my love life..because i know everyone has been wondering.

i'm at that age where people {in utah county, especially} are really wondering why i am not married.  i find people studying me, looking for a tail or an extra finger, just some indication why i don't have a boo.  i've hit old maid status at the embarrassing age of 20.  so everyone i know is trying to help me by only talking to me about my "type" and setting me up.

tonight i was at a bbq to scout out some "man meat" {their words, not mine} my family would like to set me up with and eventually be thanked at our future dream wedding that so many are waiting for.  while at the bbq, i met a handsome, energetic, young man.  before ever introducing himself he slapped my leg then ran away.  this is a fairly normal first reaction i get from the opposite sex.  then he came and gave me a hug and tried to sit on me.  later he whispered into my ear "you're hot" and i said "thank you."  and those were the only words we shared that evening.  

that is the most action i have had in months.

he was six.

single and no end in sight.

{me playing a game yet lacking game.}

i have zero game. the kind of game defined by urban dictionary as a "measure of smoothness one has with the opposite sex."  yes.  that kind of game.  i lack it, miserably.  it is getting so bad that i may need to get some sort of self help book or something to teach me.  yes.  that bad.  for example...

preface:  i had to work a double at work yesterday.  on the list of things that i wanted to do that day "work a double at work" was in between "wrestle an alligator" and "eat a handful of poison" on said list. so, to cheer myself up, i decided to do just about the hippest thing to do in provo utah.  i took myself to barnes and noble, got myself an izzie and jammed by myself to the new adele cd in the starbucks section with what just might be the most indie children in utah county.  i sat by the window so everyone cool see me being awesome.  there was a beautiful creature in dark rimmed glasses and a stripped sweater in front of me.  i made the obvious decision and sat BEHIND him, instead of BY him.  which was the first of many mistakes...

{about 30 minutes into my starbucks-izzie-jam sesh}

beautiful creature:  {lips moving, no sound coming out due to my headphones still in and adele serenading me with her sweet sound}

me:  how long has he been talking to me.  remove headphones.  pretend i heard him talking.  yeah.  uh. ...

b.c.:  ...yeah so it's really cold in here, huh?

me:  yeah.

b.c.:  i wonder why.

me:  probably because we're sitting by the window.

b.c.:  (probably wondering why i didn't think of something more clever to say) yeah...probably.

me:  why why why am i not more clever!?  {i smile.  i PUT MY HEADPHONES BACK IN MY HEAD AND GO ABOUT MY BUSINESS}

b.c.:  {turns around.}

...

...

...

b.c.:  {gets up and moves to the other side of the room.}

me:  ugh.  {leave barnes and noble.}

the worst part.  adele was playing in starbucks the entire time...meaning i could've left my headphones out the whole time and heard everything the beautiful creature was saying to me the whole time.  basically i could've had a best friend right now had i forgotten my headphones {that i found in my parent's car} at home.  sad day. bad habit.  need help.

the island manhattan.

i would consider myself an island girl.  true, i was born and raised in a land locked state with bear lake being the closest thing to the beach.  another truth, i have never been to hawaii.  but no.  i am not the hula-dancing-lei-wearing-beach-bum island type. but, rather, i am the concrete jungle type of island girl. 
perhaps the most romantic lyric i have ever heard is: "if i could open my arms and span the length of the isle manhatten, i'd bring it to where you are" {marching bands of manhattan, death cab.}
i love new york city.  {no duh, right?}  i love it like i love salt lake city, movies, sev, taylorsville dayzz, and if i dare say, i love it like i love my birthday.  yes, that much.  and my beautiful sister girl, miss marie, is off to fall in love with my city.  so, my love, this is for you.  this is how to fall in love with my city.

