Bijou Market Spring 2010

The Bijou Market was held on the 5th of June this year. I love the Saturday market feel of the craft show. For the most part, the creators try to keep it relaxed and enjoyable. It's good if you want something fun to do on a Saturday afternoon; it's bad if you want your handmade goods snatched up in a shopping frenzy.

This spring it was held at the Cherry Hill mansion in Orem again. The booths were set up throughout the orchard. In the center the organizers had placed large patio chairs, blankets, floor pillows, and magazines so you could relax and enjoy the afternoon. Just behind the craft fair was a roped off area for the owner's horse to meander around. The atmosphere was picturesque!

Grant, Jill, and I worked hard to creatively display the onesies, shirts, pennant banners, canvas boards, and tea towels. I think we did a great job with what we had to work with. I couldn't have pulled it all off without Grant and Jill. They were lifesavers!

While He Was Gone: St. George and Las Vegas

While Josh was frolicking through the rocky tide pools of chilly Coos Bay, I made a solo trip down to visit some of my best girlfriends. With plenty of snacks, my favorite music (don't even be embarrassed that I brought my NSYNC cds), and a trusty GPS, the four-hour drive wasn't so bad.

I first stopped in St. George to meet up with my old college buddy, Pacha, and her fabulous new roommates. They were all so amiable and funny. Pacha and I stayed up talking outside, catching up on everything. It was really nice to talk for hours and cover all that's happened in the last four years. The best part, I have to say, was when she showed that the baseball fields they used for filming the second High School Musical movie were right across the street from her house! I may or may not have giggled like a 7th-grade girl as she later gave me a tour of the resort, pool, and golf course where they filmed a majority of HSM2. So great!

The next day we went to the St. George temple together. As we were walking in, I ran into my first mission president and his wife who I hadn't seen in five years. The Westons were so nice to remember my name. It was exciting to see them again.

Our session was wonderful. It was really neat to be in a gorgeously decorated 140-year old temple and to think about all the incredible people who built it and the amazing things that happened inside.

Rachel and I took pictures outside and it couldn't have been a more beautiful day. The temple looked like a cake! I love that Pacha and I are both wearing glasses. There are so many good memories with the Martels and their eye glasses...

On Saturday afternoon I drove another two hours down to Las Vegas to visit Josh and Willow Batt. They gave me the royal treatment while I stayed with them. We went out to dinner at a new sushi restaurant near their home. There were about a hundred different kinds of rolls and they all had scandalous names. I won't even tell you what some of the names were but it made the menu a rather entertaining piece of reading material. After our delicious dinner we walked around the outdoor malls. The three of us strolled into my favorite store, Anthropologie, where Willow came across a flowering pot that she had created. Apparently she didn't realize that her work was being showcased in the window display of Anthropologie! Willow is such an amazing artist/designer/creator/iceskater/cook/yogini/decorator/photographer/choreographer/model/woman. I love being around Willow because she's an inspiring person to be with. Some people have a certain place they like to go to where they think and find refreshment; my place is anywhere with Willow.
Later that night we went to Whole Foods Market and bought cacao powder, coconut oil, and almond butter to make homemade chocolate. It was delicious and literally melted in our mouths. The rest of my weekend was spent hiking around the red rock, playing games with their friends, coloring and drawing with Willow, sweating through a fantastic yoga class (taught by Willow, of course), having thoughtful conversations, going for a trot through the nature preserve, driving around the Strip, eating good food, and watching Willow practice her graceful ice skating routine. It was so nice to be with the Batts again. They are great friends!

New York, NEW YORK!

At the beginning of May I went on a Girl's Trip with the ladies of my In-Law's family. Kim, Dana, Ashley, and I flew out of Salt Lake City to meet up with Lucia, Angela, Judy, and Anna in New York City. I was a bawling mess in the airport since I was leaving Josh a few days before he drove out to the Oregon Coast for the next six weeks. For me it was heart-wrenching. We had been side-by-side for the past two and a half years. The last time he left it was only for a weekend trip to Georgia. So this separation was a big deal for me.

