Local Royalty

Okay, not really. But...
Utah Bride & Groom - HELLO!

We all know how obsessed I am over weddings in general, but obviously our Wedding is a major obsession, and rightfully so. I worked hard to make the day perfect for Mikey and I, and it totally was! A party, a celebration, a day to be remembered forever!

I could not wait to get my hands on the 2011 edition of Utah Bride & Groom. I was contacted by our photographer, Melissa Kelsey, months and months ago, asking for my permission to submit some wedding photos to UB&G. Um, hell yes of course! Months later, Melissa contacted me letting me know UB&G had chose a picture of Mikey and my bridesmaids; elated they would be in the mag, I have to admit I was slightly disappointed that me, the Bride, did not make it in.

Months later, a flip through the magazine totally made my day - and you can see why!

The coveted 2011 edition
(I feel like Miranda Priestly cherishing
MY version of Runway magazine)

My sexy groom bowling in the index...
The bowling alley photo was featured in the
Boys' Night Out section of the mag
My BFFs/beautiful Bridesmaids and my husband
featured in the Ladies in Waiting section

Lastly... what I least expected (LOL) but so happy to see:

Mikey and I featured in
The Wedding Album

I know I am nerd. Nonetheless, I was extremely anxious to share this with family and friends, and revere this particular issue of Utah Bride & Groom. Talk about a great thing to show the kids!

Deck the Halls (or the corner in the apartment)

With a large-ass couch, two end tables and one small front room, your Christmas decor options may become limited. Think again. With hopes for a small tree to nicely fit in the assigned crevice in our front room, we fell in love with our too big of tree at the lot. Perfect shade of green and a nice shape... how could we say no? Seriously.
All said and done... I had to eliminate both end tables and push the couch (which bugs me a little OCD style, but it's fine and looks fab)!

We spread holiday cheer, sipped on spiked cider and chopped down our tree in the forest. Best way to kick off the holidays. (The tree cutting adventure is a tradition Mikey's entire family has done each year.)

No snow... yet.
Within two hours of taking this picture at the tree lot, snow began to fall like crazy!
Our 2nd tree!

Last year was our first married Christmas, and also the first Christmas either of us had spent away from home. This meant... (no tears) ... shopping for Christmas decor and defining a theme for our apartment! I stuck with the classics: red and green. A bright green replaced the traditional pine green and paired with bright red, it looks great and festive! Another major theme throughout our place is glitter!!!!! Diamonds {{{and glitter}}} are both a girl's best friend in my opinion. While glitter is not acceptable year round, I am happy to glitter-fy my home for the Holidays!

Oh Christmas tree oh Christmas TrEe
Holiday mantle! I created a glittertastic mantle piece with a plain
pine garland, ribbon to match our tree and some
fun glitter pine cones!

With two end tables being kicked out of this room and a lack of
storage space, I created a random holiday 'shrine'... random'ness
at it's finest.

I LOVE all things Barbie. Since I was super young, I have collected
a Barbie ornament each year. It began with Holiday Barbie, this year
an adorable shoe tree! Pink, glitter, heels? YES please.


Glitter artichokes are critical for this time of year...

So are glitter balls, everyone is doing it.

Happy Holidays
friends, and best wishes for an even better new year.
{Wishes for lots of love, happiness and glitter too}

XOXOXO

Eew

I get it.
I do it.
And I implement this practice with caution.
Caution. That is all I am asking.
What practice? The practice of not washing your hair daily.

I often although not always, wash my hair every other day. While I claim it helps my color last longer, I am truly just lazy some mornings and can get away with it no longer than every other day.
While rocking dirty hair, I am sure to either: a) wear it all back including bangs, b) wash the front section of my hair, c) use dry shampoo.
While occasionally I utilize only one method, more often than not, dirty hair days require the utilization of all three aforementioned options. I understand some people go longer, and they can go longer than every other day. If you are one of these people, I know a bunch of you, I envy you. You are lucky to have thick hair of a beautiful texture that allows you to maintain your color, healthier locks with less hot tool damage and well... to be lazy. Depending on the texture of an individual's hair that is acceptable assuming it does not wreak havoc on the noses or eyes around you (think smelly greasy hair). Be sure to read the fine print!

