Utah: Day 1

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Warning: Long post, lots of pics...
My boss and I are in Utah recruiting at BYU. We flew in Tuesday evening and it was dark when we left the airport. So, I'm not counting it as day 1 because we couldn't see anything.

I woke up Wednesday morning and discovered that in every direction that I looked there were mountains. It was beautiful! I've been to New Mexico and Colorado and I love them both, but nothing compares to being surrounded by mountains like this. I've also never been to a place like this in Fall. The colors of the trees are GORGEOUS! I am obsessed with trees. I grew up in a part of OK that does not have many trees at least in comparison to where I live now and where I am at right now. So needless to say I am always impressed by trees!

We headed to Park City for the day. The drive up there was incredibly beautiful. I think my boss and I said "oh thats so pretty" about a million times!

I can't visit a ski town without a picture with the local bear!

Main Street, Park City

Who doesn't love a pink stairwell!?! Mary Janes--a cute shoe store.

I walked into this pet boutique and was greeted by not one huge dog, but FOUR! (the 4th one didn't make the picture.) Compared to my little dog these things are giants!

I loved this restyled door!

The best part of Park City--the Factory Stores!! I bought these great metallic gold loafers from Banana for $23! I just love them! I also got some great deals on clothes.

After Park City we decide to just keep on driving back to Salt Lake City. We have several students from BYU at the medical school (which is why we came to recruit here). They suggested that we tour Temple Square if we had time. My boss and I are not Mormon, but are both interested in learning about different types of religions and my boss is a history freak.

After a few wrong turns in downtown SLC we pulled over at this city building with a huge lawn. I snapped the next couple of pictures out our sunroof. (I warned you that I was obessesed with trees.)

I just can't get over these great Fall colors!


The Mormon Temple


View from my hotel

View from the parking lot of Nordstrom's. I'm telling you no matter which way I turn I see mountains.

It was a great day in Utah! And the weather was AMAZING!

GIVEAWAY!

WINNER:
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:18
Timestamp: 2008-10-31 02:05:03 UTC

LeAnn, you are the winner! Congrats girlie!
E-mail me at sweetsimplicity@gmail.com to claim your prize!

GIVEAWAY Time!!! I love giveaways! I have seen lots of blog posts lately that are encouraging bloggers to shop handmade this holiday season. I thought this was a great idea! We should support our bloggie friends in their effort to sell their handmade items. When I first started blogging I would read about etsy. I had know idea what etsy.com was. For those of you who don't know it is a place to buy and sell all things handmade. There is an option on the site to search for local "shops". I searched for my local town and stumbled across Posh Recreations. She sells the cutest handpainted items. I have one of her leopard picture frames and I bought one for Chesley for her birthday. I think they are the cutest frames! I am teaming up with Allison from Posh Recreations to give one away to a lucky reader!!!!

This frame was lovingly painted with non-toxic paints in a very beautiful light blue with gold and black leopard print. Next, distressed to add oodles of character and interest. Finally it was treated with 3 coats of polyurethane for a slight sheen and lots of protection.This frame measures 11”L x 9”W. It can show off any of your 5 x 7” pics. The frame comes with GLASS to cover and protect the photo. This frame can be wall hung as it has 4 holes on the back for easy hanging either vertically or horizontally.

To enter:
1. Visit Posh Recreations and leave me a comment telling me what your favorite item is.
2. Blog about this giveaway for an extra entry.
The giveaway will end tomorrow (Thursday) at 5 p.m. (mountain time---I am travelling for work in Utah!) The winner will be chosen by randominteger.org and announced Friday morning.

Every Girl Needs...

....a pink, monogrammed tool set! My momsy bought this for me several Christmases ago. I have actually gotten a lot of use out of it. I especially got a lot of use out of it when I lived in the sorority house. Everyone is always borrowing each others tools to redecorate their room and they sometimes didn't make it back to the original owner. At least with pink tools there was no mistaking who they belonged to!

I used my fabulous pink tool set this weekend. I have been eyeing this framed picture for quite a while but didn't think it was the best place to spend my money. I took something back to Hobby Lobby this weekend and it had been past their return timeline so they would only give me store credit. Well, it worked in my favor because I came home with this.

Our bathroom could really use some color but I don't think I could ever talk Ty into painting it. He painted our other bathroom a light, cool blue color. It turned out great but there are just too many things to paint around in a bathroom!

Here is a close-up of the picture. I just love it!

