Weightless

Bryan and I tried out flotation therapy last week. Never heard of it? Me neither. But Bryan came across a groupon for the Salt City Float Spa and thought it looked interesting. I'm always up for an adventurous date night...or afternoon in this case. And really, other than the drive up and back, we were on our own during the actual floating. But still a fun experience to share.

Floating takes place in this alien looking pod. It is filled with 10 or so inches of heavily concentrated salt water. Like, Great Salt Lake salty. The water is warmed to 95.9 degrees, or surface skin temperature. You climb in (swimsuit or not, totally up to you...I went with not) and close the pod lid. Because I was slightly worried about claustrophobia issues, I left the lid open a crack. There is a light inside the pod that you can turn off if you like. I left it on because it was just a nice blue color that reflected off the white roof of the pod...and it was kind of soothing.

Because you are floating, but the salt water is skin temperature, once you settle down and the water stops rippling around you, you can't feel it at all. And it suddenly seems like you are weightless, like floating in space. It is the most surreal feeling. You are meant to spend the hour in complete relaxation and meditation. It reminded me a lot of savasana...that final "corpse pose" at the end of yoga practice. I spent my hour in the pod focusing on my breathing, thinking about each area of my body and how to let go of any tension that might be there. I tried to let everything empty out of my mind and get to the point where I was just completely and totally relaxed. In fact, some people fall asleep while floating. Some soothing music starts playing in your room during the last 5 minutes of your float to let you know that your session is almost over...and to wake you up if you've dozed off. I did not fall asleep, but I was still very surprised at how quickly that hour went by.

I don't know if floating is something we will ever do again...but it sure was fun!

Comic Con...

...proof that adults do still like to play dress-up.
For the uninitiated, seeing as this is the first time Salt Lake City has played host...Comic Con is a fan convention of all things sci fi, gaming, and comic books to put it simply. We're talking guest star appearances, a convention hall full of booths of stuff to buy and goggle over, games and performances, and then of course my favorite...cosplay. You'll never find a place quite so ripe for people watching as Comic Con. And a big part of that is the cosplay aspect.

Though Bryan is a big sci fi fan, he had no interest really in visiting Comic Con. But the more I thought about it, the more I really wanted to see what it was all about. Curiosity more than anything....everyone was so excited about it. And as I've documented before....I clearly have a sci fi streak in me as well, manifesting itself right now as a Dr. Who obsession. So I convinced Bryan we should go check it out and call it date night. He agreed and I ran around the house collecting odds and end Dr. Who paraphernalia to wear. Not a costume, per say...more like homage. Knee high TARDIS socks, an exploding TARDIS necklace ("Vincent and the Doctor" episode...meaning Vincent Van Gogh) and a Keep Calm I'm the Doctor bracelet. I even curled my hair in tight little curls reminiscent of River Song's curly hair. And I made a quick jaunt to the mall to buy a t-shirt. (We had some at home but they were Brandon's and a little on the tight side....) I got lots of compliments on my t-shirt actually, along with my socks that apparently are "epic." The t-shirt was rather clever....

YOU ARE THE BOW TIE TO MY SUSPENDERS

YOU ARE THE FEZ TO MY STETSON

YOU ARE THE SONIC TO MY SCREWDRIVER

YOU ARE THE FISH FINGERS TO MY CUSTARD

YOU ARE THE EGGS TO MY SOUFFLE

YOU ARE THE CENTURION TO MY PANDORICA

YOU ARE THE KEY TO MY TARDIS

THE SWEETIE TO MY RIVER

YOU ARE THE DOCTOR TO MY COMPANION

And of course all of that makes so much more sense if you are a Dr. Who fan. As does probably most of this post. But I digress.

All jazzed up and ready (Bryan in a Superman tee) we headed into town. And wow, what an experience we had! It is a people watcher's dream come true and I couldn't wipe the grin off my face throughout the entire night....even when my high heeled feet started screaming at me from walking around so much.

(Oh hello there Han Solo and R2D2! And the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation? Nice to make your acquaintance!)

After buying our tickets, the first door we peeked into as we started to feel our way around the event, was a huge room with a question and answer session going on with none other than Dean Cain! So yes, I will admit to being a very big fan of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman back in the early 1990's. My eyes must have been very big because Bryan smiled and asked if I wanted to go in and listen for awhile. Ummm....YES! Dean Cain did a great job by the way...fun and engaging, intelligent in his answers.

