exposed.

Meet Brock.

He is my boyfriend...most of the time.

Brock=studying, studying, studying for FINALS.

.....SOO....I think I'll rearrange, rearrange, rearrange.

I decided to take my cabinet doors off to EXPOSE all my white dishes that I LOVE. {thanks taisj} I've been wanting to paint my boring wood cabinets to lighten up my kitchen but haven't mustered up the courage yet...This is a quick fix for now but it already feels lighter!

happy birthday mom!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the most amazing woman I know! You are the strongest, most positive, truly amazing woman I know. I look up to you so much. Love you more than anything... hugs and kisses and lots of them on your special day! P.S. To everyone that has been so wonderful...THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your words of encouragement, prayers, flowers, cards, gifts, meals, and last, but not least, company!! Words cannot express the appreciation from me and my family. She came home from the hospital for a third time now earlier this evening and gets to be home for a week before she goes back for another surgery...

Please Pray for my Mom

Many of you know my mom is in the hospital (for those of you that don't, she had to have surgery due to a sickness she has been battling for almost 4 years). It's day 13 now and she is still not well enough to come home. Please keep her in your prayers. Thank you.

Oh Sweet Sadie and aLpHaBeTs!

What you ask?? Oh Sweet Sadie is a 'traveling boutique' that is sure to delight your fancy...especially if you heart Farmer's Markets and the like. Oh Sweet Sadies features over 80 talented local artisans; beautiful clothing for adults and children, original home decor, everything for baby, retro toys, neck ties for your man, scented candles, pettiskirts, card and gift tags, mineral makeup, jewelry galore, funky hair accessories, vintage cake plates, useful notepads, designer jeans, original art work and photography, beautiful handmade quilts, dress ups, adorable ribbons, gumballs, scrumptious baked goods, homeade candy, games and toys for girls and boys, and oh so much more!

*Note, while you are there, check out 'Oopsie Daisy', a new children's boutique in Daybreak. I hear it is adorable! They have everything you need from pregnancy all the way through- maternity clothes, furniture, beautiful children's clothes, shoes, toys, and gifts. A B.G. client was in today and she has been helping with the opening of the store and said it is wonderful!...{{Wish I was prego and could partake of its cuteness}}

Where you ask?? SoDa Row, Daybreak's new Retail Shopping District

When you ask?? Tomorrow! Tomorrow! Tomorrow! 9:30 am- 8:00 pm
I am going right after work...can't wait!

And speaking of work....the Black Goose Design is bustling with aLpHaBets...

New aLpHabeT charms and aLpHaBet letters to decorate with...cute chunky painted and distressed letters! Who knew letters could be so fun?! I will post some pictures soon..when I find my camera!

F is for FALL...F is for FAVORITE!

I think Fall is the most delightful time of the year! I love the smell of pumpkins burning around Halloween, I love how the colder air feels so crisp, I love the colors in the mountains, I LOVE Fall clothes (you can layer and layer and layer--scarves, tights, boots, hats..so fun!), I love drinking hot apple-cider, curling up with a book and turning the fireplace on....I could go on and on. These are some of my favorite Fall ideas. I want to have a little dinner party just so I can make place cards in mini pumpkins and then maybe I will serve SCARY spider-web cookies for dessert (or even better, do that treatment on chocolate cupcakes!!)

{Recipe Spotlight}

If you like apple-cider as much as I do, you will really enjoy this recipe...

.::Hot Strawberry-Apple Cider::.
8 cups apple cider or apple juice (Tree-Top is the best!)

1 10 oz. package frozen sliced strawberries

4 inches stick cinnamon

1 teaspoon whole cloves

Fresh strawberry or apple slices

Cinnamon sticks

Combine cider or juice, frozen sliced strawberries, the 4 inches stick cinnamon and cloves in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve lined with 100% cotton cheesecloth. Serve with your favorite teacups and garnish with a cinnamon stick and fresh strawberry or apple slice. Makes 8, 8 oz. servings. Yum!

If only.

Meet Elimovna.

She's from a darling little place called Anthropologie.

If only she were $29.80 instead of $298.00...

I would promise to love her forever.

If only.

Friday, Won't You Please Come Sooner?

The next two Fridays promise delightful entertainment at the Box Office... Can't wait!!

If only I had more time to read...I would read both books before the movies come out...but I don't...so I think I'll just see the movies...maybe twice...perhaps three times.

.::Julie & Julia::.

