Happy weekend

Happy weekend, all! So glad it came so fast, thanks to that lovely Memorial Day Monday we had earlier this week. Do you have any fun plans for the next few days? Things should be relatively quiet over here, but fun. Tonight Ty and I are heading to a demolition derby (my very first one!) then tomorrow we have tickets to the REAL soccer game. In between I plan on doing at least a little bit of pool time, and that touching story down there has me thinking I should also find some good I can do in this world of ours. Check it out, along with the rest of those links down there to kick off your weekend. Hope you have a great one!

Such a touching story. We are meant to take care of one another.

My calf has been giving me trouble while running lately, and this Jcrew surfing video convinces me it's time to move somewhere I can surf every day instead.

Forever one of my favorite color combinations.
Proud to live in this great state.
How beautiful are the shadows in this painting?
What a stunning Flickr.
Beachy dreads tutorial (my limp hair needs fun twists like this now and again)
I'll take it.
Gwenyth is adorable.

Memorial Weekend Recap

I swear, this weekend was the longest weekend that ever did exist. It was glorious; the hours on Friday AND Saturday AND Sunday AND Monday seemed to stretch on for infinity as we were either relaxing or driving from place to place, enjoying thing after thing. Rock climbing and golfing. Mexican dinner in our quaint little downtown. Visiting family and a family grave. Going to the dog park. Strolling around a near-by reservoir. Shopping at the outlets. BBQ-ing steaks and corn. It was a quintessential summer weekend, I tell you what. And it seemed to blissfully go on forever; such a treat.

I must tell you, though, that Hank spent most of Memorial Day in the back of our car. When Ty and I were leaving for Ogden to put flowers on his grandma's grave, Hank was incessantly pushing his way out the door with us, and then staring at the back of the car, waiting to be let in. So, at his request, he got to spend the day riding around in the car with us; first to Ogden, then to the dog park (he got to get out at that point) then to about a million other small places. Besides the dog park, I'm not sure how fun it was for him. But our day was awesome.

I also must tell you that cemeteries feel full and happy and warm on memorial day. The bright flowers beam cheerfully from various graves, and loved ones and families are all strewn about, sitting and standing and smiling with one another; recounting memories and expressing happy things. I was surprised at just how much I loved taking flowers to Ty's grandma's grave, and I'm looking forward to doing the same next year as well as taking some over to my sweet nanny too.

I hope your long weekends were equally enjoyable and never-ending.

PARTY sign

 

Remember that PARTY sign I mentioned in this post? The gold one I got at a garage sale for $1 (booyah!)? I pulled it out over the weekend to give it a try, and it worked like a champion. A 3-foot-tall, gold, glowing champion. I made up that gif to share it in all its glory since you all couldn't be here to witness it. I want to find a place in the house to put it up during...wait for it...parties. Or maybe just on ordinary days that should be turned into party days.

A while back, the lovely lady over at Oh Happy Day (she honestly makes the CUTEST festivity embellishments) posted a DIY mini light-up sign if you are looking for a tutorial to make your own.

New laundry room shelves

Everyone, meet my new laundry room shelves. Shelves, everyone. I first have to confess that I should have taken before photos. I really really should have. Because, believe me you guys, my laundry room looked like a hot mess before these shelves came along (let's be honest, it's still not a beauty, but it's MUCH better). Everything was heaped on top of the washer and dryer in no type of order whatsoever. Our laundry soaps. Hanks toys and sundries. A gigantic juicer. Dirty kitchen towels. All fighting for space atop our appliances. And it drove me nuts! For the last year+ every time I went into the laundry room I knew there had to be a change. And so, over the weekend, finally a change there was: enter the new laundry room shelves.

We already had a small, high shelf installed in the laundry room that came with the house (I used to to store cleaning rags and our iron), so Ty and I decided to just match the three shelves we wanted to install to it, since it was just about the easiest type of shelf to build and so they would all match. Brilliant. The original shelf was constructed by installing three individual furring strips along the back and side walls, and then placing the shelf on top of the lip they create. Easy peezy.

So, Ty measured out the pieces we would need, and then I headed to Home Depot to pick up the wood and get it cut. Important to note, when taking measurements for the side pieces, you should take the stud distance into account. You will notice the side furring strips for our shelves extend beyond the actual shelf depth (so did the ones for the original shelf); they needed to go out that far so each of them could be fastened into two studs, providing adequate shelf support. Make sense? Okay good. Moving ahead.

