PRETTY WALLPAPER

Love this hand-painted wallpaper from de Gournay.

YAY FOR RYAN, RUTH AND HUGO

It's official. Ryan and Ruth are having no 2. They make such good baby.

I'M HOPELESSLY IN LOVE

Especially whilst playing anything Pat Benatar.

THE COLOR. THE RUFFLES

It would go with nothing. And everything.

LOVE AT THE TOP

Love these tops! From Anthro.

FREE RICE

Imagine stretching your mind and donating rice to feed someone less fortunate. Check out FreeRice to test your understanding of the English language and give.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE AND HUGO!!

Happy birthday to my hot husband. He's 32 but still rolls like he's 22! We celebrated Hugo's birthday this weekend and I snapped this photo; isn't it shocking how much the two birthday guys look alike? So sweet! April 21 rocks with hotness!

DO YOU SMELL GAS?

On Friday, during a company meeting {and also my third day at the new job} there were two loud explosive-type sounds and the smell of gas. This led to a quick exit of the building and the chance to stand in the sun for about an hour. Though the experts weren't able to locate the cause or location of the sounds we called it a day around 11:30.
After a quick trip to Costco, I went home and spent about three hours working in the yard and then finished up by cleaning my entire house. I know it might not have been the best way to spend a "free day", but I got everything done on Friday which meant Saturday and Sunday became unbridled by scrubbing toilets.


















photo from finna dat's photostream

LOVE THIS

This skirt makes such a statement. Love it.

TWO PRETTY

I love these Dolce Vita flat ankle strap peep-toes {yellow}, but if I could get ANYTHING I wanted, I'd get these Bahira t-straps by Tracy Reese. {red and white}. Double sigh!

A MONTH OF OUTFITS

I would absolutely love to have this kind of plan in place for the next 30 days. You know how much quicker I could be ready in the morning if I had it all mapped out? Most mornings I'm okay. And then there is the occasional shit morning where I spend 45 minutes locked in my little walk in closet trying on and ripping off every item that once hung there.
I'm gonna spend a little bit of time the next few days; outfitting myself with some much needed new shoes and a few other essential items. Maybe this can be a weekend project; I think it would look really great to have 30 polas hanging in a row. And what a great place to turn when the morning blues hit.
Featured: Day 7, 13, 20, 26.

HUNTING FOR PRINTS

I'm looking for prints to go in our bedroom. It's fairly sparse right now and I actually like it that way. Not a lot to distract; just enough to relax and calm the mind. I'd love to add some yellow to the bedroom walls though so if you've seen any pretty prints {with yellow}, let me know. In the meantime, I'm thinking about adding this to the "maybe" pile.

CAN WE? SHALL WE?

This hand screenprint from Rob Ryan might be the very most perfect gift to give your lover for a birthday, anniversary, or just for no reason at all. I love the fun little story and how it reminds me of the relationship between Joel and Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

"Can we? Shall we? Call in sick one day and travel to the sea and hold hands all day. Can we? Shall we? Eat our sandwiches on the train, get drunk on fresh air and come home tired and never tell anyone...ever."

GEOGRAPHY LESSON MEETS VACATION

Cruise South America and the Panama Canal! Travelzoo is offering a 14 night cruise that stops in Columbia, Panama, Ecuador, Chile and Peru. This little jaunt takes off from Ft. Lauderdale and will run you about $1,449 per person. I was just telling Nate that I've added Panama {and the canal} to my list of places to go. No, this does not replace Greece; it just provides options since I'm planning on a long life of travel.

Wikipedia says, “The Panama Canal is a waterway in Central America which joins the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken; it had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America.

For example, a ship sailing from New York to San Francisco via the canal travels 6,000 miles, well under half the 14,000 mile route around Cape Horn. Although the concept of a canal near Panama dates back to the early 16th century, the first attempt to construct a canal began in 1880 under French leadership. After this attempt failed and saw 21,900 workers die, the project of building a canal was attempted and completed by the United States in Panama in the early 1900s, with the canal opening in 1914.