Opens this Friday, August 7th

{{a brief synopsis from the Julie & Julia website...}}

Meryl Streep is Julia Child and Amy Adams is Julie Powell in writer-director Nora Ephron's adaptation of two best selling memoirs: Powell's Julie & Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen, and My Life in France, by Julia Child.

Based on two true stories, Julie & Julia intertwines the lives of two women who, though by separated by time and space, are both at loose ends..until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

{{on Julie Powell's book Julie & Julia...}}

Julie Powell, who was nearing thirty and trapped in her dead-end secretarial job, resolved to reclaim her life by cooking, in the span of a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her unexpexted reward: not just a newfound respect for calves' livers and aspic, but a new life-lived with gusto.

{{on Julia Child's book My Life in France...}}

Julia Child single-handedly created a new approach to American cuisine with her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her television show The French Chef, but as she reveals in this bestselling memoir, she was not always a master chef.

Indeed, when she first arrived in France in 1948 with her husband, Paul, who was to work for the USIS, she spoke no French and knew nothing about the country itself. But as she dove into French culture, buying food at local markets and taking classes at the Cordon Bleu, her life changed forever with her newfound passion for cooking and teaching. Julia’s unforgettable story – struggles with the head of the Cordon Bleu, rejections from publishers to whom she sent her now-famous cookbook, a wonderful, nearly fifty-year long marriage that took them across the globe – unfolds with the spirit so key to her success as a chef and a writer, brilliantly capturing one of the most endearing American personalities of the last fifty years.

and a little more.....

After a little research, I found the original Julie/Julia Project blog (for those of you that don't know, Julie Powell started a blog in which she posted about each of the recipes in Julia's book and her quest to cook through them! You can find it here. If you would like to read a little bit about her current life, her latest blog is here.

.::The Time Traveler's Wife::.

Opens next Friday, August 14th

First things first...I think Rachel McAdams is absolutely adorable. I would see any movie that she was in. Second, I have heard that the book The Time Traveler's Wife is amazing (A Best-Selling Novel).

{{a brief synopsis from The Time Traveler's Wife website...}}

The Time Traveler's Wife is based on the best-selling book about a love that transends time. Clare (Rachel McAdams) has been in love with Henry (Eric Bana) her entire life. She believes they are destined to be together, even though she never knows when they will be separated: Henry is a time traveler--cursed with a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life on a shiftime timeline, skipping back and forth through his lifespan with no control. Despite the fact that Henry's travels force them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries to build a life with her one true love.

Dear Denise,

.....And you will be missed dearly. Thank you for being such an amazing example, teacher, manager and FRIEND.

.:Rainy Day Recipe Spotlight:.

Call me crazy, but I enjoy rainy days.

I think it is because we don't get them a lot (well, with the exception of this week). *Disclaimer: I must admit that every time I smile at the wet window pane when I wake up, I think of a poor bride that is getting married today who is probably not as thrilled; however, they say rain on your day of wedded bliss is a sign of good luck?....

There is something about the smell of a rainy day, the sound of the rain as it hits the rooftop and windows, and how the gloomy weather makes you want to put on your most comfortable jammies and read a good book by the fire. I love it.

It also makes me want to eat yummy soup and so I did just that. Taco soup to be exact.

I'm no Rachel Ray, but I would say my soup was delish'!

.:Taco Soup:.

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion

1 package taco seasoning

1 160z can kidney beans (drained)

1 16oz can tomato sauce

1 16oz can corn (not-drained)

1 28oz can stewed tomatoes

Brown beef and onion. Drain. Add taco seasoning, corn, beans, tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

I topped mine with tortilla chips, cheddar cheese, sour cream, olives, and fresh cilantro (may substitute cilantro for green onions).

Enjoy!

Twilight!!...and I'm not talking about Vampires

2009 Twilight Summer Concert Series is almost upon us! This summer brings the 22nd season of the Twilight Concert Series at the Gallivan Center in Downtown SLC. If you have never been, you are truly missing out on one of the best Summer night experiences in SLC [especially for the 20-40 something crowd]. This year's lineup is promised to 'present a progressive mix of alternative folk and rock to new voices of hip hop and beyond'. My favorite part you ask??...it's FREE. Where else can you spend a warm Thursday Summer evening with friends, live music, food and beverage vendors and a little Farmer's Market feel with local artists selling an assortment of handcrafted items?? The Series opens July 9th [with one of my favorites Bon Iver (click here and here )] and continues through August 27th. Can't wait!

