Jcrew lusting

As I was sitting at work today, Ty popped on the IM saying he had found all the things he wanted on the Jcrew sale, which was promptly followed by a barrage of links to his lusted items (my baby has got good taste, I will tell you what). After scanning through his items, I was hit with lust envy and promptly made a Jcrew sale wish list of my own. Both are shown above. We won't be purchasing our wish lists, but if we did our grand total would be just more than $2,000, and I'm pretty sure we would qualify for free shipping.

In other news, Ty starts school in a mere 5 days from now. 5 days! Whoa.
Also, I have Christmas photos to share with you; to be uploaded soon.

HIS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
HERS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

La Jolla Groves + Sherlock Holmes

My handsome man and I went on a sweet little date night last Saturday evening. It began at our favorite place to eat, La Jolla Groves, middled by walking through the decked-out-for-Christmas mall square and wandering into Blikenstaff's to grab some tasty movie candy, and ended with a viewing of the awesome new Sherlock Homles movie. A neat little treat of a night, if I do say so myself.

Also, if you live in Utah county and you've never been to La Jolla Groves in the Riverworrds, you should. And you should get yourself the seared tuna salad -- trust me.

Wedding on Ruffled

Hi friends! Ruffled featured our wedding last Friday! So, if you never got a chance to see any of the photos, you can take a looksy right over here. There are also little blurbs of my writing scattered throughout the photos telling about the day.

This video makes me kind of angry.

Now let me preface by saying I really actually enjoy this song. But the video seems to me to be a rip-off conglomeration of two Sigur Ros videos. Which I guess is their prerogative, but it seems a bit lame to me. Either way, it's a song to enjoy, so here you go. But just know it rubs me the wrong way. Maybe just listen only if you you think you may get irked too.

Loving the way these people live.

This is the Goodwin family. Someday I would really like it to be the Clark family.

What I'm hoping life with Ty will help me learn to do.

Let the WCF matching begin

For those of you who don't know, I got a new job at the beginning of November. I am now the one and only in-house designer at a large insurance company here in Utah (which might sound slightly stuffy, but I promise it's a great time over here). And this is my boss, Rachel. Even better, Rachel and I have been friends for quite a while, so now I have the added bonus of working with her each day. We unplanningly showed up in matching palettes today -- navy and creams. And the great thing about matching with Rach is we already look similar enough without matching clothes that we may just end up being indistinguishable one of these day. Here's to many days of accidental matching; so glad this tradition is continuing.

Rachel: Kahki slacks, navy sweater with polka-dot detailing, brown boots.
Nicki: Navy (the darkest navy imaginable, ps) dress, cream and leather loafers.

A Portland Thanksgiving

Every time we go to Portland, Ty always makes us the best itineraries. I swear, that man is the host in this family. He's the best.

This year's Thanksgiving trip included a whole slew of great times; my favorite being the trip we made over to the most adorable Christmas tree farm you could ever imagine (complete with toys for the kids and free marshmallows for roasting.) Both Ty and I's families (did I mention my brother and his wife and two kids moved to Portland over the summer?) met up to choose our trees, then the men folk cut them down. I think I feel a Christmas tradition coming on.

The rest of the trip consisted of me petting a lot of animals (a mule and dogs -- lots of dogs. Everyone in Portland brings their dogs everywhere they go, and I was sure to take full advantage of petting as many of them as I could), lots of shopping, a Christmas tree lighting downtown, carol singing, our wedding open house, lots of family game playing, and a family bike ride to get some banh mi (never had banh mi? well, let me just say, I would strongly encourage you to find your closest sandwich shop and high tail it over there because it's so delicious it might just change your life forever). Not too shabby for a 5-day trip.

Happy Lemon

My brother and my niece wrote this song this week. Sampled stock files were used for the music, then my niece wrote the words by drawing a picture and then looking at it while singing. I can't quite make out all the words, but "It is a really happy lemon" and "It likes to make mud pies" are enough for me. My nephew also makes an appearance on the harmonica towards the end. Seriously adorable.

