music

i have a friend who has the blessed gift of knowing exactly the kind of music i will love.

she sends me morning concerts every once in a while (which make the day, of course, divine).  this was the last morning concert.  enjoy.

swings

my favorite art time periods are rococo and impressionsim.  this wonderful necklace reminds me of the top right photo (one of my absolute favorites of the rococo period) and made me love it through the end of time.  it also doesn't hurt that my favorite part of parks are the swings.  my parents built a swing inside the doorway to our kitchen so i could swing whenever i wanted.  similar to back to the future (the first one), when the parents left the baby in the crib all the time because he screamed whenever they took him out and he later spent a lot of time in jail (aka, behind bars, just like his crib)...what would my profession be then?  a tester for these? (photo on right)  and, my kid's favorite part of the park is the slide so will the picture below be his passion?  wouldn't it be kinda neat if everyone ended up being what they loved when they were 2?  i guess there'd be no ditch diggers or garbage men, though--there might be quite a few farmers, racecar drivers, & superheroes (i'd have little girl examples, but i don't have a little girl, and i've wanted to be a pilot from the beginning of time, so...)

what would you be if you had to chose at 2?

country living: october, how i heart you: not halloween

country living: october isn't just good for halloween stuff--they had a great popover recipe that just looked so divine i couldn't pass up making them that very afternoon! (let's not overlook the super sweet cupcake tins in the picture...what a good idea!)  the recipe i coupled the popovers with was this wonderful autumn soup...one i think is wonderful, but my husband will only eat a half-bowl of it and then he's on to the leftover pizza in the fridge.  more for me!

it also has great decor--this is not something that is realistic in my life right now, but i certainly do think it's gorgeous.  I think the key for the clothes looking pretty are the wooden hangers--my mismatched, plastic, seafoam green, blue, and don't forget the silver ones, walmart special, would just not cut it if i was looking for elegance.  the pink satin curtains are absolutely divine, and the duvet cover is of COURSE from anthro--i think it would be pretty easy to make, but probably cost the same in fabric as it would to just buy it, so you might as well just save time and go buy it.  i love the top-to-bottom curtains behind the bed.  i might have to try that in our next apartment, since we won't be able to paint.  it has a really pretty, old style to it, but the colors and minimum use of patterns make it a little more modern.  

this is in a house that's super old-school, but has some of the coolest rooms.  they have a room with lamps that look like WWI army helmets, and a bust of abraham lincoln--it's their dining room...why not?  this is their mudroom.  i don't think it's super logical to have a rug in their mudroom, but i do think it's genius to cut the legs down on a gymnastics horse for a bench, and to also wallpaper the doors covering their washer & dryer in order to hide that the washer & dryer is in there.  i would not have even guessed...










that is the end of our country living: october collection!  hope you enjoyed it--i know i loved every second!

country living: october, how i heart you: halloween edition, part deux

this floral arrangement and the wreath are made out of black streamers--i know, right?  it shows in the back how to make them, and i feel like the flowers aren't explained very well, but i'm sure it could be figured out, but the wreath--the wreath is e-a-s-y to make!  i'm thinking about it, very strongly.  i really REALLY like my autumn, barbed wire wreath i put out in the falltime, but for the month of october, or even the last couple weeks of october i'd be happy replacing it with this bit of awesomeness.  don't you just love the black fruits, also in this picture?  for our wedding i wanted a so-dark-purple-it's-almost-black bouquet, but it didn't happen.  i'm happy to have them on my table during the month of october, though.  i think one of those fruits on the plate are figs--have any of you just eaten a fig (nope--not a fig newton, but a legit fig)?  they are GREAT.  i had one in june, so i don't even know if they're ripe in the fall, but if you can find some eat them, because they are very tasty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

has every home in america had the snow cities on the mantle, or bookshelf, or on top of the piano during Christmastime?  well, ours certainly did and i love this idea of making it halloween!  if you have a lot of pumpkins, this is perfect!  they have moss & things to look like a fence--how cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these people have a fireplace, but for those of us living in apartments without a fireplace, here is the answer!  i would never have thought of this, and it is such a great idea!  i think those flames might be a little tough to make look so smooth, though.  maybe i'll need to start practicing now.  what is the trick to making pumpkin carvings smooth?

i wish i had thought of this last year--we had lots of pumpkins and we definitely had a bookshelf that could have had a tree in it!  you don't even have to carve this--it's just paint! 

country living: october, how i heart you: halloween edition, part une

i've only been reading country living a couple years--i don't subscribe to it (how i wish i did...maybe one day), but my grandmother does, so i get her left-overs. what joy entered my heart when i went to pick up her mail and there it was, anxiously awaiting my excited fingers to finger through its every page and gaze wide-eyed, trying to absorb every divinely creative and beautiful image. the next couple of posts will be dedicated to the divinity that is...country living: october.

