NEW BED, NEW ME

I got a new bed, and boy oh boy am I already in love!

I upgraded from a double (or full, I get those confused) to a Queen and that little bit of extra room is just what I needed. It's so soft and cushion-y, and I bought brand new white sheets and a new comfy mattress cover that has a lot of plush to it. Basically I'm sleeping on a little cloud now you guys, and it's magical! 

And perhaps I may sleep like a star fish sideways in bed so I'm excited to have even more space to sprawl myself out! Jeremy hates it, but I can't help that I sleep like that; I mean... how do you really control something when you're asleep? :]

It's funny how just something like getting new sheets and a bed makes it exciting again to go to sleep. Once I got everything set up, I was so excited to lay down and try it out.
I mean, I've always loved sleeping, but not so much the actual act of making myself stop what I'm doing and go to bed. 

This new bed is so lovely and just what I needed to encourage me to go to bed at a reasonable hour. 

 

WONDER WOMAN DATE NIGHT

Tuesday night, as we typically do on Tuesday nights, we went to the movies. We watched Wonder Woman and I loved it! I've never been a huge super hero movie fan (with the exception of Spider-Man and the Dark Knight Trilogy) but I really loved this one. It was entertaining and fun, but I also really loved that it was so female driven and also directed by a woman. Yay for more women in the movie industry!

I just really love strong female leads in movies. Even in a lot of movies where you would initially consider the lead character to be a strong, independent woman, there always seems to be a male character that comes in to save her, or save the day. I just really loved how bad ass Wonder Woman is in this movie.  

We also pigged out at the theater last night which was so yummy! I got points for a free soda, and then we each got a mini pepperoni pizza, and nachos to share. Oh it was so yummy! Way too much junk food for my diet I'm supposed to be on, but so yummy! And only 10 bucks for all that which seems like such a good deal at a movie theater.

During the previews, Jeremy leaned over and said "I'm really glad that we do this. It's crazy I didn't even know about $5 Tuesday until we met."
Oh how I love $5 Movie Tuesdays!

SUNNY WEEKEND IN LA!

This weekend I went to Los Angeles to help out at Forrest's company booth at the Cine Gear Expo. It was super fun and the expo was in the Paramount Pictures studio lot so it was so cool to be able to walk around and explore the lot in between helping at the booth.

 

Forrest started a company with his business partner Dan Kanes called Atlas Lens Co. They make anamorphic camera lenses and this weekend they were demo-ing them at the Cine Gear Expo. I went to be a model so when people were trying out the lenses they had something to focus on and compare. It was really fun! Anytime a huge crowd would build up someone would lean in and ask if I felt weird having everyone stare at me and I just told them I didn't mind at all. It really didn't feel weird because I know that it was all technical based. People were just trying to see how sharp the lens was and test the bokeh and flares. Plus a secret part of me always likes being on camera. :)

  

My mom and dad both drove down to see the booth so that was so nice to see both of them this weekend also! Mama actually stayed at the show both days and helped also, and my dad came down Saturday and spent the day with us. This photo was right before we started taking down the booth at the end of the show.

The expo was only Friday + Saturday so we had Sunday just to play!
We went up to the Griffith Observatory and then down to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I hadn't been there in years so it was fun to see all the craziness again! 

Also, the amount of snakes there are NOT fun! I am so terrified of snakes and people had huge ones around their necks for tourists to take photos with and I hated every single moment of that! I would see one so I would walk further away from it on the sidewalk only to be confronted by another guy with another huge snake around him right beside me. Man do I hate snakes! 

We stopped and got ice cream cones at Ghiradelli which were so yummy! I've never been the biggest ice cream fan but it was so warm outside that ice cream just sounded exactly like what we needed! I also really want to go back on a weekday to go to a showing of Jimmy Kimmel Live which is filmed on that street. 

We drove around the neighborhoods and looked at all the huge beautiful houses and Jeremy and I brainstormed how we can get rich quick so we can afford to move into a mini mansion in LA. We've yet to hit our big idea yet but it's coming, I can feel it! 

We also stopped by Tiffen in Burbank to see another little set up Forrest and Dan were doing at the Tiffen Open House. We saw Garrett Brown there (the inventor of the steadicam) who actually filmed The Shining! Those steadicam Shining shots really changed the game for the movie industry, so it was cool to see him there with his steadicams letting people try them on and do some mock filming.

