Shabby Picks

There are at least 6 dresses from Shabby Apple that I must have! The Five to Nine, Ballerina, and of course the olive colored Jody Maxman. Now I'm really missing my pre-preggo body :(

Local Gems

My friend Liz and I recently visited two Salt Lake City gems! First, I stopped off at Frosty Darling, a boutique featuring retro-modern/vintage art, candy and gifts. I spotted great wall decor idea that inspired me to do something similar in our nursery. Aren't these great?

Next, we skipped around the corner to Gourmandise (bakery). I was absolutely smitten by the tarts with sparking fruit and the deliciously flaky looking pastries. It was lunch time so I ordered a simple cup of vegetable, beef, and barley soup with a wheat roll. It was delicious. I'm already planning my next visit where I hope to be able to try one of each item in their display case. Seriously.

Jing.

Could I possibly be more nerdy? I'm totally loving Jing. Yesterday, I used it to give feedback on a webdesign project for work. Today I used it to show a friend how to locate something on a Facebook page. Now, I'm blogging about it. Again I ask, could I be more nerdy?

For the Floor

When we get around to re-re-painting our master bathroom, I want to put one of these rugs in front of each sink. This time it will be grey/slate walls with white trim. Last time we thought grey with a light hint of lavender would be nice to try, turns out, it was all lavender and the most springy looking pastel purple I've ever seen. Lesson learned.

To Tears

I was just catching up on Nie Nie's blog and recovery and cried my eyes out reading this post, laughed reading this post, and thanked God for my health reading this post.

photo via

Fine.

I wasn't going to do this, but here you go. I surrender.

20 weeks

I Tri.

Actually, Brooks does. On Saturday he did his first sprint triathlon! I have a great time spectating and taking photos. Here are some highlights:

That's him in the yellow shorts. Just finishing the running portion. If you're experienced with triathlons you'll notice they did this one backwards.

Look how photogenic he looks as he speeds by on his sweet road bike.

My super duper camera skills captured his splash as he jumped into the pool for the swimming leg!

And the classing post-race pose with the bike.

summer vacay

We went on a camping trip for 6 days. It was fantastic, to say the least. Here's why:


See more pics here. Guess who isn't looking forward to normal life starting tomorrow (Monday)...

Dream House

Someday we're going to have a house like this in Athens. Now, if only I had $200,000 in liquid assets....oh and a million dollars.

Price: $749,000
Location: Athens, Georgia
Bedrooms: 8
Approximate square footage: 6650

Built in 1820, this splendid Antebellum home is set on 30 natural acres filled with abundant trees, vegetation, natural springs, woodland walkways, and wildlife. The angled ceiling and walls and the original pine planking attest to its historic character. The spacious floor plan features exceptionally large rooms. Grand views of the grounds are offered from the large front verandah.

Financial Qualifications: buyers who can demonstrate at least $200,000 in liquid assets.

4th shots

Hope you had a happy 4th...one of the best holidays of the year, in my opinion. I haven't used my camera forever but was finally able to pull it out and have some fun. Here are some of my fav shots of the weekend.

Gimmie

I can't wait for fall when all the great fresh garden vegetables are ready. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving summer. I just want a tomato sandwich right now! I really hope my neighbor's garden over produces and that they have to give us tomatoes and zucchini.

Last night, all I wanted to eat was carrots and ranch. Brooks kindly picked some up at the store but unfortunately they tasted like chemicals. Not sure if it was the carrots or the ranch. Pretty sure it was just me. Grrrr.

(photo by me - farmers market in L.A.)

Creative Grossness

I'm entering a contest organized by a fabric designer. You just make something out of her fabric and email it to her. There's also a Flickr photo pool of the entries so far. You can see what I'm entering here. But more importantly, lets talk about the person who made reusable menstrual pads and entered them in the contest. HAH! I almost died laughing. That's just disgusting! And kind of insulting to the fabric designer don't you think?

Here I Am

Hi there. What's that you say? It's been a month since I blogged? Well let me tell you what I've been up to...

Sewing - I've been making custom order bags/purses. So far I've made 12. More to be done and shared later. Also, converting our old sewing blog to this new one.

Watching - So You Think You Can Dance, The Bachelorette, final eps of Pushing Daisies (sad to see it go), and more....

