Monthly Archives: January 2012

Engaged and of Age.

Shopping and Dreaming.

I know I promised this yesterday, but Jon and I had an engagement dinner Saturday night for some great friends of ours (pics to come). The happiness was swelling, the laughter was abundant, and the drinks were flowing. Less eloquently, I was hungover and exhausted the day after(Sunday). It’s my first blogging blip and and I’m certain it will not be my last. Alas, here are some of my favorite recent acquisitions, where to get them, and my current lusts.

The first is a long awaited, two years in the works, WORK OF ART by Grace Bonney of Design Sponge (one of my favorite blogs of all time). This is a beautiful hardcover book full of DIY projects, before and afters, entertaining ideas and much much more. The website is clean and easy to navigate but the book is really something to behold. I can not wait to finish bookmarking my pages and get a real start on our condo.

I picked this book up in Anthropologie about a million times, but the roughly $50 price tag was just too much to justify given the extensive and thorough website. It’s been recently discounted on the Antrho website to $35 but I got it for a steal on Amazon for $16.50.

Speaking of steals, I bought this scarf at one of the most up and coming clothing stores in the country…Target. I saw it from about 30 feet away and it was love at first sight. They have it in a few other patterns and shades in store. Here’s what is great about this scarf. I could make you touch it, tell you it was form Michael Kors, and you would envy and believe me. I got it for $15 and it’s PERFECT for my upcoming Hawaii trip. It’s worn, soft, beachy and perfect.

Speaking of my upcoming trip – I’m constantly on the hunt for cute and reasonable accessories to brighten up an otherwise plain outfit. The scarf was one and this recent steal from Anthropologie is another. I bought these earrings in one color (Hawaii appropriate turquoise) a few weeks ago and went back for the other color (gold and diamond) right before new years because of the great price. I couldn’t find them on the website but I know there’s still some in the store. I paid about $14.00 per pair.

Another recent Antrhopologie steal was this adorable little clutch. Well I’m making it a clutch – I believe it’s actually meant to be a make-up bag. Whatever it is, it’s incredibly well made with beautiful detailing and the perfect size. Again, I can’t find it on the website to link it for you, but I know they had quite a few for sale in store in both blue and red. I got it at an additional 20% off sale price last weekend for around $17.00.

Finally, my last steal to mention. I’ve been on the hunt for one of these since Jon and I got engaged. I have to give my mom props because she found it first and bought the dog version for my Aunt Megan for Christmas. It is a bedside jewelry dish and it is whimsical, adorable and only $10.00 (!) at Anthropologie. I love mine. Aside from serving a practical purpose (aka not giving Jon a heart attack by placing my rings on the edge of my bathroom sink) it is a subtle and sweet accessory to a room.

Even with all of those recent purchases (steals!) what is life without a couple of lusts. Here are my current two:

Can’t get off the Hawaii planning train – it’s where my brain lives. This coverup is perfect for jumping from beach to boat and back:

Jon and I were out for Sushi Friday night and this was playing on all the T.V’s. It reminded me of my Grandpa Pete as it stars his favorite band.

Sacha Baron Cohen NEEDS to play Freddie Mercury in a movie. He’s PERFECT! Great voice, great band, GREAT classic music DVD.

I told you so.

Firsts x 3: I’m actually cheering for Tebow.

1 Reply

I don’t know what it’s been like in the rest of the world, but in Denver for the last few months it has been Tim Tebow mania. He’s EVERYWHERE. Sports news, regular news, billboards, and in daily conversation. And boy is he polarizing. You either love/worship him or you leave the room when his name is mentioned on Sports Center, which is every 2.9 seconds. I will publicly admit right here and now to the 5 of you reading this that I was one of the latter. This guy got under my skin so bad that I would LITERALLY leave the room if he came on the T.V.

Well the Bronco’s played in their first playoff game in some 5+ years last Sunday IN Denver. Mayhem. Jon found great tickets…so we went. I’ll admit I didn’t want to go. My mindset went like this: It’s a little chilly out, I have errands to run, but more importantly – WHO CARES about the Broncos! Well my husband was nearly bouncing off the walls with the prospect of attending an NFL playoff game, so vying for that wife of the year award, I slapped on a mildly amused facial expression and we left! We decided (after months of suffering through the incredibly annoying Tebow mania) that we were going to support the Broncos and just have a good time. After arriving at the stadium an hour early and sitting on the edge of our seats through the whole game, right to the end of the quickest playoff overtime in NFL history to give Tim Tebow, and the Broncos, a win like I have never seen…I have one thing to say.

