There was a plan...

The plan was to go to a movie at 3:15, dinner at PF Chang's right after and hopefully miss the Valentine's Day rush, nobody eats dinner at 5 pm, right? Wrong. And PF Chang's, I was obviously fooling myself because on the way to the movie at 3, we drove past Olive Garden and Red Lobster, packed. At 3 pm. So any guesses on the wait at PF Chang's? I've gotten 2 1/2 hours before, typical on Valentine's Day in Provo. But no... 4 1/2 hour wait at good old PF Chang's. Are you kidding me? At this point we knew any other restaurant would be the same story, and I couldn't muster up eating at Taco Bell on Valetine's. So me and my spoiled little self convinced Juan to hold out for PF Chang's at 9:45 (they weren't putting us on a waiting list, they were giving us a reservation time, thank goodness, so we were free to leave). We went over to Iggy's and sat at the bar and got some nachos to hold us over for the late dinner, and then we went and saw another movie in the meantime. PF Chang's was more than worth it, by far my favorite restaurant, so the plans changed and the day ended up being eventful and expensive!

As for the movies. #1 Confessions of a Shopaholic, I highly recommend. It was hilarious and the main actress is adorable and so lively. And rated PG, PGs don't usually have that spark for me. #2 He's Just Not That Into You... lame. Ha ha I think I didn't like it as much because I was coming off of a movie that I loved. Juan and I both described this movie as forgettable. Just my thoughts.

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's! Today is my birthday and we're keeping it very low key. Going to a local mexican place in South Jordan, Gecko's, and stopping by to say hi to my family. I'm a homebody, I love low key.

Ice Cream Cupcakes

Yum Yum Yum. Now I am very loyal to my love Maggie Moo's, but since it's a little too far away, Coldstone cut it this Valentine's Day. I got Juan these cupcakes, and everything down to the edible, Willy Wonka-esque wrappers, they were fabulous. For those ice cream cake lovers that don't want to drop $30 per cake, these cupcakes were 6 for $10. Not bad. Just thought I'd do a little advertising for Coldstone. And yes, I will be trying the Maggie Moo's version, I'll let you know how that goes.

Getting around to it

As per my mom's request, I've changed my background again. Let me know mom if this one is easier to read. I have been horribly ill for the past TWO weeks and wanted to die, but now I am feeling a whole lot better! And no I am not pregnant, but can you believe that I felt nauseated for 7 full days with throwing up and everything? I didn't know that could happen, stomach flus last 3 days tops I thought! Now I unfortunately know differently. Juan possibly hates me by now since I sent him to the store EVERY day while I was sick, but he was so good. And my family is so wonderful. I was so frustrated on Friday that I called my mom crying, and then I get a call a couple hours later saying that mom, dad, Crystal, Darren, and Judson are all coming to Provo to visit me. It was so fun, we played cards and talked and it was fabulous compared to my night alone I would have had (Juan was at work).

Catch up time, my sister Kelly was in town and we had so much fun hanging out with her. A bunch of my family went out to dinner at Madeline's in South Jordan her last night here. It was a pleasant surprise, good food, good company.

We went to a BYU basketball game with my parents and had a blast there! I get tickets through my work and Juan and I always have something going on, so if anyone wants tickets, please talk to me. There are only a few games left this season.

That's it. As I said, I've been sick! So life has been chill. Here's a picture from the game that we took. My dear friend Julaine had her baby which is the most exciting news in my life. I'm still waiting to see pictures of her little girl!

Ghost Town

I netflixed this movie and watched it last night. I was pleasantly surprised! It stars Ricky Gervais, who is a star in the UK and star of the original Office tv series, and Greg Kinnear, and Tea Leoni. Ricky Gervais has a death scare and as a result, can now see ghosts. The ghosts notice, and all try to get him to take care of their unfinished business. Greg Kinnear, one ghost, wants Ricky Gervais to break up his widowed wife with her current fiance.

It's funny and serious. As I was explaining this to Juan, it's a cross between Ghost and Heart and Souls (old-school Robert Downey Jr movie). It was a pretty good movie overall. Did I ever mention the movie Flash of Genius starring Greg Kinnear and Miss Lorelai Gilmore- Lauren Graham? The synopsis is that he invents the intermittent windshield wiper, and his idea gets stolen. So he takes on Corporate car businesses in a lawsuit. Sounds horribly boring, I know, but I loved that movie, and now I guess I'm a fan of Greg Kinnear.

PS Weather in Utah is fabulous right now, I just ran errands and drove with my windows down wearing no coat! It is January, love it. Too bad I have commitments today and all night that keep me inside. Let's hope the warmness lasts all weekend.

Wicked!

I just had to brag and say my sister got me a ticket to Wicked for April. They are coming to Salt Lake and she got the tickets for pennies compared to what they're going for now. I've never been but adore the soundtrack and am a musical lover. I can't wait.

Just something to look forward to throughout the cold winter.

Christmas Photos

The Christmas season is over and I miss it already. We had a wonderful vacation with family in town and lots of time spent with the family.

Movies Galore

We saw a million movies over the holiday break. And they were all serious and somber, I feel like I need to get in a comedy pretty soon here.

Seven Pounds

I love Will Smith. He is a wonderful actor. That said, Seven Pounds was a very slow-paced movie. I read the review before and was nervous I would fall asleep, but it kept me interested through its slowness. Rosario Dawson was lovely and it's a love story, and a story of redemption. I enjoyed seeing it in the theaters, but probably would not see it again. 3 out of 5.


Doubt

I was drawn to this movie because of the Oscar buzz and its wonderful actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams. It was a good movie, but as my brother-in-law Sam put it, the whole movie could be summed up in 2 sentences, and it was a 2 hour movie. It is about a catholic school and the main nun accuses the father of abusing a child. Very dark in tone, which I liked. The acting was worth it and I give it a 3 out of 5.


Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This was my favorite out of all 4 holiday movies. Also getting Oscar buzz, the story just makes me smile. It's about a boy who is born looking like he is 90 years old, and he ages backwards. It got kind of bizarre when he had lived a full life and reverted back into a baby, but all in all I really really liked the movie. The love story was so good and Brad Pitt, who I don't particularly like or dislike, did a very good job at playing a man of all ages. Someone in front of me said the movie reminded them of The Notebook, that's pushing it too far, the love story wasn't that good! I heard another comparison to Big Fish, and that is a far better comparison. 4 out of 5.

Valkyrie

Juan just had to see this movie. He loves Tom Cruise (don't even try the Scientology weirdo, he has Katie locked up theory on Juan, he gets very defensive). I did not like this movie. It is during WWII and I just finished a fabulous book set in WWII and so of course I was comparing. The character development was not good. I was not invested in the main characters, although it was quite suspenseful at times. It's about an assassination attempt on Hitler, which also ruined the movie because we all know it wasn't successful. There was no suspense when it came to that. 2 out of 5.