Out on a school night

There have been a lot of great concerts in SLC recently. Ever since the Zephyr left town, there have been a dearth of music venues. Well, that may still be the case, but at least there are some new venues attracting independent artists.

A couple weeks ago, we even went out on a school night (gasp!) to see Todd Snider at the Murray Theater. It was fantastic! Todd's tunes went from haunting to irreverent in a matter of minutes. And the stand up comedy routine in between songs was a great bonus. The venue was more intimate and mellow than some of the alternatives. It would be nice if they had a bar, though. Check out the videos at the bottom below.

My concert photography skills leave something to be desired. :)

This last weekend, we checked Murray Theater's twin venue, the Avalon Theater, to see Rachael Yamagata. I have been following her since Inga introduced me to her five years ago at Liquid Joes. She is a truly talented singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist. Rod was less than thrilled about the bitter chic rock, but I was loving it. The Avalon was also a more intimate, mellow venue, but its seats were more uncomfortable, the sound guy was horrible, and there is still no bar.

Next weekend, we'll be checking out Better than Ezra at the Canyons free concert series. I'm SO excited!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Forum

Sorry for being MIA lately. Don't worry it's for a good reason. I'll update about everything that has been happening later, but I promised some new friends to get the word out about their play before its run has finished.

Run, don't walk, to see A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Egyption Theater in Park City. It ends this weekend. The play is side-splittingly funny. The only thing that could improve your experience (I know it did mine) is the cast party.

Patty, a good friend who just happens to play one of the cortisans in the play, invited us to her place for the cast party after the show. It went from out of control to just plain silly as the night progressed. It was so funny to see these characters out of character. P.S. Show tunes and alcohol do not mix. Also, sorry for the lack of pictures. There weren't any G-rated ones.

Come Back Soon!

For the last three weeks, Rod and I have been entertaining the perfect house guest: Flat Stanley. Rod's cousin, Lauren, asked us if we could show Stanley around Utah. We had a great time doing so.

We took Stanley to enjoy Utah's favorite past time: Skiing. We also took him skate skiing and intertubing.


After he sampled all of the great snow sports, we took him downtown to see Temple Square, apparently the most visited tourist attraction in Utah, and the State Capitol Building.


Last weekend, we took him to Park City to check out Olympic Park, where the Olympic athletes train.



Thanks Lauren for sending Stanley our way. You'll have to come out with him in the summer time so we can introduce him to all the great climbing, biking, and national parks.

Happy Birthday Everyone!

Apparently February is popular month for having babies. June must be a good month for cuddling :) We have had a lot of fun celebrating with everyone.

Last weekend, we celebrated with Karthik and Eve at Cafe Madrid. Yummy sangria, good tapas.

Karthik participating in a Spanish tradition.

Then we headed to Alex's house for Ryan's B-day. The only pics from that party are these totally sober shots I took of myself when we got home at 2 a.m.

This past weekend was another weekend of birthdays. Friday night we started to celebrate Jess's birthday at the Bayou. But after it became clear that our table for twenty was not happening (despite our best-intentioned reservations), we headed to J&A's for pizza and karaoke. Here's the birthday boy chillin'.

Rod got into the action too.

Saturday, I celebrated Cristina and Alisha's birthdays at Melting Pot. I know it's a chain, but I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't love all the melted cheese and chocolatey goodness. Sorry no pics.

And, if we didn't get enough the night before, there was more karaoke at Matt and Val's engagement party. Rod and Sarah were a big hit.
Unfortunately, I think we may have to do an intervention with Sarah. She seems to have an unhealthy obsession with karaoke. When we met up again for brunch (and later skate skiing), she had sung herself hoarse.