I’m a believer.

It was the most fun I have ever had at a sporting event. Ever.

The stadium was absolutely vibrating with excitement for every. single. second. of the game. It was contagious and we couldn’t help but get swept up! Now I will ALWAYS be a Vikings fan (unfortunately) but since they’re out of the running this year – GO BRONCOS! This all comes up because today the Broncos play Tom Brady (sigh) and the Patriots at New England. Normally I would tell the Bronco’s “goooooooood luck suckers”! But after what I witnessed last weekend I wouldn’t be surprised by anything.

As I sit here and write this, the what have become comforting voices of Sports Center are dissecting the games that haven’t even happened yet, as usual. The difference is, when they talk about the Bronco’s, the dissecting ceases a bit and they all just throw their hands up. Nobody knows what the hell is going to happen and each one of them at some point over the season has had to eat crow for Tebow bashing. Case in point, here’s a quote I literally just heard from Ditka when asking for his pick:

I’m gonna keep riding that old horse. Tim Tebow. I’m gonna ride him till he gets real tired. I say don’t worry about stats Tim, just win baby!

The logical pick is the Patriots. Why? Because Tebow is truly a terrible quarterback stats wise. He’s painful to watch at times. Yet, he’s gotten his team into round 2 of the playoffs. It’s crazy. Some call it divine intervention from the God he preaches to after each and every game, but I call it incredible luck and great karma. Whatever it is, it’s a blast to watch and if you have time today I suggest you tune in.

A Photo Recap:

There were fans,

and then there were super fans.

There were TWO mascots,

but there were FOUR parachuters.

There were beautiful balloons,

and there were beautiful cheerleaders.

There was fire in the sky,

but even better there were planes in the sky.

There was a horse on the stadium,

which is not to be confused with a girl on a horse.

There was praying,

and more praying.

See Tebow. See Tebow pray.

And of course there was Tebow,

who is not to be confused with Tebowing.

FYI - not Tebow.

So…when the Broncos take the field today I will be sporting some home team pride. For last Sunday, Tim Tebow got out from under my skin, and stole a little (tiny) piece of my heart.

P.S.

For those of you still on the negative side of the polarization, please see this article. Tim Tebow might be a little annoying and he might preach about God too much for some, but I believe he’s a really great guy all football aside. I watched him with his fans on Sunday and I’ve never seen anything like it.

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/7455943/believing-tim-tebow

Firsts x 2

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Since it’s my first week of Midwest Mountainess postings, I decided to do my duty as an American and absolutely torture and wear out my readers using the word ‘firsts’. Hence…Firsts x2. It’s as creative as I could be at 12:30a.m. after several glasses of wine, a martini, and no carbs for 7 days. I’m essentially brain dead. Not to mention TOTALLY high on like a million (…20) hits on Facebook.

So I realize this is going to come as a COMPLETE surprise, but after my Christmas recap post I’m going to do a New Years recap post! I’ll give you a moment to contain your excitement.

Ahem.

So the firsts thing again. It wasn’t mine, but it WAS my husbands first trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is the part where I make you all jealous because he’s so thoughtful and spontaneous and giving and don’t you just hate both of us. But before you get to all that jealousy, let me first tell you…I despise New Years Eve.

EVERY SINGLE YEAR it’s the huge conversation that starts shortly after Thanksgiving. I had four completely different groups of people asking me “what are we doing this year”, “let’s actually plan ahead this time”, “I don’t care what we do as long as there are sparkles” blah blah blah. It’s lame. Let’s allllll buy new outfits and alllllll spend WAY more at restaurants that only jack the prices up because it’s December 31st and we’re all suckers. The reality for a majority of people I know goes something like this:

It’s New Years Eve and they STILL cant decide what to do at which point they throw their hands up and get a LAST minute dinner reservation at the 34th restaurant they call. They fight the crowds, eat an average and overpriced meal, and eventually end up at a club. This is fun for about 6 seconds because inevitably somebody pukes on their cute sparkly heels they bought at Target that morning in a half size too big because it’s all that was left. Luckily said puker misses the sparkly dress they already have buyers remorse over and are hoping to return tomorrow. Following this is epic/freezing cold battle for a cab to take home after the boy that was flirting with them all night disappears as did most of their friends. They wake up to a pounding hangover, a painful realization of how much money they spent and call everyone they know for a ride downtown to get their car which is waiting with a bright yellow parking ticket under the windshield wiper.

