Get this in your life so I can come over and visit it....

How ridiculously awesome is this couch?!?!

We don't have the space or the cheddar...so get on this people!!!
Found on KSL for $750 or best offer (!!!)

Make this happen.
I need to live vicariously!

Don't let this couch go to the wrong home!

Fantastic Planet

Have you seen "Fantastic Planet"? It's a crazy animated movie about little humans living on a planet full of super-size blue aliens. The animation is lovely and the soundtrack is even better!

Here's a little J Dilla remix. It's pretty great!

P.S. If you are opposed to seeing animated alien boobs, don't watch...her outfit is revealing! Just cover your eyes, hit play, and listen to the remix!

Planning. On. It.

Now where to find Shug some "Puck Horns"...?

Magic courtesy of Offbeat Bride.
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Kidding...I was hoping more for a Victorian/Goth wedding.

Can I get a tattoo of tile?

Because that's about how much I love these colors and shapes.
Too bad the texture and glossiness couldn't be replicated in a tattoo.

I would totally get a tile tramp stamp, a few tiles laid on the small of my back.
"Decorator-4-Life" would arc across the top of the tile work.

Cause I'm gangsta like that.

All of the tiles and installations sent straight from Heaven's bathrooms and entryways
found at Heath Ceramics.

I'm going to have to buy only four at a time. That's OK, since I'm not really ready to take on our bathroom project quite yet!

Best Mobiles on Planet Earth

These mobiles look like they are defying gravity!
Each one is handmade and unique!
I need to hang one of these in my front room or in the weird "dead space"
in my curved stairwell!

Find them at frazier and wing!

BBQ Review

Marking the 3-week point of Shug and I being in our first home, we thought it was about time to throw a little housewarming party. Since the Utah weather seemed like it was going to comply with our plans, we thought a "BYO-grilling item and beverage gathering" to be our best bet.

We also had to include "BYO-chair," since we definitely didn't have enough spots for people to park it! The lack of chairs actually turned out to be a great motivator for people to sprawl out on the grass with their drinks and dinner, lazily talking and dining with each other.

Shug and I realized that this was a bit of a test-run for our rehearsal dinner, which will take place in BBQ form, no less, in said backyard. Here are a few vital points we learned from our first BBQ:

• ALWAYS turn off the damn sprinklers...You might think peeps would be outta the backyard at 2am...Not so.
• We need more grill space! Man can and will live off meat alone and he is not going to waste his time on all the healthy side dishes. MEAT ONLY, please.
• Some people are really just going to subsist on liquid calories, so no need to make enough sweet potato salad for an entire marching band, we could have been fine with just enough for the brass section. (More on this later!)
  
• More twinkling lights = more better!
• Let folks mix their own delicious drinks or have a big-daddy pitcher of premixed of drinks ready to go! We missed out on some great conversations because we were busy mixing!
  
• Always make dessert, because even the liquid calorie folks will need a little somthin'-somthin'!

I did get a few requests for the roasted sweet potato salad recipe, so I thought I'd post it! I'd love to hear how the recipe worked for you!

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Serves 4-6 depending on the level of sweet potato love.

Ingredients:
6 pounds garnet sweet potatoes (these are the darker pinkish-orange kind, waaaay better!)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup if you're vegan:)
1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (about the equivalent to the juice of one monster orange)
Grip of fresh chives
Pinch or more of red pepper flakes depending on your heat tolerance
Salt and pepper to taste

Prep time:
Preheat your oven to 425. Scrub the potatoes clean and cut off any weirdness. Then dice into 1 to 1.5 inch cubes. (Go ahead and leave the skin on if you want to, since there are more vitamins and fiber in the skin!) I've found the skin also helps the cubes keep their shape and not get all mushy and weird after you roast them.

Toss the cubes with a squidge of the olive oil and salt and pepper on a thick cookie sheet. Make sure there is only one layer of cubes and there is a little breathing room so they will roast and not steam. You'll probably need two or three cookie sheets to accommodate your potato party. Roast for 20 minutes, with a rotation and a stir at the halfway mark. Watch these little guys, because they can go from raw to burned in an instant...Trust me, I know.

