:: nic nacks ::

The company I kept yesterday while working from home.

2012-01-25T12:06:00.000-08:00

Snowy mountain. Hank.

Puppies at work are a great idea

2012-01-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

Everyone, meet the newest member of our family, Hank. Hank, everyone.

Working from home

2012-01-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

One of the best perks (believe me, there are many) about my new job is that I work from home 2 days a week. As a designer, being in the office is important of course. But being in the office everyday? Not as much. Thank goodness my employer feels the same way. Among the perk of getting to work in my pajamas, I also get to sleep in an extra 30 minutes since I don't have to drive into the office. The couch is my workspace (the couch, people). I have very little distractions. And I get a nice view of the mountains all day long (but, honesty in place, I do have a pretty great window set up at work -- I will need to share in photo form). I have journaled my day for you in the photos above.

1. MY WORK UNIFORM: YOGA PANTS, UGG SLIPPERS (THANK YOU FOR THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT, TY), AND MY HUSBAND'S GREY WOOL SWEATER.
2. MY VIEW FROM THE COUCH INSIDE.
3. MY VIEW FROM THE COUCH LOOKING OUTSIDE.
4. THE COMPANY I KEEP (TY AND I PLAN TO ADD THIS TO THE COMPANY I KEEP ON MY DAYS AT HOME VERY SOON).

Yay winter!

2012-01-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I am really really glad winter has finally decided to show it's face around here. And while it might be sunny and clear today, this is what my world looked like yesterday and that makes me feel good inside.

Thailand & Gratitude

2012-01-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

Today I am swooningly jealous over this woman's trip to Thailand. The temples. The food. The cooking classes. The beaches. It all looks so amazing it has me craving a trip of my own. One thing the author mentions in her trip log is how grateful she is to have been able to spend two straight weeks with her husband; in fact, she sites it as her favorite part about the trip. And it got me thinking about just how fortunate Ty and I really are. I see my husband all the time. We work a total of 3 miles apart so we carpool daily. We spend our evenings together. We go out at least once a week. And I absolutely love it. I mean, he's my best friend; what's not to love about spending all my time with him? And her little expression of gratitude made me remember just how grateful I am that, despite busy schedules, my husband and I still get to spend a good part of every single day together. So blessed.

New Years hiking

2012-01-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

Ty (mistakenly) thought he had to work January 2nd, so Kates and I decided to take us a little hike to ring in the new year. I personally was hoping to do a bit of snowshoeing in the New Year, but strangely Utah has been as dry as a bone this winter; barely any snow anywhere (so weird and sad and weird). So, after arranging our hike the night before, Katy and I showed up in normal hiking gear and rung in the new year with a nice little treat of a 2-hour hike, which, at Big Springs is more like a slightly inclined walk in the mountains. But, I tell you what, I definitely do love me some mountainous inclined walking, so it was a great time to be had.

Arriving at the trail head at 11am meant the canyon woke up and warmed up around us as we hiked, and it was so so lovely. Ice formations around the springs and tiny ice crystals on bridges frosted the wintery canyon we enjoyed all the morning, and not even the trail turning to ice halfway in deterred us and our enjoyment.

YOU CAN SEE PHOTOS OF OUR SAME ADVENTURE TAKEN VIA SNOWSHOES TWO YEARS EARLIER HERE.

Tree leftovers

2012-01-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night Ty and I hauled our massive tree down the stairs and out to the street for the garbage man to pick up the following morning. Upon returning, however, we found that a fair amount of the tree decided it didn't want to leave the house yet. In fact, it decided to stew itself about so as to occupy as much of the condo floor as possible. Rude. The defiant tree pieces were no match for my broom and dustpan, thankfully, but I still have need to vacuum the stairs (which has obviously taken quite some motivating as it's still not done.) I'm thinking it may take a few more days of self motivation to get the oomph to make that happen though. I mean, let's be honest, who on earth likes to vacuum the stairs? No one...that's who. (EXCEPT FOR MAYBE MY FRIEND JESSICA. SHE SWEARS SHE HAS A SUPER VACUUM THAT MAKES THE CHORE QUITE THE DELIGHT.)

New Year's resolution

2012-01-04T11:08:00.000-08:00

It's taken me a few days, but I've come up with my one and only new years resolution: Make more bread. I figure I'll do everything else I want to do without making a goal. I hope you all had a great New Year's celebration! I think New Year's can kind of be a flop sometimes (a real wha-wha), so hopefully yours were surprisingly delightful. This year we rang in the new year with ice hockey with some close friends in Midway! And some of our neighboring celebrators even let off suitable fireworks and asian floating lanterns. Hello 2012, glad to see you.

YOU CAN SEE MORE SHOTS FROM OUR NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATION RIGHT OVER HERE.

Christmas with the Clarks

2012-01-01T16:16:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! We traveled to Colorado for our Christmas holiday this year to spend time with my lovely family, the Schmidts. I took a whooping two usable photos from the trip (taken right outside of church to capture our matching Christmas outfits), so I'm sorry for the lack of Colorado representation. Our Colorado Christmas visit, despite pictoral representation, was just as I like it though -- lots of face time with the family I love (besides Andy and his family -- we missed you, brother!) playing cards, doing puzzles and eating copious amounts of tasty food.

Before heading out of town, we were sure to decorate our abode so we could enjoy it for a few weeks before the formal festivities. Tree decorating went per the usual -- I decorated while Ty sat back snug as a bug in a rug and took photos. This year we picked out a 9.5 feet noble fir (whoa momma!) after visiting no less than 5 Christmas tree lots to be sure we found just the right tree, so I recruited some stools to help me in the decorating. I think I'll be adding a garland to the tree next year -- this year's tree seems to scream "give me a garland!" and so, indeed I shall.

Hope you had a warm, festive, happy holiday season with you and yours! Christmas really is the best way, in my opinion, to wrap up the year. Here's to a new, exciting 2012.

Jcrew lusting

2011-12-29T14:59:00.000-08:00

As I was sitting at work today, Ty popped on the IM saying he had found all the things he wanted on the Jcrew sale, which was promptly followed by a barrage of links to his lusted items (my baby has got good taste, I will tell you what). After scanning through his items, I was hit with lust envy and promptly made a Jcrew sale wish list of my own. Both are shown above. We won't be purchasing our wish lists, but if we did our grand total would be just more than $2,000, and I'm pretty sure we would qualify for free shipping.

In other news, Ty starts school in a mere 5 days from now. 5 days! Whoa.
Also, I have Christmas photos to share with you; to be uploaded soon.

