Why Chen Ying is the best

Chen Ying is my good friend from Malaysia and she is the best for so many reasons. Let me just outline a few from this past weekend.

#1) She invites me to do fun things!

Like this cool German party! Her and I were the only ones there that didn't speak the language fluently. I took a few years of German in high school and college so I could follow most of the conversation but couldn't speak it at all. It was fun to play interpretor for Chen Ying all night. Especially when I got the stories wrong and they didn't make sense any more.

#2. She lets me borrow her clothes

On Saturday Chen and I went shopping at the outlets and got so caught up in the great deals we were finding that we didn't leave enough time for me to go home and change my clothes in order to make it to the adult session of Stake Conference. I had pretty much decided that I just wouldn't go, but Chen Ying was sure she had something that I could fit into. I was extremely doubtful seeing how Chen is so much shorter than I am. I died laughing when I came out of the bathroom and she said, "Oh, is that how it's suppose to look?"

Only one problem. . . I didn't fit in her shoes and these were all I had!

(Don't worry. I didn't go in these shoes. Chen Ying's roommate Joanne helped me out.)

#3. She encourages me to try new things

This is a Mooncake. . .

It came all the way from China!

There are many stories that go along with mooncakes. The most common one says that the Chinese people use to put small messages in the cakes in order to communicate with each other without the government knowing. Now, they place an egg yoke in the middle to represent the messages that they use to send.

After eating a few bites, I was #1. a little shocked that it wasn't anything at all like a cake and #2. curious what it would taste like when I got to the egg yoke. I didn't particularly like the bit that I had eaten and would have been fine to stop there, but upon hearing Chen Ying talk about how unadventurous Americans are in their food tasting, I was bound and determined to get to that yoke. Besides, it couldn't be that bad. . . right?

Here I go, being adventurous, trying something new.

Okay. . . I don't know about this. . . It's a little weird tasting. . . has a funny texture. . .

. . . chew Sarah, chew. . . just get it down and everything will be okay. . .

. . . Oh No. . . abort, abort! It's not worth it. . .

Chen Ying is still the best, even though I didn't like her Mooncake.

(I just noticed, Chen Ying is not in any of these pictures. What's up with that!)

One Full and Happy Saturday

We started with a brunch at Sound Bites to celebrate Juliet's birthday! Happy Birthday!

Next, we headed out to the Charles river to watch the Head of the Charles Regatta. It's the worlds largest two day rowing event! More than 7,500 athletes from around the world compete in 55 different race events.

And the race is on!

After spending a good amount of time on the river, we headed downtown to take in the sights at the big pumpkin festival. It was really fun to see all the pumpkins lined up on the steps in Government Center.

Pumpkin seed spitting anyone? Turns out they are a lot harder to spit than you think, I only made it about 7 feet.

This was my favorite pumpkin of the day!

Last but not least, Juliet and I attended a Ghanaian dinner at my good friend Bequis' house. Juliet is the only person in her family who was not born in Ghana, so she was thrilled to get the chance to eat some real Ghanaian food.

Great food with great friends, what a perfect way to end my fun filled Saturday!

TODAY'S YOUR DAY!

Happy Birthday Dad! I hope your day is fantastic. Love and miss you!

Concert Series Take 2

(Celtic Thunder, Ray Lamontagne, Ben Kweller)

CELTIC THUNDER

So my friend Alicia and I decided after watching the PBS special of all these Irish men singing that we wanted to see them when they came to Boston. The concert ended up falling on the same night as a big Red Sox game, so Alicia who is a BIG FAN decided to give her ticket up. So I called my good friend Chen Ying and we had a great time.

This is us totally shocked at how close we were . . . 8th row! Exciting!

The singing was amazing and a little cheesy all at the same time. It absolutely killed me every time they came out and sang old American songs. Especially when the little 14 year old came out belting Puppy Love.

To be really honest, Chen Ying and I were the youngest people there (see picture below). We died laughing at how silly some of these older people were. Every time the 14 year old came out they would all scream and throw their hands in the air. We died laughing!

The show had this girl that would come out and her only job was to walk around on the stage in a dress. I was dying! I could do that job easy! She really didn't do anything else.

Here she is again, the show was not void of its corny acting but we loved it!

At the end of the show we got a little surprise and it almost turned into another kind of show.

BOYS!!! Didn't anyone teach you not to flip around so fast in your skirts! The old ladies went wild! Chen Ying and I were again, laughing!

We had a great time and were so excited to be so close! Below is a video that I recorded of one of my favorite songs. It's the one that made me want to go to the concert. Enjoy!

RAY LAMONTAGNE

Kristin and I went to the Ray Lamontagne concert and had such a great time. I cannot say enough about Ray Lamontagne. If you haven't listened to his music you need to go out and treat yourself to his amazing voice and unbelievable melodies.

The concert was at the opera house which was the most beautiful place I have been yet. The acoustics were amazing!

(this picture is really blurry but I like it for some reason)

This is one of Ray's older songs but one of my favorites! Enjoy Jolene and seriously people, listen to his music, you wont regret it!

BEN KWELLER

I went with my good friend to see Ben Kweller. Ben's music was constantly playing my freshman and sophomore years of college, so I was really excited when I was told he was releasing another album. I wasn't feeling the best that night and didn't really want to go to the concert but was really, really glad that I did because Boy did he put on a great show!

I was fascinated by this guys instrument. I don't remember what it's called but I want to learn how to play it!

Here is Ben Kweller singing one of my favorite songs. This is not from my concert but is equally as good. Take a listen and familiarize yourself with Ben Kweller.

Concerts are so much fun and I think you should all get out and learn to love them as much as I do! I'm so grateful to live in a place that has so much musical diversity!