October 25th

Happy birthday to my mama.

My mother is the reason I am in interior design - why I love creating, designing, and coming up with less-expensive options for a beautiful result. She has always been interested in these things herself, so when I came along in my overalls and slicked-back-ponytail glory (blessed, blessed 90's) and had an inborn interest in design, she took me under her wing and showed me the way. I'm so happy to have someone with whom I can get excited over grimy old furniture and scraps of fabric. We are pretty good friends.

Mama, your birthday present is wrapped and ready to be opened.

October General Conference

Twice a year, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gather together around televisions, computers and radios all around the world to listen to the prophets of our day speak in what is called General Conference. The topics don't often differ from the years past, with a reoccurring focus on the Book of Mormon, the Bible, faith, Christ's Atonement, temples, living a happier life, service, families, kindness, church attendance, and more. Even still, I look forward to April and October with longing for a desire to recheck my progress and be reminded of the Lord's plan for my life.

It is a tradition for my family to gather together to watch General Conference together and enjoy a delicious breakfast. While I am the only child at home this year, my parents and I are still carrying on the tradition of listening to the prophets while eating a delectable feast.

In an effort to follow the counsel of being more kind and service-oriented, I share with you the recipe for the best syrup you will ever devour. I will also share a link to the Mormon church's General Conferences, where you can listen to, read, or watch uplifting messages from years past. May I recommend Henry B. Eyring's encouraging talk on promises we made to the Lord, Elaine Dalton's tender talk on fatherhood, or Dieter F. Uchtdorf's uplifting talk on five things we should not forget.

I hope you are having as happy a weekend as I am.

Palos Verdes, California

While in the LA area for the Bon Iver concert, we thought it prudent to follow my grandfather's old commute and my mother's high school memories to a little place called Palos Verdes, California.

Stunning.

My mother grew up in Palos Verdes while my grandfather worked as a professional in the broadcasting industry in Los Angeles. Because of her upbringing there I have heard about this place for my entire life, but it wasn't until this past week that I had the opportunity to visit. I have laughed as my father has made quips about my mother waking up to a view of the ocean from her bedroom window in comparison to his waking up to a view of the six dusty siblings and four dogs that he shared a bedroom with, or how my mother had classmates who spent their mornings surfing before school while he was out milking the goats. Both sides are true...

One thing I enjoyed was the diversity of each home. While they all maintained a strict standard of class and elegance, each home stood strong as its own character, whether it was the charm of the East Coast, mimicking the tonal style of a Spanish villa, or a chic farmhouse with a wrap around porch.

The well-manicured yards and gardens would be enough to admire were the homes, cliffs, and ocean taken out of the mix. Each home was accompanied by budding roses, sprawling vines, neatly mowed lawns, and perfectly trimmed hedges.

 Once again, a photograph proving that California laughs when I try to have some

control over my hair. And also, showing off the cliffs near my mother's high school.

After seeing the views she had while growing up, I now understand why it may have been a difficult transition moving to Las Vegas, a city made almost entirely of cement blocks.

Oh, and during our perusing, I noticed a home or two for sale. If anyone wants to go in on it together, I can chip in about...$6.

What a mischief you would bring young darling!

When I turned 23 last month I thought there was only one thing that I wanted: a new set of scriptures. Well, it turns out there were two other things I, unknowingly, wanted as well.

One:

From Oliver

Two: 

From mom.  And Abby, kind of.

After hearing my sister and her husband strongly recommend that we go to their concert, my mother thought it wise to heed their counsel and purchased two tickets to their show in Los Angeles.  And boy am I glad she did. At any given time there were nine to twelve people on stage all playing separate instruments, some a few instruments at once. And what's fabulous about that is it didn't sound like there were 15+ instruments in each song. It was a balancing act that Justin Vernon and his talented mind was able to achieve. Three songs in particular stick out in my mind. They were mesmerizing:

Skinny Love - the final song of the set. So joyous!

Re: Stacks - a favorite song of mine. It could have gone on for ten more minutes and I would have been glad.

Beach Baby - the break the violins take at :23 quickly made its way onto my list of favorite musical moments.

A photograph proving that A: I went to the concert,

and B: California weather does not agree with my hair.

Thank you and goodbye, Bon Iver

My Labor Day Weekend

A few years ago my sisters and I spent a week together in D.C. It was there, while visiting Theodore Roosevelt Island, that I found my happy place. Giant trees form a green sky above the granite tablets with etchings of some of Roosevelt's more famous quotes. Unfortunately, that particular happy place is a long and uncomfortable flight away. And on an island. I don't expect to visit very often.

However, my parents recently purchased a lovely cabin in Zion National Park. Quiet and secluded, it is the perfect location for spending the occasional weekend away. The cabin is a place where time seems to stand still. Apart from a few practical modern day comforts, it seems to act as a transporter into decades past - the women happily prepare meals for the family, the men chop wood and keep the fire warm, books are read with the dog sleeping peacefully at the readers feet, and all the while the record player is softly humming Simon & Garfunkel or The Carpenters. It is a place where the natural good has time to show its face without Distraction there to rear its head.

This weekend was spent at the cabin playing a few rounds of Take Two around the table, watching The Killers live at Royal Albert Hall, canoeing on Navajo Lake (way harder than it seems), and trying to ignore the adorable meowing of the kitten that perched itself in an open window at church. 