HIS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
HERS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

La Jolla Groves + Sherlock Holmes

2011-12-21T14:59:00.000-08:00

My handsome man and I went on a sweet little date night last Saturday evening. It began at our favorite place to eat, La Jolla Groves, middled by walking through the decked-out-for-Christmas mall square and wandering into Blikenstaff's to grab some tasty movie candy, and ended with a viewing of the awesome new Sherlock Homles movie. A neat little treat of a night, if I do say so myself.

Also, if you live in Utah county and you've never been to La Jolla Groves in the Riverworrds, you should. And you should get yourself the seared tuna salad -- trust me.

Wedding on Ruffled

2011-12-18T20:51:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! Ruffled featured our wedding last Friday! So, if you never got a chance to see any of the photos, you can take a looksy right over here. There are also little blurbs of my writing scattered throughout the photos telling about the day.

This video makes me kind of angry.

2011-12-13T16:18:00.000-08:00

Now let me preface by saying I really actually enjoy this song. But the video seems to me to be a rip-off conglomeration of two Sigur Ros videos. Which I guess is their prerogative, but it seems a bit lame to me. Either way, it's a song to enjoy, so here you go. But just know it rubs me the wrong way. Maybe just listen only if you you think you may get irked too.

Loving the way these people live.

2011-12-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

This is the Goodwin family. Someday I would really like it to be the Clark family.

What I'm hoping life with Ty will help me learn to do.

2011-12-08T13:31:00.000-08:00

Let the WCF matching begin

2011-12-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, I got a new job at the beginning of November. I am now the one and only in-house designer at a large insurance company here in Utah (which might sound slightly stuffy, but I promise it's a great time over here). And this is my boss, Rachel. Even better, Rachel and I have been friends for quite a while, so now I have the added bonus of working with her each day. We unplanningly showed up in matching palettes today -- navy and creams. And the great thing about matching with Rach is we already look similar enough without matching clothes that we may just end up being indistinguishable one of these day. Here's to many days of accidental matching; so glad this tradition is continuing.

Rachel: Kahki slacks, navy sweater with polka-dot detailing, brown boots.
Nicki: Navy (the darkest navy imaginable, ps) dress, cream and leather loafers.

A Portland Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T11:34:00.000-08:00

Every time we go to Portland, Ty always makes us the best itineraries. I swear, that man is the host in this family. He's the best.

This year's Thanksgiving trip included a whole slew of great times; my favorite being the trip we made over to the most adorable Christmas tree farm you could ever imagine (complete with toys for the kids and free marshmallows for roasting.) Both Ty and I's families (did I mention my brother and his wife and two kids moved to Portland over the summer?) met up to choose our trees, then the men folk cut them down. I think I feel a Christmas tradition coming on.

The rest of the trip consisted of me petting a lot of animals (a mule and dogs -- lots of dogs. Everyone in Portland brings their dogs everywhere they go, and I was sure to take full advantage of petting as many of them as I could), lots of shopping, a Christmas tree lighting downtown, carol singing, our wedding open house, lots of family game playing, and a family bike ride to get some banh mi (never had banh mi? well, let me just say, I would strongly encourage you to find your closest sandwich shop and high tail it over there because it's so delicious it might just change your life forever). Not too shabby for a 5-day trip.

Happy Lemon

2011-11-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

My brother and my niece wrote this song this week. Sampled stock files were used for the music, then my niece wrote the words by drawing a picture and then looking at it while singing. I can't quite make out all the words, but "It is a really happy lemon" and "It likes to make mud pies" are enough for me. My nephew also makes an appearance on the harmonica towards the end. Seriously adorable.

We hate kidney stones

2011-10-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

And even more specifically, we hate the kidney stone in Ty's body right now, causing him all sorts of ridiculous amounts of pain. As we were waiting to see the urologist today, Ty broke out into a sweat because of the intense hurting. Talk about no bueno. This is trip number 3 to the hospital for this single little pest within the last month. So, we've decided we're not playing nice anymore. If it's not gonna come out nice on it's own, we're going in to blast it. Surgery in T-minus 20 minutes. Wish us luck, folks. ~~I can't seem to upload a photo from my iPhone, so, picture of Ty in his cute purple hospital gown to come.~~

Update: Surgery went great. Ty is at home resting his bod today and should be tip top by the weekend.

Wedding portraits

2011-10-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

So, obviously Ty and I are going to take portraits on the day of our wedding, but I'm not sure they will ever compare with these drawn ones by the niece and nephew. I got the following drawings along with an email from my brother this morning. His email went as follows:

There's a saying to the effect that a person is judged by who does their portrait. This (attached) was the best I could muster. In case it's not clear... Nicki is rendered in a purple wedding dress by Anza and Tyler is naked and blue by Mojave.

--A

TO CLARIFY: ANZA IS MY 4-YEAR-OLD (ALMOST 5-YEAR-OLD) NIECE AND MOJAVE IS MY 3-YEAR-OLD NEPHEW.

wedding hub bub

2011-10-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

These snapshots from around my home last night represent the company I kept while Ty was out shotgun shooting with some of our man friends. Fabrics waiting to become table coverings. Ty's wedding suit hanging in the closet. Feather boutonnieres awaiting a ribbon detail. The little whisperings of impending wedding (and small reminders of my short to-do list) make me so so happy. One week, people. One week. So excited.

Alpine Loop by Moto

2011-09-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

I think Ty and me taking a trip through the Alpine Loop during the fall may become a tradition. We are kind of mountainy, fall people at heart anyway, so it's only fitting. This marks year two of the tradition. Last year we took this drive in the soob. This year we opted for the fresh, wind-in-your face option of the moto (a wonderful choice, might I add). It rained a little, but it was no match for our enjoyment of the fresh fall air and lovely patches of brightly colored leaves. I definitely like me some motorbiking; my baby sure knows how to show his lady a good time.

We hit the loop after meeting with our wedding coordinator in the early afternoon. People, Ty and I are now only three and a bit weeks away from celebrating our marriage in these very same mountains! Eeeek! Craziness.

Coveting my own jewelery

2011-09-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ty and I stopped by the garage he is currently storing some of his things in to pick up a jacket. As he was scrounging around toward the front of his belongings, I noticed a beautiful, carved wooden box sitting in a shoe box next to him. "That's a really pretty box," I commented, pointing to the box as he was rummaging around near it. To which Ty responded by picking the box up and opening it to reveal a pile of beautiful, jeweled chains laying inside. Wwwhhhaaaa??!! Turns out it was a would-be Christmas present for me that was never realized. Ty had bought the chains to make me some jewelery, and the box to give the pieces to me in, but wasn't pleased with anything he had made...

