salmon bake

months ago, nearly 6 to be exact, was the annual salmon bake...

a little background... a year and a half ago, erin and i trained for a 1/2 marathon. the race distance was a first for the both of us and so was any knowledge of what to eat the night before. erin had mentioned the salmon bake to me, (and by mention, i mean she could hardly contain her excitement) but i just wasn't sure that was the meal i wanted to carry with me the next day as i took on the 13.1. that's understandable, right? as we neared race day, the salmon bake started sounding better and better. i mean, really, it seemed like the best option. i'm a pasta fan to be sure, but after reading up on the pros and cons of carb loading, i decided that it probably wasn't for me... mostly because i just don't agree that's its the best idea.

as a side note, i have since found out that my very good friend, mindy (who ran her last marathon in 3:17:57.... yes, she is a machine), eats a subway sandwich for dinner the night before.

although i didn't know mindy's marathon-eve eating preferences at this point in my life, i felt like fish and a baked potato might just be the answer for me.

so we went for it.

to be honest, though i was glad to go and see what erin had been talking up for so many months (i mean, i like salmon as much as the next person, but how good could this stuff be??!??), i had absolutely no idea that it would in fact change my life.

it did.

so of course we went again this past year. just a little group of us who could appreciate just how amazing this stuff is. there aren't words to describe this. and it was even better than i remember. the firemen in this particular city fly the salmon in fresh from alaska that day and then they grill it up. i will say that nearly 5000 people come to this thing every year... its THAT good. just take a look at the pictures and see for yourself...

as for me? i've already got salmon bake 2011 in my calendar.

this was my gorgeous piece of salmon... it tasted amazing.

me and my mama

since she is my best friend and because this happens once every 15 years (getting pictures taken with mom), i thought i would post the occasion... ain't she cute???

Photos by Matt Clayton
www.mattclaytonphotography.com

the lion king

so, i have a friend at work who saw the lion king musical in vegas with her family. and they hated it. hate is such a strong word, but really, they got up during the intermission and left. so i'm going to go ahead and say they hated it.

i've never been a big fan of disney. well, that's not entirely fair. i've never been a big fan of animation in general. it bores me somehow. not to mention, in the lion king, mufasa dies. he's the best part of the whole gig. lame.

so not being a particular fan of disney combined with my friend's review of the production (well, the 1st half anyway) left me a little weary to see this performance, but i'll tell ya, it did not disappoint. my mom and i went and took our first row balcony seats (thanks so much to nikki!!) and loved every minute.

spectacular.

i thought maybe i liked it because i'm nearly obsessed with everything african, (true story) but no, my mom also thought it an impressive production.

a must see and one of my favorites.

certified

a couple of weeks ago, I got an email that my test results were in the mail. a few days later, i was emailing a girl who took the exam with me. she mentioned that she had gotten her letter in the mail that morning.

suddenly, i was anxious.

i had to stay at work for about an hour longer to get some questions answered, but as soon as i had the information i needed, i was outta there.

after snagging the mail key at home, i ran (literally) to the mail box. i pulled out the one envelope with the NCIDQ (national council for interior design qualification) logo in the corner, left the rest of the mail, and turned to go home. not 5 steps away from the mailbox, i tore open the letter for the news.

as luck (and studying AND lots of prayers) would have it, i passed. all three sections. but the letter is somewhat hard to understand and i wasn't entirely sure that i HAD passed. just to make sure, i called my mom. and since she is such a champ, she turned around (on her way home) and came to read the letter to verify. yep, i passed.

so now, i am, as they say, ncidq certified. there are no words to describe the relief....

glossy

A couple of days before October 1, the Fall edition of Utah Style and Design magazine made an appearance on news stands. In that Fall edition is a feature of a project I designed. I ain't gonna lie... it was sure fun to see this in published print....

And this? This is the rewarding result of what I do for a living.





































































































































Credits: Taken from Utah Style and Design Magazine, Fall 2010 Issue. On news stands through December.

