Snow in Utah! September 29, 2007

Oh my gosh!

Yummy Snow!

We knew Saturday would be cold, but we never expected a snowstorm! It snowed for a good 4 hours on Stagecoach Drive. Soccer was canceled and the temperature dropped to 38 degrees. Shawn and William went to the movies, and then William played in the snow. It was freezing outside, so hot chocolate was in order when William came back inside. I am a little worried about William's "outdoor" birthday party. We could really use a few more warm days before the real winter storms begin.

During Librarian Lion this morning, William interrupted the story to ask me if I knew the anatomy of a book. "This is the spine, and this is the dust jacket... some poor books do not have dust jackets." It is one thing when your 5-year old talks grown-up. It is entirely another for him to use "librarian-speak," especially when you are the librarian, and all-too-familiar with library vernacular. Every Friday, the kindergarten class visits the library. They learn the protocol for checking out and returning books (which they can officially do in January), and the different kinds of books available to them.

I am glad he is learning library protocol from a reliable source. I have lost my last 5 public library books to airplane seat pockets.

At least I am up-to-date with the fines.

Construction Continues

William & Trey & Cooper

Happy Boys!

Trusses, Windows, Siding.....

The construction continues on Stagecoach Drive. Today, carpenters, window installers, and the shutter people all worked on my house. If it looked different, I would be more enthusiastic, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. We are having a travertine mural installed in the kitchen, so I am hoping for a big celebration when that is completed.

I have had a terrible, full-blown cold for 10 days. Keeping up with William, Shawn, and work, has really been a challenge.

Birthday Parties Galore

Birthday Party #3

Last weekend was a whirlwind. William had 4 birthday parties and a soccer game. When Friday came, I realized I had not purchased any gifts. I quickly went to Blockbuster and bought gift certificates for all the kids. Except for the names, all the gifts looked exactly the same. I could tell William was a bit troubled by these generic gifts, as well as by the fact that I wrapped them in the backseat of the car while Shawn drove to each party. Ever try to use scissors & tape in a moving vehicle? It is not easy, but it comes with the territory of being a working mom.

I attach another fall photo -- the view from Stagecoach Drive is magnificent these days.

Camping Out

Happy Campers

Smile Mom

Good Morning!

William loves to camp in our yard. It is very comfortable inside the tent -- William and Shawn sleep right through the night. My sleep is distracted by the sounds of wild animals and the howling wind. I think about the bear and end up sleeping with one-eye open. William loves to have his bacon & egg breakfast inside the tent, and I am always happy to oblige. This morning we had some visitors who very much wanted some breakfast too.

The Uh, Oh Feeling (San Francisco Part 6)

The girls at Harlot

Shauna & Lynn

Lolly & Shauna

Beauties

Lolly & Lynn

Dancing at HarlotSleeping Beauties

This week at school, William learned about the "Uh, Oh Feeling." When you get that feeling, you say "No!" and run away. It's all about keeping your body safe. William always sits by me as I blog. He told me we have the "Uh, Oh" feeling in these photos.

On Saturday night, we went to the Salt House for dinner, and then by accident, to a new club called Harlot. I was ecstatic that my fabulous friend Lynn could join us. I have known Lynn since 1991, and every time we see each other, it is like no time has passed. Hannalorre's dear & gorgeous friend Shoreh also joined us. It was the second time I have met Shoreh, and she is as kind as she is beautiful -- Thank you for the bottle service at Harlot, Shoreh. It was a luxury that we all enjoyed.

Harlot is a new club that apparently is very difficult to get into -- it shares a wall with the Salt House. There was a huge line out front. We ticked a lot of waiting people off when the owner of Harlot came over to the Salt House parking lot and asked us if we would come to Harlot - no cover. A bouncer stepped aside as we entered Harlot through the back door. More people were ticked when we were seated at a private table with bottle service (thanks to Shoreh) -- apparently all of the tables had been reserved a month in advance for a birthday party -- those people were not happy with us, especially since even the birthday boy could not get past the front door. Oh well. The music was awesome and the club had a cool vibe. Unfortunately, the "uh, oh" feeling hit Nancy and I about 1:15am, so we headed back to the hotel. Lynn, Shoreh, and Lolly have higher "uh, oh" tolerances, which generally do not kick in until about 3:00am. I only wish I had such stamina.

Professional Shoppers (San Francisco Part 5)

Nancy and Lolly are professional shoppers. True experts in every fashion (no pun intended).

