IT SNOWED TODAY: SEPT 29

Brrr Baby Brrr. It's way to early in the year for snow. Right? Well, despite my internal weather clock telling me it should be in the 70s with crunchy leaves and yellow sunlight, it snowed today. Nate and I played a shivery game of ultimate frisbee {we lost} with our team {the huckaneers}. On our way home we stopped at 7-Eleven for our post-game slurpy and gatorade {may turn in to our post game hot cocoa} and picked up our second bedside table from Potato Barn.
After we ate grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for lunch, we settled in to watch a TiVo'd episode of The War and promptly fell asleep. We both needed a nap from the moment we woke up this morning.
Before we fell asleep we noticed it was starting to snow. It's weird how the first snow fall of the year always feels like the first one I've ever seen. The poor little birds still perching in our neighborhood were beside themselves. I saw one sitting on our grill with his chest all puffed up trying to stay warm {it was 30 degrees}. I'm pretty sure they packed up and migrated tonight.

When we woke from our nap the snow was still falling and had collected on the rooftops but it's gone now. Thankfully. I was not ready to get my snow boots out of the basement yet. Looks like it will be almost 70 degrees tomorrow, perfect for driving the Alpine Loop for some last minute leaf watching.

RUSSIAN NESTING DOLL SYNDROM

I'm starting to see them everywhere. I'd like to get a set of nesting dolls the next time I travel outside of the country.
Nesting Dolls: ebay
Single Nesting Doll Pillow: Urban Outfitter
Nesting Dolls Pillow: Thomas Paul
Nesting Doll Plates: Fredflare.com

SHOES THAT TELL A STORY

These shoes are the ones I'd wear on a night in Paris. Here's the scene. It's been raining but the night has cleared up leaving the stone streets glistening. I'm wearing a knee-length black trench and these shoes, and I'm on my way to meet Nate for dinner at a pretty cafe on Rue Cler. The cold and misty air smells of seafood and bread and turns my cheeks pink.

For one reason or another, we live in Paris. He still travels a lot and we haven't seen each other in nearly a week.

The scene is simple. I'm running diagonal across Rue Cler from the boulangerie to Cafe du Marche {ala Carrie Bradshaw in heels} where Nate is waiting at a small table on the front patio. He looks up from the menu and smiles, then stands to kiss me as I approach. Just then, off in the distance, Edith Piaf begins to sing something about love in French. Scene.

CONGRATULATIONS DAYNA AND MATT

Dayna FINALLY had her baby {one week late} last night. Her little blonde girl was tiny, weighing in at just 6 lbs. I don't know any of the details, nor do I have a photo to include, but I had to post a big sigh of relief for Dayna! This is just another child, brought into this world, who will eventually refer to me as, "my favorite Aunt ever".

TODAY I'M A SHADOW

I'll be job shadowing today which just means I go wherever Jaimi goes but I'm not yet responsible for knowing any of the answers. So my schedule went from being wide open to jam-packed. The down-side of being a shadow is this: if the person you're shadowing has a meeting scheduled from 6-7pm, so do you. Bummer!

Image from self and others photo stream.

IT'S A CIRCUS OUT THERE FOLKS!

So Ringling Bros Circus is in town, which usually isn't something that excites me. But when my friend Denise emailed me to say, "there's an elephant parade at gateway mall today", I had to see what it was all about. My first question, "real elephants?" And yes, they were!
Check out the one with the tattoo.

HOORAY FOR EMMA THE ROCK STAR!

It's Emma's birthday today. She's twenty!! Here's a list of twenty things all twenty year olds should know.

1. You haven't seen the last of acne.
2. Even though you may have money after college, things are twice as expensive.
3. Don't sacrifice your grades for a social life or vice versa. College life is a fine balance of the two.
4. Twenty is the age when you figure out it's fun AND cool to be friends with your parents again.
5. Some of the coolest guys have receding hairlines already.
6. Take vacations by yourself. It's very liberating.
7. Use moisturizer and sunblock at all cost.
8. Take classes that interest you. You'll never really have another time in your life when you can do things JUST because you like to. {unless you like going to work}.
9. Always make friends with people who exercise.
   
