Overheard: Family Resemblance

"Wow, your mom is really pretty."

*Pauses*

"Is she your real mom?"

Being Passive Aggressive

It snowed today. AGAIN. And, while I admit that the snow looks really pretty, I would be fine if it didn't snow again for the rest of the year. Or, the rest of my life. That would actually be fine, too.

I am running such a high spring fever I could fry an egg on my head.

I miss being outside, working in the yard (I am actually dying to pull weeds, that's how bad my fever is), golfing in the early morning, wearing a summer dress to brunch on Sundays, sandals (oh, how I miss sandals!), playing with Sydney in the sprinkler, planting in my flower pots and spending time out on the patio. I miss it all.

And in a show of protest to that old grump Mother Nature who insists on continuing to dump snow all over us, I have a little bouquet of pink tulips on my desk.

Take that.

Flashback Friday: Bracciano, Baby!

This week's Flashback isn't from a very far-away time. It was just this summer, May actually, when I swung by Rome to visit everyone's favorite Italian, Maegan. One day, while Morgann and I were visiting, we boarded a train to Bracciano, the town that, despite its romantic and dramatic centuries-old history and stunning setting alongside a beautiful lake, is better known as the place where little Katie bought a one-way ticket to Crazytown.

Bracciano is the kind of place a little Italian village should be. Quaint cobble stone roads, balconies with flowers spilling over the side, dozens of small restaurants with tables perched on the sidewalk, tucked-away parks and a castle (of course!).

It was an incredible day, we had so much fun going on the castle tour, which was in Italian so I didn't understand anything, but I'm sure was enlightening.


We also stopped at a park and watched Italian teenagers flirt with each other while the younger children played in front of their parents.


We made sure not to not miss our daily gelato supplement.


We visited the town square area where we admired these adorable ladies. I would just love to have known what they were talking or gossiping about. It seems serious.


Then we stopped for wine. Then we missed our train back to Rome. So we went back for more wine while we waited for the next one. And we missed our train again. (This may or may not have had something to do with all the wine, but I prefer to blame it on the notoriously unreliable Italian scheduling system. I'm sure that's it.)

I spy three M's in the window reflection.

Overheard: Chim Chim Cher-ee

Me: You know, like the chimney sweep on Mary Poppins.

Him: Yeah, Dick Van Dyke.

Her: Uh, isn't that a double negative? Or at least an oxymoron.

Pretty sure my commute to work isn't nearly as colorful

This week has been a particularly crappy one for some of my friends and me. I thought we could all use some beautiful photos to cheer us up.

A while back, I worked for a magazine publisher. It was definitely a crazy job and I had an even crazier boss, but taking that position was one of the best decisions I've made. I was able to travel to beautiful places and experience interesting things. The best thing, though, was that I made some incredible friends. Two of those friends ended up falling in love and are now engaged. They moved to the other side of the world a while ago, and are now calling Vietnam home. I admire Claire and Scott for their impressive combination of courage + love-for-adventure that allowed them to accept a job in a part of the world that was so different from what they had known. They are both talented writers so it's been a definite highlight to get updates and photos on their latest experiences in such a beautiful and foreign place.

Here are a few photos I received from them today that I just couldn't resist sharing. It's a nice reminder that there is so much beauty in someone else's everyday life.

Happy Friday!

Claire said these are floating villages--people actually live here.


A mother and child jewelery sales team from the floating village above.

Overheard: It's bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s

"What is this? Are you really supposed to give it to your monkey?"

Why I won't be nagging him about taking out the trash

There are many things that can make someone Husband of the Year. Maybe a year's supply of no-complaint foot rubs, frequent surprise flower deliveries or a shiny, new ribbon-wrapped car in the driveway. However, I think Zach is competing for this honor for helping his wife, that would be me, get to high-five the object of my crush, the newest Utah Jazz player, Kyle Korver.

I understand that having a silly crush on Kyle Korver puts me in the same category as every 12-year-old girl in Utah, but who cares. I think he's dreamy. Last Thursday night, Zach and I were watching the Jazz game from home when he got a call on his cell phone. It was an urgent request from a Z Pizzeria fan who happened to be in labor and calling from her hospital room. She and her starving hubby were wondering if Zach could arrange for a piping hot delivery of the cheese variety since they were busy awaiting a special delivery of their own. He quickly picked up some pies and ran them up to the room.

This call came from the wife of one of our favorite Jazz players. Since Zach took care of their dinner needs, they called this weekend and offered us their tickets to the game last night.

It's always fun to have such great seats, but this time was even more incredible since I was within feet of my crush himself. Zach proved to be an excellent husband when he quickly switched chairs with me at the end of the game so that I would be right next to the players when they walked by. He then made me stick my hand out to high-five Kyle.

I did, Kyle hit my hand with his, and I am still wearing my huge grin today. I promised Z that if we ever see his crush, I'll be sure to help him get a high-five from her. I owe him one.

There he is: The object of my junior-high-esque crush. Thanks, Z!

Flashback Friday: Partying like it was 1999

Since it's the start of a new year and all, I thought I'd post a picture from a past New Year's. To ring in the start of 1999, my friends and I trekked down to Vegas to party it up. With plenty of drunks wandering the Strip, climbing stop lights and wearing the kind of clothing people seem to only feel comfortable wearing in Las Vegas (thank goodness), Sin City did not disappoint.

Although this was a fun, albeit crazy, night, I don't think I'll be doing this again any time soon.



I have no idea who many of the guys are in this photo, but the girls, from left to right: Monica, me, Holly, Heather, Charity, Kristyn & Mandy.

New Year's 2008

We had a few friends over on New Year's to ring in 2008 in style. Z & I hosted a last-minute shindig where our guests happily participated in our Destroy the Floor theme. Since we're getting new hardwood floors we sent the formerly carpet-covered plywood packing with a nice new paint job.

Thanks to Teri for documenting the evening so well with her photos below.

Overheard: Talking Politics. I think.

Him: So "caucus" can be used as both a noun and a verb, right? Like, "the voters are caucusing tonight."

Her: Yes. Or, as a noun, like, "You have a very large caucus."

New Year's Resolutions: 2008 Edition

Hopefully everyone had a fun and safe New Year! I thought that I would post my New Year's Resolutions on the internet so that when I fall off the wagon I don't have to toil in my failure all alone.

In no particular order, the top 4 things I hope to accomplish in 2008:

1. Stop procrastinating. I think I've been working on this one since I learned that there is a name for this "condition" that runs rampant among all the women in my family.

2. Walk more. I am always feeling rushed and running late (see my aforementioned problem under #1) so I feel the need to drive everywhere. However, I am fully capable of walking the 2 blocks to Smith's Marketplace, I really am. This year, I am going to try to walk to the store 1 out of every 5 times. Or maybe 1 out of 10. We'll see how things go.

3. Lose 5 pounds of fat and gain 5 pounds of muscle. I am a huge wimp and I am flabby. Do I need to explain more?

4. Cut out processed foods. I think I'm actually already doing well on this one. I've been trying to stay away from anything that's prepackaged or requires just adding water. That old tip about only buying items that are located around the perimeter of the store seems to be true. Farewell, Rice-A-Roni. It's not you, it's me. Actually, it is you. You contain too much sodium and too many chemicals. Tasty, tasty chemicals...

Do you have a resolution (or four)?