All day we had wanted to go to Neiman Marcus. They also had an appointment at Louis Vuitton for a "hook-up." Apparently certain customers can pre-order the next season's handbags before they are released to the general public. Although I slept through the Louis Vuitton bag purchases (I am kicking myself now), I did make it to Neiman Marcus.

Neiman Marcus is celebrating its 100th Birthday. The store looked beautiful. Here is what happened:

Lolly purchased a stunning Marchesa tunic dress for the Emmy Awards, along with these shoes, and a beautiful coordinating clutch. I love the new gunmetal colors for Fall. Additional shoes were purchased, including these. Nancy purchased some beautiful dresses for a fundraiser and several shoes, including a beautiful blue Balenciaga pair, a gunmetal Manolo Blahnik pair, and this Christian Louboutin tall boot, which apparently has been selling out across the U.S.

Since my purchases were limited to a lip pencil and this, I decided to make myself useful by filming the chaos in the NM Shoe Department. Unfortunately, this amateur video does not capture the crowd of women oogling at them and their shoes. It was all pretty entertaining.

I must apologize in advance for my HUGE video faux pas --- Nancy bought the Christian Louboutin boots, not Jimmy Choo's -- Egads! I have lived in Utah too long not to recognize that red sole! Here is the Video

These girls are awesome!

Saturday Morning (San Francisco Part 4)

Holy Crap! Who is driving our Cab?

Spa Radiance on Union Street in Cow Hollow

The infamous Bus Stop Saloon, serving drinks on Union Street since 1900

The owner made a special point of telling Lolly and Nancy that they really improved the image of the place!

On Saturday, we left the Hotel early to start our shopping day. Our first stop was Union Street in Cow Hollow, where we went to Spa Radiance for manicures, then to the overwhelming Sephora (which we do not have in Utah), and then to Union Street Papery. The Papery had always been my favorite SF paper and card store, but now after discovering the naughty card section, I can think of no better place to spend money and time. The line of cards include Mina Lee Studio, Modern Printed Matter ("I'm pregnant, just thought you should know"), and OPLUSD (Offensive + Delightful).

Card shopping made us thirsty, so we headed to the Bus Stop for a cocktail. The last time I went to the Bus Stop (circa 1996), my date brought me home in a shopping cart. It was Saturday Football at the Bus Stop, so me and my friends (aka Chanel and Manolo) stuck out like bad footwear. The cocktails were fabulous and the owner thanked Lolly and Nancy for "really sprucing up the place..... We need more gals to dress like you do."

After the Bus Stop, we jumped into a cab with a 4'2" cabdriver. We suspected he had extensions to reach the pedals. People get hair extensions, so whatever. We never quite saw him from the back seat, and despite appearing qualified enough, about 3/4 into the ride, Nancy asked him when he was going to turn the meter on.

The City (San Francisco Part 3)

On this trip, Nancy, Hannalorre and I stayed at the Four Seasons. The hotel is wonderful in every detail. I would need a whole page to describe it.

On Friday night, I surprised the girls by taking them to Beach Blanket Babylon followed by dinner at Gary Danko. If you are planning a trip to the City, make a reservation at either of these places -- you will not disappointed. Except for Hannalorre's teeth (which are beautiful albeit very painful), we had such a great time. These girls are awesome!

Harry Winston, Meet Pink Floyd (San Francisco Part 2 - Friday Night)

Beautiful Nancy wearing Emilio Pucci

Nancy likes Pink Floyd as much as I do. In fact, ever since the Roger Waters concert in Las Vegas, we have developed a not-so-secret crush on the band's lead guitarist, Dave Kilminster that continues today. In fact, Nancy has yet to share (or even let us see) the guitar pic Dave gave her at the end of the show.

In any event, on Friday night (after figuring out the Hotel's CD player) we thought it a good idea to listen to Pink Floyd's The Wall Album to reminisce about the Las Vegas show. During "Comfortably Numb," someone had the idea that our boyfriend Dave needed some new pictures of us. We spent the next hour taking terrible pictures of ourselves with Nancy's phone camera, each photo worse than the last. DELETE!

Luckily for the blog and your eyes, earlier in the evening I asked Nancy if I could take a picture of her and her wedding ring. I had been dying to take a picture of the Harry Winston 10.5 carat ring for quite a while because it is truly a museum piece and looks so stunning on her hand. And quite frankly, how could any description do the ring justice without this photo? It is gorgeous!

