Our Grammy Trip!

We are such lucky ducks, we got to go to the Grammy Awards!  A lot of people have asked me why we got to go...Jenny Oaks Baker is an artist on the label I work for (Shadow Mountain Records).  Her album was nominated for a Grammy Award, and we got the amazing chance to go support her! 

It was my first time in L.A. and I really liked it. We walked just about everywhere we went, and I loved looking up at all the great architecture and over-the-top advertisements. 

On the big day, we arrived at the pre-telecast at noon. They give out 70 Grammy Awards in three hours.  On the live show, they only give out about 10 awards!

  

Our group had great seats at the pre-telecast, which was fun.  There aren't a lot of big stars at that one, but we did see Taylor Swift, Tony Bennett, Steve Martin, the Foo Fighters, and Weird Al Yankovic.  

Unfortunately Jenny didn't take home the trophy, but the next experience sure cheered her up...she got to walk the red carpet!

Our lucky streak continued when we found out I got to be Jenny's rep on the red carpet.  Scott took some stealth pics with his phone and captured some awesome shots!  Like the pic above...that's Jenny waiting behind Alicia Keys.

Jenny asked Scott to take her pic with Jane Seymour, I think they look alike! 

It's been fun to see Jenny's press pics showing up on websites like the Washington Post.  She looked amazing!

Can you spot Scott and I in the pic above?  It's from this clip of Billy Ray Cyrus getting interviewed. 

One of the biggest highlights for Scott came when he turned around to find himself standing right next to Sir Paul McCartney!  Somehow he quickly snapped this pic.  We promise it's him :)

All in all, it was an unbelievable weekend!  I know I have over-used this word... but we feel so LUCKY to have been able to go.

p.s. a few people asked me where I got my skirt- it's from Shabby Apple...it had six layers of tulle! (I think I lived a small part of my ballerina dream)

A fall weekend

We had a lot of fun this weekend, starting with a stroll in Park City.  We browsed shops like this cool place with hundreds of old signs and pictures.  

A lot of places were decorated for fall/Halloween.  There were groups going on ghost tours and we eavesdropped in on a few stories.  

A bunch of couples in our neighborhood got together for an 80's themed party.  We had so much fun with everyone!  People dressed up and there were some awesome outfits and hairstyles.  

My dad got a new tractor this week and he let me take it for a spin.  I have great memories of riding on tractors with my grandpa and dad.  I haven't ridden one in years and it was fun.

We definitely made the most of the beautiful fall weather!  We're loving it!

Trees Galore

Scott has never been to the Festival of Trees before, so that was at the top of our list of things to do this Christmas season.

Actually, we really do have a list.  We wrote down 25 things we want to do this month- some of them big things (like the Festival) and some very small (kiss under mistletoe).  We have checked off five things so far.

The trees were all incredible. We looked at every single one!  Our friends Kory & Amy came too, we always have a blast with them.

 

  My own lumberjack brought in our beautiful tree.  We had a lot of fun decorating our house for Christmas.  It's all silver and ice blue, our little winter wonderland!

I guess it's really over

I think I mentioned that Scott and I had season passes to Lagoon this year.  Now that it is closed, it feels like summer is officially over.  I am a little sad!  We went one last time this past weekend (with my brother Luke, who also had a season pass).  

 

I love these guys!

 

 

Scott wanted to win a Giants baseball helmet.  He had to throw a ball at least 70 mph to win it...he threw it 71!  Good job babe!

  

 Luke has never been on Skycoaster (a giant swing thing), so he and I did it together!  I hadn't done it since high school (with Jenna and Emily!).  It was just as awesome as I remembered.

 

At least winter will bring holidays and family gatherings, those get me through! 

Living for the weekend

Our week days are pretty busy lately, it is starting to feel like we're living for the weekends. 

We spent the first weekend of October visiting our family up in Idaho.  We had an awesome time, always do! 