We hate kidney stones

And even more specifically, we hate the kidney stone in Ty's body right now, causing him all sorts of ridiculous amounts of pain. As we were waiting to see the urologist today, Ty broke out into a sweat because of the intense hurting. Talk about no bueno. This is trip number 3 to the hospital for this single little pest within the last month. So, we've decided we're not playing nice anymore. If it's not gonna come out nice on it's own, we're going in to blast it. Surgery in T-minus 20 minutes. Wish us luck, folks. I can't seem to upload a photo from my iPhone, so, picture of Ty in his cute purple hospital gown to come.


Update: Surgery went great. Ty is at home resting his bod today and should be tip top by the weekend.

Wedding portraits

So, obviously Ty and I are going to take portraits on the day of our wedding, but I'm not sure they will ever compare with these drawn ones by the niece and nephew. I got the following drawings along with an email from my brother this morning. His email went as follows:

There's a saying to the effect that a person is judged by who does their portrait. This (attached) was the best I could muster. In case it's not clear... Nicki is rendered in a purple wedding dress by Anza and Tyler is naked and blue by Mojave.

--A

TO CLARIFY: ANZA IS MY 4-YEAR-OLD (ALMOST 5-YEAR-OLD) NIECE AND MOJAVE IS MY 3-YEAR-OLD NEPHEW.

Wedding hub bub

These snapshots from around my home last night represent the company I kept while Ty was out shotgun shooting with some of our man friends. Fabrics waiting to become table coverings. Ty's wedding suit hanging in the closet. Feather boutonnieres awaiting a ribbon detail. The little whisperings of impending wedding (and small reminders of my short to-do list) make me so so happy. One week, people. One week. So excited.

Alpine Loop by Moto

I think Ty and me taking a trip through the Alpine Loop during the fall may become a tradition. We are kind of mountainy, fall people at heart anyway, so it's only fitting. This marks year two of the tradition. Last year we took this drive in the soob. This year we opted for the fresh, wind-in-your face option of the moto (a wonderful choice, might I add).  It rained a little, but it was no match for our enjoyment of the fresh fall air and lovely patches of brightly colored leaves. I definitely like me some motorbiking;  my baby sure knows how to show his lady a good time.

We hit the loop after meeting with our wedding coordinator in the early afternoon. People, Ty and I are now only three and a bit weeks away from celebrating our marriage in these very same mountains! Eeeek! Craziness.

Coveting my own jewelery

Yesterday Ty and I stopped by the garage he is currently storing some of his things in to pick up a jacket. As he was scrounging around toward the front of his belongings, I noticed a beautiful, carved wooden box sitting in a shoe box next to him. "That's a really pretty box," I commented, pointing to the box as he was rummaging around near it. To which Ty responded by picking the box up and opening it to reveal a pile of beautiful, jeweled chains laying inside. Wwwhhhaaaa??!! Turns out it was a would-be Christmas present for me that was never realized. Ty had bought the chains to make me some jewelery,  and the box to give the pieces to me in, but wasn't pleased with anything he had made...

I reached over and pulled out one of the necklaces. :: gasp :: It was absolutely beautiful, you guys.  Beautiful. Who is this guy I'm marrying? Smart, funny, handsome, sweet AND he has style enough to make me incredible jewelery and freaking deem it not worthy to give to me?! Oh my goodness.

"I want to put this on right now!" I exclaimed holding it up to my neck. I was excited. I was ecstatic. I was totally infatuated. And I was promptly told no. Deflated.

"But it's so beautiful!" I protested, "Pleeeeeaaaaase?" I pulled out the puppy dog eyes and looked at him longingly, clenching the necklace. No doin'. He wouldn't budge.

