bachelorette = bad news bears

The other night I hosted a little bachelorette shindig at my house.

And by bachelorette I mean Emily.

Ah yes. Beautiful girl she is.

What is that bewildered look on her face?  I can explain...

Did this guy just show up to the mansion on a skateboard and then proceed to toss it into the bushes so he could strut up those stairs to say hello? 

Barf.  If his hair wasn't enough indication of his wannabe-ness then I don't know what is.  And by wanna-be I am most definitely referring to the one and only..

David Silver. 90210.

Don't fall for this guy Emily!

Next on the list

Travis.  Of course, no self-respecting bachelor would show up empty handed and he was definitely not going to be made a fool.

So he brought an egg.  An egg that apparently was meant to symbolize his commitment and devotion.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of him sitting on the porch swing. Alone with only an egg for company.

I guess that's what happens when you bring a  "Pre-Bird" (as Tom Haverford would say) to a fancy party.

P.S- Rascall Flats called and want their hair back.

And then there's..

Michael. The musician with his very own Youtube channel. Impressive. 

The only problem is that when I look at him another image comes to mind..

He just seemed a little too My So-Called Life-ish if you know what I'm saying. Depressed. Aspiring musician. Breaking innocent girls hearts with his secret drug addiction. You know the story.

Poor Emily.

She's headed for heartbreak city.  I saw the clip where one of the guys refers to her daughter as "baggage".

That southern charm disappeared faster than the guy who dressed up granny-style.

Up next! Bobbleheads, helicopters, and the guy who resembled a creepy used car salesman.

Stay tuned..

mama's weekend

For Mother's Day all I wanted was a vacation.

You know...it's a been a rough few weeks. 

Andrew came home Friday afternoon and said to me, "Honey, you need to pack a swimsuit and an overnight bag, because we are going on a little trip."

Sweeter words had never been spoken!

So we packed our bags and headed north to the glamorous city of Salt Lake.

the hotel lobby

We checked in and then headed off to dinner at my fav restaurant in Utah:

Have you been here? We discovered it on a trip to SLC last year and it's become a staple for all future vacations.

We sat at the counter and pretended we were judges on "Chopped".

Fish and Chips

The Copper Onion burger complete with housemade pickles!

We stopped by City Creek after dinner for some casual shopping.

I found a few things that belonged in my closet

Since our trip to Belgium last December we crave real french fries and only the best waffles.

Naturally this meant Andrew running over to Bruges Waffles and Frites for some dessert.

We were not disappointed!

Don't be fooled by how simple this looks...it is Divine.

Oh so good.

Our last stop was Les Madeleines, a Patisserie I've been begging to go to for months.

 

It was a little shop hidden in a corner and everything was delicious.

 

Andrew ordered the Turkey Club

 

Have you ever had real french fries? Pomme Frites at Les Madeleines are perfection.

I got the Sesame Chicken Salad in an egg roll wrap with Edamame. 

I could eat this every day.  It was so, so good.

Finally we ordered the Kouing-Aman Bread Pudding...

"The Best Thing I ever ate" show on Food Network came here to feature this dessert.  No wonder.


Shout out to my sweet husband who made the weekend soooo nice.  I feel rejuvenated and rested.

Being a mom is awesome. Especially when I get to come home to this cute little thing

Mama love

Happy Mother's Day!

if you give a girl a remodel..

She'll probably choose to sleep for a year afterwards.

Yes, people, I'm exhausted.

 I'm not positive, but I have a hunch that it may have something to do with sleeping on the couch for a week, Ellie refusing naps amidst loud banging on the other side of her bedroom wall, and spending the last day and half assuming damage control to get my house back into some sort of liveable state.

And we did see Avengers late last night, but that was completely necessary.

Everytime we remodel something I remember, "oh yeah this sucks" because it is always more work than you planned, the unexpected becomes the expected, and you really can't eat enough pizza to get you through the endless hours.

Our bathroom/laundry room was one disgusting place.

The flooring was ripped out months ago thanks to the worst sewage problem known to man.  The bathtub was a mauve-ish delight and the sink stopped working before Christmas.

Let's all chant "gross gross gross! " fo reals.