I also hung up these great oval frames that I picked up at a garage sale a few weekends ago.

Ty was quite shocked when he came home! I don't normally hang things with out him. He is very opinionated on the way things should look. This can be a good and bad trait! Good when we agree and bad when we don't! At least he is always interested in the decorating!

Christmas??

Is it Christmas?? The answer would be NO. The husby and I were driving home from work the other night and Ty was admiring a big display of the blow up Halloween yard decorations. We turned down our street and noticed someone on our block had some Christmas decorations lining their driveway. We had to look twice to be sure of what we saw. We haven't even had Halloween or Thanksgiving yet people! I know that the stores starting carrying Christmas decorations several months ago, but it is defintely not time to start displaying them. Now, this is just my humble opinion. But how can Christmas be a special time of the year if we are celebrating it months beforehand??

I went to Hobby Lobby on Saturday and browsed through the Christmas decor. I just couldn't bring myself to buy anything. I am enjoying my Fall decor too much! And I should be considering it is still Fall!

This picture of Nuts always reminds me of how I feel on Mondays. He is all curled up in our bed and his eyes are puffy and squinty. He won't even look at the camera and seems mad that I would even think about whipping it out that early in the morning!

One Lucky Girl

I have recently won 2 giveaways! I always feel like I am a person that NEVER wins things,but apparently I do!!

I won a giveaway from Shell in Your Pocket. Everything in it is so cute and my husby has his eye on the Starbuck's gift card!

Then today I won a giveaway from My Journey Toward: The Glamorous Life of a Housewife.

Its an adorable fall bread pan from Williams-Sonoma. I just love it! Won't it be a perfect thing to take with me for Thanksgiving dinner at the husby's grandparents!?!

I will be paying it back with a giveaway of my own very soon! Happy FRIDAY!!

Weak Stomachs: Be Forewarned...

....Do NOT read this if you have a weak stomach! My poor little puppy was very sick this morning. I was on the couch eating my cereal when he jumped up on the couch and laid across me. His poor body was shivering like crazy. He slid off of me and threw up beside me. Luckily, the blanket that I had out last night was still on the couch and that is what he threw up on and not the couch. I threw him outside, finished my cereal in the kitchen and then felt sorry for him because it was so cold outside so I let him back in. As I am letting him back in I can hear Ty's alarm going off. Every morning when Ty's alarm goes off, I let Nuts get in bed with him. Ty hits snooze a million times, so Nuts gets to snuggle with him while Ty ignores his alarms.

I opened the bedroom door and Nuts jumped on the bed and dove under the covers. I proceed to tell Ty that he threw up this morning and if he hears Nuts heaving that he better throw him on the floor. About 30 seconds later Ty is YELLING! I ran back there to see the covers thrown off the bed and throw up all over the sheets AND all over Ty! EW!! I had to run out before I got sick. It was so gross. I felt so bad for Ty! When I let Nuts back there I didn't really think he would get sick again. Needless to say it was a bad morning at our house!

OH NO!

**UPDATE: The shirt is RUINED! I ruined a gorgeous silk shirt! The dry cleaners couldn't fix it. Is it bad that I am this upset over a piece of clothing!?!**

I am travelling for work today (and yesterday). My boss and I were done with our recruiting presentation and decided that we needed a snack. Lo and behold there was a marble slab next to our hotel. I was happily eating my chocolate ice cream with butterfinger mixed in when I dripped some of it on my dry clean only silk shirt! I was devastated! As soon as we got back to the hotel I googled how to get chocolate out of a silk shirt--soak in cold water. I ran to the bathroom and filled the sink with cold water and to soak my shirt. I checked on it an hour later and the black had started to bleed on to the ivory!! I frantically grabbed my purse and ran down stairs to the front desk and asked where the nearest dry cleaners are located. Thankfully, I called them first to see if it would be possible to pick up my shirt by 3 today, because that is what time I am leaving to head home. They said that they couldn't do it by 3, but that their main store could.
After a few missed turns, I finally found the place. The girl behind the counter assured me that they would do all that they could to get out the black dye. I guess I will find out today at 3! I
HOPE it all comes out. It is one of my favorite work shirts and isn't available in the store anymore.

My evening wasn't completely ruined by this episode. I got to have dinner with a sorority sister who is attending OU Law school. It was so much fun to catch up on everything!

