"Bonjour Cannes!" Part I

So I am WAY excited that I've been able to go to France for work. Every year, the company goes in October and April. This year, I get to go and I have to say it is SO BEAUTIFUL here in Cannes. The Palais, where the trade show is going to take place, is right on the beach and the area is known as Cote d'Azur, which means azure coast. It's beautiful and the weather has been very nice. It has been in the 70s!

Yesterday, after 18 hours of flying, we went straight to the Palais to set up. My sister, Tammy, said it is best to just stay awake and go to bed at a normal hour in France. So I went to bed at about 10:30 PM and I feel fine now. Maybe a little tired, but nothing more than usual. After we set up at the Palais, we went to La Pizza, which my boss said has the best pizza in the world. He was right! The pizza was AMAZING! It was very cheesy and extremely DELICIOUS! The trick is that they use 1/2 mozzarella and 1/2 swiss. It gives it a really unique flavor. Then they cook it in a wood-burning stove. So if you are ever in Cannes, make sure to check the place out. You won't be disappointed.

Today we went to Carrefour, a Walmart-like store that is HUGE. To give you an idea of how big, they have 73 cashiers. And ALL were working! We got some food, some of which I will eat and some I will likely pass on. I told Gil that I would TRY a BITE of rabbit and I might try skate (stingray), but he got me some steak and a frozen pizza to eat on those days. I also had to get a hair straightener because the transformer I brought did NOT work for it. I plugged it in and went upstairs to get dressed and when I came back, the ceramic plates on it had melted off the device! So I had to buy a European-friendly one for like $58. At least I'll have one for next time I'm here!

Our Anniversary

This has been the best weekend so far -- not only cuz it's a 3-day weekend, but because Johnny and I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and celebrate our anniversary one night. So last night, we saw Star Trek (I was VERY impressed and I'm not a Star Trek fan, nor do I have any knowledge of it at all) and ate at Main Street Pizza Noodle in Park City. We got a king suite at the Stein Ericksen lodge and OHMIGOSH! It was AWESOME! We were thinking King suite meant king bed, nice accommodations, etc., but we had no idea!

The place came with a full-size kitchen and living area, 2 fireplaces (one in the living room and one in the bedroom), a dining area, 2 bathrooms, and our very own private balcony and hot tub! And we got the 5-star treatment the whole time we were there. I definitely recommend staying there if you get a chance. I'm sure you'll love it as much as we did!

The "Eliminate the Weight" Plan

So Johnny and I have been inspired to start eating right and exercising to lose weight. Why? Well, for a number of reasons. First, we're doing a weight-loss challenge with some of his buddies at work and, well, we like to win. :) Also, we watched an episode of the Early Show that boasted a plan that would help you lose 20 pounds in 4 weeks. The nutritionist they had on the show gave some recommendations as far as what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They didn't say anything about exercise, but I can only assume that this plan would and should include it. Now, I know losing 5 pounds a week can be difficult, but I think we can do it. I figure, you can do ANYTHING for 4 weeks, right? Worst case scenario, we'd lose less, but we'd still be adopting a healthier lifestyle! So we went to the store today and bought a lot of healthy (BUT YUMMY) foods and we're going to give it our best shot. So today we had some non-fat vanilla yogurt with some banana and triple-berry granola for breakfast. Our picnic lunch today is going to consist of whole-wheat pitas filled with veggies and grilled chicken strips with some low-fat vinaigrette and some watermelon to munch on. We also got some Crystal Light Green Tea take-along packs (that you just put in your water bottle). In my research online, I've found that Green Tea can really help with weight loss, so why not try it? Dinner tonight is going to be grilled chicken, brown rice, and veggies.

As far as workouts, we plan on doing our new P90X every morning and I'd like to go to some classes (Zumba, Power Yoga, Rock-Hard Abs) at the gym on some nights. Wish us luck! We'll keep you posted on our progress.

SNL Humor

SNL is funny again! :)

Here Comes the REVOLUTION!

