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Friday, September 12, 2008

Scottsdale

So anticipating this trip--I couldn't even stand it. The formula was all there for the perfect trip. Scrapbooking, an impossibly posh hotel, pool time sans Mack and a best friend. Highlights:

Okay, you HAVE to stay at a Four Seasons once in your lifetime. It really should be mandatory for anyone questioning if there is anything good in life. It is so good and then some. The Scottsdale Four Seasons is situated out in the foothills of Scottsdale in it's own little desert paradise. It is quiet, breathtaking (may have stole that adjective from their brochure), and very southwest. There is probably like a zillion pounds of adobe out there amongst the cacti. We pull up and are instantly greeted by a valet, bags taken out of the car, and whisked to the front desk. Painless check in, and then a golf cart ride to our room. The room was amazing. An outdoor patio opened up to a wide expanse of more carefully cultivated desert. A little jackrabbit hopped by. Our bags were placed in an amazing closet by the bell boy as we checked out the massive bathroom (with, {SQUEAL} L'Occitane bath products which I pilfered at once). We chilled out on our patio for a while luxuriating in the chairs and taking in all the different varieties of desert plants.

The pool was almost as wonderful. A handful of different pools were situated amongst cabanas, huge pool chairs and teak everything. We selected a cabana, had our chairs "prepared" (special huge towels covered the back of the comfy chair with more towels being offered), and soaked up the sun. We dined on gourmet nachos, complimentary mango slushes, and huge jugs of ice water. Took the Omnivore's Dilemma with me for reading material (as I had already reading Breaking Dawn even though I promised not to), hit my new playlist on my iPod, and chilled. Best pool experience in a long time:)
We were also lucky enough to catch a Janet Hopkins class at Scrapbooks Etc., in Mesa. Janet is the educator/creative director at Heidi Swapp. We made the most to die for cute little book. It was super fun hobnobbing with her and getting such great ideas for my most favorite scrapbooking products ever.

Also had fun visiting Kriston, Amanda's friend from high school. We hit all of her local favorite scrapbook stores, ate at Joe's BBQ (soooo good!) and laughed over silly stuff. I am still laughing about our conversation if you can have a night so amazing you blank as to how feather pillows and headboards get destroyed (for those of you that read Breaking Dawn, let me know what you think:).

Last but certainly not least was the Scottsdale Mall. We made this one a really quick trip on the way back to the airport, so just hit PB Loco and then Sprinkles across the street from the mall. I had such high hopes for Sprinkles. My friend at work has actually been known to hop a flight to Newport Beach just to pick up a black and white cupcake. But, alas, the little treasures were not as wonderful as I had heard. Flavors seemed a little off. They were little works of art though--should have saved the calories and just stared at them until they went stale.

Amanda, are you up to making this an annual trip? Hope so!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

{ Pray, Love, Remember}
~ William Shakespeare

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Listen to the convention speeches for free!


Not sure if anyone else slacked and didn't listen to the Democratic and Republican Conventions (I was really bad and watched Project Runway reruns during John McCain's acceptance speech), but you can download them for free on iTunes. I am excited to listen to Dennis Kucinich (my first pick in the primary) and Sarah Palin too. Go democracy!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Labor Day Weekend

I was really looking forward to Labor Day weekend. Savoring the last summer weekend and having the next week off were leaving me with feelings of relaxed bliss. Some of the highlights:

We met with my family at Training Table on Friday night. After slogging through insane traffic coming home from work at PCMC, I was instantly grateful I got to change my work location back to Wasatch Canyons. Have decided I am just not a commute kind of person. Seeing my fun family (even if they were just too ravenous to wait for us:) was a great way to start the weekend.

Joey and Richard were nice enough to take Mack for the day with their family to Discovery Gateway, so had a whole day of free time. Tifani and I went to California Pizza Kitchen (wow, love the Tostada Pizza!) and then went to the Broadway to take in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Haven't been to the Broadway in forever. Forgot how eclectic downtown can be, or maybe it is just Tifani and I's dynamic together that manifests the crazies. We were treated to a schizophrenic cellist while waiting in line for tickets rendering different versions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. My favorite version? E minor for sure:) The movie was sooo good. Perfect for us to as we got to reminisce back to our Mexico City summer and the funny things that happened to us that summer. Don't know if we would ever be brave enough to hop a plane with a stranger, but we did take that van ride with the fingerless man...

Sunday we got to see my cute cousin who just got home from his mission. I loved his great positive energy, spirit and maturity. He gave a great homecoming talk, and the brunch afterwards was so nice too. Got to see my uncle and his kids that live in the Bay Area, and all of my extended family too, so that was a nice treat. We spent the rest of afternoon at home doing absoultely nothing. Sunday is kind of like a little part time job with me and my calling, so slipping into jammies at noon with the paper and the remote was heaven. We all alternated reading, watching movies, sleeping, listening to it rain, and just chilling. Loved it:)

Labor Day itself was spent with Mack not feeling great, listening to more rain (still loved that) and watching the Season Premiere of Gossip Girl. If you are looking for a brand new show, would highly recommend. If you loved 90210, the OC, etc., this one is a keeper for sure.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

First day of school


Mack got up a whole hour early for the first day of school. He was so eager with anticipation. Enjoyed living vicariously through his enthusiasm:)

Go to the mountains!


Shane had a great idea to move Sunday dinner to the mountains. Soaked up nature by walking through a little waterfall to get to our picnic spot and watching Austin light a fire with my Sunday paper. S'mores were sooo good!

Pictures I did of my neighbors

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