And so THEN

Alright, birthday was good. People finally left after midnight and I started packing for a trip that required pretty much every type of clothing on the planet-from strappy dresses to sports bras. Needless to say, the sugar and excitement and tiredness all conspired to make me start crying as I stared at my closet and the reality of the week to come set in. Again, thank goodness my mom and sister were there. They helped me pick clothes, got me to bed and took me to the airport in plenty of time to get my huge stupid bag checked and didn't once make fun of the fact that I was crying about a bunch of things that most normal people would consider to be fun and exciting.
I landed in New York and went straight to this yummy Italian place near Central Park to meet up with Jed and Chris and Catherine and Ben and Dave for another little birthday gathering. Even though I was tired and stressed, they were all folks I was delighted to see and dinner was really lovely. Ben gave me a couple of CD's I'm falling in love with and then Jed and Chris came back to my hotel with me to help me unwind and get ready for the whirlwind week. I didn't take my camera to dinner because I am dumb but I did manage to get a cute one of Jed and Chris before they left.
The next morning I had a meeting in Great Neck that I was a little nervous about. Jed, who is a complete rock star friend and also happens to be a human atlas, volunteered to come with me and make sure I got there OK. The meeting was fantastic and as Jed and I sat in a coffee shop in Great Neck waiting for the train back to Manhattan I was thinking about the days he used to entertain us in the living room of the Alpha Phi house in little Cedar City, Utah and how thrilled our baby selves of eight years ago would be to see where we were now and how close we still are.
The rest of the week flew by-two black tie parties and a PR event with all the beauty and fashion magazines and running back and forth to my design firm to get our Fall 07 catalogues done. I spent alot of time like this:I know not everyone is a taxi fan and some cab drivers make you feel like you are taking your life into your own hands BUT, I love the fact that I don't have to know where I am or where I'm going but I can hop into a taxi and get wherever I need to go. I love them.
Thursday morning I woke up way, way too early and flew to San Francisco to meet up with Emily. We of course decided to go shopping and made a beeline for Anthropologie.That night Miss Betsy, who was also running the race on Sunday(and whose BIRTHDAY it is today!), came over and we had dinner outside on the Kane's roofdeck. The weather in San Francisco was amazing that week so it was a perfect night for a little BBQ.And then it was off to bed early for the little marathon girls.

The next day the SUU girls arrived and all manner of mischief ensued. More on that later.

Shop Girl

I am sitting in the green room at QVC right now, getting ready to sell a purple clog to Middle America. You have to be here two hours before your segment to meet the host and go into hair and makeup so now I'm just hanging out, trying not to giggle because well, I'm on freakin' QVC.

So I have time on my hands. Time to start posting some of the one million photos I took over the last two weeks.

Let's begin with my birthday weekend-and Mom and Emily showing up at Costco at JUST about the moment I was thinking-"how on earth did I think I had time to throw a party this particular weekend???" And then suprise, my two favorite party planners appeared and totally took control.After we shopped we went to Pei Wei for dinner. Somehow even though I am a grown up, I revert back to being about 16 when I'm with my mom. We talked nonstop about boys and clothes and the party until the wee hours.

The next morning we went to breakfast at Jan's. The service there is terrible but I don't care because the fruit and granola bowls they make are almost good enough to make me give up sugar cereals forever. How adorable is my mom? Seriously.
And how yummy is kiwi?

We ran around doing errands but made darn sure we drove by the ocean with the windows down and singing at the top of our lungs every chance we got. My mom was the one who taught me that music sounds better the louder it gets. Anytime Emily is around I pretty much just hand over the camera. I love the way she sees things
We got home and started setting up the house. And when I say "we", I mean my mom and Emily. I mostly fussed with my playlist and danced around A few hours later the house was all cute and glowy and my mom was busily cooking up a pile of crepes
and Em took a quick break in the hammock.
Corey arrived with cupcakes from Sprinkles and the hair straightener I had been stressing about because she is both awesome and thoughtful.Tom kicked off the crepe eating with astonishing gustopeople arrived and made themselves at home
Emily and Greg took engagement photos. OK not really, but maybe they should think about it.
Two redheads. At least on of which is real. (hint, it's not me)
There was a bit of an incident with some whipped cream.
and corey stretched for the marathon. Perhaps this display of dedication is why she ran it and I didn't.

All in all it was a really fun party-yummy crepes, my favorite people and my totally awesome mom and sister. I should have a birthday every year!

p.s. I found this in my camera after the party was over. I've said this before-you leave a goofy photo on my camera,the world sees it. Hi Mark!

An Apology

Dear everyone on Flight #1678 from Houston to Philadelphia this evening-

Alright, I was that guy I hate tonight. The one who listens to voicemail the second the plane lands and can't wait until she gets off the jetway to return a call, thereby subjecting everyone cramped around her to listen to whatever ridiculous conversation had to happen RIGHT THEN.

