Concert Palooza

Dear Reader,

Apparently, fall is the time for concerts. I've been to three in the past month and a half, and two have been free!

Perfect.

The first was on top of a parking garage. Random fact: the dude who was playing was in cousin Ashley's ward a few years ago. Small world? Yes. His name is Benton Paul. And Nik Day opened for him.

The next concert was in American Fork at an all day music festival called "Fork Fest." Natalie and I showed up for the very end of it, just in time for the Fictionists and Joshua James. The festival was for local artists. It was a pretty cool gig. It was outdoor in a stadium-type situation.

Oh yeah. And it was right next to the Mount Timpanogas temple. Gotta love Utah.

The next concert adventure was by far my favorite. Ashley and I went together.

We started our evening at a French patisserie/restaurant in Salt Lake. It was AWESOME!!

Oh yum. Delicious pastries.

I didn't take a picture of the food before we ate it. But it was SO good! Gourmet style grilled cheese and french onion soup. I highly recommend it.

These were the pastries we got. Mmmm. The white one was mine. I got one in Chartes when my study abroad group went to France. Sampson and I shared it. I may or may not have broken like three plastic forks trying to eat it.

But don't worry. I didn't break this fork!

Okay, so the next phase of our adventure. We went to the Ingrid Michaelson concert. She is pretty much my favorite of all time. We both love her so much that we stood in the hail, rain, and freezing wind with no coat or umbrella while we waited for the doors to open (an hour after they were supposed to). It was so cold I couldn't even hold the camera steady while I took the above picture.

Inside! So excited for the concert to start!

The opening act was Googenheim Grotto. They're from Ireland and very funny. And good. I recommend looking them up.

And here is Ingrid herself!!! Seriously, she is so talented. And hilarious. Again, if you haven't heard of her, look her up also. I saw her last year when she came through Salt Lake. She was so good both times.

When we got out of the concert it was snowing. SNOWING. What the what, Utah???!!!

And then we didn't get home until midnight. But I love love love Ingrid! She is so much fun.

Making "Friends"

Dear Reader,

I realize that in the past month and a half that I've been neglecting my blog, I haven't taken the chance to talk about my internship with the Friend.

Let's see, words to describe it:

awesome

the best ever

heavenly

fun

There are more, but I feel like they would just be synonyms to the words above at this point.

In any case, this is the most amazing internship. In the world. I'm pretty sure that's a fact.

I mean, you needn't look further than Our Creative Friends.

I get to look through kids' art for hours and then pick what goes in the magazine. It's so entertaining. These kids have such imagination. If you don't know what Our Creative Friends is, this link will show you an example in the October 2010 issue of the Friend:

http://lds.org/churchmagazines/FR_2010_10_22___09270_000_037.pdf

One of my favorites I've seen is an outline of a man, colored in white. Can you guess what it is? It's the Holy Ghost.

Naturally.

Other funs things I get to do--write stories and activities all day long! Well, with a little bit of editing mixed in. I mean, honestly, what could be better? I get to help make a spiritually uplifting magazine that will help kids all over the world.

The only real downside to this internship? It's in Salt Lake, which means a super long commute every day from P-town. I'm guessing roughly 4 hours on the bus each day. It takes forever. I'm not looking forward to the snowy season when the roads will make the bus even slower. Ugh. I'm hoping the snow will hold off until January.

[...Please, Utah?....]

But besides that, it's awesome! I've gotten to meet tons of cool people (the Primary Presidency, assorted members of the Quorum of the Seventy, etc.). Also, possibly one of the best parts is, I'm not treated like an intern, but I'm actually treated like a member of the staff.

Don't underestimate how incredible this is.

I really enjoy working at a magazine. More than I thought I would. Way more actually. I always thought that books were more my thang, but lately I'm not so sure. Everything is way more exciting at a magazine and there are always different types of projects you can be working on. Super conducive to my slightly ADD-type personality.

So, moral of the story is: when I thought a year and a half ago that this internship wasn't for me, I was wrong. It is the most perfect thing I could have ever done.

True story.

This is your wake up call . . .

Dear Reader,

Exactly 6 months from today I graduate college. Do you hear that noise? Yeah, that's Real Life calling.

Please tell it I'm not here.