10. Unless you want to be a doctor, it really doesn't matter what your undergrad degree is. People hire you on first impression, who you know, and your experience. Period.
    
11. Always be nice.
12. Practice being comfortable in your own skin, you'll be in it a long time.
13. Open source software is hella cool.
14. Drink water.
15. Oingo Boingo is still a good band. So shut up!
16. Making mistakes is no big deal, how you react to the mistake is!
17. Always read for pleasure.
18. Whenever anyone gives you a compliment, say nothing but "thank you".
19. Give compliments as often as you can.
20. As it turns out, your mom and dad are usually right.
    

I also like what Marta said in her self-interview about what she learned in college. Happy Birthday Emma! Nate and I love you to the moon!

ANTHRO OTTOMAN

I love this ottoman on sale at Anthro. I think it would look so cute in our breakfast nook with a nice cozy chair.

AMAZONMP3.COM

Amazon.com launched a digital music site called AmazonMP3 {similar to iTunes} that offers music compatible for all types of MP3 players {be it an iPod or Zune}. Check it out. Music is .89 and .99 per song.

HUNTING FOR DEER ANTLERS

I'm really drawn to the idea of adding a small detail like antlers to my home. Mounted antlers used to say "lodge" but now it's just earthy and organic and ads a really warm quality to a room.

I DECIDED TO PLAY...ULTIMATELY

After having the opportunity to work out regularly this last month, and after deciding that playing "less than perfect" is no reason to quit, I joined the fall ultimate Frisbee league with Nate.
I've never been a fan of team sports. It might be a result of playing co-ed soccer as a child and, lacking the aggressive/competitive edge, overhearing other players {the boys} say things like, "don't pass it to her, she sucks."
I don't think I sucked. It's just that if I could tell someone wanted to win more than me, I'd try to help them. Even if they weren't on my team. I rooted for the underdog. I just wanted everyone to be happy. My bad reputation for throwing a game might have been made worse by the fact that my sister played much better then most boys and had a hella huge following of adult fans.
Whatever the cause, I've grown up paranoid that I was a weak player. I was the one holding the team back. I was the one everyone hoped would be sick on game day. So, you can imagine how nervous I was to join the ultimate Frisbee league and show up for the games.
The first game I thought I'd throw up. I didn't really know the rules and wasn't confident I was in the kind of shape that would afford running around the field on an endless pursuit of my opponent. Well, I found out I am NOT indeed in that kind of shape, and I'm probably 10 years older than the other girls. A soccer player could probably play this game with ease, but not a girl that works out for 30 minutes at the gym.I was even more nervous the morning of game two. I think it was because I remembered how tired and worthless I was during the first game. But game two wasn't as bad as I expected and I even scored a point. Yippee!
The third game was this last weekend and I showed up less nervous and more ready to play. The girl I was guarding WAS a soccer player so she just ran me all over the field and left me exhausted. But it was a good exhausted. Nate scored 2 points, I had one turn-over...but we won the game so all was well with the world.
So, I guess if you are the type of person who quits things when you feel you are sub-par, learn from my experience. If you keep at it, eventually you won't be the weak player, someone else will be. And it will be your responsibility to make them feel like a rock star for it!

