A letter.

Dear Kiosk People at the Mall,

I see you there.

Yep, I can see you.

If I want to talk to you about what you’re selling, I will approach you, much the way I approach a store that is selling something I’m interested in.

You don’t see salespeople popping their heads out of the Gap into the corridor of the mall, going “excuse me, excuse me ma’am! Ma’am! Ma’am! Can I ask you about khakis and white shirts?” Feverishly keeping in step with me as I pass by their store.

Guess what? If you’re asking me if you can ask me a question, it sounds like you just did. So please kindly let me go about my business of stimulating the economy by buying Christmas gifts for my friends and loved ones that they will actually like and use.

Next time I feel like I could use some healing by using minerals from the Dead Sea, you are the first person I’ll call.

Or, if you’re going to ask me a quick question, I’d like it to be:

Excuse me, ma’am, how can I make my hair as shiny as yours?

Excuse me, ma’am, are you a professional model?

Excuse me, ma’am, would you please take this $10k off my hands?

Those are your options. Choose wisely…

Regards,

Holly

Have I told you about my 40 mile (one way) commute (with road construction galore)?

Do any of you have a commute this long? Please tell me if you do so I can feel better about myself.

During my morning drives, I have been able to think of things about it that annoy me, with nuance. Like how the sun is exactly in between my window and windshield right above eye level, so with each slight curve of the road I have to switch my visor back and forth. Sometimes by the time I get to work I feel like I’m already ready to go home. So anyway, you’ve heard Jeff Foxworthy talk about how to know that you might be a readneck. Here is my list…

“You might want to move out of the left lane”

1. If you’re a semi truck, you might want to move out of the left lane.

2. If you’ve got your cruise control set to the speed limit, you might want to move out of the left lane.

3. If you’ve been camping out in the left lane since 6 exits ago, you might want to move out of the left lane.

4. If you hate your job so much, you can’t be bothered to even go the full speed limit on your drive to work, you might want to move out of the left lane.

5. If you’re in a Geo Metro and you’re going up that hill at the point of the mountain, you might want to move out of the left lane.

6. If you’re too busy having an existential breakthrough to watch the road, you might want to move out of the left lane.

7. If there are five cars behind you and zero cars in front of you, say it with me now, you might want to move out of the left lane.

Any you’d like to add?

Wait...

Ben Harper was/is married to Laura Dern? And they have two kids?

Huh.

Let's get this party started.

Have a great weekend!

Thank you, Jenna, for bringing me into the world of CakeSpy.com. Seriously cute! I would love this print depicting two of my favorite things, sitting right on my desk at work.

And remember, I'll be celebrating my birthday all November long.

Something to think about.

I love you all.

Have you been trying harder?

I have.

I think even if I don’t reach my goal, the false sense of superiority I’ll feel by being more pious will pay off.

I kid, I kid! We will all make it.

Also on my mind, Conan O’Brien. You may have noticed the image to the left on my blog here. That is the Conan Credo, which I made by doing my own thing with the “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster (which I still love, even though they are supposedly so last year.)

I am very excited for Conan’s new show and have been thoroughly enjoying his promos, especially the “Wild. Nocturnal.” poster which features Conan with an owl on his shoulder.

The man is just funny! There’s no other way to put it.

On the last night of The Tonight Show, he dedicated a few minutes to the young people, urging them not to be cynical. He said that cynicism is his least favorite quality and that it gets you nowhere, then,

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard and you’re kind, I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.”

And also, The String Dance.

Conan!

I printed off the Conan Credo and framed it. It’s now part of the token gallery wall in our apartment, which I may post a picture of, for my mom’s information. Once it’s perfected, of course.

TRY HARDER.

I have a really cute friend named Darcy. Dar and I go way back to 2003 and have been roommates, classmates and coworkers.

In 2003 at BYU-Idaho it was totally cool to write notes and quotes on the front of your fridge with a dry-erase marker. I know I have a picture of this somewhere…from 2003, even. It was great because your fridge is a built-in whiteboard, if you have a white fridge. You just have to make sure you’re using dry-erase markers and then you can just wipe it off with windex and a soft cloth and the next tenants in your apartment are none the wiser.

Just a little tip, just for you.

