peep show

you know you are working in the right place when you are called to a special meeting—the department's annual "Peep Show." There were boxes of peeps lined all the way down the large conference table, in various colors and varieties. Then we were given a presentation on the history of peeps, along with some scientific facts about the biochemistry of peeps, and a demonstration on how to properly eat a peep.

my peeps looked scared, and they should be.

Were also shown some insightful resources. For instance, how to make peepshi (peep sushi) and the Peeps of Mormon—kind of sacrilegious, mostly funny.

'Twas a stellar day at work. Anyone feel like having a peep party?

prophet crush

If you didn't know, I just started a new job at the Church History Library in SLC. I have only been here a little over a week, but I have already discovered the library's greatest treasure—its senior missionaries. 

While on a tour of the preservation lab, I was accompanied by some of these energetic senior sister missionaries. We were shown some very old video footage in the archives (circa 1920, I think?). It was a silent film that featured early celebrities of LDS history, such as Joseph F. Smith, Heber J. Grant, J. Golden Kimball, James E. Talmage, John A. Widtsoe, and the handsome Mormon heartthrob, a very young David O. McKay.

David O. McKay, Mormon history heartthrob

Instantly one of the sisters cried out, "OH! Isn't he HANDSOME?!? He looks like a MOVIE STAR!!"

They were all swooning like teenage girls. 

I couldn't help but think of the time when my grandma wouldn't stop gushing over all the pictures of Elvis at the Hard Rock Cafe while everyone in the restaurant was watching us. "Oh Holli! Look at him! Isn't he a DREAMBOAT?!"  Or the time my friend amy put Elder Dieter F. Utchdorf on her list of "Hot Old Guys" under Robert Redford, Mitt Romney, and Harrison Ford—though Elvis is probably a more appropriate crush than an apostle...right?

i read it i saw it.

I finished reading this book about an hour before we headed to the theater to go see the movie last night. I had to rush and read for a few hours straight after work, but it was probably one of the best things I ever did.

                                             

 

I was determined not to miss the boat on this one. I have notoriously missed most of the fads in my life, except for Lost because Lost was amazing. Whenever people started talking about Harry Potter or Twilight (not that I really regret turning my nose up at the Twilight bandwagon), I was automatically the lame person in the room who hadn't read the books or seen the movies.

I have to admit that I have never really been attracted to fads, but I decided to give this one a chance in order to break my cycle of lameness. I confess, it was AWESOME. It took me back to my days of Lost obsession, transporting me into a crazy, imaginative world where anything can happen. getting emotionally invested in the characters. my heart pounding with fear and excitement. the elevated moments. both the book and the movie were highly entertaining.

I can't wait to read the next book, see the next movie, and steadily watch my coolness-meter go up.

RIP Spring Break

eating lunch with jacob on campus really brought me back to our dating/student days for me.
oh the days of my youth!

Last week was beautiful.

I slept in every day. And by slept in, I mean that I woke up at 8 instead of 5:30 every morning. I did yoga. I did p90x. I ate a good breakfast. I took long showers. I blasted music through the house. I laid out in the backyard and enjoyed the sunlight. (Yes, the sun actually came out last week and it was WARM.) I ate curry for lunch almost every day. I made homemade pizza. I played my guitar. I sang around the house. I went to the temple. I shot some hoops with Jacob. I read books. I cleaned the house. I organized stuff. I changed my name on my social security card. I ran errands. I watched stuff on on Netflix. I went shopping with friends. I got my hair done. I rode my bike to campus. I ate lunch with Jacob. I took naps. I didn't ride the bus!

I DID WHATEVER I FELT LIKE DOING WHEN I FELT LIKE DOING IT. It was kind of awesome. But now it is back to work and real life. Back to the bus and waking up early and being an adult. *huff!* But real life isn't so bad. If it weren't for real life, Spring Break wouldn't be half as good.

B&J Challenge: jimmy fallon's late night snack

 Behold! Vanillia bean ice cream with chocolate-covered potato chip clusters in a salted caramel swirl!!!

Americone Dream was better.

Even Jacob, who is the "Sultan of Salt," thought the saltiness of the potato chip clusters juxtaposed with all the ice cream sweetness was a little unsavory. Buuuuut, we still guzzled down the whole pint while watching War Horse at the dollar theater. So I guess it wasn't that terrible, or we were just eating our feelings while watching the heart-wrenching film about a horse that goes to war. Horse movies. they always get me.

Either way, Stephen still wins this challenge hands down! Americone Dream = CHAMPION.

spring break pizza

taking the week off allows me to spend my time doing things that i usually don't have time for, 

like making homemade pizza.

 I'm pretty sure Jacob never wants me to go back to work.

p.s.

does anyone out there have any good recipes for pizza sauce?? 

are baking stones highly recommended for pizza-baking? 

I so want to become pro at this someday.

last day

After eight months, why hasn't waking up at 5:00/5:30 every morning EVER gotten easier?

At least I went to bed early and almost got a full eight hours of sleep. At least I have a husband to help me get my act out of bed every morning—and even tolerates my pushing of the 'snooze' button a few times. At least he'll pack me a lunch and drive me to the bus stop (in his robe) if I am running late. At least I can sleep for a good hour on the 801 express. At least the guy sitting next to me didn't talk loudly on his phone the whole ride like that other guy did yesterday. At least I have a blanket and a soft neck pillow to cuddle up to. At least it is a little bit lighter and warmer in the morning than it used to be. At least spring is coming. At least this is my last day, though it is a bit saddening. At least my co-workers threw me a chips 'n salsa party at work. At least I will probably treat myself to some graham canyon ice cream in the COB cafeteria. At least I'll be taking a whole week off before I start my new internship (Spring Break?). At least I have a new internship to start—one that I am excited about.

