February Flashback

I'm only a few months behind - let's recap.

I finally figured out that I can pop over to The Depot on a Friday afternoon when their box office is open, so I can avoid all those surchargers. CRJ - here I come!

Getting in the Fourth of July mood a little early.

Nathan found a great little restaurant in the Avenues - Cucina - that was holiday family style dinners on Tuesday night. We got Adam and Dana to come, and the four of us had a lovely rib dinner, hanging out on long banquet tables with the rest of the neighborhood. It was lovely. And sadly we haven't returned. But it was great.

I'm trying to forget what the cold was like.

Matt and Melanie got a group together for snowshoeing. I'd never done it and wanted to try, so I popped up to the U and rented some shoes from their student life center. They weren't great and the trail we were on didn't really need them, but whatever. Next time I'm going for wrap around crampons for my shoes.

We went up Millcreek Canyon on Desolation Trail.

It was a really gorgeous day.

Hanging out with the nieces. I love when she wears that little sweater that I got for her.

Patrick was in town, working to bring indoor football back to SLC with a new twist on it. He told me he'd never taken a selfie before. Ha. We hung out at the Little America - always a cozy spot.

Um... an era gone by.

MoTab and Utah Symphony performed a Mahler Symphony at the Tabernacle one evening.

Solo date to Romeo and Juliet on Valentine's Day. Awesome.

Time for sweets. Ruby Snap and a donut run one day at work.

Easter prep.

I like being around for bedtime routine.

Provo temple open house! Finally made it there with Meghan.

I rounded up a few people to head up to Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville. On the way we stopped at Maddox, quite an institution. I had no idea. But fresh meats and raspberry honey butter and endless rolls. Way to stuff ourselves before getting into a swimsuit.

We baked in the tubs for a couple hours and then came home all relaxed.

Kim and Abe came to the hot springs, and then I hung out with them the next day, when Abe wasn't sleeping.

I attended a prospective MBA student dinner. Fun time, but I just can't seem to say that it's a good path for me.

This opened by my office and it's dangerous. Dr Pepper dreams.....

Work schmerk.

Winter calls for pho.

Musical Monday - Phantogram

I dig these guys - glad they're coming back to SLC soon!

Musical Monday - Wye Oak

Wye Oak dropped a new record recently - Tween - and I'm in love. It's been on repeat, and I'm happy they're rolling through SLC soon.

Check it:

My First Sundance Film Festival

My first Sundance!

I didn't move to Utah in time to really make the 2014 festival, and in 2015 the ticket process and Park City hoopla was still a bit overwhelming for me, and a friend had an extra ticket for one film that year and it looked terrible, so I never felt too bad about missing the festival. But something switched in 2016 and I researched and read and realized that a main ticket office is three blocks from my house, so let's do this!

And the most beautiful thing is that all the films also show in SLC, most within a 2 mile radius of my house, so I don't even have to deal with Park City (parking and shuttling to theaters, celebrity hoopla, whatever). I bought a number of tickets in advance and did waitlist for a couple more, and here's what I saw. I honestly enjoyed every one of these.

1) A Flag Without a Country - documentary about Kurdistan. And then you can watch Helly Luv's music video.

2) Halal Love - a hilarious take on romantic relationships in the Muslim world. Apparently some Shia Muslims do temporary marriages. I think I'd like to try that out.

3) The Settlers - a solid look into contested land in Israel, and those Jewish settlers who claim the West Bank land as theirs. This one was long, but I was glad I saw it.

4) Embrace of the Serpent - already an Oscar nominated film, I saw this one at midnight. How cool to be such an explorer.

5) The Lovers and the Despot - I'm fascinated with North Korea and I found this story absolutely engaging. It's almost unbelievable - the story of a South Korean movie star and her director husband, making films for Kim Jong-il.

6) Sand Storm - this might've been my favorite film, these stories of women.

7) Agnus Dei (The Innocents) - So beautiful and so sad. The story of a convent in Poland after WWII, where a number of nuns were raped by Russian soldiers.

8) Jim: The James Foley Story - this won Best of Fest and as a local, I had free tickets to two festival winner screenings. Another sad story, but important to see.

I also had tickets to a documentary shorts session, but skipped it, and I also had tickets to the Best of Fest showing of Sonita, but I was quite sick.

Flicks I'm looking forward to seeing as they emerge in distribution - the Anthony Weiner documentary, A Good Wife (Serbian film, Balkan war stuff), The Birth of a Nation, The Lobster, and Manchester by the Sea (hey, Coach Taylor!).

I did see Rams recently (lovely and sad) and my favorite movie of the year (missed it at Sundance, have seen it twice) - Sing Street! Do yourself a favor and see it. It's delightful and you'll love it.

Musical Monday - Blind Pilot

Been awhile since these guys had something out, but if this track is any indication of the forthcoming album, I'm excited about it!!