Today I loved

-Driving home with 4 friends from a whimsically planned overnight roadtrip.
-Going to another friend's play.
-BBM-ing my sister in England while sitting in the In-N-Out drive thru.

I somehow have more of a social life living at my aunt & uncle's house for these 7 weeks than I ever had in Provo.

So Utah, hats off... all things considered, you've been really really good to me this summer.

Aaand this is why I'm still on Facebook

Because even though it's about a 764:1 ratio of LAME to GEM status updates, the gems make deactivating my account impossible.

Exhibit:

"Need a more exact measure of how powerful your car is? Change Horsepower (Hp) to hamsterpower (hp). 1Hp = 3584hp. My car = 804608 hp."

CAN'T WAIT

Reminds me of my cousin Dana who spent a year after college living in India, and just completed a 8 month round-the-world trip with her husband. Her book would be more epic than Eat Pray Love, as many people's stories are. But regardless... yay for this:



Also, who else didn't like Inception? I felt like it was just a bunch of realities and alternate realities strung together. Not that new a concept for film.

Calling on Mad Men enthusiasts

I want to get into Mad Men. But I HAVE to watch it from Season 1. I can't start halfway through. I'm obsessive like that.

Anyone have boxed sets they would rent to me?

NetFlix is impractical for my transient lifestyle.

But I can FedEx like a pro.

RIP Nalgene (along with my heart)

Apparently, Nalgene bottles are NOT indestructible. I put it in the freezer (as I had done many times before), but then it had frozen the water completely.
I was going to bed, but still wanted cold water in the morning, so I transferred to the fridge, which turned into a scientific blunder (Spenny Dickson, care to explain?) of personally sad proportions.

Exhibit:

Look how it chose to break right down the middle of my heart-NZ sticker.
Apt. Heart-wrenching. Eerie.


A somber day indeed, for this is the Nalgene (one of two) that:

- when filled with boiling hot water and thrown to the bottom of my sleeping bag, kept me warm at night.

- quenched thirsts of 8-hour hikes.

- became a portable souvenir for memorable places, as seen by the affixed stickers. The Canterbury museum in Christchurch, the Bungy Jumping place in Queenstown, etc...


I feel like a piece of me is shattered! The ice has melted, but I can't bear to throw the now non-useful pieces of plastic away (This is sooo deep!) .... !!

Send your condolences in the comments. I need them.

That last 5 degrees

Bikram yoga is more intense than when I practiced it 5 years ago. 110 degrees...somehow I remember it being 105 last time, and believe me, that last 5 degrees makes a difference. It's hard work but encouraging, because you really see yourself progressing with each class. Not to mention the day-after soreness.
Although a friend and I had a chat about mirrors in yoga studios and how they need to basically shatter themselves because you catch yourself in unflattering angles all the time (the very essence of yoga- unflattering angles?). So the other day I repeated "Yoga mirrors can Eff themselves" in my head, which unintentionally parlayed into a mantra reel for the 90 minute duration.

Nirvana was achieved.

Would you rather

Get dressed up and sit front row at the Kings of Leon concert, courtesy of a funny little fellow who writes their songs you met a few days ago.

OR

Look like this, spending my 234890984 hour researching immigration visas.

(The plight of being a USA emigrant, willing, thrilled and begging to contribute to another economy. ARGH.
Can we just find a native man I could marry temporarily to expedite this process? But seriously.)

She's just not that into you, J. Sorry. :)

Cancion y beso oficial del Copa del Mundo

I'm obsessed with it.




And also obsessed with this, of course!

What's in my name?

Today, I ate a mahi mahi burrito at Rubio's and even though I placed my order as "Alex," the man called it out as Alexandra, which made me smile.

It may be a secret that minutes before my mom dropped me off at Helaman Halls freshman year, I decided to start introducing myself as Alex with the hopes of segwaying into my full name eventually, professionally.

I went by "Ali" for the first 18 years of my life. People still call me it (people from home and even some of my current best friends, hilariously enough) and I'm not the slightest bit offended. I actually prefer Ali or Alexandra. Even though I've complained about it to my parents in the past a la "It's such a mouthful to get my 7-syllable (first + last) name out!....
(My dad, for the revealing record, turned to my mom and said "I told you" HAHA)....

I'm actually quite in love with my name. It's regal, strong, and yet...feminine.

Which is why I secretly don't like "Alex" that much- too unisex for my taste. And it still feels weird, even after 5 years! But I'm not offended when people call me it, don't worry!

However, now my professional life is fast approaching, I am excited for this quadri-syllabic (I guessed on that one. sue me/correct me) shift.

-Alexandra

(And yes, I fervently believe Lady GaGa wrote Alejandro for the Latin male version of ME. Have I already blogged that? And yeah, I've seen the video...which is why I'm not linking it haha.)