One day I was over at Dar’s and I glanced over at her fridge. I did not find tediously printed notable quotes, coined by roommates in the wee hours of the morning, drunk on caffeine and sleep-deprivation and the giggles (like in my apartment), but two words, scrawled in large capital across the freezer, saying:

TRY HARDER.

It was in Dar’s handwriting so I asked her what the deal was. Her answer was pretty simple and I’ve always remembered it:

“Sometimes, I don’t feel like I’m trying hard enough, so I tell myself to try harder.”

Who hasn’t been there?

Lately, I am totally in that mode. That mode where I know I need to try harder, and pretty soon, I will. I’ll hit my groove, I’ll be in the zone, and it will feel great. I feel it coming on, it’s starting to tickle a little bit, and I’m enjoying my laziness, but not for long. And I feel fine. I’m happy enough. I do the things I should I’m just not trying hard enough.

I’ve had these three big goals since I graduated from college. Maybe someday I’ll share them with you. But we’ll just say now that they are hefty things, and this year I’ve done two of them.

It feels great! (And no, one of them was not “get married.” That was an added bonus and a help to me in reaching some of my goals.)

I think if I try harder, I can accomplish the third of them by my birthday on November 28^th (I want a navy blue Hobo, a chevron rug for my living room and a new bottle of Viva La Juicy [hey, just in case]).

Sometimes I think we don’t reach our goals because we set wimpy goals. It’s this mental block that I know happens to me, and maybe it happens to you. Basically, we know the end is so closely within reach, we don’t try as hard as we should, and we never reach it. If it’s a big goal, we’ll take big strides to get it done and actually have a better chance of reaching it. Does that make sense to you? Because I think this is a true principle. Like that equation that approaches zero but never equals zero.

For example, how many people do you know who are trying to lose five pounds, but they never do it?

Contrast that with the number of people you know who need to lose 50 pounds and are actually making pretty good progress.

Keep in mind this isn’t just people who need to lose weight, but people who are “trying” to lose weight.

Sometimes I “try” to lose weight while eating the same things I always eat and not upping my exercise. See? Try harder.

Anyway, thanks Darcy. I need to try harder, and I am picturing your old freezer right now. It’s pushing me on to get where I want to be!

Now let’s all get out there and do our best! Who’s with me?

Are cupcakes gluten free?

Image via

This holiday season (can we start calling it that yet?), I am grateful for many things, and in my top ten is definitely the blessing of being gluten-tolerant. Like Jocelyn, I rarely find things that are too sweet, too rich, too delicious or decadent. And, wheat and tastiness seem to go hand in hand.

I have waxed poetic about The Sweet Tooth Fairy from time to time on the blog, and while I’ve kind of been in break mode, I’ve also been introduced to/converted to Cupcake Chic.

There are lots of cupcakeries in Utah, and I’ve tried several, and these are the only two worth my time so far. (But remember, I haven’t tried them all.)

Now’s Utah’s chance to get up close and personal with Utah’s cupcakes, with Becky’s giveaway over at Utah Loves Cupcakes. She’s giving one lucky reader a dozen cupcakes from the cupcakery of her (the reader’s) choice. Head on over to Utah Loves Cupcakes, specifically this post, and get the 411.

And while we’re on the subject of delectable baked goods, I am so excited for this conference weekend. Among other things, I will be baking, and I can’t wait.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

The time of year when everyone starts complaining when stores set up their Christmas displays when “it’s not even Halloween!”

To them I say…SO WHAT?!

Halloween doesn't matter much to me, and I love Thanksgiving so much because it’s the kickoff to Christmas, so you know what? Have at it, big box stores! Decorate for Christmas in late September. I’ll take all the Christmas I can get.

The other night at the grocery store, we saw so many pumpkins.

Fat ones, skinny ones, those really short round ones. Orange ones, green ones, white ones, bright orange ones, smooth ones, bumpy ones. Don’t you love those white ones? Nature’s chicest statement of the season, to be sure.

I stood beside them looking at Mark with that “don’t you want a festive gourd display in our apartment to welcome weary travelers and help them get into the spirit of the harvest?” look.

But we were all dressed up and didn’t want to get all covered in autumnal dirt.

The point is, they were there, and I’ve been noticing other bloggers posting their odes to scarves, boots and falling leaves, and this is mine.

