fall happenings

Fall 2017, a long grueling semester filled with lots of homework, working, and staying indoors. Student life is such a sacrifice, I want to badly to have more free time and have more money to GO places. I have had the travel itch so badly these days. I wish we were going somewhere for our anniversary in a couple weeks, but we are saving for a really cool adventure next year. Patience.

Anyway, here are some memories of fall 2017:

a family community
Here at the University Village, families come first. And by families I mean BABIES. Babies everywhere, old and young. (I call all children under the age of 12 babies). 

This is a picture of us enjoying one of the family activities. We got to see the inside of an ambulance, eat cotton candy, and look at children's books. hahaha.

new eats 

We love eating out, especially at new places. This Mexican restaurant was a dud because the salsa tasted like Ragu! Horrendous.

sick days.

There were way too many sick days. I blame it on this nasty air! 

Giuseppe's first time to Lagoon

It was a lot to take in for him.

fall general conference

We spent G-con weekend in Brigham City with Mama Hess. she lives in a very old building. 

But what exactly does this mean??!

She treated us like royalty! breakfast in bed, lunch in bed, snacks in bed... (the guest bed is in the living room in front of the TV)

The Surprise
I was on fall break the second week of October and wanted to go somewhere but G had nonstop classes and work that week. I found a 22 hour period between him getting off work on Tuesday and going to class Wednesday evening for us to do something. I kept telling him not to plan anything because there was going to be a Surprise. The Surprise was often talked about and highly anticipated. On the day of The Surprise he came home from work, we got in the car, and I told him where to drive. We ended up at a Lunchbox salon in Park City hahahaha. Unfortunately it was closed so G wasn’t convinced for even a minute that it was The Surprise. We parked there because that’s where our Airbnb hosts told us to park. I pulled a packed suitcase out of the trunk and told him where we were headed! G isn’t the greatest reactor to surprises, but nevertheless he was excited and happy. After settling into our room and briefly meeting our host, we headed to dinner at a saloon on Main Street. We ordered too many fried things, but it was still good. 

Later that evening back at the Airbnb after soaking in the hot tub, G turned on the TV in the luxurious living room and I started prepping our dessert. It was very nerve wracking, WHIPPING cream in somebody’s kitchen at midnight while they slept upstairs. I had the beater on a low setting so it took foreverrrrr. And at last, the blackberry shortcake was done. We watched a crime show, and saw a reenactment of a true story, the horrifying murder of 15-year-old Seath Jackson. What a terrible tale. It had us on the edge of our seats and talking for weeks! 
After a leisurely morning, Giuseppe decided to take me shopping! That cutie. We just went to two of my favorites, GH Bass & CO where I bought the CUTEST hat, a perfect plaid shirt, and new leggings. I ended up wearing all of those things that weekend when Kylie took our Christmas card pics. Then we went to The Olive Oil Company where I bought some coconut balsamic. 

Then in was time for The Surprise part 2: electric bicycling through the mountains of PC! I packed us a lunch and we headed into the mountains on our rented bikes. It was so much fun! 
At one point I was going down a hill suuuper fast doing a turkey call. (weird, I know but it's our thing.)
When I finally stopped making that dumb sound, I heard someone behind me speaking to me! I turned around and there was a middle-aged man and his wife asking me about my bike. Haha so embarrassing. We chatted for a few minutes and when we parted ways I asked Giuseppe if he had even heard me turkey calling. He hadn't. The turkey call was only enjoyed by the older couple. Yay.

After our bike ride, we headed back to reality. On our drive back to SLC our car started overheating really badly so we took it right to our trusty mechanic. We ended up having to take a bus home and pick up the car the next day. It's all good!

Ava's play

I didn't get a picture with Ava, yikes! But look at these cuties before Mary Poppins started.

park city with the Albright's

That next weekend, Kylie took our pictures. She and Corey spent the night at our place so we could get up really early the next day and get some sunrise pictures.  Of course we stayed up super late talking and Corey became enthralled with our half-finished puzzle on the table. We couldn't pull him away. Kylie says we've created a puzzle monster! 
We blew up a queen size air mattress for them only to discover it had a massive hole! They had to sleep on the twin size air mattress! 
It was really hard to get up because we had stayed up so late. Apparently Corey had woken up well before everyone and showered and everything. He's the most silent shower taker in the world because I didn't hear a thing. When I was putting on my coat that morning to head out, Kylie looked at me very calmly and said, "babe, hold very still and take off your coat. Just put it on the ground. Do it now." Petrified, I obeyed her calm voice. There was a huge spider on the back! Yuck so gross. We joked about what would happen if that spider managed to stay unseen on my coat and it appeared in all of the photos, smiling at the camera along with us. Weeks later as Kylie edits the photos, she notices the same smiling spider on my shoulder, in Giuseppe's hair, nestled in between us contently. The three of us. A real family.
Haha Giuseppe and I love spider jokes every since we got sucked into looking up misunderstood spider memes online for several hours one morning back in the spring. 
Once in Park City, we snuck up to a shooting range and took some pics there, but Kylie lead us up a much prettier canyon where we ran into this: 

An abandoned crashed car! Corey and Giuseppe thought it was just the funniest thing ever and they wanted their picture taken by it. They got out of the car to do their thing and Kylie and I stayed inside chatting. While Giuseppe was taking Corey's photo, the car's owner pulled up along with a little crowd. Haha so awkward! They quickly offered to help. They, along with the help of a guy with a pickup truck attempted to get the car out of the ditch to no avail. Eventually the guy with the pickup truck drove the kid back to town to figure it out. The kid's name is Ernest, and apparently he's a rich teenager who got super excited when he woke up to snow that morning and just knew he needed to take his new car joy riding down the canyon. Kylie and I kept making jokes about Ernest and the lecture he was going to get from his rich daddy but Giuseppe was really defensive of misunderstood Ernest. 

happy birthday to you
Laura turns 61!! We celebrated, per her request, at a pizza restaurant. We chose CPK, she wasn't a big fan of Settebello's last year. We met up with Rob & Angela & Co for a night to celebrate mom! I got to bring Vin because I was babysitting him that night. He was so fun! Except for the blowout right when we got to the restaurant...  Haha but he really is the most pleasant little baby. He sat between Laura and I and was doted on the whole time. 

lazy day
The day before Halloween I woke up 10 minutes before my class started. In a hectic frenzy, I asked Giuseppe what time he had to work and if he could drop me off. Still half asleep, he told me he had the day off. So I turned off the pesky alarm and snuggled into him. Skipping class every now and then is good for the soul. We spent the day binge watching Stranger Things, I made us snacks throughout the day, and when we got sick of sitting still staring at a screen we ran around on the baseball field next to our apartment. We finished the day at a Halloween party with friends from one of our old wards.

last minute Halloween plans
At my parent's house that weekend, I asked my mom if she had any costumes we could wear for Halloween. She pulled out a bag of stuff and I grabbed this hat. I thought G looked super hot with that wild hair! We dressed up as a county fair pageant queen and her trashy boyf.
With no plans on Halloween, we decided to spend it at our old ward’s Halloween party (The ward we were in for like 3 months). Nobody recognized Giuseppe with his hat on and nobody recognized me because I hardly went to church because I was in France half of our time in the ward. But we had a good time, we really did!

