TWO IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN ONE!

On Wednesday my brother Ryan and his wife Ruth had a baby girl {welcome Ruby Rose} to the world. And on Friday my brother Andrew and his wife LaShel had a darling little boy {hooray Tucker Joshua}. Both babies and moms are doing well and I am especially grateful that they were mindful of my schedule so I was able to see and hold each of them before all the new shine was rubbed and kissed off!

Ruby Rose






















Tucker Joshua

COLDPLAY ON A SATURDAY NIGHT

Nate and I went with a bunch of friends to see Coldplay in SLC on Saturday. Great show. They came out on a side stage that might have been just 10 feet from us. I could smell Chris' b.o. The show was high energy and at one point the band serpentined up through the crowd and played a few songs up on a perch surrounded by lucky fans. Here are some photos.

IF $425 WAS A SWEATER...

It would look like this. Her name is Astrid. Isn't she lovely and perfectly unattainable?

PRETTY FROCKS FROM BANANA REPUBLIC

I love all of them!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAYNA {AND MATT}

Nate and I are disgusting. Dayna and Matt both turned 29 this last week and we didn't send cards or gifts. I really do aspire to acknowledging family and friend birthdays better; what will be the catalyst for my change? How will I manage to improve on lousy? I guess just one birthday at a time!

That said, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Matt and Dayna. They are a beautiful couple with two beautiful kids. I think we might fly out in January and visit them. That way I can deliver belated birthday gifts and hugs in person.

PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY

I think these rugs are beautiful! The diamond one is on sale! They are perfect for bare feet!

SCORE!

Nate and I visited the nearby Downeast Home this morning to see if there were any good deals to be had. And, yes! There were!
We scored the Presidio couch, from William Sonoma Home, in caramel leather {retails online for $5,600} for a whopping $1,600! In Nate's words, "we just made $4,000". We also got a great deal on the Arlington Armchair from Potterybarn. It retails for $1,049 and we paid $600. The last thing we bought was a mirrored buffet from Horchow. This piece had no cracks and kept all its nobs. Regularly $1,850, we paid $600.
The first two pieces will go in the den in the front of the house and the buffet will sit in our dining room. It feels great to get good deals on quality pieces and slowly. but. surely. put our house together. I'll include photos when the pieces arrive next week.


Mirrored Buffet from Horchow




























Arlington Chair from Pottery Barn

























Presidio from William Sonoma Home

SICK BED RESPONSIBILITIES

1. wear most comfortable clothes
2. send husband for Nyquil
3. keep blackberry nearby; afterall, it owns you
4. watch Center Stage
5. watch Center Stage: Turn it up
6. brush teeth while laying down
7. fold laundry
8. cough into sleeve; who needs tissue?
9. make packet of chili and eat while laying down
10. hide from to-do list

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND: CONTRIBUTE A VERSE

O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I,
and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the
struggle ever renew'd,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see
around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring--What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.
That you are here--that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

Thank you Mr. Whitman.

I AM A ONE-OF-A-KIND

I'm officially the only girl with my name in the U.S. Imagine that. Just one person with my name and it's me! There are eight guys with Nate's name; lucky me, I found just the right one in my 34 year search.

CABINET OF FAVORITE THINGS

I went looking for my book of Whitman poetry this morning. Specifically, I was looking for the poem Nacho quoted in a meeting this week. I pulled open the cabinet in my living room and it occurred to me right then how many of my favorite things are in there.


{Jane Austen and Shannon Hale}























{Milan Kundera and our box of curious rocks gathered in Nice, France}























{a watercolor I did called "blue chair"}























{Kerouak and C. S. Lewis}























{Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, and James Joyce's The Dead}























{The old books I found in Chicago}























{Canterbery Tales, and Tom Sawyer}























{The one mis-matched book called The Razor's Edge}























{wedding pictures. Me and Nate, my mom and dad}























{The owl Holly made, my harmonica, watercolor "old chair", and a candlestick my parents brought from Nauvoo}























{The Power of One, My Beat Reader, and Tristram Shandy}























{The tiny book of love poems my brother Andrew gave for Christmas one year}























{one of our engagement photos, a shell Nate brought from the Philippines, a pola from Kauai}

