The Lion King

Rafiki and the antelope dancers, can I just say how thrilled I am that Rafiki is played by a woman for the stage production?

Simba and Nala...look how detailed those costumes and makeup are!
The Circle of Life
Timon and Pumba, and below, Zazu, this is what I mean with the puppets and the actors who control them. It was mainly the comic relief characters that got this treatment, but the actors had to have the same facial expressions and motions as their puppets had. Plus, I love that Zazu is the one character that wasn't dressed in traditional African clothing, but more of a British feel.

Mandalay Bay has an awesome deal going on right now where college students can purchase up to two tickets at $25 each for The Lion King! I've been wanting to see this show ever since it first premiered on Broadway, and even more when it came to Vegas. But of course since I know that it's silly to pay full-price for show tickets in Vegas, I've just been waiting for a really good deal! Judd and I jumped on this one!

So I got choked up in the first 30 seconds with the first chords of "The Circle of Life", and was totally transfixed throughout the rest of the show. The costumes are completely amazing, particularly the ones with a puppet attached. Judd and I were trying to imagine how an audition for this show would go: the actors need to be able to act, sing, dance, and many need to be able to work a puppet at the same time they're doing the above actions. The kids were adorable as Simba and Nala, and their adult counterparts were superb. The actors who played Rafiki and Scar were particularly memorable.

The music was inspiring, and I liked the addition of African songs and dance throughout. Some of the characters had new songs. I enjoyed Nala's song towards the end where she must leave her family to find help. Nala was a much bigger character in this musical than the movie (although the Scar storyline where she is being pressured to marry him was kind of off). I totally just downloaded the sound track and I'm determined to memorize these awesome songs, even if half are in another language!

So I would recommend this show to anyone, even if you have to pay the full price (but seriously, find your old college ID or make a friend and see if you can go cheaper!). It brought back a piece of our childhoods for us, and it gives you a couple of hours to get lost in this beautiful story.

The Bachelorette Week 1!

It's back!
So I wasn't thrilled that Ali was chosen as the next Bachelorette, after all, she has a track record of acting like she's in junior high and choosing her "dream (Facebook) job" over hotties like Jake...but the show is too addicting. And it makes for a good Girls Night Out. So here's a recap of last night!

Ali is back, still blonde, at least 15 pounds heavier, and wearing the most ill-fitting/least flattering black drab of an evening gown. She is here for the right reasons! She gave up her job AND her apartment for TRUE LOVE! Chris Harrison refers to her as "America's Sweetheart", which totally threw me off since I assumed that was Gia or Tenley, but whatever.

The show cuts to bios of the more personable potential husbands for Ali:

Studs: Mountain Man/Josh Groban look-a-like Kyle warmed my heart as he ice-fished and played with his dog. Roberto is the Latin hottie who did the requisite teach-the-bachelorette-how-to-dance act, but he does seem pretty genuine. But 100 points and my vote go to Cape Cod hottie Chris L. Everyone knows Cape Cod men are true gentlemen. Plus he has a cottage on the beach ($), AND he's nice!

Duds: There's Frank who tries to pull off Adorable Nerd, but the fact that he lives with his parents writing screen plays made him loose a few points in my book. Lawyer Jay looks like he has a cute face, but his hair aged him about 20 years. I think he may have picked up on this as soon as he entered the sausage fest, therefore causing him to lose whatever confidence he had coming in. Rated R" came in with a broken foot, but I'm kind of wondering if he's playing the sympathy card and only pretending to have a broken foot. And anyone who goes by the name "Rated R" is too full of himself for me. The same for people who go by "Shooter".