"We will take a night and finish these for you after we're married," he told me, which simply translated in my brain to "No beautiful, hand-made-with-love necklace for you right now." I sputtered for a minute trying to think of a good argument, but finally relented. I placed the necklace back in the box and my heart sank a little. Looks like I will have to covet my own jewelery for a little while (three weeks and six days to be exact, friends!) before I can actually call it my own. Booger.

Smith Morehouse Camping Trip

This was my conversation with Ty from this evening.

Ty: You never blog about us anymore.
Me: I've been kind of busy.
Ty: Doing what?
Me: Planning our wedding. Kissing you. Making dinner. Cleaning the house.
Ty: That's a lot of stuff.
 Me: ...

That's right. It is a lot of stuff. But, not too much that I didn't get on my computer and get this post going. BOOM. Admittedly, these photos have been open in photoshop on my computer for the last two weeks, so it was about time. So, on with the post...

The images above (beautiful, right?) are from a camping trip Ty and I took a couple weeks ago with some friends out at Smith Morehouse Reservoir. Located in the Oakley mountains, this place is super lovely. Camp sites book out months in advance, and for good reason. I'd never been there before, but upon arrival I could see why it's such a sought-after camp ground; the campsites are clean, secluded from one another, include a picnic table and fire ring, have plenty of trees of hammock hanging, are equipped with bathroom facilities and there is a cute ranger (with a cute dog) who drives around offering help several times throughout the day. Can't beat that.

Ty and I brought kayaks (one of our favorite activities) to enjoy on the reservoir. It was kind of a feat to get them transported on the top of my Subaru, but we did it. So worth it. Man I love kayaking. A thoroughly enjoyable mini camping trip. We definitely plan on returning.

Matchy matchy

Last week Ty and I met up at Ikea for dinner with my family wearing this. Now, I know what you're thinking. You are thinking "But Nicki! How is this possible?! Surely you and Ty must have matched on purpose." But no friends. No. Coming from different places, Ty and I pulled this matching feat off sans effort. If this doesn't show we are going to be happy together forever, I don't know what does.

Engaged.

It's true. I'm gonna live the rest of my life and eternity with this handsome man right here, Tyler Clark.  Can't. wait. Plus! Bonus! My name is gonna be Nicki Clark. How cute is that? Cs and Ks everywhere.
YOU CAN READ THE ENGAGEMENT STORY HERE. 
THE PICTURES ABOVE WERE TAKEN THE NIGHT WE GOT ENGAGED.

Now you see it. Now you don't.

After 7 months, Ty shaved his mustache! Yayayayayayayaaaaaaaaaaa! And while it was a mustache Salvador Dali probably would have coveted, I was happy to see it go. Favorite thing about the change in facial hair status? Kissing Ty's lips instead of his mustache. Boom baby! So long, hairy upper lip.

Anna and Dave get married

My cute friends Anna and Dave got married a few weeks ago. And, while I have no pictures of Anna or Dave at their reception (nice camera work, Nicki), I do have pictures of our friends in their photo booth. Tight.

Doughnut Falls

Up Big Cottonwood Canyon there is a waterfall hike called Doughnut Falls, named after the doughnut shaped rock that the fall flows through at the top. Ty and I conquered it a few weeks ago one given Saturday, then took a scenic drive over to Park City for a free outside concert. Killer day? You better believe it.

Here's the recap just in case you wanna take the hike:
The hike (stroll) is flat, easy and quick. The rock scrambling up the waterfall is awesome, wet and not as quick, but still pretty easy. And the top of the waterfall provides a little cave you can crawl into to view the final few feet of the waterfall (as pictured above). Way enjoyable hike. Do it.

If you want to win a free photo session

They are giving away one here today. And I entered. Twice. Booyah! PS - You need to live in or near Provo to qualify.

The blue bathroom

A lot has been happening in life lately (not to mention I am turning 29 tomorrow! Booyah!), but...one thing at a time. First up, I painted my bathroom blue. And it. Looks. Awesome. I like to say it looks much more regal than it used to. Although, truth be told, it did take a while (and much insisting from Ty) for it grow on me. Probably because I was hoping for a grayer blue. But in the end I think this deep, greenish-blue works just great. And, let's face it, it's a billion better than the white, so who I am to complain? Plus, in a year or so, nothing says I can't change it at a whim. That was a lot of commas. Okay. Awesome.