  

While at our cabin, the days are spent simply and joyfully, and it has quickly become a happy place of mine. Do you have a happy place? 

By the way, if you would like your happy place to be next door to mine, and if you have a few dollars to spare, my neighbors cabin is for sale.

.

If you google "nightstand" you'll find a forum for men explaining to other men how to get a one night stand

Last night, after I finished writing some thoughts, I turned to place my notebook on my nightstand like a normal human. But what wasn't normal was that amidst the other notebooks, other pens, and other books, I could not find a sturdy place to place this notebook.

What I saw on my nightstand both shocked and satisfied me. The lack of organization shocked me, but the contents made me happy.

It reminded me of an article I read in House Beautiful where designers showed the readers a picture of their nightstand to give the readers a feel for the designers "real" life. Things between me and House Beautiful were already on the rocky side - I was ready for our time to be up, but I had made a commitment for a year long relationship with the subscription and I had to stick it out. That article did nothing to light the fire we once shared. It was filled with pictures of perfectly staged nightstands with fresh flowers, dust-free picture frames*, and a pair of spectacles** lying oh-so-neatly beside a glass of water, no doubt fetched from the well that very morning.

Nope, I had it. We were through.

Now this. THIS nightstand is a look into real life. On my nightstand was a jumble of books, papers and notebooks, all of which have been used recently. Each book has a paper marking where I left off and each notebook has a pen in it ready to be used when I have a thought come to me. I like that my room looks lived in, I like that my nightstand shows so clearly the things that I enjoy doing before I end my day.

But oh, the lack of organization!

So I got off blogger and tidied up my room.

What's on your nightstand?

* the adorable picture frame you see here (with dust so lovingly collected on it) was made for me by my friend Missy. She's really cool.
** my pair of spectacles lying oh-so-neatly on notebook #1 are are not a prop.

Happy 4th of July

I hope you enjoyed your holiday as much as I did. I spent mine in the company of good friends and family hiking, shooting, getting dusty, and eating well in the setting of Zion National Park. Very American, right?

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.  I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him."

Abraham Lincoln

"All great change in America begins at the dinner table"

Ronald Reagan

"Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance.  It is also owed to justice and to humanity.  Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong."

James Bryce

"How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy."

Paul Sweeney

Elements of Style, Desire to Inspire, Elle Decor, Elle Decor, Flourish Design and Style, Pinterest, We Heart 

Acoustic Night

I didn't realize how badly I missed doing design-related things until this past week.

So there I was, right? Working the fitting rooms at Anthropologie when the visual director of the store comes to me with a project in mind. I've kept no secrets of how much I'd like to someday be the display coordinator at Anthropologie, so the one at my store has promised to let me help with displays when it is needed. Today was one of those days and I was happier than a clown. What did I get to do, you ask? Punch circles into painted paper. That may be considered menial work to some, but my heart reveled in each circle I punched. I'll share some pictures as soon as the display is up. You'll be able to tell which circles I created because my smile is all over them.

A few nights later I helped my brother with the set design of an acoustic show his band was hosting (I still can't figure out a way to say "my brother's band" without making it sound dumb. Just believe me when I say it isn't dumb.) He had all these wonderful ideas of painted backdrops, crescent moons, theatre curtains, and arm chairs with a homespun feel swimming around his mind and though he had the ability to do it  well on his own, he humored me and let me help. The results, like everything he puts on, were quite good.

We started late one night with the linen canvas hanging on a wall in our garage. I had mixed up a few blue paints that Oliver liked and the rest of the colors (yellow, tan, black, white) we already had at home. Using somewhat unconventional brushes to get more texture, we started painting in swooshes. We listened to Jonsi's album Go Do and Coldplay's live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft to keep us awake and creative and kept Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhone in the back of our minds.

The venue was the roof of my aunt and uncle's loft in Las Vegas. One of the first things Oliver thinks whenever he goes to a new place is "could this host a show?" A few months of patience allowed him to finally use this roof, and it was a perfect location.

 Three favorite things in this picture - Tyler, his new left handed guitar, and the moon.

The talented Miss Ellen Tingey

This behind the scenes picture is the only one that shows the lights on the plants

Tyler and Aubrey

Brumby did two of their own songs then they invited some friends up to do their cover of The Killers "Read My Mind"

It was a joyous, musically filled summer night. Who's ready for another?

Happy Birthday, oh creative one

My younger brother, Oliver, has this obnoxious and inspiring habit of turning everything he touches into a masterpiece. I'm not just being a nice sister - this is the truth. Without a day of private lessons in his life he has managed to learn enough guitar and piano to get by in the music writing process, without a solitary hint of support from any English teacher he has written some amazing lyrics, and he's picked up paint brushes, sewing needles, guns, hair straighteners and cameras and always manages to create something better than the next guy. It would be disheartening, however I assume some of that natural talent was shared with me during the divvying out of chromosomes so I keep on trying.

Today, being this handsome giant's birthday, I was able to present him with a gift that I think is more so a present for me than for him (he will get to use it, but I'll get to look at it...and maybe sometimes he'll let me use it too). After over a month of keeping this perfect present a secret, I handed him a Polaroid camera and five boxes of film. I can't WAIT to see what he creates from this moody film and the details he chooses to capture in the infamous 3.5" x 4.2" box.

Here's to many more years of creativity, Olivert.