Weekend Shenanigans in Park City

Julia, Thalia and I made a little weekend getaway to Park City, Utah!  We decided we needed to get out of Provo for a little R & R (Retail and Recreation).  So we donned some terrible directions from Google maps (seriously, we owe all of our wrong turns and backtracking to them) and headed through the mountains to this glorious little hot spot.  We hit the outlet mall, where JCrew, Banana, Calvin Klein and Nine West entertained all our needs; spent $2 on mediocre cookies (A cookie, to be precise- who knew a singular cookie could cost that much?  I don't even think we were donating to a greater cause...); tried on fabulous diamonds in the jewelry stores and walked so much my legs ached the next day.

Then we drove up to the main street in Park City (where it's all at) and wandered up and down the street, looking into windows and stopping in at The Red Banjo for some delicious pizza.

All in all, it was a pretty wonderful way to spend a rainy saturday, with the roomies!

In the News...

Pittsburgh police say a high school student is facing charges for using a biology class snake as a jump rope.

Awkward Family Photo of the Day

A shout out to the blog of the day: awkwardfamilyphotos.com

The First Photograph Ever Taken

Taken by Nicéphore Niépce, this is the first photograph ever taken which still exists. He called his method heliography (sun writing) and this photograph took 8 hours of exposure time (hence sunlight on both sides of the building).
[France, 1826]
litverse.com

War’s End in Sri Lanka: Bloody Family Triumph

NEW DELHI — The Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Tuesday savored a victory that had eluded every Sri Lankan head of state before him: he declared on television that after more than 25 years, his troops had defeated one of the world’s most enduring guerrilla armies on the battlefield.
The New York Times, May 19. 2009

Fail of the Day

For Mother...

Well, mum wanted some pictures of the 'do so voila! Let it be known that I am aware of my terrible blogging skills this week: I shall update this fully the weekend. If I can.

Recent Movies

RUN, FAT BOY, RUN. Devon and I sat down to this one last week and LAUGHED out heads off. Movies like this make me miss England. HILARIOUS.

Bride Wars. Julia, Thalia, Erika and I watched this last night: easily the chickiest- flick I have ever seen. Devon was probably very wise to think he shouldn't come with.

It's Official: the Hair Indicates... It's Summer!!!

Behold, the official tones of the summer!!!  Thanks to a DIY box of Revlon, I am now intimidated by my own skull.

After very little deliberation- on a very interesting whim- I sat in my room and blonded myself. Yes, it was sudden.  But as I have previously implied: starting a new is often a very liberating feeling!

Picnic Days!

On Saturday Lawrence grilled some fantastic burgers and steaks.  Brian and Moe joined our scrumptuous feast!

Speaking of scrumptuous, here is Kevin, back from a weekend fishing trip.  What a hunk of fishy man-ness!

Happy Mother's Day!

This is my mother.  Isn't she beautiful?  Gosh, my Dad's lucky!

My mother has never missed a single event in my life.  Ever!  She was there for every play, every talk, every swimming class or art class.  She even taught my friends and I in an art class!  She is creative, dedicated and beautiful!  She is brave, and prioritizes perfectly.  I remember when she was about to go to the hospital to have Connor: labor had begun.  It's possibly the scariest scenario I could imagine!  I asked her how she was feeling and she said, "so excited!"  Excited?  Can you imagine?!  

I am glad that I have always been great friends with my Mum.  Some people don't have that relationship with their mother's: how sad!  Even now, I know that the first person I can call for help or advice is her.  Even if she can never give me advice (usually this is only when I ask her "hey, what should I wear?"), she'll be there, offering.

When Alastair and I were in reception class and year 1 class, we walked to school everyday.  It was far, and people would offer us a ride.  But we never really needed a ride: we would walk with mum in rain or shine, each of us holding onto Logan's buggy.  Mum would quiz us the whole way there, "If I had 7 apples and gave Alastair 3, how many apples would I have left?", or "spell t-a-b-l-e".  We would recite the articles of faith.  One time we even made it in a hail storm!  It was so much fun.

My mother is my favourite person.  If I could be even half the mother to my children that she is to us, I would be incredible.  People will say it all day today, "My mom's the best there is!"  But MY mum... well, she really is!

I love you, Mum!

Tonight's Agenda

Ikea with Haili!!! Window shopping, of course...

Y BYU?

Realization of the Day: BYU is so school-spirited, that we paint "Y" 's on our cross roads. Rather than being spirited, this only leads me to believe that drivers must be confused as it is at crossroads without being further asked, Why?

Hollie's Summertime Advice to One and All

1. Popsicles. At Maceys, you can get 6 lime popsicles for $1. 2. Ponytails. 3. Sunscreen (let's be smart, people), 4. One-piece bathing suits. Finally, they are on top of the fashion world. 4. Camping trips: this morning I was on my way to work and spotted all of the guys in my ward sleeping on their matresses... outside... maybe we could be a little more trditional about it. Whatever happened to tents and campfires? 6. Books: let us all make it a goal to READ more! In this world of facebook, red box, xbox and any other kind of cyber box- we are becoming so dependent upon technology (note the girl blogging away)! 7. Bike rides. 8. Photography- please document your lives! 9. weekend calls- most of us have free minutes at the weekend. Stinginess is no excuse. 10. Plants- everyone should own at least one plant. It's just the rule.

