I've been obsessed with this song lately. It's kind of dark and has a super catchy chorus. I find myself listening to it alot when I drive. A great song for the cold weather.
St. Vincent - Cheerleader
And also this song... more upbeat. Dancy and awesome
Last month Nick and I went on a weekend trip to San Francisco. I had never been there before and had always wanted to go, and nick loves it there so we booked our tickets and jumped on a plane! Well it wasn't quite so spontanious but you catch my drift...
We did all the touristy stuff, plus some non touristy stuff. The first night our flight got in around 7. Once we got settled in at the hotel we went out to dinner at Bluestem Brasserie. It was super tasty! I had the most delicious tapioca pudding with a caramelized top.
The next day we went to the bridge, chinatown, shopping, and a spur of the moment Giants game. After the game we met up with a few of Nick's friends for drinks (I can't remember the name of the bar). After drinks we went into the mission and got tacos from Taqueria Pancho Villa which was very tasty. After tacos we went to a couple of bars. One was called Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem. It had a bunch of weird glitterized manequin sculptures with gas masks. I didn't take any pictures there but I wish I did. We also went to a bar called Beauty Bar. It is modeled after a hair salon and has giant vintage looking blow dryers everywhere.
Day three we went to the farmers market at the ferry building. YUM!!! Miette Bakery has the most delicious treats! After that we went to Haight Ashbury and ate at a gastropub called Magnolia. I absolutely loved the atmosphere there. I left the Haight Ashbury area feeling very inspired. It's awesome that there are so many people who are able to pursue creative lifestyles and actually make it work. That night we took it easy at the hotel and went to bed early (we were both fighting colds).
Our last day we went back to the ferry building and ate at The Slanted Door. We only had a few small things but it was very delicious and I highly recommend going there. Then we went to Japan town, the park where you can see the painted ladies (i.e. full house houses), then went on a mad hunt for the crookedest street but google maps led us astray and we never made it there.
I didn't do the best job photo documenting the trip but here's what I did get.
p.s. don't judge me for wearing the same outfit the entire time I was there. I didn't pack very well and it was a little chilly so my Lulu Horse Print scarf came in handy.
Walking around the financial district
Chinatown
Go Giants!
Nick looking fine at the ferry building
Farmers market day at the ferry building
The Hyatt across the street from the ferry building - cool elevators!
So I was at the store the other day when I came across a perfect little pile of pumpkins. Quickly my mind filled up with all the wonderful
things I could make with them.. pumpkin pie, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin spiced
lattes! Fast forward 2 weeks later and my little pumpkins were still sitting
sadly in my kitchen looking neglected. I should never be allowed to go to
the store when hungry, it always resorts in wishful cooking fantasies.
I decided to buck up and do something with the pumpkins before it was too
late. A simple Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe didn’t seem too daunting
and it certainly didn’t disappoint.
First you need to puree your pumpkin - 1 small pumpkin makes about 1 3/4 cups pureed
Cut your pumpkins in half top to bottom, scoop out the guts, place them cut side down in a baking dish filled with 2-3 inches of water, bake at 350 degrees for 45 min or until flesh is easily punctured, remove from over and let cool, scoop the flesh out and pop it into a blender or food processer until smooth
Pumpkin Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields about 30 cookies, Prep 20 Min, Cooking 12 minutes per batch
For this recipe you will need:
1 cup pureed pumpkin (you’re not feeling ambitious 1 cup canned pumpkin will work just fine)
½ cup of applesauce (I used blackberry applesauce but any kind would work great)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (reduce to 2 cups if using canned pumpkin)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Pinch of pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Mix
together your pumpkin, applesauce, sugar, vanilla, and egg.
In a
separate bowl stir together your flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pie spice, salt,
and baking soda
Slowly
add your flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture mixing it well
Add
your chocolate chips – I used the whole bag. Don’t skimp here! Good chocolate
is key! Be careful not to mix to much once the chips are in or they will start
to break up.
Drop
by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and pop those babies in the over at 350°F for approximately 12
minutes or until lightly brown and firm.
Let
cool for 1-2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
If you're at all like me you grew up on Roald Dohl. Huddled unter your blankets late at night with a flash light reading the BFG cover to cover. Ahhh man I miss being a kid.
I just love this happy little poster by Kensie Kate. All of her posters are lovely but I love this one especially! Quote is from The Twits.
This might just be a phase but these past few weeks I've been really into chic street style. I've got a pair of black motorcycle boots that I've been wearing with leggings and a baggy tee to no end and I even impulse bought one of those cut out skull shirts (I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to DIY it but if you do HERE is a good one). This is a compilation of my favorite made for eachother items geared more towards the street end of the style spectrum.
Last night Nick and I went to go see The Jezabels play at Kilby Court. I first heard her on a biking video a couple years ago (cool video, check it out HERE - the other song in the video is by Loch Lomond). She has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard, and she sounded just as gorgeous live! They put on a really good show and were very friendly with awesome Aussie accents.
