"Faking Ever Since"

This is me in comic form.

Something I Love

I am a huge fan of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. I was introduced to Book 1: The Lightning Thief by our librarian at school. I opened up the book and barely put it down for a second until I had finished. I borrowed the next three books from the library in quick succession and then waited anxiously for the final book, Book 5: The Last Olympian, to become available. I finished it this morning and--BOY HOWDY!--this is an amazing series.

In a nutshell, the hero of the story is Percy Jackson--a demigod (son of a Greek god)--living in the modern day. Turns out Mt. Olympus and all those "mythological" stories we learned about in school aren't exactly ancient history. Mt. Olympus just moved to the new seat of western civilization and culture: New York City. The gods, and their magic, are still around us all the time. As mortals, we just lack the ability to see it; something called The Mist keeps us from seeing a giant monster for what it really is. On the other hand, being a demigod, Percy and his other demigod friends, are always running in to trouble with the aforesaid monsters...plus the ever-present drama that is Mt. Olympus and the Olympians. These demigods are the new heroes of our day--like Hercules of ancient times. As heroes, the adventures never stop and each new book is better than the last.

I am recommending this series to anyone and everyone. The stories are fabulously exciting and definitely entertaining. If you liked Harry Potter you'll almost definitely like these. The story's pattern is sort of the same, but there's enough unique material here you won't find yourself constantly comparing the two. Anyway, check them out. Percy Jackson rocks my world.

BONUS EXCITEMENT: I just learned they've made a movie of the first book! And the casting rocks! It comes out in theaters on February 12th, 2010. I will be there opening night. Woohoo!

Final Recap

I've finally returned from my fabulous New York vacation and taken a few days to get readjusted to the normal day-to-day routine. There's something comforting in the day-to-day, but something incredibly depressing in it too. Oh well. Such is life. Now that I am back and as normal as possible, here's a quick recap of some overall highlights of the trip...including pictures where possible.

Governor's Island--a quick ferry ride away from Manhattan--was a delightful place for a picnic. It was sunny and delicious. And afforded some amazing views of Manhattan right across the water. Our picnic included the yummy hummus from Trader Joes and a variety of fresh fruits and veggies. SO delightful.Sunday we attended the Third Ward--a singles branch that meets on the East Side of Manhattan. I love that you can go pretty much anywhere and find the Church. And that its "the same"--for all intents and purposes. We got to church just in time for the opening prayer, despite getting on an express subway and {me} running into a glass panel as we exited the subway stop. Whoops!

Central Park strolling is...fantastic. We wandered the park on Sunday and a bit on Monday as well. I don't think any of the pics turned out all that well, so I'm not posting any.

Alice's Tea Cup is a lovely spot for tasty tea, scones and other delights. Mariah and I actually stumbled upon the upper Westside location last summer and I'm so glad we returned this year. We splurged and went for "The Tower"--basically a high tea with tea, scones, tarts and small sandwiches. It was SO much food but it was also SO good. Yes, I know the picture is a little awkward, but just...deal and be happy about the tower of delicious food set before me.
I shopped at H&M for the first time. I purchased a fire engine red pencil skirt. A personal view of its amazing properties could very well be headed in your direction soon. Exciting, no?

Max Brenner--Chocolate by the Bald Man!--is delicious. Its luscious. Its more chocolatey goodness than you'd expect to be legal. Mariah inhaled her peanut butter crepe. I inhaled my S'mores Sundae and considering it's size I should probably be embarrassed by that. But instead of wasting any precious moments on awkward embarrassment, I decided to spend more time feeling entirely blissful over the affair. SO delicious.Before I left I mentioned to someone (Was it you?) that it would be cool to see a celebrity whilst in New York. All week...nothing. Then on Tuesday, only hours before I left, we walked by Pierce Brosnan filming a movie in Brooklyn. Seriously. THE Pierce Brosnan. I thought it was pretty cool.The trip was really about visiting Mariah, but eating good food was a definite benefit too. I've already mentioned most of the delicious places--here or in previous posts--but we also got in a return visit to S'mac (a discovery from last summer), the Hummus Kitchen, and Grimaldi's. The last one is reputed to be the best pizza in the city, and it was really good. Plus, we had lunch with the Peschke's--always a good time!
To sum it up, the trip was totally fly. I love New York and can't wait to go back!

