2018

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Amelia M.

I guess I blog once a year now! Here, in no particular order, are some things that happened in 2018:

I went to a few concerts: Rostam. Lucius. Kate Nash. The Killers. Janelle Monae. Kimbra. Also took in a few twilight concerts from a parking garage. Sadly Florence and the Machine, Sylvan Esso, Drake, and Childish Gambino are not on this list.

Celebrated a lot of milestones with my Martinez cousins: Josh and Kim got married! Abby is pregnant!

acs_0122

I lost both my grandfathers. Here we are at Grandpa DeLaMare’s gravesite:

And here we are having a Cuban dinner in honor of Abuelo Martinez:

I shaved my head (well part of it).

I turned 30! And so did a lot of good friends.

acs_0065

Threw some parties, including this pool party.

Visited the Hall of Breakfast.

Read books. These books to be exact:

The Seance, John Harwood
Strong Poison, Dorothy Sayers
The Kitchen House, Kathleen Grissom
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, J.D. Vance
Fangirl, Rainbow Rowell
All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot
This Will Only Hurt a Little, Busy Phillips
Unqualified, Anna Faris
Scythe, Neal Shusterman
The Magic of Ordinary Days, Ann Howard Creel
The Death of Mrs. Westaway, Ruth Ware
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, Susannah Calahan
The Woman in the Window, A. J. Finn
Educated: A Memoir, Tara Westover
The Other Side of the Bridge, Camron Wright

Also enjoyed many nights discussing books (and tv, the movies, and every bachelor contestant) with my book club.

Said goodbye to my Sister and Derek (and Ziggy) as they moved to Texas. Have since exchanged approximately 1 billion Marco Polos with Gabby.

gabbyandme

Went to Europe.

Joined a club. A Hot Tub Club.

Finally got recognized for drinking lots of soda when I got to participate in a focus group with Sodalicious.

Went to Las Vegas to reconnect with old friends.

Also checked Neon Museum off my bucket list while I was there:

acs_0239

Ate everything on the menu at Spudtoddos.

Said goodbye to Michael who sadly is now always in Texas when I’m in Utah and vice versa.

acs_0134

Watched Movies.

oscarparty

Scooted my way around town.

Participated in Nanowrimo and spent many nights at Starbucks trying to hone my writing skills.

Said goodbye to Mindy as she started new adventures in Arizona.

Volunteered with the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation. Jingle Bell Run is pictured below (I was in charge of games for Elf Village), but I also did JA Family day which was great. Family day was at the Natural History Museum of Utah.

Broke into the beauty influencer industry.

Celebrated Courtney’s birthday with a trip to Disney.

Wore perhaps my best Halloween costume to date, Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi of Princess Diaries fame.

Maintained my status as Lagoon season pass holder.

Celebrated at Jordyn’s Britney Spears themed birthday party by wearing this plaid skirt ONE MORE TIME (get it?).

Celebrated Liz’s birthday with high tea at the Grand America.

Went to Waco.

acs_0321

Got the best surprise of 2018 on Christmas day when we found out Gabby was pregnant!

ziggyandbaby

Finally, I ended 2018 by WINNING a family Chopped competition.

Happy New Year to all of you! May 2019 bring us all wonderful things!

Currently: Trying to get a handle on all the end of 2018/beginning of 2019 movies I need to see.

17 in 2017

Posted on January 1, 2018 by Amelia M.

I’m in awe of all the beautifully packaged 2017 recaps. I can’t quite keep up with the month by month break downs and such, but here’s what I can give you. 17 things that happened in 2017:

Sledding in Liberty Park

2. Enjoyed a burger at a VIP Hires party

3. Read some books

Seance, John Hardwood
Turtles All the Way Down, John Green
When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
Madam, Will You Talk?, Mary Stewart
A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’ Engle
Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
Once and for All, Sarah Dessen
Maybe in Another Life, Taylor Jenkins Reid
Idaho, Emily Ruskovich
A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin
Snotgirl, Bryan O’Malley and Leslie Hung
iZombie Vol 1: Dead to the World, Chris Roberson and Michael Allred

4. Saw a few Sundance movies

5. Marched for Refugees

6. Continued to pitch ideas, including:

Numerous Christmas rom com plots – Hallmark & Lifetime call me!!
Bachelor Dad – The same process/living situation/activities as the bachelor, but instead of women living at the mansion it’s all of their dads and the bachelor must pick a spouse based on his rapport with the Dad.
Unimportant Elf theory – The nun Buddy’s dad takes books away from during his opening scene if in fact the same nun that put’s Buddy in his crib at the beginning of the movie. The orphanage is in financial ruins because they once LOST A BABY. Also, note this theory has no bearing on plot and would not change anything.

7. Moved to a new apartment

World’s best moving crew [plus a few others not pictured]. We have amazing friends.