Wild Cards: Johnathan got points from me for being a weatherman, but he looks like he's gonna get real obnoxious real quick. Craig M aka Wolverine gets points for being Hugh Jackman's long lost twin, but he makes me nervous when he gets angry and I fear he'll pull some claws out on Ali! "

Many of the guys tried to impress/buy Ali with heartfelt gifts. One guy made a scrapbook (WTH! Guys don't scrapbook! I'm sorry, but GUYS.DON'T.SCRAPBOOK.) Another gave her a yellow tennis shoe keychain...and of course he had the match so they could make a pair! Of course he gets a rose. The one gift I felt was really a neat one was from my dear mountain man friend Kyle who gave her a gold fish hook for good luck. AND SHE SENT HIM HOME!!!!!!!

The rest of the episode involved manly cat-fights, roses, eliminations, and teases for next week. Tune in here, I think I'll follow this season all the way through! And if you want to watch, our little Bachelorette group would love more girls to scream at the TV with!

St. George Awesomeness Part 3!

This is the creepy doll outside the general store in Pine Valley.
I want this house so bad, I'm obsessed with the wrap-around porch, the castle-like appearance, and the guest/carriage house right next to it. We drove by it about 8 times.
This was a really cool tree-house at the wedding. Of course we had to pose!

Our dog needed to burn off all that energy after the wedding!

Hey, it's my journal and it's for posterity, right? ;)
To sum up the rest of the trip, we camped after the wedding. We totally burnt the brats we were trying to roast over a fire, but I assured Judd that it was a cleansing to eat overly-charbroiled food (hey, we give charcoal to dogs to get poison out of them!) After that, we car-camped since it was too cold and we were too wimpy. The next day, we tried our hand at fishing, but once again, it was too cold and windy. We're so going again after all the poles and bait we bought! We were determined to have an awesome trip and not let the disappointing fishing trip get to us, so we went on a hike instead. It was right outside of St. George and I think it was called Turtle Peak or something like that. I'm so glad we have a dog that won't run away off-leash (bad, I know, but she's a good dog!). Bindi had fun chasing lizards, and we had fun trying to work off all those calories! We told ourselves we did 10 miles, but it was more like 5, but still pretty good!
After that, we headed home, crashed, took a 3 hour nap, and here we are now!

St. George Awesomeness Part 2!

The wedding!
So to pick up from where we left off, we headed to Casey and Andrea's wedding with a wet and muddy dog in tow. But they're dog people, so they understand! We know Casey from American Pet Hospital, where I worked with him for a few years, and now we're teammates on the Atomic Dog Flyball Team! Plus, he owns Nel, the super adorable Border Collie that brought Judd and I together! Andrea is such a sweet girl that has given us so much advice on our little dog, and her little girls are the most adorable kids ever. It was really neat to see them all become a family (I had tears!). What made their wedding unique was how they incorporated their four dogs in it! The boy dogs had tuxes, and our little friend Nel had a cute yellow dress with the rings attached! Nel was a flower girl alongside Andrea's daughters. It was the most beautiful setting up in the mountains. Afterwards, they had a reception at a campsite, and it was fun to see both our teammates and my former co-workers.
We're so happy for Casey and Andrea!

St. George Awesomeness Part 1!

This past weekend, Judd and I took a much needed trip to Saint George! Hiking, shooting, camping, weddings, fishing...it's all in there! Since we did so much in so little time with too many pictures, I have to split this blog entry up!

So Friday, I was so proud of us for only leaving an hour behind schedule instead of the usual 3 or 4. We went straight to Cedar City first so we could play with our lovely friends Dawn and Tyson. They made us this fantastic ranch/chicken/bacon pizza, then to work off all those calories, we went SHOOTING! It was a blast (ha ha), except for the horrific moment I thought Bindi got shot. We were letting her run around, and she was doing okay with the gun noises until we started shooting Judd's gun. She decided she was gun-shy and took off for the car. I went to go let her in, turned my back for a second, and she was gone. Normally when you call her, she comes right away, but this time, nothing. I panicked. Everyone started calling her and looking for her, and finally, Dawn had the common sense to look under the car, where she found a shaking, but otherwise unharmed Bindi! Once I knew my puppy wasn't bleeding out somewhere, I relaxed and hit my first glass bottle from a distance!

