. It currently sits just below my shoulders, and I’ve been growing my hair out for sometime now. (It hasn’t been this long since my senior year in high school.)

I had no desire to cut off my hair until I was waiting in traffic on my way to the hair appointment. I was thinking: It would be so fun to surprise Jeff with a short, short haircut. (While we were dating my hair was always super short.) I wouldn’t have to worry about my long-locks that tend to fall out leaving a shredded mess in my bathroom, on my pillow, or worry about the long process it is just to get my hair straightened.

And, besides, isn’t that pixie look in? Michelle Williams and Victoria Beckham are sure sporting nice looks these days… Could I be that brave girl?

Another annoyance with my hair? It feels like it's been growing out forever. And then suddenly it quit; I suppose it just didn't want to grow any longer.

But, my sweet hairdresser, Candice, waived my whim decision until I really thought about it. (I guess she didn’t want to have a tearing-up client watching all her hair fall to the floor.)

Which also means- Jeff didn’t notice my new haircut. When I finally asked if he noticed anything different: “Oh ya- you’re bangs are shorter.”

So, I’m enjoying my long-locks for the time being. But, I am still aching to cut it all off...

Maybe next time.

Send This

Do you remember when e-Cards first came out? I'd search all of the free cards hoping to find one remotely interesting enough to send.

Well, finally, no need to send a kitty jumping out of a cake (unless you like that sort of thing), or a monkey slipping on a banana. There are now funny (and free!) humorous cards. Here are just a couple examples:

(Which is true for me.)

(Which, also, and unfortunately, was true for me.)

Find more here. Warning: Some are a bit offensive. (Offensively funny.)

Listen Up

Jeff and I were lucky enough to catch Conan's musical guest on Thursday night. M. Ward played Chinese Translation and was accompanied by Neko Case (Her voice is just too powerful to be back-up.) and Jim James of My Morning Jacket.

If you have time to watch/listen, I highly recommend it. Beautiful:

In Our Own Backyard.

This past weekend we wanted to get away. Not far enough for us to drive all night, but far enough to feel like we were... away.

We ended up at Daniel's Summit outside of Heber. I've never ventured that far outside of Heber, since my cabin's on the other side of town. But, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. (Even climbing mountains on mountain bikes, enjoying late night swims, and rooting for the Jazz.)

I love that we have such different, vivid landscapes so close by.

Us

Jeffrey and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary this weekend. Thinking back on our special day: cheeks sore from smiling so much, feeling so loved, being the happiest I had ever been.

Can't wait for all the many more anniversaries we'll be celebrating.

Haley

Ms. Haley was my muse on Sunday. She's an amazing gymnast. (Look at her braids flying through the air...)

I felt like a kid again watching her bounce and flip, flip, flip on the trampoline.

"The days you work are the best days." --Georgia O'Keeffe

(Trying to keep this in mind. I've got Spring Fever.)

Goodbye, Girls.

I am still dumbfounded that the CW decided to end the Gilmore Girls. Sure the show can’t go on forever, but I was hoping for another season to tie up all the Stars Hollow loose ends. Will we ever find out if Rory ends up with Jess? Or, if Kirk ever marries Lulu? Will Zach and Lane really become rock stars?

I guess we’ll never know.

And, in the immortal words of Rory Gilmore:

"... sometimes you have something you need to say but you can't, because the words won't come out or you get scared or you feel stupid. So, if you could write a song and sing it, then you could say what you need to say and it would be beautiful and people would listen and you wouldn't make a complete idiot out of yourself. But all of us can't be songwriters, so some of us will never be able to say what we're thinking or what we want other people to know we're thinking, so we'll never be able to get the chance to make things right again..."

It really is too difficult for me to explain how I feel about this show…

So, to commemorate the final episode, I have compiled a list of my Gilmore Girls Favorites:

Favorite Stars Hollow resident? Kirk. Anyone who misplaces all the Easter Eggs causing a deep stench in the city-center, as well as decide to live in a box above the city, is a favorite of mine. I always laugh when Kirk’s in a scene.

Favorite Lorelei boyfriend? Luke. Luke’s aware of Lorelei’s affinity for coffee, was there when Rory graduated from Chilton, and even built Lorelei a chupa for a wedding that never happened. For a time I liked Christopher, but the chemistry is still sparking between Luke and Lorelei. And Christopher wasn’t there for the girls when they needed him most.

Favorite Rory boyfriend? Jess. I guess I’m attracted to the rebel without a cause, and Jess fits the bill. It could’ve been Dean, but he ruined a marriage for her. And, it sure isn’t uppity-high-class snob Logan. (Did you see the way he ended things with her?) Jess was a good balance of likability without being overly likable.