And now I'm gushing

Sometimes I wonder if its silly to visit the same place over and over again. I always think I've done all I'd want to do in a city, and then I come to New York again and the city proves me wrong all over again. Today, in particular, was amazing. Everything today was new and everything today was worth gushing about. Over and over again...

We started off trying to win tickets to the matinee of Wicked and met some delightful Canadians attempting the same thing. No dice on the tickets, but the friends from Toronto gave us directions to the nearest Crumbs bakery where I partook of the most amazing cupcake--ever. It was the Artie Lang cupcake--yellow sponge cake with chocolate frosting inside and covered with a chocolate ganache and sprinkles. YUMMMMMMM!!! It might not be the breakfast a nutritionist would prescribe but it was certainly delish.

May I gush for a moment about Lincoln Center and South Pacific? We saw this incredible production in one of the best theaters I've ever been in and I loved every minute of it. The man playing Emile had one of the greatest voices I've ever heard and only Lt. Cable's character had anything lacking. He reminded us of a mix between a young Kronk and Buzz Lightyear, all wrapped up in a soap opera star's persona. "Sexy lieutenant!"

I think I should also gush about the sushi we had for dinner. The place is called Tenzan--located on the Upper Westside. And the sushi was fatty {in a totally good way} and delicious and the miso soup was super good too. *sigh* I haven't had sushi in so long and this was the perfect way to break that inadvertent fast.

After you eat sushi, the most obvious thing to do next is to eat frozen yogurt and New York has the most perfect frozen yogurt shop on the planet. I may be gushing, but 16 Handles makes me so so so happy! You take a bowl. You fill it up with your choice of frozen yogurt (choices range from your basic vanilla to cookies 'n cream and pistachio) and then add as many toppings as you'd like. The price is based on weight so make it as small or big as you'd like!! I want to go back right now...

And since we were in the area, we decides to stop at Westville--an East Village restaurant with A-Mazing sides. Yes, this did make 3 different eating establishments in about 3 hours. Welcome to New York. We split a platter of four sides: sweet potato fries, pesto mashed potatoes, roasted beets and parmesan artichoke hearts. Tasty food makes me so Happy!

Our final stop for the night was this brilliant music hall called Rockwood. We saw 3 sets and all 3 were fabulous. There's no cover charge--you just have to buy a few drinks and who doesn't love that? The last band, in particular, was delightful. Their piano player was cracking me up--moving between despondency when he wasn't playing and hardcore "into it" moments when he did get to sing and play. SO fun.

And the rain held off until we headed home.

Happy Saturday night in New York!

Dancing in Brooklyn

I got in to New York early yesterday morning. I hate the Red Eye, but I still felt worse for the teenage boy stuck in the middle seat. I could at least lean againt the window, though I didn't have a pillow because Jetblue charges you $7 for a pillow. Seriously?! Boo. I would happily give up my personal TV that didn't work half the time in order to have a soft place to lay my head...without paying extra. *sigh*

I maneuvered the subway with ease and class (I like to think) and ended up getting to Carroll Gardens WAY before Mariah. Luckily a nice man gave me a free newspaper and I finally learned how to do a Sudoku puzzle. Thanks New York!

Mariah and I spent the day in Brooklyn with her nannying charge, Alexander who is just ADORABLE. And very drooly. We had lunch at Ted & Honey's. We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge (YAY!) and visited Trader Joe's. For dinner we split a pot of tea, Welsh Rarebit, and the most sinfully delicious bread pudding EVER at Sweet Melissa's. I love Sweet Melissa's not only for the cake but also their willingness to let me show up 30 minutes after we'd exited the restaurant to request the use of their facilities in a true EMERGENCY moment. You see, after dinner we went to a local park in Brooklyn and danced the night away with some fabulous blues singer who was putting on a totally hoppin' show. But then I had to pee. Thanks Sweet Melissa's!!

And then we came to Mariah's lovely apartment in the Heights. We watched the Tivo'd episodes of So You Think You Can Dance, and ate hummus and chocolate Twizzlers, and bemoaned the fact that Kupono is a poor man's {last season} Mark, and reveled in our shared love of Glee (its been renewed for a second season already! YAY!!) and finally went to bed late late late. And I fell asleep to the lovely sounds of the city and thought, "This is what vacation is all about."

Meet My Faves: Greg

I am blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people. Really. I like to boast about my friends because they're so incredibly awesome and deserve to be boasted about. First up...