While the potatoes are roasting, in a large bowl, combine the OJ, remaining olive oil, mustard, crushed red pepper, and honey or maple syrup. Cut the chives to they are like confetti, but we'll add them after the potatoes, so they don't get all mushed.

After the potatoes are tender when you stab them with a knife, scrape them and all of the pan juices into the large bowl that you have prepped with the dressing. (Don't worry if some of the edges are charred, this adds to the awesome flavor of the salad!) Give it a good mix and then add a little more salt and pepper to taste. Mix in most of the chives but reserve a little for garnish!

You can serve this warm, at room temp, or cold! This is awesome for BBQs since there isn't any mayo or other grossness to poison your guests!

I'd love to hear how you spent your weekend!

Ring Envy

Available at Barneys New York. Of course.

Have a sunny day off!

Kup Kup

Adorable and amazing craftsmanship!
Kup Kup from Greece, available on Etsy!

We had a housewarming BBQ last night and it was so fun!
We are still recovering:)!

Amazing Style

I wish I had half of this beautiful woman's fashion sense!
I love the glasses and yellow coat!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Photo courtesy of Advanced Style.

GOOP Rant Follow-Up

Here is the tag line of Gwyneth's GOOP: "Nourish Your Inner Aspect." What does that even MEAN?!?!? Is is my tummy? My soul? My credit card debt? Arrrgh!!

Plus, here is the stupid butterfly in its inner-aspect-nourishing-glory...Be all you can be, butterflies!

Honestly, Gwynnie, ain't ALL that bad. I have a dear supermodel friend who was introduced to Tracy Anderson through GOOP, the workout genie to the gods...And Gwynnie does have a mean recipe for authentic Italian bruchetta...I just wish she wouldn't name drop and remind us about how rock hard HER abs are while we read her weekly "nourishment"...

GOOP Rant

Okay. So, I've always disliked Gwyneth Paltrow. There is something about her aristocratic air, extremely long neck, and pink-ballroom-gown-at-the-Oscars I never could get around. She seems to use an accent not unlike the screen sirens of the forties and fifties, a mix between over-enunciation and a British tweak. This bugs me. And she also takes her self and fashion sense way to seriously...She once called herself an icon. Rule #1 for becoming/being/staying an icon: You NEVER refer to yourself as an icon...let the little people you dazzle with your accessory choices do it for you!!

When her weekly emails started up in the form of GOOP, her name choice not mine, I, of course, signed right up. Her emails started around the recession-infused holidays and she was sending out "proper gift ideas" that included leather gloves from Hermes for a cool $1500 and a wine subscription at only $100 a month. Her outfit suggestions to make ANY ol' dame fabulous are from Tod's, Alaia, Stella McCarney, and Prada. I know having Coldplay constantly in your life can cause the equivalent of a frontal lobotomy, but she MUST have a few interns that type and proof her crap?!?

But maybe, maybe they are just like me and want to chip away at the ivory tower of righteousness Gwyneth has been perched on since the mid-nineties. Their chisel - her asinine disconnection from the proletariat, their hammer - her mass emails with the dumbest pastel butterfly logo in history.

I support your valiant efforts.

Grizzly Bear + Red Balloon = Truer Love

As if I need more reasons to love Grizzly Bear...But they even use "homage" at the end! Shug is rolling his eyes. Right. Now.

Honeymoon Contenda

Paris??
Pourquoi pas? C'est l'idylle!

Meet Shug and Reason #12654 Why I Love Him

And he has soooo many...!

Broken Bird

Yesterday afternoon, I was headed back from a fruitful day at thrifting and Shug called me to let me know a bird had flown into our back glass door and looked a little out of it.

When I got home, the bird had flapped its way over to the corner of our yard and wouldn't move. I thought/hoped/kidded myself that it was probably just stunned and needed a little time to chill out before it collected its birdie wits and flew away.

Three hours later the poor thing was still parked in the same spot and when I tried to scare it to see if it could fly, its wing stuck out at an absolutely broken angle. Crisis.