I have definitely been in situations where I literally have had to hold my breath (yes I am sensitive to smell) so I do not have to take in the whiff of DIRTY, oily hair.

Today as I sat in a presentation with local professionals from SLC, I could not help myself but to look around the room and notice the women of all ages with dirty, matted, ugly hair. In my opinion, this is not professional. GET a hand mirror. Just because your 'do may look okay in the front... check out the back, especially if you are rocking a shorter style. Bed head is NOT professional or acceptable. And not only was I seeing bed head messes in front of me, but OILY, dirty undid hairdos.

If doing the not-washed hair, it is critical to take the proper precautions (see a,b,c above).
If you have any dirty hair tips to share, please comment and fill me in on your dirty little secret. :)

Neurotic, I know.
With my Mom in the hair business, I may be a bit more psychotic about this than most. Growing up with a Mom who could spot, by sight and smell, un-fresh locks, meant me washing my hair every day. She says there is nothing worse than having to work on a dirty head...


I just had to vent.

Shake and Bake'esque

Since chicken is thee staple of our dinner menu, I like to prepare it differently. I recently tried a new and superb marinade: olive oil, soy sauce and an onion soup packet. It had great flavor and was super moist. I baked it on a (olive oil-greased) cooking sheet.

This shake and bake'esque experience is one I stole from my Mom (again) and is one of our favorites that is in regular rotation.

1. Coat chicken breasts in egg

2. Cover chicken in bread crumbs, seasoning salt, pepper, chili powder, salad seasoning, etc. (I literally change up what seasonings I use every time I make it depending on my mood and what side dishes I am serving with it, ANYTHING goes well
3.Bake (I have no idea how long to be honest... about 18 minutes, 9 on each side)

Voila! SUPER simple, fast, affordable and SO delicious. I served this one with brocoli and a loaded baked potato. This is Mikey's serving, not mine. ;)

Chop Chop

At this point in my life, my long hair may arguably be my best feature. Despite that, I decided to chop it... I needed a change!

Buh-bye long flowing locks...

Hello a shorter, sassier Me!

Not quite SHORT, but I am considering it.
Still long... but about 6 inches and bangs... and I am a new woman!

MMM good

With a passion for food and a major craving for soup, it is my goal to try some new soups... recipes I find and ones that I make up in my head (using all of the leftover items in the fridge from the previous week). This particular soup is one that I made up in my head, and emptied the produce drawer at the same time.

1. I boiled chicken breasts in a tasty "stock" (got that pro lingo from my Mom) with chicken bouillon, celery and onion {boil until thoroughly cooked}
{at this point, your home smells amazing and you are creating delicious chicken that will shred easily and is FULL of flavor {{Bland, no-taste chicken makes me want to PUKE}}

I just get rid of this stock and start all-over for my soup broth, which is for sure unnecessary, but it is the way I prefer to make it so I do not have random little bits of chicken and such... you can just use this broth as it's super flavorful for your soup...

2. I just chopped up what I had in my fridge, but by all means... throw in all the veggies that you desire! I used carrots, red pepper, onion and parsley (and peas from the freezer). I normally like cilantro, but parsley is what I had.
3. I then added water and chicken bouillon (chicken broth, the more chicken-y the better), all my veggies, my chicken, wagon wheel noodles and really random spices...
4. I let the soup just blend together on low for a bit and then it's ready to serve!

It turned out SO tasty and it made a TON!
I froze on large container, took two smaller ones for our lunches and another one for a later dinner. SO convenient for later meals and so delicious every time!

80s, and my obsession

Any chance to rock 80s attire, I am SO in! My second year in a row, I have rocked some sort of 80s-themed outfit (it's a costume, but I like to refer to it as an "outfit"). With Madonna on my mind and accommodating my body and work appropriateness, I created a full-coverage 80s outfit! Biggest achievements: made my own tutu and had perm rods in my hair for five hours +.

I started with some of this and this...

{thee unveiling of the first rod}

and I ended up with some of this, and this and a sexy Jersey husb!


My perm rod curls were AMAzing, but since I was not willing to wear them overnight to show up at work with the fab curls. I opted for my flat, like 1/2" iron (took an hour to curl) and modified the hair style (even more wonderful) and added a nice beauty mark for Madonna:

We'll see if next year gets more "R" rated!

Cause we are living in a material world and I ammmmmaaa material girl.