Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 269

I leave tomorrow and I am not ready! I guess I never am.... I always wish that I could take a day off of work to get ready for my trip, but why would I do that when I would much rather use that day on actual vacation. I also get a little bit of anxiety with my long flights. You think I would have done it enough by now that I wouldn't care. I care a lot less... but I really try to sleep most of the flight and not think about it. I have a few flights, the longest one is about 12 hours I think. My longest flight so far has been 16 hours. That is a doozy. I have also done a 15 hour flight. So 12 shouldn't be that bad huh? I just hate getting off of one flight just to get back on another long one. I'm sure we will be fine... as long as we are not flying Malaysia Air.... which we are not.

Last weekend was busy. I wrote about the music video. That was an all day thing, and it was fun. Can't wait to see how the video turns out. I'm sure it will be great since all of his video's are.

After the music video I went on a date. We first started talking in January, but then he backpacked Southeast Asia for 3 months and he said we would go out when he got back, but I figured he would forget about me. Turns out he didn't and as soon as he got back, we went out to dinner. Super nice guy. He is a traveler so we had a lot to talk about. We ended up talking for 3 hours... the time just slipped away. We had a great time. However, now I'm leaving and by the time I get back he will be gone for the summer. So... who knows if we will ever see or speak to each other again. It is always nice to have a good date though where you feel like you connect with someone.

Besides that, I have just been trying to prep to go. Get everything at work squared away for when I leave. Get things at home clean and get the fish tank ready to hand off to my roommate and make sure the plants don't die while I'm gone. Have to think about the little things when you are going to be gone for a while. It's exciting though. Let's not talk about packing. It's going to be super hot and humid, so I'm sure I will be packing super light, but still... packing up a backpack for a long trip... you always second guess what you are bringing or not bringing.

I also got a lot of primping this week. Hair touched up. Pedicure, manicure. eyelashes filled. Even though I am backpacking... I still like to feel girly I guess.

I watched a new show. Star Crossed on Netflix. It was pretty cute. Aliens vs humans... but the aliens are very much human like... so it doesn't seem so weird. I have also been watching random movies.

Making lots of trips to Sodalicious. Addiction? Maybe.

I went on a little photo shoot outing with my BFF neighbor Darrell. We don't see each other much anymore now that we are in different wards, so it was nice to go out and bond like old times.

Newest roommate moved out and back home to Washington. In search of a new roommate.

That's all I got. Peace out!

Photo of the Week 267

The rose garden at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens when I went to the tulip festival.

Tulip Festival - Take 2

Last time I went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point was 5 years ago! It's kind of expensive, so I didn't really make is a yearly tradition even though it is really beautiful.

This year, I was ready to give it another go. Especially because Spring bloomed early this year. Last time I went... everything was still pretty dead except for the Tulips. This year.... I knew EVERYTHING would be in bloom. I was right.

I was trying to find someone to go with me to the festival. Not an easy task. A lot of people didn't want to or couldn't. So I asked my new friend Kenzie. She and I sat next to each other at the Berry Tea Party and found out we were pretty much kindred spirits and exchanged numbers and decided we were going to be adventure buddies this summer. I'm thrilled about it. She is so much fun. We just walked around getting to know each other and frolicking in the tulips and having a great time.

The gardens at Thanksgiving point are so picturesque! It's hard to stop taking pictures, and it's hard to choose my favorites. We went on the perfect day. The weather was beautiful. So glad that I chose this year to go again and so glad that Kenzie wanted to go with me. Hopefully lots more adventures to come with this girl. :)

Roommie Reunion at Bombay House

Tonight I got together with my old roommates and good friends Meg & Sarah. We seriously don't do this enough. I miss hanging out with them all of the time. We always have a good time together. Also these pictures are not great because the lighting was TERRIBLE but we gotta document.

We love Indian food and we love being together. Hope it happens again soon!!!!

Shake It Off Disney Parody - Music Video

Yesterday was film day for the music video. It was an all day thing. We showed up to the park in our costumes with our make up done ready to film. We even had a visit from the Mayor of Provo telling us we looked great and couldn't wait to see the video.

We had a dance sequence with all of the characters, then each movie of characters filmed their own scenes that went along with the song.

I didn't know anyone that was going to be working on this video except RJ who was filming and putting it together and then my friend Becky who was asked to be Meg from Hercules. So I usually hung out with her during our free time. It was nice to have a friend.

It was like Halloween all over again because RJ asked me to be a Lost Boy. That is what I was for Halloween this year.  When I got there and saw all of the other characters... I felt like I was not very important. The entire song is about the princesses vs the villains and I wasn't either one of those. The dance sequence I was one of the people that actually knew how to dance and did the dance well and I was put in the back. A lot of people didn't even know what character I was supposed to be... my big joke is that I will have put in all of these hours into this music video and I will be like Mike in Monsters Inc. My hand will get in the video somewhere and I will be like... oh hey, that was me! ha ha. Who knows how much I will actually be in the video guess we will see when it is all done.

