Roller Derby

Saturday night Doons and I went to see our first Roller Derby game. I found two tickets for super cheap on Groupon (check for local coupons in your town!). 


We had a blast!!! It was a really intense and active sport to watch - unlike a lot of games that are long and sometimes boring. I loved it. Most cities have Roller Derby leagues. You should see if your town how one - it's a blast!

Mr. McBrayer and I left discussing which of the jammers were the best and tossing around names for ourselves if we ever played Derby.

Sour Cream + Raisins =

Yummiest pie ever!

Easy Fall Craft

While Mom was in town, we made this craft while watching a movie. It was very easy and fun. I think the kids could even do it - or at least you could do the cutting and connecting and they could open them up to form the pumpkins.

Here is Kat's easy tutorial

The only thing i would add to her tutorial is that on a few of my pumpkins I had to use some dental floss to connect the two brads so that i would achieve more of pumpkin shape instead of just a ball. I had fun using different papers and different scissors - very cute and fun and easy craft to try!!

on a "Glee" kick

 this clip of from the season one final episode of "Glee" and gives you a good taste of the fun of this show!

When Mom was in town, she found season one of "Glee" for sale during our shopping trip at Costco. She told me that both she and Janelle liked it and that i would love it. so she left it behind when she flew home to Denver. and it probably comes of no surprise to any of you that I LOVE IT!

It puts me under a little nostalgia as one of my most treasured things about high school is my years in show choir. Yep, even I sang and danced around in taffeta dresses to show tunes and oldies - and it was so much fun. Although I don't think that we were nearly as good as the McKinley High kids, we loved each other a lot and had a lot of fun! I miss those days with those friends.

You can find episodes of "Glee" on hulu if you want to see one for yourself!

Papasan

8 years ago I inherited a piece of furniture from my mom's dad. It was perfect timing because that Fall I was moving into my first apartment. I transferred from APU to UCCS with only two weeks before classes started. UCCS is predominantly a commuter campus anyway, so by the time I enrolled, there were no openings for me in the dorms. So...I lived in an apartment that year by myself. My mother helped me find it, and since she was paying the bills, she was also pretty insistent the I lived somewhere "nice" (i have never lived anywhere as nice since!). It was great to live somewhere big and clean and modern but this also made it so that no one would move into the second bedroom/bathroom because half of the rent was still more than they wanted to pay.

So I lived alone that entire year, which sometimes was great. And that extra bedroom housed by keyboard, desk, and papasan.

I like the papasan. It's a comfy piece of furniture. I don't really like it in the living room with the rest of my furniture, but that's where it lives right now. Our third year of marriage, Landon and I lived in a place too small for all of our furniture so we actually put it out on our back porch. This poor couch is very old, and obviously weathered. And because it came from my mom's dad, it lived in Florida. So the wood is covered in a white-wash stain, and the cushion was sea green with huge orange flowers! you know, just my style.

These last 3 years, I've noticed that every time i vacuum, there are little flakes of the white-wash stain on the ground below the papasan, so I've had it in the back of my mind to refinish it.

So several hours and $7 of paint later, I have a much nicer looking piece of furniture that so far hasn't been a flaky mess and is much more my style.

Delicious cup of Autumn

Today is the Fall Equinox. Wow. I am so grateful to live in a place where seasons change so drastically. I LOVE experiencing each unique season, although Autumn is by far my favorite.

Today, in honor of Autumn, I made myself my first ever home-made pumpkin spice latte. Starbucks has NOTHING on this delicious drink!

Here, indulge yourself:
1 cup milk
1 tbs. pumpkin puree
1 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
heat and stir together, not to boil (i just use my steamer on my espresso machine)

Layer your cup like this:
2 oz espresso (or brewed rich coffee)
milk/pumpkin mixture
foam/whipped cream
spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc...)

If you're not into coffee, you can definitely leave it out (and then check yourself into a mental institution!!!), in which case this would simply be a "steamer" instead of a "latte". Or you could double the recipe and use it like a creamer in your morning coffee instead. Enjoy.

By the way, my momma has been visiting so that is why I neglected you for so long. I have a lot to share with you, so stay posted!

My Boys

Mr. McBrayer has found a new sport that he and Duvick enjoy most evenings.

Doons enjoys getting the good 'ol long board out of the back of the garage and Duvick loves taking him for a stroll. It's not technically "walking the dog" if the dog is pulling you, professor. But Duvick gets a great work out - look at how much fun they're having together! And they go FAST.

Appearances

I had a job interview yesterday.

In an attempt to present myself as professional as possible, I emptied my bag of potions and colors and colored in the lines. My hair was dried with product (a root boost) and then straightened with an iron. I was wearing my contact lenses, not my glasses - despite all my sensitive eye issues that I have been having. I took out my nose piercing, simplified my jewelry, applied a foundation, blush, eye liner, eye shadow, mascara, powder and lipstick - wow, can you believe I even have all that stuff!? And of course, I wore high heels with my beautiful pant suit and was conscious of my colors and fabrics- i want to appear professional, but not cold or hard or stuffy. How do you sell yourself in only 30 minutes? 

