Mike + Sara

sugar makes the world go round.

2012-02-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

my iphone alarms for this week.
so
very
sleepy.
and so much to do.

boomerang kids

2012-02-02T16:30:00.001-07:00

free labor summer: the sequel.

i know i talk a lot about myself (or just a lot in general. my poor family. they usually hear every story four to ten times. ten times only if i start with one person and then they keep trickling in so i keep re-telling. we've got lots of people around, and naturally in my mind they all have a burning need to know what's going on in my life at all times).

but let's talk about mike. because he is awesome. and people like y&r (the ad agency, not the young and the restless. although he would make an especially attractive soap opera star... italian style) want him to intern for them this summer. so we're going back! i can taste the coco helado already.

and the crazy thing about it this time around is... we don't really have a timeframe. we could go and stay. or become vagabonds. or move to milwaukee. or join occupy wall street. ~~or join a circus.~~ nope. we would never do that. i started reading water for elephants. not happening.

we're almost going to be grown ups. and we both have semi-real professions. next step: get brave enough to order pizza over the phone.

updating-ness

2012-01-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

i've had glorious visions of real posts with real pictures backtracking all the way to the middle of last october. the reality is, my fancy teux-deux list has a never ending stream of items that magically reproduce and have babies when i turn my back for one second. but i'm on my "get things done NOW" sleep schedule (ten - three) i just ate a giant chocolate chip cookie with my second bowl of cheerios and i'm in a writing mood.

things have been chaotic lately. in every aspect. towards the middle-endish of november we had a lesson in relief society about trials. the gist of it was about having our perspectives widened and gaining more thorough knowledge after experiencing things that are hard for us. and i sat in my chair and i nodded my head and i thought 'yeah! go trials! we need them!' and then of course we got some bad news. followed by more bad news. followed by really bad news. oh life, you're so fun sometimes.

we are in our last semester at byu. double-april-graduation! apparently this has caused my mind a lot of subconscious stress. i have recurring dreams about not actually being able to graduate. they range from failing classes (rational) to my boat (?) not making it on time to hand in paperwork for the required and quite large, seuss-esque graduation hat (clearly i'm watching too much toddlers and tiaras. it's tainting my expectations).

which means that come april our lives are a giant, looming question mark. it feels like we're getting ready to jump off a cliff. only i think we will hold hands, which we wouldn't actually do if we were really jumpers, because mike informs me at least once a week that he has far superior survival skills. it's one of the reasons why i never make an appearance in his dreams (usually war-based); i die too fast.

my biggest hobby lately has been making the most random posters you can imagine. i thought i got a few oddball requests before, but it's nothing compared to the onslaught of the last three weeks. and it all started with this print that i made for a couple i sponsored (the best in the world! they really are my favorites i've ever worked with) that was an inside joke to them.

i didn't know they were going to post about it, but once it launched into cyberspace i knew i was done for. in one day, i had fifty requests for custom posters. i usually average 10-15 a week. so.... it was quite the jump. and it hasn't slowed down since. (the most ironic part about it was that the post happened the day before the semester started, right as i was wrapping up the last few emails to have a cleared inbox for the first time ever. it's been fun though. loooooooots of work too). but the requests! i'll have to do a separate post. there are just too many.

and then there's mike. the source of all sanity. i think i'm driving him crazy with all my what ifs? about our future, but as one of my friends put it the other day "he's a very patient man" who puts up with all the shenanigans and craziness. i remember when people would tell us when we got married "oh, just wait a few years, then you'll really love them" and i thought they were super naive because obviously we were THE MOST in love couple in the world and we'd already dated for years and clearly they were never as in love as we were (everyone else also felt this way, right?) but those people really knew what they were talking about. go figure.

enough rambling. off to work.

my life, according to mike.

2012-01-07T17:06:00.002-07:00

helping out

2011-11-12T15:32:00.001-07:00

per my post last night, if anyone is able to help there is a donation fund set up for the triplets. you can email nicolezwerin(at)yahoo(dot)com for the address if you would like to send a check to nicole (the friend who requested the print), or a Paypal donation can be sent to her at that email. if you would like to donate some other way please email her. so far they have been able to raise $4300 for the babies and any other donations would be sincerely appreciated.

if you want to read more about meghan and see her adorable triplets you visit their blog at http://mbjmaybebaby.blogspot.com/.

sad, sad, sad

2011-11-11T21:30:00.001-07:00

believe it or not, i am actually putting posts together about the missionary madness + wedding. coming soon.

until then... here's a sad story i just can't stop thinking about.

this week i got an email about doing a custom poster for someone whose friend had passed away kind of suddenly. it gets sadder. she left behind a husband and the cutest triplets that just had their first birthday a few weeks ago. this friend had been diagnosed with cancer five years before (three weeks after her wedding!) and had been battling it on and off. she wanted to do a print to hang in the nursery and remind the triplets of their brave and beautiful mom. the quote is christopher robin talking to winnie the pooh, and it sort of breaks my heart every time i read it.

cancer is the worst.

madness

2011-10-22T15:25:00.000-06:00

in 6 days...
called a senator to get jen-fen back
welcomed her home with open arms
failed a religion test
strung a million feet of doilies
welcomed a brother to our crazy family (yay lara + bryce!)
cried happy tears
lit 200 candles
ate lots of waffles with lots of out-of-town family
listened to jeff give the sweetest farewell talk
cried
listened to jen bear an amazing testimony in spanish
cried again
hugged my little brother really tight
waved goodbye to him for two years.

it's been an amazinglystressfulfabulousoverwhelming week. i'll put pictures up. eventually.

dear argentina, please give my sister back.

2011-10-11T21:00:00.000-06:00

i have four sisters.

one sister is getting married on friday.

another sister was supposed to come home from her mission today, but argentina is holding her hostage.

her original flight from buenos aires was cancelled late last night. when we found out she wouldn't be home this afternoon, it sort of felt like how the whos felt the morning they woke up and saw that the grinch had stolen christmas, (the part before they started singing). then the real fun news came this afternoon, two hours before her new flight was scheduled to leave.

she lost her passport.

no passport, no flight. which means she is still sitting in buenos aires when she is supposed to be COMING HOME. we've missed her, a lot.

and we really need her to be here for this wedding. everybody cross your fingers and say a prayer, ok? and if anyone knows anyone at the u.s. embassy in argentina, let them know that a really funny, pretty hermana who's still wearing a black name tag will be paying them a visit real early tomorrow and if they could ship her home asap it would be much appreciated.

three years

2011-10-02T20:41:00.000-06:00

Michael and Sara from Ryan Hinman Films on Vimeo.

and it's been so awesome.

also, i loved our videographer. he is so fantastic and i would recommend him to everyone. you can check him out at ryanhinman.com

stream of consciousness

2011-09-08T19:38:00.001-06:00

mike just leaned over and asked if i was going to write good things about him. and talk him up to my friends. the only thing i can think of is that this morning we had the worst goodbye kiss i can imagine. he didn't know that i had just brushed my teeth and i didn't know that he had been pounding sour patch kids. lets just say that it took less than a second for him to push me away and act like i had poisoned him - complete with convulsions. mint toothpaste + sour patch kids might be the worst combination in the world. anyways...

for the first time last week i read a class syllabus before actually going to class. so happy i did, because the first thing i read was that they weren't going to start taking attendance until september 7th. naturally, that meant yesterday was my first day of class. i knew we had a quiz on hinduism, and i forgot my book at home, so i let the internet be my guide during my lunch break. guess what, folks. wikipedia has not replaced actual textbooks - proved by the fat 20% i got on my quiz. kind of comforting that we still need textbooks, but problematic since i lost the book...

i'm doing my first official bridal fair this saturday. i'm a little nervous to talk to people and i haven't finished figuring out what my booth is going to look like, so my current plan of action is just to camp out under my table with my laptop and watch netflix. as long as i'm in the booth i don't owe them extra money for not showing up, and that's all that really matters, right?

commuter-ing

2011-08-16T18:13:00.004-06:00

i still have posts about new york. technically, i still have posts about our fourth of july trip to boston... since i never did any. it seems kind of lame to put them up since i'm back home again, but they are just lurking half written in my posts folder and i think it would drive me crazy to delete them. so here we go.

martha is almost on the river in west chelsea. the commute wasn't too bad though. one block to the train, 5 stops to times square, transfer, 2 stops to 28th, and then walk 4 avenues. when i left in the morning i would hum to martha to martha to eat like a pig... strange? yes. and now i can't remember the words to the real rhyme. i usually read my scriptures on the way down and a novel on the way back. i finished a few books on my phone this way, and the strangest was dracula. kind of twisted. and super strange reading about men eating flies and sucking blood while you're riding the subway with some sketchy people...

the daily journey:

start in harlem - hop on the train - grab a seat - times square transfer - emerge from the subway - martha greeted me everyday. so thoughful, right? - a pretty church - chelsea school. cue to plug my nose because ten steps later it always smelled like sour milk - the highline... getting closer - a sliver of the building - hooray! made it! - the entrance.

poster giveaway!