After shooting and playing this really fun dice game, we left for our hotel in Saint George. The next day we realized we left our clothes for the wedding at home, so we had to do shopping (awww, man!) to get new ones. I picked out this dress that looked okay, but was really short on, but that's what leggings are for! We headed up to Pine Valley for the wedding and to pick out a camp spot...

...which was right next to a stream! We thought Bindi was a wimp and was scared of water, but she decided to jump right in! She ran back and forth across this stream until she decided she was in fact scared of water...on the other side. 5 minutes before we had to leave for the wedding. We're all dressed up. Judd was her big rescuer, jumped over the stream in church clothes, grabbed the dog, and jumped back over without even a splash!

Kristen Reviews...a bit of Gossip, scandel in the courts, and a very REBELous pizza!

Alright, so to break away from less-than-momentous life occasion blogs, I want to write about three things worth checking out!

1. CW's Gossip Girl Season 3 Finale



So this is one of those shows that, depending on who I'm talking to, I will either proudly admit liking, or hiding my head in shame for liking. I love this show despite all its trashiness and compromising situations it puts its underage characters in (if I ever get to be a Young Woman adviser, I would never admit to my girls I watch this!). But the fashion! Blair's awesome comebacks! Chuck's creepy one-liners! Seeing how dumb Serena can get! Trying to decide if Jenny needs a hug or needs to be strangled! Rufus's waffles! This list could go on for days, but sadly, I will not get to see my guiltiest pleasure show until September because the Season Finale was Monday night.

After Judd the Stud spent two hours trying to find this show online after our DVR failed us, we were finally able to watch this hunched around the computer (yes, Judd is mildly interested in this show, although he will claim he can't stand it). I thought it was their best season finale yet, and because I don't want to give too much away, I'll just say...PREGNANCY!SHOOTING!STEP-SIBLING INCEST!

I'm probably losing a few heaven points as well as brain cells every time I watch this show, but we'll just call it my Diet Coke. Everyone has weaknesses. :)



2. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory



So one of my favorite books (although I can't say the same for the movie) is The Other Boleyn Girl. I'm completely obsessed with royal history, and combined with my love for historical fiction novels, this is one book I never get bored with. SO when I saw that there were SEQUELS, I had to get them! This is the one I just finished, and it is one you won't be able to put down. Granted, you have to know the story of The Other Boleyn Girl, but you can probably just get away with watching the movie to understand this book (but you'll be cheating yourself!).

The Boleyn Inheritance picks up a couple of years where the first book ended, and it follows the viewpoints of three prominent women of that time period: Anne of Cleves, who becomes King Henry VIII's unwanted 4th wife, Jane Rochford, the traitor who lives with the memory of sending her husband and Queen Anne to their deaths, and Catherine Howard, the king's flirtatious, 30 years younger 5th wife. So much scandal! And the whole story chronicles real events, which makes the story that much more fascinating.

3. Rebel Pizza


Judd and I eat here about once a week. You can't beat the $5 FRESHLY MADE large specials (beats the Little Caesar's that's been sitting under a heating lamp waiting for you). It's right down the street from where we live. I love that you can sign the walls, so I did all romantically for Judd and I (and for Studio G). And I love how it kept my friends and I fed those long nights I had to stay in the studio this semester. It's not quite Sunset Pizza (my absolute fave), but it's pretty close!

BLOND(ish)!!!!!

New blonde hair!



This is the auburn I had before...

This is Judd's photoshopped rendering of what I would look like as a blonde, he came pretty close!



I've been a lovely brunette, a emo black-haired chick, and a fiery redhead, but the one color I've never tried before on my hair is BLONDE. I've always had a complex with being blonde, mainly because two guys I dated back in the day both told me I would be prettier if I were blond (I know, jerks, right?). Plus, I didn't want to appear Utah-Mormonish (although you girls are super pretty!), I like looking more outside the mold. So that was the one color I've never wanted to go to...until Saturday!