But Josh made his absence a lot more bearable with a little surprise when I arrived at LaGuardia. I turned my phone on after we got off the plane and I discovered that I had a very sweet text message from him. Having a text on my phone was a foreign concept for me. As it turned out, Josh had added texting to my plan so we could communicate more frequently. I almost started crying all over again! It was so sweet and I immediately felt more connected to him.

Outside of the airport, Kim picked up a taxi cab for us. I'd never been in a cab before. And our driver was crazy! He was flying in and out of lanes, speeding through intersections, and everything else you might expect from a big city driver. I'm sure that our driver was like all the other NYC cab drivers but it felt like a roller coaster ride for me.

We spent our first night at the Belvedere hotel. It was old and regal and beautiful and fabulous! The four of us dropped our bags in our room and took off to grab a bite to eat. We found Carves and grabbed a slice of pizza. After our late-night snack we walked down to Times Square. I'd forgotten how crazy Saturday nights on Times Square could be. We meandered over to where our hotel for the next night would be (where we should've been staying tonight had it not been completely booked) and found the area all taped off with yellow police tape. People were crowded behind the barricade and I thought we were all gaping at a movie set. We asked one tall man what was going on and he said, "Umm, I'm not quite sure but there are rumors that there's a bomb." Oh...And we're all standing around staring at it. We kind of laughed incredulously and moved on. Back at the hotel room, we turned on the TV to discover that there had been a car bomb. Through the rest of the week the story unfolded to be the terrorist bomb that hadn't ever detonated. Faisal Shahzad was arrested days later just before his international flight took off. It was hard to believe that the whole thing was a real threat--it seemed too much like a movie.

Other than the bomb threat, the week was simply delightful and rather incredible! I could honestly say, "What didn't we do?!" Here's the list:

-breakfast at delis with romantic flowers along the outside wall
-gorgeous views from our 32nd floor room of the Marriott Marquis
-St. Patrick's Cathedral
-American Girl store
-Trump Towers
-Rockefeller Center
-Tiffany's
-Billy Elliott at the Imperial Theatre
-Museum of Modern Art
-lunch on a bench in Central Park
-carriage ride through Central Park
-hiding out from the rain in the Plaza Hotel
-Etsy craft night in Brooklyn
-5th Avenue shopping
-yoga class (with Elvis music) at Broadway Dance Center
-watching Ashley's dance classes at BDC
-The Cloister
-scary Canal Street
-fabulous shops like Madewell and Lululemon
-In the Heights starring Corbin Bleu
-"Top of the Roc" at night
-Ellis Island
-Statue of Liberty
-Battery Park and the Financial District
-Magnolia Bakery
-George Washington's pew and the 9/11 memorial in St. Paul's Cathedral
-Metropolitan Museum of Art
-seeing Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schuester) from GLEE at the Italian restaurant
-South Pacific at the Lincoln Center
-working out in our fabulous 11th floor gym
-another bomb threat on Friday
-reading The Lost City of Z in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis with my hazelnut/toffee steamer and fruit, cracker, and cheese platter from Starbucks
-Ashley freaking out about seeing Oprah, Gail, and Denzel Washington after his play
-stalking Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife into the elevator as they got out of their taxi cab
-picking up almost a dollar in change from off the streets

Last Official Cousin Reunion

This was our last official cousin reunion before everyone left the state of Utah. Lindsey is getting ready for a mission, Stetson is going to work in Brazil, Whitney is going to Boot Camp, Darcy is going to Korea, Jarom is going...to further his career somewhere, Craig is moving to Idaho Falls, and Josh and I are moving back to Georgia. And just like that the Cousins are going to dissolve.

So we celebrated one last time together by snacking and playing games in the park and going back to the Robinson's to play PIT. *sigh* Oh Cousins, thanks for the good times.



PS--Did you spy the "monkey" in the tree?

Darcy's 24th Birthday

We celebrated Darcy's May birthday a little early since we would all be splitting separate ways this summer. Our priority was to pick out a decadent cupcake at The Cocoa Bean just down the road from us. Who could resist cupcakes such as: Marbled Chocolate Cream Cheese, Caramel Apple Pie, Luscious Lemon Raspberry, Party in My Mouth, and (my personal favorite) Better Than Whatever?! After spending a long time deciding, Darcy picked out the Grasshopper cupcake, I chose the Better Than Whatever cupcake, and Josh savored a delicious cup of raspberry hot chocolate.
We were the only ones in the cafe so, along with the cashier, we sang Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girl. It's tradition in my family to sing the Mexican birthday song "Las Mananitas" as well but since neither Josh nor I know the lyrics very well we just mumbled through a rather awful rendition.