Except mine is more like an ode to jackets (Hi Suze Orman, do you remember when I was so in love with this Kristin Wiig parody?) and 30 Rock.

I am going to miss Kenneth. I hope he isn’t really gone.

I watch 30 Rock 50% for Jack McBreyer, 30% for Alec Baldwin (It has to be Elk Tongue!) and 20% to compare and contrast myself with Liz Lemon/wish I had Tina Fey’s job.

Why do you watch? And will you be buying white pumpkins? …or have you already?

Your childhood called. It wants its naps back.

At the Cetera show. I call this one "The Cheerful Unibomber"

I am the first one to roll my eyes when someone posts “I love my husband!!!!!!!”

But I just want to take this opportunity to tell the Internet that marrying my husband is shaping up to be the best decision I’ve ever made. Today is our “halfiversary.” Our “hemiversary,” if you will. We’ve had a great six married months together, and I love that guy. I wholeheartedly believe that I got the best one.

Even this morning, when my alarm rang to end my irrational five minute eye rest in the middle of getting ready for work – mornings are as brutal for me as they are for 13-year-olds – when he said something I had to giggle at, even though my morning rage had barely worn off: "Your childhood called. It wants its naps back."

A bowlful of candy.

A few months ago, my husband told me to put on a dress because we were going out for a fancy pants dinner. I got the most amazing butternut squash soup, which I described as a bowlful of candy, and I ate every last drop. Here we are at our fancy pants dinner; it was definitely as fancy as Provo gets, though this picture doesn't give much context:

Well this past week we were both sick, and on the day that I was sicker than Mark, he did some grocery shopping. One of the treasures he came home with was a butternut squash! On Sunday we made a healthier version of the soup I had at that fancy place. It was delectable.

Butternut Squash Soup (adapted from a recipe by ChefGiuseppe Di Gennaro as listed in the Calgary Herald on 9.17.10)

2T Butter

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 gala apple, chopped

1 butternut squash, peeled and seeded, chopped

1 14-oz can chicken broth

1/4 cup fat free half and half

1/4 tsp. sage

cinnamon and salt

2T maple syrup

You just sauté the onion and apple in the butter until they're both caramelized, then add everything else but the maple syrup and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 25 minutes until the squash is super soft.

Then, ladle about 1/2 of the soup into a blender and puree it. Transfer to a bowl and puree the remaining soup.

At this point you're supposed to drain the soup through a sieve. Well let's be honest, I don't have one of those, so we just dumped the pureed soup back into the pot, stirred in the maple syrup, and viola, butternut squash soup. It was way good.

On a recent trip to Cafe Trio with my parents, I tried some ravioli with a butternut squash sauce, and this (sieved) soup would make a grand ravioli sauce.

So there you go, kids. Go kick off your fall with a healthy bowlful of candy butternut squash soup.

some projects

I thought this lamp had a cute shape. I painted it...but she needs a new shade. I also made a runner for under it.

Here's one of my trusty vintage windows with the Abby Road print and a wedding photo in my favorite PB frame and my white candlesticks, also my favorite. Mark and I painted this table green. Love it.

Making an attempt to slipcover this chair...well I was attempting. But I did make that pillow and I love the lime zebra print ruffle.

This pillow was the first project I did. I made two.

The Cetera, Et Cetera

A couple things about my friend Jenna before we begin.

But before talking about Jenna...remember a couple weeks ago when my blog appeared to be on the mend? Not sure what happened there.

Also, WTF with the formatting here?

So Jenna. She gets tickets to things! She takes me with her! It's awesome.

You know how I love listen-while-you-work radio? Well, Jenna had tickets to Peter Cetera and she took us. Said Jenna, "to love the ladies is to love the Cetera. I hope that Mark and Justin (her fiancé) understand this concept."

I think they did? That isn't the point.

You guys, he did everything. Por ejemplo:

Plus a couple other gems that aren't available on Playlist for some heinous reason.

I was in pure heaven for a little over an hour, sitting there on the cold, wet grass, listening to Cetera belt it out in his signature vibrato and Mark's impression of Cetera which sounds just like Barry Gibb doing an impression of Cetera.

Perfect close of summer.

bad marketing.