Little sister Julie, who is almost 8 years old (can't believe it), drew a portrait of us that I loved!  She's at the stage where she loves 'love stories' and she said this is a picture of Scott and I at a ball.  So cute.  I wish my eyelashes were that long in real life.

This weekend, we went to Frightmares at Lagoon.  My brother came too and we had fun!

We all bundled up, and Scott and I thought it was funny that we matched.  We tried to get my brother to wear red too, but he declined :)

 I was too chicken to go in any haunted houses, so we just rode rides. 

Sunday afternoon, Scott had a great idea- we went on a drive to look at the fall colors.  Such a simple thing to do, but it was a really great time!

We went up little and big cottonwood canyons.

We tried to get a picture of us together...this was the best we could do.
We're thinking it's about time for a new camera!

 

This is the same view...looks a lot better without us in it! 

Hope you all had a nice weekend too!

Downtown

Can you tell where we went?  I'll give you a clue...I dressed to match the scenery.

I guess the posters in the window give it away.  Yep, we went and saw The Lion King at Capitol Theatre!  Man, the costumes were stunning.  We really liked it.  It was a great night out. 

On our way back to the car we stopped and watched the 10:00 news being filmed for a bit.  It was fun to watch the meteorologist point to the green screen and to read the teleprompter of the news casters while they read stories.  So, if you were watching channel 2 and saw a girl in a zebra coat in the background, you know who it was.

Our Annual H.D.D.

Our tradition of H.D.D.'s (hundred dollar dinners, for lack of a better name) started five years ago, when Scott and I decided to get dressed up and go to La Caille, a famously expensive restaurant.  We loved the whole experience of fine dining, and knew we could probably spend a small fortune on those types of dates if we had no self control.

We decided to start a tradition of going out to one H.D.D. per year.  We have two rules, first: it has to be spontaneous.  No planning more than a day ahead.  When it feels like the time is right and the perfect opportunity comes up, we just go.  Second rule: go big or go home; we always get valet parking, get an appetizer, main course, and dessert, and dress up.

Last year, our H.D.D. was my surprise hair cutting party.  This year, we made it all the way to June before taking the plunge.  It was a few weeks ago, a day before Scott was going to go to a scout camp for several days.  We wanted to do something fun since we'd be apart the rest of the week. Scott suggested making that night our H.D.D. and we decided that yep, that night would be perfect for it!

Since Scott is such a big meat fan, he has always wanted to try Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  We recently found out that there is one in downtown Salt Lake now, so we decided to go there.

We called and made a reservation, and were on our way! The meal was amazing. They bring your food to you on a 500 degree plate, it was pretty intense.  I was worried I was going to burn my arm!  The meat was the best we have ever had, it was worth it's price!  Our waiter Phillipe was very cool as well, he kept saying "my pleasure" every time we thanked him for something. So classy :)

 One of our favorite things about going to these amazing restaurants (because you know us) is the decor inside. This one had beautiful modern finishes, awesome tile work, and pillows in the booths.  We absolutely loved the look of it.

After dinner, we swung by and walked around "that place we got married", the Salt Lake Temple. It was such a nice summer night outside.

Traditions are so worth it.  We love creating our own, and also love copying adopting fun ideas that others have done.  I'd love to hear some of the traditions that you all have made up or 'adopted'!

The Ball

Thanks to my Dad for inviting us all to the Military Ball this weekend. Who doesn't love a chance to dress up and dance?

We were glad our friends Amy & Kory came with us, they taught us some fun swing moves...we are going to practice them so we don't forget! Here's the answers for this post, our 15 goals (in no particular order):
1.Own a house 2.Have kids 3.Create an AMAZING walk in closet 4. See a show on Broadway 5&6.Graduate from College 7.Keep playing violin through the years 8.Scott get a 1979 Corvette 9.Go to Hawaii 10.Go through all the temples in Utah 11.Study the Book of Mormon more 12. Go on a mission together 13.Sit court-side at an NBA game 14.Scott own a business 15.Go to Europe

Not in Hawaii

My parents are in Hawaii for 8 days (please tell me I'm not the only one who hasn't been there). It sounds like they have been having a blast.

