Have you seen this?

Wow! Mason and I are totally diggin' this cover of LMFAO's "I'm Sexy and I Know It"

Noah Guthrie..you've got talent!

USU Jazz Weekend

Mason was in charge of Valentines day this year, and as always he did a fabulous job! As the holiday fell in the middle of the week we decided to wait for the weekend and make it "an experience." I knew we were slipping away to Logan, just to get away, but I didn't know what all he had planned.

First we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants on the way up:

Maddox! That would have been thrilling in itself, but it just kept getting better!

Then we checked in at the University Inn where the attendant spilled the beans as she gave us the room key, tickets to Jazz night, and for our special breakfast. While I didn't what all that entailed, I got really excited!

It was lovely to get to spend some time reminiscing about when we lived in Logan during our first 6 months of marriage and we hit all our favorite hot spots.

Mason also has 2 cousins living up there so we made arrangements to spend time with them and ended up helping one of them move into their beautiful new home and meeting their new little baby! It was so much fun!

Then came time for Jazz night. Even though he didn't tell me what we were doing, Mason had suggested I bring my cocktail dress, "just in case." I was so glad I did!


The evening started with swing dance lessons

We were treated to yummy Italian Cream Soda's and an amazing gourmet menu...

The Bands were great and played some of our favorite Jazz songs as well as introduced us to a few new ones.

Check out the great band stands. 

I am so lucky to be married to a man who likes to dance and appreciates all types of music. We had such a ball and I felt very spoiled. It was a wonderful way to get away and celebrate our love for one another. Love you Mason!

Oscars 2012

(I can hardly believe its been so long since I posted. I am so behind! Hopefully I can play a little catch up here. )

This year's Oscar party was the best yet! We had nearly 30 people crammed in my parent's front room. My dad got risers from the theater to create stadium seating of sorts, so almost everyone had a place to sit. It was so smart and made it extra special. Pictures were snapped by the papparazzi as each guest walked the red carpet and they stopped by the popcorn stand to set the mood for the movie clips to come.




Rob and Steph dressed for the occassion



Chaz and his cute girlfriend, Annie




Dressed representing their favorites: "Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" and "My Week with Marilyn"



The food was also amazing as we had a competition to see who could bring the best dish to represent one of the "best picture" nominees. The winners were: the soft pretzel wrapped hotdogs for "Money Ball" and Chocolate Pie as per "The Help" I can't believe I didn't take more pictures!



The award winning Chocolate Pies. They were amazing!



Did you have a favorite dress? Surprisingly, my favorite dress of the night was worn by a woman whose name I didn't even know, but I do now...Louise Roe. She was one of the hosts and everytime she was doing an interview I found myself studying her dress more than the celebrity's.

 

I love the juxtaposition of the structured top with the ultra feminine dusty rose color, the peplum, and layer skirt. Not to mention that elegent belt tying it all in nicely together...and sleeves! (Thank you Princess Kate for reigniting that trend)

My other favorites include:
Jessica Chastain

Octavia Spencer

Viola Davis

Emma Stone (maybe I just like The Help!)

Gwenyth Paltrow

To be honest, I was a little diappointed there wasn't more color this year. It seems we have seen the neutrals, metallics, and dusty tones a lot in the past couple years, so I thought this year was going to blow it all out of the water with color! I guess it a way, all the white did make it seem a little different, but I think I must be ready for spring and some more color to hit my world.

The Spitfire Grill

The Empress Theatre is putting on a great show right now, The Spitfire Grill. I love getting exposure to new musicals and this one has amazing music and a great storyline. As a bonus, the small cast (only 7 people, plus 2 musicians) are some of the best to ever grace the Empress' stage.  This show is definitely in my top 10 favorite shows I have seen at the Empress. I hope you might come out and enjoy it too! To see show times, cost and to purchase tickets check out the website http://www.empresstheatre.com/

P.S. Mason happens to be in the cast and although his part doesn't require any speaking  or singing, his character is central to the story and he does a great job in the show!

P.S.S. My little brother Chaz designed the poster for the show. Isn't he so talented?

Obsession: Gold

I tend to have a bit of an obsessive personality and to be honest, I like it that way. It is so fun to get wrapped in dreaming about something and I think it gives me drive to accomplish things too. (I think this explains why I was so boy crazy growing up!) Remember that pillow a couple years ago?

My current obsession though is not something I ever thought would be so wonderful to me. I remember feeling devastated and quickly embarrassed by my gut reaction when my engagement ring my husband presented to me when he proposed was yellow gold. It was 2004 and EVERYONE was doing white gold. Now I have grown to love my ring for 2 reasons:

1. I love that it is different than everyone else my age

2. because it is yellow gold! (it doesn’t hurt that it is decked out with diamonds too.)

Here is a sampling of the stunning guilded glory that has rendered me recently obsessed:

1. DIY Gold dipped Glassware from honestlywtf
2.  DIY Confetti Art via mint love social club
3. Stunning snow sparkle earrings from J Crew (my husband spoiled me and got me these for Christmas. I LOVE them!)
4. Gilded Herringbone Toms
5. Edible Gold winter branches via Andie's Specialty Sweets on etsy
6. The golden glow of cafe lights transports any event to another time and place

I could seriously go on and on...but I must stop! I hope my love afair with gold never dies.

Okay one more thought on gold. Do you know what my favorite combination with gold is? Rose check it out.

image via lesapeamusings

Isn't it glamorous!?! Love!

New Years Eve

A few ideas that struck my fancy for New Years 2011 :

A great way to invite your guests to your rockin' eve. Get the how to from my favorite party gal at Oh Happy Day

image via oh happy day!

I am going to try and recreate these beauties for our party


 via purlbee

Fun idea to pop a balloon every hour with an activity idea inside (I would add a little glitter to the balloons to make it a little more magical!)

via how does she

Free Download: Resolution Packet


via Run Lucas Run

Wouldn't this Pinata set the mood?

via confettisystem


Special drinks always seem to make an event seem extra special. For any of you pregnant ladies or Mormons (of which I am only one of those) there are tons of resources for "mocktail" beverages to kick your party up a notch. Some of my favorite include:

Martha Stewart
Gojee
and
Drink Alternatives

via Martha Stewart
 
Love these sky lanterns.  A perfect way to end the evening, releasing your new year wishes into the night sky. I also appreciate that this is a very peaceful activity rather than making a ruckus; it may start the year off a little differently. My favorite resource for these is Amazon. (Hint: They take at least 2 people to prepare, so you may not need as many as you think!)
 

 
image via boston.com
 
 
For more ideas see my New Years post from 2009
Happy New Year and Happy Partying!

Picks of the Week

Cyprus High School Class of 2001 10-year Reunion

I love this time of year. I feel rejuvinated and refocused. We clean out the clutter of Christmas and start fresh in the new year. Here are a few articles I found inspiring this week:

1. 12 things happy people do differently.
2. A No frills Kitchen still cooks. Great advice for the basic kitchen needs.
3. A great new (to me) blog with fascinating and useful content: becoming minimalist.
4. Change the conversation: Focus on what we LOVE about men, our husbands and marriage. This is a movement I can get behind!
5. What every girl really needs: great girl friends!