I Googled "Triage for Broken Birds" or something to that effect and was directed to a Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist here in town. Girlfriend was not only a Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist, but also a Royal Bitch. Apparently, the county had recently cut funding for Wildlife Rehab due to the recession, and although she thought this bird was in peril and needed care, she was just NOT going to assist me with my "situation." Then she hung up on me. Thanks. 'Preesheatecha!

Shug and his razor sharp powers of deduction thought to drop the bird off at the local Aviary. This should make sense, since an aviary is a bird refuge, sanctuary, place where bird specialists usually hang out, etc.

We drove the bird over there only to be met with wide-eyed perplexity...THEY couldn't take an injured bird, not even if it's a mourning dove, an indigenous migratory bird on the State's protected species list! Sorry, but they only specialize in shilling cotton candy, guided tours, and bird pamphlets! How SILLY for us to think they would take an injured bird off our hands!

The damn sun was setting on our good intentions to help this broken dove. I was told that I needed to drop the bird off at the State Department of Wildlife Resources, but it was pushing 9pm and the offices had closed hours before the start of our escapade.

I put the dove in the garage with the birdseed left over from Sissy's wedding. Shug had decided the bird "had better live" since we'd already driven around town without resolution.

I was terrified that the dove would die overnight, so this morning I couldn't bring myself to open its little box to see if it was alive. I called Shug at work to see if he had opened the box before he left for work...The bird had been alive when he'd checked on it. That was good enough!

I drove the box with the hopefully-still-living dove out to the Department of Wildlife Resources. And wouldn't you know THEY aren't in the injured bird business either!!!!!!! I was getting a little down about the situation and the probably-dead-bird I was toting around town, but the dove must have sensed my defeat at that moment and decided to attempt to escape from her box. I might be a city-girl, but dead doves usually don't try to escape from boxes with holes poked in them!

I was given a phone number and a kick in the ass out the door. Gross! An injured bird?!?! How could I even THINK to bring that into the office of Wildlife Resources. What kind of idiot does something like that?!?

I called the quickly scribbled number and the oldest, crackliest, smoker's voice answered. This man lived waaaaaaay out on the West side and took in injured birds out of the kindness of his bird-loving heart. Did he get compensation from the State? No. Did he ask for compensation from the people dropping off the birds in peril? No. Did he have the longest fingernails I've ever seen? Yes.

He carefully opened the box while about a hundred birds squawked and tweeted and pooped in cages behind him. The little dove looked up at both of us, nestled carefully in her paper towels.

Crisis averted.

Wedding Hair

Ok, maybe I just love those glasses...
But I'm thinking messy-pretty and probably up since August is sweltering!

All photos courtesy of Garance Dore'.

Can this be my wedding dress??

Yes, please.

Dreaming in Pyrex

A Maid of Honor gets a present for a day spent entirely in heels and a bustier.

What color, though?? I'm kinda digging the Red and Orange Wheat motif.

All on Etsy.

Stop Motion

This reminds me of a Michel Gondry creation! This is so enrapturing even with the sound off!

Also, today sweet Sissy is getting married!! I am so nervous-excited-giddy about her special day! I will hopefully have some pics...I'll know she'll be so beautiful!

S. Wedding Goodness

My little sister is kind of amazing. Besides the fact she is the best puppy wrangler this side of the Mississippi and she can do a perfect cut and color, she also was able to plan a wedding that stayed under their $5000 budget. (!)

We're still three months plus away from our wedding and we've already dashed our dreams of a 5G wedding. Here are a few of her tips on how she did it:

• Try to make the ceremony and reception at the same location, that way you don't have to spend money on space rental, transportation from ceremony to reception, and the decorations you use for the ceremony do double duty at the reception!
• Try to have a brunch or lunch reception. Caterers can charge twice as much for dinner fare for the same amount of guests.
• Make your own decorations and centerpieces.
• If you are using fresh flowers, keep it to the essentials: bride's bouquet, boutonnieres, and flower girl.
• Do your own hair and makeup...Now S. is a certified PRO at this...I might need her expertise for my own wedding day seeing as I only know how to do my hair into a ponytail!
• Have the ceremony at the church you regularly attend...Read: NO rental fees.
  
