Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Idaho/Utah Adventure
I had a wonderful time on my Idaho/Utah adventure. I went to Idaho on the 13th to be there for a bridal shower on the 14th. Alex and Emily were having an open house in Logan on the 21st, so I split the week in between spending time with my family in Boise and seeing friends in Salt Lake. On Thursday I went back to Logan for a family reunion and open house prep.
First, can I just say, the shower was beautiful. My mother can orchestrate an event with the best of them. After some crazy shopping on Monday, my mom, Nina, and I headed for Utah. I dropped them off in Logan before heading on to Salt Lake to see my good friends Chris and Beez. The drive went pretty well, but we were running low on gas near Hammit, Idaho. If you ever get the chance to visit Hammit, don't.
When I was in Salt Lake Chris and Beez took me to City Creek Mall by Temple Square. Oh. My. Gosh. I want to die there. It was amazing. I also got to see their beautiful new home, watch a lot of HGTV, and do some pretty killer face masks. I love those two.
After two nights with Chris and Beez I headed to Morgan to see cute Larissa and her adorable new baby Boston. Larissa restored my faith in the idea of body after baby, she looked amazing. Jamo is a lucky son of a gun. And I just want to eat their little baby right up. So there's that. Larissa was my best friend in high school and my college roommate. I kind of count on her to test the waters before I try something new. She had her first kiss first, said 'I love you' first, got married first, and had a baby. After each one of these pivotal events she gives me the dish and I can decide from there whether or not it's something I'd like to pursue. It's a good system, really.
After Morgan I went back to Logan to see my extended family at my mom's family reunion. I don't think I even realized how much I missed these people. It was so much fun and so nice to be surrounded by so many people I loved. Plus Nina and I kicked butt at the three-legged race. It has to do with having roughly the same length of legs, as well as no racing ethics.
The open house was beautiful. I feel like an idiot for not taking any pictures, but Emily's open house dress was a Pippa Middleton knock-off, which is awesome. And Alex looks decently handsome when he shaves. It was so fun to watch the new couple, but watching them open all their gifts makes me think it's time for Erik and me to have another wedding.
Come visit us. Particularly if I came and visited you, some reciprocity would be nice.
First, can I just say, the shower was beautiful. My mother can orchestrate an event with the best of them. After some crazy shopping on Monday, my mom, Nina, and I headed for Utah. I dropped them off in Logan before heading on to Salt Lake to see my good friends Chris and Beez. The drive went pretty well, but we were running low on gas near Hammit, Idaho. If you ever get the chance to visit Hammit, don't.
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| Getting gas in Hammit. The cute probably-a-former-prospector gas station clerk had to come show me how to use the pump. |
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| I've missed Zuppas so much |
After Morgan I went back to Logan to see my extended family at my mom's family reunion. I don't think I even realized how much I missed these people. It was so much fun and so nice to be surrounded by so many people I loved. Plus Nina and I kicked butt at the three-legged race. It has to do with having roughly the same length of legs, as well as no racing ethics.
The open house was beautiful. I feel like an idiot for not taking any pictures, but Emily's open house dress was a Pippa Middleton knock-off, which is awesome. And Alex looks decently handsome when he shaves. It was so fun to watch the new couple, but watching them open all their gifts makes me think it's time for Erik and me to have another wedding.
Come visit us. Particularly if I came and visited you, some reciprocity would be nice.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Heather's Visit
A couple of weeks ago my beautiful friend Heather came to visit me. I was so stinkin excited for her to come. She bought her plane tickets in April and I all but made a paper chain counting down the days until she got here. We thrifted until our feet hurt, ate chocolate covered pomegranates, watched the Bachelorette (go Jef!), crafted up a storm, and caught up on every single person we went to high school with . We even went hiking.
One of the many things I love about Heather is that she is also very into crafting. In sociology once I read a study that people are attracted to people at or slightly above their same level of attractiveness, but are not nearly as attracted to people well above their level of attractiveness. I feel the same way about friends and craftiness. I want to be friends with women better at stuff than me, but not much that I am intimidated. Heather is perfect for that. She's just a little better than me, so I feel like I produce optimal cuteness when I work with her, but not so much cuter than me that its demoralizing to sit next to her. Like I said, perfect.
Another nice thing about Heather's visit is that she was able to drive back to Idaho with me so I didn't have to make the drive to my brother's fiance's bridal shower alone. A lot of singing went down. That girl's got a pair of lungs.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Over the River Dishes
We had a wonderful 4th of July, which I will probably blog about later. What I want to blog about right now is actually the result of a conversation I had on the 4th.