The building of the 51 mile canal was plagued by problems, including disease (particularly malaria and yellow fever) and landslides. By the time the canal was completed, a total of 27,500 workers are estimated to have died in the French and American efforts.

Since opening, the canal has been enormously successful, and continues to be a key conduit for international shipping. Each year more than 14,000 ships pass through the canal, carrying more than 205 million tons of cargo. By 2002 about 800,000 ships had used the canal altogether.

THE DAY I CAST OFF MY WATCH

Subtitle: And the day I put it back on

Santa Fe, NM, circa 1994.
It was spring break time of year {just like now} and I was in need of a getaway. My friend Karina called from NYC and said she was fed up and needed to blow the city for a while. So we decided to take Greyhound and meet up in Santa Fe for some kind of twenty-something angst trip.
My bus ride was about 36 hours from Utah. I think Karina's was in the ballpark of 60. That's some time on a bus, packed like Pringles with a lot of strangers and strange smells. Our plan to meet at the bus station worked perfectly and before long we were paying $13 each/night for a little dive hotel off the main drag. It was a perfect place. Phone booth out front. Little Spanish boy playing basketball in the courtyard at the crack of dawn. Hanging out with Karina, who at the time was a big Hemingway fan, too.
I guess the most defining moment of this trip, aside from seeing the GeorgiaO'Keeffe museum, was my liberation from the wrist watch. I remember making some poignant {or so it seemed at the time; you remember being in your twenties} statement about how I was finally tired of being a hostage to time and time limits and time frames. Then I took off my wrist watch and tossed it in the garbage. No looking back. No regrets.
Now, fourteen years later, I've decided it might be a good idea to wear a watch again. Does that mean I'm no longer a free spirit? Does it mean I'm completely corporate minded and a stuffed shirt? I hope not. I think what it means is that I still like to be spontaneous and free-spirited, I just need to know how much time I've got before I have to be back at the office.
Here's what I'm rockin' on my wrist now {mine is the black one}. It's the Rocker watch from Nixon.

WHAT I'M READING

I'm prepping for my new job by reading some marketing books I've been meaning to read for a while. Here are a few of the titles I've got bedside. Go Amazon.

CUTE ROOMS FROM ANTHROPOLOGIE

I love these rooms from Anthropologie. The colors and whimsical style are so beautiful.

IKEA CUSHION

Nate and I have this cushion on one of our leather club chairs. It does a nice job of making fun of a very traditional piece of furniture.

GUILTY PLEASURE: KING OF QUEENS

If all the stars align and I'm sitting on the couch at 9pm, I like to watch the back-to-back episodes of King of Queens. I saw this episode tonight and Doug teaching Carrie to pole dance is pretty much one of the best moments on TV.

BABY NAMES

Subtitle: No! I'm not pregnant.






















On our first date, Nate and I were making fun of his roommate who had already proposed to a girl he'd been out with just a few times. We were trying to think of ways to steal their thunder. We considered announcing our engagement and upcoming wedding a week before theirs. But then we decided to name our firstborn because it felt so much more robust and inappropriate.
Well, as it turns out, our first date turned into many more and here we are 2.5 years later happily married. When we do have kids, if we honor our first date declarations, our children will be named Seamus {m} and Imogen {f}.

FOREVER 21: AT 36

When will I be too old to love stuff from forever21? I've made Nate swear that if I ever walk out of the bedroom wearing something CLEARLY too young for me, he'll say so. Until then, bring on the forever21!

A LILAC FOR SPRING

I love this cardi from Urban Outfitters. I don't go anywhere these days without a second layer; the weather in Utah {especially in air conditioned buildings} is so unpredictable. It's all in the details, and this sweater has such sweet details.

HEIRLOOM PIECE

I saw a rerun of the adorable Heidi Klum and Seal on Oprah. They were both wearing a necklace that looked like this and had a charm for each name in their family. What a great family heirloom. Maybe I'll have one someday with a charm named Clementine. Get yours here.

