Flashback Friday: Homecoming 2000

When I was a senior in college, I had just moved back to Cedar City from Boston (notice my wayyyyyy grown out highlights, I was too poor in Boston to keep them up) and was bummed to have to live there without Zach in town to keep me company, even though I only had to be there for one semester. He had moved to Salt Lake to finish his last semester at the University of Utah, and although I had fun hanging out with my roommates, I missed him a lot.

One weekend he surprised me and traveled down to Cedar to take me to the homecoming dance at SUU. Go T-Birds. This photo is of us as we left for the dance. One of my roommates even took our photo as we were leaving, just like my mom used to do.

Also, you'll notice I have my pink pashmina in this picture, which I still use constantly to this day. Zach gave it to me as a birthday gift that summer. Apparently, when I find something I like, I really stick with it.

Also? Ellen's dancing is really an elaborate scheme to communicate with Mexican druglords.

I saw this story on the news yesterday and thought to myself, 'Seriously?!?'

Dunkin Donuts pulls Rachel Ray ad after complaints

Yes, Rachel Ray's paisley scarf is actually a sneaky sign of support to Muslim terrorists/extremists/bad guys. This concern, voiced by conservative commentator Michelle Malkin (I'm guessing it's because of people like her that my treadmill has the helpful warning: "Do not use if short of breath, dizzy or unconscious." Really? Don't use my treadmill when I'm asleep? Thank you for the warning.), is obviously undeserved, embarrassing and stupid.

Everyone knows that terrorists get their information from Krispy Kreme.

Chocolate Carnivale Recap

As you may have noticed, our board at the YWCA hosted our annual Chocolate Carnivale event last Friday. This year's festivities were focused on honoring three amazing young women (ages 35 and under) who have made significant impacts on the SLC community. We had tons of nominations--there are a lot of incredible young women around here!--and were thrilled to honor these three:


Denise Castaneda
A University of Utah student known for her steadfast commitment
to social change and justice, Denise is seen as a role model by
young people, especially young Latina and Chicana students. Her
work is often focused on organizing and fighting for immigrant
rights, never giving up despite the daunting challenges. Denise
has held numerous volunteer positions at the U of U, specializing
in outreach to young ethnic and minority students; co-authored a
publication on immigration given to all Utah legislators; was
awarded multiple scholarships and awards; and was featured in
Salt Lake Magazine as one of five "Wonder Women."

Missy Bird Larsen
Missy is the executive director of the Planned Parenthood Action
Council and has quickly risen through political ranks to become a
respected advocate for Planned Parenthood as well as Equality
Utah. She has a strong working relationship with local government
officials from both political parties and has been instrumental in
developing statewide training curriculums designed to engage the
community in grassroots political activism. Missy has researched,
drafted and successfully advocated for three pieces of legislation
that have been entered into law; published a children's book for
families of all backgrounds; co-authored a report on the state of
child care in Utah; and was honored with awards for her dedication
to social work and volunteerism.

Heidi Prokop
Heidi is a vice president and public relations manager for Zions
Bank and the mother of a nine-month-old boy. She has advanced
financial literacy in Utah and Idaho schools by encouraging
employees to teach money management skills to students; helped
mobilize employees to teach thousands of children about saving
money and avoiding debt; and promoted financial education to
women through the Smart Women, Smart Money conference.
Additionally, Heidi organized a drive for women's professional
clothing to benefit the Junior League's Women Helping Women
Closet; volunteered with the Girl Scouts of America's after-school
program to teach young Title 1 elementary school students about
financial issues; and has written two full-length documentary
scripts broadcast on KUED-Utah's PBS affiliate, receiving a Utah
Broadcasters Association award for "Best Documentary."


The night went off without a hitch, thanks to the hundreds of volunteer hours donated by our board, the YWCA staff, our friends, family members and lots of others.

The purpose of this event is to raise awareness among women in our demographic (ages 18-35) and encourage them to get involved with the Y's many many many generous and important programs.