And though I feel a bit guilty for admitting it, I found him much more interesting than the session we went to later with William Shatner (aka Captain Kirk from Star Trek) and Adam West (aka the original Batman). Because supposedly Shatner and West were the biggest names at Comic Con. But all they wanted to do was philosophize and discuss getting older and the things they have learned....blah, blah, blah. I wanted to hear Start Trek and Batman stories. All the same...I did find myself geeking out just a little bit to be in the same room with them. (Even if they wouldn't let us take their pictures...)

At one point we saw Darth Vader walking towards us. I don't care who you are, there is just something about Darth Vader that makes you jump, even if you know it's just cosplay. He looked so realistic that I whipped out my camera....only to have the person with him ask if I wanted a picture with Darth Vader. Well....okay? Bryan insisted that it be me in the picture. Maybe because I was geeking out more than he was? Or maybe because he was a little worried about Lord Vader's very famous throat grip. Lucky for me Vader was the perfect gentleman.

But even more freaky than Darth Vader, if you can imagine such a thing....this Weeping Angel. And my favorite picture of the night. We had a nice little conversation about my "clever shirt" and how my 6-year old daughter has nightmares of weeping angels. And then she pulled her pose and oh my, if it wasn't a little bit unnerving!  Because truth be told....Lilian isn't the only one who has had nightmares about weeping angels....

The rest of the time we spent wandering the booths and goggling at people's very elaborate and creative costumes. We didn't come close to seeing everything as we only could spend a few hours. But what we saw made my night. Such geeky fun!

Rolling Sushi

Date night yesterday consisted of Bryan cashing in on his Christmas present....a sushi cooking class at Sur La Table. I crave sushi like nothing else, (well, except maybe chocolate) so it was great fun to learn how to make it.
After we were all done slicing, dicing, and rolling the chef and his assistants sent us off for a break while they cleaned up. How nice is that? To cook up a big mess but not have to clean up after yourself? When we came back they had all the sushi set out nicely on plates ready for us to eat....a buffet of sorts. The chef commented that he'd be impressed if we could eat even 60% of what we had made. I was doubtful. I can put down a lot of sushi. But he was right. We only made it through about 55% before we were all filled to bursting. Bryan said that if this had been a real sushi restaurant he wouldn't return. Apparently many of our sushi creations, made by 13 newbie sushi chefs....well, lets just say that some of the filler combinations didn't quite gel perfectly. :) Amazingly enough, my favorite was the very first roll that I made. Rice, of course, and salmon, cucumber, sprouts, basil, lemon and some kind of citrus sauce. Yum! I think it was the basil that did it. I've never had a roll with basil in it before.We had so much fun that we're thinking we might make cooking classes at Sur La Table a semi-regular addition to our date night repertoire.

Body Worlds 3

Bryan and I went to see Body Worlds 3 yesterday. It was absolutely fascinating! I know that to some this exhibit seems inappropriate, disrespectful or just downright gross. And I had all those things in mind as I waited in line for my turn into the exhibit. But you know what? I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I felt fine about the whole thing. Some had commented to me that they felt the displays were arranged for shock value or entertainment rather than for educational purposes. I didn't feel that way. I could see a purpose behind each and every display. I kept finding myself taking a closer look at certain parts of my own body as we looked at and read about each display. There was a room that was devoted to babies. It was my favorite part of the whole exhibit. It was amazing to see, to actually see, what my babies had looked like at different times during my pregnancy. At 6 weeks when I was just discovering I was pregnant. At 8 weeks when I went to the doctor for the first time. At 16 weeks where Melissa is right now in her pregnancy. At 20 weeks when I had my ultrasounds. I got really emotional in that exhibit. And not, as maybe you would guess, because I was so sad at seeing all these dead babies. It was because I was so awed at seeing this miracle of life! The whole exhibit, really, just reaffirmed my testimony in the sacredness of these bodies that Heavenly Father created. They are so intricate, so complex, are made to do so many amazing things. It just stuns me. I wished that we'd had our kids with us so they could see and learn as well. Honestly, there wasn't anything there that I felt would be inappropriate for them. I realize that this is just my take on the whole thing and that others could walk out with a completely different opinion and that's okay. But my recommendation....if you get a chance to see Body Worlds 3 while it is in town, do it. It's pretty amazing.