Working - I made a pact with myself to not talk about work on my blog. This is me not talking about work on my blog. I've been doing a lot of it. That's all I'm going to say.

Growing - Aside from the tomato plant on our deck (which seems to have been contaminated with a bug or something), I'm also growing a child. Expected harvest date is January 1, 2010. This might be the main reason for my month-long break :)

sooo... like the super awesome retro highchair I bought?

My Fav

I couldn't decide who I wanted to win more, Kris or Adam. I would have been just as happy either way I think. Anywho, this was my fav song of the season. What was yours?

Seen this?

Utah's finest bloggers (who are they really...?) have created a local raves and reviews site called Sassy Scoops. They visit and review local Utah hot spots, host contests, and generally have a ridiculously fun girls night out a few times a month.

I think I'll add this one to my Google Reader list.

Been Busy

I've been busy doing things other than blogging....and having a blast! Go here to see more...

Covered

These are the curtains we put up in our green bedroom. They're from Target. I like them well enough. We really went the extra mile by doing double layer curtains. I love the effect of a sheer underneath. They're gray and the dots are actually in circle patterns although up close it looks like some sort of animal print.

Please

I wanna go out there!

Roommates

I've had A LOT of roommates over the years. Wow, check out this list! 40! It didn't take me too long to write this list and I only forgot one person's name. Sorry whoever you are! I can even remember most last names! Are any of you reading this? Hellooooooo?

Erin M.
Stephanie B.
Lynette M.
Natalie F.
Emily P.
Brinna W.
Shauna G.
Krissy A.
Amelia P.
Emily
Jenny P.
I forgot!
Mary D.
Tara H.
Heidi
Cathy C.
Rachel M.
Ann L.
Sher B.
Tina
Heidi
Ali P.
Lynette W.
MiKell
Ami B.
Mary W.
Kristen S.
Renee S.
Michelle B.
Cassidy P.
Jentry S.
Anne R.
Kim D.
Cheri F.
Tristan C.
Mandy
Katey T.
Andrea
Mindy M.
Tiffany P.

There's one roommate I didn't count, my husband! He's the best roommate of all and way too good to be included in that list!

Do you tweet?

Are you on Twitter? That seems to be the trendy question these days. Well, are you?

I like Twitter much much more than Facebook. If you care to, follow me!

photo credit

Itty Bitty

I'm always shopping for two things, pants and shoes. You may or may not be aware that I'm quite petite. Therefore, finding clothes and shoes that fit can be challenging. I had a small victory the other day when I discovered Cinderella of Boston - Petite shoes for women!!! Yes!!!

This was exciting for two reasons:
1 - Women's shoes in my size! (size 5 is too big, that's all I'm sayin')
2 - There are more women out there like me!

I ordered a pair of these in black. I can't wait!

an insect or arachnid

Remember the photo scavenger hunt I wrote about here, here, and here? I sort of lost focus for a little while but I'm back at it!

Here is #53, an insect or arachnid

I actually did this one twice

I'm loving my new camera. See the rest of my shots here.

Pussy Willows

The weather in Utah can be frustrating at times. Despite that, I love seeing the seasons change. The other day, I walked around the city after work to practice using my new camera (love it!). It was a beautiful day. This was my best shot out of 104....ha ha....guess I better keep practicing!

FInally

The past couple weeks have been crazy for me. Today, I was finally able to do a lot of things that I actually wanted to do including...

dust
vacuum
cook real food
clean the bathroom
clean the kitchen
hang curtains
do laundry
rest

and finally some of this:

Therapy

I need a good day of therapy. No, I'm not talking about the kind you get from a therapist. I need the kind that includes lots of this:

Weekend Review

Nice weather Friday!
Did yard work.
Watched some basketball.
Can't wait to BBQ!
Day trip to Logan.
Great weather Saturday!
Visited these guys.
Ate Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs.
Watched more basketball.
Made pancakes without sugar. oops.
Went to church.
Took a nap with Baxter.
Talked to Jen.
Missed Georgia.
Dreamed of Savannah (see photo).

Hello Monday.