We had a red carpet, silent auction, fantastic entertainment and loads of delicious chocolate donated by fabulous SLC bakeries and restaurants. We were also hoping to sign up new members, who, by contributing just $35 each year are able to help support the Y's programs including the domestic violence shelter, teen mom home, education programs and community outreach. Members are also able to join in on great networking events, attend educational seminars and attend fun and fabulous luncheons.

If you're interested, you can sign up here.

Thank you so much to my wonderful friends who came out to support the YWCA, it was a great night and I'm so glad so many of you stopped by. You'll be receiving your pictures soon.

Some shots of the evening (don't laugh that I'm in a lot of the red carpet photos, I was placed there against my will):

Overheard: Should have been a zoologist

Her: What are you watching?

Him: A show about sasquatch.

Her: Oh.

Him: I wonder what they call female sasquatch.

Her: I have no idea.

Him: Oh, never mind. I know.

Her: What?

Him: Snatchsquatch.
* Laughing hysterically *

Her: Wow.

Deep Thought by Rose Nylund

I've been watching a lot of late-night Golden Girls reruns lately and have rediscovered the fact that my favorite character, Rose Lindstrom Nylund, is a philosophical genius. She's always been my favorite, mostly because I can relate to the stories of her beloved hometown, St. Olaf. I have my own Price, Utah versions of those anecdotes that I share on an almost daily basis, much to the enjoyment of my coworkers.

Here's a quote of the day from Rose, enjoy:

"What a great day! It's like life is a giant weenie roast
and I'm the biggest weenie."

Chocolate Carnivale

Reason #1,678 why I've been neglecting my blog lately:

My fellow YWCA board members and I have been busy little bees preparing for the annual "Chocolate Carnivale: A Celebration of Successful Young Women" event. It's being held this Friday and will feature (FREE!) chocolate items from SLC's finest restaurant and bakeries, (FREE!) live entertainment and a (FREE!) good time to be had by all.

We'll also have a silent auction for fabulous items, a cash bar for delicious drinks and a red carpet. Come on, Utahns, when was the last time you were able to set foot on the red carpet and smile big for the paparazzi?

We'll be honoring three SLC women who have excelled personally, professionally and philanthropically and are under age 35.

Join us at 7 p.m. at the YWCA at 322 East 300 South. All proceeds from the evening will go to support the Y's many programs, including the domestic violence shelter, teen mom home and violence & racism prevention programs.

Workin' 9 to 5

What a way to make a livin', indeed. I think most people who punch the time clock agree that work can sometimes be no walk in the park. That's often true for me, too, but for the most part I really enjoy my job. Probably because of all the crazies with whom I spend 40+ hours a week (hi, guys!).

Last week I traveled to the lovely city of Secaucus, New Jersey (just as beautiful as its name implies) and the Big Apple itself, New York. Although I didn't have any of my beloved coworkers with me, I managed to have a great time with some of the editors and clients we work with.

One night, I was invited to attend a reception with some client friends and boarded a boat at sunset at Chelsea Piers to take in the Manhattan skyline and Lady Liberty herself. The view was pretty incredible and, I thought it totally appropriate that I was admiring our country's gift from France with my friends from France. They live in Brooklyn now, but still. Coincidence? I think not.




Another night, I went to dinner at Central Park's legendary Tavern on the Green. My favorite part of the evening was the animals carved into the bushes, especially the giant gorilla that stared at us during dinner.

I didn't take this, instead I grabbed it off the Internet

During the day in NYC, I booked it around town (One of my favorite things about NYC? It's a place where my faster-than-average walking speed fits right in.) and met with editors about upcoming stories. Just in case you want to see what the hallways of a major magazine office look like, here you go:


Not super exciting, I know. They were preparing for a bikini shoot, as you may be able to tell in this photo.

The rest of the time I cruised around the city, checking out my favorite NYC stores (no trip is complete without a stop at Lee's Art Shop on 57th and 7th--trust me you won't be disappointed).

Also, I was able to eat pretty well, although there was something crunchy in my chopped Caesar at this place...

Monday Lovely: Spring Blooms

Even though the weather is confused as to what season it is (snow one day and 70 degrees the next??), the flowers and trees are anything but.