Last year after Potlatch, the flagship employer of my parents’ town, changed its name to the more corporatized, “Clearwater Paper Company,” some rebranding was in order for its credit union, Potlatch #1 Federal Credit Union.

Instead of doing it the right way, using the opportunity to revamp the image and freshen their brand, they did it the easy way, shortening the name to a simple, roll-off-your-tongue acronym, P1FCU. Or, as my family has taken to calling it, “Hey, P1FCU, man!” (In an angry voice.) I chide my dad for his involvement, however slim, with this organization.

He just sent me an even worse branding decision, one his company had nothing to do with. I give you Drake University’s “D+” initiative: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100903/od_yblog_upshot/great-moments-in-collegiate-marketing-drake-universitys-d-campaign

Pondering...

Last week at Target I saw Gossip Girl Season 3 on sale for $36. Can I just tell you how much I wanted to buy it??

I watched maybe three episodes of the third season, total. But, I still want to watch it. The clothes and the hair are just too good to never see. And of course, there’s Chuck Bass.

Gossip Girl=modern art?

Me, have a dormant obsession with a teen drama that just. won’t. die…? I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Did any of you lovely readers watch last season? Is it worth it?

Choose Happiness.

It always amazes me when I meet adults who are clearly working pretty hard at being unhappy.

Why would someone do that?

I mean, we have this one life, and sometimes good things happen and sometimes bad things happen. But given a choice of being happy or being sad...like, why would someone CHOOSE sad?

I'm not saying that you shouldn't feel your feelings. You know, allow yourself to be disappointed when something doesn't work out, or grieve when you or someone you know has a loss. I mean sometimes I grieve for a sec when the office fridge's Diet Coke is all expired.

Yuck.

But being crusty in general just seems like a lot of work to me.

When you're a kid, adults are always telling you that happiness is a choice and that no one else can "make" you feel a certain way. That always kind of bugged me and it was hard for me to understand. But as we grow up and experiment with what works best for us, I think most of us come to realize that external influences are too volatile and unpredictable to base our attitudes on.

I'm in no way perfect at this. I find myself pouting for the dumbest reasons. But I think I'm a pretty happy person, and I think it's because I want to be happy.

We all need to work at it, but some of us need to work a LOT at it.

Just sayin'.

And if we don't do it for ourselves, we should at least try to do it for the people who have to deal with us every day.

I’ll be hunting all weekend long.

D.I. nightstand to coordinate with the one I already have

Fabric to cover a chair and a down blanket

Paint to zshuzsh up some tired home décor items (including my newly-found cutest ugly lamp ever. Pretty sure it was Betty Draper’s before it was mine.)

Some sort of closet organizational system

Flirty bridal shower gift (read my lips: no new maternity clothes for this bunless oven)

High octane sandpaper for the kitchen table

Sofa of my dreams

I’m thinking with this tall order, it will be mostly a hunt-but-don’t-shoot weekend. (Especially on the large furniture front.)

Mark’s got a deer tag, though, so any goodie he stalks tomorrow, he can snag. (I hope it’s small.)

So in summary...

Yes, Shade is going out of business. Hurry! Get your stretchy cotton clothes while you can!

No, I am not pregnant, just been stifling my shopping reflex for too long, and crazy purchases have been sprouting randomly.

Notes.

1. Today on my lunch break, I went to buy a flirty bridal shower gift and when I walked out of the mall, the scorecard looked a little like this:

Lingerie: nil/Maternity tops: 2

Shade Clothing was going out of business, OK?

2. Last night Mark and I went to Target to get some organizing things. There was a whole aisle of University of Utah regalia/paraphernalia. We’re not in Provo anymore…

3. Tonight I am baking some brownies for Mark’s coworker’s birthday. Do you think I should frost them? I love frosting but I think I might be alone in that.

That's all I've got for you today.

New apartment.

Someday I'll have to sit you down and tell you about the apartment hunting mission that was my own personal hell for the month of July. But for now, I'll just tell you that we finally found one! We moved in! We love it! The kitchen is kind of put together, so for those of you who have asked for pictures, here you go! More to come as we get situated.

Here’s how you know you’re moving.

Well, first of all, Bear Lake was beautiful. Perfect sunny skies, sparkling blue water, best raspberries I’ve had in a year…good times.

