Jazz Beat the Lakers!!

The Jazz beat the Lakers tonight, and because my cousin Phaedra was in St. George for Thanksgiving I got to use her ticket and witness the awesomeness first-hand. The game was exciting, intense, electric, and amazing. The arena was loud, the Lakers fans annoyingly loud, and the Jazz fans louder. I was on my feet for much of the game. It felt like a play-off game. It felt like we just won the National Championship. It felt like we were on top of the world.

But honestly, I was slightly distracted by Memo in his strikingly handsome suit. I dare say I prefer it to his basketball uniform :)

Another Turkey Day

This year was a very low-key Thanksgiving. My mom, sister and I headed to my Aunt's house in West Valley to share the day with them and their family. I didn't have to make anything, which at first I was a little sad about it, but then I got over it.

My Thanksgiving was full of all the requisite Thanksgiving-y things:

Mashed Potatoes, which Emily loves (I love yams way more than regular potatoes), hence why they covered her entire plate.

Family. My Uncle Vinn, my cousin's husband Dave, and my mom. Seriously, this is the only family-type picture taken, and I didn't even take it.

A movie. I started this tradition about four years ago. This year's movie was Tangled, and it was awesome. It's totally old-school Disney and reminded me a lot of The Little Mermaid. Oh, sorry Pam and Cat, but there was nothing else playing that I wanted to see, but I'll see it again with ya guys!

Crazies who went out at midnight to get the Black Friday deals. Not counting the four times I had to work retail on this day, I haven't done this in well over ten years, and it was kind of a shock. I truly think that Black Friday brings out the absolute worst in people. My mom and I stood in line for an hour and forty minutes, just to buy some clothes for my nieces and nephew, some tupperware, a small vacuum, and other non-essentials. Then we went over to JCPenny, which was a completely different experience from Walmart. The workers were nice and helpful, the line was super quick, and no one was crazy.

I went to bed at 5 this morning.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Have you read the story about the dashing Sir Percy Blakeney and his lovely French wife Marguerite? Well if you haven't, you should stop reading this and find a bookstore, library, friend and start reading it. It is awesome. I've read it, my friend Cat has read it, and my friend Pam has read it. We all read it at different times, Pam first, then me, then Cat. I would report to Pam where I was at and how much I loved it. When Cat started reading it, she'd report to Pam and I on where she was at and how much she loved it.

So when we heard it was coming to Hale Center Theater in Orem, and right around the time of Cat's birthday, we knew we had to get tickets.

Last night we experienced it, Cat and I for the first time and Pam for like her fifth time. I don't quite know if Amazing is enough of a word to describe to it. Spectacular. Awesome. The cast was so energetic and really infused it with a sense of urgency and fun. The actor playing Percy, a.k.a. The Scarlet Pimpernel, played it well but was slightly short. Well, really short. Especially when compared to the giant who played Chauvelin (who had an awesome singing voice).


The show was sold out, and only plays through the rest of the week. Take the trip down to Orem if you have time. You will not be disappointed.

Light Up the Night

Last night we braved the rain and cold to see the lighting of a Christmas tree at Gateway mall. The kids got all bundled up and were so excited to wear their hats, scarves and gloves. Unfortunately, it was rainy instead of snowy, and we all got wet. The kids didn't really care though, because they got free hot chocolate and cookies and a pretty awesome light-up necklace.

Before the lighting, we were treated to a performance by Peter Breinholt. I think we all know how much I love Peter Breinholt. The kids were getting anxious at this point, and were so excited when we started counting down to the lighting of the huge tree. All lit up, the tree looked spectacular! It's fun to see the excitement on Ivy, Elliett and Moses' faces and how much energy they have.

Little Women

Tonight my friend Cat and I headed out to Magna to the Empress Theatre to check out their production of Little Women. Since Cat so kindly helped with their costumes (which were Amazing!) she got four comp tickets, and her, me and her parents sat in the front row. The production was really good and the acting and singing great. They are a small theatre, having recently reopened, and are very enthusiastic about theater, from the actors to the concession people to the ushers. It's only playing til the end of this week, on Friday and Saturday, and I would urge anyone in the Salt Lake Valley to make the trek out to downtown Magna to see it.