I predict these guys will make it pretty big someday.
This weekend was pretty chill. I got to babysit my handsome nephew on friday morning which was lots of fun. He's growing so fast I can hardly believe it! He will steal a spoon right out of your hand when you are feeding him and man that kid has a grip!
Friday night we went out to dinner for Nick's brother's birthday at El Chihuahua (known for their over the top sized deathstars). If you don't love a giant bucket of cheap alcohol in the beginning, you will love it by the end. Needless to say I was just the right amount of tipsy when I got home to want to go to bed. We called it a night pretty early.
Saturday I worked on craft projects all day (photos to come). Then around 5 Nick and I went out for an early dinner to ekamai Thai Curry. It is a cute little place right across from pioneer park downtown. They also recently built a new one in the Sugarhouse area right by my work (woohoo!).
I like ekamai because it is a good option for a fast lunch or dinner without eating greasy fast food. I had the yellow curry which was delicious, I don't remember what Nick had but it was insanely hot and apparantly they only serve it on saturdays.
That night we met up with a few friends at Maxwells downtown. It is their second location (first being up in Park City). While it's not exactly my cup of tea I still had a fun time dancing the night away and drinking lots of girly drinks. Nick happened to know the code to a downtown building from a party he attended this past summer so we went in the building and climbed to the top. Gorgeous views of Salt Lake! Shhhh don't tell anyone we were up there.
I think I found Ariel Pink when browsing reviews on Pitchfork -their newest album got really good reviews. I like his music because it sounds old and dreamy but still original.
Last week Amanda, Nick and I went to go see him play at Urban Lounge. He walked down into the audience a lot and overall seemed like a pretty cool guy. I was secretly hoping for him to have a freakout like he did at coachella a while back (sat down on the stage refusing to sing - out of his mind on something) but it was a pretty standard show. What can I say? I Guess I'm a bit of a drama queen.
Nick has most Fridays off, and I have every other friday off. On the ones that I am working we usually try and meet up for lunch. This last Friday we checked out the new Pig and a Jelly Jar restaurant near Liberty Park. It is by the same people who did Meditrina which holds a special place in my heart because it was where Nick and I had our first reunited date (we dated about 7 years ago for a couple months).
I had the chicken apricot rosemary sausage grinder with brie, caramelized onions and lemon aioli. Nick had the Friday special of fish and chips.
Though the fries were a bit undercooked, the food overall was pretty tasty and affordable. The restaurant is very cute and intimate and I dig those paintings.
While I still think I like Meditrina better, I'd go back to Pig. The Liberty Park area was going through some promising up and comingness prior to the recession. I think now that things are starting to turn a bit we'll start seeing even more cute little restaurants like this pop up, and some hip slc people flocking to the area (like me! I've been thinking about moving into a triplex nearby).
I've had a rough couple of days. I will be keeping this pretty little banner in mind this weekend and not letting things get me down. I'm going to let my inner light shine. It's gonna sparkle like a disco ball!
My Fall 2012 To Buy list on Pinterest is growing steadily (follow me on pinterest here). Here are some of my favorite must haves for fall. I might just be in love with that polka dot sweater from jcrew. Those jeans are a steal too!
Exactly one year ago today I went out to dinner with an old friend to catch up. I'm lucky to say that since that dinner I have had the best year of my life. I love you Nick! Thank you for being my best friend, my partner in crime, for your endless supply of dad jokes, and for always supporting all my weird projects and ideas. You are the best boyfriend a girl could ever dream of. I'm lucky to have you in my life.
Meet Jack, the love of my life (sorry Nick). He is my adorable, slobbery, hilarious french bulldog. Every day is filled with entertainment when jack is around.
Jack got a piece of toilet paper stuck to his face and got
so tired of chasing it around he finally just fell asleep
Sometimes he falls asleep on his back like this
Hey guys! Pay attention to me!
Jack the elf
Jack will use anything he can find as a chair (pillows, boxes, your leg)
burrowing in pillows for a little nap
Jack always leaves his appendages hanging out of his cage
One time jack crawled under a bed and got stuck. It was hilarious!
When I take him out for walks I am constantly having people ask about him and ask about what it's like owning a french bulldog.
I decided to put together a list of all the things I think people should know about before buying a french bulldog. Some of these are things you will read about on other sites, others are things I don't recall having read about when doing my initial research. While most of the things below are "negative", don't get me wrong... I LOOOOOVEEEE my frenchie! My list of positive things could go on for ages and I think that is the kind of stuff you would want to discover on your own when owning one anyway.
So let's get started....
1.Be prepared to give lots and lots of
attention! I’m not exaggerating here.. these dogs want to have your full
attention all the time. They are always by your side, under your feet, wanting
to be your partner in crime in everything you do. If you can’t give your
frenchie the time, don’t buy one. I’ve had quite a few different types dogs
growing up and most of them are fine to do their own thing when you are home.