I'M AN ADDICT

That's right. Throughout life I've been addicted to lots of different things; it's the way my personality has always been. Sometimes these things are harmless and other times...well, let's just say we all have a dark past. I've discovered a true Tonia addiction is one that starts as an obsession and sustains itself, in my repertoire, for more than a year. Gold fish crackers, for instance, have been with me for about five years. Gold fish=true addiction. Rose gold jewelry, same thing.
If I'm really into something but the love doesn't last for at least 12 months, it's considered infatuation. Most hair products are mere infatuations. About 50% of my makeup...infatuation.
My goal, moving forward, is to create healthy addictions for myself; I don't wanna be the poor man's Lindsay Lohan, addicted to self destruction. I was definitely like that in high school and college and it didn't amount to much.
As an addict, I'm not sure you can actually orchestrate what things you're drawn to, but I'm certainly going to try. Working out has come and gone as an addiction. Right now I'm addicted so I'm going to make an effort to keep it "on" long term.
Here is a short list of target addictions:
1. Punctuality
2. Exercise
3. Reading
4. Taking vitamins
5. Waking early
6. In bed by 10pm
7. Monthly facials
8. Packing a healthy lunch 4X week
9. Friday night date night
10. Forget about perfect

OOPS

Last night at the gym I asked a woman on the neighboring elliptical machine if she minded me turning up the volume on the TV and as the words were coming out of my mouth I noticed she was wearing a hearing aid and THAT'S why the volume was down and closed captioning was turned on. How do you recover from that? I'll tell you how, YOU DON'T.

Photo via snowing_indoors' on flickr

PAINT BY NUMBERS

I've been thinking about paint by numbers lately. I like the unapologetic intentional outcome. Coincidentally, Victoria of the lovely sfgirlbybay posted about an eclectic paint by numbers she worked on with some artist-friend embelishments. Now I'm going to turn my "thinking about paint by numbers" into "doing paint by numbers".

I KNEW ITS TIME WOULD COME

I come and go with lip glosses. I mean, I'll buy them because the color or packaging or weather outside is particularly inspiring and sometimes it doesn't get "used" for a good long time. It's a bad habit I admit, but I can't be all good.
Tarte makes a cool tinted chapstick called teatime that is just wonderful. I bought it with Amie a year and a half ago while we were in Vegas for a tradeshow and haven't really touched it until lately. The last few days I've been wearing it underneath my Aveda pepino lip gloss and the effect is lovely. Bee stung, autumnal and yummy. I knew its time would come.

THINGS THAT LIGHT MY MIND ON FIRE

Laini Taylor, author of Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer and owner of the blog Not for Robots offers a thorough and interesting description of her writing process. I always like to hear what others are doing and consider it for myself. She suggests a lot of different writing exercises that seemed like good catalysts for new ideas.
Laini says, "Think up things that light your mind on fire. Get into a freewriting mentality and start listing them. Let one thing lead to another. Items on the list can be single words or whole paragraphs or anything in between. If ideas start to click and you want to go off on a tangent, DO."

I was in a meeting this afternoon that made no sense to me as the new girl on the block so I decided to try out this exercise. Here's my list:

• New books with clean spines
• old shabby books covered in dust with faded pages that smell like mildew
• Pakistani rugs with golden, salmon and blue tones - faded with years of untold footsteps
• Cobblestone streets lined with busy cafes that smell like coffee, ham and cheese paninis and chocolate
• the smell of potting soil and geraniums
• the smell of rain in the air and the way a heavy down pour makes the air look dusty and out of focus
• blank stares on the faces of people taking public transportation
• fresh laundry hung out to dry
• vintage linens, needle point dish towels, faded floral patterns
• the sound of high heels walking down an empty cobblestone street
• the first day of a long-awaited vacation
• the way the ocean seems to heal a broken heart with repetition
• the golden tones that seem to ride the air during autumn
• pumpkins, squash, well stocked vegetable stands during harvest time
• warm sweaters when its snowing outside
• door knockers
• clear skin with freckles and moles
  

I AM LUCY OR SOMEONE LIKE HER

This morning seemed to go smoothly, but, as with most episodes of I Love Lucy, that's the way things typically start. Just a few minutes in, however, everything began to break down. There was the typical amount of tripping, bumping into things, stumbling over words; that is all very standard. Very.
I've always claimed that I live an "I Love Lucy" life but the more episodes of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" I watch, the more I think I might be channeling her instead. Whoever it may be, she came in this morning wreaking havoc.

