So this past weekend has actually been suuuper lazy for me and I have been super tired... had hoped to do my daily blogging, but just never got around to it. So to keep with my schedule, I will just have to blog for the last couple days today and catch us all up! I hope everyone had a splendid & cozy weekend!

A couple of my favorite go-to foodie sites:

Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks:::::: check out her recent post: + Winter Pasta +  <<< looks delicious...no?

Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie :::::: I LOVE this show! Check out episode 8 on season 1 "Just Desserts" + YUMMY! +

& Serious Eats. Love these Pumpkin Pie Pops!

Today it started snowing later in the day...I felt compelled to get an early start on my snowflake garlands...here are two that I think you may like. The mini one is sooo easy & quick to make, the other is more time consuming and little more messy since more glitter is involved.  I heard the other day from a friend that glitter is the herpes of crafts! So true! So if you're not a fan of seeing left over glitter...you should just eliminate the glitter yarn...but I do have to say it looks pretty fantastic and has an awesome vintagey feel. :)

The final products hung side by side :

Some of my notes taken in sacrament a couple weeks ago:

+ Loose yourself to serve others

+ Service can heal a troubled heart

+ Gratitude is a divine principal

+ Giving thanks helps us recognize our blessings 

 This entry is on one of my very favorite books and my best kept beauty secret [facial exercises] came from this fantastic source!   I have had a good amount of people laugh at me for doing facial exercises....I do them every time I shower and ALWAYS before going to bed & I would also do them right before I would go on 1st & 2nd dates! ahahaha lol True story! Anyways, it is never too late to start doing them! 25 reps of these exercises will leave your face feeling firm, you can totally feel it! See if you can find this book on Amazon/ebay if not for the knowledge then definitely for the darling 60's illustrations.

wow! These entries only took me a couple hours to do... : /  hope they were worth my time. Have a good night ---er morning. ;)

Beautiful photographs by >>> Knit a Latte  <<<

And how fantastic is this necklace????? Seeing this gave me a fabulous idea : a crocheted baby sling!

Cozy finger puppets from  >>> Baby Animals <<<

+ gosh, there are so many talented & creative people out there....and so many of them live at Etsy! +

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Check out this girl's items from Osaka Japan... Her berets have me crying glitter they're so magical!

A gold apple seed ring from >>> Anne Arden Mcdonald <<<

Two of my very good friends Jenny & Erin teamed up to redesign Erin's website Sodafine! It looks fantastic!  If you have a second, stop by and check it out OR if you live in the New York City area DO NOT HESITATE to go visit Erin personally in her shop in Brooklyn! I am a big supporter of shopping independent designers and Erin's boutique is always chock full of just that.  Some of my favorite pieces of jewelry and clothes that I own and ALWAYS get compliments on are from Sodafine!

For kicks, I found this photo of us girls at New York's first Renegade Craft Fair, back in 2005?  Good times....good times!

Here is what you can find online and in the store... but do make a personal visit if you want to shop more independent items.

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Also, you can find beautiful handmade items from Erin herself... I love her small painted "not plants" plants. Would love to start a collection of these!

Hey friends! Hope you had a great weekend! .

So last Thursday I went to the Utah State Fair with my boyfriend Jesse.  

Second year in a row, and was not dissapointed! ;) 

 Here are some things I saw:

The farm animals [especially the baby pigs] were so funny!

It was neat to see children with their animals and taking care of them.

Then I almost cried [happy tears] when I saw the kids section of artwork... all the drawings totally cracked me up!  There were some impressive works of art for sure [bear pictured] but my favorite one of all was this self portrait!  A famous fashion illustrator someday! I hope! :)

Since moving to Utah I have gotten to see 3 rodeos! Yeah, I love them... I can totally picture myself as a cowgirl wearing a sparkly cowgirl hat, and entering in the barrel races!  The music they play as the ladies race around make my heart beat so fast....I feel so inspired when watching them, I can only imagine the adrenaline they must feel when riding that fast! Reminds me of one of my favorite movie's "Blue Crush" and when Kate Bosworth's character is in the huge surfing contest at the end of the movie...makes me want to take up surfing....but then a week goes by and I get back to my quiet drawing self. :)

Seeing the cowboys with their hats over their hearts made me cry... :/  I love living in America!

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These past couple o' weeks I have been dipping tons of sticks and branch disks in paint!

I have currently become obsessed with dipping things... I had a funny idea the other night: It would be fun to open a boutique one day full of things dipped in paint! I'd call the boutique dipped...and I would

do custom dipping! Come one come all...you got it, i'll dip it! 

I have also been covering leaves/sticks & pinecones in glass glitter. OH MY GOSH, the sparkle that glass glitter produces is just insane... You just gotta get your hands on some of this stuff...my picture sadly doesn't show the kind of twinkle that I see in real life... 

After getting home from work today, my very creative + funny + inspiring & giving friend Juidiith Clawson came over... I am helping design her website.  Jude brought me some cherry tomatoes, pears and peaches from she and her husband's home.  After she left I went in my kitchen and saw that she had lined the fruit up! I cracked up and had to take a photo! If you have a lot of the same thing, try lining them up one day...things look pretty in a line, no? 

While Jude and I were working on her site, we were eating some of the cherry tomatoes and admiring their adorable cuteness! Their tiny star leaflets! These would make fabulous earrings if covered in gold! The stems could be the posts! Just a thought.  We didn't get to talking about pears and their bellies of sweetness...but if we did, we would have so many good things to say about them!

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Fashion Week Favorites:

Band Of Outsiders   Spring/Summer 2011

[ I always want to say Band of Horses! ha! lol]

I seriously could buy a collection every season of color blocked pieces.  I don't know why, but they never get old for me....

mkay...this lady needs to hit the hay now! See you tomorrow. ;) xo