Apology

To anyone who was in the vicinity of my house Wednesday night,

I'm sorry for letting my big dog go on a running rampage through the neighborhood. To the lady with the stroller across the street, I'm sorry my dog scared the crap out of you and I'm sorry I came running over screaming my guts out for you to grab him. I'm sure the last thing you wanted to do was grab him.

I'm sorry he ruined the soccer game going on in the park but thank you for playing with my little boxer puppy while I continued to chase down my sled dog (he's fast, get it?). I hope you weren't disgusted with my ugly brown sweat pants, fuzzy pink socks, and severly mismatched sweatshirt. I would not normaly go out in public looking like that. For the people eating at the pavillion, I'm sorry my dog begged for your food, but thank you for being there, otherwise he never would have stopped running. At least he is well behaved when he wants food!

Hopefully we can all meet again under different circumstances.

-BS

Interior Dreaming

Is it bad form to put a rug on carpet? I really want a rug in my living room. Lately I've really taken a liking to zig-zag patterend rugs. I could honestly look at rugs all day.

I really like this one:

from here



And this one...

also from here

In my mind

Coming back from vacation is always tough. On my desk I have a flip chart desk attendant sitting atop my AP Stylebook. It's been on this page for weeks:

Where am I? Free donuts in Accounting (Your'e probably too late.)

But today I turned it to this page:

Where am I? Here (In my mind.)

I am really wishing Utah had a beach like this!

Getaway

We've been enjoying a weekend getaway in southern Utah. The weather is pleasant to say the least--I couldn't be happier.

In the clearing...

...stands a Boxer.

Baxter, meet blog. Blog, meet Baxter. Now we're all friends.



And in case you're confused about the title of this post:

Clothes?

Apparently this box contains table clothing. HA!

Please tell me I'm not the only person who finds this funny.

Savin' Up

Did you see my sidebar addition? There's no way I'll reach my savings goal unless I share it. I'm a Utah Saver!
I've wanted a digital SLR camera for just under a year. My little digital camera is not complicated enough for for my over eagar brain. Not really. I started exploring photography last summer and quickly realized that I need a better camera in order to take the kind of pictures I'd like.

I'm thinking of getting a Nikon D80. Any suggestions?

Speak your mind

Remember the show "Kids Say the Darndest Things?" Kids make comments to or about me all the time. It's actually pretty funny. I hope you get a kick out of this.

Two feet away from me at the grocery store and shouting: "Whoa Mom! That lady is really small!"

A kid I'm acquainted with who is much shorter than me and usually very annoying (standing on tippy toes and hopping): "Hey! I'm as tall as you are!"

Sometimes adults say the darndest things too. People always ask me the weirdest questions. I can't help but laugh at them.

Them: "So, where do you buy your clothes?" Me: "Uh, you know, the mall or department stores, what did you think?"

Them: "Hey you're lucky, I bet you can wear kid clothes!" Me: "Uh, no, I don't like Miley Cyrus on my shirts"

Perhaps one of the funniest comments ever was said to me one day while I waited for the train after work. I noticed a middle aged, strange looking guy staring at me from the other side of the platform. A few minutes later I noticed him moving closer. Before I knew it he was right next to me and said "Are you from a village in the mountains?" I was like "No, are you?" He said, "No, I'm from Bountiful (smallish city north of SLC)." Then he continued to talk about how he heard there was a village of small people somewhere in the mountains or something. All I could think of was hobbits and tried my best to ignore him. Hilarious!

Watch this clip! You won't regret it.

Smooth Breakfast

We've had fruit smoothies for breakfast every day for the past 3-ish weeks. I love it! Besides that the smoothies are delicious, my husband is the one who makes them! It's a win-win for me.

He uses: plain yogurt, milk, fresh banana, any frozen fruit (usually berry medley or strawberries), spelda, and flax seed (for good health of course!)

I wrote a post about green smoothies a while back...maybe I should throw in a few spinach leaves while his back is turned.

Spring Forward

I can't wait to spring forward this weekend. There's nothing I love more than coming home from work (I don't get off 'til 6 p.m.) with lots of sunlight left in the day. Maybe more sunlight will make it easier to get up in the morning. I wouldn't consider myself one to sleep in, but I sure do have a hard time rolling out of bed every day.

Morning

I snapped this shot of the sunrise the other day just before we headed off to work.