"Stay young. Go dancing."

Dear Reader,

This weekend Death Cab for Cutie was playing down in Philadelphia. Woo! I love me a good concert.

Please, enjoy this song by Death Cab as you read this post:

Lehi and I headed down to Philly Friday afternoon.

We hit up the Love sculpture (which I've already seen other versions of in England and at BYU, but it's the city of brotherly love, so why not see it again? There's no such thing as too much love.).

And of course we got a Philly cheesesteak. Go big or go home, right?

After the concert--which was pure magic, in case you were wondering (And not just because of Death Cab, but also cause the opening band was Frightened Rabbit, from Scotland. Enough said.)--Lehi and I went down to DC to visit Natalie!

And to go to the temple. It had been a little while. Isn't the DC temple so beautiful? I love it.

After the temple we hit up the Natural History museum and the American History museum. Of course, seeing C-3PO was pretty much a highlight of my day.

But this was probably THE highlight. Picture this: Natalie in a space suit and me in a one-size-fits-all nightgown of the first lady dresses, walking down the mall. I mean, tell me that's not one of the greatest images of your life. Wouldn't it make you love DC that much more if you saw two people doing that?

Well, I would love it.

It was an awesome weekend of escapism, but I'm pretty sure we were all thoroughly wasted by the end of it. I may or may not have passed out for several hours after church today.

Worth it!

Oh what a year.

Dear Reader,

Well, it looks like 2010 is just about over. Yeah, you know what's coming. It's flashback time:

1. At the beginning of the year, in February, I hit up Vegas with some friends. It was my first time.

I loved it.

2. I went to Park City during Sundance season. Also a first. Didn't see a movie, but we did have a great photo shoot with Natalie's amazing camera.

3. The Festival of Colors. A lovely, chalky mess.

4. I interned at Deseret Book over the summer. I worked on 55 books, including President Monson's biography!

5. In May I turned 22! And I got to go home to Michigan for a few days.

6. Over the summer I went to Arches with some friends. And yes . . . it was another first.

7. I was called to be the Relief Society secretary. Best. Calling. Ever!

8. Cousin Cami got married. Cousin Laura and I took pictures of ourselves while we waited outside the Salt Lake Temple for the wedding to be over.

9. I hit up Michigan again at the end of summer (thank you frequent flier miles). Seriously, I haven't been to Michigan this many times in a year in like forever.

While I was there we saw Lake Michigan.

10. Drama, drama, drama, and . . . at the beginning of September I moved! I like my new bed a lot. But I didn't spend nearly enough time sleeping in it last semester as I wanted/needed to.

11. During the fall I interned at the Friend! And I loved it.

12. I also became a baking fiend. You may have picked up on that.

13. Halloween rolled around and Natalie and I carved pumpkins. And I dressed up as Lois Lane.

14. Concerts, concerts, and more concerts. The favorite being: Ingrid Michaelson.

15. Diwali, festival of lights, happened too. Of course, Natalie and I were there.

16. Last week I got endowed in the Detroit Temple! It was a good day. :)

17. So now I am home again in Michigan, ringing the new year in with this lovable fur ball.

It's been a . . . productive year. Very stressful. Very educational. But in the end it turned out wonderful!

So here's to 2011. My last semester of college. Graduation. Getting a real job.

Yeah . . .

Please don't be as scary as I think you're going to be.

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.