Favorite Lorelei friend? Sookie. She too goes on language-rippling tangents that are filled with wit and awkwardness. And, she actually looks like she is a chef.

Favorite Rory friend? Paris. Paris’ unceasingly pessimistic attitude and competitive drive was so funny to watch. Rory and Paris were first enemies, but soon turned into life-long friends, and I‘m thankful for it… I did like Lane, but she just didn’t deliver those punch-lines like Paris.
Case in point:

“Fine, if you guys wanna sit around for an hour after school swapping makeover horror stories, then count me in. Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I plucked outside of my designated brow line? Man, was my face red.”

(However, Lane's short-lived romance with Adam Brody’s character Dave was fun to watch. He was Lane’s first kiss. What a nice first-kiss it was.)

Still reading? I'm impressed.

Favorite Stars Hollow Event? I really liked the Snowmen building episode where Lorelei and Rory built Bjork. I also enjoyed the episode where the town threw a funeral for Babet’s kitty, Cinnamon. And, the Living Art episode… perfect.

Favorite Episode(s)? There’s so many. But, the episode I can never tire from is the Dance Marathon. The Girls are dressed to the nines while they try and beckon their inner ‘50’s ballroom dancer. This is also the night Rory realizes she has feelings for Jess. Dean leaves. Rory’s sad. Lorelei comforts Rory. Kirk wins Dance Marathon.

Another great episode? When Max proposes to Lorelei for the second time. He literally fills her entire house with daisies. And, Lorelei then hands out daisies to all of Stars Hollow.

Favorite Guest Appearances? A lot of bands passed through Stars Hollow including the Shins (Okay, technically they were in Florida playing while Rory was on Spring Break.). Yo La Tengo, and Sonic Youth stopped by as Stars Hollow’s singing troubadours.

The list could go on and on. But, I have a feeling not too many are interested in my final goodbye.

So, finally:

Goodbye, Girls. I'll miss you.

Mr. Sawyer

I'm in love with this smiley-faced Sawyer:

Look at that grin!

We Did It.

My mom, sister, and I woke up bright and early on Saturday to join 16,000 (!) others to run/walk/jog and Race For a Cure. It was my first time running this specific race, and what an inspiration it was.

Breast cancer survivors dressed in pink, while other supporters dressed in white, out together rooting for the same cause.

I loved seeing my mom's smile as she crossed the finish line. She's one strong lady. (I only beat her time by 3 minutes!)

So many brave souls where running for their loved ones who passed on. I saw many images of women who lost the battle to cancer, but their family was still there fighting for them.

It was an awe-inspiring sight. I'm so glad I got to see it.

welcome, Spring.

Here's a mix I made for my Mix Club last week... I forgot to mention it, but wanted to before Summer creeps up on us. (Especially since it already feels like it's here.)

1. Icicles... Let's Go Sailing
2. Hummingbird... Wilco
3. The Fairest of the Seasons... Nico
4. I’m a Broken Heart... The Bird & The Bee
5. Sundress... Ben Kweller
6. Sunny Road... Emiliana Torrini
7. Just To See My Holly Home... Bonnie "Prince" Billy
8. Lark... Au Revoir Simone
9. Another Sunny Day... Belle and Sebastian
10. Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie... Joanna Newsom
11. Make a Plan to Love Me... Bright Eyes
12. My Slumbering Heart... Rilo Kiley
13. I'm Looking Through You... The Beatles
14. Birmingham 1982... Maria Taylor
15. Love is a Place... Metric

I absolutely love Wilco's lyrics to Hummingbird, which has lovely imagery:

His goal in life was to be an echo
The type of sound that floats around
and then back down
Like a feather
But in the deep chrome canyons of the loudest Manhattans
No one could hear him
Or anything

So he slept on a mountain
In a sleeping bag underneath the stars
He would lie awake and count them
And the gray fountain spray of the great Milky Way
Would never let him
Die alone

Welcome, Spring!

You can sample this mix via iTunes here.

Gone Bowling

(I, at least, broke 100.)

Warm Weather Recipes

The second Tuesday of every month I get together with a bunch of gals to swap recipes. We each make a dish that fits the theme for the month (See title of post.), sample each other's recipes, and then take each recipe home. (Of course, there is the casual conversation about each recipe, but then it quickly turns to Hollywood Gossip or "Grey's Anatomy" scoop.)

Tonight, I sampled two of these yummy recipes:

Brittany made a very delectable Anti Pasta Salad... (Even leaving the meat out on one sample, so I could taste it.)

And, Ms. Candice, who always has to-die-for cookie recipes made these:

(I had to sample not 1 or 2, but 3! Just to make sure I enjoyed them.)

And, I made Your Heart Out's suggested Spring Salad, which was a hit! All the girls went back for seconds. (Which, at this event, is a sure sign that your recipe is gooood.)