Welcome blue bathroom; it's great to have you.

camera found!

Last week I lost my camera at the wedding reception of the lovely Anna NagelHabben (that's right, NagelHabben). But, guess who got a call from the reception center saying they have found the lost camera (randomly inside some container in the back)! And guess who is picking up her camera today, friends! So exciting. Pictures to come.

garden update

Whose garden looks like this? Me and Ty's garden looks like this! And who made delicious hummus to eat with her garden-grown cucumber? This girl! Booyah! NOTE: Don't mind the patches of weeds interspersed with our plants, I'll be getting rid of those today.


SEE INFANT GARDEN SHOTS HERE TO COMPARE.

$30 Plaid shirt in perspective

Normally I would say $30 is entirely too much to spend on a shirt. But, three weekends ago, that's exactly what I paid for this lovely piece of top-half clothing. I have worn it no less that four times in the last 2.5 weeks, making me feel very justified in spending that $30 on this shirt rather than 4 lunches out, 2 nights at the movies, 1 round of golf, or two-thirds a tank of gas. Because, really, it gives me much more pleasure than 4 cafe rio burritos. Or any of those other things, really. Really.

Huntington Beach for the 4th

Ty and I are taking off for a firework-filled weekend in Huntington Beach for the 4th! Back to the sunny, beach-breezy days of spending the holiday riding bikes down the riverbed to join the madness in Newport and Balboa.

Ty's never been to Huntington, so I'm excited to show him all the hot spots.  Like...you know...the house I grew up in, my favorite place to grab breakfast on main street, my neighbor's houses, the riverbed bike trail...stuff like that. We may hit up the Balboa frozen banana shack, the Corona Del Mar tide pools, the Pier, the fireworks at the Newport dunes and a few other things too, I suppose. Happy 4th everyone!

Garden progress

We've got radishes, folks.

Mona Mona

Last week Ty got a new sleeping bag, so we headed out to the Mona Reservoir Friday night to do some rope swinging, camp firing and sleeping-bag testing.

When we got to the rope swing, there were these friendly 12-year-old boys there who quickly oriented us with the rope swing, demonstrations included. They let me have a go at it after showing me the way, and I'm pretty sure I screamed every time I went off. Not Ty though. No. Ty, the man, does not scream like his sissy girlfriend. No. And he'd probably tell you it's not scary to free fall into water from 20 feet up, but I say that it is. Ok. I'm glad we have that settled.

Guitar playing was also had on the trip. As well as tin-foil dinner cooking and eating (NOTE: Our tinfoil dinners included broccoli from our very own garden! Delicious industriousness.), a fire-building and sustaining lesson from Ty, and a 6:00 wake-up call from a blazing sun beating down on my back. Awesome. I loved every part except for that last one, that one wasn't as fun. Hope you had a killer weekend as well!

Broccoli leaf

In case you don't know what a gigantic broccoli leaf looks like, this is it. Katy, Ty and I are part of a farm share, and this came as part of our weekly produce last week. Awesome.

It smells and tastes a lot like broccoli from what I hear. I believe Katy ate it after cutting it into squares and sautéing it. And, can I just say that I like how getting produce from a farm share forces you to be more open in your produce palette? I now make kale chips on the regular (does twice within a month and a half count as "on the regular" if I plan on continuing to make them?) and we have started throwing all sorts of vegetables into our smoothies. Fun with produce -- gotta love it. NOTE: it's not a vegetable, but one of my favorite smoothie additives is half a lemon, rind and all. No joke. You should try it; it makes the smoothie taste all light and refreshing and invigorating. Delish.

Welcome back summer

Oh hello summer up the canyon, I've missed you.

