Viking Cooking School in SLC

A few weeks ago, Shug and I were lucky enough to get invited to a Salt Lake City food blogger event hosted by the Viking Cooking School in Salt Lake City.  The cooking class of the evening was focused on farm to table fare, stuff Shug and I are very interested in.

The evening began with a salt tasting.  Salt?  Yup.  Taking the time to differentiate the subtleties in just salt got our palates ready for fresh herbs and veggies that have been locally grown, some from the Viking Cooking School's own vegetable garden!

Our menu of the evening consisted of a fresh tomato tart, garden vegetable soup, a peach and apple crisp, and an assortment of delicious cheeses and wine.  Our instructor showed us the basics like knife skills and onion-cutting tricks, but also gave us unique tips on how to make your meals special with what's available and in season.  This not only is a great way to adhere to the "locally grown" dogma, but also less expensive because you're buying what's in season, so it's cheaper!

We had some great company for our class, too!  VintageMixer, KooDeKer, FoodieSLUT, BarbaraBakes, and Heidi from Salt Lake Magazine were just a few of the Salt Lake foodies in attendance.

It was a lovely evening and a delicious meal!

Bestest Best's Wedding

Bestest Best had her wedding at the beautiful Red Butte Gardens at the end of July.  The ceremony took place in the Fragrance Garden that was alive with bees and the heavy scent of lavender.  Hearing Bestest Best and her betrothed exchange vows while the summer breeze carried it away was such a lovely gift.

The weather was truly perfect for a typically hot and sunny Utah July day.  The entire morning was sweltering, that's why I look so frumpled in all of the pictures Shug took of me!  But the breeze started blowing about 15 minutes before the ceremony and then rain came after everyone moseyed down from the Fragrance Garden for the celebration to begin!  The rain lasted only a bit, but it cooled off the gardens so we could start to dance!

An old German saying is that it's good luck to have bad weather on your wedding day, but Bestest Best and her betrothed got an even more auspicious sign: a little rainbow peeked out after the rain stopped!  It was one of the happiest days.

Bestest Best's Wedding Teaser

This was one of the most beautiful days and I'm honored to say I got to be a part of it!

Bestest Best's wedding was a little under a month ago!

I can't believe how quickly the time flew!

To tide you over until Monday,

here's a shot of Best looking luminous as her parents 

walk her down the aisle.

She was the most beautiful bride!

Have a lovely weekend!

xo.

Road Trip

Leaving Vegas from Brandon sloan on Vimeo.

I wish that Shug and I had been able to go on a road trip this year.

Sometimes the road time is the best part about the trip!

I forget how beautiful and open parts of this country are.

LocalLibrary

It seems I've been coveting some jewelry lately.

I love this understated coolness of Lauren Haupt's LocalLibrary line.

Her smaller, more delicate pieces have an 

"I can wear this everyday and look like I planned this outfit" feel.

That's called MAGIC where I come from.

Beautiful Day

Yesterday was a gorgeous day.

The temperature was perfect.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

And I had five minutes to just breathe and enjoy it!

Ruby spent the better part of the evening playing fetch with Shug.

She was sooooo tired, but she wouldn't drop the ball!

Let's try to take a little time today to enjoy the summer,

it'll be gone before we know it!

xo.

Yard Sale Insanity

Do you know what people want?  What compels them to get up at the taint of dawn to rifle through other people's wares?  To have verbal altercations with other like-minded bargain hunters over ONE DOLLAR?  Answer: Yard sales.

Shug and I had our very first yard sale on Saturday.  The weather was perfect, as was the circumstance: our fence is in need of dire repair and we had been accumulating a room full of stuff that needed a proper exodus from our residence.  We posted on KSL.com and Craigslist, made bright signs, and were ready for the fun by 7am.

What I wasn't prepared for was the uniform the majority of the professional "garage salers" had adopted.  Almost all of the "professionals" had long gray or white hair, long scraggly beards, and the sweetest demeanor to antagonize their scruffy looks.  All of these pros had checklists and specific treasures they were hunting for and all wished us good luck on our sale without ever buying a thing.  Things of value: Barbies, musical instruments, and old toys.  We had none of these to offer.

What we DID have were mountains of clothes, dishes, and books.  And by the end of the day, Shug and I had made $324, just enough for materials for our fence!  The other advantage to selling our stuff was just the act of purging our lives and living space of things we were never going to use again, but were hanging on to for...no reason. 

I know there is a minimalist movement growing among many of the urbanites that adopted the organic and locally sourced movement a few years back, and I understand its draw.  To clear your life of unnecessary "stuff' is a lot like prioritizing your life.  Do we have "space" for superfluous, energy-sapping things in our home or schedule?  No.  Is it healthy to "make room" for the things that give us comfort, recharge us, and improve our lives?  Yes.