FLU

It started with a sore throat. I woke up two weeks ago with a terrible sore throat and then immediately got a fever, body aches, and what felt like ear infection. I worked from home for three days and then forced myself back to work. More fevers. More sore throat. And then I started to cough.
The coughing really just started a few days ago. The doctor at insta-care did warn me by saying, "if your cough hasn't kept you awake at night, it will." So I cough. And cough. Last night, it did keep me awake; and it woke me if I dared drift asleep. By the end of the night, I'd coughed my voice away. My throat and vocal cords are so swollen that I can barely squeak out sounds this morning.
When the doctor said "this is a 14 day flu", he meant it. And I think what 14 days actually means is the number of days you should be laying in bed eating soup and watching old Doris Day movies. I'm putting a used tissue under my pillow as a plea to the flu fairy. I don't want her to leave me anything; I want her to take this cough and hurdle it into space where it can drift weightlessly out of the galaxy.

ANTHRO CHRISTMAS

Pretty ornaments at Anthro. Go to this page, mouse over what you like, and see all the other images float around the screen aimlessly. I dare you!

1+1=RAD

I'm loving:

This pretty bike via emilystyle




















This marvelous and clever bike helmet via a cup of joe.

IF MONEY WERE IN LIMITLESS SUPPLY

Do you ever play that game? The one where you imagine what life would be like if money flowed freely from your bathtub faucet? In my kitchen, this limitless resource would have bought me a complete set of Allclad cookware.
And, while I could budget for these beautiful pans and saute with them for years, I decided to try this set from Costco for $199. Costco has a great return policy so if I don't like them I'll take them back. They are nice and heavy, and the reviews are great!

"Constructed of stainless steel, the copper-bonded 5-ply base is manufactured to allow even and efficient transfer of heat while eliminating hot spots. Each pan is manufactured with a 5-ply base that has two layers of stainless steel, two layers of aluminum, and a copper core. The substantial impact-bonded base enables the pan to reach and maintain the desired cooking temperature quickly and evenly."

UPDATE: These pans absolutely suck. They cook great and are pretty. But trying to clean them is impossible. The fry pans already look like I've had them for years. I'll be returning them to Costco and getting a nice Calphalon set that is non-stick on the inside and stainless steel on the outside. The best of both worlds.

CAN I PULL IT OFF?

Nate and I went to dinner a few nights ago with Ryan, one of my friends from work. As we sat in the loft of Porcupine Grille, I noticed a pretty blond girl walk up the stairs wearing skinny dark wash jeans, a t-shirt, and some moccasin boots similar to these I found at Urban Outfitters.
Could I pull this look off? It seemed so simple, funky, and comfortable. I have yet to find skinny jeans made for girls with thighs. Not just thighs, but thighs that hiked Kilimanjaro without batting a lash. Those kind of thighs. If anyone knows of skinny jeans made for Kilimanjaro thighs, please let me in on the secret.

YES WE CAN?

Listening to Obama's acceptance speech. Thinking about all the things I have done or have yet to do. Suppose I should adopt his mantra and just keep to the "yes I can" policy.

Yes I can:
1. wake up in the morning feeling better
2. lose another 10 pounds
3. make a difference at work
4. make a difference in the world
5. have a child
6. get my house to the "done" stage
7. convince Nate to get me a kitten
8. learn to minimize my anxiety
9. write and publish a book
10. be a great leader wherever I go

LOVE SONG FOR BOBBY LONG

John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson made this movie back in 2004. Taking place in New Orleans, it exposes you to great southern music and wonderful literary passages. I highly recommend it. It has inspired me to read more T.S. Eliot and Robert Frost in the next few weeks. What a great movie to watch on a cold Autumn night.

ARE YOU A ROCKNROLLA?

If you have two hours to spare in the next week and fancy yourself a Guy Richie movie fan, get thee to the theater for a little RockNRolla! Good music. Great plot and characters. Smokin' pace. Oh, and Thandie Newton is in it for anyone still doubting. Might be one of the best movies of the year!

TIP OF THE HAT TO THE FEDORA

They are my new favorite accessory. The question I cannot answer, though, "Can I leave it on all day or do I have to take it off when I'm inside?" Does anyone have an answer for me? Fedora all day?
*all hats from UO