While they're gone, Scott and I have crashed at their house to keep Luke company (aka making sure he wakes up on time for school). It has been a lot of fun, and I have loved having a two minute commute to work.

I'll preface this portion of the post by saying WE MISSED YOU ASHLEY! We had a lot of fun with our siblings this weekend and we were sad Ash was not in the mix since she's up at school.

Friday we went and saw Chipmunks 2. It cracked me up, I was a big fan of the Chipmunks cartoons when I was little, so I was not ashamed to pay $8 to see a kids movie :) I laughed a lot, it was cute and funny.

Saturday, we met up with JerMareClaire at Tucanos and ate a lot of meat. It is one of Scott's favorite places to eat out, and it was fun to take the others there for their first time! The Brazillian lemonades were good too. We were so full though.

Before and after dinner, we browsed the shops at Gateway. I almost walked out with one of these adorable monogrammed tea cups from Anthropologie, but then I realized I really didn't need one. I think it's good for me to practice some self control sometimes, I know I get what I want probably too often :)



We also visited one of our favorite stores Z Gallerie. If you haven't stopped in there before, it's worth a look! They have awesome furniture and paintings. I love that chandeliers are back in style! If I lived in a place with higher ceilings, I could totally go for this black one.


Saturday night, Luke stayed at our apartment. We all stayed up late playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii- I guess a lot of this weekend was about reverting back to childhood! Luke came to church with us Sunday and sat in Primary with me. We learned some new songs that were stuck in our heads the rest of the day.

Later, the three of us made some awesome dinner crepes that were so good. We're excited to make them for the rest of our family now that we know they work.

Hope you all had a good weekend, and here's hoping that we can go to Hawaii someday too!

I'll be tired

Lot's of surprises this weekend- we got to go to Park City for a night at the beautiful Marriot right on Main street. Our Aunt Elaine and Uncle Mont have a time share there and were staying with family for a few days, but left before their week was up. They let us go use the rest of their stay (thanks!). The night we went the snow was falling quietly- it looked like cotton balls. It was really stunning.

We had lots of fun seeing Scott's sister Kari and two of her girls. We love having visitors, and we were excited to have them stay in our newly decorated guest bedroom! (Scott's interior design class is paying off.)

Saturday Scott had planned a surprise date for us. We went to Tepanyaki and then to see the Utah Symphony! I was in heaven! The new Conductor was great- so entertaining to watch.

Speaking of music...it is that time again, remember this post last year? I am about to play more violin in a week than I do the whole year (hence the title of this post...I'll be tired). I'm excited though! I love the Nutcracker. Some of the music is challenging (got to love Tchaikovsky) so it keeps me sharp. I've played the ballet enough now that I have realized that I definitely have two favorites (out of the 90 minutes worth of songs). Here is a clip of one. It gives me chills!

The Grand Pas De Deux with the sugar plum fairy and her cavalier. BTW I looked on youtube a long time to find a cavalier with pants on (instead of tights). The last 2 1/2 minutes of this song make my heart sing!

Our Anniversary

I really can hardly believe this all happened a year ago. Time is a funny thing! I can easily say this year has been one I'll always always look back on with happiness and fondness. Scott and I have had the best time together. We have had so many blessings come our way it is unbelievable!We had fun celebrating our anniversary this weekend. We had an amazing time Friday going to the Salt Lake Temple with my parents. It was so special to go back to that beautiful place where we were married. My parents took us out for a nice dinner after, it was a lot of fun! And we loved riding in Dad's mini cooper.

On Saturday we went to Park City. We went to the Olympic Park and rode the zip line, which I've always wanted to do. It was so fun. (the pic is not of us...but for those of you who haven't seen what that zip line is like- here it is!)

After that, we checked in to our hotel, The Sundial, at the Canyons. It was awesome I loved it.
Then we had a light dinner at a great sushi restaurant on Main Street.

