that's not a car lot.

Today I was driving home from the museum a few hours later than usual (it's T minus four days until the exhibit opens and it's all hands on deck) and it was starting to get dark. As I rounded a curve in the Red Mountain Freeway (it's really curvy) I saw a large orange illuminated half-dome in the sky ahead. Fascinated by this floating semi-orb, I thought to myself, THAT is the most eye-catching car lot decoration I've ever seen. Kudos. And I craned my neck more and more to try and see where and what it was. As I rounded yet another curve (I told you, it's very curvy) the semi-orb grew into a full circle. Suddenly I realized, That's not a car lot, that's the moon. Floating there, right in front of me, hanging over the Red Mountain Freeway, this massive, entrancing, rich orange orb. It was unreal. I tried to capture its glory when I arrived home and could safely take a picture, but it doesn't do it justice. FYI - top left: street light. Middle: street light. Lower right: MOON.

In other news, I am newly obsessed with Halston. Look him up. That man knew his way around sequins before sequins were cool.

BOOM. Halston.

And today I sat in on a collections meeting. Free lunch. And fascinating. You never knew how much was involved in a museum donation. You might. If I told you more about the collections meeting. Am I total geek that sitting in on museum meetings makes my day? It's fine.

valentine's weekend.

I sort of overlooked Valentine's Day as any other day of the week. I figured my valentine was coming the next day when Dave came to Mesa to visit me. So I felt pretty special when Dave surprised me by arranging for me to receive roses on Valentine's Day while I was skyping with him.

Of course the real excitement was picking him up at the airport the next day. Naturally I got lost in the middle of the desert on my way to pick him up, but fortunately I had left extra early in all my excitement and made it in time to meet him when he got off his plane. We went to Olive Garden for a late dinner together and finished off our reunion with a movie outdoors...because we can do that here.

At the airport, just after our reunion.

 On Saturday we went to breakfast, and then I got to take Dave to the museum to see what I've been working on. Well, I showed him the museum. The fashion gallery is under construction during the transition from one exhibit to another so, we really only got to peek between some boards. But it was great.

Sunday morning my gracious host was kind enough to take some pictures for us. Then I got to show Dave off at church and prove to everyone that I wasn't lying when I said I was engaged. You know, because someone might totally do that. My fiance exists! Thank goodness.

Bike ride along the canal.

Monday was for bike riding and relaxing. Dave's early flight got delayed to a late flight which meant we got surprised with three hours of extra time together, even if we had to sit in an airport to redeem it. Lucky for us the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport has some fancy couches to sit on. 

All in all, a wonderful weekend, and definitely the best Valentine's Day happenings ever. I am so grateful I got to spend a whole weekend with my best friend. Only three more weeks until I get to go home to visit him. And only four more months until my best friend becomes my husband. I can't wait.

warm rain.

I made the comment to someone before I left that I wouldn't be bringing my rain boots to Arizona. She responded, "You'd better take them - you'll get there just in time for monsoon season!" which I took to mean when it rains, it pours.

Well, I haven't seen a monsoon yet. But there have been a few chilly days since I got here (comparatively speaking - they would be considered heavenly to those of you back in UT) complete with good, solid rainstorms. They're pretty nice actually - it's a relatively warm rain, after all.

Captured this lovely sight a few weeks ago just out the front door after one such rain storm. I like the contrast of the differing trees in people's yards. I commented to my friend the other day that I still wasn't used to seeing palm trees in everyone's yards. "Why not?" she asks. "...because we don't have in our front yards in Utah." "You don't?!"

In museum news: all hands on deck. It's time to de-install the old exhibit and install the new. The old exhibit has to be cleaned and processed, collections forms are due this week, and not all the pieces have arrived for the new exhibit yet. And did I mention the curator is out of town? It's gonna be great.

this week.

Monday: Speed dating for FHE. How do you support your ward by participating in activities when you really shouldn't be participating in the activities they are hosting? Show up and eat cookies. That's right.

Tuesday: Tough Yoga. Aka aerial pushups, lunges, bicep curls, sit ups... It was awful. And wonderful. So much better than all of those things on the ground. Especially when we did a butterfly stretch hanging upside down. Nbd.

Wednesday: Visited this beautiful building:

Mesa, Arizona Temple at night, after a rainstorm. The reflection is a puddle on the lawn, not a pool.

Thursday: Balance Yoga. I was incredibly surprised at how much easier it was the second time compared to my first balance class last week. Moral of the story? Aerial yoga works! I'm addicted. Seriuously.

Friday: Skype "date" with Dave. Don't judge. Sometimes you do what you can. AND he comes to visit me ONE WEEK from today!

Saturday: Finally got some work helping a single mom clean/organize her home. Exhausting, but effective. Also, my GREAT accomplishment of the day was finding her address, SANS GPS. I'm practically a local. I have a preferred customer card at Bashas' and a Mesa Public Library card and everything. 

In internship news, this week I heard through the grapevine that my supervisor thinks I'm doing a great job, and she doesn't just say that about anybody. I think she's starting to trust my work a little more - my projects are getting more and more exciting. This week she put me in charge of researching and putting together a timeline for the wall of the gallery for the upcoming exhibit. Might sound silly to you, but its actually a big deal, so humor me and be proud. ;)

Also, it was HOT this week. Cheers.

black cloud.

This week I had the opportunity to participate in the installation of a work of art called the "Black Cloud" by Carlos Amorales. It's part of a contemporary Latin American art exhibition opening in the museum next week. The work consists of 30,000 black paper moths and butterflies attached to the walls and ceilings that spread throughout the entrance to the museum to the galleries and swarming in the central gallery. It's fantastic.

This picture is NOT from the Phoenix Art Museum as the installation is still in progress and few photos have been released. But I will tell you, the effect is remarkable, especially in the hall that museum staff refers to as the "Canyon." The museum was built to imitate the land and this particular hall has an extremely high ceiling and the walls undulate in and out. The cloud is simultaneously intimidating and beautiful. It has been fun to watch the progress of the two week installation - I still can't help but stop and marvel. If you get a chance to come to Phoenix before May, take it. And come see this.

I have to admit, I did not get to do any of the work up on scaffolding putting up paper insects because the artist was attending to his work the day I came to volunteer. Instead I was set to the task of prepping each piece for installation. The work has been installed in 8 or 9 other museums, but new moths/butterflies are used for each installation. That meant we had to take every little bug out of the box it was shipped in, unfold it, give it some shape, and attach some poster putty to its nose so it could be hung on the wall. While the work was tedious, I got to chat with some cool people while I was doing it, and I'm glad I can say I was part of the process. At the end I stuck one on the wall anyway - hopefully I can remember which one it is!

In other news, people here still think they are freezing. It's close to 70 degrees each day and everyone is still wearing boots, sweaters, scarves and tights. Meanwhile I'm trying to convince myself not to break into my spring wardrobe while pretending I don't feel like the oddball with my bare legs. It rained a little the other day and someone told me to be careful driving home. This weather things baffles me.

Tip of the day: You can't complain about weeding until you've weeded around a cactus. I wrestled a cactus bush today, and the bush won.