Brandi + Zoo = WILD good fun!

I had never been to a concert at the Woodland Park Zoo before.  What a great venue!  It was a gorgeous day in Seattle!  We lucked out since summer in Seattle this year has been dismal.  Vanessa and I spent a few hours visiting the animal exhibits before the concert started. 

Brandi practiced before the show and since it was outside, you could hear her warm up.  What great background music while looking at animals.  We watched for awhile and got a couple great pics.

It was open seating so when we were given the go ahead, Vanessa ran ahead and got great seats. We were about 10 rows back and had ridiculously amazing seats.

Enjoying a great night together

Brandi was singing just for us!

 Oh, hi Dave Matthews!  Nice of you to surprise all of us with a guest appearance.  Dave lives in Seattle so he just stopped by to sing an amazing duet.  Yeah, we all went crazy.

If you still haven't heard Brandi, why are you waiting?  Haven't I talked you into liking her yet?  She released a live cd with the Seattle Symphony (yeah, we were at the live recording) which is great.  She is also coming out with a new cd sometime. She sang about 3 new songs which were awesome.  Can't wait to hear the new album, which I believe (heard it from Vanessa) they recorded in a studio in Woodinville. (Which is right next to where we grew up.)  Thanks for another great concert, Brandi! 

American Girl Store

While Vanessa and I were at the Alderwood Mall, we went into the American Girl Store that had just opened up the week prior.  What a little girl's heaven!  Seriously.  I couldn't believe what they had for the dolls.  First of all, when I was young, they only started with 3 dolls.  I was very happy to get Samantha one year.  Now a days, there are a million dolls and accessories.  Things sure have changed.  They have taken dolls to a whole nether dimension.   Just keep reading to see what I mean.

I would have wanted this one as a girl!  Look at all the cupcake accessories!  And the little dog, too.

 This is where we get serious.  Serious doll craziness.  I kid you not, there is a doll hair salon in the store.  You can drop off your doll and get a variety of services for your plastic friend.  You can have the stylists braid your doll's hair for $20.  What happened to doing your doll's hair yourself? $20 for one braid!!!  I went into the wrong business!  I should be a doll hair designer!

Here are the stylists.  The dolls have capes and sit in real chairs. I sat and stared at this for a long time. 

The menu of choices.  Face masks, ear piercing, etc. 

While you're waiting for your doll to be "dolled up", why not stop at the American Girl Bistro?  I did think this was pretty cute.  The bistro was very busy!

I'm sure people were wondering why we were taking pictures of strangers, but I had to get a picture of a doll at the table.  I believe the American Doll company has thought of everything.  And they know how to attach a pretty price tag to everything as well.  I know where my allowance would go if I were still little.  If only I had a little girl to live vicariously through. 

Seattle Adventures

The last week of July, I traveled back to Seattle before heading to the Oregon Coast for our family reunion.  Vanessa and I had season tickets to the 5th Avenue and our last play fell on that week which was perfect.  And, as fate would have it, Brandi Carlile announced a show the Friday I was going to be there.  Broadway Show and Brandi Carlile...two things to make a perfect trip! 

Another thing that made the trip perfect?  MENCHIE'S! I had heard about this frozen yogurt place for awhile and my sister and I came across it the week before I moved to Utah.  Of course, we had to go back when I returned.  Monday night, Vanessa and I went to Panera (miss that place already), shopping (more on that later) and Menchie's.  While I love the yogurt and toppings bar, this night was a little too crowded for my liking.  I felt like I had to fight to get my yogurt when all I wanted was to relax and enjoy my fro-yo experience.  We ended up eating in our car where it was quiet and nobody could push me around. 

Beautiful Seattle...from a moving car on the freeway.

Excited to see Aladdin!

What a hot date I had!

Aladdin was a great show.  It was premiering in Seattle to see if it will go to Broadway.  It was clever and funny.  Vanessa didn't want a picture with the poster before the play, but she enjoyed it so much, she had to get one afterwards.  Even willing to wait for the crowds of people to pass by. 