I reached over and pulled out one of the necklaces. :: gasp :: It was absolutely beautiful, you guys. Beautiful. Who is this guy I'm marrying? Smart, funny, handsome, sweet AND he has style enough to make me incredible jewelery and freaking deem it not worthy to give to me?! Oh my goodness.

"I want to put this on right now!" I exclaimed holding it up to my neck. I was excited. I was ecstatic. I was totally infatuated. And I was promptly told no. Deflated.

"But it's so beautiful!" I protested, "Pleeeeeaaaaase?" I pulled out the puppy dog eyes and looked at him longingly, clenching the necklace. No doin'. He wouldn't budge.

"We will take a night and finish these for you after we're married," he told me, which simply translated in my brain to "No beautiful, hand-made-with-love necklace for you right now." I sputtered for a minute trying to think of a good argument, but finally relented. I placed the necklace back in the box and my heart sank a little. Looks like I will have to covet my own jewelery for a little while (three weeks and six days to be exact, friends!) before I can actually call it my own. Booger.

Smith Morehouse Camping Trip

2011-09-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

This was my conversation with Ty from this evening.

Ty: You never blog about us anymore.
Me: I've been kind of busy.
Ty: Doing what?
Me: Planning our wedding. Kissing you. Making dinner. Cleaning the house.
Ty: That's a lot of stuff.
Me: ...

That's right. It is a lot of stuff. But, not too much that I didn't get on my computer and get this post going. BOOM. Admittedly, these photos have been open in photoshop on my computer for the last two weeks, so it was about time. So, on with the post...

The images above (beautiful, right?) are from a camping trip Ty and I took a couple weeks ago with some friends out at Smith Morehouse Reservoir. Located in the Oakley mountains, this place is super lovely. Camp sites book out months in advance, and for good reason. I'd never been there before, but upon arrival I could see why it's such a sought-after camp ground; the campsites are clean, secluded from one another, include a picnic table and fire ring, have plenty of trees of hammock hanging, are equipped with bathroom facilities and there is a cute ranger (with a cute dog) who drives around offering help several times throughout the day. Can't beat that.

Ty and I brought kayaks (one of our favorite activities) to enjoy on the reservoir. It was kind of a feat to get them transported on the top of my Subaru, but we did it. So worth it. Man I love kayaking. A thoroughly enjoyable mini camping trip. We definitely plan on returning.

Matchy matchy

2011-09-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

Last week Ty and I met up at Ikea for dinner with my family wearing this. Now, I know what you're thinking. You are thinking "But Nicki! How is this possible?! Surely you and Ty must have matched on purpose." But no friends. No. Coming from different places, Ty and I pulled this matching feat off sans effort. If this doesn't show we are going to be happy together forever, I don't know what does.

Engaged.

2011-08-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

It's true. I'm gonna live the rest of my life and eternity with this handsome man right here, Tyler Clark. Can't. wait. Plus! Bonus! My name is gonna be Nicki Clark. How cute is that? Cs and Ks everywhere.
YOU CAN READ THE ENGAGEMENT STORY HERE.
THE PICTURES ABOVE WERE TAKEN THE NIGHT WE GOT ENGAGED.

Now you see it. Now you don't.

2011-08-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

After 7 months, Ty shaved his mustache! Yayayayayayayaaaaaaaaaaa! And while it was a mustache Salvador Dali probably would have coveted, I was happy to see it go. Favorite thing about the change in facial hair status? Kissing Ty's lips instead of his mustache. Boom baby! So long, hairy upper lip.

Anna and Dave get married

2011-08-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

My cute friends Anna and Dave got married a few weeks ago. And, while I have no pictures of Anna or Dave at their reception (nice camera work, Nicki), I do have pictures of our friends in their photo booth. Tight.

Doughnut Falls

2011-08-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

Up Big Cottonwood Canyon there is a waterfall hike called Doughnut Falls, named after the doughnut shaped rock that the fall flows through at the top. Ty and I conquered it a few weeks ago one given Saturday, then took a scenic drive over to Park City for a free outside concert. Killer day? You better believe it.

Here's the recap just in case you wanna take the hike:
The hike (stroll) is flat, easy and quick. The rock scrambling up the waterfall is awesome, wet and not as quick, but still pretty easy. And the top of the waterfall provides a little cave you can crawl into to view the final few feet of the waterfall (as pictured above). Way enjoyable hike. Do it.

If you want to win a free photo session

2011-08-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

They are giving away one here today. And I entered. Twice. Booyah! PS - You need to live in or near Provo to qualify.

The blue bathroom

2011-08-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

A lot has been happening in life lately (not to mention I am turning 29 tomorrow! Booyah!), but...one thing at a time. First up, I painted my bathroom blue. And it. Looks. Awesome. I like to say it looks much more regal than it used to. Although, truth be told, it did take a while (and much insisting from Ty) for it grow on me. Probably because I was hoping for a grayer blue. But in the end I think this deep, greenish-blue works just great. And, let's face it, it's a billion better than the white, so who I am to complain? Plus, in a year or so, nothing says I can't change it at a whim. That was a lot of commas. Okay. Awesome.

Welcome blue bathroom; it's great to have you.

camera found!

2011-08-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last week I lost my camera at the wedding reception of the lovely Anna NagelHabben (that's right, NagelHabben). But, guess who got a call from the reception center saying they have found the lost camera (randomly inside some container in the back)! And guess who is picking up her camera today, friends! So exciting. Pictures to come.

garden update

2011-08-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Whose garden looks like this? Me and Ty's garden looks like this! And who made delicious hummus to eat with her garden-grown cucumber? This girl! Booyah! NOTE: Don't mind the patches of weeds interspersed with our plants, I'll be getting rid of those today.

SEE INFANT GARDEN SHOTS HERE TO COMPARE.

$30 Plaid shirt in perspective

2011-07-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Normally I would say $30 is entirely too much to spend on a shirt. But, three weekends ago, that's exactly what I paid for this lovely piece of top-half clothing. I have worn it no less that four times in the last 2.5 weeks, making me feel very justified in spending that $30 on this shirt rather than 4 lunches out, 2 nights at the movies, 1 round of golf, or two-thirds a tank of gas. Because, really, it gives me much more pleasure than 4 cafe rio burritos. Or any of those other things, really. Really.