LONG WEEKENDS

Nate and I have decided that as long as we are both working so hard we are going to reward ourselves with the occasional three-day weekend. That said, we've been trying to think of nearby, drivable places to visit on our road trip retreats. I think our first jaunt will be to St. George, though neither of us knows what we'll do once we get there.
Any suggestions? We are looking for anything in the neighborhood of 2-4 hours from Salt Lake City. Someplace that can offer respite for mind, body and spirit. And ideally someplace that has one or two fun things to see, do or taste.

SO CUTE FOR SPRING

Aren't these BC flats cute? I'd wear them with this yellow dress from jcrew.

BLACK WEDGE

Pretty and basic from Nine West

IF I WERE KING OF THE FOREST

For the most part, I'm an easy going girl. I embarrass myself regularly, I've been known to watch TV all day {Charlie's Angels marathon}, and I take it upon myself to have a sense of humor with my wardrobe. But once in a while I become fanatical about something; and when I do, it's best just to nod in agreement and let sleeping dogs lie. {I'm the sleeping dog}.
Case in point: my increasing intolerance for plastic bags and the freedom of which most Americans toss them about as though they dissolve into thin air after a week.
My awareness began a few years ago when I could no longer justify saying "paper" at the grocery store. Because there was more talk about clear cutting in the media I chose plastic as the less destructive alternative. But then along came a daily observance of my second religion; one I refer to by three holy letters. NPR.
Thanks to Morning Edition, I learned that it took over 1,000 years for a plastic grocery bag to decompose and was instantly sickened. Think of all the plastic being handed out at grocery and retail stores all over the country. Think of all the double bagging!!
The plastic factor became painfully obvious when Nate and I bought bark chips for the Xeriscaping we did in our backyard. It was described as "clean" but when I found strips of plastic bag, and bits of random broken plastic stuffs, I realized just what it meant to throw plastic away. It doesn't go away. It's always there; stuck in a tree, blowing across the freeway, and shredded up in my bark.
Well, needless to say, I immediately bought reusable bags for groceries and always try to turn down unnecessary bags of any kind at retail check out.
Nate is very familiar with my "if I were king {or mayor, or senator, or president} for a day" moments. They come as a result of someone offending my fanaticism. Someone challenging the very fibers that makes up my organic moral fabric.
A few days ago Nate and I stopped at Harmons for groceries. I even made a special jog out to the car to get the bright green reusable bags, while the bagger waited for me. So she had to know that I was serious about being environmentally responsible, right? Well, I guess not. Nate and I took advantage of a five for $20 meat deal and ended up with five fine looking steaks. At check-out, after I had returned from the car with my totes, the bagger went ahead and put each of the five packs of meat into its own plastic bag and then put all five into yet another plastic bag. It was, as far as I can tell, a labyrinth of plastic so nightmarish I could do nothing but look away. I know there is some code that says meat has to be put in plastic bags, but did the entire process have to involve six bags?
Many European countries simply don't have plastic or paper bags at grocery and retail stores. If you need a bag, you buy a canvas tote at check out or bring your own. Why can't we do the same in America? As a country, why can't we admit that as long as there is a stack of indestructible plastic bags in front of us, we'll use them. If I were king for a day, I'd remove all bags from check out stands. I'd make it impossible to walk away with a gallon of milk {in a plastic jug} double bagged in plastic. If I were king for a day, I'd give everyone these.

WITHOUT A CARE

I want these pants to lounge around in. Not that I lounge much these days, but if I did I'd wear them and I wouldn't have a care in the world. A girl can dream.

I KNOW I'M RANDOM, BUT I'D MAKE A GREAT FILM

I was invited to join blog4reel which is a contest that, based on votes received, will reward a few lucky bloggers with movies being made from their blogs. I know my movie wouldn't be about much except my garbage can tales {see here, here, and here}, but you have to admit it would be an interesting movie about nothing. If you feel like it, you can vote here. And as a thank you I'll try to make Clementine the best read in blogland.

WANT TO HEAR NEW INDIE MUSIC BEFORE IT'S POPULAR?

Visit 3hive.com and listen to full-length songs from bands you've likely never heard of. And if you discover your new favorite band then I'm taking all the credit!