However... I ended up loving my Peter Pan scene. We were jamming out, playing in a band. I was on the bongo drums... which I thought was pretty fun. I thought we all looked good and we had fun together. On top of that, I also made a lot of new friends and I got to get my dance on... which I love and don't do enough of. After we were done filming, we all felt pretty bonded and had a lot of new friends. Had lots of people adding me on Facebook and Instagram. This group was mixed with a variety of ages, people that had never done a video like this (like me) and famous YouTuber's like Stuart Edge and the Dyches Family which I guess has a following on YouTube as well. Monica, which everyone was also calling Taylor Swift because she kind of looks like her... she has been in a church film about bullying and other things AND we were working with the guys that put on Dark Lord Funk. So this is bound to be good right?

I will post the video when it is done!

Cucumber Bites

I was in charge of the food for the Berry Tea Party that Alexi and I planned together. I of course turned to Pinterest as I usually do. We wanted light finger foods.

I found these cucumber bites and had to add them to the menu. They are simple, make a lot. On top of that, they also are pretty, colorful AND they taste good. If you are ever in need of an easy appetizer... I suggest this one. 

Ingredients

• FOR THE HERB CREAM CHEESE - 4 Ounces (1 Brick) Cream Cheese, Softened to room temperature
• 1/4 Cup Ranch Dressing (Yes, good old Hidden Valley)
• 2 TBS Dill (can use other spices... Thyme is excellent also)
• 3-4 Long Cucumbers. skinned and Slice into thirty 1 inch slices
• 15 Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
• Additional Sprinkle of Salt (to Taste, Careful, little goes a long way)
• Additional Sprinkle of Spice (same as used in Cream Cheese) for Garnish
• Additional Sprinkle of Paprika OR a Cajun Spice Mix (optional) for Garnish (and an extra kick if you use the Cajun Mix)

Cooking Directions

1. First, Make up the HERB CREAM CHEESE, in a stand mixer, mix the softened Cream Cheese with the Ranch dressing and herbs. Mix until well combined. Spoon into a piping bag with a star tip.
2. Prepare the Cucumber, remove peel, Using a fork, score the sides. Slice into 1 inch pieces. Using a melon Baller, remove a portion of the center of one side of the piece of cucumber, leaving a half moon crater.
3. Pipe the Herb Cream Cheese into the crater. Enough to stick out of the top about 1/2 inch.
4. Add a half Cherry Tomato partially buried into the Herb Cream Cheese
5. Sprinkle additional salt, herbs and spice mix for additional color. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
6. Serve Chilled and ENJOY!

Couch Surfing - Take 4

The last time I posted about having couch surfers was last summer when I hosted the cute girls from Alaska.

That actually was not the last time I had couch surfers. At the end of October I hosted a band of guys from Colorado. They were a blast to hang out with. All of them were super funny. It was quick because they just came over to sleep after their show and then left early the next morning to get back on the road... but we had fun the little time they were at my house. Really nice guys.

Well, last Friday I had some more couch surfers! These girls are from Switzerland and are backpacking for 5 months. They started in Asia, but since being in the USA have been around California and rented a car and road tripped. They stopped in Provo on their way to Yellowstone. Their main reason for wanting to come to the USA.

Not only are these girls cute and SO nice, but adventurous and creative and I felt like we were instant friends. I was actually super bummer that I had so much going on the next day because I would have loved to take them around Provo. We have been in touch and they told me how much they loved Provo and they took all of my suggestions of where to go not only in Provo but where to stop and see on the way to Yellowstone. We are not Facebook and Instagram friends. They take awesome pictures on Instagram, so it's fun to follow them. Anyway... we had a great time hanging out and chatting and sharing stories of our travels and showing each there video's of our travels we have made. They were awesome.

Maybe one day I will go to Switzerland and hang out with them again someday. This is why I love couch surfing! I love making new friends from all over the world.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 268

I can't believe how quickly the weeks fly by sometimes. Last weekend was super busy that I didn't get any of my errands done. Friday I had to shop for food for the tea party and also make it. I also hosted some couch surfers Friday night. They asked last minute and I thought why not. I will write more about them later. I also had to make the food that night because I knew I wouldn't get up early enough to do it before having to go set up for the tea party. So I was up late, up early, taking care of the couch surfers and putting on the tea party (which turned out amazing as you saw in the other post) and then I went straight to the park to practice dancing for a music video that I will post when it is all done... but it is a Disney parody of Taylor Swifts "Shake It Off". I have no idea how it will turn out. On Saturday there was a lot of sitting around and it was un organized and kind of a mess... but they are the same people that put together "Dark Lord Funk" and that was well done and had millions of hits... so they are hoping this goes the same. We will see how filming goes this weekend. Dancing was fun though... I don't do it enough. I will of course post the video when it is all done. By the time I was done with that (which was 5) I was pretty sun burnt and exhausted. However, I told Ian that I would go to a comedy thing his friends were doing for their final at BYU... so I went to that and there were some funny skits. It was low key, so it was nice.