Once we had the wood at home, I laid out a drop cloth in the garage and used some leftover paint to make those babies white white white. It took a couple coats and days, but after they were all beautiful and dry, Ty used our electric drill to install the furring strips (he drilled pilot holes in them first to keep the boards from splitting). Then we plopped the shelves on top and stood back to admire our handy work. Ta-dah! But. "Ew," I thought. "Those edges look disgusting." I must admit I hadn't sanded the boards at all before painting (it didn't occur to me that I should have sanded them until the first paint coat was on, and at that point I was way too lazy to start over), so I knew they wouldn't look good. But they honestly looked even worse than I had anticipated. Gross. Thankfully, though, caulk is a miracle worker. It took about 30 minutes of meticulous work, but after caulking all the way around the newly installed shelves and furring strips, the shelves went from feeble to fabulous. I swear, caulked edges make things look a million times better. And now I have four (count them four!) happy little laundry-room shelves to use to my fancy. Not to mention it's so good to be able to see the tops of the washer and dryer again. And push their buttons without reaching around a bunch of stuff. Couldn't be happier.

The whole project cost about $40 and took a combined total of about 3.5 hours of labor + Home Depot run time.

Happy weekend

Hey everyone! This week honestly flew for us over here in the Clark house. You too? Ty has been feverishly studying and working and staying up all hours of the night to complete everything he needs to for his job and his two midterms this week (he's honestly superman, you guys). And work and play have kept me sufficiently busy that I am amazed the week's end is here already. After one more final tonight (happy thoughts) Ty is out of the fire, and we are heading to a local baseball game with some friends. Then tomorrow I am attending a clothing swap in our neighborhood and the rest of the day is allotted for cleaning and lounging and sleeping (for my stellar, sleep-deprived husband). I hope you guys have great plans to enjoy in this lovely summer that we've happened upon lately. Here are a few links to kick it all off.

Oh hi, little guy.
A cloud cookie would make anyone's day better. And this pig cuts cookie cutter makes me laugh.
Such a beautiful house plant.
My two lust afters at Madewell.
Have you seen this 1939 Jay-Z doppelgänger?
I am in love with the message on this toothpaste.
Animal eyes super duper closeup -- the Lama is my favorite.

A lady bike

Today I am wearing a maxi skirt. I wasn't sure how it would work out with riding my bike to and from the train station, but other than it being a slight annoyance to adjust the skirt every minute or so to keep it over my knees (no peep shows welcome over here), it really isn't all that bad (UPDATE: Riding into the wind in a skirt is in fact all that bad. Really really bad. Just sayin'). It makes me pine a little but for a lady bike though; one with a lower top bar so mounting and dismounting aren't so tricky. And so my skirts can just hang at their leisure, no adjustment needed. It makes me think it may be time to sell my road bike in pursuit of greater ease and comfort. We will see. In the mean time, here are a few great options that caught my eye.

The Holymoly Lady by Creme Cycles

The Milano Dama by Bianchi

The Scout Regalia

The Caferacer Lady Doppio by Creme Cycles

Bicycling Date

Ty and I headed up to Salt Lake Friday night via bikes and the train with some friends (I am really loving this whole train thing, you guys), and other than furiously biking a few miles to outrun some rain, the evening was relaxed, warm and beautiful. There is something so perfect about riding a bike around on a warm summer night. I feel like the world moves more slowly. I can appreciate the places I pass and the people I see and the little nooks and crannies of a city more when I am on bike. Not to mention I become MUCH more aware of potholes and inclines on the roads :) Nonetheless, though, it really is just the best.

Our routes on Friday evening wound us through the old residential neighborhoods of downtown, and I swear I repeated renditions of "Oh! look how cute that house is!" and "Hey! How great is that (arbor, fence, planter, siding, porch, etc)!" at least every 5 seconds; thankfully Ty loves houses as much as I do. I swear house watching has to be one of my favorite things. You too? Okay, good. In between house watching and just enjoying riding around, we picked up some tasty Thai food here (stamp of approval), and visited a statue garden and grabbed gelato here (that place is quickly becoming a favorite). It was just a beautiful night. 

And Saturdays garage sales didn't disappoint -- we got about a million CDs, a dirt biking helmet, some nice piece for my wardrobe (including a pair of Frye boots), and I brought home a 3-foot-tall, light-up, gold-letter sign that reads "PARTY." YES.  Pictures to come.