I pulled out of the garage on time with a full belly and lip gloss applied. All set for my second day in a blue shirt dress and my cute pink t-straps I could just tell the day was going to be a good one. About two miles from the garage, my car started having problems with the clutch. I had to search for the gears and the shifting felt crunchy. Then, I pushed in the clutch, shifted the car to fourth gear and when I let up on the clutch, it didn't come up. It just laid there on the floor like a dead cat, one I'd just squished with my pretty shoe.

Instinctively I stepped on the dead cat clutch again to shift up or down, I'm not really sure. At this point, the shifter became like King Arthur's sword, immovable. I suddenly felt alone, vulnerable. Like I'm the first person this has ever happened to and perhaps the last.

With a quick recovery, I coasted off the highway onto a side street and called Nate for backup. Luckily he was working from home today. He leaves town tomorrow so I can't imagine if this were one day delayed. Anyway, Nate came to my rescue as I sat in the car all sweaty arm-pitted and frantic, anticipating how unprofessional it would be to show up late on my second day of work. As if anyone would notice.

You think the story ends here and that's where you're wrong. When Nate dropped me at work our plan was that I would ride the fast bus from downtown to Daybreak. I'm used to riding public transportation, after all. Something happened between those days and these. I did my research before leaving work, wrote down the bus number, address to the stop, and pick up times, all on a sticky note. The sticky note was affixed to my trusty moleskin notebook and dropped in my purse.

On my way to the bus stop it became very windy; my blue shirt dress threatening to blow up around my shoulders. As I was running across one particularly windy intersection all hunched over to hold the dress in place, I heard my sticky note blow off the moleskin notebook and disappear into the wind before I had time to react. I couldn't remember the bus number to save my life. As I called Nate, again for back up, I heard my cell phone beep that it was getting dangerously low on battery. Nate gave me the information I needed, I regrouped, and trudged on to the bus stop.

Now, it was really only at this point that I realized Utah public transportation probably isn't free. Duh. I ducked into Zim's craft supply to buy a sharpie and get some change for the bus but Zim's doesn't make change of any kind. I counted my coins and I had $1.15 and a Canadian nickel but that's not enough because I was told the bus was $1.60. Well, my situation was this: the bus was due any minute and I didn't have enough money to get on. I considered pan handling to make up the difference but I just couldn't. Nate says it would have been hot. My cell phone beeped to let me know it was limping along on its last breath. What could I do? What should I do?

Well, to make a long story short, my phone had one last call left in it and Nate is today's knight in shining armor. I love you babe. You are my Ricky Ricardo! Can tomorrow please be easier?

ANOTHER REASON TO LOVE DREW

I've said it again and again. Drew and I would be fast friends; of this I have no doubt. But now, there is even more meat to my claim. I applaud Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore for their plans to bring Grey Gardens to the masses.

HOORAY FOR AMIE!!

It's Amie's special day today. Shower her with gifts, adoration, compliments and love because she deserves it. The first day I started working with Amie she walked up to me {my manager wasn't there and they had neglected to set up my desk or computer. I didn't even have a chair [[red flag]]} Anyway, Amie came over and introduced herself and then took me around the office and introduced me to everyone. She made sure I knew where everyone thing was and who I should talk to for different things. Having someone like Amie should be a part of every new employee provisioning program. From that first interaction, I knew Amie and I were meant to be friends. I'm so glad I met her and plan to be friends with her for a very, very long time.

RUG OPTION #2

Nate's friend Hosham {from Iran} has this beautiful Persian rug {approx. 8'5"x11'} that his father brought with him on a visit and he's willing to sell at a great price. Considering this is the read deal as far as Persian rugs go. The kind that will last forever. The kind that later becomes a family heirloom. What do you think?
It has yellows, blues, reds, greens. Lots of fun colors to pull out with pillows and other accessories. Better than the library rug but is it a keeper?