So here’s how you know you’re moving:

I like to make some kind of treat every Sunday night. It’s a tradition from growing up that I think is fun, so we do it. Plus, I tell myself that this is my treat for the week. (yeah, right)

The past few weeks, we’ve been pretty into peanut butter no-bakes. We’ve also been trying to avoid buying food and just use up what we have, to lighten it up a bit when we move everything.

So last night, I went to start the no-bakes, and what do I find, but only 1 cup of white sugar left on the shelf. No-bakes take 2 cups of white sugar. They’re a real health food. I have brown sugar and contemplate using that.

Mark was going to the neighbors’ real quick anyway and I thought about actually for the first time in my life, literally borrowing a cup of sugar.

But then I see we have no milk.

“Can we ask them for sugar and milk?”

“Why don’t we just ask them to make us some cookies?”

So I tell Mark, no worry, I’ll just bake us some peanut butter cookies. Oven style. And he leaves.

But then, no eggs.

“What can I use as an egg replacement?” I ask the inside back cover of my red and white plaid cookbook.

It replies, “2 egg whites, or 2 egg yolks, or egg substitute.”

Smart a**.

Like someone who didn’t have eggs in the house would go to the inside back cover of their trusty cookbook to learn that egg substitute can be used in the place of eggs.

So I just whipped up the dough, eggless, and called it good. That’s one way to feel good about eating cookie dough…amiright?

As of late.

The past couple of days, I have believed firmly in my heart of hearts that the forces of nature did not intend for me to be at work.

I adore my clients and coworkers, but sometimes a job is still a job, and you want a vacay.

So this weekend I'm off to the lake with my husband's fam. Should be pretty great.

And yes, I just told you I'd be out of town, like a total airhead. But I didn't erase it because it's true...this would be a fabulous time for you to rob my house. Just think: whatever you steal, I won't have to move next week. Really this is a golden opportunity for us all.

Bon week-end!

I am so sad. I love Twitter. But I'm so sad.

So today @fuggirls tweeted this little gem:

Don't worry, it's a video compilation of Rachel Zoe saying the word "literally," literally 50+ times.

Of course I was so happy to find it, but then I was so sad to learn that the new season of The Rachel Zoe Project starts tonight and I realized I can't watch it.

I don't miss my former life all that often, but I do miss my fancy cable which allowed me to watch Millionaire Matchmaker and The Rachel Zoe Project.

I just love those ladies.

I hope Rach is on Hulu.

Just saying.

Tonight we're trying a new restaurant called J. Wong's Asian Bistro, but I keep wanting to call it J. Woww's Asian Bistro.

How'd the Provo rec center get its SexyBack, you ask?

Well, I will tell you.

Tonight while Mark was practicing shooting, I went to ye ole rec center for a nice long cardio session and a little weights action.

That's not the sexy part.

Even when I was single and going to the gym with the acute knowledge that men could be found virtually anywhere, I never have looked good at the gym. When I go to the gym I pretty much just hop on the treadmill with the sincere hope and belief that the for the next hour, I will be that treadmill's beeotch and sweat like a banshee so I can move on with my life.

So I'm there and I got the treadmill that the fan's blowing on and I'm pretty happy despite the fact that the girl next to me is leisurely strolling at a 1.5 or something wearing flip flops. Flip flops!! To exercise!!

Anyway, here comes sexy.

There's a girl on the mat behind the treadmills, sprawled out, presumably stretching. She has Kim Kardashian hair and strategically placed cleavage and I hope she's just cooling down.

Little did I know, things were just heating up.

The girl stands to leave the room, then walks over the the weight room where a second fan stands at attention. She struts over and poses in front of it, flipping her hair in slow motion.

She walks back into the cardio room. Slowly. She gets on an elliptical machine and starts moving, turning her head a hard 110 degrees to the mirror at her right and sort of behind her to stare at her derrière.

I stare up at the security camera as if to say, "are you getting all this?" and "Are we filming a rap video? Because I didn't bring my booty shorts or false eyelashes."

The girl is so busy staring at her rump that she almost falls down.

I laugh inside.

