watch and listen

new video for my friend Joe's most recent project:


Baywood - "I Can Breathe Again" from Cluster 1 on Vimeo.

("project"? is that the appropriate music bus term for the band he is currently in, and the music he released most recently?)

things I like:
-the song.
-his dog, Mosby, makes an appearance.
-his moustache is as healthy as ever.
-art happening behind them. 

proud of my friend.  again. 
happy to have friends who do neat things.  again. 

an evening with Dorothy

Last night was employee and family night at The Grand Theatre.  I was allotted a few tickets, and invited my mom, my sister, and my nieces to see The Wizard of Oz with me.

I have a special place in my heart for The Grand Theatre, (even more so now that Matt and I got married there), and always look forward to their shows.

The production was really good. 

I especially liked that Toto was a real dog, and such a good (obedient) actor. 

Really, I'm always impressed with the local talent with everything I see there. 

Unfortunately, by the time intermission came at a few minutes after 9:00, I was so tired that I decided to go home.  It really wasn't boring, I'm just that lame.

the nerdiest nerd ever

I love to make things.  I love to be creative.  I love to have a project.  I think I'm supposed to have some kind of creative career, but I should probably learn how to do something well, before I try to make money doing it.

In the meantime... I make things just because.  

I bake, I make jewelry (usually when I can't find the exact thing/color I'm looking for or when my sisters need earrings), I mess around with drawing things on the computer, I recently started teaching myself hand-embroidery and watercolor,  and lately, I've been working on things for our house: curtains, pillows, etc..

my creative energy is really scattered and frenetic.  One week I'll need to make a layered cake for a birthday, and the next week I'll need to teach myself watercolor. 

As long as I have a project, I'm happy.

whenever I sew, I have to use my mom's sewing machine.  I decided I should invest in my own, so that I stop bothering her, and so I can practice and learn more about projects I haven't tried yet (and if it doesn't require a straight seam with a standard stitch, I haven't tried it yet). 

so...... yesterday my new sewing/embroidery machine arrived! and I was so excited I almost puked.

I have one million project ideas floating around in my head, and I wish our windows weren't all covered already. 

step right up if you are in the market for some experimental home goods, or need your shirts monogrammed

I know, I know... you can hardly wait for me to dazzle you with my mad sewing skillz

but you're just going to have to be patient.

kissing

look what our friend Becca made for us :)



we did this at a carnival-themed wedding recently. 

this reception also had little horses dressed as unicorns, a cotton candy machine, and fire dancers. 

super talented Becca was also responsible for the graphic design for our wedding invitations and programs.

it's good to have friends who can do neat things. 
thanks, Becca :)

zrew day

remember when Drew moved?

well before he moved, he wanted to visit the zoo one more time.  Drew loves the Zoo, so he was the most excited person when we scheduled a day to go.  Our nieces have zoo memberships, so we invited them to be our tour guides/experts (oh, and their mom too). 

-they knew that the train was important to do

-they knew which buildings were going to be the smelliest: "um, it's going to smell bad in there, Megan...tell Ruffus"

-they knew that "sometimes the monkeys play, but sometimes they sleep"

thank goodness we had them with us. 

train ride

snack time

they also knew where to find the shady places to sit.

I really liked this guy... standing on his friend to peek his head out of the water.

Matt took me to the zoo on our third date

(and brought me the first flower he ever gave me*)

tangent: *when we were first dating, Matt often brought me a flower or flowers.  This particular date, he had a single carnation sitting on the passenger seat of his car for me when I got in.  I thought this was ADORABLE, and later learned that he got the flower despite his two roommates and friend telling him not to, because they "knew" it was a lame move.  They are so wrong, and I have been having that argument with them since.

so we went to the zoo on our third date, and watched the bird show.  The bird show is equal parts really neat and really cheesy.  Even though the girls are zoo experts, they hadn't ever seen the bird show, so we went again.  I'm glad we did.  It hadn't changed since our third date and I was all reminiscent and twitterpated.  I remembered watching the bird show with him, but really watching him half of the time, and thinking about how much I liked his sunglasses on him. 

after the zoo, Matt and I took Drew to the only acceptable post-zoo lunch spot: Settebello 

(Drew's other favorite thing)



project

latest project:
house painting

the exterior of our house needed as much love as we've given the interior.  I have to say I have honestly enjoyed this renovating adventure of ours.  Over the past 13 months, we* have replaced everything from floors, to walls, to ceilings, to electric, to appliances, to window treatments, to all of the plumbing.    I've been the designer, Matt's been the executor, and I think it's fair to say I have been a sport.  I have been a willing if not always super capable assistant, and have been patient.  For those of you who have been through home renovation, you know that nothing happens as quickly, easily, or cheaply as you imagine it will.  The process has been extremely rewarding, and I have never felt such ownership or pride in any space I've lived... and I've lived in a lot of places.  Even during the most painful/tedious/stressful moments I kept some version of a smile on my face and pushed forward. 

*we = both of us, but heavy on the Matt.

I say all this because painting the exterior of the house has been by far my least favorite project.  I never thought anything could be worse than drywall... or tearing up 90 years of layers of poorly-installed kitchen floors... but for whatever reason I hated this project.  I wasn't super patient or helpful.. Maybe it was because it was hot (and I'm never hot), maybe because it required ladders (which obviously scare me), maybe because I'm too weak to hold a can and a brush and balance while holding my arm up for more than 30 seconds, or maybe I just hated going up and down and up and down the ladder every two feet.  Either way, I'm pretty sure I was a huge pain in the ass with my complaining. 

thank goodness for Matthew. 

seriously.  thank goodness for Matthew.   

sister day

you know those people who are like: “I love my family.  My siblings are my best friends.  I love hanging out with them.  I talk to my sisters every day and they know everything about me”

and you’re like: “barf.”

well those people are me… and my siblings… and my sisters. 

Shellie & Julianna

These ladies happen to be my most favorite people in the entire world.

*disclaimer* I often use superlatives incorrectly, and am fond of exaggerations, and hyperbole.  In my world, it’s totally possible to have lots of “most favorite” people.  Some would say that having multiple “most favorites” negates the “most favorite”… I say it means I’m lucky to love a lot of great people.

I am the youngest of the girls, and spent most of my childhood trying to be exactly like them.  I would literally wait for them to get dressed, and then go look for something similar in my closet… and then be like, “weird, Shellie, we’re both wearing red t-shirts and shorts today!”  I thought their teased bangs were cool, their Doc Martens were cool, and the very idea that they were in high school was cool.  I’m pretty sure they were a lot less enthusiastic about me than I was about them back then
(my chicken legs, braces, and mullet = not as cool). 

These days, I “talk” or should I say at least “connect” with these ladies daily.  We send each other 12,000 emails per day (<- hyperbole), talk, and text constantly. 

We don’t get to hang out all together very often, as Shellie lives out of state.  So whenever she visits, we reserve one day for “sister day”.  We always try to spend the day with a combination of eating, shopping, laughing (we happen to be the funniest people we know), spa-ing, and complaining that it isn’t enough time.

Shellie was here last week, and this visit was no exception.

we

-went to Blue Plate for breakfast = good

-a certain skin school/spa in Sugarhouse = not good (unfortunately, this sucked up 3 hours of our time, and also just sucked… we learned our lesson)

-went to Red Mango = extra good

-went to Target (a sister day staple) = good except we didn’t get nearly enough time there because we had to make it to

-“The Help” = medium good.  I liked the book better, but still cried.

it was a too-quick, but still very good day. 

I miss them already.