Abdul

Tonight my neighbor Abdul came over and brought me dinner. It was great, a traditional lebanese chicken and rice dish and then a big bowl full of mangos and oranges. He's a chef at a super fancy Lebanese restaraunt in Georgetown. He's also one of my neighbors that lives in the crack house next door.

I guess it pays off to deliver valentine's day brownies to your neighbors.

The Taco Truck

My friend at work and I have been hunting taco truck for quite some time now. We first tried last summer when we had seen it on campus. Our first outing was unsuccessful because it was move in day and we suspect the administration didn't want the unsightly taco truck ruining the experience for new freshmen and their parents.

There was one outing where Jen and I dragged Pat all around campus trying to find it- then we realized that construction worker start around 5am, so our hunting would have to be earlier in the day.

We finally caught the taco truck last wednesday and it was glorious. We decided to inititate Taco Tuesday and life was grand. Then yesterday for the first Mason Taco Tuesday- it wasn't there, we were heartbroken. The truck lady had promised us that they were there every day until noon, why would she lead us astray?

Jen and I set out again today on our taco truck hunt alone because everyone else had lost faith, but we believed in the taco truck. We had gotten up to the new parking garage construction site when lo and behold the taco truck was driving towards us. We jumped for joy and waved at them. She pointed to the left (where they were parked last week) and yes, we did run after the taco truck.

It was worth it.

Symphony

One of the items on my list of things to do in 2009 was to take advantage of the free Kennedy Center tickets that one of the mormons around here gives out occasionally. It's great that he gives out the free tickets (I think it's to make sure the place looks sold out), but he's kind of scary and practically makes you sign away your first born to promise that you won't skip out on the tickets.
But I got to go last night and it was great. It was the National Symphony Orchestra playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27 and Bruckner's Symphony No. 9- amazing.
The highlight, however, came after the curtains were down. After the concert Jen and Ashley went to the bathroom and I sat down on the couch to wait, mostly because I'd been wearing my orange heels all day long and they usually expire in comfort by 3pm. It was a long couch and I sat in the appropriate spot so as to be clear of the people standing around after the show.
An older couple comes over and she sits by me on the couch and her husband says to me "So, how did you like it from row D?" "It was great, thank you." all the while I'm wondering how he knew I was sitting in row D....
They talk for a while- she liked Mozart the best and he liked Bruckner, and they're waiting for the woman in the other couple that they came with to get out of the bathroom. The people milling about disperse and now the lobby is pretty much empty. Then husband comes and sits on the other side of me, and on this very long couch in an empty lobby I'm sandwiched between a couple in their 70's who stalked my seating arrangements.
We all sit quietly and politely for a while waiting for our respective friends in the restroom. Then when it's time to go, he helps her up and then looks at me and says "Well... are you going to come with us?"

"No thanks, I think I'll just stay here"

Then the wife told me she liked my shoes.

The First Annual Biker Club Ski Weekend

No bikes involved, but Scott said that he wanted to start a biker gang- so we did. It was a great weekend despite a bumpy start. My flight from Dulles was delayed a bit, I wasn't worried- I had a 4 hour lay-over at JFK, and how can you miss your connection with a 4 hour lay-over?

This is how: you board your plane two hours late and then take an extra hour to jump start the plane and then when the hose used to jump start the plane breaks off the engine and then flips around and dents one of the bottom panels, they have to see if the engineer will let them fix it with tape (that's right, tape) but then he says the tape won't work (thank you Mr. Engineer) they have to steal a panel from the plane next door and replace the dented one, but then the when the plane has actually started you have to sit on the runway for another hour.

So after a night on the floor at JFK, I got back to Salt Lake City with some help from my parents (they're pretty good at that) a mere 13 hours late.

Emily and I hit the highlights of the city, Hatch's hot chocolate, Temple Square, and Cafe Rio- then we went up to the cabin for three days of snow, skiing, food, sleeping, talking, movies, and games.

I've decided that next year (it's the first annual ski trip remember?) there needs to be an extra day for sleeping in and relaxing, but other than that, it was perfect.

In the photo: Roshelle, Dave, Jen, Scott, Alan, Lisa, Emily, Ben, Matt, Leslie, and Me

Boston/New Hampshire

Last weekend was another fun filled couple of days with my friend Jen Gruz. I flew up to Boston on Thursday night, kicked around the North End for most of Friday, had one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches of my life, went to my first Celtics game in the Gahden, and then went ice skating down a hill on Saturday, tubing that night- no wonder I'm tired.
Highlights-
-my first grilled cheese sandwich that included apples and powdered sugar
-wearing lobster hats around Boston and to the Celtics game
-watching little kids rock on guitar hero in the lodge
-the guy who said i could sell the hat that i made for $30 but that he wouldn't buy one
-getting a big push down the tubing hill from the teenage boy that said "oh you girls again"
-playing six degrees of kevin bacon through 6 New Hampshire towns.
-discovering baby bananas