A little Flashback Friday treat for you: Zach's family at Disneyland sometime in the early 80's.
Zach wishes he still had that captain's hat so that he could look more convincing when bossing around his workers at the restaurant. But let's all be thankful he doesn't still wear shorts that, uh, short. Cute little Amie, Z's sister, is wearing an outfit that I also owned and loved. His dad looks awesome and, unfortunately, doesn't wear those socks anymore. But Zach's mom's outfit is my favorite. The fact that she wore those high-heeled platform sandals while chasing mini-Zach around the Happiest Place on Earth for a full day makes her my hero for sure (Can you even imagine what he was like as a child? I can't keep him under control now and he's almost 30!). I hope that if Zach and I take our future children to Disneyland someday I remember to look half as stylish as she did.
The lesson for today is that fashion always trumps comfort, girls.
Since I missed last Friday's Flashback, as well as the one previous, I thought I should post one today. Don't worry, loyal reader(s), as of this Friday we will resume normal Flashback programming.
These pictures were taken in May and June of 1983, which means I was almost four years old. I loved animals, still do today, and was lucky enough to have a menagerie of pets. Dogs, cats, a turtle, rabbits, pigeons, chickens, ducks, a guinea pig and a short-lived hamster rounded out our family at one time or another.
All of them had names that we chose after an extensive process involving research into the animal's appearance and/or personality and usually the input of a focus group or two.
Pictured below is the appropriately named Snowball--a name that is so creative it must have taken days of brainstorming and debate:
And her bunny sibling, Black Snowball:
Even at four I was a naming genius.
[Editor's note: Due to a perfect storm of scanner, internet and computer problems, this post is a day late.]
Marcae and I have been friends for --gulp!-- almost 10 years. We realized this last week. Back in 1997 we were next-door neighbors at Stonebrook Apartments in Cedar City where Marcae lived with Jamie. We were all fascinated by Marc since she had the greatest hair, cutest name, always wore high heels (amid a sea of clunky Doc Martens), drove a cute Pontiac Sunfire and was from Roperville, also known as Fillmore. (Since her last name was Roper and her family owned multiple businesses there, our friends thought our name was better.)
For the next couple years we lived together and I quickly learned to love Marc's stellar sense of humor, genuine personality and ability to coordinate her famous "all nighters" where we would all stay up the entire night watching movies and eating junk food while Marcae, wrapped in her favorite blanket and still wearing her shoes, would fall asleep at the late hour of, oh, 9:30.
Over the last decade we've stayed great friends and have, for the most part, kept up with our almost-monthly dinners where we pass the hours laughing and having the kinds of conversations one gets to enjoy with a friend they've had since they were a teenager.
Marcae still has the fun-loving personality that made me want to be her friend when we were just 18, and her naturally giving, thoughtful nature has never changed. She is an unbelievable mother who can rattle off her latest baby hair styling tips one minute and discuss enough medical terminology and procedures to make even a skilled surgeon jealous the next. Marcae is the personification of patience, generosity and friendship.
Happy birthday, Marc! Sure love ya.
I remember the first time I met Abby and her husband Ben. A few years ago, Zach and I were attending our neighborhood watch meeting at the Salt Lake Library. We knew everyone there except the new couple who had an adorable baby in tow.
While everyone was taking turns recounting their own personal thoughts on our biggest neighborhood concerns, Ben (one half of the new couple and father of the adorable baby) said something like, "I wish someone had told us about all this before we moved in."
Zach, ever the shy, introverted one, laughed loudly and blurted out "HA HA, Suckers!!" Ben shot Zach a look and I wanted to crawl under my seat. What a way to meet the new neighbors.
Turns out that Zach and Ben's personalities meshed just right and soon after, the boys hit it off by playing darts and eating salsa until about 3 or 4 in the morning.
Abby & I also bonded over food. To be specific, the food that she made and I ate. Almost every night. Zach worked a lot so Ben & Abby were always so great about inviting me over for dinner and I was really great at never turning them down.
Abby is really talented at soooooooo many things: being a mom (she's the greatest), a friend (again, pretty much the greatest), baking (I think I've lost 10 pounds since they moved away), any kind of cooking (my jeans are happy they're fitting a little looser but my belly is very, very sad), tennis, card games, birthing adorable children and many other things too numerous to mention.
