Monday, April 25, 2011

wedding hair

The first weekend of May, Dan and I are going to a black tie wedding in Kansas City.  Coincidentally, it's my friends from college who are getting married and therefore a bunch of my other friends will also be in town.  I'm so excited to show them around (assuming I don't get lost)!  Anyway, since the wedding is so fancy, my friend Katie and I booked hair appointments.  I have been scouring the web for ideas for updos and here are some of my faves:

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Help me choose! Which of these looks is your favorite?  Do you hate them all and think I should do something different?  Please help me!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

love this

If you've read my about me, you know I love nursery rhymes.  So, when I found this on Pinterest, you'd better believe I loved it:


If you love it too, you can get it from this fabulous Etsy shop.  P.S. Another one of my favorites from their shop?  Check this out:


Phenomenal. 

Thursday, April 14, 2011

moab

Get ready for a lot of pictures from my girls' trip to Moab!  We left a snowy Vail to come back to another storm.  The three days of quasi sunshine and 70 degree weather were an incredibly welcome break.

The cast of characters: Aimee, Nicole, Aly, Jackie and Julie


We brought a tent that sleeps 8!  Slumber party!

The first signs of spring

One morning was quite overcast, so we decided to grab breakfast at the Moab Diner while waiting for the skies to clear.

An old fence constructed by a man from Ohio who moved to Moab seeking drier climates in 1890.

This is the cabin he constructed around 1900 when his daughter, son-in-law and their kids moved out and found his previous shelter to be "too primitive."  Can you imagine 5 people living in there? Yikes.

Interesting rocks

The girls trekking to Delicate Arch

First view of Delicate Arch

Me looking out over the Arches National Park

Aly enjoying the view

Watch your step!

Delicate Arch

Aimee doing a headstand in the middle of Delicate Arch, much to the awe of everyone else around

Refilling our water bottles at a fresh spring!


Can you see the climbers about 2/3 of the way up?  So intense.  I would totally pee in my pants.

Preparing for one of, oh, 20 attempted jumping pics

So tense

Go!

Success!  Kinda! Finally!

All in all, our trip to Moab was great fun...although, too short.  We had a great time talking around the campfire, making dinners with limited tools (luckily Aimee and Aly were slightly more prepared than most of us), jumping at the sight of field mice running around the campsite after dark, scaring ourselves with ghost stories, thrift store shopping, trucker hat/t-shirt making, and hiking through the National Park. 

Monday, April 11, 2011

a brief update

I finally got my iPhone!!! Ironically, I got it on Dan's birthday, which was yesterday.  We were out shopping for gooey butter cake ingredients and presents for our Small Champions (kids with cognitive disabilities who we ski with 14 Sundays out of the ski season) for the last day of the program and we just happened to walk by the Verizon store...and...there was a note on the door saying "be back soon."  Sigh.  I cupped my hands to my eyes and frantically scanned the interior of the store looking for an iPhone on display.  After a brief moment of panic, I saw it. The iPhones had finally arrived! (I've only been checking every week since February 16th.) When the store employee finally came back (we're seriously talking 30 minutes here), I was about to burst with excitement.  About 20 minutes later, an iPhone4 was finally mine.  Sigh. I couldn't be happier.  I LOVE it!

Also, today I'm leaving on a girls' trip to Moab.  We did one last year and are re-creating it this year.  I can't wait to go!  Except I am terrified of hurting my iPhone while there (I don't have a case yet...).

And here are some interesting/cool/funny/totally unrelated pics from Pinterest:

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via an unknown tumblr

Friday, April 8, 2011

strawberry swing craft fair

designed by Katie Runnels of The Constant Gatherer
Check out what Jessie found on The Constant Gatherer!  Looks pretty awesome to me! I can't wait to attend.  You can check out the Strawberry Swing blog here for more information.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

places products

I have been drawn to items featuring the States lately.  I don't know if it's because I'm reading Angle of Repose or if it's because of my upcoming move to Kansas, but for some reason I have been idealizing the different personalities of states, cities and countries.

Maine cutting board...too bad it doesn't come with the blueberries

Scratch Off World Map
State by Food Tote Bag by Melangerie NYC

This wallet could come in handy when I inevitably get lost.  Don't think it's really my style though.
Brooklyn Platter at Fishs Eddy


Chalkboard Globe from the Well Appointed House


Sunday, April 3, 2011

picnic longing

The warm weather has been creeping into Colorado (except for today) and it makes me want to do everything outside.  Like have a picnic.  With delicious cheese and wine.  Unfortunately, the ground is still covered in snow.  So a picnic wouldn't be very practical right now.  But soon, maybe?

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Friday, April 1, 2011

first of april: green goal

I must admit: I have quasi failed at my March goal.  I haven't purchased any green cleaning supplies.  However, I also haven't done much cleaning at all (whoops?), so I haven't had to purchase any green cleaning supplies.  I'm going ahead with a new April Green Goal anyway, because I should.

And April's Green Goal is...drumroll please....to purposefully eat vegetarian at least two days of the week AND to try to buy my meat from local sources as much as possible.  I was inspired to do this when I happened upon a horrible video about how meat is produced.  The practices at some big farms/slaughter houses are despicable and I don't want to support them.  You can see the video here if you like.  Warning: it's quite disturbing, so don't watch it if, say, you're already sensitive to animal cruelty or are about to eat chicken salad for lunch.

polluted runoff
The video promotes veganism.  I don't have any desire to give up meat completely.  Nor could I survive without cheese.  Seriously.  But I do understand that much of the way we produce our meat is bad for us, the animals, and the environment.  One way to get around the animal cruelty problem is to buy meat from local farms where you know the animals are treated properly.  When Dan and I bought meat from the Aldermere Farm in Rockport it was a bit more expensive than at the grocery store.  At first, I was nervous that I would feel weird eating the meat, knowing it had come from the cute "oreo cookie cows," but I actually felt good about knowing exactly where the meat had come from.

Belted Galloways at Aldermere Farm
So why not just buy local meat instead of trying to eat vegetarian?  Well, I read somewhere (really wish I could remember where) that giving up meat completely one day a week is actually better for the environment than eating only local meat for a much longer period of time.   For more information on the environmental reasons not to eat meat, go here.  I really love vegetables, so I'm sure this wont be very hard for me. 

colorful vegetable platter
When vegetables look this delicious, who wouldn't want to eat them?  The only problem is going to be heading to Kansas City, arguably the best place in the world to get barbeque.  Mmmm...I can taste the brisket and pulled pork already.  Haha, uh-oh.