As I watched the play, I tried to think which sister I most identified with. My roommate Rosemary in New York came from a family of four sisters (and a brother) and she said her and her sisters definitely fit into the roles of the March sisters: bratty Amy, kind Beth, headstrong Jo, and sensible Meg. I think most girls want to identify with Jo, and I'd like to say that parts of her I do. But I'd like to me more kind like Beth and more sensible like Meg. And perhaps snag myself a German professor like Jo! :)

Jazz Green Team Suite

Remember my luck with winning suite tickets to a Jazz game? Well tonight was the night, and boy was it AWESOME! My guest (which was my mom) and I arrived promptly at 6:15 and were greeted by the chick who organized the whole thing, Carly. We were given our (totally awesome) t-shirts and waited with the other winners. We all laughed about how all of us, when we received the call that we had won, thought for sure it was a prank. It was a really great group of people that won. Our names got picked from a spreadsheet of at least 2500 who had joined the Jazz Green Team! Wow!

We were taken to our suite, where there was food and Mr. Pibb waiting for us. There was actually an assortment of drinks, but you can't get Mr. Pibb or its equivalent in the arena, so I was pretty excited about this. We were all kind of giddy with excitement.












Three minutes before the first half ended we all made our way down to the court. Again, we were all pretty giddy and excited. Then it was our chance to go out on court, and it all happened so fast that I'm not sure I can even explain it!! We made our way past the broadcaster station and I looked at Mattie H. He made eye contact with me and then waved at me! I waved back, of course, and then my mom shouted to him that he was my favorite. He got a big smile on his face and waved some more! So awesome!!

Then we were being rushed to center court, where our group had its picture taken and our names were called out. It seriously happened so fast and was quite the whirlwind. We barely had time to savor being on the court with the players. I snapped a few pics, but they're of the Nets players.

We all then headed back to our suite, excited and talkative about what had just happened. I was super regretful of not taking a picture of Mattie H. when he was so close. The second half was much more exciting, and the Jazz won. It was a night of pure awesomeness.

British Invasion

Today Prince William and his girlfriend got engaged. For some reason this is fascinating to me and I can't seem to get enough information about it! I watched the video, clicked through all the photos, and read all the articles. I have no idea why but I am completely infatuated with the whole thing, and can't wait for their wedding next year! I feel like a giddy twelve-year old, but seeing people in love always makes me happy (and a bit wistful). I sure hope their marriage is better than his parents', but from my purely outsider point-of-view, they seem really happy and I'm happy for them.

In other good news today, Beatles' songs will now be available on iTunes. Perhaps my luck has something to do with it.....

I'm Feelin' Lucky

I think I need to return to Vegas, because I am on a lucky streak. First, I got a call from the Utah Jazz last Friday saying I won tickets to the Nov. 17th game for joining the Jazz Green Team. Me and my guest to watch the game from a suite and get to go on court at halftime for photos and introductions. Oh, and we get t-shirts.

Then, today I found out that I won a $25 Walmart gift card for commenting on a blog that I recently discovered (on my cousin's blog). I was hoping for the stand mixer, but free money is good too! Everything on their site makes me want to be a domestic goddess, and I'm thinking of trying the Apple Spiced Donuts this weekend.

I sure like feeling lucky.

I'll Admit It

Yesterday, as I was driving home from work, I left the radio on the station that is already playing Christmas music. The song was Paul McCartney's Simply Having A Wonderful Christmastime. I'm not sure if that's its exact title, but I'm a sucker for this song. I continued to listen to the next two songs, which were both Christmas, and all of a sudden got super excited for the holiday. So yeah, I admit it. I'm looking forward to Christmas and it's only November 11th.

Jazz Win!

The Jazz just beat the Heat (the team with LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwayne Wade) in overtime by 2! Em and I were jumping up and down with excitement as the point gap got less and less, when Deron fouled out, when Paul hit those threes, and when those last .4 seconds ended with the Jazz ahead. Woohooo!!!

Election Day!

Hey Everyone--today is Election Day! Get out and Vote. I did, and wore my "I Voted" sticker with pride all day.

I think voting is super important. Lots of people don't get the chance to vote on their leaders and have no say in how their country is run. We do. It's awesome and a right we should all exercise.