summer reads

Isn't summer great?  Not only is it the time of great weather, vacations, and bbq's but it is also a time when you are able to have more time to read good books.  Taking a book to the pool or on vacation is prime, or if you are like me reading in the middle of the day whenever you want because you don't have a job yet also works.  Recently I have finished a couple books and am just starting a new one.  Here are my brief reviews on the two:

LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel

I really enjoyed Life of Pi.  Many people may have read this in high school but I never did so I decided to read it.  Ultimately it is about a boy stranded in the middle of the ocean on a boat with a tiger- but trust me it is not as weird as it sounds. The book is very symbolic and would actually be a great one to discuss.  I really like how the boy talks about different religions and the message at the end. Some say the middle of the book drags on a bit but perhaps because I was forewarned I was kept interested the whole time.  The writing is well done and overall I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it- especially if you had someone to talk to about it.

CATCHING FIRE (book 2 of Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins

Well for those of you who liked the first book of this series than I am sure you already read this book or are thinking about reading it.  It's about as good as the first and of course always keeps you interested.  Keep in mind it is a book for younger readers so it's a quick read and keeps you entertained more than it focuses on eloquent writing.  But I think they are a fun series so if you are looking for an easy, fast-paced, quick read than I'd say this is your perfect laying-out-by-the-pool kinda read.  The third book comes out in August!

Well for now that is it.  I have just started THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett and hear great things- I'll let you know how it goes.. Aren't books the best?

"Good books are as friends, willing to give to us if we are willing to make a little effort." -President Hinckley

NYC photo dump

Ok so turns out I am kinda the worst blogger but I do have some good updates.  Turns out while in NYC I left my camera connector thing so I could never show any pics I took while out there (although I didn't exactly take a lot, ever since London I got burnt out) but I do have a few to show the second half of my New York adventure...

**Many of these photos are courtesy of my pals Kylie and Rebbie- they were much better at snapping the memories than I was.. probably because they did a coolpix ad campain..

First things first.. Harold came to visit!!! twice actually.  Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera out the first trip so I only have pictures from his second trip out here.. But here are a few pics of our weekend together..

We went to a Yankee's baseball game

    

Harold's best friend Kent lives in NYC and came with his lovely friend Jillian

 

The game was FIVE hours long and we got a little tired..

But still happy to be at the game!  

Next day we played frisbee golf in Central Park

Kent and Harold mapping out the course

Look at that form.. 

Like most of my throws, I think this one went in a completely different direction than intended.

I was mostly just there for moral support and encouragement.

Unfortunately these are basically the only shots I got of our weekend together but we had a great time and did a lot!

Now onto more highlights of my NYC adventure:

We spent many afternoons relaxing in the park. This is us in Central Park

We constantly sought out treats.. on a daily basis.  This was the one and only Doughnut Plant.  The most amazing doughnuts.  If anyone is going to NYC soon you HAVE to go to Doughnut Plant.  It is in the most random location but worth walking through smelly Chinatown to get there.

We got funky at Amateur Night at the Apollo Theatre.  This is one of my favorite things we did in NYC.  Michael Jackson, James Brown, and Stevie Wonder are just a few of the legends that started out here.

We constantly ate good food.  This is at the big apple bbq where all of the best bbq places from around the country gather for a big bbq fest. This shot is for all the great southerners in my life! ;)

On top of the warship Intrepid.  An old WWII ship that is now used for a museum and take tours on.  They also show free movies right on deck and we watched Top Gun.  Perfect movie choice to say the least.

 We went to free concerts.  This concert was on Governor's Island and while I did enjoy the Morning Bender's concert I think I was more excited about the island itself. It was an abandoned island right off of New York City and they have only recently reopened it to the public.  Apparently it was used early on for the exclusive use of New York's royal governors and then later used as U.S. army post.  But for the past while it has not been used for anything.  It was weird to see a bunch of buildings, schools, homes, and even a hospital no longer in use.  We were convinced the place was haunted at that we would never get off the island. But alas I am here to tell the tale of Governor's Island...and so is wikipedia

 

 This is a majority of our advertising group that was in NYC together. We spent many nights in Union Sqaure- a cool little area where a lot of NYU college kids and other people hang out here at the corner.  I enjoyed just hanging out here and people watching. One of the times I was here there was a rap off between two guys and it was so cool to watch them go at it. 

 

We saw some shows.  My best friend Sarah came out to visit and we all went and saw the musical Jersey Boys on Reb's birthday.  It was such a fun show and we all loved it.  The music and acting was great.

