Pasadena Please

My July jetsetter to Pasadena was a quick but full weekend of good friends, good food, good hospitality, good music in a really good place. It was like, a reeeeallly good trip.

Jessica and Will were the kindest hosts and tour guides. We ate all the best food, browsed the best stores and we even got to experience Will's rustic urban office where he spends creative time designing and operating his clothing line, The West is Dead. It also happens to be where he houses his 1/2 lb. black widow, Rosie. She isn't really half a pound but girl is biiiig. We're talking like record breaking big. Like baby-got-back and all.  He feeds her crickets and actually she was quite fascinating.  We were definitely well taken care of and  finally getting to see Will and J’s cute space and life as newlyweds and Los Angelites was exciting.

 

We caught up with old friends and Laura even got us tickets to a Jay-Leno taping because she's Laura and in the going-on-twenty years I've known her it's just what she always does. She gets tickets to anything she wants. Like magic. But that's for another day. As for Jay Leno, he looked exactly like I thought he would - that chin! - except he's a little taller than television gives him credit for. And no big deal but Katy Perry was the highlight of his show. Katy Perry! I know!

And even though I totally can go teenybopper over Katy Perry and all, she just doesn't have the same physical effect on me that Justin Timberlake does, and because my sweet cousin Shaye May bought too many tickets to Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z at the Rosebowl Stadium, Laura and I got to spend an evening with a crowd of 60,000+ for their Legends of the Summer tour. I mean geeze, I'm still not entirely sure it actually happened, it was that good... except I have these mediocre iphone pictures and video clips and I won't judge you either if you replay this three, four or thirty times. You're welcome.

 

 

Santa Monica was gloomy, but is Santa Monica really ever gloomy? I mean, it's Santa Monica and no matter how much gloom hangs over the place, I'll always be glad to be in Santa Monica, don't you agree? I snuck a picture of some of Will's clothes for sale at Fred Segal. Then I was told I couldn't do that so that was that. And then of course the pier. It's not Santa Monica without that pier.

             

A quick but great weekend! Can’t wait for the next visit! (Keep that air mattress handy, J!)

The Time I Had A Blog

Oh hey! Remember me?

I have no excuse for my absence. Well, not a good one anyway. Except we’ve been having a fun and busy summer and that should at least count for something, right?? The truth is, I couldn’t blog. I don’t know why. I just couldn’t. I’ve been busy, and hot (guys, this summer is a miserable scorcher), and between summer activities and work and moving and keeping my boyfriend and my cat alive I just didn’t have it in me to blog. The crazy thing is, I’ve had so much to blog about but without a sense of purpose all that just goes out the window. Ya feel me?

Anyway, I feel somewhat rejuvenated lately. We moved apartments, literally moved to the apartment above our old one, and while it’s a great upgrade, moving, no matter how near or far, sucks. It’s draining. It’s been a month and I’ve still put nothing on our walls. Baby steps. I guess you could say I’m trying to “feel” the space out first. Whatever. I’m just tired.

Moving on… I’m trying to pull myself together. I miss my little space on the internet and I miss my friends that gather at my space and interact with me. I miss you guys. So please just bear with me while I take a deep breath and get my head back into the blogging game.

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In the meantime, I recently took some pictures of my sisters friend, Victoria, and her soon-to-be husband, Elliott. Victoria and my sister have been BFF’s since they were wearing training bras and that, coupled with the fact that Victoria, Lyndsey and myself were roommates for a while (we’ll call it a “wild adventure”), makes Victoria an honorary sister of mine so it was so fun to spend an evening taking pictures of she and Elliott making out. Haha. But seriously.

Here’s to a loving lifetime more of heavy petting and french kissing!

        

You’re More Beautiful Than You Know

My face is fat,

my nose is flat,

my eyes are much too dull.

 

My lips are thin,

I hate my chin,

My hair is way too full.

 

I wish I had what that girl has,

Her waist, her thighs, her nose.

The way her hair falls perfectly,

and all her pretty clothes.

 

But, "No," you say,

"You're fine this way,

Don’t you know its true?

Of all the people you could be,

You're lucky to be you.”

 

I shake my head,

My eyes are red,

I wish I could agree.

Of all the people in this world,

I don’t feel lucky to be me.

 

So I turn away,

And you softly say,

"I wish you'd see the glow,

That's shining from the depths of you,

You're more beautiful than you know".

 

(okay, okay, so I’m not a poet, but it was worth a shot.)

 

I watched this video last night and had to immediately hit replay because the first time I watched I could hardly see through the tears welling up in my eyes. It spoke to me. Like it was meant for me at that given moment in time, and the truth is, I think it's meant for all of us.