2011-08-15T10:00:00.000-06:00

this is my really talented friend from high school, rachael. she paints, knits, photographs and makes jewelry. today, she is giving away three of my prints. all you have to do is head on over to her blog and leave a comment.

keeping it close to home

2011-08-13T17:54:00.000-06:00

we're back from new york! more updates on that later. things have been craaaaaaaaazy around here.
let's blame these two kids.

they got engaged last week and they are so perfect for each other. yay for lara and bryce! and we love to make weddings as insane as possible around here. i got married the week after jess got home from her mission. jess got married the weekend before jenny reported to the mtc for her mission. and now, jenny is coming home from argentina on the eleventh, lara is getting married on the fourteenth, and jeff is leaving on the nineteenth. that's what my parents get for having seven kids in ten years :)

bryce is great. he is super nice, funny, and fits into the criteria of living within 15 minutes of my parents house. see?

it's really amazing. and bonus points for angie since she grew up around the corner and we played american girls together when we were little. it must be something in the lindon/pg water...

moment of glory

2011-08-05T05:01:00.000-06:00

yesterday, my face was on martha's blog. that's all.

studio tour

2011-08-03T18:42:00.000-06:00

unfortunately, i'm not allowed to take any pictures of the studio space. there are new products and future magazine layouts everywhere and they don't really want premature internet debuts.

fortunately, an article came out today about working at martha. with photos! hooray!

and now, i will be your official tour guide.

the office takes up one and half floors of the starrett lehigh building in west chelsea. each floor is an entire city block. it's huge. and there are hundreds and hundreds of windows. everything is white, white, white. i have personally seen people walking around with white paint cans touching things up. they keep it pristine.

this is the only two story part of the offices. they have lunch vendors here, and there are usually lots of products set up for test displays.

this would be your typical row. i sit on such a row. the second seat in, on the left. on the verrrrry east side of the building. it's a hike in the mornings from the elevators.

this is gael towey's office. she's the chief creative officer/director/head honcho. it's only a couple rows down from where i sit. she's really nice. all the directors/editors/department heads have cool glass offices.

kevin sharkey's office. sort of amazing in person. the books! look at them!

a test kitchen. there are three total. i will severely miss the test kitchens and my close proximity to where they put the extra food.

the roof. it's the perfect spot to eat lunch. there are also three photo studios, the prop studio, the crafts room... loads of things. it's a really big place and it's pretty easy to wander. i really love this place.

by the time you read this, i will be in a sugar coma.

2011-08-03T06:01:00.001-06:00

yesterday was one of those really great days. i'm close to finishing a lot of projects at work. i finally introduced mike to bottino, the place where most of my daily $20 stipend is going (sidenote: ang and i found a copycat of their delicious watermelon-strawberry lemonade and she posted the recipe here) mike and i hung out on the pier after work until we met up with klane and ang for some fire-cooked pizza at ovest. we walked the highline twice in one day (it's prettiest at sunset). and then. then we partook of a fabulous joke called a donut sandwich.

things quickly got out of control once we started ordering. first, they take a doughnut and slice it like a bagel. next, they have you pick 3 kinds of ice cream to stuff inside. 3?!?! we burst out laughing. each step after that we lost it again. now we add icing? bahahahaha. and as many toppings as we want? bahahahaha. we could barely stop laughing to tell them what to do next. there has to be some six year old kid in the back running the whole show, who else would have thought of this?

ang and i split one while the boys each got their own heart-attack inducing version. this is our masterpiece: cheescake, red velvet cake batter, and some other ridiculous flavor of ice cream topped with chocolate icing, rainbow sprinkles, crushed oreos, and mini m&ms for a nice touch of crunch.

mike's creation.

and then we ate it. we sat outside in bright green lawn chairs and stuffed our faces, much to the pleasure/surprise/disgust of everyone walking by.

decisions, decisions

2011-07-29T18:19:00.000-06:00

i am in a pickle.

here's the situation: company A, that i think most of us know and love, would like to start selling my posters. (insert wild applause here). but... people won't know they are buying them from me anymore. they would think they are buying them straight from company A. which might be a good thing. when customers find out i am a homeless college student i don't think it instills a lot of confidence.

so... do i sellout?

i love designing prints. i love that people actually buy them from me. i love that most clients tell me about their cat, and their weekend, and end up ordering more than once and say things like "hey girly!" when they email me.

but... it could be a really great business opportunity with a growing company too.

someone tell me what to do. i've been eating all afternoon and still can't make a decision. and the salt water taffy is almost gone (sorry ang!).

one of the reasons why my jeans are gettin real tight.

2011-07-27T18:27:00.000-06:00

photos pilfered from ang.

we've found quite a few things we like about new york, but i think the one that holds the most sway in my little j. crew lovin heart is coco helado. it's most like an italian ice, and soooooo creamy. and it's only $1. plus, it's served with a kleenex! what more could you ever need? and those sneaky cart people park themselves at the entrance and exit of the closest subway station which means i have to try and resist it at least twice a day. my saving grace is that you have to pay cash, which i never have, since mike's official title in our relationship is "cash handler". he's self-appointed, as i'm sure you could guess.

walkin' on sunshine

2011-07-23T14:30:00.000-06:00

this past week has been full of good things. reading my scriptures on the subway every day. getting the chance to email jenny back and forth for 45 minutes and talking about change, doubts, and testimony. (maybe i cried a little bit. at work.) walking by the test kitchen at the exact moment they wheeled out a very fat, delicious chocolate cake and "testing" a large piece.

getting an email saying that since friday's temperature was going to be over 100 degrees everyone should take the day off and go to the beach. eating an ice cream bar for lunch and sitting on the pier reading pride and prejudice. getting to do some really beautiful wedding announcements. my family being awesome enough to handle the shipping/assembly aspects of both businesses while we've been here. coco helado for $1! mike. mike is always a good thing.

we've been better at prioritizing the important things this week and it has made such a difference in our day to day. i feel like skipping down the streets with rainbows trailing behind me. life's so much better when you choose to be happy.

catch me if you can

2011-07-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

tuesday night. neil simon theater. catch me if you can. it was pretty funny and the music was catchy. the guy who plays agent hanratty "is money" (from mike). if you've seen the movie, it is essentially the same plot line, and without my glasses the main character looks and sounds just like leo. ang and i felt a little spoiled after sitting on the front row for memphis - it felt soooooooo far away sitting in the balcony - but it was definitely still worth it. and you can't beat student rush tickets for $28. my id card is worth it's weight in gold out here!

after the show we grabbed dinner at empanada mama. they are awesome and open 24 hours. next time i am definitely hitting up their dessert menu.

tim! the premiere is in 6 days. mark it on your calendar, folks.

adventures in marthaland

2011-07-22T20:00:00.001-06:00

background: i usually leave for work at 9 and get in at 9:45. i also sit next to the creative director's assistant, paulie. she has a pretty insane job. think devil wears prada.

last friday paulie asked me to cover for her on monday morning since she would be at a doctor's appointment. she told me to be there at 8:45. no problem! cue monday morning. i woke up around 5:30 to work on posters/invitations. i went into the bathroom at 8:30 to get ready and started mentally going through what my deadlines would be for that day... and all of the sudden i looked in the mirror and dropped my brush. oh my gosh. i completely spaced the fact that i was supposed to be there in fifteen minutes. i ran to the subway station, rode downtown, and power walked/jogged the four avenues until i got to the building. it has been insanely hot and humid, and by the time i got there (thirty minutes late) i looked gross and was panicking. i rushed through the double doors after getting off the elevator and luckily looked up in time to stop myself from crashing my sweaty face right into martha. she said hello. i said hi. and then i squealed to myself once i was positive she was out of earshot.

she looks amazing in person. that woman has found the fountain of youth. she's 70!

new story.

on tuesday paulie suddenly stood up and said "come with me. now". i started to ask why, but she said "just come!" so i got up and jogged to catch up with her. and the strangest thing happened. first, we were walking with just a few people. within thirty seconds, tons of people were streaming out of their rows, all headed toward the reception area, and walking faster and faster the more people they saw. and then i saw the reason. on the receptionist's desk was a bucket filled with mini zucchini's from martha's garden. all of the sudden, looking at all those people, i needed that zucchini. we fought for a place in line and managed to get some of the last ones. i felt like holding it high above my head and doing a victory lap around all the other people that read the email fifteen seconds too late. ha! i got a martha zucchini! it kind of feels like winning the lottery.

