Sundance Film Festival

Every year the most avante-guarde independent film makers come to Utah to participate in the Sundance Film Festival.

So do a lot of major celebrities :)

This year, James Franco, Patrick Dempsey, Elizabeth Olsen,
Kate Bosworth, Liv Tyler, and Ryan Reynolds were spotted,
but unfortunately not by me.

However me, Jean, Shayla, Alex, Jordan, Katerina, and Markell did make the voyage up to Park City where we ate at a delicious grill that claimed to have to best bagels in Utah and saw the movie "The Ledge"
starring Liv Tyler, Patrick Williams (aka Raoul in Phantom of the Opera), and Terrance Howard (the black guy in Iron Man I).

I love seeing the festival films, but with no rating system and no film reviews (because they premier the movie at the festival) you never know what you're going to see, and unless you like anti-christian movies, I wouldn't recommend you see The Ledge :)

Hipster

If there’s one thing that there is never a shortage of around BYU campus, it’s parties.

The testing center may run out of calculators, your professor may not have enough syllabi for your class, or the ink in your printer may run dry, but parties are never in short supply.

This weekend my good friend Sarah from my study abroad celebrated her 21^st birthday with a hipster-themed birthday party.

What is a hipster you may ask?

Well no one was really sure, but this blog helped us figure it out (www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com) and here is what I was able to gather throughout the night:

Fashion: lipstick and oversized sweaters

Media: documentaries

Magazines: Nylon

Music: M. Ward or Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes

Books: On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Philosophy: Existentialism

People of interest: Andy Warhol

We then cruised over to a party at the little red riding hood (love the name) where my friend Morgan lives with 6 other girls and danced the rest of the night away.

The birthday girl!

Hipsters

Hipster shoes

My dad's old argyle sweater from college = Hipster sweater

Weekend Getaway

How did we celebrate the life of this great crusader of civil rights??

By going to St. George of course!

It was a weekend full of intense tennis matches, hot tub seshes, lots of desserts, croquet battles and good chats with friends!

Possibly the most gorgeous sunset ever??

Photo cred goes to the talented J murr da blurr

Dinner with the group!

After failed attempts to eat at both Pizza Factories in St. George...

We ended up at the Claim Jumper.

I was a little bit creeped out by the huge deer head peering down as we ate...

Sunday:

Modeling comes naturally to them.

Markell was sick of walking in high heels.... (notice how Andrew is NOT being a gentleman)

... and apparently all four of us weren't able to manage carrying her... fail.

We visited the St. George Temple visitors center!

And Alex caught a glimpse into her future sister-missionary life

Sunday Dinner:

Our lovely cooks.

Look at their masterpiece!

<----------------------

It was DE-lish.

And somehow Sunday dinner ended with Shayla being power-bombed...?

For your enjoyment:

This was supposed to be a victory high-five.... until we missed each other's hands...

Hello Santa Barbara

.... Not the city in California, unfortunately.

But I am now a resident of Santa Barbara Apartments (which happen to be right down the street from J-Dawgs... sweet huh?). I live with the fabulous Rachel Nixon whom I met at the dorms (yep, we're both Helaman halls alumni) and the newest additions to our apartment are:

a kitchen-aid (thank you Rachel's sister),

a toaster (courtesy of Mitzi),

and Cable (as of last night-- we broke into the box illegally, haha jk).

We have a system where I bake dinner once a week and Rachel bakes dinner once a week...

and let me tell you,

its quite the educational experience considering the only food I know how to make off the top of my head is

toast and microwavable mac n' cheese...

I'm also a pro at doing laundry

(I learned how to do my own in London this last semester...... I probably shouldn't admit that)

This was how I did laundry for the first 19 years of my life...

... this is my laundry hamper now! woohoo for being independent.

Books I bought in London = decor for my room now

My lovely roommate leaves nice notes for me too! :)

Ooh, here's some more exciting news:

I chose a major!!

drumroll please...

Communication Disorders

:)

I'm very excited about it.

Happy New Years

So I rang in 2011 while driving home from the airport, and it made me wonder if New Years Eve was a bit overrated as a holiday, because I certainly didn't feel any different after the clock turned from 11:59 to 12:00.