 After Jersey Boys we went to celebrate Reb's birthday at the Stardust around the corner.  Let's just say the musical lives on here.. basically the waiters sing to you as they are working and it is hilarious.  The food is terrible and waaay overpriced but it might just be worth it for the experience. 4/6ths had a great time but missed the other 2/6ths of the candy shoppers.

These are just a few of the highlights of being in NYC for part of the summer.  As you can see we had a great time!  I am happy to be back in Utah now but definitely miss those fun summer days in New York City.  (but not missing that sweaty humidity)

Well congrats to those who made it down this far.. I hope you feel that my lack of posting is made up with this super loooong post.

WICKED

My family was just in town this past week and while we got to do a lot of fun things (beach, little italy, museums, eat yummy food, parks, etc.) I think the highlight was seeing Wicked the very last night they were here. oh and did I mention my sister and I got to sit on the very FIRST ROW, FRONT AND CENTER??? Ya sort of an interesting story of how we got them (but not that interesting to put on this post) and let's just say it was quite an amazing experience. I had seen Wicked before in London but definitely not that close and my sister has never seen it. Ever since my family made plans to come out here to visit me, my sister has been talking about how excited she was to go see Wicked. So when the night finally came and we luckily scored those tickets, I felt as if her dream was coming true. It was like a child going to Disneyland for the first time- the girl was beaming all night. Let's get real- we both were. I already loved the show and the music, but seeing it front row was a whole new experience. It was as if they were giving my sister and I a private showing... on Christmas morning. Needless to say it was a memorable experience and magical night.

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." -Roald Dahl

We watched with glittering eyes.

Taking a bite out of the Big Apple..

literally.

For those of you wondering what I am doing out here in NYC apart from my internship, well turns out I am most likely eating. Can you blame me when there are so many amazing places to eat out here? I'm like a kid in a candy story trying to pick one candy, but of course wanting them all. It seems that so often the first thing I think about after work is not what club, show, or activity I want to go to but rather it's all about where am I going to go for dinner??? The options are endless out here. Unfortunately my wallet isn't as excited about eating out as I am so I have to get thrifty sometimes and buy stuff at the grocery store. Luckily there is a Fairway close to where I live (New York's version of a Smith's) and while it has pretty good prices, I still end up paying a pretty penny for my groceries. One small box of cereal was almost 5 DOLLARS. I didn't even dare look at the price of a family size. No wonder people don't have a lot of kids here- my family of 9 would've starved. But luckily I've managed to scrape up a few free lunches at work- and if you thought you appreciated free lunch, well it's a whole new ball game out here- it's like getting manna from heaven. My girl Rebbie wrote a witty post on this phenomenon of free meals.

(back in September when we ate at Max Brenner- notice that huge choco-peanut butter sundae)

Some recent faves out here have included La Esquina- an authentic taco shop that puts Diego's to shame. Amy's bread- a tiny little bakery that smells (and tastes) almost as good as an authentic French bakery. A sandwich shop that the king of sandwiches, andy, showed me. Max Brenner- a chocolate lover's dream, aka, my dreamland. And this precious little Italian place called Pusticci where you can eat outside under lights draped around- so romantic, trust me. wink wink.

Speaking of food and free things- it's bagel monday at the office so I best be off to enjoy my free bagel. I live for bagel mondays- it makes Mondays not so bad. Here at Y & R, Tuesday is the new Monday.

Weekend trip to West Point

(Arial shot of West Point's campus)

This past weekend I got the opportunity to go up to West Point to walk around the amazing campus and listen to Elder Holland speak to a branch up there. First off the campus is amazing. It's very Hogwarts-esque which obviously made me really pleased. We were kind of in a hurry so we didn't have time to take many pics but Kylie took some so if you want to see a few pictures of their beautiful campus than go to this post. And for those of you who don't know West Point is the top military school in America so it's kind of a big deal. Anywho, Elder Holland gave a talk in this huge old cathedral that is part of the campus but sits upon a hill overlooking the campus and the Hudson. It was quite a neat experience hearing an apostle talk in such an intimate setting and in an old cathedral no less. Not only was the setting amazing but my favorite (can I say that??) apostle pulled through an gave a beautiful and eloquent talk about the importance of being an individual. And how at times we may be the only ones to have our standards and beliefs but it is crucial to stand up, even as one, to what you believe. He had many insightful stories and scriptures shared and I only wish it could be published so that you all could read it because it was really amazing. But for the time being here is one of my faves by him. Long but well worth it.