Sidenote: I have removed my last name within the text, thus the blank spots where a name should be.

hantavirus hotel

i keep my trash under my kitchen sink. lots of people do. one nice sunday in august, i came home from church and opened the cabinet under my sink to throw something away. it was then i noticed small, rice sized brown pellets.

and i nearly had an out of body experience.

mice.

after yelling, "hantavirus, hantavirus!", i grabbed a bottle of clorox cleaner and sprayed the heck out of the area before closing it back up. denial? maybe. but it was also sunday and i didn't have the tools nor the emotional capacity to deal with it right then. i called my mom and asked her to come over the next night to be my support team. and then i left. at least for a couple of hours. cuz i sure wasn't going to hang out while rodents ran wild under my kitchen sink.

the next night, my mom and i went to the dollar store and gathered up some equipment. rubber gloves, check. long rubber gloves to wear over the smaller rubber gloves so there is double protection, check. plastic sheet to pull everything out of the cabinet and set it down, check. traps, check. peanut butter for traps, check. a large bottle of clorox and some clorox wipes to supplement the clorox spray, check.

i rounded up some old clothes destined for D.I. and we both changed into mouse-catching uniforms. sporting old tennis shoes (in case one comes out and runs across my feet) and 2 gloves on each hand, i went in. i had a plastic bin which i filled with 3/4 bleach and 1/4 water. i soaked all of my bottles from under the sink. because one can never be too careful with mice and one can never have too much bleach in these types of situations. i hate mice. hantavirus. disgusting.

after we pulled everything out and i disinfected and disinfected again (and threw a significant amount of things away), i sealed the openings under the sink and we set the traps.

let me just say that if you ever have this problem and the idea pops into your head to use dollar store traps, don't give in. we loaded the traps with peanut butter and put 4 outside in the garage (where i think the little buggers were getting in) and 4 under the sink.

a few days go by.

nothing.

although i don't expect that the traps under the sink will catch anything, as i have sealed all of the openings.

a few more go by and i look outside at the traps. nothing has been triggered, but sure enough, the peanut butter has been nibbled away. on 2 of the traps!! ew. its so violating to know that the little buggers have been there and i didn't catch anything. which means they are still alive and roaming around. somewhere.

what now? i call for reinforcements.

1st on the list is erin. her husband chaz knows how to catch mice. she said they had a lot of them at one time in their attic. he told me to tie yarn to the trigger and get the peanut butter all up in it so they had to really work to the the stuff out. sounds good. i set the traps again, this time with yarn.

a few more days go by.

nothing is triggered but the peanut butter is gone again. the traps? they went into the trash. (not because the yarn suggestion was bad, but because the dollar store is no place to provide you with effective mouse-trapping equipment).

my brother suggested i get the d-con traps that twist shut when a mouse runs in so you don't ever have to see it. who knew? that's the best idea i've heard yet, so of course i buy 6. 3 for outside and 3 for inside.

a few more days go by. and still nothing. AND i'm dying because i'm not naive enough to believe they have packed up shop and moved on. i know they are still roaming around somewhere on the premises.

then one morning, i came down and one of the traps in the kitchen was twisted closed. one mouse caught. hey, to me, it's a victory and i'll take it. i figure that where there is one mouse, there are at least 6 more... so off to home depot i go. one of the guys there told me not to get the sticky traps because the mice get caught on them and are still alive. he said he caught one but because the mouse kept lifting itself off the sticky paper to try and get free, all it was doing was ripping it's hair off. oh man. i'm not in this for the torture. just want the things to find somewhere else to live. i opted out of the sticky traps. another guy at home depot shows me a plastic trap that resembles the traditional wooden variety. only this plastic trap has a small well in the center to put the peanut butter, meaning that if the mouse wants a taste, it will HAVE to come in contact with the trigger plate. and let's just say that this thing has super power sensitivity... i thought i would test it with one of my gloved fingers just to make sure. i couldn't get my hand out of there fast enough and it got me. barely, but it did rip a nice sized hole in the glove.

