the cape

So it's much more of a jacket then a cape, okay? It's very cute and can we just focus on what a screaming deal it turned out to be?

Also, Megan made me seem cool on her blog for a day.

pride and joy

Why does this kind of thing make me feel like a million bucks?

fans

When I was 17 I thought I might want to study film in college so I volunteered for the Sundance Film Festival my senior year and watched like 30 movies and fell in love with it. And then ever year since (except the one I was in Armenia) I've been involved. The past 4 years I've helped with all of the Salt Lake theatres during the festival, just making sure the managers have everything they need and that the screenings are running correctly. It's busy on top of my real job, but it's a lot of fun and I love seeing Sundance friends and volunteers throughout the whole thing. This year I only saw 7 or 8 films cus I guess in my old age I get worn out too fast or something.

So since Sundance ended Monday I've been nice and boring the last few days...catching up on TV, working out, and sleeping. But before I blog about those exciting things, let me give you my high brow reviews of a couple of movies.

If you like anthropologists fighting, then see this documentary.

If you like Philip Seymore-Hoffman being a surprisingly sweet Philip Seymour Hoffman then see this.

If you like crazy Frenchmen and street art then see this one.

And if you like Hallmark channel movies then see this one.

(do not Google Get Low images)

simple gifts

Turns out, I had a nice birthday. In part because I watched a crapton of the What Not To Wear marathon on TLC in between things, but also cus Morgan showed up to give me a present (he even blow-dried his hair and put on a headband for the occasion).

He gave me animal crackers, which was very thoughtful of him.

this year

Tomorrow is my birthday (happy birthday to me!). And I guess I had a Saturday birthday like 7 years ago, but turns out a weekend birthday as a grown up feels the same way a weekend birthday felt in elementary school. WHO WILL REMEMBER ME IF IT'S NOT DURING THE WEEK?!?!? Just kidding, I don't love that concentrated kind of attention much, but you know how a weekday birthday sort of gives you a free pass? In elementary school you took treats to class and then maybe your mom picked you up early from school or something. And now at work on a birthday day you stroll in late, you take a long lunch with friends, you leave early to make your dinner reservations and it's all okay cus hey, it's your birthday! But tomorrow I'll still have to do laundry and grocery shop if I want clean clothes and food next week...so maybe I'll just pass on clean clothes and food next week, right?

for what reason

Aaron and I went to Red Robin for lunch yesterday (have you ever had their fries?!). On our way out I made a stop at the Ladies room where I saw this photo hanging on the wall.

So does Red Robin think that gays use the women's bathroom instead of the men's?

rockin' chair

Okay, so in the only other wedding related post I'll do for a while, let me explain the rocking chair a little bit.

I realized years ago that I don't feel particularly connected to the idea of a diamond engagement ring. There are other gems I like better so I figured that I'd just end up with something non-diamond when the time rolled around. But then that just sort of evolved into something non-ring in general because while I still like the idea of a guy gifting something, putting forth a little effort, to ask a girl to marry him, I wasn't attached to a ring necessarily.

But why the chair particularly involves a couple of reasons.



When I was little my family moved around kind of a lot, but my parents always made a place feel like a home and that was really comforting to me. Even houses we lived in for a short time had pictures hung up and new paint on the walls. Consequently, as a grown up I have found that feeling comfortable and safe in my living space is extremely important to me. So a huge part of getting married is establishing a new home with Aaron, where ever that home may be, for the rest of our lives. I'll read in this chair, I'll rock babies in this chair, I'll get old in this chair. Knowing it will move with us from house to house and city to city and adventure to adventure, is both exciting and comforting.

An Eames rocker became the particular chair of choice some time ago as I realized that, not surprisingly, as far as design goes I'm most drawn to the aesthetics of my mother and grandmother. Being careful around my grandparents tulip table or Eames lounge chairs were part of my memories of visiting California before I knew or cared about those things as furniture pieces, or that my grandmother acquired them while she was working as a designer at firm authorized to sell Herman Miller products. My mom has consistently paid attention to different building and house styles and she casually taught all of us about architects of the last century and style like the arts and crafts movement and modern and contemporary furniture design. So while I've gone around and around in what I've filled my own space with up to this point, more and more I turn to clean and simple lines and shapes as well as turn to the the knowledge I can glean from the women who have loved those things longer than I.

The icing on the cake for me is that in their original run Herman Miller gave Eames rockers to pregnant employees, which is pretty fantastic and adorable, so I really look forward to putting my own blue one in a home with Aaron.