Flashback Friday: Summer of '97

I could be wrong but I think this photo was taken the summer that I graduated from high school. My two best buds Erica, Jilly Bean and I were inseparable those months before I moved from Carbon County to Cedar City to go to college. One of the things that I love about this picture is that we're all wearing each others' clothes. Which we did all. the. time.

We must have had the world's largest closet, since it was necessary that we drive to the north-east part of town to Jill's house, then to the middle of town to Erica's then way out of town to my house and even farther past that to get to another friend, Chantel's (whose shirt I think I'm wearing here), just to pick up all of the items to wear each day.

Because if there's one thing Price, Utah is known for, it's a remarkable fashion sense.

Overheard: Exchanging Morning Pleasantries

Amanda: Get out of here. Go find more banana pudding recipes.

Diania*: I don't NEED a recipe. I have an old family recipe for banana pudding.

Amanda: Oh really? An old family recipe? What's it for, B-A-N-A-N-I-A pudding?


(Editor's Note: Readers should understand that Diania's name, pronounced "Diana," is a family tradition. She is named after her grandmother, whose name was spelled wrong on her birth certificate. And now you have the rest of the story.]

[Update: Diania's name goes back to her great-great grandma. It must be southern thing.]

Overheard: Passing the time

Me: So what's new?

Her: Not much. My brother's baby was born.

Me: Oh, that's great!

Her: Yeah, things are good. Work is fine.

Me: Nice.

Her: And I pierced my nipples.

Me: What?!

Her: Well, I had a day off last week. I didn't have anything else to do.

Flashback Friday: Summer of '85

Happy Friday!

This week's flashback is a picture of me on my sixth birthday, living the 1980's high life and loving my dad's Ocean Pacific sleeveless t-shirt.

Totally tubular.

I Told You So

Sorry for the blogging hiatus. I've been busier than usual although I feel like nothing exciting has happened. Don't believe me? Well, I will prove it to you with this post.

Since we saw each other last, I celebrated Valentine's Day and President's Day (which means a day off from work, woo hoo!); we have (read: Zach has) made significant progress on The Great Hardwood Floor Install of 2008, or as I prefer to call it, That Which May Cause Me to Turn to Drug and Alcohol Abuse; and things are crazy, crazy, crazy at work.

So, just to catch you up, Valentine's Day was a bit anti-climatic, since Zach worked that evening (I know, I know, you're soooo surprised). It was still a fun day, though, as I was able to surprise Z with a CD from one of his favorite bands and a DVD of one of his top, cheesy 1980's movies. He surprised me with an incredible, huge potted orchid that is seriously as big as our house. OK, not seriously. But close! ALMOST as big as our house. The pot itself is gorgeous and the orchids growing in it are so beautiful that I'm going to feel really bad when I accidentally kill them. Not that that's necessarily going to happen. It's just that it always does. My indoor-gardening skill is on par with my singing voice and my ability to play team sports. That bad.

I apologize for the crappiness of this photo, taken from my camera phone.
It doesn't do the flowers justice. A new camera would be much appreciated if anyone wants to buy me something and doesn't know what to get me.

The staff at the store where he bought these (which is one of my all-time favorite places on this earth) included a long list of instructions on exactly how I should go about not killing them. Hopefully I can make that happen. Or not happen? I'm so confused.

Last weekend was of the three-day variety, my favorite way to spend a Monday--not working! Diania and I were feeling ambitious and decided to head over to an early morning pilates class before we met up with Amanda and Natalie for brunch. The girls, two babies, my pilates-leggings and I met up at Eggs in the City for a fun-filled breakfast and way too much coffee.

Amanda & Diania's main squeezes
enjoying brunch with the girls
(Diania's Finn is on the left, Amanda's Patrick is on the right)

Nat, Finn and Amanda

D and me post-pilates. Don't we look extra lean and fit?

Then, Natalie and I went to the driving range where we amazed all in attendance with our incredible golfing skills.

