Restaurant Review: Cafe Pierpont

We've stumbled twice upon a wonderful resaurant in downtown Salt Lake City, Cafe Pierpont. This Mexican restaurant serves up burritos the size of newborn children, features a 6-option salsa bar, and will forever spoil you to Mexican food--you'll never want to go back to Chevy's. We stopped in to treat ourselves since we were on the town and had a willing babysitter for the evening. With only $15 to our names, we enjoyed an appetizer and dessert, and gave our server a generous tip. Our appetizer--although shared between the two of us was filling enough to be considered a meal--consisted of Chicken taquitos, served on a bed of lettuce with sour cream, tomatoes, guacamole and dipping sauce. I've never been so impressed with a mexican dish in my life...I'm drooling now thinking about it. The freezer kind can't even compare-the wrap was crispy, the chicken was perfectly seasoned, and the dipping sauces were the perfect complement.

Then we ordered cheesecake. Again, I was expecting the freezer kind, which is also good. But what we got was beyond anything I had ever expected. Again, a crispy fried tortilla encased cheesy ganache, with ice cream and chocolate syrup...I don't know how else to describe it. It was sinfully delicious!

Our experience was fantastic. The food was incredible, the prices were incredible. We even had a friendly server who also knew when to leave us alone! What more can you ask for? So have I made you hungry? Next time you are in the area, head to SLC for a stint at Cafe Pierpont, and pick us up on your way there!

Thursday from Texas

I'm in Texas this week with my Gramma. We've been having a fantastic time together. She especially loves seeing my Leah and ordering me around, but its okay because she gives me chocolate.

Today I encountered three very strange instances, all within the same couple of hours. I saw a woman will a very full mustache. Any amount of mustache on a woman is unnatural, but this was more than just peach fuzz. It was unmistakably a mustache, with long dark hairs, at least 1/4 of an inch long.

I also saw a woman with a very conspicuous wig. She was very short, probably not much taller than 5 feet, but instead of high platform shoes to increase her height, she wore a ridiculous, tall, black wig. It was dark hair piled and piled beautifully in a Marge Simpson-esque tower. I could see blond whiskers coming out at the bottom of her coiffure where it was very clearly not attached to her head.

Then I saw a woman with very hairy legs. This was not just I-forgot-to-shave-this-week-but-accidentally-wore-a-skirt stubble. This woman was particularly masculine looking, her legs had several gashes, and were unmistakably and intentionally unshaven. Whats more is that I encountered her in a retail business where she was an employee. She had the demeanor that suggested she would slug me if I looked at her wrong.

I can give the wig-lady a little credit for putting effort into present-ability, but unmistakable facial hair? Conspicuous leg hair? I myself am not particularly keen on morphing into a Hollywood star when it comes to appearances. I want to be individual and unique, but also presentable. I don't think people should be anorexic to loose weight so they can look like Kate Moss, and I don't think people should change their bodies with surgery so they can have bigger this and smaller that. And to be honest, when I'm not adequately shaven, I simply wear pants.

So here is my question: Is this a Texas thing? or a Thursday thing?

Ready to declare war

Nylons.

I don't know what it is about me, but I can't wear the same pair of nylons more than once. I brush against something ragged, I get a snag. I cross my legs under a table, I get a snag. I have toenails, I get a snag. I just don't get it why I have this curse. I remove my rings to put them on and I don't have long fingernails. I've tried the nail polish trick, but that only works when the snag is above the bottom of the skirt, which I'm never priviledge to.

I wear them because they make my pale, not perfectly shaven, bruised like a peach legs look nice, and they add a little insulation on those cold days and make me feel like my legs aren't naked. It just looks better on me and more professional than my own ugly legs, and looking somewhat tan and having smooth looking legs also makes me feel kinda sexy.

But I'm starting to decide that it might not be worth it. No matter how hard I try, I average one use per pair. At around $2 a pair, with 52 Sundays a year, that's over $100 per year...not to mention the instances where I get a snag before even getting out the door. I think I might actually have to budget to just buy a new pair every week.

Does anyone have any wisdom for me? Is there a tried and true brand that you've been able to wear twice?

Learn all about pantyhose by clicking here. It's really very interesting.

I will never let go...

My husband and I watched Titanic last weekend. It had been a long time since either of us had seen the movie. We commented to each other that it was a beautifully made film and a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives, aside from the cheesy love story of course and the dumb ending (the necklace part, I mean). We both were saddened by the all-to-true portrayal of class segregation.

But we also laughed at ourselves as we remembered Titanic when it first came out. I was a dramatic, boy-crazy teenager, not to mention that I kissed pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio. I had this movie poster on my wall. I really did kiss it. I saw the film seven times in the movie theater. To think that I could have been saving for college... Chris recalled that he remembers watching as a teenager and being sad that he didn't have someone to hold.

I remember sitting in Liz's bedroom listening to the instrumental score from the movie (thinking it was kind of boring) and watching as Liz became dramatic and teary-eyed as she commented on all the lives that were lost and the unfortunate separation of star-crossed lovers Jack & Rose. I distinctly remember thinking that I should be crying also, and that I should immediately go buy the soundtrack to recreate moments like this in my own bedroom.

Seriously, why did teenage girls go so crazy about this movie? Why did I take nearly 23 hours of my childhood to watch it in a dark theater with my girlfriends and comiserate that I wasn't madly in love at 14? (Because we all know that Jack and Rose were definately in love, right?) Then I spent more hours watching it on video.

The movie itself is about an hour too long and borders on pornographic (of course, this week we were watching a slightly edited version that actually seemed to qualify as PG-13). Why was that appropriate for teenage girls? Or for anyone? If you take out the nudity, it is still pretty graphic, especially for someone like me who is particularly oversensitive to things like watching people drown and get their heads cracked open on titanic rudders (I know they were acting, but still...)

Leo's acting is pretty cheesy in my book (although I thought almost everyone else was very good). The "I'm the king of the WORLD" line has become a joke. I remember seeing T-shirts that said "The boat sinks, get over it" and being extremely offended and defensive of my dear Jack. Then theres the Celine Deon song. I would play it over and over again with dutiful tears streaming down my cheeks, compounded even more when they started playing the version with quotes from the movie in it: "I will never let go, Jack. I will never let go..." Did you notice that as she says that line, she lets go!

In retrospect, it really is a well made film and is very moving, but it was ridiculous that we idolized Leo so much and contributed all of our babysitting money to the all-time highest grossing film ever made. I'm so glad I've grown up.