We finished the night finishing Stranger Things (SOOO good) and starting a new show, Zumbo's Just Desserts. It's a competitive dessert making show and it's SO entertaining. I love how much Giuseppe loves it, it's adorable.

..but cause he really knows me
One night I was real moody. G, sensing something was awry, knew just what to do.
First, he lit my Balsam & Cedar candle. The woodsy scent relaxes me.
Then, he turned off the stupid lights in our kitchen. (I think it’s impossible to be your best self when you’re in bad lighting. )
After that, he brought out his speaker and turned on “Call It What You Want”. Instant heart softener.
And finally, he stuck a honey stick in my mouth. Sugar is never a bad idea.
And to top it off, he went into our bedroom and made our bed! Oh how I love the boy. He knows just what I need.

My life changed, thanks to Jimmy Fallon

And then again a few days later I was being moody again. I walked into the room and saw this ready for me! haha he is the cutest.

Anthropologie birthday sale with Vin

Vin loves this place, he's always begging me to go and I'm like, "okay, fine..." He wanders around on his unsteady legs while I hold his hands and steer him away from glass items. He's SO cute. 

Hot husband

Hanging with the Hess'
We went to dinner at Rob and Angela's one Sunday and had the best time catching up with them. They just moved to a new place in Herriman and it's so cute. It has great lighting and a beautiful view of Salt Lake, so what more could you want? Willow is so adorable. I asked her if she knows my name and said confidently, "mom!" When I told her that wasn't it she asked confused, "daddy?" Hahaha. 

Sky & I

Bachelorette Party
I threw a bachelorette party for my friend Jodie. I bought balloons that spelled 'bride' and later used some of the balloons at my parents house to portray a different message.

Hess Traditions
We have NO traditions but are wanting to start some, so we decided to celebrate November 7 because that is the day Giuseppe proposed. Unfortunately we were busy with work and school until 9:30 so most of our ideas were out of the question. We decided to see a late movie and sneak some dinner into the theater. We ended up needing to chose a really late show and there were NO restaurants open except Carls Jr.! Ew! Giuseppe wasn't even hungry but I ordered a chicken sandwich and scarfed it down in the car. The bun tasted like angel food cake! What a wacky combo. But I was so hungry I ate it anyway. I also ordered a piece of cheesecake to bring into the theater. I lost the fork somewhere along the way so I ended up eating it with my hands. It melted and made a mess. We saw Happy Death Day which was dumb but really entertaining. 
What a classy tradition we've started hahaha!! Regardless of the trashiness, we had a super fun time and G ended the night covered in lipstick, so I'd call it a success. 

liz taylor
Liz's 22nd birthday and the release of reputation fell on November 10! We had a sushi & Taylor party to celebrate. Amy's gift was amazing, a Nicholas Cage pillow. What more could you want on a birthday?

thanks
Angela hosted the most delicious Thanksgiving! A lot of her family came. I got to spend lots of time with Sky and Willow, they are at such fun ages. I didn't get any pictures unfortunately! 

boot huntin'
we had the best weekend in elko with the fam for Raegan's homecoming talk from her mission in Chile. We spent Saturday night driving around town getting pictures in front of these boots! These are just a few of many, many pictures. 

Anddd that's a wrap! I really love my majors and my classes were so great this semester. I learned SO MUCH. I wrote so many papers in French and now my writing is actually kind of good. I read so many books and short stories and plays in French. I think my vocabulary has probably doubled. Learning French is so fun, most of the time I felt like I wasn't even doing homework.
I also spent two days a week helping in an ESL classroom at Salt Lake Community College. I learned so much about teaching and language acquisition, it was the greatest hands-on experience. One day after class, one of the students raised her hand and then pointed to me. She told everyone how she thought I was such a great teacher and I had helped her understand a new concept very clearly. That felt SO good! It was such a rewarding experience every day in that class.

And the BIG news is that Giuseppe GRADUATED LDS BUSINESS COLLEGE!! He started right before we got engaged, so LDSBC has always been a part of our married lives. He's thinking about UVU next to get his bachelor's. His degree is in business management and he got really good grades each semester. I'm so proud of him! He loves studying business and he's really good at sales, so whatever he ends up doing career-wise I know he'll be successful. 

reputation examination

WARNING: the following is a very long, drawn out, and emotional post all about Taylor's new album. This will only appeal to a select few, but if you are not a swiftie and are interested in hearing a more in-depth analysis about an album you probably judged wrongly, listen up.

reputation, an examination.

From the perspective of an introspective.

Thursday, November 9th. 9:30 pm.

I lit my favorite candle (Balsam & Cedar), turned off the lights, plugged Giuseppe's beats into my phone, and pressed play. 56 minutes of discovery.

It was a horrible experience. I was devastated the first time I heard it all.

The songs all blurred together into one loud mesh of club beats, staggering drunkenness, anger, and lust. It was like someone took the Billboard Hot 100, blended it in a Vitamix, and served it up in 15 little shot glasses hand-painted with that fire face emoji.

It was too much to take in all at once. I should've know that. After the close of New Year’s Day, I yanked the headphones off my head and ran into the kitchen where Giuseppe was sitting. I closed the  lap top sitting in front of him and curled into his lap, trying to convince myself I could still be happy. Poor, young naïve Katrina. She had so much to learn.

My opinion on the album now is so much deeper. I actually LOVE it.

I don't blame myself for my initial hatred. It's a lot to take in, a new Taylor Swift album. The first time is always so overwhelming. My expectations are never met because I project too much of myself into her work, rather than appreciating her own prospective. That's one of the hardest parts about love, wouldn't you agree? Tearing away your own projections to fully appreciate someone else's beauty in their own unique state. I've had to learn how to put my own expectations aside- because trust me, I had a lot- and turn my brain into white, malleable clay.

So, after a lot of soul searching, long talks with close friends, and listening sessions, I happily present to you my deeply thought-out review of Reputation, track-by-track. I'll start with my least favorites and work my way up to the crown jewels of the album.