This was a very active day for me and my body was not used to so much moving around. So I trekked home and took a nap for about 20 minutes. Actually, I closed my eyes while the dogs stared at me within inches of my face. Not the best way to catch some shut-eye.

Afterwards, Z came home and we took the dogs for a walk up to Trolley Square. While they waited outside because apparently Trolley Square is discriminating against its four-legged customers and does not let them in, I ran into American Apparel where I picked up one of the greatest inventions of all-time: thigh-high tube socks. Don't laugh, they are awesome. I am always freezing at night and must sleep in a pair of the ugliest, thickest socks I can find. However, my legs still freeze. It's probably all of that muscle.

Anyway, I can't sleep in pants because they always annoyingly slide up my legs. (I realize this is probably far too much information, but you see how boring my life is that I must tell you about my new sock purchase, so just feel sorry for me, OK? Don't judge.) So now I sleep in these and my life is complete!

[Editor's note: Keep in mind this is a "sexy" picture of aforementioned tube socks. These do not look like this on me, in fact they make all of my thigh fat squish out the top.]

Monday evening I headed over to book club with Teri where I had a fabulous time and learned all about the book that I was supposed to read but never even purchased. If you want to read--you really like the idea of it--but just can't make yourself crack open a cover, I highly recommend joining a book club. Now, if I'm at, say, a cocktail party (although I realize this is unlikely because who in Utah ever really throws a cocktail party?), and someone brings up "Water for Elephants" in a conversation, I feel fully confident that I will be able to discuss the themes of the book even though I didn't ever read it. Thank you, book club! Also, I was able to eat some yummy food, enjoy a delicious glass of wine and hang out with Teri and my fun book club girls. A win, win, win situation.

The rest of this week has been pretty boring. Work is super busy at the moment and Zach is almost done installing the hardwood floors in our bedroom. Which means we have the luxury of sleeping in our living room, on the couch's pull-out bed. Which means I am not getting any sleep but I am feeling very posh since I now have a fireplace and flat-panel TV in my "room."

I'm trying to look on the bright side.

I think they call this irony

Below is the actual email subject line from a helpful person who let our company know our website had a problem that made things, you know, HARD TO READ.


From: XXXX
Date: February 12, 2008 1:30:21 PM MST
To: XXXX
Subject: you're webiste has some script error on in the news section

Overheard: Nancy Reagan is Working on the "Just Say No" Campaign

Her: That rehab center is really popular now. All the celebs are going there.

Him: Really?

Her: Yes, Mary-Kate Olsen, Lindsay Lohan, Eva Mendes--

Him: EVA MENDES?

Her: Yes. Eva Mendes.

Him: Why is she in rehab? She's addicted to... hotness?

It's Like Christmas--If Christmas Had Enormous Silicone Boobs

Yay! One of my all-time favorite people in the world is releasing a new album (her first mainstream country album in 17 years!) and you can preview it, in its entirety (for FREE!), here.

I heart Dolly Parton.

Flashback Friday: Ladies of High Society

Like my post from two weeks ago, my Flashback Friday post is also from this summer. Again, I haven't scanned any new photos so you're at the mercy of whatever is stored on my computer at the moment. However, this post is very timely. See, at the end of the day on Tuesday, my boss Matt was breaking out the tequila and beer for us (Hey, it had been a hard day. OK, no it hadn't.) and I made a comment that I actually prefer Boone's Farm. That was a joke, except I was a little bit serious. It's a secret I try to keep hidden, but I really do enjoy the flavor of this $1.99 grocery store treasure, and hopefully I will still be able to buy it there as long as our sometimes-lame legislature doesn't ruin this for me.

For those of you who don't know, Boone's Farm is a sad excuse for an alcoholic beverage and I'm pretty sure doesn't really contain any alcohol at all. To those with a discriminating pallet, it probably tastes much like a fruit punch would if you let it sit in the fridge for too long. However, for some reason, I have an affinity for it and have been known to buy it on occasion when in a jam and needing to round out the beverage assortment after the liquor/wine store has closed.