I figured you only get one life to dye your hair (unless they let you in Heaven, SWEET!), so why not? Plus, this summer is all about my triumphant return to the Cape, so I wanted to be a beach blonde. So Saturday, the awesome Melinda at Ease Salon and Sport worked her magical wonders and here's the results! I like that she didn't bleach me out, she's great at figuring out what works with my skin tone (she's made me auburn before). I really like it, I feel like it aged me backwards a bit (now I know why women in their 40s+ are obsessed with it). And Molly was super cool and took these pretty pictures for me!

So here's to living up that old saying that blondes have more fun!

Puppy Sleepover

A couple weeks ago, we watched our friends' puppy Eevee for the weekend. She's a black lab/cocker spaniel/beagle mix and SUPER adorable. Judd lamented that Bindi will never be quite as cuddly, but we love her anyways! Bindi liked having a new friend over, and totally makes me want another puppy, but not until we have a house with a big yard! (although our friends that we're renting our townhouse from had THREE dogs bigger than Bindi living here, just sayin').

But anyways, just had to show off the cute pictures of them! We attempted to teach Bindi how to swim after Eevee just jumped right in Judd's parents' pool, but she wasn't having it. I'm sure once we're brave enough to swim where we won't freeze to death, Bindi will feel more willing!

In other news, summer classes have started, and Kristen's Extreme Summer Workout has begun with three athletic classes 4 days a week: Jazz Dance, Pilates, and Self Defense, plus the two miles every day I jog with Bindi! It's not that I was totally out of shape...but I knew I could do better, PLUS...bikini season is upon us!

Studio G... you're the best!

Best Tuesday anchors ever! Ashley and me!
In front of the green screen, pretending some really cool background is behind us!
The Studio G crew!

So here I am on a Monday afternoon wondering what I'm going to do for next few hours. This is a weird sensation, as usually Mondays for the past few months consisted of me going absolutely crazy trying to film and edit stories before the 2:30 deadline, preparing weather reports, reading over my anchor scripts, tweaking the cameras, and a bunch of other tasks needed to run a newsroom/news show. But now that our show Studio G is over until the fall, we're on a much-needed break. As crazy as the show drove us, I think I'm safe in saying I'm probably not the only one feeling a little empty at the moment. That group of us right there put our hearts and souls into producing a news show 5 days a week. We spent more time in the news room than anywhere else and eventually all became such good friends. It's the first time at UNLV that I've ever felt completely accepted and that I found my niche. I feel like I'm at LVA again, except that this time I finally get to be in the spotlight instead of working backstage behind it!

So I'll rest up these next few months, then come back ready to be news director/anchor in the fall! I figure it's a good way to leave a bit of legacy in my last semester!

Just remember, you can watch us at work or on the web at unlv.tv/views! Gosh, who knows how many times I had to say that line!

Buffets and Bowling

us!

Mike and Molly

Robin and David

Telly and Amber

If they're gonna make you buy socks, at least they're cute pink sparkly socks!

Who doesn't love locals specials to over-priced buffets? Actually, I must say for this particular buffet, the Carnival World Buffet at the Rio, the regular price is still worth it, mainly for the HUMONGOUS portions of shrimp and crab legs available for the taking! But still, HALF OFF is a pretty sweet deal! We went with all the cute couples on Judd's side of the family: Mike and Molly, Robin and Dave, and Telly and Amber. First stop was the buffet, where pretty much all I ate was sushi and shrimp to feel justified at eating at a buffet (if you're gonna down a ridiculous amount of food, it better be semi-healthy/indulgent!).

Next was bowling at the Orleans. Here's the thing about me and my relationship with bowling: I'm either really really good or really really terrible. Friday was definitely on the "terrible" side of the pendulum as far as my skills went, but it was still fun. At least Judd came in second-to-last place so we were equally as bad! I blame it on the shrimp! The bowling superstars had to be Telly and Amber: Our lane stopped working for a few minutes, so Telly went and bowled three perfect strikes in the "closed" lanes, and Amber just ruled our lane with strike after strike!