Huntington Beach for the 4th

2011-07-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

Ty and I are taking off for a firework-filled weekend in Huntington Beach for the 4th! Back to the sunny, beach-breezy days of spending the holiday riding bikes down the riverbed to join the madness in Newport and Balboa.

Ty's never been to Huntington, so I'm excited to show him all the hot spots. Like...you know...the house I grew up in, my favorite place to grab breakfast on main street, my neighbor's houses, the riverbed bike trail...stuff like that. We may hit up the Balboa frozen banana shack, the Corona Del Mar tide pools, the Pier, the fireworks at the Newport dunes and a few other things too, I suppose. Happy 4th everyone!

Garden progress

2011-06-26T18:33:00.001-07:00

We've got radishes, folks.

Mona Mona

2011-06-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

Last week Ty got a new sleeping bag, so we headed out to the Mona Reservoir Friday night to do some rope swinging, camp firing and sleeping-bag testing.

When we got to the rope swing, there were these friendly 12-year-old boys there who quickly oriented us with the rope swing, demonstrations included. They let me have a go at it after showing me the way, and I'm pretty sure I screamed every time I went off. Not Ty though. No. Ty, the man, does not scream like his sissy girlfriend. No. And he'd probably tell you it's not scary to free fall into water from 20 feet up, but I say that it is. Ok. I'm glad we have that settled.

Guitar playing was also had on the trip. As well as tin-foil dinner cooking and eating (NOTE: Our tinfoil dinners included broccoli from our very own garden! Delicious industriousness.), a fire-building and sustaining lesson from Ty, and a 6:00 wake-up call from a blazing sun beating down on my back. Awesome. I loved every part except for that last one, that one wasn't as fun. Hope you had a killer weekend as well!

Broccoli leaf

2011-06-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

In case you don't know what a gigantic broccoli leaf looks like, this is it. Katy, Ty and I are part of a farm share, and this came as part of our weekly produce last week. Awesome.

It smells and tastes a lot like broccoli from what I hear. I believe Katy ate it after cutting it into squares and sautéing it. And, can I just say that I like how getting produce from a farm share forces you to be more open in your produce palette? I now make kale chips on the regular (does twice within a month and a half count as "on the regular" if I plan on continuing to make them?) and we have started throwing all sorts of vegetables into our smoothies. Fun with produce -- gotta love it. NOTE: it's not a vegetable, but one of my favorite smoothie additives is half a lemon, rind and all. No joke. You should try it; it makes the smoothie taste all light and refreshing and invigorating. Delish.

Welcome back summer

2011-06-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Oh hello summer up the canyon, I've missed you.

Kates and I ventured up rock canyon last week (two weeks ago?) to break in our outdoor climbing gear for the season and do some warm-summer-evening climbing. Thankfully we got up the canyon just in time to do one lead climb each before no headlamps and the setting sun told us it was time to exit the canyon for the evening. It was surely a short trip. Surely. But also surely a great start to a sure-to-be amazing summer.

As you will notice, there are no photos of Katy or I actually climbing. In lieu of our affinity for life and each other, we decided it best not to photograph people while we are belaying them on the front of a 90-foot rock face. Next time: must bring friends for numerous reasons, including to take proper climbing pictures.

Unexpected blessings

2011-06-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, when things seem to not work out in my life as I expected or hoped, I feel like my life is a little shattered.

Like when I graduated college with a degree and skill set to match in Public Relations, only to be laid off from my first corporate job a little more than a year later. My department size went from 12 people to 5 people, and even though I knew it was a "job elimination" not a "nicki elmination" (big difference), I was still devastated. What was I supposed to do now? One job out of college with hardly a year of experience?! Come on! But, unexpectedly, it was that door closing that allowed the great door of a career in graphic design to open for me. In fact, if it hadn't been for that door swinging closed I probably still would be stuck in PRsville writing press releases and calling editors on the regular (poke my eyes out). Plus, the severance package that I received also paid for a trip I took to Europe, but that is a whole different story. Point being, I still count that layoff as one of the largest blessings I have ever received. Not to mention numerous relationships not going as planned, job applications not yielding results, failed attempts to do things I really love, and countless others.

I came across this quote today and subsequently designed up this little web poster because it reminded me that when I am doing my best to follow happiness, the world doesn't end when things don't go according to plan. That forced direction changes can take you to lovely places you didn't even know existed before. That loving the ebbs and flows of life rather than struggling against them is a much happier road than constantly feeling out of control. Life is good, and I am grateful for the seemingly depressing closed doors that have led me to everything beautiful and amazing that I have in my life now.

DOWNLOAD LARGER VERSION OF WEB BANNER.

Longboard season has begun

2011-06-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

YES.
Thank you for posting this on your blog, Angela Tam.

Fam time in Seattle + Christmas in June

2011-06-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

This Seattle trip was great as always. My amazingly kind and dear friend, Miss Angela Tam, picked Ty and I up from the airport, then we met up with our friend Galen (pictured in plaid above) for some bánh mì in the park and a tour of Galen's apartment downtown before official family time in Seattle started. It felt so nice to catch up in person with Galen and Ang...you know how it just fills your soul to hug good friends after far-too-long absences? Yeah...me too. It was so nice. Talk about a great start to a great trip.

We then headed to my brother's house where we hung out in our pajamas while we took pictures/while my 4-year-old niece took pictures before Ty and I left for Alaska the next morning.

Now, fast forward a week...

We're back in Seattle after our cruise to the great north, and, this is where the exciting gift from my brother comes in...drumroll please...insert awesome bag pictured above! Yay! Here's the story...

I'm sure none of you remember this blog post about me desperately wanting duffel bags made out of sail fabric, and my shrewd negotiating with my brother to get me some. But, two years of begging and a lot of reminding my brother that he still owed me a Christmas gift from last year yielded a rad sail fabric duffel bag of my very own to take back with me from Seattle this trip! It's my favorite. And it perfectly fit all the extra stuff I had brought back from Alaska with me.

My brother sewed that bad boy up the evening before Ty and I flew back to Utah. The whole family hung out in the garage with him while we listened to music and joked, and he worked. He cut and stitched the fancy bag on his industrial sewing machine that he normally uses to make sails. AWESOME NOTE: Amidst the bag sewing, my brother demonstrated the power of his sewing machine by sewing through a 1/4-inch thick piece of wood like it was butter. Seriously. It was amazing. And Boom! At the end, I had the most amazing Christmas present in June imaginable. Thanks Bro. I love it. You do great work.