Sanding and Painting

Once my family left after helping me move, I stayed busy with getting settled here in my new house and helping Tami get the girls' toy room and bedroom organized in Heber.  We worked hard but had a lot of fun being together and seeing great results.  What wasn't fun was having the A/C unit not working for 2 weeks.  It was cooler outside (still around 90 degrees) so we spend one day outside sanding and painting an old dresser and bedside table from when Vanessa and I were kids.  More pictures to follow when the rooms are finished! 

All the World's a Stage

My cousins invited me to the Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, UT the 2nd weekend I was there.  It was a fun time meeting their friends and watching truly amazing talent. 

On Friday night, we saw Romeo & Juliet in the outdoor playhouse that is designed like Shakespeare's Globe.  What wonderful acting!  I am impressed with all the lines that are memorized and presented in such a smart way.  There were times I thought they had to have changed the script because of the way they were able to arrange words and expression.  Every word was true to Shakespeare and I loved every word.

ROMEO & JULIET





I loved walking around the college campus and seeing how they created a little Shakespearean village.  This was my first experience at a festival and I hope it won't be my last!

Before each show, there was a "Green Show" put on by students from the college.

On Saturday, we saw two shows, Noises Off and A Mid Summer Night's Dream. I didn't know a lot about Noises Off (non-Shakespeare) so I was surprised when I laughed my butt off!  There were 3 acts that showed you the many sides of putting on a play from rehearsal, performances and behind the scenes...including all the things that could go wrong. 

NOISES OFF



A Midsummer Night's Dream

I was unfamiliar with this Shakespeare play so I didn't know all the fun and twisted story lines I was in for.  I didn't think I would laugh out loud at a Shakespeare play, but I did. And often.  What a great production full of color and great costumes.  The acting was phenomenal!

I was with amazing girls during this trip.  It was great to meet my cousins' friends and make some memories.

Kathy, Allison, Kristan, Jenna, Elisa, Emily

Parting is such sweet sorrow!

Reunited And It Feels So Good!

On Saturday, I was able to meet up with a couple different friends that I had not seen in a long time.  Kira got married in Riverton and I was happy to be in town to support her.  I haven't seen her in several years. She used to live in Seattle and we served together in church.  Her sister Shaylee still lives in Seattle and made it down for the wedding.  It was great seeing both of them.

Emily, Kira, Shaylee

Next stop was American Fork to visit The McKinney's.  Oh, how I have missed this family!  Traci and I worked at NuSkin together as office assistants when we were in college.  Brandon worked in the mail room.  We all became friends then Brandon and Traci got married.  I moved back to Seattle after graduation and they had two cute kids while I was away.  I'm back now and we're friends again.

We had a nice homemade dinner then we went to Snoasis for dessert.  Mmmm...tigers blood with cream.  What a treat! 

April 2003 - Last "girls outing" before I moved back to Seattle.



Good to live close by each other again!

Brandon, Traci, Hailey, Emily, Kennedy

It was hard to leave my Seattle friends, but it was helpful knowing I had good friends in Utah.  Can't wait to meet up again with my new, old friends.

The Pioneer Day Commemoration Concert

On Friday night, the cousins and I went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square concert. Sarah plays the violin in the orchestra and we were able to get tickets from her. Gotta love having someone with an in. We even saw her on the big screen.  She looked and sounded great!

"The concert continues an annual tradition of commemorating the arrival of the first Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. This year the theme of pioneering will be expanded to encompass the faith and sacrifice of servicemen and women." - www.lds.org

I have seen the choir live before, but I forgot how powerful they are to listen to.  The music was amazing and I found myself tapping my foot to the patriotic songs throughout the night.  Others felt they needed to feel the music in other ways.  A man next to Elisa liked to hum along to most of the songs, the guy in front of me read the teleprompter and mouthed the words along with the singers, and the man behind us had a nose whistle that was distracting.  Despite the extra "music", it was wonderful to attend the concert.  Brian Stokes Mitchell and Linda Eder were the special guests that sang with the choir this year. 

Kiersten, Emily, Sarah, Elisa

After the concert, we all went back to our house (along with Allison and her date) for pizzookies with a toppings bar and homemade ice cream.  We may have even done a little Just Dance to end the night.