Greg (aka Mr. B, Gregorio, Mr. Charisma...) and I first met at Joel P. Jensen Middle School where I totally crushed on him. We then stayed in snail mail contact (so old school!) when he moved to "Smalltown," Utah. Insert some random "its a small world after all!" connections and then add that we ended up interning at Disney World together in Spring 2004, and SKIDOOSH!...the rest is history.

Greg wrangles the {3rd Grade} leaders of tomorrow by day and dazzles local audiences at Hale Center Theater by night--all while studying for his masters degree and giving his plethora of friends as much attention as possible. He is hilarious and charming and the snazziest of dressers--my go to fave for fashion questions. He's the perfect road trip companion since we can find endless topics to discuss and there is also no awkwardness when the preferred topic is silence. We share a love of good food, fugly photographs, Disney, and brownies eaten straight out of the pan. He's seen me at my best and my worst, and pretty sure it hasn't changed a thing.

Best Thing: He is always willing to chillax, even when he doesn't have time.
Worst Thing: He refuses to be guilted into ANYTHING. *sigh*

Where are you from?
Born in Nebraska, did Elementary in West Jordan and High School in Richfield. I claim Richfield, but you pick. :)

What do you do for a living?

Teach third grade, and act at the Hale Theater. So basically I make a fool of myself all day long.

What is your favorite comfort food?

Brownies and whole milk.

What color is your bedspread?

Currently - yellow.

What book/movie has had a major impact on you?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - the original

What is your favorite word?

Ridiculous or frothy

What is your best color?

I've been told I look good in red.

What is your favorite restaurant?

La Cucina in the Avenues, Paradise Bakery, or Cici's pizza.

What is one material possession you couldn't live without?

Pants.

Which cartoon character do you resemble the most?

Miss Frizzle.

Why do you think I like you so much?

What's not to like? ;)

What is the best compliment you could receive?

"I'm always so happy when I'm around you!"

What is your favorite memory we have shared?
Wow...so many to pick from. I'm gonna have to say, at the moment, the armadillo.

What 3 words would best describe you?

This is just asking for egotism isn't it? Well I'd say funny, friendly, and fabulous! Hooray for alliteration!

Summer List Update

Every spring I make a list of summer goals. These are not goals in the vein of "lose 10 lbs." or "floss every day." These are goals of activities and fun things I want to get done. I have never been able to cross everything off the list by the end of summer break. But that's okay. I still have a lot of fun in the process.

So far this summer--just over a month into the break--I have...

1. Visited at least one National Park. In fact, I have visited three National Parks and one National Monument this summer. It was fabulous. We hiked in Zion National Park, looked over the north rim of the Grand Canyon, stopped at a few overlooks in Bryce Canyon National Park, and drove through the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We have some AMAZING country in Utah. No doubt about it.

2.Visited the Hogle Zoo and the Living Planet Aquarium. Both of these visits entailed bringing the lil' nephew along. Spencer (or, "little dude" as he's affectionately known) has been my buddy this summer. We go on adventures and cookies are always involved. The zoo is a "MUST SEE" on my summer list each year and it was a good time, for sure. This summer was my first trip to the Living Planet Aquarium and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a good time!

3. Got Pie Shake at Sammy's in Provo. Elisa and I stopped at Sammy's this week after a baby shower for a friend. I got the strawberry cheesecake shake and it was DE-LISH! They put a whole piece of pie IN the shake? You should go. Now. Find the address here.

4. Temples--I have a number of temples in and around Utah on my list. I want to visit as many as possible. So far I've gone to the St. George Temple and the Salt Lake Temple, and I also went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. Hopefully we'll hit at least two or three more by the end of the summer.

5. Bakeries--With almost 10 bakeries on the list, this has been quite the challenge! So far I've had success in 3 of 5 attempts. I can say that Tulie Bakery was nice but I thought overpriced for what it was. Mrs. Backer's Pastry Shop is INCREDIBLE and I plan to go back. And Elizabeth's Bakery and Tea Shop was so charming I can't believe I haven't stopped back there yet. Attempts to visit Smart Cookie and Les Madeleines were thwarted as both shops were/are closed for renovations. *sigh* Don't worry...I'll keep trying.

After tonight I'll be able to cross off "Bees Game" and after this week I can cross off "Teach District Class...Collect $200." I've also registered for the 24th of July 10K so we're well on our way to achieving that one.

Life is good. Happy Summer!