MARKET STREET BROILER

Nate took me to dinner on Friday night at Market Street Broiler in SLC to say both "farewell" to my days of leisure and "hello" to my structured days at work. I had the cod which was a yummy and seasonal piece of fish and Nate got a tuna steak that was to die for. We ate light, had no dessert and both scored a point in ultimate frisbee the next day. I think we should prepare for every Saturday morning game the same way on Friday night with a good meal at Market Street Broiler. Oh, and I got to debut the new dress. I LOVE it.

NEXT NEW READ

Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard, wrote a new book called, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. I heard him talking about the book on NPR {or course} and decided it would be my next new read for the fall. It's scholarly and smart and sure to make me feel all "back to school". It's time to pull out my birkenstocks and hunker down for a good read.

SHE'S MINE. ALL MINE!

I rewarded myself for doing some work during my three-week hiatus by getting this dress. It's so beautiful and fits like a glove. Plus it will be perfect for any upcoming weddings this fall. You know who you are.

PILLOW D'OFFENSE

Though a bit unorthodox and a pillow I'd have to stow away when family came to town {and church friends and anyone else who's opinions I value} I think this smoking skull pillow is funny and would be a nice accent to my room. I can just imagine the questions I'd get. Perhaps that alone would be reason enough to get it.






















Designpublic.com has some great pillows including this, this, this, this, this, this, these, and this.
Oh, and I love this one too.























Domino magazine mentions other fun pillow resources on the web: jaysonhomeandgarden.com, thisisauto.com, michelevarian.com, velocityartanddesign.com and wandrlust.com.

WELL BEING

Massage: Thursday 1:45pm, Xscape Day Spa
Facial: Saturday 3:00pm, Sanctuary Day Spa

I'm putting all those gift certificates to good use! And I'll be all relaxed and polished for my first day at the new job.

LIGHT ON A GRANDER SCALE

Lamps have been the last thing on my mind lately but when I scoped this one at the consignment shop last week, I knew I had to go back and get it. I bought it yesterday for $11. It's big and yellow and is in scale with the size of our room. Plus, it's just so rad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE

Sophie is my second niece. She's one of those girls who can do anything she puts her mind to. Youngest girl on her jump rope team, check. Running a mile race when she was seven, check. Having a keen eye for fashion and style, double check.
I love you Sophie!

AN ORGANIZED CLOSET

I'd love to have one of those organized closets Martha Stewart is always talking about. But I don't. Though my closet is a walk-in, it's a tiny walk in and I'm struggling to get all my clothes, shoes and handbags to fit. I could hang things in the closets upstairs, but I really don't want my belongings spread throughout the house. And what happens when those closets suddenly belong to someone else {our kids} and I don't have the luxury of taking their space.
Right now I have one of those hanging shoe racks, the kind that take up valuable closet space, while the floors of my closet are left untouched. I typically avoid putting a lot of things on the floor because what's on the floor gets hidden behind the hanging clothes. And the shoes just become an disorganized, mismatched pile.
I think I'm going to get try one of these from Ikea. It holds up to 16 pairs of shoes, making good use of otherwise wasted space in my closet. I'll place it under my skirts so all shoes are in plain view. Does anyone else have ideas for closet organization? Particularly shoes?

BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS

Nate and I watched Shannon's cute kids while she and her hubby went to dinner on Friday. We had lots of fun with Max and Maggie; we watched a movie, gave each other tattoos, ate spoonfulls of sugar, and had a pillow fight. Though she's a toddler, Maggie sure can pack a punch.
When Dean and Shannon came home from dinner they brought us a fabulous fruit tart from Market Street Grill and then Shannon gave me a copy of her most recently published book; Book of a Thousand Days. I'm glad she gave me one because I saw a box full and considered stealing a copy. Before you get really, really jealous, know that she also signed it and well, it's the first one she's signed so mine is extra special.