Great Garage Sale Finds

Saturdays are my days to sleep in, run errands, lay on the couch, bake, lay on the couch, clean the house, etc. I also spend quite a bit of time on the couch! Ty on the other hand wakes up at the crack of dawn to hit those med school books. This past Saturday I woke up early to go to a couple of garage sales. I know that my momsy is smiling as she reads this, because garage sales have never been my thing. My momsy loves them and drug me to quite a few when I was little. But my mind has changed--I love garage sales! After reading about all of my bloggy friends' great garage sale finds, I decided that I should give garage sales a second chance. Boy, am I glad I did!

I found a great little lamp for $3, 2 Santas for $1.50, and a candlestick for $.25!

I need to spray paint the candlestick black...that will have to wait until this weekend.

I also bought these two oval antique frames for $.50 each. I love them and have been looking for the perfect spot to hang them.

Close-up of the oval frames.

I found this great little table for $5. It fits perfectly in this weird spot we have in the living room. It needs to be repainted. Ignore the decor on it--I just wanted to put something on it until I get around to painting it. And yes the lamp cord needs a cover or something so that it doesn't stand out so much.

Ty and I have been looking for a small table to put on our patio, but neither one of us wanted to spend a lot of money on it. I came across this and I LOVE the chairs! The cushions will need to be recovered. I am on the lookout for a cute outdoor pattern.

I also bought a bench for $8! What a deal! It has heavy duty cast iron sides. I couldn't get the picture to upload. I am out travelling for work and my wireless aircard isn't working very well, so that means I can't upload the bench picture. I was very excited about all my garage sale finds! It was so much fun! I am going to have to wait a while before I go to garage sales again. I can see myself buying stuff just because it is a good deal. I know when the husby is reading this later he is going to be agreeing!

{Hard Work}

Several weeks after buying flower bulbs I finally planted them. Ty dug me a flower bed and I got to work. Planting flowers is HARD work! I am so sore today!

Ty snapped some pics of me from inside the living room. He was supposed to be studying! He is so sneaky! Or at least he thinks he is!

Reading my directions...I've never planted flowers before!

Designing the layout. Nuts ran off with a few bulbs. I guess they tasted good.

This smile didn't last long....

I had to dig a 6 inch hole for the tulip bulbs. (Don't worry I did not try to use my guesstimation skills. Notice my pink tape measure in an earlier picture.) I did not have a spade and 6 inches is really deep! It took me forever to get all the tulip bulbs in the ground and even then they are probably only 4 inches down. Ty thought he would come sit outside and study while I planted. He eventually felt sorry for me (or got tired of listening to me complain!) and buried all the ranunculas in like 5 minutes.

Nuts and I are much happier sitting on the couch with the computer and tv!

Notice how Nuts is sitting like a human. He thinks he is one.

Visit The GlamLife Housewife for a great giveaway!

Scentsational

I love to have candles lit all over my house. This stems from my momsy, who always has candles burning. My favorite scents are usually some form of vanilla or floral scent. I do not like spices, especially cinammon. For my birthday last year my SIL, Sarah, introduced me to Autumn Apple from Bath and Body Works. It is my new favorite scent. I am not usually an apple person, but this candle is amazing! It can smell up a whole room. I hate buying candles that smell good in the jar, but then can't produce a fragrance when lit. Not the case with this candle!

The husby and I are obsessed with making sure that our house does not smell like Nuts, our sweet little puppy. (Ok, he is not a little puppy...he is a year old.) We are always asking Chesley if our house stinks. Poor Chesley is always put on the spot, but we rely on her to tell us the truth. This candle plus some febreeze helps us keep our house from smelling like a dog.

What are your favorite scents? Do you have an amazing candle that can make your entire house smell good?

Presidential Post

I spent the last couple of days in Houston with my boss. We were there for a couple of recruiting events. (I recruit undergrad students to come to medical school.) Her brother, Daren, is the manager of the Houston Polo Club. He also plays polo professionally. His job allows him to meet all kinds of famous and not to mention, rich people. One of the most exclusive clubs in Houston is right next door to the Polo Club, the Bayou Club. The Bayou Club owns the Houston Polo Club. Well, guess who happens to be a member of the Bayou Club--former President Bush. He also lives near the polo club and whenever he needs to fly in his helicopter, he lands it on the polo field. Dana and I happened to be in the right place at the right time. Daren called Dana the day we were flying into Houston and asks her if we would like to meet former Presidents Bush and Clinton. Of course she said yes! We had to leave our hotel at 6:15 in the morning to be at the polo club in plenty of time to meet them.
The only people at the polo club are Daren and his wife, Tammy, Dana, me, secret service, the pilots, two key staff members, a camera man, a representative from the company of the helicopter and the presidents. Oh yeah, and the former Secretary of State, James Baker. It was quite the cast! It was also a very small crowd. We were incredibly lucky to even meet these men, but to be the only other people there was amazing! They were headed to Galveston to see all the devastation caused by Hurricane Ike. They have set up the Bush-Clinton Coastal Recovery Fund to help the Texas and Lousiania coast lines recover from these hurricanes.

