dripping with passion

this is my friend nikki. we are kindred spirits for lots of reasons, mostly because we both have a constant travel itch. one day we'll trek around the world together, but until then we've become the best of pick-me-up-from-the-airport buddies. nikki and i are jet-setting quite often, and we just have an understanding - when i return from a trip, nikki picks me up, and vis versa. i always love our drives home, catching up and scheming for the future. she's one of my favourite people. i'm hoping there will be many more needed pick-ups ahead. what's next? she'll pick me up from a trip to san diego and i'll go get her after her adventures in cambodia! who's going to come collect us when we travel together???

last weekend i also:   -coordinated another awesome power of moms retreat with saren and april:   -ran errands and took a walk in the aves with julie -went to the bees game - perfect weather and sparkly fireworks:   -went on a double date with my parents -had sunday dinner with some of my favourites:   there are pretty few things i enjoy more than driving around in salt lake. memories are in the corners and i'm smiling. it's a refresher on how good my life has been and is.

it took young love at first sight, a heartrending breakup, some other serious relationships and six years, but finally the destined, beautiful inevitable happened and sara and matt tied the knot . huzzah!!! the sealing was divine. somehow teetering on the brink of heaven? i swear, it felt like heaven. they kissed : (ha! don't you love michael and his future wife in that photo) we hugged : (i adore these girls more than most anything) and then we all celebrated: dani made the cake and bouquet (and let me help a tiny!) i loved seeing dear friends (including elise who accidentally came dressed as a bridesmaid!) we are soulmates (dani and i told matt to get ready to travel the world with us & our future husbands) and off they went: ( to hawaii, then colorado and arizona, and finally home to oklahoma…) may 20 was an outstanding celebration of the miracle of love. {photos by dani}

most of us single girls have mused about some marvelous details for our future weddings, right? we fantasize and chat about our little visions. the only thing i recall sara talking about during these inevitable conversations was something actually disconnected from the wedding day: an epic bachelorette party – as sara dubbed it, a “last night with her girlfriends.” the girl had a dream. many months ago i hugged a then heartbroken sara after a pretty brutal break-up. she looked up at me with teary, glistening eyes and said, utterly distressed, “i’m not going to have my last night with my girlfriends! (sob, sob)” forget about all else – the most important thing in jeopardy here was sara’s farewell-to-singlehood dream! i decided then to make that “last night with her girlfriends” happen, no matter what. when sara got engaged a few months ago, i started making plans with dani, and last wednesday night it all became a reality! it was so fun to get together sara’s best girls and honor th...

all my wildest san francisco dreams came true last saturday when i set sail with pals to celebrate our wonderful steph’s birthday aboard this boat: the birthday girl (in the middle below) invited 30 friends to take a sunset sail aboard “ruby” and we all very happily obliged. it really has been my dream since i moved here to sail in the bay, and i was so excited all week, and the actual event (gasp!) exceeded my expectations by a long shot! here’s how i felt about the adventure: i quickly ran to the front of the ship, stepped over the protective chain and stood myself right on the pointy bow, ebullient and effervescent. we sped right into the little bay that surrounds at&t park, and the giants were playing that very night. it was so exciting. then we headed straight under the bay bridge, which i feel like lives in the shadow of the golden gate bridge, but that night i developed a major crush on it. the bay bridge is so magical. cupid’s arrow – he already got me long...