they can't take that away from me

You know those days you think about washing your car because it seems like the weather is nice? But then you don't wash your car and it rains (or effin snows)?

I love those days because they make me feel like I'm winning at Life.

thinking about tomorrow

My friend Danny and I are kind of in a non-relationship relationship in that we're really just friends but it seems like usually we're together as much as people who are in relationships are together. And I think if we ever broke up our non-relationship relationship it would look a lot like this conversation.





I'll dress more like a slut Danny!!

picture book

I just uploaded my last two weeks of photos onto my computer.

This is the most beautiful car wash soap I've ever seen.

These are the most awesome car decals.

This is when I realized I need to be careful with purchasing green crap.

This was a delightful Sunday moment.



This was the best way to spend a lunch hour.

These are the tulips finally coming up in front of my apartment.

This is the weird black hole cloud I saw on my way to work today.

I became awake

If you eat dinner and are settling down to do some work, don't think that one of these will satisfy any desire you have (unless you desire that throw up feeling you get from cough syrup).


You've had a 12-pack of them in the kitchen since January for a reason.

greek song

Hmmm...how is it possible that in the hour since I ate some Greek Souvlaki French fries (which are oddly, the best kind of French fries) I have three times found ketchup on my clothes/self? And like, it's not as if it spread; each spot has appeared to be isolated.

a final warning

I turn in a research paper on Thursday which will put an end to the finals that have been eating up the last week or so. Freedom! (for a week until summer semester starts)! My friend Marsha told me about a Facebook game called Scramble a while ago and it's as though the Spirit told her to send it to me just in time for studying. Turns out Naomi is as excited about it as a dissertation distraction as I am about it as finals distraction cus my weekend looked like this:


She totally kills me at it, but Scramble is like Boggle and the rounds are 3 minutes each so I can convince myself taking a break to catch up on our games is a good breather. Except usually we have 4 or 5 games going at once and you play two 3 minute rounds right in a row every time. So 3 minutes easily turns into 40 minutes. Beware!!

lazy days

I could definitely do without the SNOW that came this afternoon, but I'll take a rainy day anytime. The spring rain in Utah I particularly love because it feels kind of lazy to me; the mountains look sleepy and the air makes you want to open windows and read a book. I love waking up to the sound of rain outside my window and I love jackets and I love rainy weather songs (clearly my heart belongs in the Pacific Northwest). This morning found me searching through my iTunes for one of my favorite rainy weather girls, Leona Naess. I seem to mostly listen to her on days like today, but her sexy mellow sound reminds me of the boy who first introduced us.

My friend Jef had an internship at the Opening Ceremonies in the months leading up the the 2002 Winter Olympics. At the time, I was 19 years old and minding my business. Jeff told me a couple of times there was a kid he worked with who he thought I would get along with nicely. A random night I got a message from a stranger named Noah. I called him back and we talked a bit about some movies we both liked and some music we both liked and decided to meet up right then at a coffee shop. And then I died because I couldn't believe it. You see, in days of old I didn't have a lot of luck with the boys (NOW I HAVE SO MUCH THOUGH!!!!). Until then I had probably gone on all of 4 or 5 dates in my young life and while I definitely always had a crush on someone, my love affairs were mostly unrequited love affairs.

So Emily meets Noah and he was like, a dream come true. He was 21 or 22 or something and from Seattle and had graduated from USC (I think) with a film degree and he was wearing a puffy vest. So adorable to my 19 year old self! We got drinks and talked, drove around Salt Lake and talked, and slid down the hill at Sugarhouse Park and still talked. He was great; he was funny and cute and friendly and smart and when I finally was on my way home, thinking about the evening felt nice. It felt nice that someone thought I was interesting and appealing. Because while I had plenty of great and wonderful boys in my life who I felt like really loved and appreciated me, only one or two had ever acted like they might like to French with me.

I heard a lot from people my age and older that I would totally date in college cus that is when boys would get me. And up to that point I heard the word respect a lot, like my mom liked to tell me boys respected me and since I was intense and serious with my emotions teenage boys weren't really awesome at knowing how to react (for the record, they only get slightly better about that with age). I heard that crap a lot but at 19 you maybe want someone at some point to NOT respect you. And besides, I knew plenty of very respectable girls who got asked out. So I didn't get it. But my evening with Noah made me finally maybe understand what everyone had been talking about. Cus he was different from pretty much every other boy I knew which maybe meant I was different which maybe meant my kind of boys were just going to be fewer and farer in between. And that felt okay with me because it was such a real connection and I was myself. And while I've never wanted to be anyone but me, from about then on is when I stopped being as concerned with what I wasn't or what I needed to be and got a lot more comfortable with who I was. What a relief.

