Would I call it a bike ride?

On Saturday morning, TC and I got up at 6:30am to do a 7:00am bike ride with Jared. I finally was able to join the biking boys on the ride I'd heard so much about. We drove up to 11th Avenue and Terrace Hills Drive where we found the trail head. It is .65 miles uphill to get to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Once we met up with that trail, it was a whole heck of a lot of downhill and tight turns. We headed west past the water tank toward the City Creek trail head. The Bonneville trail is dirt and rocks in this area (large smooth rocks half-buried). I was a chicken in some parts and walked my bike down, which was almost more of a risk than just riding down. My brakes we squealing and my entire body was jostled during the ride. I'm not much of a thrill-seeker, but this was just plain fun.

The view from the trail head is just beautiful. You can see the entire valley, and faintly hear the train whistle miles away. It is quiet, and beautiful. Next time I will definitely bring a camera.

TC and Jared were both patient with me as I slowly came down the hill. TC stayed behind me for most of the way so that he could see me if I wiped out.

Once we met up with the City Creek Trail the ride got a whole lot easier, since it was paved. It turns out that bikes aren't allowed in City Creek on even-numbered days (Saturday was the 28th. Oops!), which would explain why we were the only bikes around. I guess everyone else got the memo.

Once outside of Memory Grove, we rode up 1st Avenue to our place. What a steep hill to climb. But I trucked up it, and only pooped out for the last 20 or so feet of uphill. It was a bit pathetic, but we all have to start somewhere, right?

As far as soreness is concerned, I actually was not too sore from the ride. I have a super comfy gel seat that TC put on the bike for me last summer, so my hind parts were fine. What hurt the most were my hands. I had to grip the brakes so hard that my fingers were sore, adn the palms of my hands were tender as well from holding the grips. What odd places to be sore!

Overall it was a great ride, and one I will definitely do again. Next time I will wear long pants because of the heavy brush in some parts, and because I was pretty worried about falling and scraping up my legs. Also, I understand that next time Sarah, Jared's lovely wife, will join us. That will be great fun.

In July TC and I will do the Antelope Island by Moonlight ride. Jared will ride with us too, which will be great fun. TC and I went with my Dad, Kaye Lani and Keith last year and really enjoyed it. It's a great ride, and it's non-competitive, which is nice since I'm not all that fast (especially uphill).

Movie Weekend

I hadn't been to the movie theater since we saw Iron Man a few months ago, and this weekend I saw TWO movies in the theater. So fun.


On Thursday I went with some friends to see Kung Fu Panda. It was surprisingly funny. My favorite line: "There is no charge for awesomeness, or attractiveness." Funny. And in the end it has a good message about accepting others for who they are and learning to appreciate their strengths. Great lesson.


On Friday, TC and I went to see Wall-E. We both enjoyed it immensely. About half-way through the movie we realized that there was really no dialog, and yet we were very engaged in the story. The robot is likeable, naive and understandably lonely. So when he comes in contact with a female robot and immediately falls in love (as much as robots CAN fall in love), it's endearing. He takes care of her and does everything he can for her. The movie was enjoyable, adorable and funny.

A Glorious Bouquet of Flowers

TC came home on Friday evening with a surprise for me: this lovely bouquet of flowers! I was so overwhelmed with gratitude and love that I HAD to blog about it. I love yellow flowers because they are so happy, and knowing that, he picked this bouquet especially for me. TC is the best! Not only does he sporadically do romatic things for me that keep me on my toes, but he is consistently a great friend, listener, husband and more! Thank you TC. I can't imagine my life without you.

Projects!!

Even though this month has been busy, I have started a few new projects. I enjoyed the apron project so much that I decided to make myself one. Here are the beginnings of that project:



So the whole idea of stripes and polka dots is pretty much lifted off my last project, but it turned out so cute that I just have to do it again.

Also, I'm working on a pair of shorts for me.



I found the pattern, fell in love with the design (it's the tan pair of shorts in the middle), and found some denim that I had lying around. So I've cut everything out, and am just waiting for the courage to pull out the sewing machine and make the spare bedroom a mess.

The last project I'm working is a trial. I've never made these before, but my mom has. I got the pattern from her. I'm making baby burp pads.



This is some of the fabric I rescued from my mom. I love the little animals and moons. Very retro chic. If these turn out, they will go to someone who needs them more than me, i.e. someone who has a baby, like maybe Sarah, who just had Oliver on Sunday.

