Sundance Film Festival

Although I have lived in Utah for pretty much my whole life (I took a brief leave of absence from 2005 - 2006 to experience the frozen tundra of Alaska), I have never frequented the Sundance Film Festival. I always figured that if any good films were there I would be sure to hear about them when they came to regular theaters (like Napoleon Dynamite). I am also (still to this day) not that interested in Celebrity sightings, unless its someone that I feel is truly talented and respected. I'm not someone who reads People or OK Weekly, and I hardly ever tune into the E! channel to hear the latest dirt on Tinsel Town. But my sister Vanessa and I got to talking about the fim festival and thought it would be such a fun experience to just soak in the atmosphere and do some people watching, and hey if we saw a couple Celebs, we might just take a snap shots. Just to prove that we saw them of course. :)




So yesterday afternoon with Jamba Juices in hand and bundled up with sweaters and scarves, we made the 45 minute journey to Park City. After circling the downtown area for a while searching for a place to park (the only thing I could relate it too was rush hour in Manhattan, it was nuts!) we found some $10 parking and decided to hoof it for a while. I have to say that the best part of our little excursion was that we had no set plan. We did everything spur of the moment, wandering and talking to random people, just enjoying in the general ambiance. Honestly I had never seen so many BMW's and Cadillacs in my entire life! And the mix of people was amazing. There were of course the very wealthy. You could spot them not only by their overpriced Gucci bags and sports jackets, but by the way they carried themselves when they stepped out of their Mercedez'. They just oozed an air of eminence. Vanessa and I particulary enjoyed picking out those who were from oher country's. Some were obviously more apparent then others by they way they dressed, but other's we had to eavesdrop to try to figure out where they were from.

So before we headed to Celeb Lane, we sauntered into the Prospector Lodge where they were selling theater tickets. After going back and forth on whether we should go to a movie, we quickly changed our minds after reading a couple excerpts from the posters. Most of them were a bit too....whats the word - edgy?...... liberal?...... not really suited for a couple mormon girls? So we pressed on and decided to get a bite to eat on Main Street. We rode a shuttle bus most of the way, but didn't really care to be smashed up against tons of giddy, young girls and guys with their cameras and loud laughter, so we decided to get off a little early and walk the rest of the way. It was a little cold, as the sun was starting to set, but we were determined not to let it dampen our spirits.

It wasn't long before we we got our first sighting. No, it wasn't a Celeb. It was a man, staring out his huge condo window, wearing nothing but a Santa hat! After laughing hysterically and dry heaving a bit, we shook our heads and reminded ourselves that we were definitely not in sheltered Provo anymore. As soon as we arrived on Main Street, we noticed a large crowd gathered around a couple restaurants. After hearing a few rumors that Paris Hilton was about to emerge, we decided to stick around. Both of us are not fans at all, but thought it would be fun to at least say that we got to see her. And sure enough, the hotel heiress appeared. The crowd went crazy with screams and cameras flashing wildly. Paris ate up all the attention, of course, and daintily ran into a nearby trailer. I decided to snap a photo of the crowd just so you could get a feel for what it was like.

Paris is in there somewhere, but I didn't really care to get a picture of her. After all, what is she famous for? Being a rich, spoiled, skank?

After laughing at a camera guy biffing it, we continued with our search for a place to eat. It wasn't long before we found ourselves in the the middle of another celebrity sighting. Directly above us, gracing someone with an interview, was Nick Cannon - Mariah Carey's new hubby. He yelled back at the excited crowd, not bothered at all by the commotion. This time I tried to get a decent shot of him but he was too busy answering questions. So this is he best I could do:


I know, its not a very good pic. He's the one in the white sports coat- in case you have no idea who Nick Cannon is (actually a lot of people around me didn't seem to have a clue who he was either, so don't feel bad). I just remembered him from the movie "Drumline" and had heard from someone that he just married Mariah Carey.

After that, we settled down at a little Mexican Restaurant and gobbled down some fajitas and chips and salsa. By this time the temperature outside had dropped immensely, so we decided to grab a couple hot cocoa's and head back to our car. But once again we stumbled across another celeb who was actually walking right next to us. The funny thing is, we still have no idea who he was. We just knew he had to be someone special by the constant flashes of cameras. As we walked away, my sister and I chuckled at the thought of us being in one of the pictures used for the cover of People- even though we were completely oblivious to the importance of the guy.

After braving another overcrowded shuttle bus, we made it back to car with smiles on our faces and plenty of stories to tell our husbands when we arrived home.