I had a feeling all day yesterday I was going to be surprised sometime this week.
I never feel like I am going to be surprised.
Mostly, because I don't really like being surprised.
But last night I received a call from Chup in Richmond, Virginia. He was scheduled to be gone all week and I was trying to be heroic in not caring about his presence on my birthday. You know, in the grand scheme of things having your husband away for one birthday really doesn't fall under the category "personal tragedy."
"Meeting is canceled. I will be on the first flight home in the morning."
He surprised me.
So I canceled all plans. Chup, The Chief and I spent the day eating Beto's breakfast burritos, Provo Bakery sugar cookies and lounging about as a family. After the best nap I've had in weeks, I awoke to a glittery present on the front room coffee table. It was from my mother.
Two surprises in one day.
I am happy to report, my fear of surprise is dissipating.
8:13-I decide for birthday week Girl Scout cookies are on the breakfast menu. Thank you Samoas.
10:02-Visits from Lucy and neighbor Janna. We eat Booty, cheese curd, more Samoas and some wafer-like apricot tasting cookies from China. Don't ask how we came by those cultural treat. Let's just call it a unexpected miracle.
12:03-Ellen shows up for a fitting. She professes undying love for Diet Coke. I profess an undying love for the way her bodice is starting to fit.
1-4- Ashlee waves her magic wand over my hair and instantly my hair color has "depth". Well, not instantly because there was that part I had to sit in a chair with tinfoil curled around my head and receive messages from some distant planet. All while I ingest a sizable contribution of Girl Scout Trefoils.
4:33- Lucy and I take our babies to the park where they discover a cache of pine cones.
4:53- We return home and make pine cone soup.
5-7:40-Is a blur. Something about raisins, sippy refilling and an expired box of Pasta Roni I found in the depths of our food storage. The Chief ate it anyway.
8:00- I meet up with Stacey--a beautiful woman, wife and mother of one--who joined me for Dinner Club at Communal. It was a very pleasurable evening listening to Stacey muse on various topics like, motherhood, blogging and her unbelievable luck at winning contests. She also wore interesting jewelry and dark painted nails. I do love dark painted nails.
Joining us at our table was good friend Nat who brought along a bouquet of friends, while Simy and Gary from UPP and his wife sat nearby. Owners Colton and Joe were more than hospitable and the night was relaxed and pleasurable. And that pork belly . . . well . . .
10:15- I thanked my babysitters, nephews Van, Clark and Matthew who sent me to bed laughing about their overly-obvious observations about our family. As in, "Why don't you have any good food in your house?"
It is a delight to be an aunt to clever human beings.
10:33-One more Samoa before bed never hurt anyone.
(Except it did. I had nightmares all night long, and I am not about to blame the pork belly.)
It wasn't supposed to be a double date really, it was supposed to be me, Chup, my mom and Lucy. Chup and chicks--if you will. But this afternoon, Lucy opted out because her baby isn't feeling too sharp so Ric her husband asked if he could go in her place.
So double date: me, Chup, Mom and Ric. A little different, the idea of mothers going on dates with son in laws. But this is 2010. Right? Anything goes?
A couple hours before the date was set to begin, Mom called me.
"Ric says he is going to pick me up, like a real date." Which didn't surprise me, Ric is the tender gentlemen. My sister married well. I taught her all she knows.
Our double date went to see my brother Topher's latest play (he directed) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Hale Center Theater. We picked tonight because the cast included our talented/funny friends Brett Merritt, Hailey Jones Smith and our effervescent neighbor the great Natalie Wheeler.
Moments before show time, Tophertexted me and asked me to "make sure and laugh."
It wasn't a difficult request to answer.
I mean, everyone laughed. The whole audience. But nobody laughed harder than the man sitting behind me wearing a bow tie. He laughed the hardest and it made me laugh that he was laughing so hard. Men in bow ties make me laugh anyway. But this man was exceptional.
True to my brother's form, the play was fast paced, high energy, littered with inside jokes and easy on the eyes. I think his short attention span makes up for much of his talent. I can tell you this: my brother's plays will never bore you.
After the play we went through the actor's reception line. "You were so great" etc. Kiss, hug, kiss, hug. I nearly pulled Natalie's wig off her head with my excitement. It was a wig, wasn't it?
When it was time to go we asked Mom if we could take her home.
"Yes, Ric. I will go home with these two." Mom informed her date.
"Oh," said Chup to Ric, "date didn't go so well?"
"Guess not. I am going home alone." Ric replied, unlocking his car.
For Dirty Rotten Scoundrels ticket information see here.
I am nine months pregnant, my husband has been carried away on frequent business trips, my heart says it is time to celebrate. So we are.
This week on c jane's Guide to Provo I am going to be writing about this week's daily celebrations. I hope our trial of enjoyment will catch on and will inspire you to try out some celebrating too. I mean, it is practically spring-- one reason to get out and party.
But first things first, on Tuesday March 9th Communal restaurant will be hosting their inaugural dinner club. Basically it is a night where the Communal chefs, Joe and Colton get to stray from their menu and show-off their culinary skills in a four-course dinner. Paired with excellent food, will be a brilliant art show from Brain Kershisnik. So basically, the best of Utah County in one night. There are two seatings, one at 6pm and the other at 8pm. If you'd like to join me, I am going to the 8 o'clock seating. In fact, I have a reservation for two. Want to be my guest? You have to promise only two things, one) you let me ask as many questions as I want about you and your life, and two) you aren't boring. Oh, and also three) you aren't a pervert. I hate eating with perverts, totally ruins the taste of the meal. But boring perverts? Oh golly, the worst.
