Spring Dressing

I mentioned before how much I enjoyed The Grocer's Son.  While watching it I kind of became entranced by the character Claire. She's a subdued manic pixie dream girl. I liked her punky chic hair and simple outfits.  This brings me to a question: pants with dress? Yes or no? She makes it looks so French cool.

Life Lately

• Parent Teacher Conferences for two nights in a row this week. That means interacting with people and being on my feet from 7am-8pm. I'm tired.
• Watching old episodes of Avatar the Last Airbender - sometimes I think I have the tastes of a 14 year old boy.
• Girl Scout cookies arrived: Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints, although I did not order those. I swear I checked peanut butter sandwiches.
• Cold and a little bit of snow.
• No school on Friday! 
• Mad deal on a J. Crew coat - Thank you post winter season sale! My old coat is getting pretty shabby. The inner lining is tearing out.
• Teaching YW on Sunday
• Thinking of planning a summer trip to Roatan.  
• They've blocked Pinterest at school. There goes my between class relaxation.  
• Loving this collection. Especially the Japanese floral prints and the bright pink dress.

Blueberry Pancakes

A pot belly inducing breakfast at Bambara.

Reading Day

I had an indulgent Saturday where I sat around and read all day in between loads of laundry.  It was nice and quiet.  I finished Franny and Zooey for the umpteenth time wrapped in a blanket while the heater buzzed gently in the background. 

The Snowqueen

 

Live performance #2 for Personal Progress was The Snow Queen Ballet at BYU. I loved this story as a child and was super excited to see it adapted as a ballet. The costumes were beautiful and the whole performance was enchanting.

Valentines 2012

Self composed tripod shots never seem to turn out how you envisioned they would. Anyway, Valentines was simple and full of good stuff. We usually celebrate on the weekend but we thought ahead this year and made reservations a month in advance. After work we exchanged little gifts. From me - candy and a book that is still on its way. From John - a bird notebook (one can never have too many notebooks!) and a promise to take me to get more stationary supplies later. We had dinner up Millcreek Canyon at Log Haven. I had lamb, but John wasn't very fond of his elk.

Science and Waffles

This was our President's day celebration.  Since the LeMaistres are basically like our couple twin out here - she's a geology major and he's a math major, and just look at our crazy to pronounce French last names - we carpooled up to the newly opened Utah Natural History Museum and geeked out.  They really did a fabulous job with the exhibits and I was impressed at how interactive it was for kids.  I am already trying to make plans to take my students there on a field trip.  One word of caution: do not, NOT smell the rotting dinosaur meat scent button! It truly smells like fecal matter and if you are dumb enough to open your mouth when the button is pushed (ahem, like me) it will feel like you are eating fecal matter.  The other scent buttons are pretty safe.  Well, maybe not the fetid forest.  John said that also smelled like poo.

After perusing bones, butterflies and minerals we had a hearty lunch at Bruges Waffles and Frites.  We stuffed ourselves! If I could only eat waffles with creme fraiche everyday. Josh ordered a machine gun sandwich and that was also super tasty.  Since Caputos was just next door we also browsed the market and sampled cheese and chocolates. 

I think we all agreed that science and waffles mix really well.

* Yes, I am licking the rock salt in that picture. No you are not supposed to do that. We had to be certain it was real.

From Paper & Ink

"Adam said, 'I was thinking about your father and I thought I'd like to talk to a Hamilton.'  Will relaxed a little in his chair. 'He was a great old talker. Somehow he made a man better than he was,' said Adam.  Lee looked up from his darning egg. 'Perhaps the best conversationalist in the world is the man who helps others to talk.'"

- East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Photograph: Dorothea Lange, 'Jake Jones' Hands, Gunlock, Utah'

Hot Springs

To bathe or not to bathe in warm but sketchy looking waters? My wellies lived up to their full potential as they survived mucking about in ankle deep slime, keeping my feet dry. I think John needs a pair for our adventures. He was wearing a pair of Asics! Not so cool.

My Dad and John's mom both mentioned that there used to be a Saratoga swimming resort built around other hot springs in the area.  With the help of some internet research, all signs seem to point to the original resort now being privately owned. 

The Merchant of Venice

As a part of the youth program at my church, Young Women leaders are encouraged to pass off Personal Progress experiences at the same time as the girls. Personal Progress is comprised of spiritual and intellectual experiences and projects. Under the Knowledge category, one the the experiences was to attend a live performance of dance or music. I started checking out the Hale Theater and Abrevanel Hall for opera, ballet, musicals, and symphony, but as we are no longer students, the prices were a little steep. John reminded me that Brigham Young University has a wonderful arts program, so we ended up purchasing tickets for two performances because they were so reasonably priced.

Performance one was The Merchant of Venice. We learned too late that it was actually a version aimed at introducing Shakespeare to children. At first I was a bit disappointed about that, but it turned out that it was perfect! People were invited to sit on the ground as the actors weaved in and out of the audience. The original Shakespearean language of the play was still used, they just shortened some of the acts (perfect for John who gets antsy at long performances). They also invited children to play side roles in the play. They really made the show! The little girl and boy who played Nerissa and Gratiano were adorable! They were the perfect combination of reluctant and enthusiastic.

English Tea

These are the earrings I photographed to go along with Shabby Apple's Mad Hatter dresses.  It was a lot of fun thinking of the backgrounds! Since I had been watching a ton of Downton Abbey, I used the Edwardian Era as inspiration: lace, pastels, biscuits, loose leaf tea, and salmon pink roses.  I ate all of the cookies afterward and put the roses in a modern vase to beautify our home.  Turns out the roses were also handy to use in a flower dissection I did with my students once they wilted a little. Science and art combine!