i set 4 of those out in the garage with peanut butter AND nutella since they are supposed to like nutty stuff and i figure, who doesn't like peanut butter and chocolate? besides, since they have already licked the peanut butter off TWICE, i'm starting to think that my house is the new hantavirus hotel with a free breakfast buffet. so why not play it up to lure them in.

but, as it turns out, i have only caught that one. the traps are STILL set and ready to go.

just in case....

as for the trash? i purchased a can with a self closing lid and removed the temptation from under the sink, but still....

nine months in the making

three years ago, i signed up to take a 2 day licensing exam for interior design. and because i am not a particularly great test taker, i of course, procrastinated taking said exam. it IS offered twice a year (only once a year where i live) but i knew how much it would take to prepare for the test and so i deferred it. and kept deferring it. 7 times to be exact. but last fall i just knew that i needed to buckle down, figure it out, and commit to taking it.

so i did.

i started studying in january and took a step class in february. it took me 4 months to make myself get through the first 600 page book. the second one i forced myself to finish in 2 months, and the 3rd one? since it was a codes book, i only read the chapters that applied. in august i re-read the first book again. september was saved for flash cards, practice tests, and drafting exercises. october 1 and 2 was the test.

NCIDQ changed the exam format for 2010 (of course they did) which changed the drafting exercises. since it was a new format, i only had access to 2 practice exams in the new format. the 2 saturdays before the real test, i hung out at my new drafting table (thanks Ann!) and timed myself as i drew for 8 hours each day.

please don't ever make me do that again.

ugh.

the test, as mentioned earlier, is 2 days. each day is about 8 hours. the first day is all multiple choice and deals with everything from anthropometrics to ethics in the industry and from construction document information to sustainability requirements. the second day is dedicated to 8 hours of drafting, which tests our knowledge on means and elements associated with egress, fire codes, partition ratings, and ADA compliance among other things. and although i had a heart stopping moment during the first exercise after lunch (which nearly cost me an hour and the possibility of not finishing) i did end up completing the entire exam. at least, i think i did. now whether or not the information i have provided is correct, is a different story.

now i get to wait.

i won't hear if i've passed until the week before Christmas or so...

but i'll tell ya, practice is EVERYTHING. at least for me. and i can look back and honestly say that whether i pass or not, i gave it all i had. there was a lot of sacrifice for me to stay home and keep at it. i told my friend julie that i would be surprised at the end of this if i had 1. any hair left and 2. any friends. the good news is, i still have both.

for love of peanut and monkey

Dear Peanut,
I loved that you and your little sister got to live here for 3 months so that I could see you every Sunday. I loved that you would open the door every week that I came over and that you always liked to give me hugs. I love that you still wanted to draw me pictures and how you always loved to play a game with us. I love how you take care of Monkey. I love seeing how much you’ve grown since you were a baby. I have always loved your cute little personality. I especially love that when you were a baby, you were always my buddy.

Dear Monkey,
I love that after a month or so of giving me crusty’s (and me giving them back) you started to trust me. I loved when I would come and visit the first thing you would say to me was “Hi Nuh” in that cute little voice because you can’t pronounce my full name. I loved waking up on one of my sleep-overs to hear you outside my door saying, “Nuh, Nuh, Nuh” because you wanted to show me your pan full of Velcro cookies. I love when you let me sing “Eensy Weensy Spider” and then tickle your neck.

Many hugs and much love,
Nuh.

I will sure miss having you both around.

sweet cakes

Last year I got this crazy idea in my head that I was going to start decorating cakes. Because, why not. Out of the clear blue, I suddenly had a passion for baking. Who knew. Certainly not anyone related to me. When I was younger, it was questionable if I even knew what a spatula was. But hey, things change. My mom used to decorate all of our birthday cakes and has made all of my siblings’ wedding cakes. Yeah, she’s amazing like that. So I thought, how hard could it be, right? (Whenever I say that, my mom shakes her head and rolls her eyes… with good reason.)

