Our Saturday

A few weeks ago I was looking around the internet trying to find cheap things to do, and I discovered that the Utah Museum of Fine Arts has a free day every third Saturday.  Last week was the day, so hubby and I trekked down to Salt Lake.  We aren't usually museum type people, but it was still fun.  These were Pat's favorites:

And these were my favorites:

After the museum we drove around the Avenues.  We just haven't spend much time there, and I love looking at old houses.  Then we went down to Gateway and ate dinner at Z'Tejas.  I had shredded beef rellenos and their signature mojitos and they were delish.  Then we had an hour or so to kill at the mall, where I wandered around stores like Anthropologie, Forever 21, and Urban Outfitters that we don't have up north.  I didn't find anything to buy though.

Finally it was time to go to our concert - the other reason we were in SLC that day.  We finally got to see Lady Gaga!  I bought tickets ten months ago and it has taken forever to get here. Scissor Sisters opened and they are an awesome band I discovered a year or so ago.  They played my favorite song, Any Which Way, which was so much fun.  Then we had to wait an hour for Lady Gaga to come on, which was irritating, but at least she put on a good show once it finally started.  I am a big fan of it actually being a show, not just a concert.  I was also impressed with the message she tried to put across:  believe in yourself, love yourself, and accept other for who they are too.

All in all it was a great day, especially since we have been low on funds and haven't had a chance to get out much lately.

First Hike

The weather has been showing us some wonderful glimpses of Spring lately.  On Saturday we decided that it was time to hit the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for our first hike of the year.  Yes, there is still lots of snow, but it wasn't too bad.  Our neighbor, her sister, and her dog joined us for the adventure.

The view behind:

The view ahead:

The view of us girls struggling to make it up the hill:

And finally, the view of the dogs trying to cool off:

The dogs had tons of fun getting to be wild for a bit.  They chased each other all over the mountain.  They did get baths when we got home though.  Mud and horse manure does not make for clean pups.

February Book List

Alien Tango by Gini Koch - 428 pages
Skinwalker by Faith Hunter - 320 pages
Pegasus by Robin McKinley - 404 pages
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning - 594 pages
Bloodshot by Cherie Priest - 359 pages

TOTAL - 5 Books - 2,105 Pages

I had been impatiently waiting for Shadowfever for over a year.  It is the last book in one of my favorite series, and it was so much fun.  I will miss reading about the characters, but hopefully the author has something equally amazing in the works. 

I also really loved Pegasus.  I have been a bit burned out by YA fiction lately, but Robin McKinley has been a favorite for a long time so I picked it up.  I am so glad I did!  The story sucked me right it.  She usually only writes stand alone novels, so that's what I was expecting here, but it is definitely to-be-continued.

I liked Cherie Priest's Bloodshot much better than her steampunk series, The Clockwork Century.  I just seemed to care more about the main character.  I will be waiting for the next book in this series.

My library just barely got in Skinwalker, the first book in the Jane Yellowrock series.  I have heard good things, so I was excited to try it out.  The story got a bit dull for me in a few spots, but overall was a fun Urban Fantasy adventure.

And last, but not least, were the crazy shenanigans in Alien Tango.  I have heard that this series is laugh-out-loud funny, but it doesn't stick me that way for the most part.  It is fun to see what the author comes up with, but it requires much suspension of disbelief on my part.