But then I got thinking about it, and New Years is really quite special. What else causes people all over the world to make goals to eat healthier, be kinder, organize their lives, and just be better?

Leaving 2010 was kind of sad, because a chapter in my life was closing that I will NEVER experience again (see previous hundred blog posts haha) but I'm excited for 2011!

I'm moving into an actual apartment for the first time where I'll have to make myself food (I miss my dining-plus card already), basketball season is coming up, my little sister will be graduating from high school (weird), people my age will be getting married and having babies, and who knows what else 2011 has in store!

Oh here's a little something you might like:

At the end of each year, my friend Shayla and I sit down and go through each month of the past year and write down our favorite memories/epic happenings from each.

It's really quite enjoyable and you'd be surprised about how much you can remember!

Here's a little advice I'm going to try to follow this New Year!

Goodbye Europe

I boarded a plane four months ago with one of my best friends Jordan Murray.

We landed in London and moved in with 36 girls and 2 boys.

I was scared to death but had also never been so excited in my entire life.

I missed my family and friends back home, but soon realized that I had some of the most incredible people I had ever met living above me, below me, and all around me.

I went to Paris for the first time and ran around the city of lights in matching shirts with Molly Jane.

I hiked through the Lake District and read Wordsworth's poetry in the woods.

I went to Wales and experienced "Welsh World" while uncovering Jordan's hidden talent of harpooning apples off trees...

I went to a fashion show on a boat and had a dance party on the Thames.

I ate Thanksgiving dinner in Brussels and listened to Jay-Z in Amsterdam.

I saw the entire cast of 'Harry Potter' after waiting 15 hours in the rain for them.

I snuck to the top of the roof of the London Centre and watched fireworks for Guy Fawkes day.

I cried in the first LDS chapel in Gadfield Elm.

I spent over 100 hours on a coach discovering the English countryside.

I served in an LDS ward where I was the only White person and fell in love with black children with English accents.

I did the wave on Hadrian's Wall.

I went on a Beatles tour in Liverpool.

I participated in a "Gallon challenge" with a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke...

I had a conversation with Joshua Radin and got a picture with Bruno Mars.

I saw the Pope in Rome and climbed the duomo in Florence.

I ate margarita pizza in Pisa and fed the birds in Venice.

I had one of the best conversations of my life with some of my best friends on a night train.

I witnessed the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in Salzburg and was part of the biggest pillow fight I've ever seen in Prague.

I went through an actual concentration camp in Munich and discovered in Frankfurt that if a huge black guy ever comes into your room at night, Jordan's first instinct is to fight him.

I returned home to London and waited for my family to meet me there while their plane got delayed again, and again.

I had the most magical Christmas in my most favorite city in the whole world, but I missed all the people that had made London so special to me in the first place.

I visited Paris for a second time and found that it is still one of the most incredible places on earth.

I made friends on my study abroad that I will have for the rest of my life!
I'm excited to have Gossip Girl nights with them and plan bachelorette parties for them. I'm excited to attend future weddings and concerts and movie premiers with them.

I'm excited to see my friends at home that I haven't seen for four whole months!! I'm excited to meet their boyfriends and see my friends that have come home from their missions.

I'm excited to eat Cafe Rio again, and move into an apartment with Rachel Nixon, and go skiing.

I have loved my life during the last 4 months, but tomorrow,
I'm going HOME.

We Louvre Paris

Well we finally made it to Paris! And we blend right in because my family is really appreciative of other cultures and the fine arts... Oh wait.

Here are a few of the quotes from my siblings and parents that I've kept track of over the last four days for your enjoyment:

(in the Louvre):
"That painting looks like George Washington... on crack..."

(right after we get off the plane):
"Wait, does this mean all the signs are going to be in French for the next five days? Kill me now."

(at dinner):
"Which is more effective -- a cattle prod or a taser?"

(While touring the Opera House):
"It's like they are a whole race of the little people from 'Gulliver's Travels'!"

(While touring Versailles):
"This reminds me of a skit from 'Jackass'..."

"The only thing better than cage fighting is cage fighting in French."
(does that even need an explanation?)

Matching ear muffs? check.

They saw a mouse on the tracks...

Just look how happy she is...

Who knew Mitz was such a huge fan of double cheese burgers??

Giving a rousing performance of "Phantom of the Opera"

Mona!