I am looking for a cheap china hutch that I can paint and make work for a few years to display our wedding china. Our wedding china is super pretty, and it kind of kills me that it is tucked away in Bed, Bath, and Beyond boxes on the top shelf in our pantry. I was telling a friend about my hunt and she suggested I look at this new consignment shop I'd never heard of. I had errands to run that would take me right by the store the next day so I decided to check it out. The shop was freaking adorable. I wanted everything in it. I didn't find a china hutch, but I did find these:
This dish pattern is kind of special in my family. We call them the over the river and through the woods dishes, and they originally belonged to my grandma and now my mom has them. As the story goes, my grandma was collecting these dishes from a certain store in Utah and would get a few new pieces each month. In the middle of building her collection this store stopped selling milk from the Utah Dairy Association and my grandma's brother was a Utah dairy farmer. Her mother (my great-grandmother) told the whole family that no one was allowed to shop at that store anymore. My grandma loved these dishes so much that she would sneak out to this store to buy them behind her mom's back to finish her collection. I love the idea of my grown-up, married grandma sneaking out to buy these dishes.
I have my own memories with the over the river dishes. My family uses them every Sunday for Sunday dinner. There are two versions of the smaller plates. One version has an over the river scene and the other version has a steamboat. There were only five plates with the first version, so my mom got out one of the steamboat plates and said it was the "special plate". So of course my brother and I fought over the special plate every week. For a while we actually had an every other week rotation of who got the steamboat plate. Even now when I go home I feel silently smug when I sit down for Sunday dinner and notice that I am the honored recipient of the special plate.
So obviously when I saw this set tucked away in a corner I had to go see them. It made me smile and feel sappy and nostalgic, but I wasn't really in the market for a whole new dish set, so I figured I'd get a plate or something to display and remind me of my family. The first plate had a $20 sticker, and I figured that was a little steep for a used plate so I looked to see how much one of the smaller plates would be. That's when I realized the whole set was only $20. I about died. The cute little high school cashier must have thought I was crazy with how smiley and gooey I was over this dish set. The two of us wrapped them up and I took them home.
Traditions are really important to me. There's something wonderfully comforting about doing the same things week after week or year after year. The love of traditions is something I got from my mom, and something I hope to pass on. Traditions helps me feel closer to my family, especially now that I'm living away from them. I love the idea of using these plates with my own family; with Erik right now and with our own children someday. I can't wait to tell my own kids about their great grandma sneaking out to buy these plates, and the best part is my dish set came with a full steamboat set, so everyone can have one of the special plates.
I am looking for a cheap china hutch that I can paint and make work for a few years to display our wedding china. Our wedding china is super pretty, and it kind of kills me that it is tucked away in Bed, Bath, and Beyond boxes on the top shelf in our pantry. I was telling a friend about my hunt and she suggested I look at this new consignment shop I'd never heard of. I had errands to run that would take me right by the store the next day so I decided to check it out. The shop was freaking adorable. I wanted everything in it. I didn't find a china hutch, but I did find these:
This dish pattern is kind of special in my family. We call them the over the river and through the woods dishes, and they originally belonged to my grandma and now my mom has them. As the story goes, my grandma was collecting these dishes from a certain store in Utah and would get a few new pieces each month. In the middle of building her collection this store stopped selling milk from the Utah Dairy Association and my grandma's brother was a Utah dairy farmer. Her mother (my great-grandmother) told the whole family that no one was allowed to shop at that store anymore. My grandma loved these dishes so much that she would sneak out to this store to buy them behind her mom's back to finish her collection. I love the idea of my grown-up, married grandma sneaking out to buy these dishes.
I have my own memories with the over the river dishes. My family uses them every Sunday for Sunday dinner. There are two versions of the smaller plates. One version has an over the river scene and the other version has a steamboat. There were only five plates with the first version, so my mom got out one of the steamboat plates and said it was the "special plate". So of course my brother and I fought over the special plate every week. For a while we actually had an every other week rotation of who got the steamboat plate. Even now when I go home I feel silently smug when I sit down for Sunday dinner and notice that I am the honored recipient of the special plate.
So obviously when I saw this set tucked away in a corner I had to go see them. It made me smile and feel sappy and nostalgic, but I wasn't really in the market for a whole new dish set, so I figured I'd get a plate or something to display and remind me of my family. The first plate had a $20 sticker, and I figured that was a little steep for a used plate so I looked to see how much one of the smaller plates would be. That's when I realized the whole set was only $20. I about died. The cute little high school cashier must have thought I was crazy with how smiley and gooey I was over this dish set. The two of us wrapped them up and I took them home.
Traditions are really important to me. There's something wonderfully comforting about doing the same things week after week or year after year. The love of traditions is something I got from my mom, and something I hope to pass on. Traditions helps me feel closer to my family, especially now that I'm living away from them. I love the idea of using these plates with my own family; with Erik right now and with our own children someday. I can't wait to tell my own kids about their great grandma sneaking out to buy these plates, and the best part is my dish set came with a full steamboat set, so everyone can have one of the special plates.
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