Noah and I only hung out a few more times if I remember correctly. We had met just a few weeks before the Olympics began and between our busy schedules and him getting like really super sick for a while, there wasn't much other time. We e-mailed a bit after he left Utah and he introduced me to some great, great bands that still remind me of him and the things I learned from that time. Because with a rotating list in my head of Way I Am Failing In Life/Things To Fix, it's nice to think I've grown more into myself in a good way in the years since. And maybe also, I've even picked up a thing or two about how to flirt...

fitted shirt

I bought a Fleet Foxes t-shirt at the show last week and it is this one from American Apparel.



I'm a t-shirt lover and people, this guy takes the cake. Never mind that the American Apparel models all looked cracked because the shirt is awesome. It fits like a t-shirt is supposed to on the arms (no cap sleeve here please), but then also fits through the mid-section and hips nicely like a girl shirt and not like a giant box-tent man shirt. I don't know if I can pay $18 for each one but give me a few more days of checking the site incessantly and I will probably cave. Especially since I've pretty much worn the one I have everyday since I got it and eventually, I will stink.

Bathroom 2, my office

Public restrooms have the potential to creep me out because I'm afraid of strangers walking in. The bathroom at my office doesn't hold that same kind of fear because it's a nice little one with two stalls.

My issue with it is entirely different. The light in it is set on a timer you can turn on for 5, 10, 20, or 30 minutes. If the light is off when I walk in I smack one of the buttons and I'm set. Sometimes the light is already on in which case I don't even think about it. But occasionally, in the middle of my bathroom visit the light goes out. And I don't think there is an eerier feeling than being in a bathroom stall with the lights out. Then of course there is the whole Bloody Mary with the mirror thing that I still can't really handle even as an adult, not to mention the awkwardness of someone else walking in and realizing I'm in there alone...in the dark. The whole experience is a big no thanks.

bloc party

It's about that time I start venturing outside to run more (at all). And man...this song stays in my running playlist because it kicks my slow and out of shape behind every time.

built to spill

This is why I don't wear much white.


I washed it yesterday so apparently I can't last even 24 hours.

good lovin outside

When I was looking for a messenger bag Naomi suggested checking out Sierra Trading Post. I found a totally awesome and huge Timbuk2 for $50 AND got free shipping. Deal!


Since then those Sierra people keep sending me e-mails about more deals...an extra 20% of hiking gear or 10% off shoes or clearance or whatever. And I keep looking at stuff and filling my cart with things that I'm sure I could use if I knew anything about being outdoors.

In my house growing up we didn't camp. We like, read books. I mean we had lots of fun and went on family vacations to grandparents' houses in California and Idaho and I know both my parents appreciate nature. But church Girls' Camp was about the only time I slept in the wilderness (unless I can count sleeping on trampolines cus I totally did TONS of that). My brothers all seemed to learn the craft though and now that I'm 26 I probably could have figured it out by now if I really wanted to.

So this year people, I have decided this year will be my summer of camping success. I totally have a roommate who does that crap, and I own a freakin' Subaru! I have to camp! Or be a lesbian!*







*I don't want to be a lesbian.

asleep at the trigger

I would just like to say that I was in bed last night by 10:30. Boo-ya.

hot tip/tough cub

I think I'm totally hosed this semester. BUT, I did get scared about it today so hopefully that kicks me into gear!

In the meantime, I'm going to avoid homework yet again and learn about hoitey-toitey chocolate at a Caputo's class. And I'm very excited because Blitzen Trapper and Fleet Foxes are playing late tonight so hopefully I can drink enough Diet Dr. Pepper to keep me awake for it.

I have more of this stuff if one or the other of these guys is interesting to you...

grossest man alive

It's Bret 'I think that hair is fake, but then sometimes it seems real, but it's definitely always creepy' Michaels.



Don't ask me how I know (but Miaken, you know what I'm talkin about!)

holy rollers

Wyatt, I am rolling. That is what the t-shirts will say. Youtube couldn't find me that line, but I did run across this gem. Thank you internet.