(us girls with Elder Holland and his precious wife)

All-in-all it was an amazing night filled with an array of really amazing and unique experiences. Easily the highlight of my week. As for the rest of my Big Apple adventures.. stay tuned. TBA.

It's about time..

..I posted about what I've been doing as of late, how I graduated college, moved out of the candy shoppe and moved to NYC. So ya kind of crazy that I am now a college graduate. I remember being a little freshman in the dorms and never thinking that life existed past college, and yet here I am graduated and working in the big city, trying to get my career started. Life's quite unexpected isn't it. But I am happy and grateful to be a college grad. I'll miss taking classes and being on cougar campus but at some point the cougar has to leave its den.. ok, not really sure cougars live in dens but that analogy was for all my favorite cougs out there, you know who you are. Anyways to make a long, 4-year story short, I graduated from BYU with a degree in Communications, emphasis advertising. The ceremony wasn't too long and I got to sit next to some of my besties and I actually have some pictures to show, thanks to my fellow grad, friend and photographer, Kylie Nixon:
me and some of the besties- also that is the graduation skirt I sewed!

me and some lovely ladies in my major

here is proof that you can live with your best friend all throughout college and still remain best friends. BFF.

Well two days after graduation I moved to NYC to start my advertising internship at Y & R. I started this past wednesday and so far i am really liking my internship. They've really put me to work and I feel like I am doing useful things and learning a lot. But now to the good stuff- the city is amazing. It is just such a fun place with a variety of people and things to do and places to eat. I've eaten at a lot of really good places and look forward to eating at more as long as the budget can handle it.. This is just a basic run down of what's going down in the city but I'm going to commit to be better at writing on this blog and writing about what I am doing in the big apple! So stay tuned for some more interesting and exciting posts about what I am doing in New York...

brighter days

In lieu of the sun finally shining and good advertising I give you this lovely commercial- there's just something so happy about the sun, especially when you haven't seen it for 31 days like these people.



see, not all advertising is evil.


***If you loved the song like I did it's called The Great Escape by Patrick Watson

film reviews {5}

Watching films is one of my favorite hobbies. I know it might sound like a lazy hobby compared to those of you who love doing pilates, dance, or rock the triathlon scene, but I can't help but love a good movie. Well to feed this passion I decided to take a film class here at BYU to better understand all the elements of film and perhaps have some sort of credibility when I make all sorts of claims and opinions about a movie I've watched. So I've decided to post a few reviews of movies I have recently watched in my film class. A quick disclaimer though, many of these films are not your typical blockbuster so if Transformers or any of the Nicolas Sparks movies are your thing, than these films may not be for you..

CITIZEN KANE (1941):


A classic. This film has been ranked as the number one film in countless lists. It was quite a big deal during its time and very progressive filmmaking. The story line is very interesting. For the time, lighting and sound was very artistic and innovative. Either way, if you are into film than you should probably see the one that is at the top of the list.

TO LIVE (1994):


This is a chinese film (english subtitles) during the time of communism and Mao Zedong. Initially I wasn't sure about the film but by the end I really enjoyed it. A sort of sad story but really gives an interesting perspective of the political movement and culture in China during that time period (1940-1970's) so if you are interested in that culture or communism for that matter, than this is your film.

SPEED RACER (2008):


A more recent film and a fun one for sure. The style of the film is very unique, especially the design- really bright colors and just a very interesting, unique design. A little Alice in Wonderland-ish slash japanese style. I felt it was a fresh depiction of a cartoon/comic type film. (Speed Racer was once a cartoon) The design may not be for everyone but I thought it was unlike anything I have ever seen and was a fun film to watch.

AN EDUCATION (2009):


This film wasn't one from my film class but another one I watched recently. The film is about an independent girl in high school prepping to go to Oxford, however plans start to change we she meets a much older man who shows her a different world of clubs, shows, and beautiful things. An interesting story of growing up and trying to figure out what is important. The ending was a little abrupt but the film was good no less.

COCO BEFORE CHANEL (2009):


Great movie. A very good insight to the world of high fashion. It really made me appreciate fashion more and how it is much more than expensive taste but an art form. Chanel's story is very interesting and the French actor, Audrey Tautou (also starred in Amelie which is AMAZING) does a really good job. Just an overall great film and truly worth watching, whether you are into fashion or not.


These are just a few of the movies I have watched recently. I found each of them worth watching, however for different reasons. I don't claim to be some sort of know-it-all film critic, just someone who loves movies and wants to share. Enjoy watching!