My first commission to do a cake was last year and it was going to be amazing. (If it turned out like the picture, that is.) But that event didn’t pan out and so I played around with fondant and tried to figure out why my cakes kept falling when I cooked them. My oven light was broken so I had to open the oven door to check the cake during baking. Remember that time oven lights really help one check progress on one’s cake so one doesn’t have to keep opening one’s oven door creating one’s cake to fall? Changed the light and now the cakes don’t fall. Imagine that.

Well, my second commission for a cake was from my good friend, Mandi. She and I used to work together and we have remained good friends. She asked me to be her wedding planner and I told her I would. Then, in an effort to go all out, I also offered to make her cake…

Because, how hard could it be. (My mom is somewhere rolling her eyes.)

Mandi decided that she wanted a simple white cake with fondant and a pink ribbon with a little bit of bling. Love it. As far as cakes go, this one was probably the cinchiest to tackle. Besides, I had worked with fondant a little bit before and figured that ‘little bit’ was sufficient enough. Uh huh.

Well, to give just a small overview, I got to my mom’s house at 4:00 pm on Friday evening (the night before the big day) to frost and fondant the frozen cake. 8 hours later, 2 swears, and a complete fondant overhaul of the 9” layer, I was finished. Let me just say that I could not have done this without the help of my mom, who tirelessly puts up with my shenanigans time and time again. She is, as I mentioned before, amazing.

I won’t lie, that fondant is shifty business. My problem (not realized until after I had nearly unsuccessfully covered the 12” base layer) was that the fondant was too dry. And getting that stuff off the counter and onto a 12” layer without any casualties is a feat in and of itself (we, of course, had casualties). As a result, the cake is somewhat of a Monet. Meaning, the farther you are away from it, the better it looks. That being said, here is the finished product.

I will say that the serving of this cake was the best part. Has anyone noticed that typically wedding cake is dry?? Don’t get me wrong, a dry wedding cake cuts like a dream, but it don’t taste good. Having people love eating it made all the drama worth it. I didn’t make the recipe up, so I can’t take credit for it, but it sure is a winner. That cake, with my mom’s frosting, (because she IS the frosting master) was de-lish. So what if it was a mess to cut…

To Mandi and Pablo. Here’s to a long and happy life together. And when you pull that cake out of your freezer in year, I hope you invite me over.

july

there is a calendar that hangs on my wall. call it old school, but i like having one that hangs up. it has fun graphics and little quotes from random people. the month of july?

"kiss me and you will see how important i am."
sylvia plath

well said, sylvia. well said.

A Red Carpet Affair

1950’s sassy vintage black dress. Check. Red carpet. Check. Paparazzi. Check. Brooke wearing, quite possibly, the most amazing vintage gold dress I’ve ever seen. Check. The best 30^th birthday party I’ve ever been too (including my own). Check.

Yeah, Brooke has fun friends. Not surprising, since she is rill rill fun herself. Last month, those friends went ahead and pulled together a Red Carpet Birthday Party for her and it was absolutely spectacular. After posing for our close-ups on the red carpet and a lot of laughs, we all took a seat in the theater for an exclusive birthday showing of “What’s Up Doc?” Couldn’t have asked for a better party. It was, as they say, an affair to remember.

Happy Birthday, Miss Brooke. You are one of my favorites.

Thank you thank you Shanna, for letting me borrow your fantastic black dress...

Me and Jana

Brooke and the gold wonder... I love that dress.

**Sidenote: Before this event, I had to attend another event for work. Dressed just like that. I was getting all kinds of looks, as I’m sure most people at the work event thought I had dressed up for the occasion. Little did they know that the red carpet was waiting… ha ha ha.

visual perception

As I have been studying for the big exam, I came across this list. I like it because I think it highlights what my job entails from a knowledge and education standpoint. I may have mentioned before that when I tell people what I do for a living, most of them squeal and say, “That’s my dream job.” I realize that the title conveys the impression of sparkle and glamour. Based on the reactions of others when I tell them what I do, I wonder if that title makes it sound as though my job description is only to design multi-million dollar properties, place table lamps and fluff pillows. And, although my job does have it’s moments of magic, and it does allow me the opportunity to work with beautiful materials and spectacular spaces (something I love), for the most part it is just a job. One of problem solving and project management, with its ups and downs, and a fair amount of stress.