My old dog Gracie (Schnauzer) would hang out in the yard, nap on the stairs,
look out the window. Frenchies do some of this, but majority of the time they
want to hang with you and will guilt trip you if they get ignored.
2.Snorting – If you are bothered by loud
breathers or people who snore, then a french bulldog probably isn’t for you. Since
they are smush face dogs (aka brachycephalic) their breathing is labored sounding all
of the time. It drives my sister insane but I’m so used to it I don’t get
bothered. When we went camping earlier this month, Jack slept in the trailer
with my sister and her 6 month old baby. His breathing was so loud that he woke
the baby up multiple times throughout the night.
3.Poopy bums – This doesn’t happen to
every french bulldog but I have noticed that it is fairly common in the
bulldogs that don’t have tails and have free access to a yard. When Jack is
allowed to poop as often as he likes (like when we go camping or when he has a
doggy door) his poo gets a little runny and you have to wipe his bum after he
goes to the bathroom. Back at my old house when he had a doggy door I would
often find little skid marks on the base boards from when he would come in and
sit right up next to a wall. Gross! It’s actually gotten better now that we are
in an apartment and he only gets to go out every 3-4 hours.
4.Health problems – Since these dogs
have such curved spines it is very common for them to have back and neck
problems when they get older. Last winter Jack started doing this weird
twitching thing with his neck and would lay down and not act like himself. I
took him to the doctor and they prescribed him some steroids and painkillers
and told him to take it easy for the next couple months. After a couple weeks
he stopped doing the neck thing and started acting normal again. They weren’t exactly
sure of what it was since they didn’t do an MRI but I need to keep an eye on
him this winter and see if it starts acting up again. It is most likely one of
his disks starting to herniate – if they do an MRI and surgery it is likely to
cost over $3000.
Another problem is their giant eyeballs – While they are adorable when staring
up at you with those big eyes, those eyes are also a death trap for floating
debris. I’ve had to take jack to the doctor twice now for getting stuff stuck
in his eyes (one was a piece of tire.. wha???). It’s also really easy to
accidentally poke their eyes when playing with them. Be careful and it shouldn’t
be a problem.
Allergies! It is VERY common for these little guys to have allergies (mostly
skin allergies). I have to give Jack low ingredient organic dog food or else
one of his eyes turns red and get puffy. Not a big deal but I’ve heard stories
of other french bulldogs with more severe allergies
Be prepared for expensive vet bills! The trip to the doctor for his back cost
$700, and his each of his eye incidents costed $300. If you can’t afford
medical costs for your frenchie, do the dog a favor and don’t buy one. It’s not
fair for the dog to suffer because you can’t pay the bills. Plus don’t let them
jump off couches or bed, the vet said this could have been a contributing
factor to his back problems.
5.Stubborn – Frenchies have very
strong personalities and while they are loving and obedient if trained properly
they still have a nastly little stubborn streak. Be prepared for some battles.
6.Strength – Often, frenchies don’t
know their own strength. Be very very careful with them around small dogs and
small children. Jack loves to playfully nibble fingers, play tug of war, and
will sometimes even head butt when he gets too excited. He’s given me a
headache or two from head butting.
7.Around other dogs – This is tricky
because I’ve seen a lot of frenchies that are great around other dogs, but Jack
doesn’t do so hot. He gets sooooooo excited and runs right up to them snorting his
little heart out wanting to play. Majority of the time he freaks the other dog
out with his outgoingness and they mistake his snorting for growling. Usually
the only dogs he gets along with really well are puppies because they don’t
know any better. My parents dogs (Chihuahua
and Mini Aussie) completely ignore him and won’t play with him. Jack loves to
play but sometimes it’s tricky to find dogs who aren’t intimidated by him, or
confused by his weirdness.
8.Avoid hard wood floors – They slip
and slide and can barely balance as it is with their odd shaped bodies. Plus I
think the hard floor is tough on their joints.
9.Drool – If you can’t handle drool on
everything you own then don’t get one
10.Be
prepared to give your heart and soul away. While the above covers the difficulties
you may encounter while having a frenchie, I can’t even put into words the joy,
love, and entertainment you will get from these furry little slobber faces. Jack
has more personality than most humans. There is never a day that goes by where
he doesn’t bust me up with laughter. He is the most loving little dog and I
truly consider him my baby. Once you go french you never go back!
Here are some funny videos for you to watch of Jack...
Last night Nick and I went to go see The Jezabels play at Kilby Court. I first heard her on a biking video a couple years ago (cool video, check it out HERE - the other song in the video is by Loch Lomond). She has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard, and she sounded just as gorgeous live! They put on a really good show and were very friendly with awesome Aussie accents. 