see? baby zucchini. i'm keeping it forever. she brings in eggs a lot too. but i have yet to figure out a way to get those home on the subway.

beach day + hp7 numero dos

2011-07-22T09:14:00.002-06:00

we went to the beach again last saturday. the first time we headed out i braced myself for a gross and grungy beach filled with trash and body odor and maybe even rats scurrying across the sand. not sure why my mind heard beach and automatically thought subway. sometimes having an overactive imagination pays off. my expectations are usually so wacky that i'm always excited about the reality.

after a relaxing afternoon full of salt water taffy, sleeping, and swimming we headed back to partake of harry potter's magical mania. it was a bittersweet feeling watching the concluding piece. i love that our generation grew up with harry, ron, and hermione. and i love that j.k. rowling made millions of kids fall in love with reading and she should also be applauded for writing a series that gets better with each book, not worse. although, as much i love the movies, that epilogue was pitiful and hilarious. books will always be better. we finished the night with dinner at land, which finally satisfied my thai food cravings. it was a successful saturday!

date night

2011-07-16T05:33:00.001-06:00

on thursday night mike met me in chelsea after work and we wandered over to the west village to find some food. we finally settled on pinto, a little thai place that looked good. we are on a constant quest to find something that beats thai drift. we've tried so many places, and some of them are close rivals but nothing has bested it yet. this place was pretty delicious, but it was more fusion food. i had the lamb massaman and mike had... i don't remember but the sauce was scrumptious.

afterwards we meandered through the streets and talked and people watched until my second stomach (the dessert one) began desperately craving sugar.
mmmmm... triple chocolate mousse.

we decided that we need to spend more time together. we're canceling our netflix account (1. because mike is irate they are almost doubling the price and 2. because we need to get out more and stay in less). i had a new idea for a project that he is going to help me out with. mike is the perfect sounding board for the millions of things i feel like i need an opinion on. it must be exhausting listening to me talk all the time. maybe i should go on a speech diet. hmmm....

we interrupt this blogging absence...

2011-07-13T21:56:00.000-06:00

for some exciting news. my little brother jeff received his mission call tonight. we got to be with the familia via facetime (yay steve jobs! uniting families!) as he opened his call to the budapest, hungary mission. jeff is the golden child in our family. everybody loves jeff. and you know why? because if you text him and say that you can't remember how to turn the tv on even if he just showed you how two days ago you will hear him get up from his chair on the second floor and come bounding down the stairs to turn it on for you - again. and he will even give you one of his cookies. he's that kind of person. and here's the best part about the day he's reporting to the mtc...

(last march at jess's wedding, just a few days before jenny left on her mission)

on october 18th everyone gets to be reunited for a whole 24 hours! let the fiesta planning begin. there are no definite plans yet, but i think it will be a laser tag/ihop/arcade gaming affair. (and if anyone knows anything about hungary, do share. but only if it will not make my mother worry anymore than she already is).

this one time, martha totally walked past my desk.

2011-06-27T18:45:00.001-06:00

and... that's the whole story. but she is having lunch with all the interns next month so i'm preparing daily with flash cards. i'm already making a list of questions i should ask... mostly i really want to know who actually updates her facebook account and twitter. does martha even know her own login? and i'm counting on the girl who asked the vp of merchandising last week so what's going to happen when martha dies? to deliver another bombshell question at the lunch. i can only imagine what she's going to come up with.

on saturday the weather was so beautiful. we packed a picnic lunch for the park and watched a co-ed softball game. i would try to explain how entertaining watching the game was, but i think co-ed softball explains it all. after, the boys played catch and ang and i headed over to the met to see the alexander mcqueen exhibit with her friend joanna. we knew it was going to be crowded, but we ended up waiting in line for almost two hours to get in. they don't allow pictures (and they are serious about it too. i almost saw a man get tackled. not kidding) but here's a little snippet of what we saw (all stolen from the mysterious workings of the internet).

it was kind of amazing. the shoes were insane. by the end, all i could think of was project runway. come soon july 28th? please?

"confessions"

2011-06-23T19:08:00.000-06:00

sometimes i text mike and ask him how his day is going. sometimes i get a "i have a confession..." text followed by this
or this. that boy.

life at martha

2011-06-22T18:22:00.001-06:00

on my first day at martha my true love gave to me....

just kidding. but it has a nice ring to it.

day 1 i did get a sweet swag bag complete with a martha mug, martha slicker (should have had that last friday when the heavens poured buckets of water on my head) loads of every magazine they publish, and a sweet id tag. that looks like this:

and it gets me in the door everyday. i was super nervous the first day. i made mike walk me right up to the revolving glass door. he held my hand the whole way... kind of like a kindergartener. they take a million and five (fifty) interns every summer for their bazillion and two departments so there were plenty of other nervous looking girls to ride the elevator with. we went through orientation where we learned about the lovely martha and answered pop quizzes about the names of her dogs (ahem: sharkey, francesca, and ghengis khan). i also learned after multiple tests that it takes the drinking fountain exactly six seconds before the water gets cold. the only semi-embarrassing thing i did that day was let my greasy plate fly off the rooftop at lunch. but only half the people were watching, and i didn't actually dive after it, which had been my first instinct.

i'm interning at the living magazine. it's amazing. i was excited for the experience, but i didn't really understand how awesome it was going to be. so far, the worst part of the job is smelling the recipes being concocted in the test kitchens while looking at pictures of glorious food all day long. but occasionally you get to eat some of the food. like today, we got cake! yes, please. oh martha, you had my heart at 'toasted marshmallow cupcake'.

the big fat loud crazy apple

2011-06-19T07:55:00.000-06:00

we've arrived! well, technically we arrived two weeks ago, bright and early. so far, so good. minus the crazy man who followed us for a block screaming about whites making black people suffer, suffer, SUFFER! let's consider it a very enthusiastic welcome to the neighborhood.

a gigantic happy thanks to klane and angie for letting us stay with them while we're here. they are the best and will be sainted i'm sure. we will at least build them a shrine before we go. mike is handy with things like that.

for the first little bit until i started at martha mike and i wandered around trying not to look like deer in the headlights and perfecting our sly maneuvers to turn around when we realize we had been walking the wrong way for a few blocks. we got pretty good at it. we managed to see a few things that we hadn't before, and my documenting skills are pretty terrible. i only took pictures at the library and museum of natural history, but we'll live.

last week ang and i went and saw memphis. we got student rush tickets and ended up on the front row. ooooooh it was awesome. we were so close we could touch the stage and see the spit fly. during the standing ovation, montego glover looked right into our eyes and smiled and we almost hopped up on stage with the cast to dance our hearts out and belt the final note. which would have been really easy since we are both really tall and our faces were about two feet from their faces. it was awesome. and now, pictures.

memphis! definitely recommend. below, the public library. oh, swoon. that place is what i imagine heaven to be like.

i suppose that's the end for now. i'm really needing a bowl of cereal. up next, life at martha!

spreading goodness

2011-06-03T22:37:00.000-06:00

i was happily overwhelmed with the response i got for 'the perfect motto' print. i know my grandma would first be embarrassed that such a fuss was being made about her, but i think she would also be really happy that so many people were going to be displaying that saying in their homes. so... thank you! three cheers for spreading a little goodness. it has been a beautiful project for me to work on this past week.

in other news... we are officially packed and sitting in the airport waiting for the redeye to new york. whenever i hear redeye i think PEN! lookout! even if the guy in that movie was evil. having a pen stabbed into your throat just doesn't seem pleasant for anyone. that movie is terrifying. in fact, most airplane movies are terrifying.

also, i got a haircut. straight across bangs. am i late with this trend? only by a few years. (i still haven't gotten my head around leggings. maybe when they resurface in twenty years.) but the bangs. they made me remember when i was six and always felt like my bangs were cut too short. i would walk around with my eyebrows raised because i thought it helped. common sense is not something i have an abundance of.

today i found out that i don't own a suitcase.

2011-05-30T20:03:00.000-06:00

for some reason i've grown up assuming that people naturally owned a suitcase when they became an adult. i don't know how this would magically occur or why, it's one of those things that i never thought completely through, similar but not quite like the time i invented my own cereal with shredded cheese, apple sauce, and cornflakes.

we are leaving for new york in 4 days and will be gone for 10-ish weeks and i'm not entirely sure what to pack or what to pack it in. the thought process for the last week has been something like this:

i should really start packing.

let's google 'business casual'

wow, this is a terrible color. what possessed me to buy this shirt? oh, that's why the tag is still on it.

this ice cream is really amazing.

we should really do laundry more often.

i'll just chuck this in the dryer.

hmmm... i think this shirt qualifies as business casual. check! one item to pack.

do i own a suitcase?

please oh please don't let me embarrass myself on the first day.

or get lost.

or be late.

or trip.

or get mugged.