So from the Foundation of Interior Design Education Research, this, my friends is what I do for a living…

Understanding and implementing:
“The basic elements of design and composition that form the foundation for creative design, and an awareness of the various media in the visual arts that assist in the understanding of the universality of these fundamentals;

Theories of design, color, proxemics, behavior, visual perception, and spatial composition which lead to an understanding of the interrelationship between beings and the built environment;

The design process, i.e., programming, conceptualization, problem solving, and evaluation, firmly grounded on a base of anthropometrics, ergonomics, and other human factors;

Space planning, furniture planning and selection, developed in relationship to application to projects, including all types of habitation, whether for work or leisure, new or old; for a variety of populations, young and old, disabled, low or high income;

Design attributes of materials, lighting, furniture, textiles, color, etc. viewed in conjunction with physical, sociological and psychological factors to reflect concern for the aesthetic qualities of the various parts of the built environment;

The technical aspects of structure and construction, building systems, i.e., HVAC, lighting, electrical, plumbing, and acoustics, sufficient to enable discourse and cooperation with related disciplines;

Technical aspects of surface and structural materials, soft goods, textiles and detailing of furniture, cabinetry, and interiors;

The application of laws, building codes, regulations, and standards that affect design solutions in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public;

Communication skills, oral, written, and visual for the presentation of design concepts, the production of working drawings, and the conduct of business;

The history and organization of the profession; the methods and practices of the business of interior design; and an appreciation of a code of ethics;

Styles of architecture, furniture, textiles, art, and accessories in relation to the economic, social, and religious influences on previous cultures;

Methods necessary to conduct research and analyze the data in order to develop design concepts and solutions on a sound basis.”

(Taken from Professional Practice for Interior Design by Christine M. Piotrowski, page 16 and from the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research. The FIDER common body of knowledge in interior design, developed collaboratively by professional associations.)

just for the record

it's june 11th and the heat is on in my house. because the 4:00 temperature reading this afternoon said 51 degrees. farenheit.

really?

p.s. updates coming soon...

luke and amanda sittin in a tree....

Meet Amanda.

photos by jamiliajean

Meet Luke and Amanda.

This was one of the loveliest weddings I have ever been to. Amanda and I were roommates back in the day at the BYU. We are cut from the same cloth, as it were…. And we had so much fun. So many memories.... One in particular involving a one piece ski suit that hearkened back to 1989.

Amanda and Luke met 5 years ago and were sealed in the Newport Beach Temple in March. Thank heaven for tissue boxes in the Temple...

What I just love about Amanda? She is one of the most beautiful people I have ever met. Inside AND out. She is the only member of the LDS Church in her family and continues to be an inspiration to me. Luke is her match. I adore him. I have nothing but the best things to say about the 2 of them and I couldn’t be happier for them.

After a sealing ceremony at noon and some pictures, my friend Julie and I set out for a stop at Wahoo’s for fish tacos and a shopping trip to Fashion Island. It being the first time this season that I broke out my strappy pewter sandals with 3.5” heels, I could hardly walk. Julie was nice enough to cart my trash around Orange County to a Target so I could buy some $2.50 flip flops. Don’t worry, I had every intention of changing back into the strappy pewter heels for the ring ceremony that followed, but actually ended up sporting the flip flops the rest of the evening. Who knew $2.50 could be that cushy. But see, that’s the best part about having such a fun party, no one even noticed.

I was so glad I got to go. Thank you, Amanda, for the friendship and the amazing wedding festivities... You continue to be one of my favorites.

And, yes, she designed her dress and had it made. Ridiculous talent, that one.