I Love Cute Jackets

How cute is this brown denim jacket? It's from a new online store called ThreadSence.com. Go check it out.

Some of My Favorite People

We drove down to St. George to see some of our very best friends, Tad and Candice, this weekend. These guys are like family to us, and we get asked all the time who is related when we are together.

Wes is just about 6 months younger than Allie. He is so adorable. He and Allie cracked each other up and played so well together.

We were sad to leave, but will hopefully be seeing them in March!

Best Blog Award

Thanks Danielle @ Life on Dahlia Lane for giving me this award:

Ten Blogs that I love and that I pass this on to:

1. Elizabeth Taylor Frandsen

2. The Cheap Chica's Guide to Style

3. A Little Sussy

4. For Me For You

5. Have Your Cake

6. High-Heeled Foot in the Door

7. I Heart You

8. Nie Nie Dialogues

9. Redhead Ramblings

10. Allison C. Photography

Instructions
To accept this award, post it on your blog with the name of the person who granted you the award and link back to them.
Pass the award on to approximately 10 other bloggers that you recently discovered and think are great.
Contact the bloggers and let them know they have been chosen by you for the award.

Dreaming of Summer

I came across these images on Dustjacket Attic and started craving summer. Summer clothes and summer walks and summer dates...I bought these gladiator-type sandals (in black) with some of my Christmas money.

I think I was hoping that summer would come faster if I did...I'm not really seeing the logic in that thought now...

Please come soon Spring, and bring your friend Summer.

PS. Any ideas on how to convince my husband to wear something like this?

I Won!

I am always posting comments on giveaways, knowing that I'm not going to win but doing it anyway. :) Well, I won one of them! How cool is that? Check out what I won, along with one of my favorite blogs.

What Everyone Should Know About Refurnishing a Table

1. KNOW what you want...because once you do it, it's really hard to go back to how it was originally, if not impossible. I have been wanting a pretty, white, round dining table for some time now, and I was fortunate to inherit a really nice, oak table from my husband's grandfather. I knew that once I sanded off that nice finish, there was no going back.

2. Keep in mind the chairs that will surround it. I kinda forgot that mine are covered in a cream fabric, not white, and look a little off. But, my apartment is full of white and cream, and I think the elements of the room will work well together as a whole.

3. If possible, refurnish in the fall or spring. Most paints and finishes work the best in temperatures between 50 and 90 degrees. If you are impatient and the opposite of a perfectionist, like me, you will probably do it when you want and be fine with the results :)

These are all of the photos I looked to for inspiration. I wanted more of a whitewashed, weathered look, and searched the web for ways I could do that. I ended up sanding off the finish on the top of the table and painting it with a watered-down white paint. I then wiped the paint off so the wood grain would show through. It is hard to see the top in these pictures.

For the legs of the table, I just painted a light layer of white primer directly on top of the finish. I tried to keep my strokes going the same direction as the grain of the wood, but I could have done a lot better...please don't look too closely :)

I sanded off edges to give it that "used" look and then sprayed it with an acrylic, clear protective finish. I used Krylon Crystal Clear Satin so it wouldn't be shiny or glossy.

Posted Here

Come Back Friday the 19th of March for the first Favorite Things Friday!

One Project...

I really liked both of these:

photo from ish and chi

So I tried to copy them:

And this is the same idea, but different...

Are you sick of seeing these everywhere? I kinda like them; these are what I came up with in Photoshop.

I have a really nice, big gold frame I am going to hang over my kitchen table. Which do you like the most?

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Goodbye Christmas

Last night I took down the Christmas tree and decorations...it was kinda sad.

But, I am excited to finish up decorating our apartment and have some fun projects coming up.

Goodbye Christmas! See you next year!

My Little Sis and Her Awesome Room!

This is Mel...she is my baby sister.

She is so much cooler than me though.

She is so original, when it comes to everything...clothing, music...

And she is just as gorgeous on the inside as she is on the outside...as hard to believe as that is.

And now....

Here is her cool room....

And I promise we didn't try to match her outfit to her room, just a happy coincidence.

My brother actually bought the Beatles poster...who knew he had such good taste?

Melanie made the boot vase on her windowsill, which totally fits her style.

Some of Mel's favorite products: A&F 8 perfume, Bare Minerals Warmth, and Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar everything.

I turned on Mel's iPod while I shot. Her faves: The Format, Fun, and Motion City Soundtrack.

Love this zebra straightener.

Notice there are actually 4 "wallflowers" on this wall. Yep, it's Warm Vanilla Sugar.

Isn't my sister cool?!!

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Back Home from Being Home

Being home in Seattle was so much fun...and it is never long enough. But, it is also good to be home here in Salt Lake with my husband. I wonder when you stop having two homes...maybe once you've had a couple kids and lived in your very own house for a few years?...

Allie was strangely happy the morning we left...we woke her up 3 hours before she usually gets up.

Water drops at takeoff.

Here is Mt. Rainier. We had gorgeous weather that lasted until about the sixth day of our trip.

Waiting for our luggage...Allie, happy again, because she slept the whole flight.

Like mother, like daughter. My mom's Christmas decorations were the same colors as mine!

Similar tree.

Allie is obsessed with horses right now. Needless to say, half of her Christmas presents were horse-related items.

Tiny clips for a little bit of hair. We lost most of these throughout the week.

I remember being this excited for Christmas!

First walk to see the horses since the last time (in August) when she was scared of them.

The cute newlyweds of our family. Can't believe how perfect they are for each other.

This makes me sad just looking at it. I miss you Mom and Dad!

Although her look says otherwise, she was NOT scared of the horses this time! :)

Our cousins, the Brems, came to see us from Portland! They stayed for the weekend and it was a lot of fun. Melinda and I grew up together and were "tight." :)

I think a similar future is in store for these two. They LOVE each other!

Libby...remember? The baby I took pics of in August!

CUTE family! Love them.

Yeah...Allie broke this later on...:(

LOVES Mel!

Okay, maybe she is still a little nervous around the horses, but better than last time.

Allie got to see an old friend of hers. Issac is Mackenzie's nephew (she is our "adopted" little sister) She and Mel are inseparable.

Yep, I forced picture time upon my family. I am so mean. I think Allie likes it though, what do you think?

Friends.

Allie talking to the kitty outside.

Loves her daddy.

Loves her Brian.

As you can see, Allie got lots of attention and lots of cuddling from everyone. She was in heaven.

Loves her grandpa.

This was near the end of our trip...the wind was FREEZING that day but my dad promised to take Allie to see the horses, so we toughed out the cold.

I promise she wanted us to do this to her.

Allie did this pretty much the whole flight home.

Fitting how we took off to Seattle at sunrise, and landed in Salt Lake at sunset.