• Dress hunt, dress hunt, dress hunt. S. was able to find a $2ooo dress for *gulp* $350!

Her wedding is tomorrow!!
Thank you, May weather, for being absolutely perfect tomorrow:)!

Photos courtesy of OnceWed. How great is that shot on the Slat Flats?

Wedding Invitation Stamps

What say you? We kinda missed the boat on the Eames Series Stamps...
And oldie stamps are super-pricey!!!

Listmania!

Animal Collective "My Girls" from Chad von Nau on Vimeo.

How great is this blog? I'm so excited that Lindsey chose my list of favorites to post about!

Check it out here.

Lindsay is pretty rad because she used to hail from Utah and has some mad painting chops. Look at this stunner here!

Um, yeah, she's pretty talented, don't you think?!

So you better start checking her blog on the regular...I know I am;)!

I caved....

We were driving back from our Sunday dresser purchase when I felt a *snap* on my cheekbone.
I reached up and realized my $5 sunglasses had just cracked!

I've been drooling over these babies for about two years.
No more wasted $5 on sunglasses that only last a month!

My rationale: Cost-Per-Wear Equation
$114/300xwears per year = Practically Free!

Sold.

The fact that Shug and I will get to check this out on our honeymoon makes this movie barftastically perfect!! I'm also excited I get to see a few "Freaks and Geeks" alumni...

Bachelorette Party Pon da Replay

I
made
it.

Can you believe it?!?! I actually was able to successfully pull off a Bachelorette Party for S.! Why would throwing a silly little party be such an insurmountable task?

• Girls can be catty and mean.
• S. works in a salon.
• Girls that work in salons seem to be blessed with the ability to be uber-catty and mean.
• S. has chosen "best friends" that care more about their spray-on tans than they do sincere, healthy friendships.

Oops, didn't mean to single out anyone with that last detail, but really, S. has about a gazillion frenemies with a weird, streaky, orange hue.

So after sending out invites two weeks before the blessed event, 3 gals had RSVP'd...S. and I started to worry about if we'd have enough people to even throw a party!

We had all the makings for a classic bachelorette party: fruity alcoholic beverages, a plastic tiara, a bedazzled shot glass necklace, and other party favors that included a "checklist" for the bride-to-be.

Well, the heavens opened and out poured 15 lovely ladies to make this bachelorette party legit.

We went to a favorite little sushi place known for its "Kiss of Fire" rolls and Sake Bombs...That's when things got interesting.

On our little party checklist, one of the feats was to obtain a pair of guys underwear...The pair he was wearing...Well, S. found said underpants and the fact that they were from a Russian guy with a British accent named Vladimir makes these underpants magical. Well, that and that the magic had a skid mark. Gag.

Vladimir introduced S. to all of his gentleman friends and they all wrote down their phone numbers on S.'s ample bosom. This wasn't on our party checklist, but S. wasn't in a state to care at this juncture.

Moving on before areola-land was visited by the Russians, we stopped at a lounge that I'd never been to...Now this is no suprize to any of the three people that know me, because A) I cannot dance and B) I frequent a total of three "dive bars" about twice a decade...But that being said S. wanted to shake her ass, so S. got to shake her ass!

When we showed up it was only crickets and two go-go dancers occupying the dance floor.

Quick question: What the hell is so enrapturing about those BIG-ASS fuzzy boots that dancers wear? Do big fuzzy boots paired with lingerie make your ass look smaller? Modern mystery, I tell you!

Fifteen minutes later the place was PACKED, complete with local Jazz player Kyle Korver, who perched himself right in the middle of the joint so he could peruse his choices in ladies. Everyone was set on having S. get a pic or a dance or SOMETHING with Mr. Korver...but she just kept waxing on about how "cross-eyed" he looked. Ashton would be hurt...

All in all, I'm sure the girls (figuratively and literally) had a better night than the betrothed bachelor and his boys...which is all a Maid of Honor could hope for her little S.'s party.

What do you think??