I'm starting to feel pretty bad at this point, but I'm also about 400 calories in, and when I'm working hard at the gym and other people are just putzing along, barely breaking a sweat, I have flashbacks of high school math class. That is of me, a senior, in junior level math, trying so hard to solve for x when the sophomores in the corner are laughing. I'm mad because either they're way smarter than I or they like math and both of those are terrible.

Anyway, so after another slo-mo hair flip in front of the weight room fan, our little friend saunters back into the cardio room and decides to give the stationary bike a try and get this...tries to move the fan that is facing me to face that bike!

At this point I'm about to pounce, because the only thing worse than listening to a sophomore laughing in math class is being at the rec center sweating my head off while the fan points at someone who's biking at a glacial pace.

Lucky for us all, the girl doesn't have the core/upper body strength to budge it an inch and she gives up.

I try to tune it out. I also try to tune her out while I'm doing triceps dips and she's doing crunches in half time on the bench press bench.

And that, my friends, is how the Provo rec center does sexy. Please don't come watch; we're short on machines.

That's a real dilemma.

My toothpaste leaves a soapy taste in my mouth for several hours unless I wash it out with a big Diet Coke and a doughnut from Provo Bakery, but then the taste of guilt that provokes lingers all day.

I enjoy being a girl, or, being funny in spite of Y chromosome’s absence.

Someone today told me I was funny. It was flattering, and made me think of one of my old roommates (it’s a fuzzy memory as I can’t remember which roommate this was…) who would join with me in saying, “I’m pretty funny for a girl.”

Who doesn’t like to think they’re funny? It’s nice when you say stuff and people laugh. Usually.

I can kind of be funny around people I know. Around people I know, I can watch Last Comic Standing and think, “yeah, that would be a fun job.”

But then I go into a business meeting with new people and I can scarcely intelligently explain what it is I do, exactly. This happens mostly with groups of middle-aged men who have sold a couple companies to Microsoft in their time. These guys don’t need my jokes; they have their own inside jokes from the early days at IBM. Being around these kind of guys makes me feel like I should just sit down and take dictation. Not by anything they do, per se, but they just get me feeling so intimidated.

I don’t feel that way in a group of women, and I think that’s probably because I can see myself in those women. I can imagine what it would be like to ascend to that level professionally because I’ve seen them do it, and the ones I know do it with husbands and kids, too. It’s nice to start a meeting by hearing from an executive about how much fun she had with the kids on vacation the previous week, and then to jump in to talk strategy and how we can focus PR efforts around her current marketing pipeline.

Even in business, with a group of women you tend to speak nicely. You tend to ask for support when you need it. You tend to get support when you ask for it. You tend to get a laugh when you tell a joke.

Not to mention – keeping up a household, keeping your marriage intact and raising kids while excelling in your career? +1.

You know I think there’s just something about a girlfriend lunch, and there’s just something about dealing professionally with successful women. They’re professional, but they’re still women. They’re women, but they’re still professional.

Sacred Places

I read this post today in the Salt Lake Trib and it about brought a tear to my eye.

You'll notice hollylynnsays was the first commenter. I am such a NERD sometimes!

The article, which you really should read even though I know you probably won't, is about how we all have these specific sacred places that are related to a life-changing memory.

Some of mine:

Rolling into Rexburg on a rare visit. Just the site of that little town off to the right of the highway makes me think of the girl I was when I first arrived, the girl I was when I finally left, and the girl I am now.

Wearing the cardigan I wore today. So true, this isn't a place, but I wore it on my first date with my husband and that is such a sweet memory.

The old building in my hometown where I taught piano lessons. It was the first time I really felt ownership of a project that had real world impact. I really loved those kids. I hope I taught them something.

Seeing the Draper Temple up on the hill when I'm in that neck of the woods (a sacred place for many, I realize), "my" temple, remembering sitting inside, talking to my mom, waiting for the biggest thing I'd ever done.

What are your personal sacred places?

So...

Since my last post, I changed my blog design. Before it was looking like so much Pepto. Make no mistake: I want my blog to be hot pink. So the title is punch enough...for now.

Anyway. I am one of those people who does things a certain way. My way is always the way that makes most sense and is best for society. There are a number of ways I exhibit this: I always shut the entire lid of the toilet before flushing to contain germs. I don't cut meat on wood cutting boards, even if it's cooked. Heck, I even do all the apartment deep cleaning on Tuesdays when my husband is playing basketball so I can do it my way. I wouldn't call myself particular to the point of insanity.