The BacHeLoRette!!

I remember my Freshman year Writing class up at the U. I had a quirky teacher that loved to talk about really random things before he got class started (like taking 20 minutes of the class to discuss whether or not we would eat a perfectly good-looking hot dog left on a bench at a baseball game)?? Yeah...I don't quite get it either...

One day he asked everyone to share their guilty pleasure t.v. show. I remember thinking...I don't really have one...Well that soon changed! I don't think I have missed an episode of The BacHeLoR/BacHeLoRette in the last 5 years.... No, I am not proud to say it is the one television show I cannot miss, but yes...I love watching people fall in LoVe (I think you can call it love--I mean Jason fell head over heels for Melissa...I mean Molly.

Meet JiLLiaN...former Bachelor reject (I personally think she is a doll)...that now gets her pick at 30 men. Lets just hope that she has really flat feet or perhaps a little 'toe jam' to save her from Tanner...seriously how can you not watch this show. :)

a tisket..a tasket...wish you had a basket??

I know I do...Actually, three of them please. I came across this delightful picture of Haskell Harris's kitchen ((former Special Projects Editor and Assitant Homes Editor at Cottage Living magazine and now covering style for Garden and Gun)) and as I was taking in the fresh, cool palette; the farmhouse apron sink; the open-ness with large windows and countertop to ceiling backsplash as opposed to cabinets....I stopped on the adorable wire baskets hung above each other on the beadboarded wall. I am not sure what it is...the fact that there are three hung above each other (most accessories look fabulous when grouped in numbers), the wire element perfectly complimenting the 'country' kitchen, or the fact that they are functional for all kinds of kitchen storage, but I just love this look. Lucky for me (and you!) we have a few of these baskets left at The Black Goose Design. I know what is going on my want list :).
View the pic LARGER here.
::photos via Urban Grace Interiors & Garden and Gun::

Dear Spring, Won't You Stay Forever?

I LOVE Spring colors and...(naturally)..deCoRaTiNg with Spring Accessories. They are so light and refreshing! it doesn't matter if it is Fall or Christmas...these are the colors that I am drawn to. My personal favorites are vintage inspired florals and the color teal. I rearranged a bunch of my accessories the other day and here is what I came up with. Happy Spring!I don't really have a large space for an 'entry' and certainly not enough space (depth) for an entry chest, but I wanted to create an area that I could use as display and another opportunity for a lamp (you can never have enough accent lighting!) I moved this accent table and chair over as a quick solution. I just need to find something now for under the 'Welcome' sign. That empty spot needs a little something!I need to fill my glass jars!

I bought this Chalkboard (it is an old cabinet door painted with chalkboard paint) at the Downtown Farmers' Market last summer. I didn't have a kitchen valance and I loved the contrast between my wood cabinets and the white and black so it was a perfect fit! I haven't done it yet, but I am going to change 'Kitchen' to my Grandma's famous oatmeal cookie recipe.

Happy Birthday...Times Two!

This past Friday was a birthday celebration for my cute, cute Dad and his new project Village Coin Laundry. He has been working so hard to get it open in time and Friday was the big day! My mom and I went out to visit him to wish him a happy birthday and to see his new store. It looked great! He always works so hard and I am sure it feels good to be done. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! Love you.

Country Home...No Longer

Bad news today...Country Home is joining Cottage Living in heaven. Yes, it is true. Country Home is no longer. Lack of ad buys and decreasing circulation led to the magazine's demise. According to The New York Times, in 2008 Country Home had 25 percent fewer ad pages than in 2007. The March issue will be its last.

I just don't know what I am going to do. I have to admit, I bought the February issue of Country Home a couple weeks ago and as I was skimming through it, I thought...I miss Cottage Living deeply...ha..but I suppose this can be my new favorite. There were a lot of cute spreads and (now ironically) it had more content and less ads than Country Living...Better for us readers I guess, but not so great for business.

The February issue had a darling spread on cute and functional organization ideas...perfect in time to fulfill those New Year's resolutions!

Girls' Night!

Danielle, Taisja, Me, Beth, Hailey, Anj, Heath and Holly

(Hailey-I stole this pic from you because I didn't have my camera...so thanks girl!)
The other night a bunch of my high school friends got together for a much needed Girls' Dinner at Paradise Bakery. It was so much fun to see everyone and catch up! Thanks for the fun night (and thank you Dan for planning it!). See you next month!