Sundance

Although we had not fully recovered from our Fourth of July extravaganza, we plunged headfirst into the second weekend of July. We were fully booked and had very few moments to ourselves. Of course, we loved every minute of it.

On Friday, we headed to Sundance for the annual summer associate overnight trip. Alison B. and I were in charge of planning the trip, and after the Fantastiks disaster last year, we were stoked to find out that Sundance was hosting a BlueBird Cafe on July 8. The BlueBird Cafe is a cafe in Nashville where many of coutry music's hottest stars and songwriters (including Garth Brooks and Faith Hill) have gotten their start. The night we were there, Pat Alger, Tony Arata, and Roxie Dean were there. I had never heard of any of these people, but I was surprised and pleased when I realized that they had written some of my favorite country music songs--Pat Alger's rendition of "The Thunder Rolls" was chilling. The experience was very unique and surprising. Rod and I definitely plan on going back next year.






Before the show, we had dinner at the Tree Room, which remains one of my favorite restaurants in Utah. After the show, some of the summers, other attorneys, and I shut down the Owl Bar. At first we were just having drinks on the patio, but when it started pouring, we moved the party indoors. We did not plan to stay long, but then we started listening to the band. The lead singer, a mesmerizing girl who seemed to play every instrument as well, had on a shirt that said "Soak Your Meat in This." The mystery was soon explained, their band was called Marinade. The girl was so intense, it was impossible to take your eyes off of her or to not want to dance.

Despite the late night, we got up early the next morning to grab a quick bite to eat before heading back to SLC to meet up with Jayde and Ryan, who were in town for the weekend. While they were there, we went from shelter to pet store in search of the perfect dog for Jordan. In the end, we found Olivia ("Livvie") at a very secretive shelter that rescues dogs from puppy mills. The experience was heartbreaking. So many of the puppies in that shelter had been damaged by the poor conditions at the puppy mills. A pug was blinded in one eye from a wire in its cage, another little dog dragged its legs behind it. I had to go outside to stop crying. At the end of the day, though, we went home happy. We gave Livvie a bath and she was so scared and shaking, she wouldn't go to anyone but me. Now she has that same attachment to Bug.





Sunday, after Jayde and Ryan left, we headed to Alex's house for a party for Ari and Patty. Ari and Patty are some of our best friends, but since they have moved to Philadelphia (Ari is in dental school), we almost never get to see them. It was such a treat to have them here (and we did not want to let them go).