When we were getting up to leave the restaurant, I looked down and Scott had somehow sneaked a present on the table! It was a beautiful opal necklace that brought tears to my eyes! How special!!! I'll always remember our first anniversary when I wear it.

After dinner we stopped by the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and shared an 'apple pie' caramel apple. These treats are incredible.


Anyways, it was a perfect little get-a-way to celebrate one great year.

finally :)

When Scott and I were in New York in 2007, we were hoping to see Wicked. However, we went smack dab in the middle of the writers strike... so it wasn't playing! After that I hoped and hoped it would come to Utah, and it did!

I was really excited to go and the show did not disappoint! Scott and I laughed so hard, and were amazed by the special effects, costumes, and scenery. Not to mention the cast who sounded GREAT!

It was a great night out, one I've been looking forward to since December when we bought our tickets!

Did anyone else see it? What did you think? On another note, look close at the pic...does anyone else like wearing feathers? I'm trying to assure Scott that I'm not the only one in the world who wears a feather headband. Or am I?

I'm going to. Most likely.

In the past month or so I have been complaining about something quite a bit. My hair. Like I've said recently, it is the longest its ever been- which is cool. I haven't colored it in about 2 1/2 years, so I imagine it's pretty healthy. But I have reached the point where it is driving me crazy. Here are a few of my gripes about it- maybe some of you can relate:

1. It is so extremely thick that it is heavy! Oh man when I wear a ponytail (which is often...see #3) I get a headache within an hour that lasts all day.

2. I shed like crazy and it is kind of sick to find 16 inch hair all over.

3. It doesn't lay straight or go completely curly- so I either straighten or curl it every day. Since that takes too long I actually usually end up putting it in a ponytail.

As you probably guessed by now- I have decided to cut it. I'm doing it a little sooner than I expected because my sister Ash and sister in law Marilyn are cutting their hair on Saturday. (Ashley's is even longer than mine!). We decided to all do it together.

Scott has seen me flip flop about this decision all week. I know it is silly and seriously not a big deal, but it is still kind of emotional for me. I do LOVE having long hair when I actually take the time to do it.

So Scott called me on my way home from work today and told me that he had a surprise for me...a sort of hair-cutting-party. He told me he had made dinner reservations for us at a nice restaurant in Salt Lake. He told me to go home and put on a dress and fix my long hair all pretty 'one last time'. How fun!

Here are some pictures of me going-out-with-a-bang


I straightened my hair...






I put on these shoes...




...and we went to Bambara, the restaurant in Hotel Monaco.
It was beautiful and the food was divine! We had 3 courses and it was great to take it slow, enjoy our food, and talk (not just about my hair I promise).







Here's my goodbye picture. Or I guess you could say it's my 'before' photo. Check back next week to see the after shot (or after shock).


Unless I chicken out.

Favorite Skating Spot

Ever been ice skating at the Gallivan Center in Salt Lake? It' s a great little outdoor rink that we try to go to every winter. It is small, in the middle of high rise buildings, surrounded by lit up trees; truly a great downtown spot. Like many things it reminds me of a movie- Serendipity. If you've seen the show you know what I mean. Well we finally made it there on Friday- it was a fun night out.

Congratulations to Scott's sister Kari on her new baby Linley!!! She is one cute little girl and we can't wait to see her in person :)

Watch out...we're watching you

We went to the gateway to check out the new Tucano's for dinner (Scott's favorite). As we were walking Scott says "Hey! That's Memo". Sure enough- Mr. Okur. Man he's tall.

We were talking about how fun it was to see a famous rich person while we walked into the restaurant. We were seated at a table and all of a sudden Scott says "No Way!" and got a huge grin on his face. I followed his gaze, and sure enough, two tables away was THIS guy.

So cool! It was fun to watch people come in and see which ones recognized him. Wow- he has a PRESENCE.

When we left the restaurant, we were laughing about seeing TWO famous people when we turned the corner and...

I love newscasters and this gal is tops, so I was way excited! Scott recognized her too and we burst out laughing!
So we now have a new hobby...people watching.