As you may or may not know, Z & I trekked down to Southern Utah to play tourist with the Millers at Zion National Park this summer. We had so much fun and seriously, that place is amazing. For four years I lived within miles of it and never went there. Not once. I'm glad the Millers finally convinced us to check it out.

At the end of one of the days, we were all unwinding and were going to play a game of cards since the Miller princesses were fast asleep. The boys headed out to get snacks and returned with a couple of bottles of Boone's Farm for Abby & me. Nothing but the best for us!

As always, the Boone's Farm did not disappoint and a great time was had by all. (Disclaimer: Actually, I don't remember that we really even drank this. Sadly, I think it may have just been used for photo prop purposes. Maybe all this Boone's Farm has rotted my brain.)

Abby & Me with 0ur loot: a 2007 Fuzzy Navel. Ah, a very good year.

The review for this at the BOONES FARM FAN CLUB (yes, there are people out there more looney than I) reads: "Deeply colored and powerful, with a rich, fruity peach aroma and layers of peach, fuzziness, and navel. Immense structure."

Yummmm, fuzziness in a bottle. With a convenient, screw-on cap.

Tagged: You'll Wonder How You've Gone Your Whole Life Not Knowing This

Jilly Bean has tagged me, here goes:

10 years ago:
I was a freshman at SUU, meeting lots of new friends, spending too little time sleeping and studying and too much time admiring (some may or may not call it "stalking") the cute guy who lived across the street. I've since discovered that he is gay (which explains his impeccable sense of style and my last answer on this post will probably explain my poor sense of gaydar).

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Go to work 2. Make the bed 3. Meet some friends for a yummy sushi lunch 4. Go to pilates with Diania 5. Update the Z Pizzeria website

Snacks I enjoy:
It may be easier to list snacks I don't enjoy. Some of my favorites, though: Farley Gummy Bears from Big Lots (trust me on this, they are seriously incredible--perfect texture, flavor and opacity level and this store is the only place to get them); root beer floats and fresh veggies. Also, anything in the cheese family--brie, gruyere and Easy included.

Things I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
Anything I want, no matter how ridiculous--when you have that much money you're not weird, just eccentric! I would also travel the world, stopping at least twice at the countries with the best desserts; take care of my friends and family (because it's no fun to have all this free time on my hands if there's nobody to play with!); build new facilities for the YWCA of Salt Lake City (shameless plug: the Y's shelter annually serves more than 500 women and children who are victims of domestic violence, houses and cares for a dozen girls & their babies in the teen home; and reaches more than 8,000 women & their families annually with its additional programs and community outreach. You can learn more and/or donate here); build a fantastic place for stray cats, dogs and other animals so that they never have to be put down just because they don't have a home.

3 of my bad habits:
Procrastinating; Starting things and not finishi--Hey! What's that over there?!; Being a terrible housekeeper. I just really, really hate cleaning the house.

5 places I have lived:
Price, Cedar City, Las Vegas, Boston, S-L-C bab-y

Jobs I have had: Fashion consultant at world-renowned Fashion Crossroads on Price's Main Street (I don't know if you've been there, but trust me, it's a really big deal); telemarketer (although approximately 45% of my time was spent prank calling the people who were rude to me when I called them the first time); PR agency intern (job highlights: saying the riveting phrase to Robert DeNiro, "Chopsticks are fun!", accidentally hitting Rebecca Romijn in the butt ); and various ad agency PR positions

Things people don't know about me:
I have a thing for early 90's gangsta' rap (favorites include Dr. Dre, Warren G and Tupac); At one point in college I seriously considered being a sports reporter and had an internship lined up at the Las Vegas CBS affiliate; and I had a crush on Boy George when I was a kid (which may explain why I have a natural connection with gay men).

Now, I tag Amanda, Abby, Diania, Teri, Natalie & Marcae. You're it!

Weekend Update: Football, Floors & Fore!

Zach and I typically like to pack way more into a our days off than we could ever really accomplish, and this weekend was no different.