FARYL ROBIN SHOES

I got this cute pair of shoes at Kaleidoscope a few weeks ago. And the best part is that I paid $55 because they were having a glorious sale! Cute huh? You can get them here but you'll pay a lot more. Paired with this dress from Anthro and a brightly colored cardigan, I may have my "first day" outfit for my new job.

A FINE FRENZY

I like the idea of this song by the adorable Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy. Sad. But we all have them. Almost lovers. Aren't real lovers so much better?

CONGRATULATIONS TO ANDREW AND RYAN

Both Andrew {left} and Ryan {right} got sweet jobs this last week. They are two of the best brothers a girl could have and I am very proud of each of them. Oh, and they both have adorable babies, too. Wahooo!

HOORAY FOR TIM AND BRANDI

Tim and Brandi celebrated ONE year yesterday. I was in the middle of giving my opinions on logos and totally dropped the ball. In a repentent, head bowed stance, I wish them a happy anniversary and say, "I can't wait to see what you do this year!" Love you guys!

FUN + WORK = BUSY ME

I've been exercising every day {body bar the second time is MUCH better; it's even enjoyable at times}, arranging and rearranging furniture, shopping for furniture, buying it and taking it back, cleaning the house, meeting friends for lunch, going to the dentist, tending to my flowers and pretty front yard, solving oodles of sudoku puzzles, and doing some marketing consulting on the side. It all adds up to a very busy week. And yet, as busy as things get, I'm happy. I think when you rid yourself of a really big problem, life can suddenly become so simple.
Here's to next week though, I hope I do a lot more playing a little less working.

UNANYMOUS

Thanks to the comments and the fact that I woke up this morning, walked into my living room and felt instantly compelled to pull out my library card, Nate and I decided to return the rug. It was a good price, no denying that. And it was a beautiful rug. But just not right for my house.
On a more positive note, we were able to cancel the order we made a week ago for two Rowe upholstered chairs {in a putty color} and we bought these two leather chairs and ottomans from the consignment shop FOR LESS! The chairs are in perfect condition and the leather is worn in. I really love these chairs.

TOO TRADITIONAL? {please comment}

Nate and I visited a glorious consignment shop today; mostly in search of a fabulous rug someone was trying to get rid of. This place has beautiful stuff and the prices were so reasonable.
Anyway, we stumbled onto this pretty rug that was turned into the consignment shop brand new. It ain't the pakistani, vegetable dye, hand woven rugs we saw at Hamilton's for $8,000 {sigh} but it's pretty and it was just $600.
I have two questions. 1) Is it too dark for the room? I know we are already pushing it with the dark couch, coffee table and cabinets; that's what happens when you're trying to satisfy a man that dreams of living in a smoking den. The black chair will be replaced with a chaise and we'll eventually put two club chairs at the opposite end of the rug. 2) Will the traditional oriental style rug rule out any contemporary pillows, art, decor? I just worry that my room will end up looking like a museum.
I need feedback so please leave comments if you have them. I'm supposed to let the consignment company know if I'm keeping it or not; it's currently just on loan.

COMING TO UTAH

The darling Sarah Jessica Parker has, as you know, created an affordable line of clothing {Bitten}, whereby allowing middle-income America to dress themselves a little more SJP-esque. Bitten is sold exclusively at Steve and Barry's and word on the street says that Utah will soon get a piece of the action.
On a side note, I'm a big fan of SJP. Yes, I watched Sex and the City. Yes, I loved Carrie's clothes nearly all the time. And Yes, I watch the reruns quite often. I have always admired SJP's vocabulary, her very genuine nature, the way she talks about and still adores her husband, her ability to wear jeans and sneakers around the city, the mole she never had removed.
SJP is also on my list of famous people I'd be friends with if we had occasion to meet. Also on the list: Drew Barrymore, Dave Letterman and Jennifer Aniston.