After our cupcake treat we went to an authentic, hole-in-the-wall taqueria. While we ordered our tacos we turned to the TV as the Telenovela stars began singing "Las Mananitas"! It was perfect! and really, really funny! We laughed and laughed as Darcy was serenaded by a handsome, guitar-strumming movie star.

The Graduate

This week has been Josh's special week. On Monday he finished his last day working at the worst call center on the face of the planet (well, that was my opinion when I worked there). We celebrated by opening his graduation present from my parents. Dad had asked me to pick up a Dremel tool for him at Home Depot. I had no idea what it was or what it looked like. I had to call Dad up and ask him what color the box was. He picked out the tool with the most "stuff" and asked if I thought Josh would like it. I had no idea. All I could say was, "Well, I wouldn't like it."
But from Josh's reactions, I think it's pretty obvious that he's very excited about owning his first power tool. He really likes revving up the motor.

On Tuesday we took our last final. We'd taken Human Biology together this semester. Josh rocked it and I...survived. After the test, we celebrated the last day of school by going to get milkshakes at the Malt Shoppe with Grant and Jill.

Wednesday morning Josh's parents came down from Midway to pick out a graduation gift with him. The poor boy had been pining over a mountain bike for months. He went to several local bike shops, spent hours online researching what he wanted out of a bike, and frequently called his biking buddy back home to get his opinion. I feel it's safe to say that the boy personified "lust" and "covetous". But Josh didn't know that his parents had already purchased a bike for him two months ago. They'd ordered a nicer bike than the ones he'd been drooling over. So when the four of us drove over to Mad Dog Cycles and they wheeled out his bike, Josh was confused and shocked. And then confused. And then really excited. Then ecstatic. And then shocked again.

Should I bother to share that he's been in a bad mood most of the week because it's been cold and rainy out here? Or should I admit that he's kept the bike next to his bed and greets it every time he walks in the room? I probably shouldn't. But I can say that I have a very relieved, satisfied, happy man now that he has his dream bike.

On Thursday, Josh and I grabbed a treat at the mall and then saw the movie "Oceans" to celebrate Earth Day. The movie was beautiful! Josh kept wiggling in his seat, getting excited over all the incredible animals we were watching. My favorite parts involved the crab war, the Spanish Dancer slug (no, it was beautiful and really cool), and the blanket octopus. Josh liked the bird missiles, the dolphins, and the whales. He said that the movie made him more excited for his marine biology research trip on the Oregon Coast. Having the opportunity to study marine biology is fulfilling a childhood dream for that boy. I'm so happy that he'll get to go for seven weeks this summer.

After the movie we threw on our nice clothes and drove to the Marriott Center for BYU's Commencement ceremony. I may or may not have gotten a little teary-eyed when he proudly walked into the arena in his cap and gown. That morning he'd given me the "I couldn't have done this without you" speech. "Yeah yeah...", I thought but he said, "No really. If we hadn't gotten married and you hadn't quit school and worked full time I would not have been able to dedicate so much time to my studies and gotten straight A's this semester, and done so well these past few semesters." Well, nothing like those kinds of words to ruin a girl's fresh makeup.

Elder Todd Christofferson was the Commencement speaker. My favorite piece of advice that he gave was: "If you have the Holy Ghost with you, you won't make a wrong choice without first being warned." Sound advice for a large group of graduates who have a million choices to make in the next few months.

The Relieved Couple

The Original Haycock Family

Pa and Lucia Lee

Pa and Mayma Haycock

The Fishermen

Friday marked the final day of long graduation ceremonies. The Convocation ceremony was in the Marriott Center again (and boy was it loooong). We cheered loud and hard for our boy as he walked across the stage. CONGRATULATIONS, JOSH! You did it!

McKell finding Pa with her handy binoculars

Despite the rain after the ceremony, we celebrated with a family barbecue at the cabin in Midway. The highlight of the dinner was Josh's cake. It was a happy, happy day!