It's a Britney day

Well, Britney Spears's song TOXIC randomly came on the radio today and I was rendered full of indescribable glee.

Then my friend emailed me later with this......apparently Britney Spears did a demo of Gaga's song Telephone... I'm obsessed. I think it sounds like it could have been more of a Britney song anyway.

NPR did a story about GaGa's Alejandro sounding like Ace of Base.
Did I or DID I CALL THIS A YEAR AGO?

The epicness is directly related to how mum I must remain

SO many things to say, and SO much restraint required!

Let's just say my life has drastically taken a turn for the amazing within a matter of days...but we are still on the brink of even more epic so stay tuned. (SORRY).

But I will say:
I feel insanely blessed and lucky.
I can't concentrate in school.
I want to shed tears of glee on occasion.


No, this is not about a boy, you sillies. But don't worry, I still actively stalk lifeguard on Facebook just for a little fix now and then, whenever his sister (who friended ME) uploads another bajillion photos (she's one of those)... and they just creep up on The Feed, I CAN'T HELP IT. Sidenote: It hit me the other day, I'm only facebook friends with one person I've kissed (and it's not Lifeguard). THAT is funny...possibly speaks volumes. Meh, ANYWAY.


I WILL have you know I got invited to a simple summer pool party ...at first mention at a Bees game last week... but no, I should have know, this same hilarious friend (who is extremely self-consumed, not to mention very into his bromantic relationships & he was rude to my friend Aly one semester (shenanigans-Vanessa Carlton music got us through))...created the followin description:

"My Super Sweet Sixteen (Now that we have your attention...)"

Gorgeous people. White Collar Crime/Insider Trading with Martha Stewart. Hunting Baby White Rhinos. Laughing at the Myth of a "Recession." Swimming in Scrooge McDuck's Money (and/or water). Sipping Crystal (Light). Calling Zach Morris "Preppy." Veneer Whiteness Contest. Yacht/Sailing Knot Tying Seminar. Endangered tigers. Ice Sculptures made from the frozen tears of 30 extinct species. Valet Parking provided, as well as a coat check where you may leave all furs/baby seal pelts.

Anybody who doesn't come... is stealing your money via communism.

(I was on the floor...Respect M.B.)

I RSVP'ed saying that I only show up for Snow Leopards, not 'endangered tigers'- how bourgeoise!!

Utah = New Zealand? Roadtrip-tested idea.

Spent last weekend with my Olsen extended family in central Utah.
The drive down felt like New Zealand.

If you live in Utah and want an easy 3 hour roundtrip roadtrip, save yourself the 13 hour New Zealand flight, and take
the I-6 East up Spanish Fork canyon for about 20 minutes,
then Right where it says Manti & Richfield for another 30 mins or so,
Then left at the Fairview Chevron (can't miss) up the canyon for another 45 minutes-ish.

SPEC.TAC.U.LAR.

If anyone does this, please comment and attest to this grandeur.

Oh, also, bonus, I drove back the night of the 4th and saw no less than 10 fireworks shows from the I-15. I can't promise the same to anyone who tries this mini-roadtrip out, but I promise the beauty of that part of Utah far exceeds any amateur pyrotechnic show.

From the outbox of Henry

(Henry, being my father)

So what have we learned in 2,063 years ?

"The budget should be balanced,

the Treasury should be refilled,

public debt should be reduced,

the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled,

and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed

lest Rome become bankrupt.

People must again learn to work,

instead of living on public assistance."

- Cicero, 55 B.C.

Evidently, nothing...

Methuselah

Three amazing things about today.

1) Advertising FAIL by Lagoon Waterpark.
Um, yeah. Their background sound in their radio ad is "The Bomb" by Bittersweet- the same as the Lipstick Jungle intro song, a show I liked because it was a less explicit but still naughty, more career-oriented version of SATC. So how did Lagoon advertisers mix that with white bread tankini'ed Mormons riding a Splash Mountain log flume equivalent? Uhhh...

2) My dad and I were at Starbucks once and after placing our order (probably for decaf mochas), the barista asked him "Can I get a name?"

"A name? Or MY name?" my dad asked, obviously in a smart ass mood. He often considers life a big joke that everyone else is not clued into.

"Just...a name," the barista hurriedly replied, hovering over the white cup with her Sharpie.

"Oh, ok. METHUSELAH." He turned to me, "What? It was the oldest-living person in the Bible!"

"Can you spell that?"


So there I was in Starbucks circa age 15 with my dad unaware of how mortified I was of him with the name "Methuselah" inked in black, wrapping halfway around the stark white cup.

Quintessential hilarious Henry. Thanks for making me have a solid 5 minute moment in class today stifling laughter thinking of this.


3) I am ever so grateful for friends who are not afraid of confrontation, who fearlessly bring their issues to the table and work out problems like adults. Yep.

That's all.