The new job will still require me to wake up early AND commute, which is undeniably challenging,

 but hey—AT LEAST.

curry in a hurry

Lately, I have rekindled an old love—Thai curry. However, this relationship status has always been a bit complicated for two reasons: 1) Thai restaurants are a bit pricey  2) It never tastes as good when you try to make it. These unfortunate facts can turn love into misery—basically, I can't inhale delicious curry whenever I feel like it.

Luckily, I have found a remedy to take the edge off. Enter Mae Ploy curry paste. 

I am pretty sure that this is the best curry paste I have yet tried. So much better than the high-marketed asian brand products at the grocery store. And much better value too. One of these little jars will go a long, long way. I've especially been loving the massaman flavor.

And this can surprisingly be a very quick meal—throw some rice in the cooker, fry up the chicken and onions, nuke the potatoes in the microwave, add the coconut milk and curry paste and whatever into the mix*—and you got it. Curry in a hurry. 

*it should be noted that I don't really follow the label instructions for making the curry, but it always seems to work out. what can i say? i just do my own thang. 

B&J Challenge: americone dream

Last night, Jacob and I appropriately watched The Colbert Report while eating 'Americone Dream,' Stephen Colbert's Ben & Jerry's flavor.

Amidst Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon's ice cream war, we've decided to take the challenge of deciding which TVs host's ice cream flavor is better—so it's Stephen vs. Jimmy in the Robinson home. I was a little sad that we didn't get the limited edition "Superpack" lid, but the vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl did not disappoint. Still, somehow I think that eating the ice cream while watching the Report may have slightly enhanced the flavor.

Next we take on Jimmy Fallon's 'Late Night Snack,' and decide the winner of the challenge. Stay tuned.

Sucré

I have had a girl-crush on this lovely singer/song-writer for the longest time, 

and now my dreams have come true—she is making a solo album. 

 I love getting excited about new music. It is wonderfully refreshing—especially after long lulls of boredom. 

 "A Minor Bird" by Sucré comes out April 10th. 

I am counting the days. 

primary love

There is a little girl in our primary class who has always been attached to Jacob. In fact, I think she may even be a little enamored of him—in a cute, innocent, 4 year-old way, of course. She always has to sit next to him (if not on his lap), whispers secrets to him, and never leaves his side. Yesterday, during sharing time she pulled him down to ask a pressing question:

“Hey, do you think I’m cute???”

Way too precious.

In other news, we watched this 1994 family flick last night:

A new addition to our D.I. VHS collection. 

I think there is a reason that we were put in Primary.

We basically have the same taste in movies as the kids in our class. 

saturday blades

We were glad that the sun came out on saturday so we could take our new blades for a spin in the neighborhood. 

And by new blades, I mean the ones we thrifted from D.I.

my cute blading instructor

Blading through the mountainous terrain that is Provo, Utah. Okay, not so mountainous—but there are a lot of hills. This means two things. Uphill—burning my buns o' steel. Downhill—spiraling out of control and narrowly escaping death. Surprisingly, I kinda preferred uphill. 

Jacob taught me well. Here are some of my new moves:

My greatest challenge?
learning to stop—especially while going down hill.

My greatest strength?
bringing some style to the act. 

library win

Saw this movie at an independent theater in SLC about a year ago. It just barely came out on DVD in january. We called every place we could think of in Provo/Orem that sold movies, but no one had it. Then we checked the Orem Library—SUCCESS!!

This is probably one of my favorite movies ever. Jacob describes it as "life-changing." If you like Planet Earth and quality nature films, it is a must-see. Though to call it a "nature film" is a bit misleading. It is really a drama.

Just so you know, the Orem Library probably has the best movie collection I have ever seen. It is a gold mine. You have to pay a dollar for DVD rentals (kinda lame), but you get to keep it for a week, so it still trumps Redbox. And let's get real—they had The Last Lions.

Like I said, gold mine.

change my hair—do i dare?

So I have been toying with the idea of changing my hair lately, but basically, I am a huge wimp about it. I guess after years of having one hairstyle—blonde/long/curly—it kind of becomes your identity. However, I am starting to feel a little bored, or rather, trapped behind the bars of "blonde-dom. " See picture below:

Holli trapped behind the bars of blonde-dom, yearning for new hairstyle.

However, there was a year of my life when I went rogue. I broke the blonde mold and tried some new hair colors that I loved. First, I went "gold." This color kind of happened by accident. I asked the girl at Paul Mitchell to give me a more natural golden blonde color, and she turned my head into a shiny penny! I had one friend describe this color as "dirty red"—a red that lost its virginity. I loved it, and told myself I would never go blonde again.

These are kind of embarassing pictures, but give me a little break. I was 18, first semester freshman year, living in a dorm by myself. AKA taking embarrassing pics of myself was my hobby. 

And then there was this short period of my life when I went brunette on everyone. People at school had a hard time believing I had ever been a blonde. When I went home from college, people didn't even recognize me—and I loved it. I felt like a completely different person. I even had a few people tell me they liked me better as a brunette. But again, it faded out and I eventually ended up going blonde again—which actually was the result of another Paul Mitchell accident. Why did I ever go there?!? 

my brunette "disguise."

So there's the evidence. There was a time in my life when I deviated from the blonde/curly trademark. But can I go back?

man or muppet

so glad this won the oscar for original song.



also, i had no idea this was written by bret from flight of the conchords. what a genius.