WHY don't i own a suitcase?!

and it usually ends in a mild state of panic with a mound of clothes on the floor and me crashing on my parents' couch watching hgtv with glazed eyes.

i feel completely unprepared for this internship. especially after the past month. at this point all i really want is the house hunters re-runs to help me remedy the situation before friday. maybe suzanne wong can explain what business casual means. it seems like she would know.

don't tell my husband.

2011-05-26T11:09:00.001-06:00

i made this print for my grandma last christmas. it perfectly describes the way she lived her life. i was out in my parents garden yesterday weeding (what?! i loathe weeding, but i love my mother, hence the weeding) and wishing i could just give the entire world this print and then maybe more people would turn out like grandma. and then, epiphany. because mike is backpacking this week and i have been making loads of irrational decisions in his absence, i realized that it's my business and i could give them away. genius!

so... until next tuesday (because we are flying out to nyc next week) if you want a copy of this print i will send it to you for just the cost of shipping on the one condition that you don't shove it in the back of a closet somewhere (unless you spend a large amount of time in the closet, and then that's ok).

just send me an email at avintageposter@gmail.com and tell me if you want it in 8" x 10" or 11" x 14" and which color you want. all colors can be found here. i'll send you a link to pay the $3.95 shipping (or $7.95 for international orders) and voila! you will get your print sometime next week. feel free to spread the word too, the more the merrier!

sweet sorrow

2011-05-24T22:31:00.002-06:00

started writing this post last sunday. it's been pretty hard to finish it.

my beautiful grandma hammond passed away last week. after being told for several months that she was only suffering from allergies, the doctors finally found what they had missed all along: cancer. she was supposed to start chemo. we talked about what cute haircuts she could get before she lost all her hair. and then monday they said terminal. four weeks. hospice. and pulled the rug out from under everyone. we planned on going up to see her one last time before we went to new york. but by wednesday she had gone.

it was hard to be at her house in idaho over the weekend. to see the stacks of unopened get-well-soon cards and mother's day gifts. the scattered sewing projects around the house. thinking that at any moment she would walk around the corner and ask if we wanted a soda pop. and hear her say "well i'll be darned" after i finished telling her a story.

the funeral was perfectly simple and quiet - just like her.

i wish i could give her one more hug. tell her how much i love her. how grateful i am for her strength and example despite all the heartache she was put through.

someday.

because if you don't acknowledge it then it doesn't really happen, right?

2011-05-11T09:37:00.002-06:00

always check your sources

2011-05-03T08:17:00.001-06:00

so... mike just emailed me this link... i should know by now that you can never trust the internet :) it seems like it's a combination of a few different quotes/ideas pieced together - although it still fits the situation - i am happy to admit that i fell prey to the wiles of the internet. so sneaky.

martin luther king jr. knew how to say it

2011-05-02T20:03:00.000-06:00

i wasn't sure how i felt about the 'partying' over bin laden's death. it didn't quite seem appropriate. a member of my family posted this quote, and i think it is the most eloquent way to sum up the situation.

fare thee well, wymount

2011-05-01T08:57:00.000-06:00

after two and a half years of living in our little wymount apartment we have officially said goodbye. we are crashing with mike's parents until we head out to new york in a few weeks, and we decided that when we come back in august we would like a change of scenery for our last year at byu. wymount was good to us (minus the mysterious smell in our sink) and we met some awesome people that we'll miss.

packing/moving with mike is a party. when we were boxing up the kitchen a few items mysteriously broke so he wouldn't have to pack them. then he started a fun game where he would hold an object over the garbage and as he slowly lowered it in i had to either a) identify what the item was or b) give at least two uses for it. i didn't win very often. and every time i put something in the d.i. pile i was rewarded with his charlie brown dance. i really love him.

hurry up june! we're a bit anxious to get out to new york.

this is the post where you shake your head and say "she's a mean person"

2011-04-28T20:05:00.000-06:00

you know on the price is right when bob barker asks the contestant if the price of the item is too high and they scream in righteous red-face-inducing fury "that's too much bob!"

such are my feelings about easter baskets.

i know i'm clueless about most things, but when did every holiday turn into a gift extravaganza? (and why didn't my parents celebrate like this?! maybe it would have curbed my cynicism) i've been seeing these crazy "easter baskets" that look like toys r us exploded in the living room. maybe as a general consensus, we could say that at least half the stuff has to actually fit inside the basket. too crazy? probably.

i'm sure that this post + my deep and abiding love for dave ramsey and all things frugal will ensure that i have the unluckiest kids in the world. they'll probably be cynics too.

moooooooovies. what a strange word.

2011-04-27T09:08:00.001-06:00

mike likes watching movies. i like sleeping through movies. i rarely make it past the opening credits - and i'm pretty sure it's genetic since my mom is the same way. sometimes i will wake up sporadically throughout the movie to ask mike what's happening before crashing again, which i think is more annoying than just staying asleep. he doesn't believe me that i can watch them subconsciously.

but... miraculously this year there have been a few movies that we've both wanted to see (gold star!) and i've managed to stay awake through (triple gold stars!) and are actually great stories (1000 bonus points and a rainbow! it's that rare). we recommend all of them, although hanna is a bit violent and i covered my eyes for parts of it. the soundtracks are all really great too.

uno. the king's speech

dos. hanna

tres. the way back

oh vegas, sometimes you're so tacky.

2011-04-26T09:31:00.000-06:00

we had the most relaxing time in vegas. we slept, a lot. i think we were still recuperating from finals. the wedding was so beautiful. alas, i am still camera shy when it comes to taking my own photos with other people around, so i only got two or three photos on mike's phone and left the real camera in the car. but i can describe it for you. just close your eyes and picture the reception in the middle of an orchard, at sunset, with hundreds of candles and flowers and the most delicious food. and look at jana's gorgeous bridals here, that will give a good feel for things.

and now, tell-tale signs you are staying in a cheap hotel.

1 - police cars outside
2 - a rickety glass elevator
3 - orange faux textured walls
4 - a tacky fountain in the lobby
5 - fake ivy covering the tacky fountain in the lobby
6 - wood veneer. everywhere.
7 - signs offering $10 off for some questionable entertainment...
8 - teal and yellow "party carpet" (think chuck e. cheese)
9 - plastic columns
10 - clipart for the "room service" menu

it was a great adventure.

to jana

2011-04-22T11:18:00.001-06:00

we are taking off today for jana and collin's long awaited wedding in vegas. i've known them both since sophomore year when we were all just wee designers and they were on the verge of their little romance. i knew something was up between them when they started sitting closer and closer in our classes. i'm so happy/relieved they are finally getting married because my worst fear was that they would break up and the class would have to choose sides and things would get very east side vs. west side and i'm sure gangs and hit men and black trenchcoats would be involved.

anyways.

it's hard to be more awesome or random than collin and jana. especially when jana leaves harry potter/rebecca black love notes in your sketchbook

or keeps you on your toes by changing your phone background to some of these gems

ah! peaches! she was by far the creepiest... staring out at me from behind my apps...

and collin introduced me to TINY WINGS! that alone deserves a drive to vegas to support them. they are some of the most best people i know. and soon to be blissfully wedded. this trip should also be an adventure because we are:

a) driving the completely unreliable neon
b) staying in a cheap hotel no one has ever heard of that mike booked at 3 in the morning
c) listening to a book that no one else has ever heard of because all the legitimate titles were checked out. i think it involves unicorns? dwarves? should be amazing.

my lovely assistant

2011-04-09T14:42:00.001-06:00

poor mike. i make him watch project runway, assemble invitations, and eat cake for breakfast (ok, so maybe he is more willing on that one.) a month or two ago i needed a guy's hand for a poster design. luckily, mike has very manly hands. i told him to make a loose fist... and the photos went something like this...

thank you, vanna white. he will be adding hand modeling to his resume. and the poster is looking like this... i need to shadow the text to make it more legible still.

sometimes i achieve my goals

2011-04-06T12:41:00.000-06:00

since we bought our iphones last year i have gone over the data limit twice. the budget does not like that very much. so this month the goal was stay under the limit. our data reset this morning, and check this out:

ooooooh yeah.

tidbits

2011-04-02T21:01:00.000-06:00

my nephew jake. he has me entirely wrapped around his chubby little finger.

the other night mike walked over to me, moved my bangs out of my face and said "there. they were covering your one good eye."

i have not been to my m/w american heritage lecture since the first week of february.

there is a sudden sprouting of terribly named stores around here. tonight's favorites include "cleo's white moments" and "petals & promises."

the perfect client emailed about invitations this week. i believe the words "no budget" were involved. the only time i can imagine saying those words is in the dollar store - if they were having a really great sale.

our national debt is over 14 trillion dollars. that means i owe around $46,000. mike and i will be collecting pennies. in buckets. it's got to be more than obama is doing.

i shipped some posters to malaysia three weeks ago. after keeping my fingers very tightly crossed, they finally arrived. phew.

we have a new hobby. it's trying-to-find-a-sublet-that-won't-bankrupt-us-completely-when-we-move-to-new-york-in-june and it is a whole heap harder than when i tried to learn how to crochet. at least with crocheting you can choose the yarn color. i'm just praying that wherever we stay has a bed. or a futon. or we could always bring sleeping bags? the subway seems warm...