i don't know why i love halloween, but i love it. i don't like the scary stuff people try to do with it, but i certainly do adore the silhouetted (let's be honest--i'm a sucker for silhouettes) witch cupcake toppers that are on the front cover. i don't think i've even ever worn black and orange together--even on halloween. it's always orange and brown--i even just bought a shirt from forever21 that was orange and brown. i love making making the most fantastic halloween treats (which starts october 1st), thinking up genius, creative costumes (even though sometimes those are just ideas that turn into "oh crap--i was too busy making spiderweb caramel apples! on to kmart!" [i don't know why, but their halloween stuff is AWESOME--i don't even go there any other time of the year...])

this great idea to festive-ize your mirror i think is just the genius idea! the film you're supposed to buy to make this work is a little expensive, so i was wondering if you could get a similar look by painting glue onto the mirror and making the image by taping off the areas you don't want glue on. has anyone tried anything like that? i need to give it a go before the wonderful 31st day comes along...

also, i wish i had more white sheets (and by more i mean, even one set), because what a stupendous way to make your house look like a haunted house! we might be hitting up the DI a couple times in the next few weeks to check out their white sheets...







check in soon for the next country living update!

falltime music...maybe just falltime.

does anyone have falltime music? last year it was alexi murdoch for me, almost the whole time. i've been listening to Angus and Julia Stone some, but not a whole lot else. the backpacking trip got me a little into the falltime music. we didn't listen to any music, mostly just me singing "high on a mountain top" in my head the whole time, but it reminded me about rhythm in our lives (corny, i know).

falltime is different everywhere. northeast = full of color, southern utah = finally not so blasted hot, southeast idaho = the terror of winter getting closer and closer...etc., but things like back to school, sweaters, the closing of the great season of summer, and the intro to the holidays are the same all over. there's a wonderful, slow-almost, sadness kind of, but then you have halloween and then there's no more slowness--it's just a blur of scarves, hot cocoa, and holiday planning.

i love running in the fall. that would account for the lunch runs i'd do in the fall in the woods--15 minutes in, and bolting 15 minutes back so i have time to change and get to my physics class. it just smells good to run in the fall.

fall fashion is fantastic, also. this was funny.

i love the fall.

Backpacking!

I have been invited to an all girl's backpacking trip this weekend at Kings Peak in Utah! I'm going with a girl in our church and five of her friends, and it's going to be great! Here is the list of things to bring:

Individual Gear:

Headlight

Base layer (thermals)

*Lightweight jacket

Change of socks

Hiking shoes (something close toed and sturdy for the ascent)

Camp shoes (some type of sandal to let your feet air out)

Sleeping pad (thermarest)

Sleeping bag

Bowl

Spoon

*Toilet paper (biodegradable can be buried rather than packed out)

Toothbrush

Hand towel

Wash cloth

*Whistle

*Walkie talkies (If you have a set, bring both of them so we have backups when the battery dies, if you don’t have any, don’t worry about it)

*Poncho (disposable works great)

*Bear spray

*Lighter

*1 qt. Water bottle (i.e. Nalgene)

*2 qt. Camelbak bladder (on our ascent day, we will have to carry water most of the way, we won’t be able to refill anywhere.)

*Band Aids (5 or 6)

Daypack (we won’t carry our packs for the ascent, we will only carry daypacks)

*Emergency blanket

*carried in daypack

Group Gear

Tents (2 or 3 depending on how many come)

Stoves (3)

Fuel for stoves (we will split the cost of fuel)

Duct tape

Rope (to hang food from trees)

Sunscreen

Bug spray

Shovel

Striker

Collapsible water containers

Water filter (2)

Water purification drops

Toothpaste

Soap

Sanitizer

Pots (3 medium to big)

Med kit

For meals, we'll boil water for breakfast to put in oatmeal both mornings, do our own lunches, do our own snacks, and then have dinner together: Day 1: Refried beans, tortillas, string cheese Day 2: pasta roni, tuna packet

Info for hike:

Day 1: Park car by noon at base so we can get a good 5 hours of hiking in to get to the place we'll sleep and leave our big bags so we can just take our day packs up the peak.

Day 2: Hike 5 hours to peak (including a half mile of almost vertical the last bit), spend time there, hike back down to where our stuff is

Day 3: Hike 4 hours down (it'll take less to get down than it did to get up) and drive home!

Fun facts about Kings Peak:

Highest summit in Utah

26 miles of hiking (I've read 26 & 32, but 26 more often)

We'll park at 9,800 ft and climb to the summit at 13,528 ft.

There are lakes intermittently on the hike (cool!)

I've never been backpacking before and I'm REALLY excited about doing a legit backpacking trip! I've been wearing my hiking boots around a little to make sure I'm comfortable in them, and I've also been walking around with my pack a little heavier than it needs to be so when we really do go out I'll be somewhat used to it. Jordan's going to watch Porter for those 3 days, but he'll also be playing with the husband & kids who are also being left behind so I think they're going to have a blast (I think a four-wheeling trip has been discussed...)