Pay no attention to the Suby in the reflection...Do you dig this new dresser and mirror?
My undies haven't ever been so happy,
they now get to live in a drawer instead of a plastic record crate!

Mumma Day

Thanks for teaching me:

which fork to use
what boys I shouldn't kiss
that black really is the best color to wear
how to frost cupcakes
how to tell a really, really good story
how to use my imagination

My mom is the best! I'm sure yours is, too:).

Photo courtesy of Cup of Joe.

Funny Guy

Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis from Between Two Ferns

I am on a bit of a video kick lately...But how awesome is Zack G.?

Naming Game

Well, let's just say that May 7th is officially an auspicious day...
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We finally got a puppy!
Let the Name Battle Royale begin!

Some contenders:
Sukie
Hazel
Maizie
Greta
Ethel
Pants
Wilhemina
Turkey
Extra Mayo

Shug and I need your opinions! Any other name suggestions will be greatly appreciated:)!

Bridesmaid's Dress Anxiety

So this is the dress I have to wear as my sister's maid of honor. This is the dress that S. decided to order without any idea as to what measurements I've cultivated over the long, treat-laden winter.

I had to drive all the way to a godforsaken corner of StripMallLand to meet S., because she needed to approve of the way this Maid o' Honor dress fit. Silly ME for thinking I was capable of figuring: a) how to put on a dress and b) how said dress is supposed to fit.

Thirty minutes and eleven hundred straight pins later, I walked out of the Bridal Shop of Horrors with a $70 abomination called a "Ship Shaper" or "Lady Former" or something to that effect that sque-e-e-e-e-e-zes my ribcage just so and PU----SHES the twins way up and apart.

Lovely special effects, I tell you.

Oh. And S. bought me "Cookies," the only treat a lady should ever partake of, that I stick in my bra just for a little added class.

S. Wedding Countdown: 9 days. Thank baby Jesus.

Girl Crush

Moving and rain showers and finals and bachelorette parties and Aunt Flo.

Sometimes it's fun to see how much you can pile on in one week.

Really, really fun.

The last time poor Shug and I moved was over two years ago and I was deathly ill with the flu the week we had to be out of our old places. He had to lug both sets of over packed boxes from both of our apartments into the new digs deemed especially for cohabitation. I helped by sleeping like Rip Van Winkle and keeping down lots of Gatorade.

He swore that the next move would be by professionals, no matter what the cost.

Well, as fate would have it, we've spent our moving money on a fridge...And it's a lovely fridge. It smells of energy efficiency and stainless steel. It lulls us to sleep at night with the twinkling sounds of fresh ice being tipped into its bin. It beeps at Shug when he dependably leaves the fridge door ajar. It's an Angel Fridge, sent straight from heaven, I tell you!

We don't miss Old Fridge at all. It smelled of sardines lodged in between a combo of butt crack and pot roast. And this is after an ammonia and two bleach washes. Enough said.

But I digress, as luck would have it, storms and more storms were predicted for last weekend, Moving Weekend.

Well, I hadn't been packing or preparing in the least since I'd been a little preoccupied with that little nuisance called "Finals." I've also been blessed with the responsibilities of throwing a bachelorette party for my sweet little sister, festivities to take place at the house we have yet to move into in 6 (!) days. So when Friday rolled around, I didn't have the first box packed.

The army of movers we'd tried to rally all were all extremely engaged with other duties when push came to shove...Friday afternoon. Our battalion consisted of dear Shug and three good (the best!) friends and myself, there for mainly moral support since I'm a wimp.

One huge U-Haul, six hours, and one Este's Pizza later, all of our furniture abominations had made it into the house!

Miracle movers, I tell you! Shug and I thought it would take at least two days!

I think Angel Fridge had something to do with it...

Flocked and Awesome

Fuzzy and chartreuse!?!?!
From Paperhill on Etsy.

Heavenly Wallpaper

This is so amazing! And probably took one million years to complete!
We have a front entryway straight from hell,
and have been looking for the
"just right"
wallpaper.
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I found it.
And it's $198 a roll.
Gulp.

I haven't gotten over my feather phase, yet...

Yes, oh, yes.