"holler from marthaland"

2011-03-22T19:26:00.000-06:00

wooooooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

i got an internship at martha stewart! this is my excited face:

me and martha, sipping tea in matching aprons, coming summer 2011.

the rest of the new york trip

2011-03-17T19:56:00.001-06:00

i had new york photos for this post, but my phone is ten feet away and i'm pretty comfortable on the couch right now. lazy and lame. i'm a multi-tasker. but in case you were wondering about the other studios we visited in new york...

vsa partners
martha stewart <--- this is where i interviewed. i sort of heard back from them...
mcgarry bowen
brian collins
johnson & johnson
milton glaser - so cool. great advice. lots of notes. LOTS.

there was a whole heap of stress the week before scrambling to put my portfolio book together. i barely finished in time. and by barely i mean i zipped up my suitcase and ran out the door at 5:45 am with about a minute to spare. cutting things close keeps life very lively.

anyways. here is some of the work that i semi-finished last semester and wasn't too embarrassed to show:

i really love being a part of byu's program and the opportunity for such a wonderful trip... but i sure loved coming home to mike!

i'm not even sure i know 500 people...

2011-03-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

a few days ago the 500th poster was sold. 500? i almost cried. considering i still do a giddy-skip-around-the-room each time i get an order an emotional response was not completely unexpected. i wanted to do something since that seemed like a pretty good milestone. ideally i would send everyone who has ever ordered a free poster, but i don't have enough mailers on hand for that. so there's a giveaway instead! with 5 winners. and a discount code. if you so desire, you can enter the giveaway at www.avintageposter.blogspot.com and if you blog about it you get dos entries! considering i don't know very many people, if you get two entries your odds are pretty high you will win :)

new york new york

2011-03-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

my class has been in nyc since wednesday morning touring studios, interviewing for internships, and wreaking havoc on unsuspecting couture stores like prada (sometimes it's embarrassing being in a group). but it has been so amazing! our professor has had an incredible design career and has some great connections out here. so far the tour has included:

robert comstock - lds fashion designer. brilliant. genius. the nicest guy with the most amazingly luscious feathered locks you will ever see. he sat us around in a circle on his studio floor and we chatted for two hours about design, life, and indian sun dances. i will probably share more of those notes later because he was so inspiring.

the moderns - a smaller design studio with a sweet new space. they have been around for about 20 years and love byu interns. definitely check out berry plus, the laundry detergent they've been working on branding, it's a cool concept and very innovative.

thomas phifer - gah! so beautiful! this is the fountainhead in real, breathing life. an architecture firm all about modernism. they are actually building the new courthouse in downtown salt lake. favorite projects are the taghkanic house and fisher's island house.

mac - super interesting. they are creatively driven (almost unheard of) and roll out 60 collections a year. we talked about the latest wonder woman inspired products, got free make-up, and saw their pop-up store in soho.

louise fili - swoon. she is my design idol. her work is sooooooooo great. her type collection is out of control. we met in her tiny studio and maybe i fought my classmates off to sit right next to her. she exceeded all my expectations. totally nice, funny, and seeing her work in person made me love it even more. i want her promo books so badly!

studioCase - the partners are byu alum who did their own thing for a bit and then started this studio. they have some pretty amazing clients. my favorite was probably the fragrance book they did for bloomingdale's last christmas. really unique and incredibly executed. after we talked with them for a few hours we had a pizza party with all the byu design alum that are still working in nyc. there were a lot! plus, the pizza was incredible. there was one with apple slices that was heavenly.

yesterday i got to spend a very relaxing day with klane and ang. we ate at jane (delicious vanilla bean french toast), shopped around soho and stroked $5,000 carpets, cheered on the cougars, and strolled through the farmer's market. i only wish mike had been there. that would have been perfect. also, i actually made a purchase at abc home that i was genuinely excited for. behold, the mini dolmen radio:

we have two more days of tours before flying home wednesday night. hooray for new york!

the bfa diet

2011-02-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

when you live in a classroom/lab for days on end it's really easy to forget to eat. our class decided last year to take turns bringing food so no one would pass out from hunger during a critique... or turn to cannibalism. between classes, work, and sweating over deadlines, sometimes it's the only food you eat all day.

yesterday we had bananas, the most amazing cinnamon yogurt covered pretzels, pringles, and mr. keebler's elves. nutritional, filling, and delightful.

i think i will sing some mighty big hallelujahs! if all 16 of us manage to survive until next april.

viking pride

2011-02-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

the past few months our friday nights have been spent cheering on jeff in his last season playing basketball at pg. they've had a really up and down season, with some terribly close losses that left everybody a little broken hearted. last night was senior night, so it only seemed fitting that the game ended like this:

with a three point shot thrown up at the last second. goooooooo vikings! if only our soccer team could have pulled some wins like this back in the day... now that would have been miraculous.

and one shot of my lovely mother and jeffy, for good measure.

a jolly good fellow

2011-02-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

24! jack bauer. and, after last week, mike's official age. i was waiting to post until after we finished the birthday extravaganza, which included seeing the way back, but who knows when that will happen so up goes the post anyways. we celebrated his birthday with lots of cake and ice cream, lots of family, and lots of time at nordstroms buying new shoes. very shiny new shoes.

i sure love mike. he makes excellent brownies, is insanely funny/has amazing dance moves, and he's the most genuine person i have ever met. i'm so lucky i get to tag along with him forever.

ok friends, what did we learn today.

2011-02-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

1 - do not post things when you are feeling anything other than neutral. ie, sad, frustrated, annoyed. you will regret it.

2 - the internet is so. insanely. fast. and connected.

3 - i have wonderful and overprotective friends and family.

4 - lillie is wonderful and nice and talented and i think we should all visit her blog and leave her a nice comment :)

5 - alexandre desplat is an amazing composer. totally unrelated to this post, but very true and you should google him.

maybe it's better not to blog when i am a little bit annoyed.

2011-02-16T07:29:00.003-07:00

hello.

this morning i found this link.

what an adorable nursery, right? and the good morning sunshine print looks awfully familiar too...

but she didn't buy it from me. it was ripped off. this has happened a few times in the last couple months and it's a little bothersome. i'm flattered that people like the prints, but creative thievery is the worst kind of insult in an "i like what you did but it's not worth it to pay you for your work" kind of way. sigh.

(can i add that she is a photographer? another creative professional. she should know better. but i would rather not have anyone comment on her blog. i'm not calling out the pitchforks ;)

not sure there's anything i can do (should i send her an email? nothing nasty, just a little head's up sort of thing?), but after an invitation job gone wrong last week where there is still a balance that is probably coming out of my pocket i am feeling a little on edge.

on the bright side, i am about to eat a cake bite. so all is not lost :)

*edit: so... some of you went and commented on her blog anyways, and she added a link to the site*

i thought i was clever, and then i walked outside.

2011-02-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

yesterday i faced a dilemma of epic proportions. no jeans. in a stroke of (supposed) genius, i pulled out a pair of capris. thought process: capris + boots = 1 new pair of jeans for the girl who does not do laundry enough. no one would ever know... except the three inches of bare skin between my sock and capri. the minute i stepped outside the wind whipped straight through my boot and frosted that exposed skin. it was like wearing ice packs around my ankles all day. utterly foolish.

irony

2011-01-28T17:42:00.000-07:00

confession: i haven't been to my american heritage class in a week and a half... or so. this morning as i sat deeply pondering my life while eating a stack of oreos and vanilla frosting (separate of course) i remembered this quote from my sixth grade teacher: "an education is the one thing americans are willing to pay for and not receive." that mrs. walker, she was one smart lady in a purple pantsuit. so i resolved to try harder. i went to american heritage an hour early today. i did all the reading and even made myself repeat definitions in preparation for the quiz in class. during the quiz, i accurately traced england's monarchs from henry viii to william of orange. i oozed knowledge. nailed that quiz!

and then the TA stated that the quiz was actually an object lesson, and everyone got 100% just for showing up. really? so much for staying motivated.

today i bartered with my professor. in pretzels.

