Hanging Around

One reason we got to Utah when we did was so we could spend a few days and visit where we used to live. So on Monday, we drove down to Salt Lake to get all nostalgic and eat at all of our favorite places that they don't have in the east. We went to this cute little burger joint called Shivers for lunch. The burgers are really only so-so, I quite like the fries but it's the shakes that get you going back. They have a ton of flavors and are the kind of shakes that are more like cups of soft ice cream and they serve it with a spoon (not really my kind of shake, I do like to be able to use a straw, but still yummy). Mine was German Chocolate: chocolate ice cream with coconut and chopped nuts. So good! We were meeting up with my brother to see his office (designed by some locally well-known architects and LEED Platinum rated, I think, so we had to go see it) so we brought him the food and we ate in a conference room.

The office was pretty cool. Apparently a lot of people take tours through there (it is one of only two LEED Platinum rated spaces in the greater Salt Lake area) so people didn't really think twice to have us going around. After looking and talking, we let Aaron get back to all the work he had to do and went in search of some sunglasses for Jason.

A little while ago, Jason finally admitted that his eyesight was bad enough that he couldn't drive without his glasses anymore. Of course with that bright Utah sun, he couldn't drive without sunglasses. So, we went in search of the kind the clip onto glasses. Finally, by the third store and after driving all the way down to Sandy (over half-way down the valley) we found some that fit his glasses. (And this wasn't just him being picky, the second store didn't have any that fit, they were either too big or too small. Naturally he would have the awkward sized glasses.) Then, since we were down there anyway, we went and closed an old bank account. So Monday was a day for running errands.

On Tuesday, we were able to have a little bit more fun. We had lunch with a couple of people that Jason went to school with for his Undergrad. They got their Masters last year (it's a two year program) and are working for area firms. We met them at Cafe Rio (best pulled pork salad ever!) and got caught up while I ate an obscene amount (my whole salad for those of you who know). It was fun talking to them.

Then we went up to the University of Utah and walked around. I was blinded by all the red in the bookstore. Then again by the sun off the big concrete plaza by the library. Since we left, they had re-done the library to be better in the event of an earthquake. Now there are a ton of windows and it's all bright inside. After that, it was off to the architecture building. It was mostly empty (being summer and all) but we did run into one of Jason's old teachers. She was the one that kind of encouraged Jason to go to Penn and that it should be his first choice. So we had fun talking to her and telling her what we have been up to. Anna even said her name (Mimi) which was fun.

For nostalgia's sake, we then drove around our old neighborhood a little bit before going back to the Smalley's house. It was so strange to be back there. It was all familiar, not much had changed, but seemed so long ago. It was also really weird to think that we didn't have Anna when we lived there. What did I do with myself? I especially felt it when we went to the library (not previously mentioned but we quickly stopped by while looking for the sunglasses on Monday). It was strange to think that all the times I went there, I wasn't pulling her out of the car seat and taking the elevator up, I would just get out and run up the stairs. Strange.

While all of this was going on, we were also spending time with family. On Sunday night, we had dinner with Aaron and Marrisse. We hadn't seen them in person since we left Utah and neither of us had seen the other's baby in person. It was a fun and relaxing evening. Then on Monday, Megan arrived with her 4 kids with Josh coming on Tuesday night. Not to mention, visiting with Emily and Troy and their kids. All of this was just a precursor to the big family reunion that started on Wednesday.