I got a visit from my old roommate Sarah on Sunday. Always so good to see her. I miss those days. Sarah, Meg and I had so much fun living together. I loved that we were always out and about and having people over and going to events and the tv was hardly ever on. I feel like I have been watching a lot of tv lately. Hopefully that changes the warmer it gets. I already feel that way since it stays lighter longer... gives me the opportunity to do more after work. I love that.

Speaking of beautiful days and fun activities after work... I went to the Tulip Festival on Tuesday. It was such a beautiful day to go. Loved it. I hadn't been in like 5 years, so it was fun to go again. I went with my new friend Kenzie! We met at the tea party because we were sat next to each other and pretty much figured out we were kindred spirits. So we got each others numbers and we went to the tulip festival together and had a blast. I have a feeling that is the beginning of many more adventures to come with that girl. I love making new friends. I took a ton of pictures, so I will blog more about that later.

My gmail account got hacked this week. BUMMER! I hate hackers. Seriously. Usually I recognize them or they go to my spam, but this one was sneaky and came from someone I knew and wanted me to open a doc they sent. Anyway... I got a TON of people contacting me right after telling me that I was hacked (which I already knew) and then I tried to do damage control. I ended up changing my gmail password to be safe... which I thought would be fine, but when I synced my new password on my phone... it deleted a BUNCH of my contacts! I don't even understand why. It is SO irritating because I had SO many contacts and it only kept like 50. Today I took my phone to Brock, my tech friend at work because I feel like he can fix anything... he fixed my personal laptop... but he couldn't even figure it out. I knew it was a lost cause after that. I'm way bummed. Thankfully I save like all of my text conversations... so SLOWLY I have been able to go through text convo's and figure out who they are and save their number again... but I still have a long way to go and I have also now lost addresses and email addresses as well.... so I apologize in advance if I lost any of your info. I'm way bummed... and annoyed. Stupid hackers... I'm blaming it all on them. And Google Fiber, because I blame everything on Google Fiber since we signed up with them almost a year ago and they have still not come to set us up. So everything is Good Fiber's fault... even non-internet related things. ha ha.

I finished 90210. I know... guilty pleasure. I would watch some episodes with my roommates and we would laugh at how dramatic it was and I would try to explain to her what happened in the few episodes that she missed... and there was so much drama to catch her up on in such few episodes that it was even more comical. So now that that is over... I think I am just going to watch movies... or a short show that I can finish quickly, because I don't want to get committed to another big show a week before my trip!

A week! I can't believe I only have a week. It doesn't feel like it at all. Seriously. It never does though. Even when I'm packing it never feels like I'm going until I am there. Probably because I go to places that I have never been to before so you have no idea what to expect. It's exciting. I'm not looking forward to the travel there though. The time difference is always killer and an entire day and night in planes isn't very exciting either. I hope they have good movies.

I have slowed down on dates. I'm not sad about it. I was going on so many for a while that it was getting exhausting and I really just wanted to spend time with my friends that I know I like. Bishop told me like over a month ago that there was a guy in the ward that was wanting to ask me out.... I have been trying to think of who that might be. I can't come up with anyone. He told me whoever the guy is... is trying to get up the courage to ask me out. I hate when I'm told this because I don't know if the Bishop is just making up crap because he thinks it is going to make for feel good, or if he is exaggerating the truth or trying to play matchmaker... plus... now I'm just waiting for it to happen wondering who it is and it will probably never happen, which is annoying too. I may not even want to go out with whoever it is, but I hate not knowing! Ugh. Maybe I will meet some cute backpackers on our trip. You never know.

When I get back... I need to get back on the diet and exercise. I have REALLY been slacking. I have been getting tanner... but not skinnier. Failing on my plan. I need to switch it up. Not do the same diet I have been doing. Not because it doesn't work, I just think I need something new and different to get excited over. I need to find a dance class or something and have exercise I'm excited about and will make part of my weekly schedule. Hold me to it! I need a work out/health buddy so bad, but I can't find anyone that is motivated enough. Anyone out there?

Anyway.... gotta get through one more week. I'm guessing it is going to be a busy one.

Photo of the Week 266

I went to the Tulip Festival yesterday at Thanksgiving Point. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and the flowers were beautiful. Many more pictures to come!

Berry Tea Party

Warning... there is going to be a picture overload!

