Mid-May

The second week in May, we had the busiest week. Rod was out of town all week and I had something going on nearly every night (between going to 42nd Street, the last play of the season at PTC, attending photography classes as part of Inkley's photo-education week, and book club on Friday). We were both exhausted! We decided to hibernate for the weekend and spend it just enjoying each other's company.

On Saturday, after eating lunch at a new gelato/panini restaurant in Foothill Village, I convinced Rod to come with me to the final event of the Inkley's Photo Education week: a Nikon off-camera flash class. Here are some of our faves:






After class, we went to Caputos and Whole Foods to stock up on ingredients for our new favorite foods: prosciutto-wrapped melon and marinated olives. Rod cooked while I played with the camera. He kind of spoils me!



The next day, we went for our first mountain bike ride of the season. Allison (Barker) kicked both of our butts up Dry Creek. It was the perfect way to end our no-committments weekend!

The next weekend (the 15th and 16th), we decided to continue with our social hiatus. On Friday, we went to dinner at the Tin Angel. Instead of entrees, we did several courses of tapas! Mmmm . . . . When we got back, we took Rumba to play at the school and then came home to cuddle up and watch a movie.

On Saturday, we had friends over for dinner. Rod grilled, and Mellie and Corey brought over Diva's cupcakes (my favorite!).
On Sunday, we enjoyed a quiet night at home.


It was nice to have two relaxing weekends in a row.

Things amped up again the next week, though, when Kim kicked off her 40th Birthday festivities with Kimmie Palooza. Thursday morning, her actual birthday, we had mimosas and brunch at her place. She introduced me to candied bacon (who knew you could make bacon better?) and german pancakes. Yum!

The next night we met them for drinks at The Bayou.

Saturday night was another birthday bash for one of our best friends, Carrie. Nearly everyone got into Rock Band on the Wii. I even sang! And I hate singing in public. Lily, Lucy, and Avery were the stars of the show, though.



That next Monday, after several weeks of beautiful weather, we woke up to this. It looks like it is going to be another cold, wet spring . . . Weather in Utah has been even more erratic than usual.

Rod is 31!

Although Rod's birthday is in April, we did most of our celebrating in May. On his actual birthday, though, the two of us went to Cucina Toscana, the best italian restaurant in Salt Lake. I have a new found love for prosciutto. The cantaloupe, pear, and prosciutto salad I had for the salad course was one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth.

The next night, we had a party at our house. It was pretty low key. Just 30 or so of our closest friends. They brought their adorable children, and I, of course, followed them around like the papparazzi.

Our menu was also low-key, but high brow: Cucumer and goat cheese, crustless finger sandwiches, strawberries romanoff (strawberry + sour cream + brown sugar = YUM!), and ice cream sandwiches with homemade cookies.

For his gift, I got him something he has wanted for a very long time . . . ceiling fans. :)

The Rest of April

Although I know our April was jam-packed, I cannot remember with what exactly.

A few of the random things I remember are . . .

YLD's volunteering at the Utah Food Bank

Book club at Kim's house for Man on a Wire.

Going home for Grandpa's Birthday. His knee is doing much better. He taught me to make his famous beef stew.

Having David and Sherrie Gee, Allison and Scott Behjani, and Lamont and Carley Richardson over for dinner. Rod cooked, of course, and it was wonderful, of course! I made fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies with ice cream for dessert. They were a big hit.



Rod and I were both nominated in the Utah Business Magazine as Legal Elite.

Carley and Alex has us over for brunch. I cannot get enough of the adorable Baby J!


Although most of the month was fuzzy, I remember the weekend of the 17th all too clearly for a variety of reasons. On Friday, we tried out one of our new favorite restaurants: The Tin Angel Diner. If you haven't tried this place yet, you better. It was not at all like I expected. I thought it would be greasy spoon diner. Instead, it is a cozy eclectic restaurant that serves amazing, well-priced tapas, on mismatched china and silver.

Saturday, we went to a funeral. This was the worst kind of funeral, an unexpected one. One of our friends, Emily, passed away. She was just a little over 40 and has two very young boys. The funeral was beautiful, though. Her young husband gave the most heartbreakingly, beautiful eulogy. I hurt so much for their loss.

Afterwards, we were too downtrodden to do anything. We chose a quite dinner where we could just sit quietly next to each other. Spruce, at the Waldorf Astoria, is quite excellent.


Sunday, I injured myself at the last day of Alta. It was one of those "pride before the fall" moments. I was cruising down a black diamond run, the type of run I have been struggling with all season, feeling like a badass. The last thought I had was, "I wish Rod would turn around so he could see how great I am skiing." Then I ate it. I landed on my face with both of my legs still sticking up in the snow at weird angles. At first I thought I was fine, just embarassed, but then I stood up. The ski down was one of the most painful experiences of my life. I could not put any weight on my right leg, which made it that much more difficult to ski. I was squatting and looking foolish all while wearing my butterfly wings (costumes are a last day tradition). When we got to the bottom, I sat in the parking lot with snow wrapped around my bare leg while rod got the car. Lucky for me, the parking lot was full of other injured friends enjoying the last day festivities over a bbq. I later found out that it was a level two strain in my ankle/calf. No running for me for 2 weeks. :(

That night, we went (I hobbled) to Betsy's Birthday party and enjoyed a variety of cupcakes to go with the great company.

I know it is strange to write about all of the activities we participated at the same time as we both were so sad about Emily. But in a way, it was because of Emily that we felt compelled to be outside. Emily, who has battled a faulty heart all her life, was always a fighter who was determined to live life to the fullest, preferable outside.

Christmas in June :)

I have this weird obsession about losing photos. In addition to two back up hard drives, the computer, snapfish, and burned cds, I NEVER clear my SD cards. After much teasing by Rod (and realizing that we now own 5o+ GB of memory cards), I decided to clear them up. As I was doing that, I discovered these pictures from our Christmas party.

Easter and Goodbyes

After all of the traveling, we were excited to spend Easter at home. It was anything, but relaxing, though. Saturday we threw a going away party for our good friend, Ryan. He is moving to D.C. :( We thought it was fitting to throw an "Oh My Heck!" Utah-themed party, complete with jello salad, funeral potatoes, and casserole. I was a bit disturbed, though, when people did not immediately realize that I was dressing to fit the theme with my long-sleeved t-shirt under a tank top, long shorts, and hair teased back in the "Wasatch Front". I eventually gave up and changed clothes.

The photo booth was a big hit.




Isn't this cake amazing? Ryan's sister made it.


It was a bittersweet night. We had a lot of fun sending Ryan off, but we are sure sad to see him go. He went to law school with us, and has played an important part in so many of our law school memories--parties, Strawberry Resevoir, Bar Reviews--and post-law school memories. I can always count on Ryan for being up for making cookies or going out. He has always gone with me to Sundance and is one of my PTC buddies.

We will miss you!

The next morning, we skipped church, and headed straight for the slopes. It was the best snow we had all season AND we had the mountain (at Snowbird) almost all to ourselves. Kelly and Seth joined us. There was a foot of new snow! It was perfect. The whole day, I couldn't help but think that you could not write a more perfect day than this.

I surprised Rod with an Easter basket.