15. ...Ready For It?
Oh boy. The attention this terrible song has received is actually mind boggling to me. I've watched a lot of swifties proclaim this is one of their favorites (or even THE favorite) on the album and I cannot believe it. It's just a MESS in my opinion. I don't find it cohesive at all, which really unnerves me. The transition between the rapped verses and the bubbly pop chorus is sooo off to me. When people say they love this song, I see them with that Fantastic Mr. Fox swirly eyed effect and I can't take them seriously. There is no credibility behind a swirly-eyed opinion. Here are just some more moments of "Ready For It" that really rub me the wrong way: 
1. the way she whines "but he acts like such a man, so..." in a bratty middle school girl voice.
2. that angry football beat!! Can't stand it. 
3.  The way she attempts rapping is overall a mess, but particularly when she says "holding him for ransom/som/some boys are tryin' too hard" 
4. The transition between, "I know I'm gonna be with you/so I take my time" which is a nice, romantic line but then it's immediately followed with an almost threatening, "are you ready for it?"
5. I think the worst part about this song is how it's supposed to be an ode to the love of her life, Joe, yet it's so... showy. And terrorizing. Idk, Taylor, that's not my kinda love but you do you. 
6. The music video is such a mess. It's always been a pet peeve of mine when the footage of a music video has nothing to do with the lyrics of the song. Sometimes it's done in a really nice, artistic way that makes you think about the song in a different light... but it's really rare that an artist call pull that off. In this music video she's basically taking back her reputation or something but that has nothing to do with the lyrics. So not a fan. Any of you swirly-eyed fans have a different perspective? 

14. King of My Heart
Another non-cohesive mess, where all I can feel is Taylor trying too hard. This song is just unnatural. Lyrically, it sounds like something she would have written for her Speak Now deluxe edition but of course was rejected. Then earlier this year then she pulled it back out and spiced it up with some sex and alcohol references, and Martin/Shellbackified it. Quite the horror story. Admittedly, there are some really good lines in here, for example "is this the end of all the endings/ My broken bones are mending" That's beautiful, right? But the way she sings it makes me CRINGE. Unfortunately there are a lot of cringeworthy moments in this song. Like the way she says "jaguars" and the whole verse about him moving to her and her being his American queen... I don't know what it is exactly about that part but it just makes me uncomfortable. Sorry Taylor, not feeling it.
Sonically speaking, this song is such a roller coaster. Taylor described her intentions when writing this song in a recent video. She wanted each part of the song to show the progression of a relationship. Each verse has a new sound to represent a new phase of their love. Sounds fine on paper but it definitely didn't work out in the real world.

13. So It Goes...
This song is fine. There are some good parts, like the moody beat in the chorus, and the intimate echoes of her voice in the verses. Some of the lyrics are actually really good. Some of my favorites: "gold cage, hostage to my feelings." "getting caught up in a moment/ lipstick on your face." And on a personal note, I like the line "come here, dressed in black now" because it reminds my of my high school days when I would dress up as The Woman in Black just for fun. I rocked that. Anyway, this is a simple love song which the point of is very unclear. So what goes? Rendez-vous in your bedroom? A potentially end-game relationship? What? 
"It's fine." That's my statement on this track.  Put it on as a background melody when you're doing homework or something. Things could be worse, at least the song is sonically cohesive. Worst lyrics: "You know I'm not a bad girl but I do bad things with you." That just sounds like a dumb Tov Lo lyric. "I'm so chill but you make me jealous." What? This song is just dull, and its purpose is very unclear, which is unsettling for me.

12. Gorgeous
I actually really like baby James Reynold's voice at the beginning of the song, I think it's quirky and cute. I like to think this is what this song is supposed to emulate, quirkiness and cuteness. It's the Stay Stay Stay, or the How You Get The Girl of the album. It's just fun and flirtatious and shouldn't be examined too thoroughly because it wasn't meant to be anything more than a girly crush anthem enjoyed when the mood is right. I don't have anything against this song, the only reason I'm ranking it so low is because I'm not a big fan of these kinds of songs in the first place. But I see its value, it's a light song amidst much deeper, moodier ones. It gives the album balance. Worst lyric: "you make me so happy it turns back to sad." Giuseppe makes fun of this one a lot and I don't stop him. Best lyric: "you should think about the consequence of you touching my hand in a darkened room." See, it's just a sweet little flirtatious rant and deserves to be loved on by ninth grade girls who are into this kinda thing.

11. Dress
The first thing I want to say about this song is I wonder if she really got matching golden tattoos with Joe. Will we ever find out? Anyway, to the rest of this song. This is one of the songs on the album that I get bored at. At track 12, we had already heard so much electro pop and it was getting old. It doesn't actually sound that great in my opinion. Old Taylor would have had a drum-heavy/vocal heavy production that would have been a lot more powerful. Sonically, I think this song is just kind of boring, and I kind of get the vibe she's trying too hard to sound like everyone else. Lyrically, I mean it's very sexual. I just don't find this song very creative or unique. It's fine, I'll listen to it if it comes on and sing along. It's somewhat catchy and there are some good lyrics in here. My overall review of this song is "eh". I think she's trying to hard.

10. End Game
I'm going to first start off by saying that the rap part in this is so bad. Those lyrics are just horrendous. I've never been into rap, but I can appreciate rap as a form of art when the lyrics are deep and meaningful. This is just a mess though. To me it sounds like some kind of parody making fun of rap. "You so dope, don't overdose." What? Not moving. At all. Ed sounds great though, he can never do wrong. This song is catchy and is really powerful sounding. I honestly don't have much to say about it except that this genre isn't Taylor's strong suit. I mean she's a lanky, educated blonde woman from Pennsylvania, why is she saying things like, "I hit you like bang" or "I ain't tryna play"? I hope this hip-hop indulgence doesn't resurface on any future albums. If she leaves it in reputation, we can all say it was a good ride and move on.

9. Look What You Made Me Do
I feel like I might get stoned for saying this, but I actually like Look What You Made Me Do. This album is full of a lot of revenge and bitterness, but I've come to realize that it's not actually a weakness but a strength. The album is littered with references to her tattered reputation. The thing about this particular song is the bold statement it makes. She's taking control of the narrative Kim and Kanye painted last year, calling out their lies and dirty tricks. "You asked me for a place to sleep/locked me out/then threw a feast." I thought this song was so petty at first. I thought, "oh come on Taylor, get over it!" But then I started to put myself in Taylor's shoes. What would it be like to have magazine covers flooded with my face declaring me a liar and a fake? What would it be like to have my social media accounts flooded with snake emojis from tens of thousands of people that don't even know me? I think I'd probably handle it with the same anger and bitterness she does, so I'm not going to judge. I'm not saying it's right to hold on to bitterness, but I do appreciate Taylor's honesty. She's always been so vulnerable with her feelings in her music, and in reputation we see a lot of her darker side. She's not perfect, and she shouldn't pretend to be. Of course I do wish that Kanye West never stirred up drama with her and that Taylor's 6th album didn't have to touch on so much revenge, but the harsh reality is that cruel people do exist, life is hard, and we are going to get tainted by it. Revenge songs like Look What You Made Me Do and This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things are not the culmination of this album but rather important building blocks that make her declaration of finding true love all the more inspiring.
Taylor is sensitive, passionate, introspective, and lively. She wouldn't be so adored if she didn't have such an emotional capacity. Her capacity to feel deeply is what inspires her genius lyricism and musical taste, and I think this track is a prime example of her vulnerability. Just not in the sweetly in-love or broken-hearted way we are used to.
Another thing I like about this song is it's relatability. Sure, most of us don't have a Kanye West in our lives, and most people tend to live relatively drama-free lives. But haven't we all been there, hearing something negative someone's said about us or having someone treat us unfairly? I'm sure we can all agree it hurts. And while I don't believe it's healthy to live a life of bitterness and mistrust, it is nice to have these feelings validated. So, this is why I like Look What You Made Me Do. It's honest. It's confident. And It's got a brilliant production that really makes the lyrics come to life.  Plus the music video is phenomenal.

8. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
This song is hilarious! It's clever, condescending, and controlling. Everything you could ever want in a perfect revenge song. She sings about her glitzy life, lavish parties, her golden reputation. And then the music turns into a scary mom lecture as belittles Kanye West for breaking her nice things and Taylor had to take them away.
If you are thinking maybe this song is a little too harsh, then you don't know Kanye West. He is the king of all narcissists and what he did to her was very unfair.
In this song, she treats him like a child, which I think is the ultimate burn. This song is just TOO fun to sing along to. I really hated the part where she laughs her head off at the idea of forgiving him. I thought it was so petty. And you know what, maybe it is. Maybe she'll regret it one day. But it definitely adds to the burn, and I don't hate is so much these days. Every album of hers has some sort of comic relief (Blank Space, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Better Than Revenge, Forever & Always) but this may be her funniest yet. Well done Taylor.

7. I Did Something Bad
I really didn't get into this song until I started using it on my workout playlist. I've always struggled with workout playlists because I'm not particularly fond of really powerful beats or loudness. But this. is. perfect. It's angry. Rebellious. Motivating. All the things you want to feel when you're sweating doing squats in your living room, right? One thing I don't like about this song is that it's kind of all over the place in terms of its message. Is it about Calvin? Tom? Kim and Kanye? Katy? I don't really know. And what exactly is the bad thing she did? Still unclear to me. But it's okay, it doesn't need to make sense. Because when I'm feeling lazy all I have to do is put on my sports bra, turn this song on and I'm ready to go. Favorite line:  "most fun I ever had/ And I'd do it over and over and over again if I could/it just felt so good." I just think of how good it feels to take a well-deserved shower after a sweaty workout haha.

6. Dancing With Our Hands Tied
The MOOD in this song is everything. It's kind of hurried-sounding, like she's nervous, "I had a bad feeling." She admits she's a mess,"but I'm the mess that you wanted." All the verses sound kind of on edge as she sings about everything good and everything bad, but in the chorus she lets loose. The EDM-like chorus sounds just as worried and concerned and in love as the rest of the song, but it's like she kind of accepts the feelings and dances to it. Some great lyrics: "My love had been frozen/ deep blue but you painted me golden." "I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us." What's really interesting, is what exactly she means by "dancing with our hands tied." The expression "my hands are tied" mean something along the lines of "there's nothing I can do." Which I think is what she's trying to portray in the song, there's nothing she can do about what people say about her, about her past, his past... But I sometimes wonder if she also means in some sense that their hands are tied together. Like they can't do anything about what goes on around them and what happened before them, but they are fiercely stuck together. I like to think of it that way. I think this is a great song, it's fun and upbeat but also deep and meaningful, like a 1989 bop.

5. New Year's Day
There's glitter on the floor after the party... Oh Taylor. You know just how to paint a narrative. This song is poetic and observant and wistful and sentimental and completely channels the old Taylor. The muted piano is brilliant, such an elegant touch to an emotional ballad. Her voice in this track is so simple and raw. I love how she gets low and quiet when she sings, "you and me from the night before." This song is so lovey, I love the line, "you squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi." I love her longing in, "don't read the last page." and the simple statement of "I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day." This is SUCH an old Taylor thing to say, making a simple observation and turning it into a grand romantic symbol. I love that for the first time on the album, Taylor tells Joe that she'll be there for him when he strikes out and he's crawling home. "Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you. And I will hold on to you..." what a sweet note to end the album on. This song is such a breath of fresh air after an album chock full of loud electro pop, revenge, and wildness. It was a good ride, but I'm glad to know that at the end of the day Taylor is still the same person who recognizes true beauty and long lasting values.

4. Don't Blame Me
Wow. I was not expecting a track like this at all. It's exciting, dark, needy, vulnerable, and brave. Her belting vocals when she says "using for the rest of my lifeee oh oh ohOHHHHH" is so new for her and she ROCKS it. It may be the highlight of the album. I love that she touched on this theme of neediness/desire again like she did with Treacherous. I see a lot of similarities between the two songs. I've heard other critics complain that this metaphor of comparing your baby to a drug is very worn-out theme but I don't care. Taylor always does it best. Another mesmerizing part about this song is the gospel-choir-like sound. I mean who doesn't love a good soulful production? I love the "mmmm mmmm" 's from the back up singers and the EDM-like vibrating chords that introduce a new segment of the song. I love the loud, powerful chorus in between vocally strong verses. I love the obsessed lyric "my name is whatever you decide," and the way she says, "if you walk away/I'd beg you on my knees to stay." I mean what's love without a little bit of obsession, huh? Passionless. I love her declaration on real love, "don't blame me/love made me crazy/if it doesn't you ain't doing right." Yes. Ohh this track is amazing. I have a friend who was moved to tears the first time she heard it. And now I question myself, "who am I to have not seen its beauty initially too?" Sometimes I just don't understand myself.

3. Delicate
Ohhhh how I love this song. I love the synthetic effect on her vocals, I think it really sets the vibe for the song. By altering her voice, it's like she's hiding part of herself from us, which is what she's doing to her love interest in this song. She's scared because she's falling in love but it's so delicate and new, she doesn't want to ruin anything. She tries to play it cool by saying, "we can't make any promises now can we babe/but you can make me a drink." At first listen, I thought the lyric "is it chill that you're in my head?" was too, I don't know, "urban"? "young"? But now I understand what she's trying to do. She's trying to be nonchalant while still expressing her deeper feelings. Brilliant woman. Another brilliant line, "my reputation's never been worse, so you must like me for me." I love how she sprinkles the word "reputation" throughout the album, really tying everything together. And she sounds so happy and relieved when she says, "you must like me for me." We all deserve that kind of love, the kind of love that looks past perceptions and sees us in a way that nobody else can. In addition to the emotional lyrics, the beat in this song is incredible. It's my favorite kind of beat, soft and melodic, not stealing the show but providing the right atmosphere. There's just something so moving about the way she repeats "isn't it isn't it isn't it..." I still can't really pinpoint why. This song is beautiful because the lyrics and sounds work together in perfect harmony to create a feeling. I really don't know anything about music, but these are the qualities I look for in a good song.

