New Find Friday: Seraph Stationery

I have recently become a very big fan of greeting cards. I love the heavy texture of letterpress cards, and the feeling of holding one in my hand. Sometimes an email just can't replace a real, live card with a stamp. I am discovering so many companies who make unique, playful, stylish cards, and I find myself wanting to stock up on millions of them just in case! One such business is called Seraph Stationery. It is a local company out of Draper, and the owner is a friend of my designer friend Dave.

I LOVE these comic cards. I mean, is there a better word in the English language than Shazaam!?

And these vintage cards are just so deliciously girly! I have a few of them, just waiting for the right occasion.

Bling

My man surprised me with this diamond to show me how much he loves me after 5 blissful years of marriage!


Actually, I bought this cubic zirconium since my fingers are too fat to host my actual wedding ring. In the words of Little Sis, I bought the ring so people don't think I'm an adultress.

Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Today at church, I learned what little boys are made of. 

We were favored with the annual primary program during sacrament meeting today. This means that after the blessing and passing of the sacrament, chaos ensues as all the children under 12 sit up on the stand and enthrall (or embarrass) their parents with song and speech. 

On the front row, sitting directly in front of the bishopric, was the 4 year-old class. There were three boys sandwiched in between two girls. The girls were well-behaved the entire time. They stood up when prompted, sat down when prompted, gave their one-line talks like champs, sang all the words to their songs, and sat reverently when not singing. The boys were a different story. They could not sit still! One boy kept moving his head from side to side, which would make him lose his balance and knock into the little lady sitting next to him (who seemed not to notice). The other two repeatedly hoisted themselves up onto the podium wall so they were balancing on their little tummies on the wooden ledge. The members of the bishopric had to pull them down by their little britches about 17 times.

One other little boy (probably 5) was so enthusiastic about singing the primary songs that he projected his tiny little voice louder than everyone else. It wasn't hard to figure out who was singing so loudly because his normally pale face was beet-red!

My man teaches the 11 year-old boys. As we walked from the chapel to our classrooms, he noticed that the door to his classroom was closed, and said to me, "Oh great. The door is closed. That means something bad is happening." Sure enough, after church, he told me what he had found when he opened the door. One boy was writing on the chalkboard: "George is a..." and that's when Tim walked in. The kid jumped so high that he dropped the chalk. He then meekly finished the sentence with, "... cool guy." (Names were changed to protect the innocent.)

Finally, my friend E shared a little tidbit with me about her 2 year-old son. He entertained the families around him in sacrament meeting by shouting a single word over and over: booger! No context, no real reason. He just likes the sound of it, I guess. And really, can you name a male who doesn't?

New Find Friday: Petunia Pickle Bottom

I have found my calling in life. It is to become the kind of woman who is worthy of carrying this.

I was introduced to this ultra-chic, swanky, stylish brand of baby gear called Petunia Pickle Bottom by my very fashionable friend JaKie. We were sitting up on the stand at church one day because I was tickling the ivories on the organ and she was leading the congregation in glorious song, and I noticed her fabulous diaper bag:

...and asked her where she got it. Little did I know that one tiny question would change the course of my life forever. A few weeks later, I was in the area, so I paid a visit to Babinski's on Foothill in Salt Lake. Glory, glory, hallelujia! I had found my happy place.

Isn't it incredible how one piece of fabric can make a person feel so alive?

Bajingos and Mustaches

The way one handles a stressful situation is very telling. It can reveal the type of person you truly are, deep inside.

My man and I exposed our true character today in a Childbirth Preparation class. While others were listening intently, taking notes and asking questions, we were the couple making inappropriate comments under our breath. During part of the class, one husband was even massaging his wife's foot, which was propped up on his lap. Adversely, Tim and I poked each other in the ribs as we joked.

Our level of discomfort was pushed over the top with all the videos of scary bajingos and talk about needles, incisions & bodily fluids. (At one point, the instructor asked Tim if he needed oxygen. Seriously.) So what did we do to compensate? We made fun of the facial expressions on the poor, laboring mothers and the Chester mustaches on their husbands and doctors.

We're going to be fantastic parents.

New Find Friday: Design*Sponge

Do you ever imagine yourself living a totally different life? Do you wonder if you could just overhaul your entire environment and start somewhere else? I'm not talking about becoming a different person. I'm talking about doing and seeing and creating things that are nothing like what you do and see and create in your current life. 

If I were to do this, I would choose to live in a small, old flat (you can't call it an apartment because it's too chic) in a big city where the moldings and the wood floors are original and the electric and plumbing are brand spanking new. Of course, the stove would be retro in appearance, yet modern in function, and the kitchen counters would be a combination of concrete and old-school butcher block. I would have elaborate wallpaper only in small quantities in small corners of the house. I would have a sofa like this (I would normally say "couch," not "sofa," but you can't call this a couch. Again, too chic):

My man and I would eat breakfast at our favorite corner coffee shop every morning because in my dream, my man loves hot chocolate and croissants almost as much as I do. We would visit libraries and museums on crisp, fall weekend days, wrapped snugly in our scarves and long jackets.

