Cinco de Mayo

It's one of my favorite holidays. There's absolutely no rhyme or reason why Americans celebrate Mexico's Independence Day...except that it gives us an excuse to eat tacos and burritos and break pinatas and light Virgin Mary and Jesus candles. Viva Mexico! Our Mexican meal was fabuloso! Olivia put her own twist on tacos by substituting grated potatoes for meat, which I much preferred. Mixed with sauteed mushrooms, peppers and onions and topped with fresh avocado and mango salsa, you'd never even miss the beef.


This is Tyler. He and I put this little shin dig together at the last minute. Yes, this is the Tyler I'm dating. He's 7 years younger than me. Perhaps he's mature for his age, or perhaps I'm just immature for mine. Either way, we don't feel the age gap much....unless we start talking about high school music...which would be elementary school for him. Then it feels a little weird, so we don't talk about that much. :p

Olivia and Matt cookin' up tacos!

After dinner entertainment....beating the crap out of this pinata. Keva got to go first because she had the most pent up aggression in the group. All I can say is that Tyler was either brave or crazy for being on the other end of that stick with a pissed off, blindfolded, hammer swinging woman chasing after him!

Mexican candy....straight from the Mexican mall just down the street from me. What a great discovery!

Here's a few clips of us experimenting with Mexican candy. If you've never tried hard mango candy with chili centers, well, now you'll know why.....

Did I mention my boyfriend is really mature for his age.....???

Swell Season

I almost missed this show! It would have been such a pity, too. The show sold out before I got on the ball and secured a ticket, but yesterday it was on my mind so much, I decided to get on Craig's List and see if by chance someone was selling one. Sure enough, I found one! I was so happy.

The show was incredible. I was mesmerized the entire time. For those who haven't seen the movie "Once" I encourage you to take a looksie at it. It started out at the Sundance Film Festival and went to the big screen from there. The stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Iglova wrote and sang all of the music for it and are now on tour. Check out their MySpace for a sample of their work: http://www.myspace.com/theswellseason

Glen definitely has the charisma of a performer. He kept us all laughing with his ramblings about the stories behind their songs and his experiences at Temple Square that afternoon. He clearly enjoys working a crowd and does very well at it.

I found Marketa very unusual in a humble, adorable sort of way. She had a very simple presence about her and seemed uncomfortable being the center of attention, never speaking much to the crowd. When she did introduce a song, she was very concise and vulnerable, sharing the emotions and feelings that inspired it. She was sweet, almost like a little girl, and then she opened her mouth to sing and this beautiful, captivating woman appeared. Her voice is so rich. I love it!

I've been humming their songs all day. It makes me happy....so happy. :)