However, you might.

One thing I'm particular about is pulling up EXACTLY to the stop line when I'm first in line at a stop light. Even though most of the lights in my neighborhood are on timers, not sensors, I still feel this is of utmost importance. And the other day, I did this, as is normal and correct, and a car pulled up in the next lane over, and I kid you not, they were almost a full car length behind the stop line!

What were they hoping to accomplish with this? The world may never know. I sure have been thinking about it since, though.

I don't know

how my blog design got so ugly

how i cut my finger open today

why the neighbor upstairs is always on her phone shouting the most asinine things

why it's so hard to find a decent rental property in this town that isn't mcmansion expensive or crackhouse horrific

Basically I don't know much today. Do you?

Where my peep at? or, Cabela’s: Montana-sized salt lick for eager new bow hunters

Last night, I went to Cabela’s with my husband to buy bow hunting equipment. No word yet on how bow bow staff skills translate into bow hunting skills.

Cabela’s has all kinds of equipment for killing all kinds of animals.

We were there for upwards of 90 minutes and didn’t have time to look at the fake mountain with all the dead sheep and stuff on it, or the aquarium, which is my favorite part because it’s like Sea World, Freshwater Edition.

I’ve been to Cabela’s once before in my life, with Erin, to buy a lantern for…doesn’t matter. We went in there with our makeup and our curled hair and our premium denim and our high heels and we clacked our way across the tile floor past the camo-clad customers and employees right to the camping section to pick out the world’s greatest lantern.

The only place I’ve ever felt like more of an outsider was that one time in junior high that I tried out for a sports team.

The archery section of Cabela’s was a lot more upbeat than the camping section, because it was stacked with Rabies, er, helpful sales staff people with names like Cody and Raby. I think the store had Rabies to help customers in other departments, but we just had one individual Raby.

He is a bow hunter/Cabela’s outfitter and he installed a new peep on Mark’s bow, and cut his arrows to the appropriate length for his bow and stance. If you are going to take up bow hunting, might I suggest you talk to Raby? And Cody. But I kind of just like talking about Raby.

I have to say, I was happy to be there for this outing, especially when we got to the till, when I realized I had just racked up enough points to trade in the IKEA fabric I’d planned on to re-upholster my chairs, for something to the tune of Jonathan Adler.

Dear Talbots, I am blogging about Talbots. Talbots.

I wonder if the Google Alert will pick that up...

After my last post, I got this comment:

1) Extremely flattered to be contacted by any sort of PR department because it makes me feel famous

2) Extremely impressed with Google's thoroughness because my blog, especially of late, is nothing to write home about

At the behest of what I do believe was a PR rep for Talbots, I took a look at what they were peddling these days (as one PR gal to another) and I must say, Sophie at Talbots, you were right! I was pleasantly surprised. So many cute dresses, especially, on the site. Look what I found. Sophie, do you think you could get me one of these comped? Because we're in money-saving mode at my house this summer and I would love to get any and all of these for $40 each...

All photos swiped from talbots.com.

Do you ever wonder...

what your outfit says about you?

Because last night, mine said, "I'm 56 years old and enjoy shopping at Talbots."

It wasn't one of my hipper moments.

Candy talks to strangers.

You might be interested to know that one Mr. Brandon Flowers is releasing a solo album this fall called Flamingo.

The buzz I've read about it is pretty unwaveringly positive, but there are the naysayers.

I think that Brandon Flowers is the best thing about The Killers, so for me there is no downside to this foray.

That is as long as B-Flow reunites with his matador buddies for just three or four more tours that pass by this way (which I hear is a pretty tall order).

image courtesy of last.fm

I don’t want to get old.

Today at work I got a phone call from an irritated industry veteran, angry and confused about why my team had handled an announcement the way we had. I explained our strategy and he told me he didn’t see how that could be considered a strategy. Simply put, we are doing things the new way.

I felt bad for him. I like things the old way too, but now we have the new way.

I love the new way. It is challenging. It is exciting. It is constant change. I’m not old, but I still find myself feeling behind from time to time. It takes work and you have to keep up. That is half the fun.