My First Baseball Game!

Dan Ahlers (a conneticut-ian in my ward) took me to my first american baseball game last night. Well, what an interesting treat! It's basically the equivalent of Rounders, but with fancy trousers and a lot of rules. And a song in the "7th inning". FYI: BYU slaughtered UNLV after a close game.

Spectator casual.

Hair Cut

If you can tell from this "exclamation" picture, I decided to get a little snip happy. There are moments in one's life when a change can be refreshing! So I chopped the 'do.

DI Deals of the Month

Old Granny Dress: $4.

Woven Leather Belt: $2.

Nine West Stillettos: $5.

Finding designer heels at DI: Priceless.

Happy Sister's Day....

Happy Sister's Day to... Mummy, Jules, Mare, Aunty Tricia, Sarah, Emily, Nana, Itzela, Kati, Bethany, Nicole, Cori, Kacey, Anja, Ursula, Rosie, Millie, Sally, Karen and Eve!

Favourite food of the week

MMMMMMMMMM! Lemon yogurt.

Wanted: Suggestions!

Be a friend: suggest some good books for me to read this summer! No robot stories, dog stories, war stories or westerns. Okay, thanks!

Criminal Activity in Provo

The following is an excerpt from the Police Beat Report for this past week:

Criminal Mischief
April 29: Graffiti of a dollar sign and a large nose with two eyes was found on the Maeser Hill stairs. The suspect is unknown but the graffiti appears to not be gang related.

Funny Fail of the Day

Yet another reason I love failblog.org

Ridiculous of the Day

Calling all dog owners: this is NOT RIGHT, CUTE, PRACTICAL, WORTHWHILE.

Origami of the Day

I have trouble folding in straight lines as it is...

Tomatoes

Tomorrow at work we are having a party, and I am in charge of tomatoes. They will RUE THE DAY I was in charge of tomatoes. The endless possibilities... Currently, I am tossing the idea of a mango tomato salsa with basil leaves, spring onion and lime. Any other thoughts would be apprectiated. Avocado might be a nice addition... Or I could go in the slow roasted tomato direction... A google image search is making this decision difficult...

In the News: Catagory: Astonishing

Korean Man Dies Homeless With $100,000 in the Bank

SEOUL — A homeless South Korean man died of cancer without being able to use a single penny of his life savings of $100,000 because he could not prove his identity to his bank, officials said Wednesday.

Mr. Na had 128 million won in a bank account opened under his name decades ago. But in 1993, South Korea introduced an anti-corruption law that required an account holder to prove that the account had been opened under the holder’s real name before withdrawing money. People were given a grace period during which they could transfer their money to real-name accounts.
Apparently, Mr. Na had never heard of the law. But he had continued depositing his few earnings into the account. When he went to his bank after the cancer had been diagnosed, however, he could not take out his savings because, officially, he did not exist.
Local officials filed for court approval to give him an identity. But before the court ruled, Mr. Na died in the hospital on April 28.
His savings were expected to be donated to the state. He had no other belongings except his cart, a wristwatch and a quilt.

(from The New York Times, by Choe Sang- Hun)

Photography Award, May 6th. 2009.

I stumbled across this picture (snippetandink.blogspot.com) and couldn't help plopping it on here. What and incredible photograph!

Wishlist

This is where I would like to be right now, instead of sitting here at my desk. I would give anything to feel the sticky humidity and hot breeze!

AMAZING FLIGHTS!

Spotted: Flights from SLC to FRA (Frankfurt, Germany): $418!!! Holy, Moly! Hollie's going home!

Funny of the Day

This reminds me so much of Ghana!! It probably IS Ghana!!! World class helmet.

May Day Violence

According to Reuters, May Day has been a violent one in Turkey, Greece and Germany. Police clashed with angry protesters over the current financial status and the govenments response to such. As unemployment has rocketed, citizens in Eurpoean countries have used May Day to demonstrate. So far things have turned violent in Greece, Germany and Turkey. Spain and Portugal have had peaceful protests.

Favourite Public Sign... Ever...

If this doesn't deter you, what will?!

Lost in Translation...

One of my professors introduced me to engrish.com. Rather funny to scroll through when you have time on your hands...

Fail of the Day

Todays fail comes from England. For only 2. 50, you can risk your life!

In the British News...

Mother whose son, 8, was taken into care after she hit him with a hairbrush defends parental right to smack children

Should parents be able to smack their kids? Post your thoughts...

Daily Inspiration: Antropologie

Visit anthropologie.com for unique inspiration. If I had all the money in the world, I would spend far too much of it here. Because I do not have all the money in the world, I instead consult anthropologie for DIY ideas. Enjoy some of this season's favourites!