So that's what I'm up to. Sewing, sewing, sewing.

San Francisco

If you were going to the San Francisco Bay Area, what would you do?

I have thought this through, and decided for both TC and I that we want to take a trip sometime in July to San Francisco (assuming all works out for us to take such a trip). The following activities are on my list:

• Eat several times at In-N-Out because it is yummy, and absence makes the desert-dwelling, In-N-Out deprived heart grow fonder.


• Hit fabric outlets in San Francisco, because I MUST have more fabric.


• Go to Alcatraz, because although I grew up in the area I have never been, and neither has TC. And what's not to love about a remote prison island surrounded by hypothermia-inducing, shark-infested water?


• Go to Carmel Valley for our super-secret discount place that sells super-secret stuff (ties).


• Go to Berkeley, because TC and I have never been and we will likely travel with my good friend Kacy, who lived there and can show me all the cool stuff that Berkeley has to offer.


• Hit the old neighborhood in the 'Vale.


• Eat at Tia Juana's in Sunnyvale on Duane Avenue because it is the most delicious Mexican food ever, by which I measure all other Mexican foods. Unfortunately for TC, he does not have the palate to appreciate (endure) the kind of spicy-hot-burn-off-your-taste-buds-and-set-your-pants-on-fire gastronomic delights that "La Tia" has to offer. But he loves me, and I will personally ensure that he has a keg of water at hand to put out the fire.

So that's all I have in mind. I know I could check out tripadvisor.com or some other such resource, but since several of my friends are currently living there, and others have recently traveled there, you tell me: what would you do if you were going to spend a week in the Bay Area? I'm not above doing the touristy cheesy "visit the Full House street of row houses" type of stuff. And I also appreciate the insider scoop side of things.

Apron

So I have decided to become an Apronista.

It all started a year ago when I began to feel an overwhelming desire to make aprons. I don't know why; I have a cute apron, which serves me well and was a gift from my sister-in-law and therefore has special meaning to me. Also, I don't spend a whole lot of time in the kitchen. I would like to, but other responsibilities preclude the kind of dedication to gastronomic endeavors I would like.

But I digress. Despite my overwhelming desire to make aprons, I did nothing, and other projects took the limelight. The urge was recently brought back to the surface in a pleasant type of regurgitation of old ideas. I rescued some fabric from my mother (I have adopted the "No Fabric Left Behind Act" which states that I must scavenge, gather and store any fabric that has been neglected or just needs a good home). The fabric I got from her inspired me to make an apron.

So, I chose two coordinating fabrics (one a pink and white stripe, the other a white with pink polka dots), thought for a week of what design would look best, and for the first time ever sewed something without a pattern (pillows excluded of course). With my friend Sarah's birthday coming up, I thought that she would be the perfect recipient of my first creation. I thought it turned out well considering I did not use a pattern and just guesstimated the dimensions. Sarah is just the type of glamorous woman to appreciate such a hyper-feminine apron.

So here's a close up of the ruffle.


And here are the back and front views.




So now, I'm off to make more aprons, because I still have fabric. And a girl can never have too many obsessions... or aprons.

Nicknames

I'm coming out of the closet about something that we do. We nickname people, places, and just about everything with a name. I don't know why we do it because most of the time the nickname is a lot longer than the actual name (like our friend Jared is "the Brother of Jared"). But it adds something to our conversations to make them interesting. Here are some of our most used nicknames:

-Smithers (Smiths Food and Drug)
-Albertos (Albertsons)
-Wally World, or Hell (Walmart)
-Keifer Sutherland (my brother-in-law Keith)
-Whitney Houston (a friend named Whit)
-Derrickus Maximus (my nephew Derrick)
-Ivanator, Ivanovich, Ivancito (Ivan)
-Kristinita, Gordita, Gordy, Gordis (Kristina)
-Volvis, Volvito (Volvo)
-Frodo feet (to refer to a person with chubby, hairy little feet)
-Caesarino, Brother Caesar, Caesar's (Little Caesars)
-Jardin de los Olivetos (Olive Garden)

Are we the only ones who make up nicknames for things that need no nickname? Are we the only ones who sing in the shower changing the words to fit our mood or activities for the day? Are we the only ones who delight in coming up with clever rhymes? Are we the only ones who are apparently stuck in our prepubescent years? Or are other people just better at hiding it, or at least not blogging about it making their defects decidedly public?

Questions for the soul...