1.  BROADWAY!  seriously.  life changing happens there.  my suggestions include, but aren't limited to:  wicked, west side story, wicked, billy elliot, in the heights, promises promises, and wicked.  also, watch the movie every little step because then you'll love broadway even more.
2.  shop soho.  so unique.  so marie and paige.  and go into every store that you might maybe want to, even a little bit.  don't skip any.  even if your feet hurt and you are hot and you don't think it will be as magical as you think, trust me, it will be magical.  also check out other places outside times square or fifth avenue, because that is where the true new york city beauty is...but you have to see time square and fifth avenue for obvious reasons.
3.  eat at true new york places.  my suggestions:  big nick's pizza, serendipity {a bit cliche, but totally brilliant and more than worth the wait. and the crazy prices.}, and junior's cheesecake.  please please don't eat anywhere you have before {i.e. mcdonalds, sbarro...gross.}  best food ever belongs in nyc!
4.  take the subway.  even though gossip girl looks down on it, doesn't mean it's not great.  it's not the cleanest thing ever and sometimes your family leaves you behind when you're metro card doesn't work and you think you are going to be eaten by natives, but it's part of the experience.  taxi's aren't worth it.  i still carry around my broken metro card.
5.  watch every new york city movie you can before you go.  seeing movie scenes in real life is the best thing ever, especially for movie lovers like my family.  plus, nothing is better than saying "i've been there" when watching goodies such as you've got mail.

those are my personal lovlies.  if you don't love new york city using these tips then you're crazy...or i am...or something.  but i cannot leave out just a few more must sees.  dylan's candy.  rockefeller plaza.  central park {be sure to go right in the middle or else you'll miss some serious treats}.  the stairs at the met {marie, i trust you know why this is important}.  the manhattan temple {the most beautiful building in the entire city}.  if you, marie, are feeling adventurous, i highly recommend taking classes at broadway dance center {best thing ever}.  nyu and julliard.  touristy places are good {i.e.  lady liberty, empire state building, blah blah blah}.  and, obviously, harlem {love it}.  i could go on all day.

marie, remember to take a million pictures and pray that your camera doesn't break on top of the e.s.b. like ours did.  and write down everything so i can hear your list of goodies for my trip in april!  also check this out, if you haven't already.

i love you, new york city.  and i know you will too, miss marie.

alfred, my love.

{if you don't already love this movie by the poster...leave.  just kidding!  don't!}

i love movies.  i bet you didn't even know it...yeah right.  movies are the air that i breathe, the sunshine on my storm, the love of my life.  yes, it's that deep.  and one man taught me how to do so.  alfred hitchcock.  genius.  and if you are, say, on 9th & 9th, near a movie theater by the name of the tower, say, oh maybe tomorrow night or saturday afternoon, you too can learn the true meaning of love through the beauty that is rear window.  see you there.

remember, remember.

you know what i dislike?
people from utah who say
"utah sucks"{by the way, this phrase is acceptable during the fall...if you know what i mean...} or  "i can't wait to get out of this place!"

there is a special name for those people:

silly

if you are or have felt like you have tendencies of becoming one of these sad, naive, sillies, then you have come to the right place. besides larry h. miller, brigham young, and gary herbert i may be salt lake city's number one fan and i am taking a vow, right here, right now, to show you the light that i call home.  honestly, my city has it all--excluding overratedness and excessive awfulness--and one of its shining stars starts tomorrow.  shining star=art's festival.

{be there or be square.}

p.s. its second shining star that is located a bit southwest of the other starts this weekend.  but it deserves its own special post.

sidewalk sale.

9th and 9th...you are too good to me.

{best sale ever.}

{best boutiques ever.}

{best movie ever...and clearly i am not the only one who believes so.}

{best bike ever.  consider it added to the christmas 2010 list.

and yes, said list has already begun. call me crazy.}

father of mine.

when i think of the words
"cool"

"smart"

or "hilarious"

i envision my dad.  he is all of those things, on steroids.  he tries to teach me how to be all of those things like him but, sadly,  i am not.  i could never be as awesome as he is.  i try way super hard though.  on sunday, after we ate a large dinner, he said something that made me fall more in love with him than ever:

"i feel as full as the thanksgiving of 1966. 

i sat in the back of my sister's car with all the leftover

pumpkin pies and was convinced i was going to die."

and, like all of his stories, he finished with a fact of some kind.

the fact he shared with us that evening was...