2011-01-18T20:22:00.001-07:00

i also got a haircut. four inches. it now looks like this:

i know. so different, right? my hair has looked exactly the same since an unfortunate incident in ninth grade when i chopped it to my chin and dyed half of it dark red. i was super edgy back in the day.

my classes this semester: advertising design, poster design, packaging design, motion graphics, aaaaaaaaand american heritage? one of these things is most definitely not like the other. let's cross our fingers it goes better than my d&c class last semester, which i legitimately forgot to attend for about six weeks. it's just much too strange to venture out of the hfac.

we also set up the printer for save the date that we moved from annie's house. well, mike did anyways. i was asleep on the couch and woke up to find the following as the test print. exhibit a:

a light into the world

2011-01-16T18:42:00.001-07:00

a few months ago there was a competition to design a christmas card around the theme "i am come a light into the world" for the college of fine arts and communications. well, remembering my past reflection contest days, i decided to enter at the last minute. so this is the design i submitted. they didn't get very many entries, and mine actually won. go team!

it was actually a really cool experience for me to reflect on the birth of the savior and how my life is what it is because of him. his influence in my life is very personal and very real. merry belated christmas!

don't you worry 'bout a thing

2011-01-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

ever heard of it? it's a fascinating documentary about the food industry in america. we watched it in one of my design classes yesterday. i realize that the filmmakers have their own agenda, but i will recommend anything that makes me think and encourages conscious decision making. however, you might cry. baby chicks. that's all i will say.

interesting quote from the film: "the idea that you would have to write a book about where your food came from shows you how far removed we are" (author of fast-food nation) + a fun fact for the day: the average american person consumes 200 pounds of meat per year.

i have seen quite a few books about this topic and i really would like to read some and see if we can implement some better food decisions into our daily diets + have some different perspectives on the subject. recommendations?

here's to being more informed.

small and simple things

2011-01-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

the best surprise

2010-12-22T09:08:00.001-07:00

this would be my work desk while i try and sort out which posters go with which order. 107 posters to be exact. mostly due to this surprise post by nie nie last week. i wish someone had been around to hear my yelp of excitement when i saw that link. but, alas, it was 3 am and only my shiny laptop and my magazine assignment were keeping me company. but i couldn't have asked for a better christmas surprise. i love that lady.

in other news, i desperately need a haircut and color. but i feel like sitting in a chair for three hours to pretend like i am still a blonde is a little much.

also, i spent six hours making monogrammed soap last week. oooooooh the adventure. but definitely worth it when my bald professor told me he heard it contained a miracle cure for baldness and was using it diligently and saving the other half for my other bald professor.

mike turned our gingerbread house into a barracks. he also grated the chimney with a pretzel ("no creepy old men will be popping through our chimney"), mounted some weaponry to the roof, and caged a chocolate santa in the front yard to ward off other... enemies? mike is too awesome sometimes.

and now, i will finally start catching up on all of your blogs :)

wish lists

2010-12-05T13:58:00.000-07:00

i have some very talented friends. and if anyone needs some unique christmas gift ideas for this year, let me give you a few...

adorable treasure hunt necklace from kat's store katch1

rose drop necklace, also from katch1

panda bear hat from rachael at her talk2thetrees shop

aspen necklace from rachael's treetalker store

and hopefully kendahl re-opens her pomegranate & pink shop soon because she has amazingly cute hair accessories :) anyone else have a store i don't know about? i'm always looking for new products to drool over.

posters! again.

2010-11-26T08:12:00.002-07:00

new prints and a new promo. go team.

hooray for another poster giveaway!

2010-11-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

i'm giving away two posters on simply utah today (and they have a bunch of other great giveaways too!) maybe you should check it out. it might help take your mind off of the great blizzard of 2010 ;)

www.simplyut.com

a saga

2010-11-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

me. my byu student id card.

we are not friends.

because, really, could you be friends with something that had a picture of you looking like this?

i suppose it's my own fault. but, the photo plus the fact that the card never worked, for anything, made me resent it a little.

i have watched longingly as all my friends used their id cards to do magical things. like clock in and out at work. and get in the letterpress lab all on their own without banging on the door for ten minutes. i even witnessed them buy ice cream from the vending machines. ice cream! a swipe from the card, and the possibilities were endless. oh the envy.

last week, i finally took action and found out that my card had been reported lost/stolen. so i reported it un-lost/stolen. and then i ran straight to the vending machine! naturally. i bought that little cup of creamery ice cream. and it was glorious.

ten minutes later, i received this email in my inbox:

alas, i knew it was too good to be true.

it's all a giant bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuur

2010-11-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

i swear i took this picture two days ago. in reality, it was two weeks, and the leaves are all brown and fallen now. how can it be the middle of November already? i wish i could hit the pause button for just a day or two.

tangent: i have a proposition for all the law makers that complain about people never getting out and voting. idea: put daylight savings to a vote. i promise you people will get out to nullify losing an hour of sleep in the spring/daylight in the winter. and maybe make your "i voted" stickers have a giant picture of harry potter. that would do the trick.

tangent numero dos: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGIE! can't wait to see you guys in a few weeks :)

11310. and counting.

2010-11-03T19:59:00.000-06:00

photo with the iphone. i will dedicate some other post to my absolute adoration for that magical little box.

two weeks ago annie and i did a very mini bridal show. le chateau invited us to be one of their "preferred vendors" (so fancy, eh?) for a catering event they put on. naturally, we were more than happy to show up with some of our invitations and hit the food tables up multiple times. we also met the most hilarious wedding vendors. it felt good to swap crazy wedding stories with them, like we were all a part of some secret club. it also made us a feel just a little bit more official. like we're not just two sister-in-laws that yell "oh! pretty!" every time we see new paper samples.

tonight we're eating hamburger helper. i don't know, but my initial impression is that a talking glove isn't very trustworthy. i fought back the urge to say "and please bless that this freeze-dried meal isn't cancerous" when we prayed. keeping our fingers crossed.

and now, modern family. love wednesday nights.

sometimes, i get emails like this from my professors

2010-11-02T19:27:00.000-06:00

please note the *seahorse training at the bottom.

despite the pressure, lack of sleep, and forfeiting of everything else in my life, i really love the design program. i would recommend it to everyone, but there's only 15 chairs in the classrooms and then i wouldn't have a seat anymore.

they better be good for your heart. not much else going for them.

2010-10-21T11:58:00.000-06:00

today we finished the back-up's back-up box of cereal. plain cheerios.

that's the truest indication of how busy life has been lately. it's a sad day when you actually finish all the plain cheerios because you haven't been grocery shopping in... awhile.

lots to post about. but i have a few projects i'm dying to finish first. (christmas cards. dayna's posters! the latest invitations, etc.) don't give up on me yet.

joining the club

2010-10-02T22:53:00.000-06:00

a gift

2010-10-01T10:09:00.001-06:00

*edit - they removed it so you can't play anymore - sad day*
i was shown this.
and was amazed.
so i am passing the love on.

go to: physics.byu.edu (browser has to be firefox)

once on the site, press the following:
up arrow
up arrow
down arrow
down arrow
left arrow
right arrow
left arrow
right arrow
b
a

and you should be rewarded with this:

feel free to play it once. or twice. or for awhile.
(if it doesn't work exit out of the browser and try again - and it does have to be firefox)
who else is excited that conference weekend is finally here? so excited!

no man is an island

2010-09-29T20:42:00.000-06:00

poster giveaway?

2010-09-28T04:16:00.000-06:00

poison ivy.

2010-09-24T08:05:00.001-06:00

SPOILER ALERT
sorry to everyone i already ruined this for...

thursdays are the best night of the week for me. i finish classes around 7 and get to go home with the knowledge that i only have to work 5 or 6 hours on friday before that blissful feeling of eternal weekend begins. have i said how much i love working part-time yet? this is the first semester in a few years i'm not putting 40-50 hours in a week at a day job and it is BLISS. i am as chipper as mary poppins most days. except i can't whistle.

the past few weeks though, my beautiful thursdays have been a little bit... tainted.
i blame her.