But you don't pick up a message from Bev, Lori, Kari with a cameo by Damian and then just wait around. You call back. You sulk a little that you are in Philly and they are in Salt Lake. You hear Lori's awesome news, and you laugh too much and you talk to loud and you pretty much don't care.

I am sorry though, and if it makes you feel any better-I'm alone in a hotel room with no one at all to talk to and haven't said a word in about two hours.

-k8

Fresh

This week has felt like this.

More to come.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

I ran a half marathon yesterday.

Yup. After planning and training and thinking and talking about this marathon since Christmas, I ended up doing the half instead of the full. And I know it was absolutely the right thing to do.

I ran a marathon three and a half years ago in San Diego. I had trained with a team, raised money for leukemia research and gotten a stress fracture weeks before the race and couldn't complete my training. I worked so hard in phyical therapy to get ready for race day. Harder than I'd worked at almost anything in my life. Crossing that finish line meant everything to me and I never let myself think that it wouldn't happen. I'm still glad I pushed through and finished.

And I wasn't entertaining the possibility of not finishing this one either. I was well trained, I was healthy, I had fantastic support-there was no reason I couldn't nail this one. And then I had a week that was one of the most emotionally draining/fulfilling of my adult life and my perspective on this goal completely changed. Last friday my mom and Emily showed up unexpectedly and we had a wonderful time together. I love my family so much and miss them an obscene amount and seeing them was such a perfect birthday treat, then I had a party with all these great friends Saturday night and felt a little overwhelmed at the quality of the people I'm surrounded with these days. My birthday was much less stressful and more peaceful than I had built it up to be and our events in New York were hectic but really fun. A couple of other sort of personal things happened in NYC that surprisingly enough I'm not going to spill for the whole internet to see but were helpful in realizing that sometimes I really do grow from difficult experiences. Then I landed in San Francisco and got to hang around all day with Emily who I miss desperately. We had dinner with Miss Betsy who I don't see enough of but love. And then the next day, those delightful creatures from college showed up and we laughed and talked and remembered and laughed some more while we shopped and ate and stayed up late. I went back to the Kane's on Saturday night to meet up with Corey and get ourselves ready for the next morning and it occurred to me-what am I trying to prove here? That I'm happy? That I can do hard things? That I am in good shape? That being 30 doesn't mean I'm old? And I guess I just realized that I know all those things, I feel all of those things, and what I really wanted to do the next day was have a lot of fun. And my poor little brain was so full of work and friends and excitement and plans and ideas and feelings that there just wasn't room for 26.2. So I ran a half marathon. And I enjoyed every single mile-I got a special kick out of attacking one that almost killed me on a bike when I was in SF this summer. I thought of a million things I want to do in the next year-the Wasatch Back Relay and LOTOJA with my family, an Iron Girl triathlon, an ocean swim race. I thought about getting better at tennis and taking a knitting class and learning to cook instead of eating out all the time. Of reading more and writing more and learning more about art and starting to go to shows again and not letting myself get so stressed out about boys, and getting to Utah a little bit more often to visit. I thought about all the ways I am so blessed and the responsibility that comes along with all of that. And I visited with other runners and enjoyed spectacular views of a city I love. I ran into a couple of friends at the start and the finish. I blasted Diana Ross and the Supremes and sang along for the last half mile. I got a Tiffany's necklace from a firefighter in a tux at the finish line. Emily met me at the finish line and we cheered for Corey when she finished (all 26.2-because she rocks). We spent the afternoon in that loft I'm in love with and then had a nice drive home where I finally got in my OWN bed with my own sheets and my own pillows and fell asleep listening to the ocean out my window. It really was a perfect day. And the most perfect first week of my thirties I could have imagined.

And that ain't half bad.

T-Minus 15 hours

So the marathon is tomorrow. This is what I was doing last night
These ladies are some of my college friends and we spent yesterday shopping and eating and laughing our way through San Francisco. Four of them are married, two of them are moms and all of them are as fun and smart and delightful as they were 12 (gulp)years ago when we were all at SUU.

So I think it's obvious from the last few posts that my week has been a blur of parties and meetings and late nights and cross country flights and not enough running and goofing around. It's not exactly the ideal way to go into a marathon. But I've already told myself that this marathon was more about being excited to start my 30's than actually crossing the finish line. I've done the hard part-the endless training all alone. Tomorrow I'll be running with 15,000 other women-most of whom are as far from elite athletes as I am-and we'll enjoy the beautiful weather and the fantastic city, we'll eat Ghiradelli chocolate at mile 11, Corey and Betsy will be out there too, Emily and Andy will cheer us on, my iPod is full of good music...if for some reason I don't finish the way I want to, I'm already feeling like my mission has been accomplished.

See ya later Manhattan...
Why hello San Francisco!