 

Trips like this always light that little traveling/moving flame in me. Maybe come November or so I can think more about moving so I can have one last summer and fall in Salt Lake City. Who knows. But it sure is fun to daydream about! :)

Atlas Lens Co:  atlaslensco.com

"The Steadicam and The Shining":  www.tested.com/art/movies/457145-shining-and-steadicam

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE REALLY GOOD DAYS

And sometimes you lay in bed and on the couch for 15 hours throwing up and feeling like you might pass out at any given moment.
Gross, I know. 

But that was my life yesterday. Jeremy and I both woke up yesterday morning super sick with the same exact thing. I don't know if it was the stomach flu or food poisoning but I haven't felt that sick in years. I can't even remember the last time I've had the stomach flu honestly. Probably since I lived at home and that was at least 5 years ago.

Also yesterday I realized I go to a very dark place when I'm that miserable. I kept telling Jeremy I couldn't do it anymore and I just wanted to die. Obviously I didn't want to die but that's how much pain and agony I was in. I think more realistically I wanted to take a four day hibernation nap and wake up when it was all over. Poor Jeremy though had to not only deal with his own pain, but also an overly dramatic girlfriend. Oof. Sorry about that. 

I still feel so weak and light headed today but at least all the stomach stuff is over. I'm trying so hard to drink liquids and put food in my stomach but it's scary to think anything might trigger all that pain again. 

Yesterday was truly a miserable miserable day. 
But it definitely makes me appreciate my health so much more!

MAKING PHOTO ALBUMS (finally)

I have decided I want to start printing out my photos into photo albums. I've always been really bad about printing out photos, but I really want to preserve all these memories beyond my external hard drive which might just die at any moment. It's scary to think about not having all my photos anymore if something were to just happen to my computer or hard drive. 

So I've decided I want to dedicate a couple hours every week to print out photos and create tangible photos albums. I'm thinking it will be a good Sunday afternoon activity if I just dedicate two hours or so to it each week. That seems so doable and then I'll be able to have cute photo albums to look back on years to come!

When I was little I really loved looking through photo albums when I was at my Grandma's house. It was fun to just sit on her couch and pull out one photo album after another and see all the little happy moments of life captured in the pages of those books. I want that for my own life. I want to be able to look back on all these fun things I'm doing, and all the happy moments of my 20s.

I haven't decided which company to make my prints with. I've printed at Walmart and Walgreens before but I wasn't really super happy with either. Maybe I'll try out Target and Costco and see how their quality is before I go printing hundreds of photos. Have any of you had any good experiences with photo labs? I just want the quality to be sharp and the color to be accurate.

I'm excited to start this little weekly project! I can't wait to have tangible photo albums in my hands in a few months.   

LET'S TALK ABOUT LA LA LAND.

La La Land has officially become my new favorite movie.
I haven't had a new favorite movie in years! 

Honestly, every component of that movie is perfect. The beautiful cinematography, the music, the enchanting dreamlike portrayal of Los Angeles, the locations in each shot, the acting, the emotion, the story line. Everything.

When it first came out, I watched it three times in the theater. It was just so captivating that I couldn't help myself from going back to watch it again. And again.

I watched it again last night, for the first time in the comfort of my home, and I felt every single emotion that I felt each time. I know the story, I know the music better than I should, and yet everything about the film felt new again. That's the epitome of a mesmerizing movie to me. 

And you better believe I bawl my eyes out every single time. Poor Jeremy. He's there to hold me and tell me everything's okay after each time. Of course the idea of Mia + Sebastian not ending up together is tragic to me but it's deeper than that. It's the sadness of the ending, mixed with the idea of unfulfilled potential in myself. 

Perhaps this is letting you into a more vulnerable part of my mind, but I've always wanted to work in the movie industry. I've wanted that LA life with the film industry job, knowing I've helped create something beautiful to add to the world. I suppose that's why I studied what I did in college, and why I was an extra in movies and TV shows all those times. They were little stepping stones towards my LA movie life goal. 

This movie touches me on a deeper level for that reason. It's the idea of all these people trying to make it, trying to pursue their dream, and I can't help but question if I'm still chasing after my dream or if I just got comfortable along the way. 

It invokes that fear of not living your own dream in life out of fear of failing. 

I listen to the soundtrack a lot at work and even that at times can make me emotional. The music is so beautiful, and brings up all those emotions from the movie. 

In conclusion, La La Land is artistically beautiful and perfect! And I will fight anyone who says otherwise. :)




Here's to the fools who dream.