The Magician (Or People You Meet Flying) (San Francisco Part 1)

The Brocketts & Litwins

I always meet people when I fly, but I have never meet a magician. I was flying Delta direct to SFO to visit Hannalorre and Nancy for a girls weekend in the City. I was very excited about my trip and all the adventures I would have with my friends.

On the plane, I sat next to a lovely couple, Marion and Lynda Brockett, who were coming from Pilot Point, Texas to San Francisco for their daughter's wedding reception. They told me all about their children. They also described their Texas home and told me it was on a hill. A hill in Texas? Take a look at Stagecoach Drive. They later confessed that it was really just a "bump."

In any event, they spent the majority of the flight telling me about their daughter's new father-in-law Edward Litwin who was an immigration attorney by day, and a magician/comedian by night. They went on-and-on telling me how funny this guy was. A funny attorney?

When the flight ended, we said our goodbyes and I headed to baggage claim. On the way, I saw a well-suited driver holding a sign that said "Brockett." Wow! I told the driver, "I know those people." Just then I turned around to find the Brockett's laughing hysterically, and upon closer inspection, the sign (with eraser marks and crossed-out/misspelled words) instead of looking professional, looked more like a three-year old's art project.

Without missing a beat, Litwin broke into his magic act -- right there on the airport concourse. The Rope trick, the ring trick, with well-executed comedic commentary for each one. The tricks and comedy continued non-stop during our walk to baggage claim. It was at baggage claim that Litwin came up with the idea of crank-calling my husband. In a professional, Ritz-Carlton type voice, Litwin called Shawn to advise him that I had arrived safely in San Francisco, but that he needed authorization for my purchase of a $4500 mink stole. There was a pause, and then without his missing a beat, Shawn said "put it on the Chahine tab." Shawn knows my friend Hannalorre who is a bonafide "shopping professional." The jig was up and he was ready to punt.

We said our goodbyes with a few more laughs -- How lucky I was to meet such nice people AND to receive a free magic show!

On the return flight from SFO to SLC, I sat next to Gilmor Keshet, a senior scientist at the Chaim Sheba Cancer Research Center in Tel Hashmer, Israel, and a Stanford University alumni. Gilmor was on her way to Big Sky, Montana for a stem cell/cancer research conference. She told me all about her life in Israel, her four children, and the continuing middle-east conflict. We both agreed it is hard to work and raise a family. We swapped contact information and I really hope we stay in touch.

Learning To Swim

Sometimes you need a dedicated teacher. After two years of group swimming lessons and no results, we decided to enroll William in private swimming lessons at the Park City Aquatic Center Every Monday he and Miss Ashley meet for a 30-minute swimming lesson. "Mom, it is hard because Miss Ashley makes me swim all by myself." In 6 weeks, William has learned to swim the width of the adult pool and tread deep water. I was sick last night and could not watch William at his lesson. Before he left I told him that sometimes the hardest things, with practice, are the ones we become the best at.

Keeping Yourself Safe

The Kindergarten lesson this week was "Keeping Yourself Safe." The children learned their addresses and telephone numbers. They also learned how to clearly identify their homes and their parents. These are William's drawings. The top drawing represents our house, complete with chimney, elevator, and a small room at the very bottom for his friend Quintin. Except for the elevator (which he wishes we had), William definitely conveyed how steep and tall our house is. The bottom drawing represents us, with William in the middle. I doubt people could identify us in a "line-up" based on the drawing, but Shawn and I do appreciate how "thin" he made us both look!

A Bear & A Haircut

There is a bear in Pinebrook. For the last few nights, a large black bear has been raiding trash cans in our neighborhood. I was totally oblivious to the bear until my friend Linda Zielinski found out William's sleep-over plans included a camp-out in a friend's yard. "I would not let him go," she said. "Haven't you heard about the bear?" Apparently I had not since I was packing William's sleeping bag while I was talking to her. Like my other neighbors, Linda has set traps in her yard, and has even caught sight of the bear on several occasions. Now I was nervous. I made a call to the parents hosting the sleep-over to find out who was on animal watch. They assured me all would be fine. The bear is still loose, and William's sleep-over was a great success.

I got my hair cut today. I walked in the salon, and said, "Let's make the color light and bright, and by-the-way, could you take 6-inches off?" Feeling confident about my choice, I left the salon and drove home. I was excited for William to see my hair, as I am always excited when he gets his hair cut. With tears welling-up, William looked at me and said, "What happened to your hair?" He then burst into tears. "Why are you crying?," I asked him. "Don't you like Mommy's hair?" "No. I don't like it. "I want my old-Mommy back," he sobbed.