flip this

Tonight I went with a bunch of friends to see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Cedar Rapids Theater. I had seen the musical previously in NYC with my family and thoroughly enjoyed it, so when Gloria and I saw an ad for it playing in Cedar Rapids, we decided that we had to go. We invited a smattering of people, with 8 of us going in total. And you know what? It was great! We bought the tickets the night of so they were half price ($12 instead of $25), I sat next to my friend Keith who laughed riotously at at the right parts and explained the regional jokes to me ("Columbus Circle is this dinky little town where lots of immigrants live."). When the musical ended we all wished that it wasn't the last weekend so that we could tell other people to come see it, too: the theater was sadly about half full. They had posters and things for other shows that will be there in the future, and I think I want to try and make this thing a tradition. Or something...

After the show we went out to eat at the Dublin City Pub (which was literally one of 2 places open after 5 pm. On a Friday night. Do they not know that after 5 is when people eat dinner? Come on, people. Get it together!) The food was delicious and despite the fact that we were all IDed before we were allowed in, it was a great atmosphere. The music didn't get too loud until about the end, but we were also sitting right by the juke box so maybe it was our own fault? Our waitress was even nice and helpful despite the fact that none of us ordered drinks so her tip margins went way down. What a sport!

All in all it was a great night! Great people, great entertainment, great food, perfect night. I love my friends. Also, Iowa.

Now, back to business...

Staying with the theme of birthday cards, I made this card for my friend Sarah whose birthday actually proceeded Jared's. (Don't worry, she did get the card on time.) Fun fact: Sarah has a twin brother Matt who was the ward clerk in my freshman ward. Small world.

The front. I bought the little cage stamp at Stuff Etc. This was the first project that I used it on.

Here you can see that the cover paper is made from scrap paper, again from Puragory. I love it. The book is a flip book, so this is the first page. Can you guess what it's going to spell...?

Happy birthday! (The complete message read: Happy Birthday Sarah!!!)

Then I wrote a little personal note on the back page.

This was my first real flip book. I would call it a success!

Tomorrow: envelope and letter all in one.