2. Getaway Car
Um, YES this is my second favorite song on the album, believe it or not. It's SO catchy, clever, unique, witty, and different. I love the sci-fi video game sounds in the background, the backup singers, the 80's vibe, the robbery references, her voice when she says, "I knew it from the first Old Fashioned we were cursed/ we never had a shotgun shot in the dark." I love how she furiously says, "I was screaming 'Go! Go! Go!'" And her clever reference to the paparazzi who documented this crazy romance, "a circus ain't a love story." I love the bridge, "we were jet-set, Bonnie and Clyde/ until I switched to the other side." I love her voice when she says "I was dyyying in a getaway car" and then the finality in "said GOODBYE in a getaway car..." There's a lot of soul in this song, and I think it's an absolutely brilliant way to summarize her relationship with Tom Hiddleston. He was just the getaway car after her breakup with Calvin. Every moment of this song is so FUN. I normally don't fall in love with fun, upbeat breakup songs but I am obsessed with this one. Every second of this song is creative and captivating. There is nothing I love more these days than blasting this song and singing along at the top of my lungs. GO Taylor! Ah, you make me so proud.

1. Call It What You Want
This is THE most perfect example of Taylor trying something new and it completely succeeding. This slow, almost hip-hop like ballad is everything I could ever want from a Taylor Swift song. I fell in love with the very first second of it. The intro to this song is beautiful, the use of her voice as musical instruments sets a magical tone for this perfect love song. The beats throughout the song are subtle and powerful instead of being overpowering. The light back up singers add so much soul to the production, and the electro sound at 1:20 after she says, "they fade to nothing when I look at him" is the absolute greatest sound that perfectly matches the feelings of this song. Jack Antonoff is a production genius. And then the rise in back up vocals after, "yeah you know I did one thing right." I am just SO proud of this song. Her voice is so intimate and crisp, like when she says, "I'm doing better than I ever was." This song melts in your ears and burns your heart.
The best part about this song is that it's Taylor's deepest love song. Ever. Call it what you want, but this is love. This is Taylor at her most broken and devastated and hurt and embarrassed. This is Joseph Alwyn breathing life into her. Their relationship is the warm, safe cabin in the cold woods. She trusts him like a brother. He makes her laugh. He took the time to really know her. Call it what you want, but Taylor went through hell and back last summer. While the world was declaring her #over, he loved her like she was brand new. All of the nastiness fades to nothing when she looks at him. His starry eyes are sparking up her darkest night. This song touched me in ways no other songs have before. I think it's my #2 Taylor Swift song, right behind All Too Well.

Voilà. Reputation, an examination. From a very thorough fan. 

reputation speculation

I am a Taylor Swift fanatic. 

My obsession started at age 12 when I fell in love with Fearless, and she became a solidified part of my soul after Red, which was inarguably the best album of all time.

TS6, aka "reputation" comes out on November 10th and you better believe the speculation over this album is controlling my life.

The end of the music video for her first single "Look What You Made Me Do" features 15 different Taylors all lined up, and that is the reason for this blog post. 

On tumblr, a fan speculated that because the album has 15 tracks, maybe each Taylor represents a song on the album. Well, Taylor herself LIKED this post. It's gotta be true.

SO, I have compiled a thoroughly thought-out and researched hypothesis of each song on the album based on the Taylor represented in the music video.

I know, I'm a freak. BUT I'm very proud of what I've created and I just had to share it with those who would appreciate it! Because even though Giuseppe has been a great listener, he doesn't really get it.

So, here's to the ones who get it:

1. Biker Taylor, LWYMMD music video. Released 9/3 ...Ready For It? The release of this song was kind of a punch in the gut, not going to lie. It's just terrible. And I HATE to say that about any of her work. This song is as rough on the ears as Biker Taylor is to the eyes. There is a scary, angry beat that now reminds me of football because of its use in NFL ads. Yuck. The lyrics are cheap. Lustful. Trying too hard to be bad. It makes me sad because this song is so obviously about Joe Alwyn- "younger than my exes but he act like such a man, so"- and it really dashed my hopes on what their relationship is all about. Such a shallow "love" song. Taylor & Joe have been together from as early as October of last year, and I was hoping this private long-term relationship is the real thing. From the lyrics of this song, I'm guessing it's not. But maybe she's joking around here, being satirical? Please, Taylor. Please tell us you're joking. I mean rapping? That's not you, hon. I'm hoping with all my heart that this will be her only attempt at rap on the album. And ever. I mean she used to rap for comedy! And now it's for real? How uncomfortable.

2. Bank Robber Taylor, LWYMMD music video. The bank robber character in the video references Taylor standing up to Spotify for not fairly paying artists for their work. Going with this "standing up for what's right" kind of theme, I'm speculating a call-to-action kind of song. A year ago, pop star Kesha posted a picture on instagram captioned: "making a **** OFF song with a casual Grammy award winning secret person. I got a good feeling about this one." She then posted 13 emojis which is widely known as Taylor's number. So my guess for track 2 is the hyped-up Kesha collaboration which hopefully is less vulgar than Kesha's little hint. Live Free feat Kesha. A couple years ago, Taylor financially supported Kesha in her sexual abuse lawsuit against her producer. And this August, Kesha sent flowers to Taylor during her own sexual assault trial against a DJ. Women's rights is what united these two. I think these girls got together and wrote some kind of power anthem for women, and I think it's going to be amazing. Kesha recently tattooed the words "Live Free" across her knuckles in the same font as Taylor's "reputation" album cover, and I think it's very possible this could be the name of their song. It's compelling, isn't it? I think lyrically it will be very powerful, though it will definitely be a party anthem. I'm picturing it sounding kind of like that 2013 Icona Pop song, "I Love It". Chanting. Beats. Proud proclamations. I'm sure it will be a hit.

3. "Rep" leotard Taylor, LWYMMD music video. For obvious reasons, I think track 3 will be called Reputation. This song will be a take down of the media. I hope it will be a very emotional song, where instead of violently throwing knives at the world, she'll humbly sing about the lessons she's learned while still portraying the harm of modern media. She'll sing about her family and friends, and about how in the end it doesn't matter what the world says about you, as long as those who really know and love you have respect for you. I hope it will be a hard-hitting song, and maybe she'll even get personal referencing her mom who is battling cancer. She'll cry singing it in concert. Sonically, it'll have a dark vibe to it. I'm picturing a mixture of "Tennis Courts" by Lorde and "Love" by Lana Del Rey. No party beat. No catchy chorus. Just quietly theatrical.