FIRST PHOTO FROM: ANGELA

Stripes on a bag

2011-06-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

For years I have wanted a bag for my makeup/toiletries (mainly toiletries seeing as my makeup regimen consists of eyeliner, mascara and chapstick), but I could never find one that would suit. However, a few weeks ago I happened across this little gem from Scout and Catalogue, and the search was over! Boom baby! It arrived in the mail for me this week, and I love it. I love it I love it I love it. I'm even tempted to plan another vacation just so I can use it sooner. Ridiculous? I think not. Note: this is not the present from my brother...that post is coming up next.

PHOTO FROM: ETSY STORE

Cruising to Alaska

2011-06-09T00:17:00.000-07:00

Last week, the Schmidt family+Ty loaded ourselves onto a cruise ship in the Seattle Harbor and headed up to Alaska for a week of card and dice playing, abundant eating, great sight seeing and some pretty killer land excursions. The itinerary featured stops in Juneau, Sitka, Ketchican and Victoria, B.C. And me and Ty's personal itinerary (as pictured above) included hiking in Juneau, biking in Sitka, kayaking in Ketchican (while wearing waterproof pants) and adoring Victoria.

In short, it was amazing. Along with learning that Alaska is ridiculous amounts of beautiful and fun, I also learned the following while on the trip:

1. Many of the waterfront cities in Alaska are only accessible by water -- not roads. Water planes and boats are in no shortage there.
2. The mountains, along with everything else in Alaska, are humungous. Ravens, dandelions, eagles, you name it...in Alaska it's bigger (sorry Texas).
3. The mountains in Alaska are located approximately one-quarter of a mile from the ocean front. Ocean - nestled city - mountains. That's how it goes.
4. Juneau gets roughly 16 days of sun a year (it was totally sunny the day we were there -- hey yo!)
4. If you keep your eyes open on a bike ride in Sitka, you might just find yourself a sweet, free bandana.
5. Secondly, while Sitka may seem lame from all the sources you can find on the internet, it is actually the coolest town in Alaska and serves the most supreme clam chowder imaginable (insert Ludvig's Bistro here).
6. Overcast weather in Ketchican is actually preferred for kayaking because sunny weather brings wicked wind and unbearable kayaking conditions.
7. Sea cucumbers look entirely different in Alaska than they do in Southern California.
8. I still get wicked sea sick.
9. My dad wakes up at 5:00 every morning, but happily isn't quite the snorer he used to be.
10. Burger Queen in Ketchican sells $10 burgers and $5 shakes that are worth every stinking penny.
11. Victoria, B.C. is totally charming and I would be more than happy to live there one day.

Hope you all had a great week last week too! Soon to come are pictures from staying at my brother's house pre and post Alaska trip. As usual, much fun was had and documented. Not as usual, I got a surprise, long-awaited gift from my brother while we were there! Booyah! I'm excited to share. Pictures to follow.

first garden

2011-05-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

For the last few years I have really wanted a garden. The only problem is, despite having my ridiculously talented green-thumb mom, I have never really learned how to garden properly, let alone had the space to try and teach myself. Then I started dating this ridiculously wonderful and knowledgeable man Insert Ty. Rather than living in space all his growing up years, Ty actually paid attention when his dad would grown things in their backyard. So a few months ago, with spring approaching, regular talks about having a garden on a friend's land down the road started happening between me and Ty. so. awesome.

The rain and late snows kept us from planting for a while, but last Saturday Ty and I capitalized on the ideally sunny day and planted us a rockin' garden equipped with the following: potatoes, red potatoes, orange and purple carrots, radishes, beets, 8 different kinds of tomatoes, broccoli, red green and yellow peppers (as well as a few bushes of hot peppers Ty picked out), spinach, lettuce greens, swiss chard, yams, sugar snap peas, green beans, white pumpkins, zucchini, butternut squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, onions, garlic and corn. BOOM! Plus, I extended the garden to my porch with some sweet basil, Thai basil, mint, cilantro and rosemary.

I can't wait for all that lovely produce and herbness to be happy and edible. Something tells me we might end up with a bit too much to handle ourselves, though, so note to friends: be expecting gift produce baskets.

PS I can't wait to make this with my very own garden vegetables. eeeek! Life is so exciting.

Getting back up

2011-05-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

I came across this quote yesterday and thought it nice enough to design up into this little mini web poster.

Spring time at the garage sales

2011-05-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

I scored those delightfully buttery moccasins for $1 at a garage sale on Saturday. One dollar! Can you believe that? They feel like heaven on my feet. Amazing. Also amazing is that shirt we scored for Ty for 50 cents from a cute lady whose husband is a cowboy. So great. That's why garage sales are great -- you get awesome stuff for cheap from generally really friendly people who tell you stories about the stuff you are buying. Love.

Our garage sale-ing Saturday began when Ty and I drove up to Lehi Saturday morning for rugby practice, only to discover there was no rugby practice. However, there was an abundance of garage sale signs which we happily followed. We acquired the following:

1 new golfbag for Ty ($5)
Approximately 40 golf balls ($8)
Two cowboy/southwestern button up shirts (50 cents each)
1 pair of buttery-soft yellow leather moccasins ($1)
1 machinist apron (that I plan to use while letterpressing) ($1)
1 pair of machinist goggles (Which Ty plans to wear while riding his motorcycle) ($1)
25 small cream-colored linen bags with drawstrings (25 cents)
7 quarter-sized brass medallions with the number 53 stamped into them (25 cents)
1 cup of black cherry Kool-aid ($1 -- Ty was really generous with that little girl)
1 small, silver serving pitcher (50 cents)
1 baseball mitt ($3)

2 reasons why Mike is the best boss ever

2011-05-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

1. He guesses what color palette I am going to wear each day and coordinates his
outfits to follow suit to make me happy.
2. He poses with me in poses like this (also to make me happy).

Mike: red shirt by American Apparel, denim pants by Earnest Sewn, Money Cat kicks by Nike, gold watch by Michael Kors.
Nicki: red vintage dress (I wore this same dress at high school graduation...what up?! still totally stylin'), navy cardigan by Jcrew, cream and leather shoes by Urban Outfitters, Gold Player watch by Nixon, gold medallion necklace from Need Supply.

