Breather

Never a moment's peace, I tell you. Why are things so busy? Even when they're not busy, they're busy. It seems that no matter how I plan out my day or list things that need to get done, it's 6:30 and I have to get to rehearsal and suddenly it's 10:00 and the day is over. What the...

Speaking of rehearsal, I should mention how much I have LOVED doing this show. I'm having such a ball! Such wonderful people, it's such a great show. We had some publicity photos a few days ago...

I was told that I would be in charge of costumes last week (?!), so it's been a little interesting trying to get all that together. Fortunately everyone has pitched in and supplied a lot of their own outfits. SO grateful for that. What about me? What am I wearing? Well, darling...I went to up Decades with Amelia last week and found some TREASURES. Lets just start with the find of all finds...a 1940's, emerald green satin evening dress. Commence jaw drop -

A scalloped edge on the sides of the dress...the bottom hem is scalloped, too.

Can't. get over. the seams.

Could you die?!! Sublime, I tell you. Not to mention it was a steal at $70. Yes ma'am, wrap it up. I also found these too good to be true purple heels:

The peach dress was something that Amelia pulled, how perfect is it? I totally plan on wearing that again. I have some touches to add for the show, but I so love everything. We open a week from tomorrow...I'm getting excited!

Cache is still loving school and his teacher. We are getting into the routine of homework and library books..next week we have our first Parent/Teacher Conference. Weird. It's fun spending the mornings with Cole, though. I love sitting on the couch and watching shows...just us two. Cody has been busy with the gym and working on finishing our countertops for the kitchen - pics to come! We are LOVING this marvelous warm weather and watching the leaves start to change...Fall is just around the corner. I should probably celebrate that with some pumpkin pie, wouldn't you say?

What a Wonderful World...

I. Love. Fall. Favorite season hands down. Halloween is a big factor, but nothing can beat the changing leaves and crisp air and sweaters...oh my, I just love it all.

Though I must confess, it's going to be hard to see Summer go. Not that it's ever easy, but I'm not looking forward to letting go of the sound of lawn mowers or bright green grass or eating outside...ugh, my heart just aches thinking about it. Luckily it's been quite balmy the past few weeks which has allowed the feeling of Summer to linger and bit longer. I talked with my neighbor this morning in the shade of her maple tree, I drive with the windows down, I marvel at how beautiful and warm the light is at dusk (my favorite time of day). And my goodness, don't we just live in such a beautiful place? How can you not swell with gratitude when the world is bathed in that sunny light?

In a way it feels that Summer just got here, it's not fair for it to leave so soon...

...but we sure enjoyed it while it stayed.

Jammit!!

I have never made a batch of delicious jams and jellies. I canned peaches growing up and make a mean apple pie, but turning fruit into spreadable goodness? This was a first. Luckily, Cody's Mom is a jamming genius and allowed me to help her make some jam from Grandma's peach tree. Fresh peach jam, friends. Does it get better than that?

So glad that my happy husband was there to help. He was a little jar of joy!

It was a great afternoon and it was so easy! We took home a plethora of yummy Jam, I can't wait to make some more. Next jamming session? Strawberry Peach. Mmmmm...

BK Update

What's this? An update on my kitchen remodel? Finally?? Yes, yes. I know you have been waiting desperately for another update. So have I. And here we go!

Wha??? Cabinets?

Many cabinets! And check it - Cody built the base for the island last week.

Could you die? It looks like a kitchen! Oooh, I'm loving it. Cody and I busted out so much on Labor Day - we worked until the wee hours. Can I just say how much I love that crafty man? He is Mr. Incredible - he can do anything. Doing this remodel with him has been a blast. When we were assembling cabinets a few days ago in the garage around midnight, we were laughing and punchy...then I said, "I know this remodel is taking us forever, but there is no one else in the world I would rather be doing this with."

He said, "Me, too!"

To which I replied, "....Lie."

Because lets face it, he's done about 85% of the work. (ok 90%)

Today while I was assembling drawers and such, Cody secured the island base to the floor. He also ran electrical so we'll have power in the island. YAY! Yeah...I just got excited about outlets.

And another teaser? LOOK at our countertops! Well...at least take a gander at what they'll look like when they're done.

Have I mentioned these before? A guy was selling them on ksl.com. They're reclaimed wood from train cars. Um, awesome? So perfect for a countertop, it's like a giant butcher block.
We're going to leave the marks and discoloration in them...a bit rustic. LOVE it. Cody is going to build a table top out of it, too. See? 85%. 90%

Next update? We'll talk about my gorgeous buffet I'm refinishing...

