New laundry room shelves

Everyone, meet my new laundry room shelves. Shelves, everyone. I first have to confess that I should have taken before photos. I really really should have. Because, believe me you guys, my laundry room looked like a hot mess before these shelves came along (let's be honest, it's still not a beauty, but it's MUCH better). Everything was heaped on top of the washer and dryer in no type of order whatsoever. Our laundry soaps. Hanks toys and sundries. A gigantic juicer. Dirty kitchen towels. All fighting for space atop our appliances. And it drove me nuts! For the last year+ every time I went into the laundry room I knew there had to be a change. And so, over the weekend, finally a change there was: enter the new laundry room shelves.

We already had a small, high shelf installed in the laundry room that came with the house (I used to to store cleaning rags and our iron), so Ty and I decided to just match the three shelves we wanted to install to it, since it was just about the easiest type of shelf to build and so they would all match. Brilliant. The original shelf was constructed by installing three individual furring strips along the back and side walls, and then placing the shelf on top of the lip they create. Easy peezy.

So, Ty measured out the pieces we would need, and then I headed to Home Depot to pick up the wood and get it cut. Important to note, when taking measurements for the side pieces, you should take the stud distance into account. You will notice the side furring strips for our shelves extend beyond the actual shelf depth (so did the ones for the original shelf); they needed to go out that far so each of them could be fastened into two studs, providing adequate shelf support. Make sense? Okay good. Moving ahead.

Once we had the wood at home, I laid out a drop cloth in the garage and used some leftover paint to make those babies white white white. It took a couple coats and days, but after they were all beautiful and dry, Ty used our electric drill to install the furring strips (he drilled pilot holes in them first to keep the boards from splitting). Then we plopped the shelves on top and stood back to admire our handy work. Ta-dah! But. "Ew," I thought. "Those edges look disgusting." I must admit I hadn't sanded the boards at all before painting (it didn't occur to me that I should have sanded them until the first paint coat was on, and at that point I was way too lazy to start over), so I knew they wouldn't look good. But they honestly looked even worse than I had anticipated. Gross. Thankfully, though, caulk is a miracle worker. It took about 30 minutes of meticulous work, but after caulking all the way around the newly installed shelves and furring strips, the shelves went from feeble to fabulous. I swear, caulked edges make things look a million times better. And now I have four (count them four!) happy little laundry-room shelves to use to my fancy. Not to mention it's so good to be able to see the tops of the washer and dryer again. And push their buttons without reaching around a bunch of stuff. Couldn't be happier.

The whole project cost about $40 and took a combined total of about 3.5 hours of labor + Home Depot run time.

Happy weekend

Hey everyone! This week honestly flew for us over here in the Clark house. You too? Ty has been feverishly studying and working and staying up all hours of the night to complete everything he needs to for his job and his two midterms this week (he's honestly superman, you guys). And work and play have kept me sufficiently busy that I am amazed the week's end is here already. After one more final tonight (happy thoughts) Ty is out of the fire, and we are heading to a local baseball game with some friends. Then tomorrow I am attending a clothing swap in our neighborhood and the rest of the day is allotted for cleaning and lounging and sleeping (for my stellar, sleep-deprived husband). I hope you guys have great plans to enjoy in this lovely summer that we've happened upon lately. Here are a few links to kick it all off.

Oh hi, little guy.
A cloud cookie would make anyone's day better. And this pig cuts cookie cutter makes me laugh.
Such a beautiful house plant.
My two lust afters at Madewell.
Have you seen this 1939 Jay-Z doppelgänger?
I am in love with the message on this toothpaste.
Animal eyes super duper closeup -- the Lama is my favorite.

A lady bike

Today I am wearing a maxi skirt. I wasn't sure how it would work out with riding my bike to and from the train station, but other than it being a slight annoyance to adjust the skirt every minute or so to keep it over my knees (no peep shows welcome over here), it really isn't all that bad (UPDATE: Riding into the wind in a skirt is in fact all that bad. Really really bad. Just sayin'). It makes me pine a little but for a lady bike though; one with a lower top bar so mounting and dismounting aren't so tricky. And so my skirts can just hang at their leisure, no adjustment needed. It makes me think it may be time to sell my road bike in pursuit or greater ease and comfort. We will see. In the mean time, here are a few great options that caught my eye.

