SUNDANCE via Instgram....

So I forgot my camera (well, I remembered the batteries but forgot the camera, go figure) so Sundance today will be told via my instagram pictures.

After a short walk/run with Addy, I drove down to Salt Lake City with a big bag packed with food- what can I say, I had wayyyy too much food in the fridge and didn't want it to go to waste over the weekend.

I was a little worried about the drive because the weather had been pretty nasty during the week (lots of snow and rain and slushy conditions) but the drive was actually beautiful. And take heed, OREGON, the speed limit all the way down was a cushy 75 mph. I rocked out the whole way down.

I was greeted in SLC by my dear college roommie and, while the kid's napped and then played, we worked on E's room, dinosaur themed. Z and I played a lot of catch and played with the baby and Megan and I got to chat. For dinner that night, we went to get take-out from this legit Mexican restaurant, a la Tijuana Potter's Clay style, as Megan put it. My burrito was downright incredible. Full stop.

The next day, these two sweet munchkins, Megan, Thad and I walked, in the rain, to get some bagels and donuts. The walk required us to also eat a large cinnamon roll. Which we did.

Despite the rain, I decided to head up to Park City anyway. I started to regret my decision when I went over the pass, which was pretty snowy. There were a few moments of white-knuckling the steering wheel and wondering if I should- or even could- turn back. But in the end, with some skidding on back roads and the decision to finally just park in a supermarket parking lot, I found the shuttle to head up to Main Street.

No joke, I had been in Park City maybe two minutes when I ran into this guy.... Charlie Conway in the house, everybody! I tend to be pretty good at spotting people and the minute I saw this guy, I knew it was Joshua Jackson. He was very kind and after we crossed the street, he took a picture with me. I also told him that my sisters and I were big Mighty Ducks fans and that I had also once seen a guy in a bar in Idaho wearing a MD1 green purple and cartoon duck jersey. He loved that. Again, incredibly polite and I will always be a fan.

I spent a little time in the Filmaker's Lodge, where a panel about distribution was about to start (which I honestly didn't really care about so I got a free Nalgene and then headed back out in to the snow). It was coming pretty hard but since I was there, I was going to enjoy myself. I stopped into a few stores, saw Margaret Atwood in the bookstore, and got a free lunch (well, I had to "like" Chase Sapphire on FB) in the Sundance Channel HQ and then walked all the way back to my car, again in the snow.

Back in SLC, Megan and I changed and then headed up to Ogden in a pretty big snowstorm. We were the first ones at the Rooster but a few minutes later, the rest of the alumni crew showed up. Once again, there ended up being a kids table and an adults table and the kid's table was so much more fun. Megan and I talked with Kate and Katie and Jake and Paul were right next to us chatting as well, and the food was delicious.

Then it was into the theatre- I love the Egyptian theater in Ogden, and I love that we get our own little boxes with free popcorn and drinks. There was a really nice lady who was kind enough to find me a Diet Coke when there were no more in our area. So nice!

So now, let's talk about the movies. The first movie was called "Wish You Were Here". It's about a woman and her husband who go to Cambodia with the woman's sister and her new boyfriend, who they don't know much about other than he works in Cambodia. The four of them have a wonderful time but only three come home. The movie follows their struggles to come to terms with that happened to the boyfriend- is he dead, missing, on drugs? Nobody seems to know. The three remaining characters deal with the trauma and tragedy, as well as with the guilt and hurt of finding out that the husband and sister slept with each other (this ended up being a theme of the night....). There are flashbacks interspersed within the narrative and as you get closer and closer to the end of the movie, you find out more and more and at the end, there as a conclusion and a new hope for the future. The movie was honestly the most depressing movie I had seen in a long time. But at the same time, it did have some redemption at the end. Still would recommend it- for one viewing. It's not a feel-food movie you'd sit and watch with some chocolate. This is a movie you'd watch when you're already sad and need to eat some ice cream.

The second movie was called "Your Sister's Sister" and it started Emily Blunt, Mark Duplass (from the League) and Rosemarie DeWitt. Emily's character Iris sends Mark's character, Jack, to her dad's house on an island off the coast of Washington because he's had a rough year (his brother, Iris' ex-boyfriend) has died and he needs a place to just get his head together and recuperate. When he arrives, he finds Emily's sister, Hannah, there, played by Rosemarie. The two of them hit it off, get drunk and sleep together the first night (again, it's a theme here...). Iris shows up the next day and all soon becomes revealed, along with the revelation that Iris is possibly in love with Jack, even though she dated his brother and they are best friends. This movie is a little different in the way that they cope with all the revelations (including the big one that Hannah only slept with Jack because she wanted a baby and may be pregnant...) because they are so isolated from the modern, technological world. Jack can go out and camp and ride his bike, Hannah and Irish can go out to the lake or on long walks in the woods. They can't rely on computers, email, phones to call their friends, etc. Eventually, through time, they are all able to reconcile. Again, not necessarily an uplifting movie, but there were some hysterical moments of dialogue and facial expressions and the end, despite being abrupt and annoying, had hope as well.

In between the two movies, we went to one of the conference rooms of the Eccles Center for a little reception. Everyone introduced themselves and there was wine, beer and the most yummy cake ever. I didn't like the apple thing on the left side of the plate, but I could have no doubt eaten the entire cake all by myself. It was heavenly. Just like last year, I felt incredibly swanky and classy. It's a rare feeling :)

The next morning, I went to church with Megan and the munchkins and then got back on the road. The weather was just as perfect as Friday, which was so nice, and again, I appreciated the 75 mph. Also, the Galaxy chocolate bar that I consumed. Delicious. Sundance, 2012 definitely a success! See you next year!