SO EXCITED!

For Christmas, Rod got me a beautiful jewelry box. Unfortunately, it didn't quite match the rest of our furniture (or fit my jewelry). So we ordered another box from Pottery Barn. It came today, and I couldn't wait to fill it up.

Flowers, check (hopefully)

Over the years (especially the last three years), I have been to a lot weddings. They were all beautiful and unique, but the flowers at one wedding in particular were especially memorable. My friend Melanie was kind enough to share the name of her florist with me. Rod and I (mostly me) spent several hours looking at pictures of flowers with Svetlana from Posh Posy. I loved that she not only incorporated my ideas but built on them. She sketched out several versions of centerpieces right there. We have a meeting with her on Saturday. I'm so excited to see the mock ups and, hopefully, her prices will be as great as she is.

I have been collecting the above pictures for a long time, so I don't really remember where I got them from. Several of them are from Michelle Rago's Signature Weddings, others are from Martha Stewart Weddings, The Knot Texas, Brides, and Style Me Pretty.

The Sweetest Thing . . .

Word to the wise . . . never go to a cake tasting on an empty stomach. By the time we finished, we both had a sugar headache. I think we came up with the perfect combination though: almond poppy with rasberry filling, carrot cake with cream cheese, and white chocolate macademia and coconut. Mmmmm . . .

We were surprised by our choices. We thought for sure that we would want chocolate and would not want fondant. We didn't like the chocolate, too dry. We did like the fondant, surprisingly tasty.

We were really happy with the service we received at Granite Bridal. We were originally interested in another bakery, which will remained unnamed, that completely ignored us when we went to talk to them. Granite immediately sat us down, no appointment necessary, handed us a book of cake pictures, and started bringing out samples.

We had a design in mind when we came in. I showed them the pictures, and they were confident that they could recreate it.

Credits: I apologize, but when I started gathering the above photos, I wasn't paying much attention to where they came from or who took them. I can tell you that the Top Row, second from the left is from David Michael Photography and made by Rosebud Cakes; second from the right is by Michael Dwornik; far right, La Tulipe Desserts; Bottom second from left, by Granite Bridal; far right by Martha Stewart Weddings; the center and second from the right are from Style Me Pretty.

Geaux Tigers!

The only thing better than watching the LSU Tigers beat the Buckeyes in the National Championship game is watching it with 12 or so friends and 13 1/2 quarts of gumbo. We were worried after the first couple plays, but that didn't last long. Neither did the gumbo . . .

Dream America

"What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you can know that the president drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke, and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one that the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the president knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it."

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again), 1975.

Andy Warhol 1978


This was the last weekend of the Andy Warhol exhibit at the UMFA. Even though Andy Warhol is not my favorite Pop Artist, I am intrigued by the philosophy and purpose of the Pop Art movement: to make art accessible to the masses by incorporating popular culture into the artwork. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see such an impressive collection in Utah. I roped my friend Patty into going with me. We spent hours debating over which Marilyn was our favorite. Seriously though, we did spend a lot of time comparing the different pieces and reading about his philosophy and how his art changed from the time he started painting. It was fascinating.

1976
1967

The following quote struck us both, "Everybody has their own America, and then they have pieces of a fantasy America that they think is out there but they can't see. . . . But you can only live life in one place at a time. And your own life while it's happening to you never has any atmosphere until it's a memory." America, 1985

Kiss the Girl

It is so depressing to put away all the ornaments and lights and to throw the Christmas tree to the curb. After all the planning and building up to it, there is almost a period of mourning when it is over. While I was trying to fit all the ornaments in the box, I saved our new ornament for last. Each year Rod and I get a new ornament for the tree. Last year we got two cute monkeys hanging on each other: "Bananas For You". This year I wasn't able to go out with Rod to pick out the ornament. He brought back a Little Mermaid ornament: "Kiss the Girl". It seemed fitting since we have a pretty important kiss in our near future.

