"just do it" - Nike

I just finished an internship with Melissa Blackburn, the dressmaker and creator of the coveted "Heidi" dress.  Every minute was so much fun and I loved it loved it loved it!  I learned a ton about fine sewing, handwork, and how to run a small business.  Melissa really inspired me to go for my dreams, basically saying, "Just do it."

So I am.  Right now, I am in the process of starting a small swimsuit line.  I will post pictures when I can. :)  Wish me luck!

p.s.  What things do you love/drive you crazy about swimsuits?

Vegan Recieps

This blog has some of the best recipes! And she is giving away $100 gift card to amazon.com. Love that! click here if you want to enter!

Less is More

What's the difference between this:

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and

this?

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Presentation matters.

images by: Thomas Kinkade and Edward Hopper

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal." Martin Luther King, jr.

Jess is big into peace. He is calm when I’m riled. Mr. everything-will-be-ok when things go wrong. He has theories on how to create peace in the middle east. He’s pretty amazing like that.

One of my favorite articles of clothing that he proudly wears is this baby:

He purchased this at the Provo DI almost 2 years ago and it has been a friend ever since.

While studying in Jordan, Jesse met the original owner of the shirt: Stacey. Apparently, she had to wear that shirt everyday for two weeks while touring Europe right out of high school. Oh, share the joy of recycled clothing.

Have you ever met a previous owner of a thrifted piece?

"Life itself is the proper binge" -Julia Child

photo courtesy of emptyeasel.com

Can I help with dinner? Yes.

From the time I was 5, I said those words almost everyday to my mother around 4:30.

I love kitchens. I love ingredients. I love recipe cards, recipe books, and recipes scrawled on the back of envelopes. I love aprons. I love whisks, pastry blenders, cutting boards, mixing bowls.

I love grocery stores. Seriously, I freaking .love. grocery stores. Locally owned grocery stores are my favorite: Dick’s Market, Macy’s, Mariano’s. I love the displays of fruits and vegetables, a mess of color. I love the sound of the squeaking carts. Sometimes, I will carry a basket when I am feeling romantic or sentimental. I love weaving through every isle and admiring the fantastic packaging, obviously a trait I inherited from my graphic designer of a father. I love free sample day and tasting the over-priced cheese balls and chicken nuggets. I love fantasizing over new products and guessing how I could incorporate them into new recipes or just justify the impulse buy. I love running into friends and neighbors, quickly greeting each other because you know the other is in a rush. I love putting the items onto the conveyor belt and trying to predict what the total will be. I love trying to carry them all into my apartment in one trip. I love pulling them out of their sacks and organizing them in the (hopefully clean) fridge. When I go to use them, a feeling of intense domestic goodness flows through my veins. It is as if they put a spell on me, making me want to adopt handicap animals and go clean my grandmothers home, all the while singing something from the Sound of Music.

Then, a flood of memories wash over me. My first recipe, scrambled eggs. My dad taught me how to make them when I was 4. About a year later, my grandpa g taught me how to make “grandpa’s eggs” with eggs, mustard, pickles, onions, green olives, bacon, and lots of cheese. My sister, grandma s and I made a batch of cookies once with whatever sounded good at the time. We ended up with hundreds of cookies and mailed them to our uncle serving an LDS mission. In jr. high, my best friend and I made cakes on valentines day for our boyfriends. Although they ended up looking like perfect replicas of Sleeping Beauty’s birthday cake because we forgot to put in the eggs, we gifted the cakes to them anyway, awkwardly giggling the whole time. It was a loaf of banana bread that first brought my husband into my life. While we were dating, I tried to win over his roommates and made dinner for them every night. During our engagement, we would make each other dinner every night and it resulted in wonderful conversing, dancing, and of course, blissful kissing.

Now, I love being able to create something that will touch the soul of my husband. My kitchen is my studio and cooking is my medium.

photo courtesy of http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/

photo courtesy of http://www.standard.net/

photo courtesy of neighborhoods.redeyechicago.com

An artist needs the best studio instruction, the most rigorous demands, and the toughest criticism in order to tune up his sensibilities.

I first fell in love with Wayne in my 2D art class. How he sees information and beauty in the mundane things in life is both quirky and classic. I love the rythm, texture, color, and subject matter of his works.

Wayne Thiebaud. (pronounced te-bow):

90 years old. Arizona. Retired Professor at University of California. Best known for: cakes, hotdogs, gum-ball machines. not pop-artist.

image courtesy of mhsartgallerymac.wikispaces.com

image courtesy of charleslewisart.com

photo courtesy of artist.christies.com