Summer please begin.

teen angst

Last weekend my friend Mike played the new M83 album during his party and I thought it was lovely. The Graveyard Girl single dropped officially on Tuesday and Stereogum posted the video with some cool thoughts about it. I like it because it's stuck with me and feels quiet and stylized and made me think of my little sister Elizabeth the first time through.

two dedications

This goes out to Janelle and Danny and Damian...but mostly just Janelle because she is the one who hates Gaides.

baby's got sauce

On the train I saw my profile through a window reflection and I was surprised to see the shape of my middle section. I have this photo on my desk at work and I realized that if I put on a swimming suit right now I would look oddly like my 4 year old self. Too bad bellies aren't as cute now as they were then. And too bad I never really got boobs.

I need to put more consistent effort into working out (but Christopher and I were cute little suckers huh?).

faded from the winter

Years ago when I was living through a cold Eastern European winter, there was no such thing as functioning furnaces so we warmed our chubby bodies with space heaters. And there, holed up in the living room of our apartment Tasha invented the best thing ever. You get a blanket, throw it over the space heater, stick the coldest part of your body under the blanket and enjoy an envelop of heat. You'd stay like that until it got so hot you'd burn, but at that point you would just rotate to the next coldest appendage. It was brilliant.

Now, I live in a great apartment that I love in Salt Lake with hardwood floors and exposed brick walls and it has a furnace. But the windows and weather stripping are as old as the building (which is old). In the colder months with gas being expensive it's just mostly chilly inside and we still pay absurdly for it. Great! This year though, Naomi pulled out two small space heaters she had and I remembered the old blanket trick. So this winter has still been mostly cold and expensive, but at least I've burned my legs over and over.



I love it the most probably when I'm at the table doing homework (reading the internet) and I can wrap a blanket around my whole body so as to funnel the heat upward and evenly. I have overheated one of the little guys twice but nothing has ever caught on fire and we always remember to turn them off before bed or when leaving the house.

I'm definitely ready for winter to be over, but I have been thinking the last few days that I will miss my little space heater friend when the weather gets warmer (miss it until I'm lounging by the pool).

movies I've watched this week

versus

First, James Marsden is my new movie boyfriend.


Enchanted wins because I bet it's so much fun to watch with a bunch of 10 year old girls and because Amy Adams is adorable. 27 Dresses loses because it's stupid.

quiet houses

If you think it might be a good idea to eat half a box of Lucky Charms and then sit down for a couple of hours...don't. You will probably just end up feeling like Vomit McTummyhurts.


But at least I downloaded a bunch of awesome albums today and hopefully they will hold my hair back if this sugar overload erupts and I throw up.

skinny love

Naomi just informed me that skinny people stay skinny because they chew gum. I had no idea!!



I am getting skinny and then buying so much gum.

past the mission

I went to my mission reunion last night and and I know, blah, blah, blah, charlas, blah, blah, who cares besides the kids I served with in Armenia.

But sometimes since then I think I'm lucky we were just a few there during my time and I'm lucky my mission president is such a kind hearted man and I'm lucky a companion became my sister-in-law and I'm lucky Mikey is like a brother.

And even though some of these boys drove me batsh*t nuts sometimes when they were 19 year olds and I was most definitely not a 19 year old, the reality and space of non-mission life has mellowed us all and I love, love seeing their faces...and I'm definitely lucky to have them around with regularity.

yesterday

lost cause

Perhaps I'm always losing things because I have too many places with too many pockets to keep things in all at once?



Perhaps that should have occurred to me before yesterday?

meet me in the city

Crisp air plus The Black Keys covering Junior Kimbrough plus riding so fast to make the train in time combined to make a surprisingly great start of the evening tonight. I'm only a couple of days in (two) but so far bike commuting has been so much fun, I couldn't be happier with it.

I got a take home test turned in a few hours ago and to reward myself I caught up on Stereogum (and then watched American Idol clips of course). One of the first posts I happened to read was this one.

I had no idea they had an album coming out, but I guess now the universe has told me twice today I need to buy it. And since last time the universe told me to do something it messed with my car in the process, I'm likely to just cooperate on this one.

when doves cry

All of these things are awesome.






And I learned University of Utah students get an extra 5% of groceries at Smith's, so I win for being old and still in college.