4. Red Ringleader Taylor. I think whatever this song turns out to be, it will be amazing because she'll be channeling her RED era, which is in my opinion the best era of all. To me, Red wasn't marked by a specific sound but more of an album full of high quality lyrics dealing with heartbreak. And this is what this song should be. She had a 15-month relationship with Calvin Harris that ended last year- her longest relationship by far- and I'm hoping this song will be a reflection on the relationship. Lyrically, it should be like "All Too Well" which documents her brief but intense romance with Jake Gyllenhaal with anecdotes and raw feelings. This is what I expect from this song. I think she's going to try out the Electronic genre on this album, so why not with this song? I'm imagining it would sound like what would happen if ODESZA did a remix of Red's "Sad Beautiful Tragic". Do you pick up what I'm putting down? She'll call it Timeless. According to the website Genius.com, a new song called "Timeless" was registered under her name. Though it's very possible that this Red-inspired electronic anthem I'm fantasizing about is far off, there will likely be a track called Timeless. And I definitely have hope for a song with such a beautiful title.

5. Fearless Tour Taylor. I can't help but wonder if track 5 will truly sound like the old Taylor. I mean how much more of a punch would that give to the next track, Look What You Made Me Do, when she proclaims her old self as dead? I don't think she'll do a country song on this album (I mean look at that album cover) but I'm thinking she might channel "Hey Stephen" for this track, though probably with a Martin/Shellback constructed chorus. It'll be a love song, obviously. I mean it's FEARLESS Taylor represented here. Love at first sight? Pining over unrequited love? Lamenting over broken trust? It'll have one of those themes for sure. As for the title, it'll be called A Second Glance. When Taylor released LWYMMD, her caption on social media was "...ready for it? New single #LookWhatYouMadeMeDo out now." And then a week later she surprised us with her single "...Ready For It?" captioning her announcement, "A second glance into #reputation". Hence, A Second Glance. I'm also going to throw out there that I think this will probably be the third single from the album, probably released sometime in October.

6. Kim Kardashian/Katy Perry Taylor. Look What You Made Me Do. The release of this song was kind of a slap in the face to me. As a devoted fan, it's like she was telling me, "I don't care about you, I'm just going to stay hung up on the small portion of the population that aggressively hates me. And I'll casually announce my album on social media without doing my usual very personal and interactive live video broadcast. Because they matter more than you do." Despite the victimized message of this song (which I don't agree with), the lyrics are really good and it does sound beautiful. It goes from an eerie magical fantasy film score to a cool moody chorus. I like it a lot. And the music video is fantastic.

7. Infamous 2009 VMA Taylor. Seeing as Taylor is all about revenge with this album, I'm thinking she's going to blatantly call out Kanye West for being so... Kanye West. I could totally see her doing a satirical song in which she takes on the role of West and acts like the king of the world, just like he does. Or in this case, Queen. It'll have Blank Space sass. Cheeky one-liners. Blatant references to him and his wife. It'll be really mean, because I guess that's what Taylor is into these days. :( I've gotta be realistic about this album, it can't all be theatrical heartbreak like it used to be. It'll be poppy. Electronic. Funky. Confident. It'll even have weird outer space sounds mingled in there because maybe she'll release a music video where she has some kind of mansion on the moon. I can see it, how about you?

8. Ellie Saab Taylor. Well this song is sure to be classy. Is it just me, or do you think it's time Taylor branches out vocally and gives a shot at an Adele-like ballad? My brilliant friend Liz had the most brilliant idea that she's going to name one of her songs Aw. This is in reference to an instagram post from like 2 years ago when she went on a tropical vacation with Calvin Harris and wrote in the sand "AW" which are his actual initials. I'm picturing what would happen if you combined 1989's "Wildest Dreams" with Adele's "Someone Like You". Wouldn't that be magic? It would be a beautiful song that would scream, "see! I'm more than my greasy hair and ragged sweatshirt!" which is really what we've all been praying for, right?

9. I Heart TS Lead Dancer Taylor, LWYMMD music video. This Taylor is very cool, wouldn't you say? Bad. Aggressive. A while back there were some very convincing rumors that Taylor was collaborating with rapper Drake. Just to keep things realistic, I will include this rap song in here. I honestly hate rap to my very core, so I don't even want to waste mental energy speculating this one. I wouldn't even know what to compare it to. Let's say it's some kind of "I'm too cool/don't care what you think of me" message with Drake backing up Taylor's vengeful emotions in a quick-paced, rap/pop song. Really Don't Care feat. Drake

10. You Belong With Me Taylor. In the LWYMMD music video, Taylor updated her iconic "Junior Jewels" t-shirt by handwriting the names of some of her closest friends. So.. this song will be about her friends! But not like a "let's go, G.N.O." kind of song. Something more real than that. I think she'll call it People Watching and she'll talk about what she admires about her friends! She'll call them out by their attributes, not their names. I can't really picture how she'd pull this off lyrically, but isn't that a cool idea for a song? It'll definitely be an upbeat pop song. Liz speculated that one of the songs might kind of sound like- wait for it...
Hillary Duff's "The Math". Hahahahaha!! I think she's onto something though, I mean once again have you seen the album cover? So that's what I'm picturing for this song. So maybe not the highest quality, but definitely fun.

11. Zombie Taylor, LWYMMD music video. Dark, messy, violent. This will be the ultimate heartbreak song and she's going to get mad on this track. She's going to channel her inner Florence + The Machine (we all have one) for a beautiful theatrical performance. I'm imagining a swiftified "Cosmic Love" in which she belts out stinging words and shares her melancholy with biting metaphors. It's going to be amazing and beautiful. It will probably be about Calvin- he's been her biggest heartbreak since we've last heard from her, right? She'll give it a yearning title, something like Come Home. I'm getting chills just thinking about it. I hope I'm not setting the bar too high here...

12. Shake It Off Ballerina. Ballet is a delicate form of dance. When I think of ballet, I think of strength yet fragility. Hard work before the reward. Flexibility. Pain. Grace. What if track 12 is about the struggles of her new relationship with Joe? In 1989's "I Know Places" she shared how lack of privacy threatened her budding romance with Harry Styles. Taylor has been dating Joe since at least February of this year, but it could have been as early as October of last year. She kept it quiet from the media for the longest time- we didn't find out about it until May of this year! That's the longest she's been able to keep a relationship secret. I'm sure that was really good for them, though of course extremely difficult to keep it hush-hush. This song will be about this time in their lives. The sneaking around, the falling n love. It will be beautiful! It'll be called something simple like Just Us. I'm picturing a moody pop song. Kind of like 1989's "Style" but also like her duet with ZAYN "I Don't Wanna Live Forever". Pretty, right? It'll have classic romantic Taylor Swift lyrics with anecdotes and endearing one-liners girls will use in their twitter profiles.