(shudder.)

but after last night, i don't have to hear her mean little voice ever again.

all is right in the world.

finders keepers

2010-09-20T19:29:00.001-06:00

my mom gave me a box full of random stuff awhile ago. mostly old art stuff. i shoved the box in the back of the neon and promptly dragged it around the state of utah for a few months because the only time i remembered about it was when we went grocery shopping and needed the trunk (which always made mike really happy). i finally dragged it out of the car on saturday. here's what i found:

alot of really bad photos from a b&w film class a few years ago. but for some reason, i find them kind of nice now. so i very artistically hung them crookedly with masking tape on my wall.

and guess what else was in the mystery box? these lovelies:

who knows how long they have been there. did i eat them anyways?

yup.

and were they delicious?

yup.

because we're cool like that

2010-09-18T16:01:00.000-06:00

six years ago, mike and i went on our first date. to homecoming. his friends made him ask me, even though he denies it. but that's ok, because now we have this little gem to preserve for generations.

oooooh the awkwardness of this pose. my sneaky / nervous glance at the camera. mike's swagger. the high-waisted-before-it-was-fashionable skirt. and the asian background? still a mystery, since the theme was "a long time comin'", country twang and all... go vikings.

just wait until i find our prom picture...

mondo mondo

2010-09-16T21:17:00.000-06:00

huge fan of mondo on project runway. but i can't get past it... anyone else see the resemblance between him and the boss from the incredibles?

huge prayer in my heart right now that ivy goes home this week. please oh please oh pleeeeeeeease send her away!

Lexi's invitation

2010-09-15T09:36:00.000-06:00

remember that preview i posted a little while ago? well her invitation is being featured on onewed's savvy scoop blog today! you can check out the link www.onewed.com/blog/savvy-scoop if you so desire.

if you want to see the reception (trust me, you do!) you can check their wedding video out at http://www.vimeo.com/14832813.

some things just need to be shared

2010-09-12T20:03:00.000-06:00

remember awhile ago when everyone on facebook was doing those doppleganger things?

well.

tonight i re-discovered mike's results. (i took screenshots to preserve the memory)

for your viewing pleasure, his top three matches...

the girl from slumdog millionaire won the #1 spot, followed by...

"queen latifah!?! now that's just wrong."

my result was emmy rossum, which is neither funny nor accurate.

may i sell you a poster?

2010-09-10T19:34:00.001-06:00

i packaged and shipped some posters today. sorry for the overload on this lately, the packaging was just something that i was really excited about (i might have gone too far... opinions are welcome - also, ideas on making the site more visually appealing. photos maybe? i'm stumped).

www.avintageposter.com

my 5 year old self would be so disappointed.

2010-09-09T20:17:00.001-06:00

on tuesday i made the mistake of forgetting to pack a lunch. ohhhhhhh what a mistake. i went to the vending machines and debated between peanut m&ms and a lunchable. in a rare moment of logic, i decided that a lunchable was potentially more healthy / filling.

um.... has anyone eaten a lunchable lately?

for some reason the rubbery cheese and slimy ham just doesn't do it for me like it did when i was seven.
which led me to create the following...

foods that have lost their magic sometime between age 5 and now:

playdough ice cream
hi-c
fruity pebbles (when i eat these i swear i feel new cavities forming before i'm finished)
squeeze-its
ring pops
corn dogs
bubble tape
spaghetti-o's
those gummy hamburger things
twinkies
fun-dips
pop rocks
funyuns
mcdonald's chicken nuggets
(feel free to add to this list)

all foods i begged for and was rarely able to have because my mother loves me, truly.

it's kind of ironic. now that im finally able to buy all the junk food i want, my taste buds have decided to connect to my stomach. it's a cold, cruel world we live in.

observation

2010-09-08T20:51:00.000-06:00

school is good. it is teaching me things. like observing.

these are my saturday morning breakfast observations. translucence.

observation is a funny thing. a learned thing. once you start noticing details you become more amazed by them. and then grateful for them. and then humbled by them.

and then you realize that you have a long way to go to become a really good designer. but that's ok. it's what life is for, right?

baffled.

2010-09-06T21:07:00.002-06:00

things that confuse me {the ultra condensed list}

no, pandora. it does not make sense for me to "heart" a coldplay song and then have you select slipknot as the next artist.

why is the lowest setting on my mixer still high enough to flick food everywhere? our walls could be some sort of organic testament of our diet. but, never fear, i clean them.

people that spell other people's names wrong on facebook... pretty sure their name is on the top of the page...

is there a way to roundbrush your hair without getting the roundbrush hopelessly stuck on your head? also, i feel sort of dumb whenever i say "roundbrush". this is a brush, and it's round, so i guess it's a... roundbrush.

michael makes kool-aid in excessively large amounts. after a month i dump it down the drain. and the next day? a bigger batch of kool-aid finds a home in our fridge. baffling.

i watched a couple change their baby on campus the other day. while they were walking. it was fascinating. and gross. but i followed them just to see if they could do it. they did. i couldn't help being impressed.

fact. ivy is still on project runway. ugh! i want to punch her little hyper face sometimes. but i am not a violent person. (i take it out on our alpaca pillow).

blogger. the layout tools tend to do the opposite of what i want them to. OR they look fine until they publish and then CHAOS. it's such a pleasant surprise.

the end.

2010-09-02T21:29:00.000-06:00

the day we almost bought iphones

2010-09-01T17:18:00.000-06:00

let me start at the beginning.

i wake up early. too early. about a week ago i was filing away all of our transactions in mint (favorite hobby) and i had been thinking about what i could get mike for our anniversary next month. looking at our budget again, i had an idea.

i went into our bedroom at 5:45 and kind of shook mike awake. i got a semi-grunt, so i said "mike, what do you think about getting iphones for our anniversary?" he half opened one eye to look at me, and then he lifted up the corner of the covers and said "welcome to my bed." he was a little delusional. and then he started patting me on the back and saying "you've had a grand idea, sara" over and over and over.

the problem was that i wanted to wait until october, and mike wanted it two months ago.

finally, last night, he convinced me i needed the sheer joy and happiness the iphone would bring. and i needed it now. so we drove to the store. and walked in. and it was packed. we waited. and that's where it all went downhill... because as we waited, i kept hearing snippets of the conversations around me:

"activation fee is $36 per line"
"yeah, the new iphone is only $199"
"oh, you will have to pay the cancellation fee for that"
"yeah, we add the data plan of $15 per line to your $49.99 monthly plan"

and that, x2, meant all i heard was $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and that it would cost us a million and five dollars to buy those shiny little things.
plus i kept seeing dave ramsey's head floating around with a disappointed look, like i failed him.
and then i started to panic. possibly hyperventilate. and just as it was our turn at the counter, i made mike leave the store. i chickened out. worst wife ever.

so... yeah. i guess you don't get points for almost buying an iphone.

"it's good to be loved by martha. even if she is a felon."

2010-08-31T11:01:00.000-06:00

i saw this today. and my heart stopped beating.

martha. freaking. stewart.

i kind of feel like laughing, because the way annie and i do things is, well... funny. we assemble invitations at midnight while we watch the bachelorette. we have business meetings at arby's. i photograph the invitations in my spare bedroom lying on my stomach or standing on a stack of textbooks and usually on my lunch break. but don't tell martha :)

i still can't even believe it.

we were so lucky to get to help out with lauren's wedding. thank you lauren!!!

a vintage poster

2010-08-29T21:47:00.002-06:00

well folks, here it is, avintageposter.com

and, because i am shameless and need to spread the word...

a new side business to the side business to the real job

2010-08-28T18:36:00.001-06:00

i have been working on a new little project lately. one that was heavily influenced by otter pops. the site should be re-tweaked for the umpteenth time tonight (should i ever give deadlines? i never keep them. sometimes i wave to them as they roll on by) but hopefully my next post will be one announcing it's official debut. i just got a little anxious. hence, this post.

check it out here: avintageposter.com

chef mike

2010-08-26T18:28:00.000-06:00

the other day mike offered to make lunch for us. and he did. complete with his and hers mambas.

an example of true genius

2010-08-25T10:38:00.001-06:00

order this sleeping bag and you officially don't have to worry about bears when you go camping.

from eikoishizawa.com. credit to artsy jana for finding nifty stuff and sharing.

minty

2010-08-23T16:23:00.000-06:00

ever heard of mint?

it is on my top 5 list of things i cannot live without. free-budgeting tool. complete with pie graphs and bar graphs and lots of colored things to look at.

it's simple. all you have to do is create an account and enter your bank(s) information. (no worries-it is totally secure). mint will pull all your transactions from your accounts into one convenient little spreadsheet. you can file away each transaction in it's proper category (rent, groceries, entertainment, etc.) and set your own categories too (ice cream splurge, j. crew sales, unnecessary camping equipment, etc.). and set your monthly budgets. mike and i have been using it for over a year, and while it has kind of turned me into a budget nazi, but it has helped us save a lot and cut things out that we didn't realize were adding up so fast. plus you don't feel as guilty about spending money if there is a budget for it. well, most of the time anyways.

highly recommend it. mint.com.

retail therapy

2010-08-19T22:26:00.000-06:00

i used to love shopping. empty my bank account and not even think twice about it shopping. but after mike and i became we and the bank account became ours things changed. the money i would have spent on shoes became the money that should be going to our IRA.

even though i am pretty sure i will die or the second coming will occur before we ever reach the blessed age of 59.5 and see that money again.

but. now instead of buying clothes when i need them or when there is a supremely awesome sale, i can't do it. can't. can't. can't. (that was for you ang. and barry.)

i fill up an online shopping cart. i enter my checkout information. and then there is that confirm payment button. oi. aaaaaaaaaaand exit browser.

this week, i am mourning these lovely items. so close to buying them, and now i am regretting it. a little. at least my unborn children will be able to go to college? but the ruffles...

we love sundays because the church is true. and air-conditioned.