You know it has been a good party when . . .

Welcome 2008

They" say that how you ring in the new year sets the tone for the rest of year. I have feeling this year is going to be very memorable. :) The night started off mellow enough. Our good friends Carrie and Joel came over to help us get things started. Within two hours, the house was packed, the champagne was freely flowing, and some of my co-workers and friends were tossing chocolates at each other's cleavage. By the time midnight struck, the party was (of course) in full swing. In the mess of champagne, noise blowers, and singing, Rod and I found each other for our New Year's kiss.

2007 in Review

What an incredible year!

Resolutions for next year:

1) Be better at keeping in touch with friends. I have been so lucky to have many wonderful people in my life. Last year got so busy with work and planning the wedding. I was bad at making time to see everyone. This year, I am going to make more of an effort to spend with my friends. I realize that work is always going to be there (and hopefully my friends will be there too). I need to make time now.



2) Each Earth Day, Rod and I make a committment to do one thing that will improve our environment. This year, I decided to make my committment early. For the last year, I have been bringing home my water bottles from work to recycle. This year, I am not going to recycle water bottles, I'm going to bring my nalgene bottle to work rather than waste the bottles in the first place.


Photo by Rich Pedroncelli for Associated Press
Americans throw away 60 million bottles per day.

3) Get stronger. Last summer I got a road bike and, by the end of the season, I could get up Millcreek Canyon. This winter, I am going to take up skate skiing so I can start out the biking season strong. I am also going to try to ride my bike to work more and I have promised myself that I will do at least one mountain bike race (even if I get my butt kicked).



4) Be healthier. Rod and I are both pretty active and eat healthy food. We try to avoid preservatives and buy local, organic foods as often as possible. This year, I would like to focus on other aspects of our health both mental and physical. Specifically, I need to moisturize more often, drink more water, and get monthly facials and massages (for mental health really). I would also like to incorporate more weightlifting into my workout routine.

Happy 2008!

I apologize for posting all my Christmas posts now, when I should be talking about New Years resolutions and such. We have been so busy over the holidays that I have not had time to put up our Christmas pics. I hope you will bear with me and stay tuned for our New Year's pics.

Here are some pics from our last New Years party.

Great friends!




Good spread


Sledding in Cocktail Dresses Anyone?

For the love of fondue

It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but it was a little easier knowing that our friends Phil and Tara were having us over for fondue--one of my favorite meals ever! You just cannot beat dipping things into vats of cheese and chocolate. It was nice too to have a night to forget about the law and talk to people who do other things.

Phil and Tara's daughter, Lily, is such a cute girl. She likes to take the books off the shelf one-by-one, "read" each one, and throw it on the floor.


Leslie and Jeremy's daughter, Lucy, likes to wear princess dresses. She wears them everywhere. It is so cute to watch her twirl. Whenever I tried to take a picture of her, she struck a pose. SO cute!


Tara put together the cutest party favors. It was a "Winter Survival Kit" for the winter. It had soup, chapstick, pocket tissues, and other winter essentials.

Oh Brother!

The night before we headed back to Idaho, Rod and I went out with my family to celebrate Jordan's birthday. It is hard to believe my Buggy is going to be a teenager next year! It seems like not so long ago that he was born. He has always been my little Bug. I was 15 when he was born, so I babysat a LOT. Then, whenever I came to visit or home for the summer, we would always spend as much time as we could together. He would even want to help me cook and do dishes!



He has always been such a sweet boy. Last year, Jordan's school was trying to raise money for leukemia. To encourage the other students, Jordan approached his principle and got him to agree that if the students raised more than $1,000, they would both get Mohawks. The students ended up raising $1,600.


After this Birthday, he is going to have to beat the ladies off with a stick! He got a new Element Board (Bam of course) from me and an electric guitar. He is too cool!




I am so proud to be his sister and so excited that he has agreed to be a groomsman.