Ratta-tat-tat and a kitty cat

A week from yesterday I got together with some of my close friends for a girls' night. I was so glad it worked out! I think it was the first time all of us had been together since my wedding. With one of us in Provo, one in Sandy, one in San Francisco, and me in Salt Lake, it makes it difficult to coordinate a time when we can all do something. We met at Iggy's for dinner and then had planned to watch a movie that we used to watch a lot in junior high/ high school. Instead of the movie, we ended up just talking the whole night. It was really fun and much needed. 

A few days later I spent the day with my mom for her birthday. We went to lunch, spent time at a few quilt stores, and then ended up at Gardner Village. I generally don't go to this place just because I feel like the majority of the stores are overpriced, but it's still fun to look around to see what's there every once in a while. Rather than just being the typical Gardner Village scene, there are crazy witches displayed all over the area since it is October. We also stopped at Archibald's restaurant for a little snack (Tasty fried green tomatoes, bread pudding, and drinks. Mmm)

In front of a giant pumpkin

Trying on some witch hats in a "bootique" haha.

After Gardner Village, it was time to pick up my mom's birthday present. This little beauty has now become a new member to the Toy home. 

M|m: Daisy Love

A couple months ago I was reading my cousin's blog and found a link to another blog for a girl named Daisy. I read the archived posts to catch up on her story and I have been following her progress ever since. This little girl seriously amazes me. I think she has more courage at her young age than I have shown in my 22 years. Her situation has gone from bad, to much better, to much worse, and now she is in the process of trying to get better again. But through all of it, I still manage to see numerous pictures of her smiling and spending time just being a kid. About a week ago her mom posted a picture of Daisy reading Better Homes and Gardens magazine which I thought was funny. A few minutes later, her mom said that Daisy had just ripped a recipe out to save. I laughed.

Life is waiting for you

Its all messed up 

But we're alive

Oh, life is waiting for you

Its all messed up 

But we'll survive 

Artist: Our Lady Peace
Title: Life
Album: Spiritual Machines

The Beginning of Media Mondays

I'm trying something new. I always feel like I should post more often, but don't always feel like I have something to actually post about. So I've decided to start what I'll be calling Media Mondays (for lack of something more creative.) This way, I'll at least post once a week - although maybe uninteresting, I'm hoping it will get me thinking for other posts, or at least in the habit of posting. Because let's face it, I'm a creature of habit. 

Media is defined as the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers and magazines, that reach people widely. To me, media includes anything from music, whether it be the lyrics themselves or the song created for them, to fine art paintings or images.

When I went to the Utah Art Festival during the summer, I fell in love with this painting. It was about 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide with plexi-glass bolted over the top. I REALLY wanted it, but unfortunately it was too costly.

Title: Aspen Spray
Artist: Mason Fetzer

masonfetzer.com 

I love the juxtaposition of this image. It puts something so organic with something so urban. I did find out that I can have this image printed onto a magnet for less than $10. Maybe I'll have to settle for that much smaller version.

Recent Craft Projects

So generally every few days I check out the updates on some blogs I like to keep up with. With many of these being crafty type blogs, I find some projects that I just have to try out. Since flower embellishments seem to be the "thing" these days, I thought I'd attempt to make some of my own. I think they turned out pretty good since it was my first try.

I thought a few of these would look good with a new tank I got. 

I also made these flowers into a hair clip.

Along with the flowers, I also designed Matt and I some t-shirts with fabric paint. We used the Silhouette machine to cut out "stencils" for them which made it pretty easy. And so far the fabric paint has held up well in the washing machine. 

Here's the first shirt...

You can't really see it in the picture, but I applied the fabric paint using a saran wrap technique that made the printing look a bit worn rather than completely solid.

So I forgot to say, the reason I originally wanted to design my own shirt was because I really wanted a University of Utah one to wear to the games, rather than just the usual plain red shirt. I have looked at the bookstore (and other places) pretty much every year and never really find anything I like that I feel is worth the price they're asking. For some reason they tend to have more than twice as many designs and varieties to choose from for the guys - including t-shirts for 10.99, which for some reason are not offered in women's sizes. Needless to say, I was pretty happy when I got to wear my shirt to the first football game. Of course an added bonus is that it is one of a kind. Oh, and the fact that the shirt was only $3.50 at forever 21. Go Me!

After seeing my Utah shirt, Matt couldn't do without his own as well. So I went back out and got him a red shirt, he picked out the design idea and I went to work. Here are a couple pics of the process. The shirt is finished, but I didn't take a picture of it and it is currently being washed. 

This is the front before I started painting. There is also a large block U in the bottom right corner.

He copied my idea of the Runnin' Utes down the back side. And we also put a smaller block U in the middle at the top, a little below the collar.

For my next craft I'm keeping my eye out for fall themed ideas to decorate our front door. I've already seen a tutorial for a paper towel wreath which seems intriguing. 

*For those of you who are wondering where I got the flower or shirt tutorials, here are the links. 

I am Momma, Hear Me Roar - t-shirt

Ucreate - Flowers

Also, here are the links to the other places I visit, if you'd like to get in touch with your inner crafter.

Alisa Burke

Make it and Love it

Positively Splendid

Matisyahu Concert

This Thursday Matt and I went to the Twilight Concert Series to enjoy the music of Matisyahu. For those of you who haven't heard of it, the Twilight Concert Series is a free set of concerts that take place in Pioneer Park throughout the summer. In 2006, Matisyahu was the opener for a 311 concert we attend. Unfortunately we got to that concert late and missed him, and although we did get to meet him after the 311 concert, we were sad we'd missed seeing him perform. So getting to see him and it being free on top of that, was something we definitely weren't going to pass up.

We started our night off by eating dinner at Ekamai Thai Curry, a place owned by one of our friends and very conveniently located across from Pioneer Park. They have super yummy dishes (I highly recommend trying the mango sticky rice for dessert) and Matt and I seem to always be craving the food lately.

After dinner, we went in to the park and found a spot on the grass. Everyone was sorta doing a picnic style thing during the first band, sitting in groups on blankets and eating various foods from the tents set up in the park. Then when Matisyahu started setting up, things got pretty crowded. We were pretty surprised at the amount of people and how much everyone attending varied in age and style. I think we saw people from the age of 5 all the way to a couple who looked to be in their 70's.

Matisyahu has a different way of doing concerts than other artists. Instead of singing everything the way you're used to hearing it on the cd, he remixes and changes up a lot of his songs. This made for an interesting experience. While it was cool to listen to some "new" songs and see how much he could push his musical creativeness, it was also sort of hard to recognize some of the songs. But despite that, about a dozen pot circles around us, and the fact that I couldn't really see the stage for the majority of the concert, it was a pretty fun night.

If you're not familiar with Matisyahu, here is a youtube video of one of my favorite songs he sings. Although it is probably his most popular and somewhat overplayed, (it was the music for many of the 2010 Winter Olympic clips and commercials) this version is a bit different and he does some wicked beat boxing mixed in too. Plus, I'm always a sucker for the acoustic versions of songs.