45-second hair

2011-05-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

This morning was my morning for smoothie duty (aka -- I was in charge of making breakfast smoothies for me and kates today), and since I woke up late, I had about 2 minutes allotted for hair-doing time. I had run across this hair tutorial a couple days ago, which looked ridiculously fast and easy, so I gave it a try, and BAM! 45-second hair do involving no more than 3 bobby pins. Fast, easy and awesome -- now that's what I'm talking about.

my evening

2011-05-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

Ty is out of town this week (I took him to the airport yesterday afternoon), so today at work I made myself a list of stuff I was going to do tonight during normal Nicki-Ty time.

The original, obviously short, list for tonight went like this:
1. Get lower-clothes-bar rack for closet from Ross.
2. Send client #1 his updated logos.
3. Work on client #2's brochure.

And this is how my evening really went down:
1. Decide I don't need the lower clothes bar, totally forgo Ross, and fantasize on the way home about cleaning out the shelves in the closet instead (I am definitely a girl who loves dejunking and cleaning).
2. Go to Home Depot on my way home from work and purchase the dark blue paint I have decided is perfect for my bathroom walls (as pictured above -- you better believe that blue is gonna look great. Before and afters to come). Also purchase extra paint rollers.
3. Discover that the patio couch cover I ordered arrived today and has been waiting for me on my porch all afternoon. Take cover inside and unwrap. Replace all the patio couch cushions on the patio couch after removing them from the dining room floor when they have been keeping dry all this rainy day. Cover patio couch with perfectly-fitting patio couch cover. Feel accomplished.
4. Video chat with Angela while trying on recently purchased sandals and deciding they need to be sent back because that t-strap section is just not working for me (yay for free mail returns!).
5. Gchat with Ty briefly.
6. Go bowling for Family Home Evening with my neighbors. Score a 78. Feel good about said score.
7. Go out to frozen yogurt with my ridiculously funny carmates on the way home from Family Home Evening rather than rushing home to do necessary design work for the evening. Put two scoops of mochi on my California tart frozen yogurt. (NOTE: This was a much better choice than rushing home to do the aforementioned design work.)
8. Get home. Do client #1's logo refinements and send them off.
9. Talk with Ty on the phone and subsequently gchat for another 30 seconds while sending him the logos to take a look at.
10. Do a majority of design work on client #2's brochure and send her an e-mail update of the brochure's current standing and inform her of its imminent completion tomorrow.
11. Gchat with Anna about her lovely day for a few minutes.

Kinda different than expected, right? And definitely way better/fuller/better. And that's a wrap. I'm headed to bed. Goodnight all.

cycling kit design

2011-05-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

I have these amazing friends who happen to also be really amazing cyclists and work at a killer bike shop in Pleasant Grove. Last year sometime there was some mention of me doing the design for their shop kit (FYI: kit=cycling jersey+cycling short/bib). So, design I did, and boom! They're here! Shown above modeled by my handsome and wonderful friend, Clay Adair (thank you Clay). He's single, ladies, if anyone wants an intro. Super fun to design. Awesome to get the chance to do a fabric piece. And totally rad that I get to wear it when I ride.

Tulip festival

2011-04-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ty and I hit up the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival. For the last few years I have wanted to go, but never gotten a chance. Now, it's done. I did done done it. Me and Ty tried to tour the gardens at the speed of awesome on Segways, but sadly they were already rented out; we saw the renters just mounting their steads as we walked out the doors into the gardens and realized we missed our rental opportunity by mere minutes. Minutes, friends! Sad. Next time we will be speedier. Also next time I will remember to take more pictures; possibly even some that actually have Ty and I in them.

Wisteria

2011-04-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I had a wisteria plant (gifted from my grandmother to my mom) covering the awning over the back patio of my house, and every spring lovely purple bunches of flowers resembling grape bunches would cascade through the latice work. For the longest time I thought my backyard in Huntington Beach was the only place wisteria grew. It wasn't until I also saw it at the Palace of Versailles in France that I realized it wasn't native to my yard. I came across this photo (as shown above) of wisteria in Normandy today, and my thoughts turned back to childhood. One day I would like to have that bountiful plant in my yard so my family can enjoy it like I did growing up. So, subsequently, one day I would also like to have a yard rather than just a teensie patio. Good goal-making session everyone.

I don't paint my nails very often

2011-04-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

But when I do paint my nails, my hands end up feeling much more feminine and happy than when they are not painted.

Note: Don't be fooled by the bad lighting in the photo. My nails are chubby cheeks by Essie (which looks really similar to a salmon color), not bright orange.

Lexiconical warfare

2011-04-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

The ultimate dog fighting.
Ty Sent me this today with the accompanying text:
"SOOO PERFECT. Your 2 favorites battling it out in a lexiconical war."
Awesome. (click to image enlarge)

Bill Cunningham Film

2011-04-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

This film is coming to SLC starting June 24th, and I'm so excited. I saw the trailer a while back and have wanted to see it since; so when I scrolled down the "Where to see the Film" page on the Bill Cunningham Movie site, I was ecstatic to see it was coming to Utah. If you want to come with, give me a shout out.

Dear Bill Cunningham, I'm glad to get to see your documentary; you seem like a very interesting man.

little kids in little cardigans

2011-04-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

These eensie people in eensie cardigans are killing me with cuteness this morning. Is it weird to post someone else's kids on your blog? No? Ok good.

house additions

2011-04-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Over the last little bit I've made a few improvements around the house.

Improvement #1 A sisal rug that runs the length of the kitchen; definitely not traditional, but I can't get over how much I love having it run down the entire floor in the kitchen -- it just makes it feel so much more cozy. Love.

Improvement #2 A patio love seat! I have been craving proper patio furniture since I bought my house a year and a half ago, and today I purchased that lovely little guy at Target during my lunch hour. Funny enough, a year ago I wanted to buy the same mini sofa but due to Target not having it in stock along with my lack of motivation to call around and find one, I never actually purchased it. I have been kicking myself ever since. So, upon seeing it at Target today, it took all of 30 seconds to decide that it (along with its sale price and those cute decorative pillows) were totally coming home with me today. Cha ching! Now the weather just needs to warm up so I can get it out of my living room and break that bad boy in.

I created that logo

2011-04-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

My incredibly wonderful, lovely, talented, photographer friend Megan Ruth Stay was featured on Ruffled today for a wedding she recently shot in Las Vegas. Which, in and of itself, is completely rad. And, to add more radness right on top, she and I just recently finished making her a killer logo and brand design so when you pop over to her photography site, BAM! Nicki Schmidt logo design right on the front! So fun.

