Stars, cars, mountains and hair

Now that I'm back in the city, this is what I miss most about being back in Utah:

STARS
I was standing in my brother's backyard one night and just stood there staring at the stars in the sky for like ten minutes. You see, I don't actually see stars in the city, there's too many city lights competing. Even when I'm on someone's roof for a party stars are pretty rare to see. So when any of you are out at night be sure to wish on a star for me!

CARS
This one seems pretty obvious; you have no idea how much of a luxury it was to be able to get into a car and be in control of where I was going. Also, I could control the temperature, the smell, the music, the people I rode with. The fact that it was raining my last two days there didn't worry me because it was a short walk from the back door to the car--no walking in the rain with an umbrella that gets blown up by the wind. And, it's a great place to store purchases bought throughout the day instead of carrying everything around like a bag lady!

MOUNTAINS
This one seems kinda obvious too. But I always get this feeling of awe and amazement when I drive along Bangerter and see the Wasatch mountains in the East and the Oquirrh in the west. Being in the city is great, but it's very much closed off; there aren't open spaces where you can see everything. So I'm always just looking at the next few blocks ahead of me and at the tall building around me. Mountains and space are awesome!

HAIR
I definitely miss the way my hair looks in Utah; it's not made for this moist, humid air in New York. It's not as if my hair holds curl very well anyways, but now it's practically nonexistent--it's always flat and frizzy!

Man did I eat well when I was in Utah (eating out is also a luxury that I don't partake of here in the city). A few times I booked get-togethers with friends a little too closely and ate way too much food in way too short a time. Where I ate: 5 Buck Pizza, The Red Iguana, Red Robin, Village Inn, Sconecutter, Chili's, Cafe Rio, bbq at Wal-mart, hot dog/chips/nachos at Delta Center (I refuse to call it Energy Solutions Arena).

But more importantly, I did some awesome things: was greeted at the airport by a "Welcome Home Aunt Julie" sign being held by Ivy, Elliett and Moses, saw cousin Rachel and her new baby Kitt, attended a book signing, went to the last Jazz game of the post-season (which caused me to miss the actual signing of my book!), went to Pammy's baby shower, hung out with Lindsay-loo, celebrated my brother's 29th birthday with cheesecake and ice cream, lost my sunglasses, watched CMT, had face time with my luvah, played Yahtzee with two cheating boys!, hung out with my dad, bought pink shoes, saw Tina and David's adorable daughter Teue, got a new driver's license, felt really cared for and missed by my friends at Wal-mart, and all around had a great time! I know I'm forgetting tons of things, but my memory really is that bad.

So now you all have to come out and visit me!!! I have a new couch that is much more comfortable, and non-smelling, than my other one so you'll even have a place to sleep that's not the floor!