nic nacks: January 2011

wooden gifts

For Christmas, I purchased these awesome wooden glasses (the Govy by Shwood) for Ty, but when they arrived they fit too small. Which, at first was a little sad, but worked out totally great cause we exchanged them for those bad boys on Ty's face up there! BAM! So totally rad. The new ones arrived this week and were totally perfect.

On the day they came, Ty showed up announcing that since I had gotten him a wooden gift, he had a wooden gift for me too. Wha?! And what he meant by that was he had built me a freaking sweet potting and plant stand for the patio! (and totally carried it over, by himself, so it would be more of a surprise). See picture above. Stud. Talk about a great day of wooden gifts.

PS -- If you're in need of awesome wooden sunglasses (and let's be honest, who's not?) the guys over at Shwood are awesome. You should definitely patron them when you are in the market.

treating each other right

Sometimes I think we, as people, forget that everyone else around us are just people too. We get stuck in our own heads. We forget to communicate. We forget to act for good rather than react out of instinct. Ty sent this my way this morning, and I though it was a nice reminder of how simple it can be to do great things.

deer creek reservoir is frozen

Last weekend, the gang went out to Deer Creek Reservoir to enjoy a fire, dinner, unexpected snow and some walking around on the ice.

Ty and I had gone, just the two of us, the week before, and we thought everyone would enjoy the adventure. So, I cooked up that tasty pulled pork recipe, we made make-shift roasters to toast the buns, and we all (Anna, Katy, Clay, Lance, Mike, Ty and me) went out and spent a few hours savoring tasty food and each other's company. We were greeted by a killer sunset upon arrival, and Ty taught me the reason why some of the frozen water was white below my feet and some of it was black like concrete. A great way to spend a Saturday evening for sure.

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In other news, today marks 6 months of the Ty and Nicki show running strong, my friends. Booyah. I say this calls for the posting of the best picture Ty and I have ever taken.

pulled pork is legit

I made this delicious-looking meal over the weekend (note -- these are not my pictures), and it most definitely proved to be delicious; slightly vinegary, abundantly tasty, and great just the way it tells you to make it. Honestly...slaw with apples and red onion? You gotta be kidding me with that scrumptiousness. So, in case you need solid recipes for pulled pork,slaw and BBQ sauce, this is my (and design sponge's) gift to you. Enjoy.

new bangs

It's been a week and 3 days and I'm still digging them. Bada bing, bada bangs.

Note: This post was also supposed to include a pic of Ty's new steps in his hair, but I waited far too long to photograph them. So. No more visible steps. But, pictures to come of the next time he does it soon.

crocheted bow tie

Ty deems this Nicki-made, crocheted bow tie his second favorite Christmas present he's ever received, and he's worn it every Sunday possible since he got it. Tight. Chalk one up for handmade gifts.

I'm kind of a slow crocheter, so it took me probably longer than it should have, but a seasoned crocheter should find it to be a nothin' job. You can find the pattern here. I used a rougher wool yarn, but for stiffness purposes you should probably stick to the silk wool as suggested by the pattern creator. Ty's requested many more. Next color -- blue.

Christmas really happened

Despite the 25-day delay, I'm here to confirm that Christmas really happened this year. And, despite a minor detail that I accidentally sent my camera cord to Portland for a little while after the holiday, the pictures have now been uploaded to my computer and are shown above for you to behold.

The holiday with Ty's family was fantastic. The trip included lots of moss (can I tell you that I really like how everything in Portland houses at least a little moss? Even Ty's dad's truck isn't immune. I love it). A welcome-to-Portland, straight-from-the-airport trip to Multnomah Falls (goal achieved). Lots of last-minute shopping and perusing downtown Portland (where I got mistaken for being pregnant by a very sweet, very apologetic Polish woman). A rad tour of the countryside and hills west of Portland proper. A tour around the LDS Portland Temple grounds. And catching up with my long-lost friend Jenne. It was just a rad rad trip. A big thanks to the Clarks who made me feel right at home.