The first interested (and local) person to respond with the correct answer to this question wins a dinner with me at Communal's Dinner Club on Tuesday night at 8pm (I know, could life get any more thrilling?) :
While I have lived in Provo most of my life, I moved to Provo from the Bay Area with my family. But before that, I was born in this west of the Mississippi state ________.
You can enter either in my comments below or email (cjaneprovo@gmail.com), or facebook or at the grocery store . . .
For more info about Communal's Dinner Club see here.
Take your date out for an eventful evening. Start early at 5:45 so you can enjoy a leisurely dinner. Have you tried the Beehive Smashburger at Smashburger in Orem? It is worth trying, according to me. Here is a snippet about it from their website: Smashburger’s menu features a special Beehive Smashburger made with Utah residents in mind. The Beehive Smashburger starts with a one-third or half-pound 100-percent Angus beef burger topped with honey BBQ sauce, applewood smoked bacon, cheddar cheese and haystack onions on a toasted egg bun. The closer I am to giving birth, the more I love bacon, therefore this was an enjoyable burger for me to devour. I chased it with smashfries which are skinny fries tossed with olive oil, rosemary and garlic. Chup went with the smashchicken and also smashenjoyedit.
Drive down the parkway to BYU campus for the Courage to Shine concert. Our favorite Utah musicians will be there, Peter, Sam and my girlfriend Mindy all to benefit orphanages in Bulgaria. Enjoy the entertainment and fill your heart up right for giving to a good cause.
Did I mention Miss Utah will be there too?
After the concert finish off your evening at the Cocoa Bean Cafe with either a steamed milk or a cupcake or (why not?) both? Relax, review the evening and silently thank me (c jane) for planning such a delightful date.
Saturday Morning: Chup and I love morning dates, so here is a creative one, also with a charitable cause!
Head to "the best kept secret in Provo" (which I always thought was the BYU Homecoming parade) the Run for Red 5k which starts at 10am at Independence High School. This 5K really benefits Utah County since all proceeds from this event go to the American Red Cross's local disaster relief funds which is used to alleviate the financial burden on community members faced with disaster. And hot dog do we need a fat relief fund because remember the WASATCH FAULT that terrifyingly runs through our town? But guess what else? Every participant gets a t-shirt!
The run/walk welcomes participants of every age and fitness level, even you can do it.
After the 5k you are going to be hungry. The 5K actually provides breakfast, but just in case you want to try something new . . . Head to Joe's Cafe in Orem for the best Southern breakfast in Utah County. You will want to order the biscuits and gravy. I am telling you this because Chup said they were the best he has ever had. Chup is a connoisseur of biscuits and gravy so you can take his word for it. Or, if you like two witnesses, Scott Wiley has also declared the biscuits and gravy at Joe's the best he's ever had as well. And we might as well continue by declaring that Jed Wells said Joe's burger was the best he's ever had. I liked the grits. What?
Plus, you've got to meet Joe. You just have to. And ask him to do the moonwalk.
So the other day Justin Hackworth comes to my house to take some photos. We were in the throes of painting my green living room gold. And Justin walks in and says (about the gold) "Wow gold. Interesting. Now what color are you going to paint it?"
As if the gold were the color we were ridding ourselves of.
And I said, "No, no. This gold is the color we are painting it."
And he says, "Oh. Oh!"
Silence.
Mr. Hackworth looks around slowly.
"Yeah. Gold." He mumbles.
"What do you think?" I asked him honestly.
"What do I think?" Looking slowly around some more. "What do I think? I think it is my favorite color! Yeah. I like it so much I wish I had a pair of pants in this color! That is what I think!"
That is why I like Justin Hackworth. The man is a joy to be around. I've got more stories to tell too, but you don't have time for those right now.
You don't have time because Justin is selecting his 2010 30 Strangers subjects and you need to enter--no matter where you live. This year's theme is mother/daughter like last year. Go to his blog and get yourself informed and then enter yourself to be photographed by one of Utah's premiere photographers for this charitable project. March 5th is the last day, and time is melting (like Dali) and Justin wants c jane readers to hear of it first. Be quick about it. Let me link you again, here.
p.s. If you had more time I'd tell you about how I was a Stranger last year and how much my mother and I enjoyed our shoot and photographs from the session. And about the pirate joke he told me and about how fun it was going the 30 Strangers soiree and . . . hopefully you are already gone by now.
The best news is that Ellen's measuring of my upper body was off. When she measured me last week I had different numbers. Today I was SMALLER. Yes, SMALLER. And she kept saying, "Oh wow. You are SMALLER than I thought." At that point I wanted to hug her, but I had about forty-nine pins in me and didn't want to poke either of us.
The muslin is just a mock-up, a shadow--if you will--of what my real dresses will look like. I saw the budding of ever-so-slight puff sleeves and the flattering cut of an empire waist (Ellen pronounces it like French Couture, ahmpeer waist). I also stood really still and tried not to breathe on her as she pinned me straight. I had El Azteca nachos not five seconds before her arrival, so I was sensitive to our proximity.
Three things about Ellen:
1. In reference to yesterday's post she said, "Leaving your college town makes you feel like an adult." Chup-sitting at the kitchen table with a chicken enchilada--really like that point. Maybe that was what he was feeling all along? He needed a graduation of sorts from Provo to feel like he had progressed?
2. Ellen also finds it silly when people assume Provo is so conservative. "It is a college town, where scholars live." And then she added, "I'd say most of my professors at BYU were/are Liberal. None of them are gun-toting Right-wing Republicans." (Ellen hails from Carlsbad CA.)
3. Ellen likes the pickled carrots from El Azteca. I'd say she's crazy, except then the point she made earlier about me being SMALLER would be moot. Cause she'd be crazy. But she's not crazy, she just likes pickled carrots. AND I AM STILL SMALLER!!!