It was decided that gutting the entire bathroom was really the only way to go. Thus, this was the side of my house for several days.  Nothing like opening those french doors on a pretty day to find a toilet, plastic shelving from the 70's, and an old washer.

Both sides of the coin..Left is Andrew and his bro drywalling the new bathroom. Right is the laundry room side complete with drywall and new paint.

We had a little trouble getting our new washer and dryer set up. Jon volunteered to be the man of the hour.  Andrew assisted by holding everything steady.

My job was to paint the walls and hold the light fixtures.  I learned right then and there that if I were to ever go on Survivor I would win every challenge thanks to my incredible arm strength. Good thing it only took 5 minutes though. Seriously.

 Friday: To avoid post traumatic stress disorder we went to Cafe Rio.

Tis the coziest laundry room in all the land. I heart it.

Isn't it pretty?

Even the toilet looks lovely.

Elle loves the bathroom so much that she has pooped in the tub twice already while taking a bath and when I pulled her out of the tub she peed all over the floor. 

She really teaches me a lot about what it means to celebrate.

Now this girl is off to bed for a nice long nap..

Pocket dreams

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to find a Euro, tickets to the metro in France, and a shopping list in my coat pocket.

I carefully put each item back inside the safety of my pocket. Then the next time I wear my coat I'll find them and relive Paris all over again. 

Angelina's hot chocolate, the Roue de Paris, quaint little shops offering me pictures of the Mona Lisa and handmade soaps.

It was so lovely. Yes it was. What a dream.

Have you checked your pockets lately?

Ellie's room..a "b.p" classic

Before Pinterest I had to think of all my own ideas.

C'mon now.

I don't know who has that kind of time.

Isn't that really the beauty of pinterest? You don't even have to think anymore. People have already thought of it for you, figured out the fastest and easiest way to do it, and they've conveniently fashioned a tutorial to quickly make that idea a real life dream come true.

Ellie's room is a BP room.  That "Before Pinterest" time was a glorious one.  Who knew I could be so creative all by myself?  Although I can't imagine going back to the days of "thinking", I am happy for what they taught me.

I feel like this tree is kind of spooky and whimsical. I made the leaves from scrapbook paper and after trial and error, finally found a way to keep them on the wall. Glue dots!

These bookshelves are made from spice racks I thrifted for about 75 cents. Score.

What kind of mom would I be if I didn't paint a quote on Elle's wall...I shudder at the thought.

 

Dear B.P, 

You will always hold a special place in my heart. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go pin someone else's ideas.

Love, Me

* We're remodeling our guest bathroom this week. My house looks like a junkyard and one bathroom for 8 people is not as glamorous as it sounds...

in living color

I feel ya Lucy.


When I was ten my parents gave me a black and white television for Christmas. It was a real work of art.

I watched I Love Lucy more than any other show (until Zach Morris came into my life that is). I would sneak into the game room where we kept our tv's and I remember smirking to myself, thinking I was so clever to outsmart my own parents.

Because they gave me a black and white t.v and usually that's a shame. Didn't they know that life is in color?

But I Love Lucy wasn't in color anyway so I wasn't even missing out on anything!

She had spunk. She was hilarious. And she was brave.

Today I decided it's about time I channeled my inner Lucy.

 

I should've known where this would end when I bought these shades a few weeks ago.

Just a girl, two willing stylists, and a lonely shampoo bowl.

 

My hair was so dark that we needed to lighten it up a bit before adding some color. Perfect time for some light reading.

That's my hair school bff Kelcie. Isn't she the cutest?

P.S..this is my hair after the bleach bath before the color.  Interesting shade it was.

If you combined a yellow starburst with an orange starburst you would successfully achieve this haircolor.  Or at least be able to better imagine how awesome it actually looked in person.

Let's get that color on...make Lucy proud!

Okay so I'm not in black and white.

This is me.

In living color. 

I never tell Andrew when I'm changing my hair. I prefer that look of surprise I see on his face and I anticipate hearing those sweet words, "Whoa honey! What..you...different. Nice. You look awesome!" 

It's quite fun. You should try this with your spouse sometime.

I'm not very funny and I don't think I'm very brave.

But on rare occasions I find myself having the guts to do something I'd normally never do.

Thanks Lucy.

I still heart you.