tonight i went to the premier of young@heart in georgetown. lee scored the exclusive tickets online, and we were surrounded by critics and entertainment writers with their pens and notepads. it was one of the best movies i’ve seen in a while. if your city has a theater showing this film, GO SEE IT. you won’t regret it.

friends in salt lake: i can’t find any show times in the area online, but i imagine it will be downtown at the broadway soon.

i am currently enjoying a rediscovered obsession with gum lately, particularly bubble yum bubble gum in grape, watermelon and cotton candy. here i am at rugby’s exhibiting what lee and katie called my “siamese double bubble” in original flavor.

25 on the outside, 4 on the inside. life is good.

ahem. i am officially a quarter of a century… (moment of silence). as many of you know, this was a hard one to swallow for me - but i made it out ok.

my friend chareese invited me to join her parents and her brother, richard, for a weekend up in new york city. i tell you what - i need to get myself up there more often. it was a wonderful weekend, and let me show you why.

the apple store is open 24 hours a day. (dad, did you catch that?) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. also? they have a pretty awesome glass elevator. richard and i rode in style. the people were impressed.

well, at least chareese thought we were funny.

while walking to the apple store my favorite red satin ballet flats were ruined in the rain. it was a sad thing for me. let us take a moment to remember these fine shoes.

richard was the candid photographer of the trip - which was great and awful all at the same time. i invariably look up every time a camera is pointed at me just in time for the photo to snap, so i always end up being the only person looking at the camera. awkward? yes.

saturday was so beautiful. a little bit chilly, but the sun was out and the streets were hoppin. i love this shot richard took of the city.

saturday night we had dinner at tao. it was incredible. here is a picture of megan, me, and chareese enjoying the sushi appetizers. mmmmm.

after dinner we headed off to the theater to see mary poppins. nothing beats a new york broadway. the performers were all amazingly talented and i love how they adapted the story for the play.

and then? times square.

sunday was rainy and we lost richard, which resulted in the end of our picture taking. if we had documented this day with photos you would have seen me with wet hair and smudged make-up, swollen feet from walking hours and hours and hours, a couple pairs of new shoes, and tickets to WICKED. that was the highlight of the trip for me. i’ve owned the soundtrack for years and have been dying to see the play. if you’re ever in town, whatever you do, make it to this show. you won’t regret it.

and so that is it. we got back into town late sunday night and i turned 25 fifteen minutes later. and so begins another year. the past year has been one of the most challenging and rewarding years for me. i can’t wait to see what the next year has in store, because one thing i’ve learned - you just never know.

i spent last night making cupcakes from scratch and it was a complete disaster. the most embarrassing display of domestic ability - or inability in my case, as exhibited above. there was once a time i was quite a good lil’ baker. i swear.

on the bright side, the second batch turned out much better thanks to a friend i call betty crocker.

tonight i attended the gourmet gala in downtown dc. one of my good friends was working the event and hooked me up with a pair of tickets (thanks again, chareese!). after weeks of being a social recluse it was nice to get all decked out and enjoy a night out on the town.

the gala is an annual fund-raiser for st. jude children’s hospital and features nearly 40 of DC’s finest restaurants. some of the highlights included the lobster macaroni from capital grille (a-freakin-mazing), these evil little chocolate-covered gooey cake things from maggiano’s little italy, and morton’s famous steak sandwiches. each restaurant served a couple of their specialties and let me tell you, i am so full i could die.

it was a wonderful night, and even better, served a great cause.