Congrats on your feature, Meg -- the photos look so wonderful. And thank you so much for letting me be a part of your brand development. You're such a babe.

kitchens

2011-03-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

I appreciate a beautiful home just as much as the next aesthetics lover; but while photos of great rooms make me happy, photos of great kitchens make my jaw drop. Literally. I'm not even sure why. But, I can tell you this; one day, if I can find people to hire me, I will become a professional kitchen design specialist designing beautiful kitchens that will make you beyond happy just to look at, let alone cook in.

Also one day, I will have a kitchen large enough for an island and oodles of money so I can equip said kitchen with shelves rather than cupboards, a tile backsplash and a farmhouse sink.

Kitchen 1, Kitchen 2, Kitchen 3, Kitchen 4

Ty turns 26

2011-03-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

Today was my handsome boyfriend's (aka Ty's) birthday. To celebrate we ate sushi, wrote/received mooshy birthday cards, did a little shopping, and rounded out the day watching Ty's best friend Christian play a basketball game. As an aside, I wish in the picture above I was wearing pink and yellow and Ty was wearing black and white rather than the clothes we actually are wearing; that would make the picture juxtaposition with the sushi so much better. But, wardrobe-food coordination or not, it was a great day.

Side note: Just in case you're wondering, Ty has matching steps on the other side of his head and his mustache definitely pulls a 10 on the manly scale.

the muscle of appreciation

2011-03-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

I enjoy how this man thinks.

Ikea has a blog

2011-03-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

That's fun. I think I'll be adding it to my reader. Unlike the store displays, I feel like the site shows IKEA products in a much better-looking, inside-an-actual-house kind of way, so I dig it. I can't read Sweedish(?) so, google translate to the rescue/I don't really need the words anyway.

horses for lunch

2011-03-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

I work in the outskirts of a once-rural city, so awesomely there is a series of pastures within walking distance of my office. In the summer I like to walk around their perimeters on my lunch hour, just to enjoy the sun and nice weather and animals the farmer puts out in his fields. But our early warm weather this year has the animals out early and has let me start making my walks equally early too; so totally tight. Seeing as I was ridiculously late to work today, I thought I'd spend my 20-minute lunch visiting the horses. They were very friendly, let me pet their faces and necks as much as I wanted, and snotted on my coat more than once.

puppy sitting

2011-03-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

Me and Ty puppy sat tonight for his best friend, Christian. I think I might need to get one.

persistence

2011-03-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

This little video made my weekend. Well, this, along with relaxing, shopping, making food, watching basketball and finishing up a documentary series with Ty. Sometimes lazy weekend plans are my favorite weekend plans. Hope yours was great too.

PS -- Happy first day of Spring! So excited to welcome warmer weather and blooming plants.

calligraphy set

2011-03-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

I'd like a calligraphy set sometime soon. Its products are just so lovely.

Images from this calligraphers web site. Watch out -- you may be getting some competition, Mr./Mrs. Neither Snow (hah!).

race support

2011-03-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

Ty, Katy and I headed out to West Valley Saturday to cheer on Clay (picture above in the green&grey kit) and Lance (pictured above without a fence obstructing him) in the RMR race. The boys raced in the oval, which I think is usually used for car racing. Clay raced twice. We cheered almost every time they passed us. And it started to rain just as the race was finishing. A fine time supporting friends (plus we got some really great pictures of Katy).

must buy french bulldog soon

2011-03-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

Must.

Found here.

teepee

2011-03-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

It's probably just about time for me and Ty to build that teepee in the middle of the living room that we've been talking about.

Images found here and here.

a little relaxing

2011-03-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

I thought this would serve as a lovely image for today.

black bags of the day

2011-03-10T14:14:00.000-08:00

If I had $440 burning a hole in my pocket today, I would buy these two bags.

Lovely bag #1

Lovely bag #2

NOTE: I'll adventure soon so I have pictures of my life to share with you rather than things I find online. Last weekend Ty and I went to my first rugby game, but all I came away with (along with a love of rugby) was a lone, lame, very-far-away photo of the field, so I'll spare you the image and get better ones soon.

sails of a different color

2011-03-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

How great would it be to be hanging out in a harbor and all of a sudden see these bad boys with patterned dandelion sails come in to anchor. Seriously, so great. This isn't the best of Photoshop jobs, but I'm not sure it matters. If ever I have a sail boat, you better believe my sails will look like this.

Found here.

cozy produce

2011-03-09T07:56:00.000-08:00

Loving this ad campaign for the Calgary Farmers Market. These point-of-sale posters let customers know the market would be open and have fresh produce all winter long. Simple. Clever. Memorable. Perfect. And, honestly -- what says winter produce better than little sweatered fruits and vegetables? Love it.

another reason why slow lorises are rad

2011-03-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

(Watch video and insert your own reason here).
Found here.

snowshoeing

2011-02-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

I've been on many a snowshoeing adventure before, but never have they involved a swing or hammock until last Saturday.

After taking in the BYU basketball game, Ty and I headed up Provo Canyon to take advantage of the freshly fallen snow. A few snowfields later we found ourselves lounging in a strategically placed hammock, staring up at the tree scape above, a light snow falling on our faces; talk about idyllic. We hit up a not-as-strategically-placed, but-still-enjoyable swing about 50 meters later, then hiked our little buns back to the car through some pretty sweet fresh powder. A Saturday afternoon well spent, I say.

modest dresses

2011-02-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

Modest dresses are hard to come by, so when I came across these it was kind of like finding gold for me. I think they are so perfectly retro beautiful. And chic. And way lovely. And sadly out of my price range right now. But the giveaway over at the daybook at least gives me a chance.

i'm so down

2011-02-24T15:35:00.001-08:00

Napes Needle with Leo Houlding from Matt Pycroft on Vimeo.

$2 thrifted leather bag

2011-02-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

Ty and I were supposed to head up to a friend's cabin this weekend to have mountains upon mountains of fun in the snow, but sadly I came down with the sickness on Friday so we opted to stay home. Bummer. But in lieu of cabin fun we got to watch the NBA All Star weekend and we scored the above rad leather bag for $2 at DI for Ty. Boom baby. If you gotta get sick, getting a sweet, long-searched-for leather bag for $2 is a nice way to feel better about it. With a little polish this baby will be looking amazing.

a little more than positive

2011-02-21T15:31:00.000-08:00

Why be positive when you can be totally enthusiastic?

watercolor animals

2011-02-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if this book would give children a bad impression of what animals actually look like, but I enjoyed the watercolor depictions nonetheless.

must buy boy shoes soon.

