Thank you.

I wanted to give a huge thank you to all of you gals who left comments in my last posts. They mean so much to me, and especially you bloggers out there who've been around forever. I haven't always been consistent with my writing, so thank you for always coming back and supporting me.

I'm going to be busy training for a few weeks, and I hope that I still have the will to blog during that time, but I'm not making any promises.

Until then, I'll leave you with some amazing Internet finds.

This home tour of Leah & Dylan via Miss Moss.

Kinfolk's Instragram. (I officially need to own an iphone.)

This video of a "Murmuration" by Islands & Rivers.

And finally- this song by Chrome Sparks.

Kinfolk Volume Four

My Kinfolk volume four arrived.

I'm so worked up that I haven't managed to even crack it open yet.
It's been two days.
The anticipation is too much.

I feel like the circumstances must be just so for me to get the full experience.

I'm a basket-case, I know.

Also, the cover is so perfect, I'd be happy if it was the only thing I ever saw again.

Celebrating like it's 2007.

So, I got the job.

I can hardly believe it.

I feel on top of the world, and adding to all this crazy excitement is a new car purchase for the boyfriend.

We've officially graduated into a new tax bracket and lifestyle change (and we've been celebrating accordingly).

Margharita's garden is exploding with zucchini and tomatoes right now, and I couldn't stop myself from loading up my arms with as much as I could carry (not shown above). I hadn't realized it at first, but I got everything to make an Italian Scramble.

I first tried a version of this scramble at Cafe Niche years ago in downtown Salt Lake City. They've since taken it off the menu, but it was too simple not to continue the legacy. What made it especially special was the pieces of stale baguette, dipped in the scramble batter and stirred in with the eggs, pesto, and cherry tomatoes. Chunks of goat cheese added a whole new dimension to this prodigy. I highly suggest you make it for your next lazy dinner night.

(I believe in) Second Chances

I'm been called back to interview for a different job, but in a similar leadership position. I am putting together a pre-interview presentation. I am very, very nervous.

It's not so much a fear of speaking in front of others as much as the pressure to do my very best.

The logical part of brain knows that there are many factors in deciding who is the best fit for a job, but the neurotic part of me is attaching my success or failure with this presentation, which is adding a lot of undue pressure.

Be Calm.
Deep Breaths.
Stretch.
Be Calm.
Deep Breaths.

Margaret Howell's Spring-Summer Collection

Margaret Howell's Spring-Summer Collection.

My office wardrobe inspiration.

A weekend in pictures

This weekend was brilliantly productive and busy. For the very first time in a long time, I was able to cross off every errand on my to-do list, and then some. The typical weekend is a giant to-do list that gets lost between couch cushions.

Could this be the energy I was promised by working my butt off in the living room morning and night doing yoga? 

I even remembered my camera.

Above- A trip to the Green Ant where I wrung my hands over a three-piece credenza and shelf set. I love going to that store. It is mid-century furniture heaven. My only defeat is the lack of apartment space to house all of the amazing finds.

A terribly sad goodbye to some friends who are leaving our city for Cornell in New York, and the view from their window.

My darling elephant bush, twice the size it was when I first brought it home nearly a month ago.

A summer salad full of white peaches, goat cheese, and pecans.

The front of the Belvedere- the most epic name for an apartment building ever.

At Utah Lake.

Some snapshots from Utah Lake where Jadie and I did a photo shoot on Friday.

We had such a fun time together and the pictures turned out beautifully. She is incredibly talented, and inspires me to think new ways about photography and editing.

The colors in that area are unbelievable. It was easy to see how much her hometown of Eagle Mountain inspires her work.

See her portfolio here.

A Walk from Wednesday.

In which I didn't get the job and then took a pity walk to lift my spirits.

I love this neighborhood. It was actually an area in which I sort-of lived for a few months while I dated an ex-boyfriend. It's amazing how landmarks can change with time simply by your state of mind and emotional feelings. Isn't that funny? The buildings and the streets are the same, but it all looks different.

I may not have gotten the job I was really, really hoping to land, but I feel that even the simple act of pursuing it changed me in a big way. I can feel my outlook morphing from an inward view of things to an outward one.