The Holymoly Lady by Creme Cycles

The Milano Dama by Bianchi

The Scout Regalia

The Caferacer Lady Doppio by Creme Cycles

Bicycling Date

Ty and I headed up to Salt Lake Friday night via bikes and the train with some friends (I am really loving this whole train thing, you guys), and other than furiously biking a few miles to outrun some rain, the evening was relaxed, warm and beautiful. There is something so perfect about riding a bike around on a warm summer night. I feel like the world moves more slowly. I can appreciate the places I pass and the people I see and the little nooks and crannies of a city more when I am on bike. Not to mention I become MUCH more aware of potholes and inclines on the roads :) Nonetheless, though, it really is just the best.

Our routes on Friday evening wound us through the old residential neighborhoods of downtown, and I swear I repeated renditions of "Oh! look how cute that house is!" and "Hey! How great is that (arbor, fence, planter, siding, porch, etc)!" at least every 5 seconds; thankfully Ty loves houses as much as I do. I swear house watching has to be one of my favorite things. You too? Okay, good. In between house watching and just enjoying riding around, we picked up some tasty Thai food here (stamp of approval), and visited a statue garden and grabbed gelato here (that place is quickly becoming a favorite). It was just a beautiful night. 

And Saturdays garage sales didn't disappoint -- we got about a million CDs, a dirt biking helmet, some nice piece for my wardrobe (including a pair of Frye boots), and I brought home a 3-foot-tall, light-up, gold-letter sign that reads "PARTY." YES.  Pictures to come.

Happy weekend

I have two words for you concerning this weekend: GARAGE SALES. And it's about time! I absolutely love garage sale-ing, so typically I'm out early in the season and often. But this year, sadly, I haven't been. Because for some reason Ty and I have been ridiculously busy. But, tomorrow is the day, friends! And I am so excited about it. First thing's first, though, so to kick off the weekend tonight Ty and I are riding the train up to Salt Lake with some friends for a little bike riding and shopping and eating downtown. Just being out and about tonight sounds like heaven to me. I hope you all have some great plans too! Here are a few links to get you in the weekend mood:

Spot me, bro!
I'm not sure why, but I think this sleeved swimsuit is kind of amazing.
Ty has a tendency to say this phrase, so we bought the tote this week for good measure.
Louder than words.
I love this woman's thoughts on children.
How did they get up there?
There are glaciers in New Zealand? Who knew?
Macaroni and Cheese Pie with a Bacon Lattice. What?

PHOTO VIA - DOES THAT PHOTO SCREAM "RELAX" OR WHAT?

Katy's wedding recap

Weddings in and of themselves are kind of magical don't you think? The fact that two people care that much about each other at the same time and want to join their lives forever is a bit of a miracle, if you ask me. And it honestly is such a delight to witness your closest friends finding their matches. Katy and Lincoln's wedding on Saturday was beautiful. Katy looked stunning and peaceful. And her groom was simply BEAMING (I kid you not) with happiness. And they just radiated with excitement and joy. It was enough to fill this little lady with a whole lotta sunshine for her closest friend and her eternal beau, I tell you what. Not to mention it was bright and sunny outside -- you can't hate that.

It was such a good day. And even better because I spent the whole day with Ty enjoying his company and the festivities. I can't overstate how happy I am to be married to Ty. And how happy I am for Katy and her new adventurous life with Lincoln. They are seriously perfect. And I'm pretty sure they are going to produce at least one olympic volleyball player in their progeny.

PHOTOS 3, 5, 6, 8 C/O ANGELA STEVENSON

A plant-potting tip

About 13 years ago I was thumbing through a Martha Stewart magazine and came across the handiest tip for transferring potted plants. While filling the new container with soil, place the pre-potted plant INSIDE the container, and just fill in the dirt around it. Then, when you have the container all filled, take the potted plant out and there is a perfect little hole for you to place the sans-pot plant in. So easy. And you didn't have to hold an unpotted plant steady whilst filling in around it. Brilliant.

I used this tip over the weekend when I had a chance to put out our balcony planter boxes. I've been loving how much color and life they add to the front of our cozy little home. Here's a little step by step if you are wanting some flower boxes of your own and are a first-time-planter-box planter.

