Ruby Tuesday

Utah. How I love thee.

I had the chance of going home in April (4th through 11th, to be exact) to go to a concert, surprise my parents for their birthdays, and just relax in love. I guess I am going to share this experience with you. Hold on tight, it is going to be an intense one.
SATURDAY
On the morn' of April fourth, I woke up at five in the morning to be picked up by the train shuttle (If any of you have seen the episode of Arrested Development where Tobias gets picked up by the shuttle to go to the airport, it really is like that. Made me laugh hilariously...quiet....in my head thinking about him saying "I can't believe this is only fifteen dollars! Who would want to get picked up in a limo when you can travel like this?!") I was so excited to go home, so when we got to the airport, I tripped and fell out of the van. Classic Chelsea there. The driver was all worried and I just laughed.
I arrived at the airport around six thirty, checked in, then realized my plane was an hour late. I woke up four hours earlier than I had to for the chance to sit in the airport waiting for my plane to come at eleven than nine fifteen. Oh glorious. So I did what any other person would do: I bought a grande mocha frappachino, some Dunkin Donuts for the mother, and watched Arrested Development episodes on my lappie. It did help the time pass.
I boarded the plane.
Made some friends.
Saw my mountains.
Bawled when I saw my mom and dad. Cried even harder when I realized that the dogs weren't in the car. DEVASTATION.

By then, it was already noon...ish. So I went home, showered, then proceeded to the Lloyds to get Ashlee for the concert. That was fun. I was screaming and jumping, Cooper was barking, Lynne started screaming, and it was a lot of chaos. Even Carey was excited to see me; he made me grape juice. So that was fun. Ash and I then went to pick up Jake so we could go see
Brett Dennen
ANGUS and Julia Stone.
We found a huge Indian head made out of a tree. I made us take pictures. We then partied, partied, partied. Amazing show. Amazing friends. After that, we went to IHOP until two in the morn'. When all was said and done, I had been up for a full 24 hrs. Oh, the glorious.
SUNDAY
General Conference, baby. The parents and I watched it, I didn't listen really at all, then...I don't remember any of Sunday. Hmm...well, it was a good one? Oh, it showed the dedication of the Draper Temple. Wow, I am so glad I write my blog a month later so I forget all the details. Oh, Steph and I hung out a bit. I got to see my favorite redhead. That was good.
MONDAY
I went up to campus with Ash. She showed me where she parked, I found a deer jaw while walking to school, went to institute, then waited for her to finish math. I talked to Melissa Warren for a bit, then wondered "What else am I going to do?" Well, thank goodness I saw the banner advertising a blood drive THAT VERY DAY. I went up to the ballroom, rolled up my sleeve, and tapped that vein silly. Ok, I didn't tap it for them, but I did donate blood. Then I picked out the red gauze so that
"It will look like you hit an artery and it wouldn't stop bleeding."
Man, I have some poetic words. So then I had to buy an earring for my third hole, but before that, some Peruvian people were selling bracelets and I made Ashlee get one with me so we would have friendship ones. We fought in the Union Building. Some girl in an I heart NY shirt just stared at us. Pretty hilarious.
We went to Ume. I bought a yellow sundress. It was a hot day. The dress was sheer. I didn't have a slip. I gave both Jakes a show for free because of this. We all went to lunch at Pelatons and I talked them into seeing A Haunting in Connecticut because I live right by that state. Jake Cook flaked out. It was a pretty horrifying movie. I can't spend the night at my friends' homes in CT because I think that all their basements were morgues and dead people are going to attack me. Pretty great fun.
TUESDAY
I can't really remember what happened this day. I probably just hung out. Maybe I slept. Who knows.
WEDNESDAY
I hung out again with people? I made a collage of my parents.
THURSDAY
This is where it gets good. So my amazing, classy, smart, witty, gorgeous sister had this amazing plan that we should have a surprise party for my parents' fiftieth birthdays. I agreed and so did Dave and Em. We threw it at the Mandarin. Grandma and Grandpa Waterfall helped us with the planning by saying that they wanted to take mom and dad to dinner because the "family was in." So I rode up with mom, dad, Gma, and Gpa and they were so surprised to see forty plus of their close friends in the dining room. Mom freaked out. It was extremely hilarious. The best moment was when my mom saw Pam Alston there. Pam lived in Austin while my parents were there. She actually had a daughter around the time I was born. Well, mom and Pam hadn't seen each other for ten years. That was pretty great to see how excited they both were. While eating some amazing food, we all got to say things about how we love the padres. I, of course, bawled because being away helped me truly realize how amazing they are. It was so neat to see how many people love and care for them. It really makes me want to live my life as my parents have. They have helped so many people and spread so much love. They really are two of the greatest people in this world..
FRIDAY
Mom, Ang, and I went shopping for wedding attire. It was exhausting. I did say multiple times that we shouldn't get my clothes here because "the Westchester has more of a selection." Yes, I am a New York snob now. There you go. We all got some beautiful dresses while out. It was nice to just get it all done at the same time too. We spent forever shopping though, so that was pretty much Friday.
SATURDAY
Day of mourning, day of leaving. I had to say my goodbyes to everyone, which sucked. It's the last time that I would see most of the folks in my grand state until Christmas. That was a weird feeling. It still is a weird feeling. It is so nice to come back to a familiar place with familiar faces and people who love you and know you. I miss that to this day. The fam and I went to Cafe Rio before checking me into the airport. I had to check on my bag because I packed some Love Spell, so that sucked. Oh well, it was a long flight but I made it home for Easter. You know, even though I say I hate Utah (I said that even yesterday) there is a lot of good in that state. It is full of peculiar people, people who actually care about others and want people to be happy. They enjoy the ride, not really worrying about how long it will take to get from point A to point B. They truly love life. We are like the Hobbitfolk in Middle Earth. I can't believe that I just said that and that I am going to post that. We really do enjoy life though.
So I am back in New York (surprise, it's almost been two months) and life is going well. There have been some trials and times of frustration, but it is good to be back to my schedule. I miss you all terribly though. I hope you know that I still love you all; you have been good to me. I have been spoiled to the extreme with friends, love, and family. I hope I can help spread the love and happiness to my New York neighbors. Home is honestly wherever you are happy and where you feel loved. Hopefully I will find that here. It was good to see you all. Love you.
Cheers.
Ch.Wa.