It's no secret I love tea parties. I bought a tea set years ago and I try and use it every chance I get. I wanted to have a tea party this spring. I contacted my friend Lexi (the one I met and became friends with through the flash mob I did 3 years ago) and she got so excited about the idea. In fact, she wanted to kick it up a notch... because she is one of my many friends that are go getters. She is a talented graphic designer and wanted to make it a collaboration event to have our different friends display and share their talents and to share it with photo's and gain a following on instagram and hopefully get more business. So we started planning and inviting our friends.

Alexi first designed and sent out the invite...  she also designed the menu and other cards for the party.

We both planned the party. I found the location, we both brought stuff to set it up and put on the event. We asked all of the girls that came to bring flowers so that we could hang them from the trees.

I made the food. Food turned out great. Recipes were of course found on Pinterest and were perfect tea party food. Cucumber Bites and Cucumber, Strawberry & Basil sandwiches and LOTS of berries.

My friend Julia arranged the beautiful flowers

Alexi's friend Amy made the cake. I LOVE the new style of the naked cakes! So cute and it tasted SO good.

Then Alexi's friend Kelsey took all of the pictures. She did an amazing job. The pictures turned out beautiful. We all dressed up and another one of Alexi's friend made flower crowns that we all wore which I thought was a really cute touch. It all turned out PERFECT!!! It was seriously the most magical tea party... there were even deer walking around the orchards while we were there. Thank you to everyone that came and helped with putting it on. It was seriously even better than I imagined. These girls are talented, fun and beautiful. I even made some new friends. SUCCESS!!!

Mr. Dog Lover

A lot of guys online have dogs. I don't know why that is. Let me first say that I love dogs. I really do... but if a guy has more pictures of his dog than himself, It is a turn off. I don't know why it turns me off... if they are doing it because they think it is going to be a chick magnet or if they struggle committing to relationships so they form a relationship with their dog. That is at least what I think of.

I would also like to say that I wouldn't mind having a dog one day. However... not until I have time for one. I am very against having a dog that is cooped up in a house all day (which is the case in Utah) while I work full time just so I can have a cute pet to come home to when I have a few hours at home. I really don't think it is fair to the dog. I will get a dog when I'm at home with kids and the kids are old enough to want and help take care of a dog.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way. I met this guy for the first time tonight. He has been bugging me to go out. I agreed to tonight. We set it up a couple of days ago that we would go out tonight but didn't really make a plan. I was hoping he would come up with a plan. I HATE it when guys call me the night of and say... so what do you want to do? That is exactly what he did.

Of course I had no idea. He suggested going to play pool (which I hate) or going bowling which I said I would do if he wanted. I suggested doing something outside since it was nice out and then he said maybe we could play mini golf which I also said would be fine. We left it at he would drive to me and we would figure it out when he got here. I hate that... but I said fine.

He gets to my house and I go outside to meet him and I see his dog in the front seat. Really? Where were you planning on taking me on our first date with your dog? Plus... he didn't even ask me if it was ok that he brought his dog. He just brought her. What if I didn't like dogs? What if I was allergic to dogs? Seriously.... HUGE turn off.

He said we could still go do something and he would just leave the dog in the car, but I hate that. I'm not going to climb in the car with a dog crawling all over me and then leave the dog in the car for who knows how long while we go do whatever activity. So... we just hung out at the park and the entire time he had to throw the ball for his dog and pet the dog because the dog needed attention because he is gone all day while his dog is locked up a lone all day. Therefore... he was distracted the entire time we were trying to talk.

All of this being said, he wasn't as attractive as his pictures and we had NOTHING in common and the dog ended up being a great excuse to end the date because we couldn't go do anything with the dog there anyway.

Moral of the story... don't bring your dog to a first date, ESPECIALLY without asking the person you are going out with. Bad move.... bad move.

Grandma's Glasses

I don't know why.... but when kids put on big glasses... it makes me laugh. Calvin loved the reaction that he got when he put Grandma's glasses on. This picture makes me laugh.

Work Shooting

Yesterday we had a little work activity. We went out to Spanish Fork to go shoot pigeons. I was excited. I like shooting and I haven't been since I went with John in December. I guess that wasn't that long ago. Anyway... it's fun. It's stress relieving. I don't suck at it either. I shot a couple different guns and I was able to shoot a few pigeons with each gun.

It was a fun activity to do with my co-workers. I'm going to go ahead and say that I was the best out of the girls... however there are only 3 of us so I'm not sure that is saying much. Either way... it was fun. I like hanging out with Tyler the most... he is my work BFF... but the rest of my co-workers are pretty cool too. ha ha. I'm glad that all I have to do is go up to my boss and tell him we need an activity to make something like this happen. I like playing instead of working.

Also doesn't hurt that is was a nice day with a nice view.