13. Serpent Queen Taylor, LWYMMD music video. The Girl In The Red. I have some big dreams for this one. First of all, isn't that an amazing title I came up with? Yes, it will reference her most amazing album ever, but it will also label her as a target, which definitely seems to be the theme of this album. The lyrics will be very poetic and metaphorical. Almost so metaphorical we aren't entirely sure what she means, but it sounds so beautiful we don't really care. She'll call out society for being so twisted. She'll talk about how she's constantly targeted with the negative- but in reality she's just a regular girl trying to figure things out just like the rest of us. She'll complain about how she hates fame. Is she ready to take her money and her dignity and get the hell out? Maybe. The best part about this song though will be the sound. I'm picturing it sounding like a "The xx" song. Quiet. Rhythmic beat. Low voice. Artsy. Moody. Revolutionary. Also a great song for a Target commercial, which is usually bundled in with her pre-album promotional ads.

14. Orange Taylor, LWYMMD. I really don't know what this pretty-haired shiny orange-clad look represents. Perhaps a shout out to the early 2000's? I mean look at that mini skirt and tall length boots. What if this track sounds like an early 2000's pop song? Think Avril Lavigne or Sheryl Crow. A sing-along-in-the-car love song with a Martin/Shellback mettled chorus. It'll be all about her summer romance with Tom Hiddleston. Simple. Sweet. Girly. Catchy. She'll call it We'll Remember This and use it for her concert music video.

15. Real Taylor (Taylor on the jet plane), LWYMMD music video. If you notice, there are only 14 Taylors lined up at the end of the music video. But if you look closely, you'll see the fifteenth Taylor standing on the jet plan in the background. She isn't dressed like any of her past selves. Could THIS be the real Taylor? The new, resurrected Taylor? Probably. She's wearing kind of funky outfit, but other than that she looks pretty normal. My guess for this culminating track is a raw, unedited acoustic song. No Max Martin. No forced rapping. No backup vocals. Just Taylor and her guitar. I'm hoping that in her year of silence, Taylor has developed a mature, hopeful outlook on her life. Maybe Joe is The One. Maybe this relationship is the real thing. Maybe her 12-year bad luck streak of heartbreak is over and she's ready to settle down. Romantically, at least. She'll sing about the hope she sees in her future with Joe. She'll call it Last One. Maybe she'll be candid with us and talk about her dreams of marrying him one day and having his babies. Can you just imagine how beautiful this song would be? Joe Alwyn if you're reading this, PLEASE make our girl feel safe and secure with you. If not for her sake, at least for this potential song's sake? Haha.

And that's a wrap.

Reputation, from the hopeful yet still realistic eyes of a longtime and clearly thorough fan.

If you are a Swiftie reading this, please comment and tell me what you think! And share it with your other Swiftie friends. Better yet, send me your OWN speculations!

If you think I am a freak and yet you have somehow made it through this entire post, you can keep your opinions to yourself and I strongly suggest you go find some headphones of the highest quality, light a candle, isolate yourself, and listen to "All Too Well". I promise it will make your day (and probably your life) better.

College Kids

I have a wretchedly sore throat today, so I’m skipping school and catching up on some things. Here’s what’s been going on since I last posted:

I started my senior year a couple weeks ago and I love this semester. I’m taking four French classes and one linguistics class. Two of my French classes are super challenging literature classes and the other two are grammar/translation classes. The grammar/translation ones are sooo fun! I always do the homework for those classes first because I’m so excited. The literature classes vary on enjoyment, depending on what we’re reading. I really don’t like reading epics from the 1500s!! I hated reading those in English and its even harder in old French. But a lot of the later stuff I really enjoy, even if it’s hard to understand. I think by the time I get my degree I will be better read in French classics than in English classics. Formidable!

I’m going to start observing/helping in an ESL class at SLCC later this week, so I’m excited about that. I did a similar project last semester at an elementary school and loved it. I love my majors!

After over a month of babysitting and half-heartedly looking for a job, I landed a position as a waitress at a sushi restaurant! Giuseppe wanted to make a boxed cake we had, but we didn’t have any frosting, so we went to the grocery store. Near the grocery store is a little sushi restaurant with a “looking for servers” sign, so I walked in and 24 hours later I was starting my first shift!

This is actually a dream come true for me haha. I’ve always wanted to be a waitress. Is that lame? I figured I might as well fulfill that dream before I get my college degree! I work weekends and nights, so that isn’t idea but so far it’s the only drawback of the job! The best part? I get fed FREE sushi every Friday and Saturday between my lunch and dinner shift!! They could just pay me in sushi and I’d still work there. Waitressing is kind of hard and stressful, and the kitchen menu is pretty complicated to memorize, but I know I’ll get the hang of it. The other day a man I wasn’t serving asked me to come over to his table. He pointed to his chicken plate and told me, “I didn’t order this.” I called over the waitress who was serving him and he said, “I thought I ordered the (soup)?” but he said the Japanese name for this specific soup. She said, “Yeah that’s what this,” and she repeated the name of the dish he had just said. “Oh. I thought I was ordering ramen.” “Oh, you may have meant the —-,” and she said the name of a type of Japanese Ramen, which was pronounced exactly like the chicken dish but with a slight variation. She just looked at him kind of like, “Yeah, well, this is what you said.” Haha I guess that’s how we do things here?

The poor man was so embarrassed over his “grand pronunciation error” and agreed to eat the meal he had ordered. But then the waitress took the plate and said, “no, no, we’ll bring your ramen right out.”

Giuseppe started school yesterday. He just has two classes until he finishes his business associates at LDSBC in December! He’s not sure how he feels about his IT class yet but his business strategy class sounds interesting. He’s still working full time at Tumi, which I love because he always looks so nice and he manages to get me discounts at Anthropologie and Sephora! Giuseppe likes it too, though of course retail hours are not ideal. He’s started doing some financial advising training, and he’s looking into possible career options in that field. Go G!

We went to California right before I started school. We had so much fun! We stayed with my cousin Carly for a night in St. George, and then ended up in Orange County early Friday afternoon. 

We visited Giuseppe’s grandpa, Les, in the house G spent most of his childhood in. Les asked us if we wanted to go to Disneyland for FREE that afternoon and I was all for it. Giuseppe was kind of on the fence but after I convinced him to stop being boring, we drove over there and had SO MUCH FUN! We had delicious food, went on our favorite rides (Pirates, Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, California Screaming) and more, watched World of Color, and just had a blast. Thanks Les! 

This banana salted carmel Ghirardelli shake is haunting me. 

