A Guide to SLC... or the places that mattered in 2007: Part One

I would like to preface this post with a PSA:  if you read my blog, please comment!  I will not think you are being a creepster.  I do not post my blog address anywhere but I somehow receive around 300 views each month.  Unless my three lovely commenters are viewing my blog a million times a day (doubtful), there are people out there who just refuse to comment.  Please do.  I enjoy them, I promise :)

Moving on...

I have officially lived in Utah for 4 years.  4 years!  Crazy!  (One year in Vegas from 2008-2009 for all you people pointing out that it should be 5 years) .... It's funny to think that I moved to Utah on a whim without having a clue how long I would actually be here.  I got to thinking about how far things have come since that big move exactly 5 years ago.    So, I decided to do a recap of the important places in my life in 2007....  Since I am a photo-fanatic, I am splitting it into 2 posts.  :)

7th South. 

When I moved to Utah, J lived in an industrial building off of 7th South in downtown.  And since I moved to this state for him, this is where I spent the majority of my time.  I was jobless so most of my days consisted of sitting on his couch while emailing endless amounts of resumes.  The building where he lived was originally the office area for a garage where they fixed up classic cars.  He had two rooms, a kitchenette area and a bathroom.  The main room was the living space/bedroom with a couch and two lamps that had been left by the previous tenant and a blow-up mattress.  The other room was where he recorded bands.  The kitchenette had a bathroom style sink, a fridge and a bar counter.  It was separated from the garage by only a half door... AKA, a door that didn't go all the way to the ceiling so a large ugly painting was hung so that it closed off the top part of the door.  It smelled most of the time like oil and gas.  BUT... it was where my handsome boyfriend lived so it was heaven :)

Building

Entrance

The neighborhood was sketchy.  Homeless people constantly rattled the door trying to seek shelter.  A bum even died on the curb outside. Sad. And to make matters even sketchier, another homeless person broke a window and set the curtains on fire in the room next to his studio area.  Luckily they burnt out on the carpet without spreading the fire.

the "neighborhood"

classy joint

But the kicker was that the water pipe broke, so J had no water.  FOR WEEKS.  The landlord turned off the water due to the broken pipe... and then said it was too expensive to get fixed and dragged his feet about it.  AKA.... no running water for shower, toilet, etc.... FOR OVER A MONTH.  J said it was like being on tour and resorted to the musician shower: baby wipes and bottled water.  Being a boy, he could pee in the empty bottles and dispose of them properly.  However, being the female on the couch meant I had to run over to the closest joint to pee, Wendys.  Unfortunately since it is so close to the homeless park, this particular Wendys required you to purchase something to get the bathroom key.  In other words, I bought A LOT of kiddie frosties.  A LOT.  

Finally, J started going over and turning the water on in order to shower and letting it flood the other part of the building.  You can't deny your tenants water for over a month... so the landlord could piss off. ;)  He eventually gave J the last month's rent back when J moved out. 

Where the water pipe and fire incidents took place.  Please notice the fire location is still a wood slab on the window.

SLC Library.

When J's was busy with bands recording, I spent most of my time at the SLC library.  Once again, submitting endless amounts of resumes.  And this happens to be the site of my very favorite Utah event: Utah Arts Festival!  You better believe it is already on my calendar and is a MUST each summer.    Oh how I love it!  I would probably cry if I missed it.  True story. 

House of Guitars.

The bass player in J's band (and one of my only 3 friends in Utah) worked at a place around the corner from J's "apartment" ... We would go visit him regularly.  J and Dave would talk about all the new gear that had come in that day and geek out over various things I didn't understand.  But I loved it.  I relished in getting to spend time with someone I knew (I met Dave the same night I met J).

Brewvies.

This is still a constant staple in our life.  What is better than a restaurant that is also a bar AND a movie theater?!  You can't beat that.  And it was in walking distance from J's.  Plus their pizza is divine.

from a few weeks ago :)

1st Ave.

Eventually, I was able to get my own place in Salt Lake after I had secured a new job.  I searched and searched and finally found a really nice studio apartment in the much coveted "avenues" in downtown.  The space was perfect!  Tall ceilings, full kitchen, several closets.  I loved it.  Sadly, my car got broken into on my birthday right after I moved in.  They stole my iPod.  On my birthday.  To make matters worse, J's bday gift to me was a new car radio that would play my iPod.  Dang.  Moving on...

Burt's Tiki Lounge.

Burt's was a constant destination back in 2007.   Since then, most of the bands we see have migrated over to Urban Lounge.  But in 2007, we were at Burt's A LOT!  It's an awesome little dive bar and a must see in Salt Lake.

Don't know why the creepy eye thing is happening?

We were actually at Burt's on Tuesday.  Random.

So those were some of the places that meant the world to me during my first year in this old state called Utah.  I wish I had more photos but I lost most of the photos from this year when my old computer crashed.  Dang.  Next up: Part two! :)