On that note...

I visit three blogs daily. One of them is a recent discovery, and it fills me with creative energy every time I visit. Design*Sponge rocks my world.

One of my favorite segments of the site is called DIY Wednesdays. Will I ever actually execute any of these projects? Probably not. But it's fun to dream. Some of the DIY projects are waaay too cheesy and "crafty" for my taste, but check this out. It's a picture frame tray! 

How perfect would this be to hold my steaming mug of rich hot chocolate and buttery croissant while I read Jane Austen on my fabulous red sofa?

The Bend and Snap

Apparently, I am now too large to pick up my own shoes and put them away. However, I am not too large to lie down on the ground to get a good (albeit crooked) picture for this caption.

Nina, Pinta & Santa Maria

I have the day off work today (thanks, Mr. Columbus!) so I took a jaunt downtown to run some errands and go out to lunch with a dear friend with foot-long eyelashes. (That has nothing to do with anything, other than she has supercool eyelashes.)

I love downtown Salt Lake City. I miss it. Tim and I lived there during our first year of wedded bliss. I love the black coats, briefcases, brisk walkers, Asians, crazy scary drunks... It's so "big city," just like New York. Okay, it's nothing like New York. But it's a lot more New York than the 'burbs, where I currently reside. It's a good thing I was wearing a scarf today. All true big city folk wear scarves on chilly days. If I just would have tried a little harder with my footwear! I wore black socks with brown shoes, so the city banished me back to Clearfield.

To Everything, There is a Season

Brace yourself. I'm about to wax philosophical.

Hey! Stop laughing. I might have some insightful things to say...

Okay, probably not, but just smile and nod, okay? Word.

I've been thinking lately about the different stages in life. Don't ask me how this topic landed itself in my consciousness (hint: the topic seems to have landed itself in the baby bump I've been sporting). How did I come to be where I am right now? I remember being a child. How is it that I think I have the right to have a child?

I remember a conversation I had with my mom at one point. I think it was when I was getting ready to move out of the home I had known since kindergarten and into a house with 10 other teenage girls, under the pretense of attending college classes. She mused that the reason why teenagers are so horrible to live with is so that both parent and child may prepare themselves to separate from each other. By the time a person graduates from high school, parents and children are so sick of living with each other that they can't wait to move on to a living situation that is completely new, and might be scary, if it weren't so liberating for both parties.

I find this to be true in many, if not all, of the big steps we take in life. 

• A mother is excited, even anxious, for her daughter to begin kindergarten, so she can finally have a few hours of quiet during the day. The daughter has grown tired of having Mom as her only daily companion; it's time to meet new friends and learn her ABCs.
  
• By the time a son turns 16, his dad is just about begging him to get his own driver's license so Dad doesn't have to take him to early-morning swim practice anymore. The son is just as anxious to get his license so he has some more freedom. Not to mention the back-seat make out sessions.
• A daughter agrees to marry the man she loves because she wants to build a life with this magnificent person. Her parents are thrilled to finally get her off their insurance.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I was torn about the job situation. I have always planned to stay home with my kids, just like my mom did for me. But I love my marketing job, and I worried that it would be too hard to leave. Now that I am training my replacement, I feel myself letting go. I'm moving on. I'm ready for the next step. I guess this is why it takes 9 months to grow this little person. I needed that time to get used to the idea of creating a new life for myself and my family.

New Find Friday: Strawberries with Sour Cream & Brown Sugar!

Technically, this isn't a new find, but I just recently rediscovered how yummy it is. My friend Stephanie introduced it to me a few years ago. As soon as you try it, you'll be hooked too! Just wash a bunch of strawberries, and put a dollop of sour cream and a spoonful of brown sugar on a plate, right next to each other. First dip the berry in the sour cream, and then in the brown sugar. I love how you can taste both the tart creaminess and the crunchy sweetness separately and together.

Drip... Drip

Doesn't this just make you want to curl up with a blanket...

...a cup of hot chocolate...

...and a good book?

I don't know if life gets any better than October weekend rainstorms.

New Find Friday: Life's Lemons

A little while ago, I read an article about a local company called Life's Lemons. The creators are three sisters who were all going through hard times at once: one was going through a divorce, one was having child custody problems, and one had just been dumped and laid off. So they created a greeting card company for these not-so-celebratory moments in life. These are some cards I've given to family and friends:

 

(Front) To me it's an animal (Inside) To you it's a child with fur

 

(Front) I love ya (Inside) Whether or not you prefer Jacks over Jills

 

(Inside) Hope you are doing a-ok.

 

(Front) I wish I had a band-aid (Inside) for your heart

Elephankle

This is what my right ankle looks like:

This is what my left ankle looks like:

Just thought you'd like to know.