Last night, I washed my face before I went to bed to remove all the muck. Doons and I had a talk about all the makeup I was wearing (I don't usually wear makeup beyond occasional mascara). He said that wearing makeup has nothing to do with looking professional. I told him that it absolutely does. We've been having this debate for some time. When I used to travel for Sponsorship, I would dress like I do when I go to interviews with suits, heels, makeup, and all. And he has never thought that wearing makeup makes me look any more professional (in fact he never even notices the difference most of the time). So, the reason I set out to write this blog today was really to get your opinion.

The question is not whether I should wear makeup to an interview or not.

The question is, in your opinion, does makeup make a woman look more professional? Please answer in the poll provided at the top of my blog.

And please only vote once (i'm looking at YOU Mr. McBRAYER!)

Thanks for your feedback!

And, you really should take a look at this:

Farmer's Market Booty

(roses from my garden - aren't they pretty!?)

Every Friday I try to make it to the Farmer's Market. I love to shop from local hardworking farmers and gardeners, and I love to buy food that is grown as it was intended - it is so nutritious and delicious! 

This last week I got  a bag of Gala Apples, Utah Peaches, Cucumbers, Tomatoes and grass-fed beef.  

Which translates to my favorite dish for lunch:

When I prepared this plate, I used a left-over tomato that I had from the store and one of my farmer's market tomatoes. Can you tell the difference from a tomato that was grown organically and harvested ripe versus a tomato that was picked green and ripened later? I always knew that the Farmer's Market tomatoes taste better but I never compared them side-by-side with a store-bought tomato. Look at the difference in color!! And they tasted worlds apart. I didn't really even want to eat my store-bought tomato in the same sitting as my Farmer's Market tomato. No wonder Landon is convinced that raw tomatoes are disgusting. 

Isn't this tomato beautiful?

I'm hoping that we will be able to renew the lease on this house and I will be able to plant some of my very own veggies this next year! 

Fallllalalala

The high for today is 66 degrees and we have a 50% chance of thunderstorms all day. Tonight it should be in the low 40's so before bed we will have to shut up the windows. and i'm so excited about this kind of weather!!!

by 31vintageroad

Yesterday I went into the garage and opened my box of autumn decorations. As I took each piece out and brainstormed where it would go in this new house, I realized I was crazy and put everything back into the box for later - it's only the beginning of September after all!

by handmadecolectibles

But man, I am excited. I'm excited to put the autumn scents into my scented plug-ins so my house will be filled with the smell of cinnamon. I'm excited for pumpkin beer and apple pie. I'm excited to wrap myself in my favorite wool sweaters. I'm excited to see the Wasatch splattered in gold. I do love this time of year.

by sheedesignsoriginals

I used to add to my holiday decor one item each year, but last year and this year finances have been pretty tight and I just couldn't justify spending $20 on holiday decor when there were more important things that required those funds like food, gas, rent, and ski passes ;). This year I am faced with the same dilemma even more so!

So... I've been brainstorming some cute ideas for a door decoration and am trying to figure out how to do something majorly on the cheap. All of these pictures are etsy crafts that I really like, but it doesn't have to be like one of these. Do you have any recommendations? I'd LOVE to hear them!

by vintagegreenlimited

Soule Shoes

A year and a half ago I wrote a post about how I was salivating over Amanda Soule's shoes. 

While Mom and Nell and I were shopping in Jackson Hole, we came upon two pairs of Miz Mooz in our exact sizes. Now I am a happy owner of my own cutsie Soule shoes in green!

Hiking Ruth Lake

Sunday we paid our $6 bucks to drive the winding Mirror Lake Highway through the beautiful National Forest. We decided to hike Ruth Lake again. It's a great place for us to hike: We don't have to bring water because there is so much water in the area, we can pack whatever we want because the hike is so short, there are unique limestone cliffs  to enjoy rock climbing, and it is absolutely beautiful.

Although it was Labor Day and the day hikers/fisher-people were everywhere, Doons and I were able to find a spot off the trail beyond a few little ponds that looked perfect for our little tent. This are had been pretty untouched. There was no trail that led through the woods - don't worry we tread lightly. And there was no evidence of a fire pit there in years. So despite the gazillions of cars parked at the trail head, we were relatively secluded and completely undisturbed - we didn't see anyone else the entire time we were camping. 

putting up the tent

While we were putting our camp together, I accidentally tipped our beers over and this one got a hole in it, we decided to down the beers while the weather was still warm.

Mr. McBrayer is the ultimate mountain man. He did everything - I felt like i was staying at a 5 star hotel. He gathered the water, cooked the dinner, made our morning breakfast, did the dishes, and woke me up with a cup of fresh coffee. 

cooking dinner

gathering water

Here are some pictures of the hidden beauties in the woods:

Duvick was the ultimate guard dog. He ran around smelling everything the entire time, and if he was sitting, which was rare, he was alert and growling. Ha! He ran around all night, growling, barking, chasing squirrels up trees, digging a bee's nest out from under the ground, and having the time of his life. 

guard dog duvi

once we got home, duvick slept for about 20 hours. not kidding.

we are our dinner on these rock slabs behind our tent. it's amazing what glaciers have done to the landscape here. just amazing that there are these rock fields all through the woods, glacial debris.  it was beautiful to watch the alpine glow on the cliffs.

9/02/10

Happy 90210 Day!

I'm a little embarrassed to jump on the band wagon, but man, I loved that show - once Mom and Dad finally let me watch it, that is.