I Love Halloween

The idea came to me out of the blue.

"I want to be a drag queen for Halloween."

Drag queens get to wear crazy make up, crazy clothes, crazy accessories. Really, anything goes and I wanted a part of it. I didn't know how I was going to go about it, and I didn't know who I was going to be going out with - my Halloween cohort from the past two years has been out of the country - but I was going to do it. So I suggested to my roommate Matti... and she ran with the idea.

We spent a couple of weekends watching movies like Victor Victoria and Connie and Carla. Matti watched youtube.com videos demonstrating how to do the make up and we carefully planned out our outfits.

The week of Halloween is usually filled with parties. Everyone wants to throw a party, and they want people to attend their parties and so they throw them on different nights. Our stake combined with a few others and we had a dance at the institute building.

Matti was the resident make-up artist, and since she didn't get off work until 8 p.m., and it takes about an hour to do a full on drag face (at least), we were running a bit late. But that's OK. As I've mentioned before, stake dances aren't really my thing.

Making your eyebrows disappear is not an easy task.

I should have practiced my drag facial expressions. Amy and Matti had it down.

We looked fabulous.

 

Savannah, Matti, Amy and me.

I'm pretty sure Savannah was going crazy. Fajita was not amused.

We got home late, stayed up later... and Saturday, it was hard to get out of bed at all. We were seriously considering bagging the whole party hopping thing for a second night, but in the end, we decided that we better just go.

We had more time to get ready on Saturday, so more thoughts about outfits, and some laziness had us changing up our costumes. Amy had to work.

We met up with my friend Brooke and hit up three parties (and stayed for about 20 minutes at each).

Brooke getting in some Risky Business (she got more comments on her costume than anyone).

Dance party at Lori, Leica and Em's.

Cleopatra and Fajita

Probably the manliest face I managed to pull off.

Margaret, Brooke and Matti. We got to this party just after it had been broken up by the cops!

Probably the best costumes - or the funniest - was this guy and his "companion" who were dressed like sister missionaries. They looked better in drag than we did... then again, it was probably because they looked still so manly.

At the end of the night, Margaret showed her true heroism and tried to stop University Parking from towing away this car. Everyone around Provo hates University Parking, and we were all dying at Margaret's antics and sheer determination. She went as far as sitting on the trunk of the car, but the guy was relentless. He was either going to tow the car with her on the back or call the cops. She finally gave up. But it was the funniest, most awesome part of the evening.

Another trip to Ihop, and this weekend was complete!

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That Time of Year

Well, it's time for the annual car breakdown. And I'm happy to report that Louise (she's my car) was happy to oblige.

I drove up this weekend to attend my cousin's wedding reception. (Shout out to the family members I was able to reconnect with - Congrats Rebecca and Jordan!)

The new Mrs. Bartholomew, i.e. my cousin Rebecca

I was excited to see Amanda at the reception as well!

And then I was off to finish my weekend in Logan with my boys! Of course, it was raining the whole time, but it was nice to go and have a place to stay instead of driving all the way back to Provo that night. Jake cooked dinner and baked brownies and then we all went to bed. I woke up to breakfast being cooked and then I was on my merry way. (Pretty much, it  was like staying at a Bed and Breakfast with two very amusing hosts.)

Only, I didn't get far. Louise was acting up, and so I pulled over to check the tire - which was fine - and then almost immediately after, I lost my brakes. Not that they fell off, or anything. They just, stopped working. So I creeped my way off Main Street and parked the dumb thing on the side of the road and immediately called my cousin Andrew (bless him) who said he needed a minute to figure some things out. I let Jake know what was going on. And called my dad just to see if he would answer in the middle of church. He did. And then I sat in the car and read.

After a few hours, I heard from Andrew (seriously, he's awesome) saying that he was trying to get a trailer. And a couple hours later... I needed to get out of the car! So Jake and David came and picked me up, fed me dinner and I continued to read while they worked on homework.

(Also, David can attest to this - in fact, he commented on it SEVERAL times - I was in a perfectly good mood. After all, this is nothing new. Louise chooses to break down at will, and so I was just very grateful that I hadn't gotten out of Logan, hadn't been on the highway and that Andrew answered his phone! I was doing great! No ogress to be seen.)