We started things out Friday with Z's appearance on KUTV's noon news, where he made a Superbowl specialty. His latest creation was a football-shaped pizza. I volunteered to be his lovely assistant/publicist. At one point, when I confirmed the spelling of his name to a producer, the crew thought I really was his publicist. They were impressed that their neighborhood pizza guy was so in-demand that he needed an entourage.

Saturday I was able to meet up with Natalie to hit a bucket of balls. We had a great time and even managed to stay warm at the covered, heated driving range.

Nat & Me showing all the guys how it's done (notice her golfing footwear)

When I got home, we tore out the rest of our floor in the dining room since we're putting in hardwood throughout the house. Thanks to our friend Courtney, who had a hardwood floor surplus, we're putting in some sweet maple floors. We spent a lot of the day loading and unloading our old flooring and making multiple DI-runs where we donated several Ford Explorers full of household accumulations. We then cleaned ourselves up enough to go to the Blue Man Group performance.

After we watched the Blue Men, we were starving and it was 10:30 p.m. Lucky for us, Ginza Sushi was still busy and seating people when we walked by, and we scarfed down three delicious rolls. Our 2.5 block walk to my office parking lot (where we left the car) from Energy Solutions Arena was entertaining, since we were able to watch all of the scantily clad club girls trying to pretend they weren't freezing, walking in the near-0 temperatures wearing dresses smaller than my dinner napkin.

Sunday was spent sleeping in and then loading and unloading more flooring. We were unloading flooring right up past the start of the game and barely made it to meet up with Zach's family to watch the Superbowl. We were looking forward to stopping by Teri & Mark's house, too, but because of our poor time management skills we had to miss out.

Despite the craziness, it was a good weekend. And although I didn't have a favorite team playing in the big game, I was happy with the outcome. I'm not a Tom Brady fan (I think it's against some kind of women's code to cheer for someone who starts dating a Victoria's Secret supermodel while his ex is very, very pregnant with his child) and I really liked the idea of two brothers winning back-to-back Superbowls, so go Giants!

Flashback Friday: Beantown in '00

When I first heard of doing a "Flashback Friday" blog post every week I thought it would be a great motivator to encourage me to scan in some of my oldest photos so that I could save them for posterity in digital file formats. Growing up, I loved to look through the yellowed pages of my grandmothers' photo albums, and ideally, someday my future grandchildren will have the pleasure of making fun of my hair and fashion choices by simply turning on some electric device.

Anyway, I have totally slacked at the photo scanning and for my last several Flashback Fridays I have had to rely on the images available on a slideshow I had to make for my 10-year class reunion last summer. I am working off limited material, people.

This photo below, while not groundbreaking or particularly interesting, is at least a glimpse into what I looked like as a soon-to-be child-bride. The summer before my senior year of college, I packed up my bags, used 1991 Apple Powerbook laptop and fake ID (if you knew me back then, you'll know I answered to the name of Pam Rodriguez) and headed to the East Coast where I roomed with one of my best friends, Tori, in a very old, very dirty fraternity house.

We lived here with some very smart, some very socially awkward MIT frat guys but the killer location and views of the Charles River and Boston skyline made up for it. Plus, sometimes there was free beer.

I enrolled at Harvard for the summer where I experienced serious culture shock, considering that my classmates at SUU would often roll into class late and dirty from working on their farms and my fellow Hah-vahd students rolled into class tardy because their family's private jet took a bit longer than expected returning them from the beach house.

Zach and I got engaged that summer, much to my nearly-40 and single professor's dismay. While getting hitched in your early 20's is common in the Beehive State, it turns out it's not so much standard procedure in the REST OF THE WORLD. Who knew?

Z flew out to visit and help me move back home and I had a great time showing him around my temporary digs. We tied the knot the next summer.

Z & Me in Harvard Square. Because I was private-jet-less and beach-house-less, I actually had to work at a job to support myself. The three-story brick building over Zach's left shoulder was where I punched the time clock, the Harvard Coop. Basically, one of the coolest university book stores ever known to woman. They even have a Clinique counter in there. And a Starbucks.