In today's world, we as women (and men), are constantly bombarded with images and ideas of what we should look like like, how we should act, what we should wear and who we should be. It’s exhausting, and it’s unfair, and most of the time it isn’t even true, yet we try and try to live up to these standards that were never our standards in the first place. We worry about every line on our faces, every blemish on our cheeks. I’ve added a few inches to my waist in the last two years and those inches have been haunting me ever since and causing me to hate my body. I hate the way it moves and the way it feels and the way those inches glare back at me when I stand in the mirror and ruthlessly criticize. And that just isn’t fair.

This is MY body. This is MY face. And it’s a lovely face. It’s the face of my ancestors. It’s the eyes of my father and the lips of my mother. It’s mine. And it doesn’t need to be changed. I’m developing crow’s feet around my eyes, but that’s because I smile a lot. And when I’m kissed by the sun, my freckles stand out and shout from the rooftops of my forehead, but my mother gave me those freckles. And sometimes those dark circles under my eyes appear because I stayed up too late watching movies and cuddling with my sweet boyfriend. And despite the fact that the world tells me that those lines and freckles and circles are things that I should be ashamed of, they aren’t, because they represent me. And that is beautiful.

We ARE more beautiful than we know. And we have to believe that because it is the truth. There is no one like me, and there is no one like you and THAT, my friends, is such a sweet gift. We are unique and we each offer something to this world that no one else can. My hope is that we remember this and while we strive to uplift each other and remind each other of our unique beauty, I hope that we also realize the importance of reminding OURSELVES that we are beautiful. Because we are.

We are more beautiful than we know.

Take 7 minutes and watch this video. I hope it speaks to you the way it spoke to me.

Dreaming of 70 Degrees

We’ve finally hit summer temperatures here in the Beehive State. 100 degrees today, and as much as I complain about our frigid winters, I forget how welcomed those winters are when every inch of my skin starts sticking to every chair I sit in. Or when I start sweating in places one never should sweat. Which is exactly what happened to me all weekend long. It was an uncomfortable weekend to say the least. Uncomfortable in the sense that not only was it hot, but I could not shake this funk I was/am in. It was one of those weekends I probably should’ve just slept through. And poor Sean. How that man puts up with me, I do not know. But he deserves a medal. A big, shiny, gold medal.

Despite the discomfort, I still tried. We spent part of Saturday at Lagoon Amusement Park compliments of Sean’s work. We rode our favorite rides, mine being the swings which, for the record, I could comfortably fall asleep in, and now we can cross stinky sweaty Lagoon off of our annual ‘Summer Must Do’ list. Do you know how many times we’ve been to that place in the last two years?! A lot. We got ourselves Season Passports two summers ago and we used those bad boys up, because these are the types of things you do as an adult before you have children, didn’t you know? You get season passes to your local amusement park and you act like tweens running around the place all summer long. I’ll never regret doing that. Saturday’s scene of screaming babies and toddler’s on leashes confirmed the fact that I’m happy to get all of my amusement park fun out of the way before the babies. Because that place plus babies, no thanks. My children will have their amusement park fun someday. When they’re old enough to take themselves, of course.

The Time Carrie Underwood Called

You guys. Sit down. Then click play.

3:39.

That's my siblings and I at 3 minutes and 39 seconds.

In Carrie Underwood's new music video.

Whaaaaat?!? THE Carrie Underwood?!?

I know. I had the same reaction.

And then my second reaction was, "What the heck?! We only get FOUR SECONDS?!"

Just kidding.

I'll take a little fame any place I can get it.

 

Anyway, if you're bored, our original video from the clip used in this music video can be found HERE. It's from a forever special day in our family.

 

This is just so cool. Four seconds and all. So.freaking.cool. I always knew she'd be my favorite of all the American Idols. You rock, Carrie.

Now how much do you think we could sell her autographed CD for on Ebay?

I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

But seriously, how much? Ha!


Oh, and if you're having trouble viewing the music video, HERE is a link. You're welcome.

Summa summatime

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It’s summatime dudes! Which really means, I’ve gotta lay off the pizza and hit the gym a little harder so I can shimmy my way into one of those cute retro one-piece swimsuits (because come on, one-pieces are so in, rightfully so), strap on some salt waters, lather up the sunscreen and sip margaritas on my patio while wearing a floppy hat and tortoise shell sunglasses. Yep, that about sums it up. Happy happy happy Summer. We’ve earned it!

Pride 2013

There's a beautiful thing that happens here in Salt Lake City at the start of each summer. It's an entire colorful weekend dedicated to equal rights and the LGBTQ community which believe it or not, rooted in this religious mecca, happens to be quite a large community. And it's wonderful. It's a weekend of sparkle, and dazzle, and glitter, and tutus, and bright colors of the rainbow and most importantly, love. True unbiased love combined with a feeling of "togetherness" unlike any other.
It was amazing to see so many people gathered together  (on a Sunday in Utah, of all days!) for the same cause. Respect. Because in the end, it really doesn't actually matter who loves who and how, so long as we're able to stand united in respect for one another.

(Okay, but seriously, is that my Dad up there?!?)