Gross.

So my husband being the romantic genius that he is calls me at work 2 nights before New Years Eve after we’ve already committed ourselves to a party (sorry Elly) and says he’s booked a non-refundable hotel room for 2 nights in Santa Fe. So me being the secretly thrilled but dutifully reprimanding wife tells him he’s nuts, scolds him for forcing us to to bail on my friends party that we had committed to and packs her bag in 2.5 seconds.

We had an amazingly relaxed and low key weekend in a bustling and artistic city.

Jon the steadfast Minnesota trained winter driving expert.

So you’ll notice in the above photo that there’s snow. We have seen snow ONCE in 2011/2012 winter. Understand we live in a MOUNTAIN city and although the snow melts immediately after it falls, we still usually get snow. Well we’ve been so spoiled with weather lately that Jon and I blindly set out on our 6 hour road trip envisioning sunny skies, smooth roads, sweet tunes and snacks. What we did NOT anticipate were wet slushy mountain backroads, zero visibility, and who could live without…IDIOT DRIVERS.

This photo is from my cozy makeshift bed in the backseat of the Aviator of the absolute BS happening outside. Luckily it only lasted the (tense) car ride to Sante Fe and the rest of the weekend was sunny and gorgeous. I have proof.

The thing about Santa Fe is that it’s dripping in colors, patterns and architecture which for a girl with a brand new camera is absolute heaven! I had a great time breaking my camera in, and Jon didn’t seem too traumatized by traveling with the ultimate tourist all weekend.

We had one ‘not so great’ dinner (NYE…go figure) but other than that the food in Santa Fe is wonderful! New Years Day we went to a very busy/popular local breakfast spot and brunched to our hearts content.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the entire city, went to the MUST SEE Georgia O’Keefe museum (my second time), got a couple of history lessons and of course watched some football over the most amazing margs and guac of all time.

Even the sugar's are more colorful in Santa Fe!

That evening we decided to give dining out another try. We made reservations at the restaurant inside our hotel and it was DELICIOUS!

This beef was aged for some insane amount of time and Jon thought it was the best steak he'd ever had!

Our last day there we decided we needed to bring home a piece of art from the city of artists. I chose this:

It was priced at a mere $28,000 so I decided to go with a lovely print from a lovely local artist instead.

All in all it truly was a perfect weekend getaway with some much needed quality time.

We started off 2012 with resolutions in hand and lots to look forward to – and lots for Jon to think about (see above).

And nobody got puke on their shoes.

Thank You.

1 Reply

I spent 4 hours writing my first blog post (aka surfing the web in procrastinating avoidance), and countless others getting Midwest Mountainess set up and looking the way I wanted it to look (aka agonizing over how inferior my blog is to those that I read daily). So needless to say after I pushed the publish button I refreshed my internet browser maniacally for 20 minutes waiting for the ‘ruler of the internet’ to tell me I was worthy in the comments section. Instead – something better happened. I got 12 likes and 7 comments on Facebook, and 2 ACTUAL Midwest Mountainess comments on the ACTUAL blog posting. Jon and I were out to cocktails and dinner with our friends Aaron and Sarah – and I had to refrain from telling them I basically won the Oscar of blogging. And refrain I did because that’s essentially a huge lie. But in my mind that’s exactly what happened. And seriously, speaking of lying, even if you were – the encouragement means the world to me. I’m asking your patience while I get the hang of this, but I’m truly writing it for my readers. My basic goal of this blog is to have a conversation about all the things I like reading/writing/internet surfing/shopping for/about…with you. Thank you for coming – please come back – I will NEVER forget my first comments. Mom, Amy, Lindsey C., Carly, Janet, Miss Courtney, Elly, Manna, Julie, Abby, Emily, Auntie Megan, Susan (and hopefully Willie), Ann, Auntie Jerri, Gretchen, and of course Luke.