Sky Miles & Room Service

I have been out of town for basically the entire month of June. It's been fun, but I think I'll stay home for a while. Stay home and blog and stuff.

Most recently (like yesterday) I was in New Orleans for work. What an interesting and unique city. The food, the people, the architecture, and overall culture just fascinated me. I thought it was charming and beautiful and a little bit haunted. Which I loved. Here are a few highlights.

Beignets from Cafe Du Monde. A heavenly little must-have. Fried and buried in sugar.

The steamboat Natchez and view from the River Walk.

Charming & colorful store fronts.

Alligator & Shrimp Cheesecake from Jacques Imo's. I really can't say if it's better or worse than it looks, but you have to try it.

The Godzilla came highly recommended from our waitress: Fried green tomatoes, eggplant and a soft shell crab. Uh-mazing.

Humidity makes things grow.

Night stroll on the River Walk.

strawberries+cream+horses+fireworks

A couple of summers ago I went to the Strawberry Days Rodeo in Pleasant Grove for the first time. How did I miss this for the first 5 years I lived in Utah?! There is a recipe for a perfect summer night: strawberries + cream + horsies + fireworks = me in heaven. Throw some good friends in there and you can't help but have fun. This year was no exception. I think another reason I love Strawberry Days is because my friend Stephanie is allergic to horses, but she loves them more than life itself. So she comes to the rodeo completely hopped up on Benadryl, and it makes me laugh.

Melissa, Barbie & me. 6.18.11

Stephanie & me. Our first rodeo in 2008. You can't even tell she's had 4 Benadryl.

big boat. big lake. big family.

There aren't too many memories I can recall that stand out more than family trips to Lake Powell. Since we were kids, we've trekked almost yearly to Page Arizona and launched upwards of 50 Bluths onto one of the best places on earth. The water level has risen and fallen over the years, the cost of gas has just risen, our dads all have bad backs now, and the accommodations have certainly upgraded, but the best part has always been floating in this magical canyon with the people I love most. This year was no exception, and about 50 Bluths piled onto 2 houseboats for an epic weekend of fun.

In the good old days, you usually couldn't catch cell service from most spots on the lake. That isn't the case anymore thanks Verizon...So I solved this problem by leaving my cell phone at a gas station in Filmore. Oops. It was an accident, but I was more than happy to not check my Blackberry for a few days.

The absolute best part of this week, in addition to seeing a bunch of cousins, was our early morning ski sessions with my dad. 5 a.m. comes early, but the water is oh-so-fine. And the look on my dad's face when he got up on a slalom after all these years? Priceless.

Christy's a champ.

Kimberly. On top of the world.

Water's a little chilly this morning.

DC, Duck & back again.

I love my friend Jackie, and I love Washington D.C. So, a trip to visit Jackie in D.C. (where she works for USAID in emergency food relief, N.B.D.) was a NO-BRAINER. And while we were at it, we decided to join a bunch of friends in North Carolina for the weekend for Duck Beach.

You may or may not have heard of Duck Beach. Basically about a jillion single adults flock to the Outer Banks for Memorial weekend and pack into mansions for a weekend of volleyball and canoodling. I was a tad bit skeptical prior to the weekend, especially after rumors of a "duckumentary" profiling Mormon singles was confirmed. But in addition to getting to see some of my favorites, and spending the weekend with a breathtaking view, Duck Beach definitely over-delivered on my {low} expectations.

In spite of the cliches and stereotypes (which are rampant, don't get me wrong) there are a lot of great people everywhere, and I loved having a chance to get to know more of them in such a beautiful and uplifting environment.


Jackie, Wendy & Me on our back deck. The Atlantic is purdy. So are my friends.



Our house. Lotsa good people.