I don’t know who said it, but it’s true: you can’t stop technology, so you might as well find a way to leverage it for your use.

Someone else said you’re not old till you stop learning. I say you’re not old till you stop trying new things. I feared that if I had brought up Twitter on my appeasing phone call today, I might have put the person on the other end of the phone in the hospital.

I’m not saying that everyone needs to tweet about Bieber Fever on their iPads 24/7, but as soon as you shut out the next big thing, you’re making yourself un-relatable. You’re isolating yourself. What exactly are you trying to prove by not participating in Facebook, for example? You think that leaving yourself out is going to convince millions of people that what they’re doing is a waste of time?

If this is how people are talking, I guess you better join the conversation…if you want to be heard.

I’m fixating on technology here, but it goes for just about everything. Young people are the future, and if you want to stay young, keep asking questions. Find out what the kids are doing these days. It doesn’t mean you have to agree with what they’re doing. Even when I was a kid, I was disagreeing with what the kids were doing.

In short: curiosity is what makes youth young, and I hope to stay young by keeping curious about what’s current.

Anyone else run into this? Do you ever feel like you’re getting prematurely old because you don’t understand the new way of doing something?

Inspiration Board.

Today, Meredith at Just Lovely posted some inspiration boards that she'd made to help her decorate her newly remodeled house (and I cannot WAIT to see before and afters, lady!), and forgive me for riding on her coattails, but I thought it might be a good opportunity to share with you my new online inspiration board, The Nesting Doll.

Now, if you go look at it, be nice, and remember, it's just my inspiration board. Nothing is original (for now), just a gathering of pretty things from around the Web, but I always give credit. And for all of you nesting dolls (do you get that name? I hope people get it), I have a growing list of blogs full of little pretties that you can spend days drooling over.

I'm just starting and well...I hope I keep it up. Because it's fun.

Cookies

If you know me in real life, you know that my family has a thing about chocolate chip cookies. The past few years, I have shamed the family name with ridiculously bad cookies.

They burn, or they go flat, or they're too cakey, or I forget some key ingredient (I know, I know).

But tonight, I made cookies and it was just like old times. They worked like they are supposed to for the first time in probably, seriously, four years.

I decided that I owe it to the cookie sheets. You know, those heavy, aluminum cookie sheets? I finally have two of them, just like my mom has, and her mom, and hers...

For the longest time, I told myself that these cookie sheets were hard to find, but then I got one at my bridal shower and decided to just scope out the baking section of my favorite Springville Walmart during a routine perusing, and what did I see but the good old fashioned Nordic Ware cookie sheets of my dreams, and I bought one to complete my budding set.

Ten dollars for one. Now I know they aren't hard to find, it was just hard for me to spend ten dollars on a cookie sheet while living with the risk that a roommate might ruin/steal it (and let's be honest...)

But this new roommate I have, he's not much of a baker. And he isn't moving out at the end of the semester. So we're allowed to have ten dollar cookie sheets.

Three cheers for cookies that would make mom proud!

Happy Girl

I saw this image over at dress design decor (originally from Martha Stewart Weddings Spring 2010 issue) and wanted to pass it along.

Don't you just love Audrey Hepburn?

Do you need a place to live through the summer?

Then leave me a comment. I'm selling my housing contract. Rent is $405 but I'm flexible on that. I can also throw in a 24" TV/DVD combo with the deal (since the place doesn't come with a TV). Here's the info:

Rent the master suite in this beautiful, spacious, clean town home in South Provo!

The rent is $405, but, you could easily be paying $450 for a master suite in this neighborhood, so this is a great price.

The room is large with a private bathroom, and tons of storage in the walk-in closet. The town home itself has two other tenants and is a three bedroom, two and a half bath. It has lots of windows and light, a large pantry in the kitchen and a full unfinished basement with TONS of storage space.

Amenities:

*Private bedroom

*Private bath

*Walk-in closet

*Tons of storage space

*Washer and dryer included

*Furnished with bed, desk, dresser and bookshelf

*Free cable

*Covered Parking

*Lots of light

The contract goes through August with an option to renew for another year. The roommates are kind and quiet, and the area is social with a good mix of singles and families, students and working professionals, etc.

You will love it here! Please email me with any questions or to schedule an appointment to see the house.

Thanks!