THE LOVELIEST LITTLE MORNING

I love a good peaceful morning. Sunday morning was one of those mornings.

 

We went to Blue Copper as we do often, I got my mocha as I do often, and we sat outside to enjoy the overcast weather. 

We tend to sit inside at one of the tables next to the windows, but this day was different. We took our drinks outside and I wrote in my journal and sipped my mocha and enjoyed the weather.

We eavesdropped on people's conversations. I pet a woman's little black dog named Bjork. We giggled when one friend was explaining to another how to get into the password locked bathroom and everyone else sitting around chimed in to offer tips. We watched the people walk by and the cars drive by. We listened to the birds chirping, and smelled the rose scent from an oil bottle a lady dropped and broke on the concrete to the table east of us.

 

Jeremy also bought me these beautiful flowers. We were walking out of a store from returning an easel when Jeremy asked "Can I buy you flowers?" We were next to Trader Joe's so after I giddily said yes and we went in and picked out this beautiful bouquet!

It was Mother's Day and he said "I know you're not a mom yet, but today is women's day and I wanted to get you flowers." 

Beautiful flowers. Delicious mocha. Journal writing. A cool crisp day. It really was such a lovely morning.

FIRST DAY OF LAGOON!

We bought season passes to Lagoon!! 
And Sunday afternoon we went for the first time this year. It was so much fun!

We started the day with the train ride because we both love that train ride; it's just so calming to ride around the lake and have the breeze on your face. I also love being able to see all the animals up close. 

Fun story: The first time Jeremy and I ever rode that train right when we pulled around to the tiger cages a tiger roared at us! Like legitimately opened his mouth fiercely and roared! It was so terrifying but also really cool to see that! It's never happened since, but that tiger did NOT like something about our train that time or someone sitting on it. His roar was so deep and ferocious and pretty terrifying. Has anyone else heard a tiger roar in real life? It's crazy isn't it?!

We rode all the fun rides and the lines were so short we just walked up to each ride, waited a minute for the current ride to finish and then hopped on! Those are my favorite days for sure! Although its always intimidating when you go up to ride Cannibal and as soon as you get to the gates they tell you you can just hop on. There's literally no time to mentally prepare for what you're about to do when there isn't a line haha.

It was such a lovely day! And the best part is because we have passes there's not that underlying stress to try to squeeze everything into one day. We literally went and rode everything we wanted to ride that day and left after about 3 hours. 

Yay for a summer of Lagoon trips and Seven Peak waterslides after work everyday. :) 

DREAMING OF NEW YORK CITY

Lately I've been spending an awful lot of time looking online at apartments in New York City.

I know moving there is still a ways away, but I can't help but look at all the lovely apartments and studios for rent. The apartments are still fairly expensive in comparison to other cities, but it was refreshing to realize Jeremy & I wouldn't have to dip into our savings to live there. Initially we thought even if we had to use some of our savings to live there, it would still be worth it, but once we sat down and figured out the logistics we realized we wouldn't even have to touch our savings! That sure is a happy realization. 

It's just fun to sit and daydream about living in NYC even if I'm not moving quite yet.
I have always thought it would be fun to live in New York City for a year or two, and lately, I can feel the little moving bug sneak up on me! 

Perhaps my time in Salt Lake City is coming to an end soon. 

FIXING UP THE BACKYARD

Among all the other things Jeremy & I did on Saturday, we spent just about 5 hours outside cleaning up the front and backyard. I keep telling him I want to plant vegetables and have a garden in the backyard so we're finally fixing up the yard so I can plant my garden!

We went to IFA and I bought garden soil and seeds! We're going to attempt to grow: tomatoes, basil, carrots, red potatoes, spinach, and lettuce. I basically want to just try to grow the things we eat a lot of anyway and that was the list. I already have raspberries and green onions in the front yard that come back every year, and the raspberries are so yummy!

We're going to work more in the backyard today after work and try to make some planters out of scrap wood we have left over from the house renovations. I really wish I would have taken a "before" photo because the backyard looks so much nicer already and we're not even done yet! I'll take one today as a mid-way photo to show you guys. 

I'm so excited to finally have a backyard I can use! I just want to have my little garden back there, and have barbecues and hang outs with friends this spring and summer.

Up next on our list to do:
Paint the fence white. It's an ugly chipped red now.
Build planters.
Buy a patio table set.
Mix in garden soil. 
Plant seeds.
Watch my garden grow!