On my walk, I made it a point to look in the eye of every stranger I passed. We'd both pause, recognizing the connection. I'd smile, and some would smile back.

I saw dog-walkers and writers on their laptops at a cafe. I stopped to pet a tabby cat, who tried to wrestle me when I touched his belly. I saw a woman on the corner, waiting with a yoga mat in hand. I saw cute bicyclists with big grins and a motorcyclist with a lady friend at his rear. I saw lots of telephone lines and ancient, sometimes crumbling apartment buildings and homes. People smoking on porches and laughing loudly with friends.

The sunsets in Salt Lake City are breathtaking in the summer. The colors are constantly shifting and changing with the clouds.

I found myself constantly looking to the sky-- seeing only rooftops and skyline. 

Beach House/ Twilight 2012

What a completely magical night. At one point, I closed my eyes and felt the buzzing energy of a thousand people around me. The sound of her voice is so incredibly powerful. I actually felt the vibration of the sound enter my ears and pull me into the ground by my feet.

The crowds were completely manageable too, which made all the difference in the world. In past years, the shows for the Twilight Concert series were free, which drew hundreds of thousands of people (no joke). A small $5 ticket fee cut the crowd phenomenally.

I love my city.

Shades of Gray and Opportunities

It's funny how quickly things can change. You become convinced that reality works one way, and in the next moment, it has become something so completely different. The changes happening in my life are familiar enough that I've come to expect the certain highs and lows. 
That's something about growing up-- that you start to accept your weaknesses and learn to accept your circumstances as they are. 
Things are changing in my work-life, which is amazingly exciting, scary, exhausting and every spectrum in between. I am currently in an interviewing process for a supervising position, and I feel ready for the responsibility and change. 
In a funny way, it's pushing me harder in other areas of my life, and I find myself seeing how much further I can go- literally and figuratively.
Trent has left me to fend for myself here at the house for a week while he is visiting Comic Con in San Diego, the MECCA of all things nerd-related. 
I'll miss the boyfriend, but honestly, there really is nothing like having the house to oneself. Spooky and I are living it up by blasting tunes and eating messy sandwiches at the computer. 

I'm not one to waste opportunity.

Also- I've just been to the hardware store where I stared at shades of grayish blues for twenty minutes. I've narrowed it down to six barely discernible sample shades in endearingly-small tester containers.
Months ago, I finally got around to painting our bedroom. It was meant to be a freshener, but the color I chose (which was something like "Whiter than the whitest white") turned out to be blinding. I've come to understand why the color is associated with padded rooms and bolted doors. 
Now on the other end, I'm convinced that dark walls are the answer. Pictures like this one, and this one, and these have me converted to the dark side.

At the top of the list- "Crag"- a Martha Stewart Precious Metals paint, which shimmers and changes depending on the light. At night it will be a dark and moody slate/gray, and in the morning, a silvery blue. It's amazing. And expensive. I am wanting it badly. 

Happy Birthday, America.

All of our windows are open to let in the breezy Salt Lake air, and the explosions from outside sound like gunshots. The memory of last year's show is still fresh in my mind, and as I write, thousands of people are swarming on a grassy hill only 7 blocks from me. The roads will be congested for hours. I'm comforted by the walls around me, and if you were here, you'd find me on the couch later, watching Netflix with my cat and some chocolate ice cream. 


That's just a Wednesday night on the fourth of July. 

New Life.

Every single year I go through this period of time where I get super uninspired, and I think that I have to completely re-do everything in order to get rolling again. A makeover! A reinvention! New everything! Changes! But really, it's just the heat. I'm hot. It's summertime, I have no AC, and every little task takes the energy out of me. 


I've started exercising again, which I think is really going to make a huge difference. A mixture of running in the morning and yoga after work. I'm trusting that this torture is going to pay me back in extra energy and put some color back into my drained face.


These cute little things are called Rainbow Bush, which I'm told is drought resilient. The not-needing-water-often thing means I pretty much can't kill them. I've perched them on the tile ledge above my shower where they get constant east-facing daylight, and they are thriving. I don't think I've ever had a plant thrive under my care before, and that makes me really, really happy.