Happy weekend

I have two words for you concerning this weekend: GARAGE SALES. And it's about time! I absolutely love garage sale-ing, so typically I'm out early in the season and often. But this year, sadly, I haven't been. Because for some reason Ty and I have been ridiculously busy. But, tomorrow is the day, friends! And I am so excited about it. First thing's first, though, so to kick off the weekend tonight Ty and I are riding the train up to Salt Lake with some friends for a little bike riding and shopping and eating downtown. Just being out and about tonight sounds like heaven to me. I hope you all have some great plans too! Here are a few links to get you in the weekend mood:

Spot me, bro!
I'm not sure why, but I think this sleeved swimsuit is kind of amazing.
Ty has a tendency to say this phrase, so we bought the tote this week for good measure.
Louder than words.
I love this woman's thoughts on children.
How did they get up there?
There are glaciers in New Zealand? Who knew?
Macaroni and Cheese Pie with a Bacon Lattice. What?

PHOTO VIA - DOES THAT PHOTO SCREAM "RELAX" OR WHAT?

Katy's wedding recap

Weddings in and of themselves are kind of magical don't you think? The fact that two people care that much about each other at the same time and want to join their lives forever is a bit of a miracle, if you ask me. And it honestly is such a delight to witness your closest friends finding their matches. Katy and Lincoln's wedding on Saturday was beautiful. Katy looked stunning and peaceful. And her groom was simply BEAMING (I kid you not) with happiness. And they just radiated with excitement and joy. It was enough to fill this little lady with a whole lotta sunshine for her closest friend and her eternal beau, I tell you what. Not to mention it was bright and sunny outside -- you can't hate that.

It was such a good day. And even better because I spent the whole day with Ty enjoying his company and the festivities. I can't overstate how happy I am to be married to Ty. And how happy I am for Katy and her new adventurous life with Lincoln. They are seriously perfect. And I'm pretty sure they are going to produce at least one olympic volleyball player in their progeny.

PHOTOS 3, 5, 6, 8 C/O ANGELA STEVENSON

A plant-potting tip

About 13 years ago I was thumbing through a Martha Stewart magazine and came across the handiest tip for transferring potted plants. While filling the new container with soil, place the pre-potted plant INSIDE the container, and just fill in the dirt around it. Then, when you have the container all filled, take the potted plant out and there is a perfect little hole for you to place the sans-pot plant in. So easy. And you didn't have to hold an unpotted plant steady whilst filling in around it. Brilliant.

I used this tip over the weekend when I had a chance to put out our balcony planter boxes. I've been loving how much color and life they add to the front of our cozy little home. Here's a little step by step if you are wanting some flower boxes of your own and are a first-time-planter-box planter.

STEP 1: Give appropriate drainage

Plants need water drainage to thrive, so make sure your container provides it. My containers are solid on the bottom, so to provide adequate water drainage for the plant roots, I filled the bottom of my containers about an inch deep with small rocks I purchased at the hardware store in the gardening section. I then layered some moss on top to keep the soil from slipping down into the rocks. You can also drill holes in the bottom of your container if you prefer.

STEP 2: Filling with dirt

Like we talked about above, place your potted plants from the store inside your new container and fill in the dirt around them, making sure to press the soil down firmly to keep it nice and packed. See how the plants are still in their store pots down there?

STEP 3: Potting the plants

Once you have the dirt filled nearly to the top of the plant pots, gently remove the potted plants from the new planter, exposing the perfectly portioned hole for the plant to go in. 

Then, even more gently, remove the plants from their original containers. Be sure to break up the bottom of the root ball a little bit (simply use your hand to loosen the dirt on the bottom of the plant) before placing it in the new planter, and then pack in the rest of the dirt around the plant so is feels nice and cozy in its new home. And that's it! Enjoy your new planters.

Happy weekend

It's a wedding weekend! Tomorrow morning my dearest friend, Katy, is tying the knot forever with Mr. Lincoln Spencer, and I couldn't be happier for her. Since Katy and I both married into families with men's first names as last names, we like to joke that I will name my first boy Spencer Clark and she will name hers Clark Spencer :) Ty and I will be spending Saturday doing pretty much all things wedding (we even get to spend the morning at the Draper temple -- the same place we were married a year and a half ago). And we are starting the weekend off tonight with a trip to a near-by tulip festival. Hopefully we can score a couple Segways this time so we can tour the gardens at ultimate-fun speed.

Whoa.
Bring on the summer kayaking.
This post makes me want to go to Kenya one day.
Coconut oil beauty uses.
I am in love with everything about this house. I exaggerate not.
Strawberry, mango and avocado nachos sound delicious.
I will be making this tart soon.
I say this phrase against my will. But I just. can't. stop.