Tracie's World

If you've ever spent much time in Salt Lake, you know all about the Christmas Lights at Temple Square.  It's probably the most popular place here during the Holiday Season.  But if you actually live in Salt Lake, you'll eventually come to know of some neighborhood displays, that while on a much smaller scale, are every bit as impressive. For example, there's Christmas Street.  For 11 months of the year, it's known as by another name.  But every December, it changes it's name to Christmas Street.  It's a small culdesac, but literally every home on the street participates, and there's always a steady stream of cars.  I try to stop by there every year. This year, I discovered another one, just a block or two from Christmas Street. Again, it's an entire street, that has all banded together to do a Christmas Display.  Only this time, they use placards and posters to tell the Christmas story from the Bible.  And a steady stream of cars drives throug...

So I went to the mailbox the other day, and what did I see? A puffy envelope from none other than the Pinkster!  Inside were two lovely LA Dodgers magnets (what, am I that transparent?) that make a great addition to the new fridge, and a picture of Pink's pooch, Sammy Rhodes, with the Santa man himself.  Nice!  Thanks Pink!

Got together with the girl friends on Friday night for our annual dinner and gift exchange.  This year it was held in Bountiful at The Mandarin Restaurant.  The Mandarin is one of the busiest restaurants in Utah, and they don't do reservations.  So we had to wait a little bit before we could be seated.  But once seated, we had a fun meal, and gift exchange. My present from Deb was a new hat, which I immediately put on and wore home.  A very stylish addition to my wardrobe. After leaving the restaurant and saying our goodbyes for the year, I decided to take a drive up to see the Bountiful Temple.  It was all lit up, and had a lovely manger scene in the front (which you can't really tell in the picture). I left Bountiful, then drove home.  Upon hitting Holladay, I was struck by the town Christmas Tree, all lit up.  I don't know what it is, but something about living in Holladay makes me think of a sappy Hallmark Christmas movie.

After taking a break (more like boycotting the teenybopper headliner) from last year's MoTab Christmas Concert, it was a thrill to go back this year.  It is always a madhouse downtown during the Holidays, but even more so on Christmas Concert weekend.  So we made sure to get there plenty early to try and grab a bite before the show.   We first attempted to meet up with Steph and Becky at the Lion House, but it was packed, so we walked over to the City Creek Food Court.  Alas, everyone there was out of food.  So we decided to take a chance on the Nauvoo Cafe - at least we'd be inside, and out of the smog.  And what a fortuitous idea that was - because there was a separate line there for anyone who wanted the pot pie, and it was almost immediate service.  So - after a warm and comfy meal of salad and pot pie, we decided to brave the outdoors. We met up with Steph and Becky, and did the tour of the Temple Square lights, before heading over to the c...

My pal and colleague Lisa snapped a few shots of the three of us the night we went into downtown. Here they are...  Jill and I freezing on the Union Pier Ok, so I went a little crazy for the chips and salsa.  But you should have seen me once the guacamole got there...  Group photo - a fun evening.

So a couple of weeks ago, I went for the annual boob-smashing.  Not something I enjoy, but good for peace of mind.  Although I confess to being pretty nervous this time around.  For some reason this year, something kept telling me to call and schedule the appointment.  Then for days leading up the big event, it seemed that everywhere I looked, whether on the internet, or on the TV or on a billboard, breast cancer was always the topic.  Case in point: Several days before, I dreamed I had cancer.  The next morning, some noted person had passed away from breast cancer.  A few days later, it was the top story on "Sunday Morning".  And when I tried to change the channel, it was an old Law and Order episode about, what else? Breast cancer.  It was as if the Universe was conspiring against me. By Monday morning, when it was time for the appointment , I was a total wreck.  I was sweating (this without any deodorant, since they don't let you wea...

Whenever I travel, I always like to take a couple of books with me. It helps to pass the time on the plane or in the airport.  But with all the new rules about how much you can carry on, and since I absolutely refuse to check my luggage bag, it's getting harder to fit a book or two in - especially if I'm going somewhere for work and needing to carry a laptop. I got to thinking about this predicament, and I decided to deal with it by making a Christmas present to myself of a Nook Simple Touch e-reader.  I went with the Nook because I had a Barnes and Noble gift card, and with the Simple Touch because it was only $99 and had been getting great reviews.  So off I went last weekend to the local Barnes and Noble, where I plunked down a small chunk of change on the Nook, a case to cover it, and a protective film cover (which only took me about 26 tries to get it on straight). So far, I absolutely love it!  It was so convenient.  I downloaded a version of the Scriptu...

This past week was spent in Charleston, South Carolina.  I have been working on a project at work that I got sent to Charleston for a few days.  We have a reservation office there, and so I worked out of that office for a few days.  I totally loved my time there - everyone was so friendly and eager to be good hosts.  And the weather was so much better than the 25 degrees and inversion here in SLC.  Sadly, we didn't really get out much - and with it getting dark earlier, it was hard to see things when we did get out.   The first night we there, we were pretty tired from traveling all day, so we stayed in and ate at the hotel's evening reception.  But the second night, one of the trainers took us to a restaurant called Cork.  The girls I was with all shared a bottle of wine, while I sipped on a lovely glass of milk.  And for my entree - an absolutely awesome dish of Shrimp and Grits.  I never liked Grits much before, but I am definit...