Reason To Love SLC #3

Every Thursday in July and August, the City of Salt gifts it’s residents with free outdoor concerts. The bands you hear at these concerts aren’t the local high school’s marching band or your neighbor’s kid’s garage jam band. SLC rolls out the red carpet for the likes of Modest Mouse, Big Boi, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, The Decemberists, Lupe Fiasco, Sonic Youth, The Black Keys, and the list goes on and on and on.

The last two years they’ve moved venues and the current venue holds waaaaay too many people. So, I used to go early, scope out a good spot and hold down the fort until friends arrived. But now, there’s no chance I’m getting anywhere near that stage so I stand back, enjoy the warm Utah summer night listening to fabulous live music and PEOPLE WATCH.

Oh man, if your single and live in Salt Lake City, this is the place to be on Thursday nights. Tiny shorts, hiiiigh heels, men in jeans sized 0. There’s truly something for everyone here. I also see lots of families, tweens and older folks too. Last night’s Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros had epic people watching. My friend Tessa recently taught me about “photo bombing” and so I was able to snap a few of the worst offenders.

There were some seriously high heels going on last night. The best part was watching these girls try to walk...in a park made mostly of grass.

Make way for REBIRTH!

Last night I went to see New Orleans’ most famous brass band, Rebirth. They’ve been around for 28 years and their sound is classic NOLA brass jazz. Amazing.

The crowd was small, I was shocked. I saw them 3 years ago in the French Quarter and the place was jammed. Oh well, it just made for better pictures…

New Orleans is such a special city to me and listening to Rebirth just makes me so incredibly happy. I haven’t been this star struck in a long while…I hope they could see my mile wide grin from the stage.

Yes, that man is holding on to his cheek. He has to, it's been blown out from his awesome horn playing...which he can do one handed!

CrossBARFit

So after I took a month off (and still paid for) my Crossfit class, I went back for the first time last night. And nearly vomited. Like salivating, clutching my stomach, contemplating laying on a stranger’s lawn alongside SLC’s busiest street, vomited.

I walk in and my coach Taylor  (who is quite possibly going to take first place at next week’s national Crossfit Games) says, “DAWN! Where ya been?” I rub my protruding belly and say, “eating everything in sight.” She looks at my belly and hesitates just long enough for me to tell she is wondering if that means I’m pregnant (hey, I’ve been married two months and it’s Utah), she says, “cut it out, welcome back!” She thinks I didn’t see the hesitation.

Here’s our workout last night:

5 rounds for time –

400 meter run

20 box jumps (20 inches high)

20 wall ball squats (10 pound ball)

Sounds doable, right? OK, it’s also 95 degrees outside and there is NO AC IN THE GYM! Taylor even said to me right before the clock went, “Dawn, if you make it three rounds you can quit, it’s bad out there”. And I did, I made it three rounds and then sat in front of the fan and shook my head for the following ten minutes as teammates came over to me asking if I was ok. I must have looked like shit.

Back in the saddle tonight!

It’s wedding season, y’all!

I haven’t posted in a while because of two reasons:

1. I’ve been battling the most evil allergies on the planet. Eye infections, snot, coughing, no sleeping and pressure in my freaking face.

2. I’ve been too busy attending weddings and getting intoxicated. Sue me.

First up, Melanie and “Coach” David.

Melanie and I have been friends since we were 5. We played house when we were kids and always had twin brothers as husbands (Luke Perry and Jason Priestly are twins, BTW) and always had a double wedding. SO, it seemed fitting that in real life we got engaged within a month of one another and also got married within a month of one another. Too bad Jim and Coach aren’t twins…

Anyway, it was a beautiful wedding in wine country Sebastopol and as usual, pictures speak louder than words. Also per usual, there are like zero pics from the reception cause I was having too much fun getting gooned up with my folks J



What this photo isn't showing you is the MILES of vinyards just beyond the property line

Melanie was absolutely stunning

And Coach was absolutely smitten

Jumping the broom!

Me and my HUSBAND and my dad and my Andie