2011-02-18T15:49:00.000-08:00

Must.

Found here.

i'm liking the things this woman is saying

2011-02-17T12:57:00.000-08:00

And I'm liking them for a lot of reasons. She talks about collaborative consumption, which seems to me to enforce a lot of ideas I really like: increasing connectivity between people, encouraging honesty, reducing waste, discouraging selfishness. It's worth a listen if you have an ear for 15 minutes.

SIDE NOTE: the trip to colorado to see my dad was great. He's a trooper for sure. I have a few pictures which may or may not make it up here, but I wanted to throw in the update nonetheless. Hopefully those doctors working with him figure out what's going on with those legs of his soon.

to colorado

2011-02-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

My cute dad has been battling with an unknown illness that is causing his thigh muscles to atrophy, so Ty and I (that correct pronoun usage is for you, Ty) are going to visit him in a hospital in Colorado this weekend, as well as spend some nice family time with the rest of the gang. NOTE: Did you know everyone in my family besides me and my brother+his family live within 20 miles of each other in Colorado? ok, good. just wanted to be sure. So, off we go. Pictures to come.

express yourself

2011-02-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

You know, with valentine's day only four days away, maybe it's time you tell someone how you really feel? Hmmm?

i would really like to win

2011-02-10T09:44:00.000-08:00

...one of these bags. Like really a lot. Which is great news because there is a giveaway here (at seesaw), and I am planning on winning. You can enter too. And if you win, I would really like that bag for my birthday.

laptop cover

2011-02-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I finished this laptop cover (that has been in progress for far too long) for my friend Galen. The only problem is, it doesn't fit Galen's laptop. It fits my laptop. Which is 4 inches smaller than his laptop. So, looks like I have a new laptop cover. And a new crafting project to do.

times two

2011-02-08T15:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, alright. Fine. I posted one today already, but I love this one too. Fine.
Local Natives | Who Knows Who Cares | A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

put your mind at ease

2011-02-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

I loved this song enough to steal it from my friend Patricia's blog and post it on both facebook as song of the day as well as here. Hope you enjoy too.
Doe Bay Fest 2010 - The Fruit Bats from More Dust Than Digital on Vimeo.

the skeleton

2011-02-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday me and Ty headed up to Park City to take in the Jr. World Championship Skeleton Competition. It was freaking freezing, so we weren't there for too long, but what we saw was rad. Those guys (and gals) are crazy. The average speed they headed down the luge was nearly 80mph, and their face was about two inches from the ice.

As an interesting aside, in stake conference today we had one of the men who helped plan the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics (Elder Fraser Bullock, Area Authority 70) speak to us. He told about how he had wanted to experience the olympics from the athletes perspective when he was helping plan them so he gave the skeleton a try. Three times that man went down the luge; the first time merely fighting for survival, holding on like a sack of potatoes to his sled and ricocheting off the sides of the track like a mad man, then the second and third times actually looking forward and steering with his body weight (much more successful, he said). He likened it unto actually making plans and participating in charting our courses in life rather than just being bombarded everyday with the stuff that comes our way. An excellent analogy and lesson in my opinion.

I thought the back-to-back days of skeleton exposure was noteworthy. A skeleton-filled weekend for sure. On another note, I really love living so close to rad places like Park City that host things like the world championships of this and that for free for anyone who wants to come watch. So rad.

guess who got into BYU for Fall

2011-02-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

That's right. Ty did. Going back to school in the Fall to become an engineer or something else smart like that. Tight.

Darth vs VW

2011-02-03T16:05:00.000-08:00

Who loves this? I love this.

just in case you're having a rough day

2011-02-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

I thought it was a nice reminder today. Found here.

desktop wallpapers. beautiful ones.

2011-02-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

Just for you. Here.

cutest concept juice box ever

2011-02-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

Found here. I really hope these go into production someday.

wooden gifts

2011-01-30T16:52:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, I purchased these awesome wooden glasses (the Govy by Shwood) for Ty, but when they arrived they fit too small. Which, at first was a little sad, but worked out totally great cause we exchanged them for those bad boys on Ty's face up there! BAM! So totally rad. The new ones arrived this week and were totally perfect.

On the day they came, Ty showed up announcing that since I had gotten him a wooden gift, he had a wooden gift for me too. Wha?! And what he meant by that was he had built me a freaking sweet potting and plant stand for the patio! (and totally carried it over, by himself, so it would be more of a surprise). See picture above. Stud. Talk about a great day of wooden gifts.

PS -- If you're in need of awesome wooden sunglasses (and let's be honest, who's not?) the guys over at Shwood are awesome. You should definitely patron them when you are in the market.

treating each other right

2011-01-28T12:48:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think we, as people, forget that everyone else around us are just people too. We get stuck in our own heads. We forget to communicate. We forget to act for good rather than react out of instinct. Ty sent this my way this morning, and I though it was a nice reminder of how simple it can be to do great things.

deer creek reservoir is frozen

2011-01-27T07:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, the gang went out to Deer Creek Reservoir to enjoy a fire, dinner, unexpected snow and some walking around on the ice.

Ty and I had gone, just the two of us, the week before, and we thought everyone would enjoy the adventure. So, I cooked up that tasty pulled pork recipe, we made make-shift roasters to toast the buns, and we all (Anna, Katy, Clay, Lance, Mike, Ty and me) went out and spent a few hours savoring tasty food and each other's company. We were greeted by a killer sunset upon arrival, and Ty taught me the reason why some of the frozen water was white below my feet and some of it was black like concrete. A great way to spend a Saturday evening for sure.

-------------------

In other news, today marks 6 months of the Ty and Nicki show running strong, my friends. Booyah. I say this calls for the posting of the best picture Ty and I have ever taken.

pulled pork is legit

2011-01-24T10:16:00.000-08:00

I made this delicious-looking meal over the weekend (note -- these are not my pictures), and it most definitely proved to be delicious; slightly vinegary, abundantly tasty, and great just the way it tells you to make it. Honestly...slaw with apples and red onion? You gotta be kidding me with that scrumptiousness. So, in case you need solid recipes for pulled pork,slaw and BBQ sauce, this is my (and design sponge's) gift to you. Enjoy.

new bangs

2011-01-23T21:21:00.000-08:00

It's been a week and 3 days and I'm still digging them. Bada bing, bada bangs.

Note: This post was also supposed to include a pic of Ty's new steps in his hair, but I waited far too long to photograph them. So. No more visible steps. But, pictures to come of the next time he does it soon.