2010-08-18T18:53:00.000-06:00

on sunday, mike and i took a nap on the couch.

about thirty minutes after we fell asleep, i was given the two-arm shove off the couch while mike mumbled "it's too crowded here. maybe you should move over there. toooooooo much body heat."

in my semi-delusional state of mind as i arrived on the floor, i had two thoughts:

1 - our apartment is hotter than hades

2 - we're not newlyweds anymore

being newlyweds for some reason means that you have to touch each other all the time. because you love each other and obviously that is the only way you can show you love each other, despite any other circumstances, like no air conditioning. and if not being newlyweds anymore means more comfortable naps so we don't have to peel ourselves apart as we roast in our 700 square foot broiler where it is hotter inside than outside because the tiny, tiny, tiny air-conditioner that we bought off ksl as a desperate last attempt against the inferno of july has a radius of approximately six inches, i guess i'm ok with that.

although fall could come any day now. or an arctic chill.

girls night

2010-08-17T07:49:00.000-06:00

jess orchestrated girls night last friday. we ate, watched movies, talked nonsense, and repeated that cycle at least twenty seven times. after you grow up a little bit and realize that clothes are not the most important things in life, sisters are the best. especially my sisters. they are beautiful, talented, and hilarious. {sorry about the pictures - the lighting was awful and i was too lazy to fix things - surprise}

we started the night off at blue lemon, where the sandwiches are bigger than your face...

then we went to the mall, since it has the highest concentration of chocolate stores per square foot. and we visited them all. while sampling a nasty chocolate truffle {who knew such a thing existed?} we found out that syd has never seen project runway {scandal!} and ran home to stuff our faces with sugar and watch the first three episodes from this season.

lara might kill me for posting that picture... but syd looks cute! we made waffles with strawberries and plenty of whipped cream the next morning. mmmm... delicious. and girls night was officially declared a success, minus jen of course.

the b.f.a. - or best friends always club

2010-08-12T00:15:00.002-06:00

so maybe it actually stands for bachelor of fine arts. but my dad only calls it the best friends always club. which i kind of like.

anyways. i applied to the bfa in april (you have to be in the graphic design program and complete a year of classes before you can apply). they make it pretty stressful. or maybe the students make it stressful. or maybe its the rumors that swirl about the impossibility of getting in and how there are a billion and five potential applicants. either way, it was stressful. especially since most of my projects were started within a few days or the day before the portfolio was due. my procrastination meant late night, expensive kinkos runs with tons of printing issues (curse you kinkos! i despise you), simultaneously slashing through foamcore and my rug with an x-acto blade at 3 in the morning, and finishing the portfolio at 5:30 am, two hours before i went to set it up at the review. whew. it was close.

here's the portfolio i submitted. don't judge too much, because i still have two years of scholastic learning left. (translates to: there's a lot of mistakes)

this was a poster assignment. i designed a series for a women's chess tournament. clearly i am a feminist.

this was a logo and stationary for an art studio in harlem (an ode to klane and angie)

CD packaging for brand new's album daisy. their lyrics are awesome, so i made all the song text a little bit crazy.

this was a re-design of instyle magazine...

and three book cover designs for my favorite novels. i did change the title of anthem because it fit better. but the hand-drawn type is probably my favorite part of my portfolio.

el fin.

oh the things you learn on pandora

2010-08-09T16:41:00.000-06:00

coming soon to a theater near you...

their casting looks much more promising. who could say no to buffy?!

life tip

2010-08-07T15:41:00.000-06:00

if you don't already watch project runway, you should. i mean it. it is high quality entertainment. you can even watch them online at mylifetime.com if you are like me and only have an option of three channels.

*sidenote: i've always had a soft spot for lifetime tv. when i stayed home from school (at least every two weeks or so) i would eat a half gallon of ice cream and rot my brain on lifetime original movies. which is probably why i am convinced i will die a dramatic death / be kidnapped and held hostage for twenty years.

but back to project runway. i am really excited for this season. some very talented people plus a good mix of crazies and and a certifiable nutcase or two. just look at these people. don't you want to devote an hour and a half of your life to them every thursday and watch them make ridiculous ensembles and sob to the camera about their tortured visions? i think yes. and if that doesn't convince you, just watch once to hear heidi klum say "nina garcia". it's worth it.

things i should have already posted about: part 2 - the final hurrah

2010-08-03T22:49:00.000-06:00

back in may (april maybe?) i had been serving in the primary presidency for almost a year. we knew our time as a presidency was almost done since a lot of people were moving, so we decided to throw a big party for all the kids. it was a huge hit. we had cake, ice cream, a pinata (i'm sure their parents were thrilled) and a bunch of games. i loved my primary calling. the kids were hilarious, the people i worked with became wonderful friends, and teaching the gospel to five year olds was a lot closer to my comfort zone than anything involving adults. i miss it. especially since my new calling is teaching relief society. yikes.

favorite primary moments that i can remember:

*having a christmas party and showing the nativity cartoon. all the kids started screaming when king herrod started killing the babies. oops. forgot about that part.

*trying to explain to them that joseph smith was not jesus' dad. that was a different joseph. it took awhile.

*showing a resurrected painting of christ and asking what was happening in the picture: "jesus is flying!"

who wants to see a well designed macaroon?

2010-07-30T11:05:00.000-06:00

if only i was this creative. images pilfered from anagrama. worth checking out.

things i should have already posted about: part 1 - my sister's wedding

2010-07-28T19:49:00.000-06:00

*pause* instead of waiting in the torrential downpour outside the temple we waltzed over to the lion house for the luncheon. an hour early. my great-uncle ken is one of my favorite relatives. he went exploring and discovered an employee folding napkins in a back room. naturally he volunteered lou and kate to help him out by telling them they got extra rolls at lunch. which may have been a lie.

jess and ryan's wedding was so pretty. it started with a beautiful sealing at the salt lake temple. when we went to take pictures outside it felt like a small hurricane moved through (no one should ever get married in march). never fear, we all came out unscathed and jess and ry still looked like models. one thing i realized going through these photos is how awful i am at getting pictures of important people. you know, the bride, the groom, their parents, relatives that fly from clear across the country...

the reception was gorgeous. her colors were black and white, and the arrangements had lots of bright green. the crepe bar was delicious. the candy tables had mini gummy penguins! and my favorite part of weddings is getting to talk and talk with people i don't get to see often enough.

and now we need to work on finding someone for lou...

a little pick me up

2010-07-26T13:20:00.000-06:00

my sister jen is serving a mission in argentina. we miss her, a lot.

i love reading her emails. she is hilarious. sometime i will post some of her best quotes.

she had a rough time this past week, but she shared something i thought was worth passing along. when she was struggling, she opened up her mtc journal and remembered when elder holland had come and spoken to them. this is what he said:

"This is God's eternal truth. I have not given my life to a fairy tale. This is not a cunningly devised fable! This is God's eternal truth."

because out of everything, that's all that matters. sometimes we doubt. sad things happen, hard things happen, and most of the time we have no clue what's going to happen. but there is a plan for us. and it is real. and it makes everything worth it.

hey! i got a hole in one!

2010-07-24T10:35:00.000-06:00

we talked lyns into letting us borrow lukey and ethan for a sleepover on thursday night. i'm not sure who was more excited about it, lukey and ethan or mike. we took them to the glorious wonders of trafalga, the creamery, and then introduced them to the 90's via netflix: jumanji, the three ninjas, and batman. they are such fun and easy kids! and pretty funny too. it almost made us reconsider our "let's wait ten years to have kids plan" (just kidding dad - it's really only five). best quotes of the night:

lukey: "i never been golfing before. but i beat mario golf. so i'm gonna be good."

ethan: "i got a hole in one!" lukey: "me too!" ethan: "no lukey, you got a hole in three."

we love our nephews.