8. Went swimming

9. Did not burn my eyes out during the eclipse

10. Made these things

My grandparents home of 45 years flooded during Harvey and they had to move. We made this book of favorite memories for them as a tribute to their time there.

Gabby and I took two classes at Pinners Conference and it was so much fun!!

11. Ate this food

Prettiest plate award: Stoneground

Including these local desserts:

Kamas Donuts

Sidenote: Is Top Golf who I am now???

These out of town eats:

Leadville tacos

Bearlake shake

These state fair gems:

And this Cheesecake Factory Retrospective:

12.Got a Lagoon Season Pass

13. Hung out with my Mom after her ankle surgery

14. Had a cousin Thanksgiving with the Nelsons

15. Attended multiple birthday parties for cute animals

Ziggy at his fiesta

Merriweather at her spec-CAT-ular, spec-CAT-ular Mulan Rouge party

16. Watched as many Made for TV Christmas Movies as possible

17. Witnessed the Galmour and Romance of Oscar de la Renta at MFA Houston

My aunts Jan and Dianne went with me to this while they were home this Christmas. This exhibit was beautiful and had audio commentary by Andre Leon Talley [aka ANTM Cycle 14-17 judge]. This is the dress I picked for me:

Annnd that’s it. Here’s hoping 2018 brings good things to us all!

Currently: Having a nice lazy day after a late night NYE game night and hot tub celebration

Here’s What You Missed: The Soundtrack

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Amelia M.

I started with the best intentions of putting together a summer recap full of the roadtrips, life changes [I moved!], weddings, and events I went to. Which would maybe be followed by a brief summary of a few concerts I went to. But the concerts took over and here we are. Consider this a prequel to my summer recap. So stay tuned people who loved my instagram stories featuring full of long clips of muffled music and blurry lit stages off in the distance. THIS ONE’S FOR YOU.

Ogden Twilight: Oh Land/ Wild Belle/ The Shins/ Miike Snow

I made the journey to Ogden three times this year for Oh Land/ Wild Belle, The Shins, and Miike Snow. Every concert meant lucky slice pizza and a visit to my favorite brown vinyl clad car of the frontrunner. Probably the most memorable train ride was when a kid eavesdropped on me giving a summary of an L.M. Montgomery book which somehow led to us adopting him for the night. Although I doubt he is reading Blue Castle right now, which is a shame because it’s a great read.

The Shins was sold out and amazing.

Salt Lake Twilight: Little Dragon/ Cat Power/ Solange

Twilight was it’s usual madness. Little Dragon was wonderful and had crazy costumes and lighting as well. Solange was life changing [duh].

Little Dragon featuring her crazy neon veil.

But first, Cat Power. I read somewhere that everyone who’s been to a Cat Power show has a crazy story to go with it. I did not fully understand this until I saw her perform. She would start songs and change her mind. Constantly adjust, unsatisfied with the sound and the stage. In between the starts and stops she would apologize to the crowd. But no apologies were needed. Despite being the was the only one performing [not a single backup singer or band member to be seen], she filled the stage, switching between her guitar and piano. Her voice was less polished, but more powerful. And right when we needed it she spoke from her heart and gave us the pep talk we needed.

Solange almost didn’t make it due to weather delays, but once she was there any inconvenience was totally forgotten. Everything about the show was captivating. Her voice, the backup dancers, the arrangements, the band. At one point she and her backup singers just screamed into the microphones and somehow it still came out music. Magic.

No bad days when Solange is in town.

Red Rocks/ Father John Misty

We travelled all the way to Colorado to see the infamous Red Rocks venue and it almost didn’t happen. On the way there a semi truck caught ON FIRE and blocked all the lanes. But we persevered through the standstill traffic, roadside “bathroom” stops [things got real], and made it just in time for the show. Red Rocks was gorgeous and the perfect venue.

Us waiting in stopped traffic.

Also us waiting in stopped traffic. IT WAS A ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS.

Red Rocks!

HAIM/ Red Butte

One of the highlights of the summer, this was an amazing show [“Right Now” is still playing in my head]. We walked in thinking most of the spots were taken, but ended up in a little corner right at the front. Not only were we up close and personal for the drum solos and giant cricket intruders, but we got to be a part of their mass high five/ running to the crowd at the end. The cherry on top was their cover of Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much”, which if you have listened to I highly recommend [check it out here].

30 Seconds to Mars/ Muse

This was an unexpected end of summer treat thanks to my friend Mindy, who last minute offered me a ticket. Jared Leto was a presence to be reckoned with. Muse performed a flawless, seamless set with incredible lighting design and projected graphics. None of which turned out in my photos, so you’ll just have to trust me ok?

Currently: reading Madam, Will You Talk? [my book club book for the month]

Bedelia

The less literal and fictional Amelia

2018

17 in 2017

Here’s What You Missed: The Soundtrack