STEP 1: Give appropriate drainage

Plants need water drainage to thrive, so make sure your container provides it. My containers are solid on the bottom, so to provide adequate water drainage for the plant roots, I filled the bottom of my containers about an inch deep with small rocks I purchased at the hardware store in the gardening section. I then layered some moss on top to keep the soil from slipping down into the rocks. You can also drill holes in the bottom of your container if you prefer.

STEP 2: Filling with dirt

Like we talked about above, place your potted plants from the store inside your new container and fill in the dirt around them, making sure to press the soil down firmly to keep it nice and packed. See how the plants are still in their store pots down there?

STEP 3: Potting the plants

Once you have the dirt filled nearly to the top of the plant pots, gently remove the potted plants from the new planter, exposing the perfectly portioned hole for the plant to go in. 

Then, even more gently, remove the plants from their original containers. Be sure to break up the bottom of the root ball a little bit (simply use your hand to loosen the dirt on the bottom of the plant) before placing it in the new planter, and then pack in the rest of the dirt around the plant so is feels nice and cozy in its new home. And that's it! Enjoy your new planters.

Happy weekend

It's a wedding weekend! Tomorrow morning my dearest friend, Katy, is tying the knot forever with Mr. Lincoln Spencer, and I couldn't be happier for her. Since Katy and I both married into families with men's first names as last names, we like to joke that I will name my first boy Spencer Clark and she will name hers Clark Spencer :) Ty and I will be spending Saturday doing pretty much all things wedding (we even get to spend the morning at the Draper temple -- the same place we were married a year and a half ago). And we are starting the weekend off tonight with a trip to a near-by tulip festival. Hopefully we can score a couple Segways this time so we can tour the gardens at ultimate-fun speed.

Whoa.
Bring on the summer kayaking.
This post makes me want to go to Kenya one day.
Coconut oil beauty uses.
I am in love with everything about this house. I exaggerate not.
Strawberry, mango and avocado nachos sound delicious.
I will be making this tart soon.
I say this phrase against my will. But I just. can't. stop.

Hiking Dry Creek

Now that the weather is warming up, Ty is on a major hiking kick, which I am totally loving. We decided to hit up Dry Creek Trail on Friday night for both our and Hank's enjoyment. We didn't get to the trail head until close to 7:30 p.m., and since we were sans headlamps, we made sure to keep it relatively short. But it was a great time. A STEEP great time.

Ty and I went around the first bend and realized we were totally isolated. "It's so quiet," I remarked. "Yeah," Ty agreed "It's like after the first turn you are completely alone." It was so so nice to feel like we were out of the city. And the view behind us of the valley was amazing. Hank ran around like a crazy dog, I did a little rock scrambling (you can spot me in the second picture down if you keep a keen eye), and we found a nice man to take our picture in front of the far-off Timpanogos mountain peak. A great night out with the boys. On the way home Ty indulged my request to get frozen yogurt (what a guy). And after we finished, it was very apparent that wasn't enough sustenance so we hit up Del Taco on the way home as well. Cause who doesn't want a post-hike chicken soft taco at 9 o'clock at night? Right? Right. That's what I thought too.

Happy weekend

Hi everyone. I'm really excited for this weekend because #1 -- it's starting with a hike tonight with Ty and Hank (a woohoo outdoors!), and #2 -- I am co-throwing a party for my soon-to-be-married amazing friend, Katy! Then Ty and I are hoping to make a tasty salmon dinner on Sunday and cross our fingers for sunny weather so we can eat it on the porch. So we've got a little bit of everything in there. I hope you all have great things planned too. Here are a few links to start it all off with a bang.

I am unsuccessfully trying to convince Ty that we need this bed.
If I had a larger laundry room, I would definitely put these drying racks up.
Sneak kisses are my favorite kind of kisses.
A friend made this bread the other day, and it was divine.
Huzzah!
That's a powerful rainbow.
Is it disgusting that I kind of want to make this cake?
For the person who's serious about seriously slimming their wardrobe.
So in love with these sunglasses.

PS -- Don't forget today is the last day for Free National Parks week!
PPS -- Jcrew outlets are having their 50% off everything in the store again this weekend.