It's kind of hard to tell...

but this is Tony Bennett and Sheryl Crow

and this is Martina Navirtilova in front of about 100 other amazing female professional and Olympic athletes

and this is Ice T about two minutes before I violated my long held policy of never bothering celebrities when I see them in public

but since I was already bummed that I made eye contact with Christian Slater and didn't say a word, I decidedI would really feel better if I shook his hand. I am happy to report that Ice is a very nice guy.

So far my thirties have been pretty much awesome.

i LOVE being a GIRL

Because girls get to wear pretty clothes and fun shoes and put on sassy makeup

SURPRISE!

So Friday night I was at Costco getting supplies for my birthday party when my mom called to ask if I had remembered to get lemons. I said no, she said "let me get them then," and then to my shock and delight-she and my sister appeared around the corner of the vitamin aisle. Somehow my entire family, my roommates and my siamese twin Corey had managed to keep them coming a surpise. I have much MUCH more to say about the weekend and I will but I have got to get in bed right this minute. I love these two though. So much.

Dirty Thirty

30 things I'm glad I did before I turned 30

1.Graduated from college
2.Served a mission
3.packed up and moved to a new city (twice!)
4.learned French
5.been to the top of the Eiffel Tower
6.flown out of Heathrow
7.kissed plenty of the wrong boys
8.stood on Olympic ice
9.discovered where to get a great meal in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, D.C., LA, and Boston
10.ran a marathon
11.DJ’d at my college radio station
12.had my heart really broken
13.quit biting my nails
14.said I love you and meant it
15.made and kept a circle of amazing friends
16.saw U2 in SLC
17.wore an Armani dress
18.played Hermia in Midsummer Night’s Dream
19.welcomed fantastic in-laws to the family
20.learned to ski and snowboard
21.joined a sorority
22.splurged a few times on really expensive jeans
23.got checked out by Jesse Bradford
24.stayed in a four star hotel
25.danced on pointe shoes
26.kissed a groomsman when I was a bridesmaid
27.learned to genuinely love working out
28.made an attempt at surfing
29.skinny dipped in Walden Pond

Of all the things I'm so glad I did before I turned 30, I'm the most excited that I've arrived at some kind of peace about just being me. When I first moved to California a few years ago, a friend kept telling me that I was finally going to get to know myself now that I was out on my own. I was 25 at the time and resented the implication that somehow in all those years I hadn't really figured out who I was. It turned out he was right. It wasn't until I was alone and struggling to find a place in my new home that I started really evaluating what I believed and what I enjoyed and how I spent my time. Instead of measuring those things against my friends or my family or the smartest girl in the sorority or the most productive missionary or the girl everyone liked at work, I just measured them against me. And as it turns out, I'm a much better judge of what I want to be like than anyone else. So I'm sitting here at 12:15 on my birthday morn, taking stock of what I've been doing for the past 30 years and I feel really satisfied. That's a nice list up there and I have this feeling that my thirties might have even more awesome twists and turns....

Trained Out

This is how I felt the other night when I finally dragged my tired self to the gym to do my run because I wasted all the daylight hours.

The Swedes Have it

Seriously, how come I always love Swedish pop? How do they get crack into their music?

My friend Dainon and I like to trade CD's and this track by Peter Bjorn and John featuring totally intoxicating vocals by Victoria Bergsman is so far the standout of his latest round. The first time through I thought, "well this is a fun!", the second time I thought, "oh, well it's really sexy too", then the lyrics started to seep into my brain and now I pretty much love it. First of all, I'm a total sucker for boy/girl dialogue in a song. And this one starts with a worry anyone with a little relationship baggage can understand

if i told you things i did before
told you how i used to be
would you go along with someone like me
if you knew my story word for word
had all of my history
would you go along with someone like me

and then she responds

i did before and had my share
it didn't lead nowhere
i would go along with someone like you
it doesn't matter what you did
who you were hanging with
we could stick around and see this night through

alright, so they are kinda diggin' each other then which is cool. So you know where this is going

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about our own faults
talkin' 'bout our own style
all we care 'bout is talking
talking only me and you

she gets little nervous about how this might turn out

usually when things have gone this far
people tend to disappear
no one will surprise me unless you do

but she shouldn't be because he doesn't appear to be going anywhere

i can tell there's something goin' on
hours seems to disappear
everyone is leaving i'm still with you

all together now...

it doesn't matter what we do
where we are going to
we can stick around and see this night through

So besides lyrics that perfectly describe why there is nothing in the world that is as fun as a new relationship, there is also whistling! and fantastic drums! and it's discreetly sexy! I could not possibly have a bigger crush on anything than I do on this song right now.

The Final Countdown

I've been getting pep talks all week about how awesome it's going to be to turn 30.