Andrew getting the car onto the trailer. By himself. (We all tried to help, but I think we were mostly getting in the way.)

Louise looking pathetic.

It doesn't look like it is raining much in this picture, but once we got out of town it was BAD. Also, i t was cold and rainy and windy and Amanda and I braved it all out in the truck while Andrew showed us his manliness and toughed it out. Louise didn't fall off the trailer, and I am infinitely grateful for that. (But mostly only because it would have risked the lives of other people. I am slowly losing any and all affection for my car.)

Around 9:00 p.m. (eight and a half hours from original departure time) Andrew rolled up with a trailer (YAY!) and we drove through the torrential downpour back to Salt Lake. And we didn't die! Which I attribute to the copious amounts of prayers that Amanda and I sent up to heaven coupled with Andrew (because he's my hero).

We made it to Andrew's dealership - Select Motorsports -  where he gave me the keys to a Camero and let me go home. (YAY!) Which I did. I got home around 1:00 a.m. And my roommates were very pleased that I made it home alive.

Matti and Savannah. Probably a little sleep-drunk because it was well after 1 a.m. and we don't sleep in our apartment.

I drove the Camero around for the day and then after work (and FHE) I went up to Sandy and Louise was back in my possession. If she keeps true to form, we won't have any more major complications for another 10-11 months or so. Maybe I can get her sold before then? In the meantime, she has brakes again! (Albeit, in desperate need to be "bled" - terminology given to me from the menfolk, basically there is still air in the brake lines and I have to pump the brake pedal before I get any sort of response - and then she will be... ready for the next break down.)

Although it was freezing, we had to take advantage of the fact that I was in possession of a convertible. So we did.

It was Savannah's first time.

Over all, it's been an exciting week. With little or no sleep... so that is where I am supposed to be heading now. To bed! (YAY!)

And even though Andrew doesn't read my blog, I definitely wanted to send out another THANK YOU, because I have NO IDEA what I would have done if he hadn't come and rescued me.

The Copper Onion & Capitol Theater

Last week I had the opportunity to have a little night on the town with a good friend of mine.

Waiting for the Opera to start.

We left work earlier than we are both used to and headed up to Salt Lake for dinner at The Copper Onion. It had come recommended from a friend of William's, and neither of us had been there. I had taken a glance at the menu before going, but didn't know what half of what was listed on there actually was. We ended up ordering a salad (that, curiously enough, tasted like feet unless you got a bite of red onion, and then tasted actually kind of good) and bone marrow.

Yes, you read that right.

Bone marrow has the density and texture of... a slug.

It didn't taste bad... it just was interesting. And now that I've had it, I can safely say that I probably won't ever eat it again. The real treat, of course, was the entrees. William got the ribs (already off the bone) which was so perfectly tender and moist and absolutely, incredibly delicious. Probably meat heaven on a fork. I got the veal meatballs. And they were also very yummy. I should have gotten pictures of those dishes.

Next we were off to...

Capitol Theatre for La Boheme. It was my first experience at the opera and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think more now that I've had time to reflect on it. I was too busy trying to take in the whole atmosphere, that I didn't really think about the actual opera until days later. I thought it was interesting that I enjoyed the female voices more than the male. (My preferences are almost always reversed to that.) And I liked the blended voices more than solos. Also, the song about the coat was weird, and pretty pointless. It was fun to see all the different characters that attend the opera. There was a pretty large age range, dress range and appreciation range. I found myself mostly surrounded by thespians, which is always interesting.

I have to thank William again for a pleasant evening. I really liked my first experience at the opera and I definitely hope it is not my last.

Salve Pater!

Dear Dad,

I just wanted to tell you that, when you asked me, "How are you doing?" tonight, it sounded so sincere. I just knew that you really cared and wanted to know. And I appreciated that, because I know that you don't like to talk on the phone for hours like I do.


Thanks for thinking about me and being SO supportive. I love when you text me about something you've read in my book and that you've done your part in trying to promote it. And that you tell people at work that you're reading a romance without worrying about what people think.

The love and support that I feel from you and Mom, even though we are 1500 miles apart, is the strength I need to do what I can to be a better person and try harder. No daughter felt so loved as I did tonight after talking to both of you. I love you both so much.

You're the best, Dad. 

I love you!