Poppa Bush is so cute! And very old. He arrived first and was very nice. He walked over to Dana, Tammy, and I and greeted us. He was very nice. Clinton was the last to arrive and he came over to us and shook our hands and made small talk just like Poppa Bush. Clinton is much skinnier in person than he looks. He kind of reminded me of a mix between Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. After we took the picture that is above this paragraph, he patted me on the back and said bless you. How many people can say that they have met two former presidents?? And a former Secretary of State?? It was quite a morning.

Three very powerful men about to board a helicopter.

After our eventful morning we headed over to Prairie View A&M University to actually do what we came into Houston to do--our jobs. Later that evening I got to go to dinner with one of my good friends from college, Lindsay. She is my little from my sorority. I love visiting her in Houston. She always plans the best things for us to do. We went to dinner at an italian restaurant and then headed to Ooh La La, The Dessert Boutique. It was the cutest cupcake bakery. My camera died from all the pictures I took of the presidents, but I did get one good picture of my cupcake to share with you all!

After dinner and dessert, I requested to go to Home Goods. This is a store that I have heard about from so many of the blogs that I read. We don't have one in Oklahoma, but we NEED one! I think it is associated with TJ Maxx, but it is obviously all home goods. I loved the store, but didn't find anything that I just couldn't live without. Or that would fit in my suitcase anyway. I did buy a little gift for someone, but I don't want to spoil their surprise.
Needless to say I had a great time in Houston! Although, nothing beats coming home!

Out of the Loop

I am out of commission for the next couple of days. I am in the Houston area for work. I have this great invention called, a wireless aircard. It allows me to connect to the internet from basically anywhere. The only downfall is that sometimes the connection is not strong enough to upload pictures. This is one of those times! I am very disappointed because I did something pretty exciting this morning...I will share more later this week. I don't want to tell the story without all the pictures that I snapped. It wouldn't be the same. And you all want pictures, right?!?

Until then, I will leave you with one picture that I patiently waited to upload. I saw these cute step stools on JCPenney.com. They are on sale for $39.99 and if you google JCPenney promotion codes, I'm sure that you could get some sort of discount to show up. I just think they are adorable and I need one in every color. Something tells me that the husby will not agree with me, so I will not order any. But a girl can dream....

I know that many of you creative types could just find something very similar at a thrift store for a nickel and paint it the same way, but that never happens to me! So sad!

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend I went to my hometown to watch my best friend from high school get married. Chelsey had 5 bridesmaids: her 2 sister-in-laws along with Kristan, Carmen and I. The three of us plus Chelsey have been friends since pre-school. It was so much fun to spend the whole weekend together. Chelsey and Jonathan are so cute together and will make each other very happy! I can't wait to have them over for dinner. They only live 20 minutes from me now!

The pumpkin made a picture!! It set next to the guest book table, but I didn't get a chance to snap a pic of that.

My dad made this arch for me to use in my wedding. It has now been through 3 weddings: mine, my sister's and Chelsey's. I bet he had know idea that we would get this much use out of it!

Rose petal covered aisle

Me and the Matron of Honor, Kristan, helping Chelsey get into her dress. I put this picture in because I did her eye make-up and you can kind of see it in this picture. I should have taken a close-up of it, but we were so busy doing other things I didn't even think about it. I was really pleased with how it turned out. She looked gorgeous!

The bridal bouquet. The groom had a twin brother that died when they were 2. The butterfly was placed in the bouquet to remember him and include him in their special day.

Old mason jars with ribbon and their monogram were the vases for the centerpieces. They were filled with white hydrangeas. I loved this old basket they were in.

The flower that made up part of her veil.

The girlies!

Chels and I at rehearsal dinner. The restaurant was so neat. This zebra wallpaper made up the back wall. There were several little alcoves off the main room and they all had different black and white wall paper. I was in LOVE!