On Saturday morning we went to brunch with Giuseppe’s friend Brendon and his wife Amanda and their adorable one-year-old baby Macy. Amanda works as a head waitress at a yummy diner, so we ate for free! Maybe I’ll be cool like her one day and be a head waitress. Unfortunately she had to work, but the four of us headed to Newport Beach! For the first time in my life I tried boogie boarding and it was so fun! I wasn’t very good at it at first, but Giuseppe taught me how to do it and I followed his lead. I caught one wave (haha) and you better believe I talked about my “sick wave” for weeks afterwards. 

After the beach we headed over to the Simco’s (Giuseppe’s older sister and her husband. They have four kids) production of The Little Mermaid. It was so cute! I also got to meet Addison and Michael too, Vinny’s (another of Giuseppe’s brothers) kids. They were so cute. All of the Hess kids turn out stunning. The play was cute, Baily played the lobster, John was the prince, Autumn was the seagull, and baby Liam wasn’t in the play and wanted nothing to do with me haha. After the play we went to a park and met some more of Sarah’s family. We stayed over at their home that night where Baily made a delicious dessert and we played games and chatted. I wish we could have stayed longer, it’s weird to me that I have a brother-in-law and sister-in-law and nieces and nephews in California that I hardly know. On Sunday morning we met up with some more of Giuseppe’s friends, went to church, and then had dinner with the Madsen’s, a good family of Giuseppe’s. I got to meet Brigham, one of Giuseppe’s friends whom he hasn’t seen in years and get to know their really cool family. Then we headed home, arriving back in Salt Lake around 3 am. Such a fun trip!

Something weird happened on the first day of school for me, which also happened to be the same day as the eclipse. My class started at 11:50, about 15 minutes after the eclipse reached its peak in Salt Lake. I walked into class just 10 minutes late and nobody was there! I thought that was weird, especially because none of my other classes that day were cancelled. I checked online and there was no announcement or email that class was cancelled. I sat around for a bit, assuming people would trickle in later and that we would all be late because of the eclipse. As I sat in the classroom, I realized a lone word was written on the chalk board: l’ombre. This means shadow. I got even more confused. Did that mean class was cancelled because of the shadow of the eclipse? Haha I’ll never know. I eventually left. When I went to class on Wednesday, everyone jumped right into a discussion of a book they had all started reading. Still, nothing was posted online. I caught up after that, but it was a really weird way to start that class. The mystery of the shadow. 

We started working out again, it’s been almost a year since we gave this any team effort. I am kind of disgusted by how long I went without exercising. My body felt so weak and tired for so long but ever since starting up again I feel amazing! Exercise is not a natural habit for either of us, which is a shame, but I am dedicated to making it a habit. So far we’ve just been doing at-home Beachbody workout videos which are so fun! I’m sure we’ll branch out later, but for right now we are really enjoying the Beachbody videos. I prefer strength training over cardio. Although occasionally I’ll go on a little “run” if I discover an upbeat song that I really like. I usually only like slow, sad songs though haha. The other night I was really wanting to do an upper body workout because my arms are PATHETIC, but we don’t have any weights. I knew the upper body video had at least a few moves that required weights, so I gathered our two bluetooth speakers which are roughly the same weight for Giuseppe, and a hand held mirror and candle that were roughly the same weight for me. Giuseppe thought this was the most ridiculous idea and refused to do it :( So my limp noodle arms are his fault. We will be buying weights later this week for sure though.

We went to a cute outdoor market one evening and bought local snacks and treats. We found a cool booth selling ties and we made friends with the creators. They are a young married couple and we just thought they were the coolest! You can look up their company on instagram @kasnkels. Giuseppe bought this tie as well as a leather key clip that is waaaaay better looking than the ratty lanyard he used when we were dating haha. He wore his cool bolo tie to church the next day.

I convinced Giuseppe to buy us a marked down Harry Potter puzzle we found at Barnes and Noble. I LOVE doing puzzles, and Giuseppe was nice enough to agree to do one with me. It was so fun! We talked, watched/listened to our latest Netflix obsession “Paranormal Survivor”, and ate delicious snacks. Now we’re on our second puzzle: a panorama of Times Square!

I should probably mention that we moved into a new apartment when I came home from France. We live in family student housing next to the U campus, and it’s pretty good. It’s cheap, so that’s nice. But the linoleum floor and lack of A/C is killing me! I’m really looking forward to being a homeowner one day. Student life is a sacrifice.

I spent one evening with my friends Jodie and Alissa in Midway. We drove Jodie’s jeep up to one of my favorite places in the world, Guardsman Pass, and had a little picnic. Jodie just got engaged to a really great guy and Alissa just headed off to spend the semester in Jerusalem! I have such cool friends.

My bff Mailm (Brooke, long story) came back from her mission in the Philippines while I was in France, but her family moved to Texas while she was gone so I didn’t get to see her until a couple weeks ago! We sat at Cubby’s for like five hours and did the usual Mailm & Mose: eating fries and desserts while talking about everything under the sun. Haha it was so great!

On Memorial Day G and I were have a lazy morning, cuddling and snacking and shirking responsibility. Then Giuseppe started to get ready for work and his mom called to announce she was on her way to Salt Lake! We met her at the train station, she bought Giuseppe some lunch, and then she and I headed on the train to Provo to meet up with my family. We went to Vivian park with my dad’s side of the family for a picnic. Laura is so funny! An ice cream truck drove by and she yelled, “kids! kids! who wants some ice cream?!” and then she ran towards the truck waving a ten-dollar bill in the air. The little cousins followed her and they came back with a bag full of popsicles. It was such a fun day! I love spending time with my mother-in-law, she is a ray of sunshine, full of funny stories and life lessons.

Last week we got the opportunity to watch Vin and it was SO fun! I was so excited to see him. I was wondering if he would remember me after our almost three month break. He was so funny when he saw me, he acted totally nonchalant, like he didn’t even see me. I tried saying hi but he would just look away, and then I’d catch him glancing at me. He allowed me to hold him and he warmed up to me really fast. We had such a fun night together singing and throwing balls around! I love that little boy.

I got together with my roommates again and it was perfect! I predict we'll be having these girls nights until we all die. Stephanie is pregnant with a baby boy! So maybe this isn't technically a girls night?? Chew on that.

Also, the sun was super rad the night we got together because of all the fires in Utah. 

I am realizing I have titled this blog:

NOTHING LIKE US
Giuseppe & Katrina

yet all of the posts are all pretty much about my life. I mean I write about G’s life to the best of my ability, but I can’t just project his opinions and feelings for him, can I? Maybe I’ll see if I can get him to write a blog post. I don’t think he even reads this thing though.

And to finish this post up, here's a selfie because after all this blog is all about me ;)

Au revoir!