Birthday Blast

What a marvelous Birthday weekend! I rang 31 in with style, I must say. I started the celebration early with a wee dessert party on Thursday night. Bein's that I have no stove (soon, my dears!), I spent the afternoon at Mindi's and we made some tasty chocolate, vanilla and strawberry cupcakes. It was so fun to spend the day with her. Pretty sure I impressed her with my ability to eat my weight's worth in cake batter. Don't judge me - that stuff is delicious and nothing you say will change my mind.

It was so fun to catch up with friends over sugary treats. I have NO pictures of this night, but trust that the company was outstanding and the cupcakes were frosted and sprinkled. We were short a few pink cupcakes...we ran out of batter. Weird. I even busted out my pink ice cream machine! Greatest thing on Earth, I should use that more often. Like on Tuesdays.

Friday I lunched at 5 Guys with Cody and our boys. We did a little shopping that afternoon and then headed up to Mindi's family's Lodge in Lehi with the fire crew.

The place is gorgeous - it's totally secluded and it's on such a beautiful stretch of land. We had a BBQ and stayed close to the fire (it was freezing).
It was so fun to hang out with them, it seems like we haven't done anything together in months. And to think - just a year ago we were on our way to Hawaii! Ugh, so depressing, moving on.

Once inside, Chase favored us with some synthesizer tunes. He was feeling it.

So was Cody...

We had cake and treats and settled in to watch 'Sherlock Holmes'. Um - FANTASTIC. See, I had never seen it before (I know, I know) and I totally ate it up! I loved it, loved the music, the humor...Robert Downey, Jr. can do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned. Big fan.

After the movie we called it a night. Saturday and Sunday we spent time together as a family which is always awesome. Happy Birthday to me! And in case you still want to get me a pressie, a cake mix is always a good idea.

31

Labor Day Weekend

What a weekend! We have had loads going on the past few days and it's been marvelous. Labor Day weekend is kind of Summer's last hurrah (unless you count my Birthday which is THIS weekend) and we made sure to enjoy every minute.

Kate came in town on Thursday and Friday I had her all to myself for a few hours! We borrowed my Dad's Scout (yeah, I'm still borrowing my Dad's car like I'm 16) and drove around in the sun. Kate spent a lot of time with me driving around when we were young, so we decided to cruise around Provo. We drove down 900 East, got bevs, drove down Center street and looked at cool houses, drove up University Avenue and up to Orem to stop at Planted Earth - one of my favorite shops.

We perused their wares and I came away with this lovely little mug. I then introduced her to The Chocolate...and we stuffed ourselves silly.

I had my delicious 3-tier chocolate cake with a tall glass of milk while Kate enjoyed a 3-tier yellow cake topped with chocolate ganache' and a cookie. And some ice cream.

2 minutes later...

If that wasn't enough calories, we then lunched at Cafe Rio. I mean, we had salads, but their salads are the size of a Thanksgiving Day turkey. Needless to say, we could barely move and we were moaning a lot. I love her. Such a great afternoon!

That night I went to rehearsal. Oh, I have an announcement to make: I'm in a show! A few weeks ago I was cast as Vera Claythorne in 'And Then There Were None'. Such a perfect, mysterious show for the Halloween season. The cast is fantastic - tons of people I've never worked with before and they are all so great. I'm super excited, it's opens October 5th so come and see it!!

Saturday I met up with Kate, Rhonda (who was also in town - win!) and Karen for lunch! I love these girls...so much so that I didn't even take a picture. So just picture 4 girls having lunch and laughing their heads off. Because that's what we did.

That night we celebrated my Dad's 60th Birthday at my parents house. We bbq'd and talked and laughed and watched the BYU game...love me some family time. Marty helped Randi and I with the husking of the corn.

Andrea sent a box of Birthday goods and inside was the banner for my Dad. So true.

Ahhh, Canada Dry Ginger Ale. My Dad's all-time favorite beverage.

Watching the BYU game.

We wrapped up the night by watching some old slides. My family has boxes, and BOXES of slides. It's a fun little tradition we have to go through them all and relive our childhood. Great night.

What did we do on Labor Day? Manual Labor, of course! We worked on our kitchen and made some GREAT progress...but I will have to post those pictures in a separate BK Update post. For now? I'm going to see what I can do about getting a weekend repeat.