Kates and I ventured up rock canyon last week (two weeks ago?) to break in our outdoor climbing gear for the season and do some warm-summer-evening climbing. Thankfully we got up the canyon just in time to do one lead climb each before no headlamps and the setting sun told us it was time to exit the canyon for the evening. It was surely a short trip. Surely. But also surely a great start to a sure-to-be amazing summer.

As you will notice, there are no photos of Katy or I actually climbing. In lieu of our affinity for life and each other, we decided it best not to photograph people while we are belaying them on the front of a 90-foot rock face. Next time: must bring friends for numerous reasons, including to take proper climbing pictures.

Unexpected blessings

Sometimes, when things seem to not work out in my life as I expected or hoped, I feel like my life is a little shattered.

Like when I graduated college with a degree and skill set to match in Public Relations, only to be laid off from my first corporate job a little more than a year later. My department size went from 12 people to 5 people, and even though I knew it was a "job elimination" not a "nicki elmination" (big difference), I was still devastated. What was I supposed to do now? One job out of college with hardly a year of experience?! Come on! But, unexpectedly, it was that door closing that allowed the great door of a career in graphic design to open for me. In fact, if it hadn't been for that door swinging closed I probably still would be stuck in PRsville writing press releases and calling editors on the regular (poke my eyes out). Plus, the severance package that I received also paid for a trip I took to Europe, but that is a whole different story. Point being, I still count that layoff as one of the largest blessings I have ever received. Not to mention numerous relationships not going as planned, job applications not yielding results, failed attempts to do things I really love, and countless others.

I came across this quote today and subsequently designed up this little web poster because it reminded me that when I am doing my best to follow happiness, the world doesn't end when things don't go according to plan. That forced direction changes can take you to lovely places you didn't even know existed before. That loving the ebbs and flows of life rather than struggling against them is a much happier road than constantly feeling out of control. Life is good, and I am grateful for the seemingly depressing closed doors that have led me to everything beautiful and amazing that I have in my life now.

DOWNLOAD LARGER VERSION OF WEB BANNER.

Longboard season has begun

YES.
Thank you for posting this on your blog, Angela Tam.

Fam time in Seattle + Christmas in June

This Seattle trip was great as always. My amazingly kind and dear friend, Miss Angela Tam, picked Ty and I up from the airport, then we met up with our friend Galen (pictured in plaid above) for some bánh mì in the park and a tour of Galen's apartment downtown before official family time in Seattle started. It felt so nice to catch up in person with Galen and Ang...you know how it just fills your soul to hug good friends after far-too-long absences? Yeah...me too. It was so nice. Talk about a great start to a great trip.

We then headed to my brother's house where we hung out in our pajamas while we took pictures/while my 4-year-old niece took pictures before Ty and I left for Alaska the next morning.

Now, fast forward a week...

We're back in Seattle after our cruise to the great north, and, this is where the exciting gift from my brother comes in...drumroll please...insert awesome bag pictured above! Yay! Here's the story...

I'm sure none of you remember this blog post about me desperately wanting duffel bags made out of sail fabric, and my shrewd negotiating with my brother to get me some. But, two years of begging and a lot of reminding my brother that he still owed me a Christmas gift from last year yielded a rad sail fabric duffel bag of my very own to take back with me from Seattle this trip! It's my favorite. And it perfectly fit all the extra stuff I had brought back from Alaska with me.

My brother sewed that bad boy up the evening before Ty and I flew back to Utah. The whole family hung out in the garage with him while we listened to music and joked, and he worked. He cut and stitched the fancy bag on his industrial sewing machine that he normally uses to make sails. AWESOME NOTE: Amidst the bag sewing, my brother demonstrated the power of his sewing machine by sewing through a 1/4-inch thick piece of wood like it was butter. Seriously. It was amazing. And Boom! At the end, I had the most amazing Christmas present in June imaginable. Thanks Bro. I love it. You do great work.

FIRST PHOTO FROM: ANGELA