Johnny is officially a baller (holla, holla!) again! He and his brother, Roger, are on the Wasatch Revolution semi-pro team. The team is in the Rocky Mountain football league and they just played their first game last Saturday. It was awesome to see John working it out on the field. At one point, I saw him push 2 guys off at the same time! :) The team even has their own dancers and they did an awesome job cheering the boys (or should I say MEN) on. I can't wait for Mother Nature to finally start cooperating and giving us good weather every Saturday for their games. Look at this guy! Would you mess with him? I dare say you would not! If you want more info on upcoming games, let me know. We'd love to see you there!

New hair

I am so excited that I FINALLY was able to go in and get a haircut! It had been a long time coming! I was a little nervous about going darker, but I'm warming up to it and I think I like it better than the red highlights I had before. The only thing I wish is that my hair would look everyday the way it looked when I walked out of the salon. I told my stylist that I would like her to do my hair everyday before I go to work. Perhaps it's time I learned how to do hair...

Monkeying Around

Monkeys can be cute sometimes and sometimes they're obnoxious. My mom once worked with a guy who had a monkey. She said the monkey was really annoying because he would always steal her pencils. Heehee. But John found this video of the CUTEST MONKEY IN THE WORLD! It makes me want one. If y'all are wondering what I want for my birthday, this is it. John is going to clean up the poop. I'm just going to play with him. :)

Check it out here (sorry, it wouldn't let me create a link, so you'll have to do the ol' cut and paste): http://www.comcast.net/data/fan/html/popup.html?v=1070792212

Welcome, Spring! It's been so long,
We were beginning to think we'd said something wrong.
We thought maybe you didn't love us anymore,
but, alas, here you are and you've come back for more.
Stick around and stay awhile,
bring the sun and make us smile.
Winter's welcome has long passed.
We're ready for it to leave, and fast!
Screw you, Mother Nature, "It's Spring!" we say.
We're glad Spring's sticking around another day.

Lovin Pandora

I'm sure most of you have heard of and used Pandora, but I have to say it is freaking awesome! I had heard about it before but didn't decide to try it until today. If you don't know what it is, it's an internet radio station. You create an account (for free) and enter the names of all the artists you like. I just went through my iPod and put 'em all in. Pandora will play songs from the artists you list and also songs from different artists that fall under the same genre. For every song, you can mark thumbs up or thumbs down. If you mark thumbs down, it will never play that song again. You can also bookmark artists or songs that you like and can purchase them on iTunes.

If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it. It's cool cuz you can log in no matter where you are and get the tunes you like. :) Speaking of great music, I'm excited that Depeche Mode is coming to Utah at the end of August! Sweeeeet! "I Just Can't Get Enough"!

Spring Gardening Tips

New Job & Yummy Sandwiches

I started my new job last week and am loving it so far. I work at Koan in Park City as the Director of Acquisitions. Basically, I look for movies that need U.S. and/or international distribution and contact the producers to see if they would like us to distribute their film(s) for them. The fun part is that I get to talk to producers and even attend film festivals around the world. I also get to screen movies that come in to see if we'd be willing to distribute them. Some are great and some are NOT so great. :) Brent and Kellie can attest to that! The commute is definitely better than the commute for my last job and I love working in Park City. The only hard part will be trying to refrain from going to the outlet malls every day on my lunch break! 

Johnny and I just found an awesome little sandwich place in American Fork. If you're ever in the area and craving a sandwich to munch on, I recommend going to Jimmy John's over by WalMart. I got the turkey sandwich on french bread (add the provolone and dijon) and it was SO YUMMY! Johnny got the tuna on french bread and it was also delicious. You can order online too, or even go through the drive-thru if you're in a hurry. Then, for dessert, make sure to stop by Smart Cookie by the Century Theaters. Their sugar cookies are to die for and I find myself craving them everyday! It's a good thing they're far enough away that I can't just jump in the car every time the craving hits. Their regular sugar cookies and their cinnamon sugar cookies (think cinnamon bun in the form of a cookie) are SOOOOO GOOD!

Hey everyone!!

We are BACK!!!!

Stay tuned for more EXCITING updates!