"l.b.j was the president."

i don't quite know why president johnson had any significance whatsoever with the pumpkin pie, stuffed full, thanksgiving story, but he was right and i can always use a little trivia.  and if you were wondering, yes, he is in fact crazy good at trivial pursuit and every other game, for that matter.

{me and dad, with our weekend mustaches.}

small victories of single, urban life

i love seinfeld.
i literally cannot get enough of it.
watch this video
and you can go ahead and thank me later.

p.s.  i make myself sound like the laziest slob ever on this here blog,
with all the tv talk and the food obsessions, but i promise i have
more than this going for me.  just fyi.

don't throw it away.

{meet brice.}

prom king 2009.  shops at di.  lives for estate sales.  a hoarder.  a guy who buys things just because it is $1.  a future guest on this show.

and i love him.

going to his house is like walking into a treasure box.  he'll make a great grandpa someday.

not only is this a treasure box house...it's a giving house too. 

i rarely walk out of the natter household empty handed.

i'm not trying to brag, but because of this guy i am the proud owner of the following...

new moon trading cards

a monet calendar

a tin water bottle

wicked awesome old books

even a typewriter {he knows me too well}

 {brice's cool desk and equally cool typewriter. lovelovelove.}

{he is starting to run out of room for treasures. and i'm running out of room in my heart.}

lovelies.

meet brice.

love him.

because he is too awesome.

foreign food.

i hate it when my foods touch.

really.

i can't stand it.

i want my salad to be salad.

just salad.

vegetables to be vegetables.

just vegetables.

bread to be bread.

just bread.

not a plate of

saladvegetablebread.

gross.

but {like every rule}

there is one exception.

foreign food

is better when touching.

cafe rio.

saladmeatbeansdressingtortilla

perfection.

pizza.

saucecrusttoppingscheese.

pure excellence.

but the food that tastes best touching...

greek food.

i am so in love with an

all things

mediterranean lyfestyle

right now.

and in sg

my mediterranean soul

is in paradise.

because of

basilla's.

{mama loves it there too.}

{the platter from heaven.}

{yum.}

{pronounced "feel awful" but that is the last thing you'll feel eating this.}

{live it. love it. crave it.}

and just when i thought it couldn't get any better...

so i went to st. george.
and re-fell in love.
ugh.
i love it there.
and to make my love stronger
i found a little space {called pod}
to make st. george just a little warmer.
in the little space, stood grey walls and white squares.
inside the white squares hung artwork from the community.
the whole place was full of artwork
{paintings, drawings, poems, even sewed goodies}
by whoever wanted to show it off.
and i am totally in love. 
places like this make the world a better place!!

{the wall of beauty.}

{a great poem.}

{just pure awesomeness.}

{a calendar.  i have now added this to the summer to do list.}

so

next time you are in st. george

go here.

{17 north main street.}

then go to 25 main after and

get the greatest cupcake money can buy.

please

&

thank you.

a mad, crazy, wonderful dream.

alice,

you are the star in my new favorite movie.

thank you for being so beautiful.

love,

paige

ah.

 {i love this fort we built last summer.}

i love it when i am doing my homework and i can't pay attention to it because i love the song that is playing too much. 
i love it when me and natalie check the mail in our socks.
i love having the windows open.  {it makes me feel like my mama, who loves having the windows open all day long in the summer.}
i love it when we have to change the clocks and it turns into spring.
i love not wearing a coat.
i love jerry seinfeld.
i love thinking about spring break and all the fun we are going to have.
i love packing up my clothes to go home and pretending i am packing up to move home for the summer.
i love adding to my summer to do list {coming soon} and reading hers.
i love that i have been charging my camera all weekend to prepare her for this week's festivities.
i love this song so much.
i love when i look at all my favorite blogs and they have all done a new post.  i love it!
i love calling home and both of my parents get on the phone.
i love planning our new york city/washington dc/philly trip, even though it's a year away.
i LOVE when people are happy in their facebook status/blog posts.  it inspires me.
i love that this kid's going on a mission.  even though i miss him already.

i love this picture.  and i bet my sister would too.

and i love it when people look at my blog.

the weekday cure.

to the weekend: 

"Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
Oh, Thursday doesn't even start
It's Friday I'm in love."

now let's party.