One of the best came from an old friend who is now closer to 40 than 30 but he managed to sum up what I've been feeling the last few days as that birthday inches ever closer.

about the 30s... best years of my life. there is this feeling of
accumulation (not in the material sense), which i suppose is better termed
"maturity". the basis of experience grows and grows and it is just
awesome. it's funny, cause ever since t and i "adopted" our niece,
we've been pushing her to do new things, try new things, etc (you know the
drill). she's always like, "why?" and seriously the best response we can
ever come up with (besides the old 'get a body and gain experinece') is
"it will make you more interesting". well, it's hilarious now because it
seems like everyday she comes home from school and it's either "i met someone
from canada" or "i met someone from china" or "i met someone from california"
(all places that she has lived). and i'm just like, "yes!" because it's
stretching her out (is this making any sense at all?!?!?). summary -- if
you find joy in life in other people (which you obviously do), then experience
is the ultimate way to broaden yourself and your circle. we met this
couple here that seemed nice but then it was like "you've been there? us
too. you lived where? you went there for school?" and you know how
the story goes. maybe it's shallow, but i love that. i love having
some kind of bridge with a person and the older i get the completely easier that
becomes. sometimes i feel like given 3 minutes and a few questions i can
hang with anyone. maybe they are just my "we talk music" friend or "we
talk baseball" friend or (like at church now) "this guy is a firefighter and
that's a dream i never got over" friend, but it's something and it always has
the capacity to go deeper. what's my point? as long as we live clean
and open, life just gets better. i dig it.

I tried and tried to say it better myself but I couldn't.

Weekend Update

My friend Mark's band played at the Roxy in LA last night.

A few photos courtesy of Mark's roommate Curtis pretty much sum up the evening.

Good music and goofy boys-Not a bad way to spend the last Saturday night of my twenties.

She's a Libra

My mother's birthday is today! She's exactly one week older than I am! Well, one week and a few years I suppose.

My mother loves

Chanel No 5Slow DancingRoses
When I was a little girl, she also liked this guy High class taste all around.

Momma Bug...
thanks for my brown eyes, the ability to make friends with people in line at the grocery store, the teaching gene, letting me pretend to be a ballerina and an actress for as long as I wanted to, not saying a word and letting me learn on my own when I was up to no good, encouraging your daughters to go on missions, and learning grandma's fudge recipe before it left us for good. Speaking of, can we please make that at Christmas???

I love you mom, I hope you have a fun day.

xoxo.

The Truth Is

For so, so many reasons. I'll be there in 15 days and I'm not sure I'll come home.

Insomniac

10 things that kept me from falling asleep last night

1. I still don't have a California drivers license even though my car is registered here. I only think about this at midnight and when I see a police man and thus, nine months after moving it is still on my TO DO list. I am convinced I will get arrested at some point for this.

2. I need good running models for my photoshoot in two weeks. They have to be tall, they have to wear a size medium, they have to have good running form and they have to be pretty. I fear that such a creature does not exist

3. Thanksgiving. Should I go to Utah or not? Probably not, but I sort of want to.

4. If I renew my license this month, does that mean that trespassering ticket in New York won't find me?

5. If it turned out I couldn't have kids of my own, would I adopt?

6. What on earth did I do with all that construction paper? I thought it was under my bed but it wasn't. Think, think, think.

7. What if Robin raises our rent in February?

8. Wait I'm not teaching Relief Society this Sunday am I? Shoot. Am I?

9. No. Pretty sure I'm not.

10. So do they really arrest people for not changing their license? How big is the fine? What if I just move to New York and sell my car? Then I don't have to worry about it right?

Parrot Head

I woke up in a little bit of a funk yesterday. Obviously I got a bit beat up on my run on Saturday, I was missing someone I am getting tired of missing, there are a few stresses at my job that are weighing a little bit too heavily these days. So I was in kind of a crabby mood when I headed down to the beach for a Sunday afternoon bike ride. I rode for awhile and then stopped to sit and watch the water and air my grievances against the universe for a little while. I happened to sit on a wall that was also occupied by an older gentleman who had a couple of parrots on his arm. He was out for a ride as well but was letting them hop around a little bit on the sand before continuing on. I was sitting far enough away that I felt like I could get away with staring at his interaction with the birds. He finally picked up his bike and herded the parrots back onto his shoulder and started to leave. I smiled at him and the birds and he called out, "See? It's so much better with a smile. you are too pretty to sit there frowning." And I laughed and he said, "if I were 10 years younger..." and headed off down the boardwalk.
I know it's kind of silly but it made me feel about a million times brighter. Older men tend to play fast loose with compliments to young females but this one came across as very genuine and really changed the way I was feeling. On the way home I thought about I am always glad when I take the time to compliment someone but I probably don't do it enough. So this week I am making a concerted effort to leave off the filter when it comes to saying nice things.

Thanks Parrot Guy.