They moved away this summer and I miss them a lot. Luckily I have some fun pictures to keep me entertained and, even from South Carolina, she's taking care of my sweet tooth by sending me lovely baked goods through the United States Postal Service.
Now that's a true friend.
Abby being a fearless mountain climber.
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She has an impeccable sense of style.
Abby with Ben at the famous One Man Band Diner.
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Happy birthday, Abby!
So I was at Costco today and noticed that everything they are selling right now is Christmas related. Poinsettias? Check. Fake trees? Got 'em. Enormous crock pots? No problem. Industrial size bottles of Xanax? Sure thing. Well, not really, but they should sell that, too. This is Utah after all.
Anyhoo, it obviously got me thinking about Christmas. One of my favorite holiday season memories was probably about four years ago, in a far away time we refer to as BZP (before Z Pizzeria). I was in NYC for a media tour and Zach braved one of the worst blizzards in Manhattan's history to meet me there. We had a blast touring all of the movie-set-perfect holiday sites and doing our Christmas shopping. Although I've been lucky enough to make it back to New York almost every year during Christmas time, this first trip with Z was my favorite.
Young Woman 1: "I know, we've been really busy, too. Actually, my husband only saw me when I was standing up one time last week."
Young Woman 2: "Spoken like a true newlywed."
From my Las Vegas hotel elevator. I love how Vegas makes it incredibly convenient, with the push of the same button, to attend your business meetings OR get married to the cute stranger you met at the airport.
"Because the last thing you'd want is Jesus getting ketchup on his head."
Since Natalie tagged me and Amanda and Diania keep reminding me of this fact, here are six things about me for your reading pleasure:
1. In my opinion, macaroni and cheese (and not of the Kraft variety) is probably the best thing ever invented. Especially from Noodles & Co., although the mac & cheese Diania made for our work Halloween party may be my new favorite.
2. I've had front row seats at Late Show with David Letterman--twice. I know the system of how to get good seats, so if you're ever in NYC with a ticket to see my favorite funnyman, give me a holla'. As a bonus fact, I used to have a huge crush on Letterman when I was a kid. I have NO idea why, but I used to tell my mom I was going to marry him someday.
3. Things pointed at my eyes are not my friends. I have a very strange phobia about having something pointed at my eyes. This includes upside-down pencils (mid-erase), optometry equipment and red hot pokers.
4. I get more excited than a person should over dessert. I almost never turn it down. Actually, I don't think I have ever turned it down. One dessert highlight includes a particular high school Friday night when Jill & I bought a German chocolate cake from the Smith's bakery and ate the whole thing by ourselves.
5. I have a fear of fish, but only in lakes. I am SCUBA certified and have gone diving in the ocean without being scared but the thought of jumping into a lake seriously makes my skin crawl.
6. In homage to Amanda's fascinating childhood injury story, I once cut my head open, requiring a trip to the ER and a lovely row of stitches, by falling on a notebook. This story is to help just in case you were on the fence about whether or not I really am/was the world's biggest nerd. Since I loved school supplies so much, I wouldn't part with my new notebook. So 6-year-old me, clad in my best leggings and favorite Cabbage Patch Kids sweatshirt, followed my parents into our neighbor's house, tripped over their broom and fell smack onto my sprial-bound notebook. I'm still scarred, and not just on my head.Now I tag Abby, Ali, Aubrey, Maegan, Teri & Sarah. Ready... Go!
My post on Teen Witch below inspired my Flashback Friday for this week. The style associated with the 1980s is probably my favorite, and if you watch that clip you'll understand why this particular fashion era was so spectacular. And a bit frightening. But mostly spectacular.
When I was growing up, I wanted to be just like Angela Bower, the TV mom from Who's the Boss. I thought she was a glamorous career woman and she worked at an advertising agency, which I thought looked like fun. Her style likely influenced my wardrobe choice for my kindergarten picture (as well as my career choice today):
"Excuse me--you over there, playing 'Duck, Duck, Goose' and
eating a tub of Elmer's glue--will you please review the 3rd quarter spreadsheets?"
I loved this shirt; I thought I looked grown up and very much like a businesswoman. I also owned a navy blue dress with a cropped white jacket which, to me, looked like a suit. I think I wore it to kindergarten graduation. The fact that I honestly believed someone may mistake me for a very small business executive is a testament to my optimistic, overactive imagination.
Why I wanted to look like I was punching a time clock when I should have been content just swinging from the monkey bars, I have no idea.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
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