Necklaces for a good cause

I've decided to put some of my necklaces in a local boutique. It is a fundraiser for a friend's nephew battling leukemia. All the proceeds will go to pay for his mounting hospital bills. This will be a little trial run to see how well my necklaces sell and then the next step will be to actually list some on Etsy. If anyone is interested in donating to the cause here is a link to the announcement on Facebook.

A nice little get away with a twist

Wow! What a whirlwind of a week. It all started when Clark and I decided we needed to get away from real life for a while. We started our journey in Nephi, Utah. Both of us have problems sitting for long periods of time in the car so we were breaking up our drive on the way to St. George and Las Vegas. While in Nephi we stayed in a nice little hotel called the "Economy Lodge". It had the basics and was clean but the most important part was, they had "HGTV" and Wi-Fi. I was in heaven.

Clark had fun swimming in the pool and it looks like he found a few snacks on the way back.

Of course, I gave him a turn to watch his "sportys" as I call his love of watching anything sports related on T.V.

In the morning we got up and made our way to St. George. The weather was BEAUTIFUL. Low 70's the whole time. We found this little retirement community to get out and walk around in. It was on top of a mountain in Washington City. The grounds were immaculate, the flowers in bloom, and the neighbors looked like they really enjoyed where they live. It made me wish I was 55 already so I could move in. :)

The views from atop this mountain top community.

I got a little cold but Clark thought it was perfect weather.

After all that hiking up mountains we were hungry, so we stopped here for lunch. This is also in Washington City.

This palm tree is actually in Mesquite, Nevada. Had to stop in and hug the palm trees (no, I don't consider myself a tree hugger but in the literal sense maybe).

Then it was time to shop till we dropped. It was so nice to see flowers at the mall in St. George and the Outlets At Zion. The sun was so warm. None of this snow stuff that I have to live with in Salt Lake.

I loved everything about these outlet stores. Even the light fixtures.

I'm loving the denim on denim look. It used to be a no-no to mix different denims but now it's all the rage.

This store had a great sale going on and I had to buy a few things.

Yeah, I bought that pink skirt in short and long. You can't beat $10 a skirt.

This is where the trip got a little interesting. We made our way to Las Vegas and had planned to stay two nights but as soon as we got to the Motel 6 on Dean Martin Drive we knew it wasn't going to be good.

The swimming pool was out of order, we had a scary next door neighbor that was hanging out in the outdoor hall the whole night, the front door in our room had about 2 inches of space where we could see outside if we got down on the floor and looked under, there was mold growing in the bathroom, it smelled like smoke in a non-smoking room, and it only gets worse from here.

At about 3:00 a.m. our neighbor decided he was going to have his own personal karaoke night right outside our front door. We could hear his ipod playing while we were in bed. Then he started singing at the top of his lungs, "Been spending most our lives living in the Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio.

I was like, "Really? You're really singing THAT song outside my door at 3:00 in the morning in the heart of Sin City?" The irony did not escape me. He had to sing one more tune but I was too delirious to catch his next act.

He finally settled down but it gets worse AGAIN. There was a car alarm going off for an hour. I'm not kidding! It was a straight hour. I could hear every detail of what was going on out in the parking lot since we had a two inch space under our door for all the sound to come in. I could hear other upset hotel guests going out there to see what was going on but they could NOT get that thing to stop.

Needless to say at 7:00 a.m. we were out of there. We didn't even want to see Las Vegas after that. We drove out of there as fast as we could to Cedar City where Clark was able to FINALLY get his employee discount at the Spring Hill Suites. When we walked in, we thought we had died and gone to heaven after the experience we had just had. Just look at this hotel. It is beautiful!

Clark got to watch the BYU game which he was so excited about.

I need a hotel that has had the touch of an interior designer's hand. And this definitely had it.

This was me doing funny Facebook poses in the hotel in Nephi.

The lights were very bright, that's why I'm kind of squinting.

Clark wanted to get in on the dress up action. Too bad he couldn't have worn this out on the town in Vegas.

Overall, we had a fun time. Especially after we got to Cedar City. Clark got to use the exercise room and the pool at this hotel and we call the Spring Hill Suites in Cedar City our home away from home now. Clark has vowed we will never stay at the cheapest place in Vegas again. I second that motion!

A fun shopping trip

Shhh! Don't tell anyone but I took another day off from blogging. Today I decided since I needed new black socks for myself and my husband I would do a little window shopping. I got the "necessities" (socks) at Target and then it was on to the fun stuff.



Since I was already in Target I had to go check out their new home decor section. This is the Target in Cottonwood Heights on Park Centre Drive. They remodeled their store a while ago and I have never gotten to fully explore. And explore I did. They had the softest blanket that I wanted so bad for my bed. It was soooo soft and my favorite color (sage green) but the price tag was not going to be so wallet friendly...$50. So I moved on and saw some cute pre-made spring wreaths and glass home decor ideas. They had these little silver metal candle holders that reminded me of a tin can with little holes poked through all over. Put a little candle down inside and watch the light twinkle polka dots on your walls. These were more reasonably priced. But I refrained again.



Next stop was World Market. This is in the same shopping center as Target. They had some interesting picture frames, carafes for $5.00 for flower arrangements, interesting materials for vase fillers, and some beautiful plates and dishes. Again, I reminded myself this was just a window shopping trip and had fun just looking for new ideas.



And the last stop was the T.J. Maxx right around the corner. Going into this store is dangerous for me. The deals are so good and the quality so high I almost always HAVE to buy something. I found the cutest sage green shower curtain with navy blue polka dots in the clearance section for $10. This was originally priced at $25. I found some matching Ralph Lauren sage green towels that matched the shower curtain perfectly and a Ralph Lauren rug that was luxurious. Everything together would have come to $50. What a steal for my favorite color and brands! But my fun was in the find and I ended up leaving empty handed from there too. This is my version of catch and release fishing. I love the thrill of the hunt but I don't want to kill my budget.



I really need to start bringing my camera along and documenting all of my "real life" shopping finds. I do a daily Etsy find on my Facebook page which is my outlet for online shopping. I'm thinking I will start featuring my Etsy finds on this blog too.



Stay tuned for my finds and the ideas that go along with each treasure. Happy Hunting.

My First "Real" Blog Post

Hello, Testing 1,2,3.... Is this blog on? Just kidding I know this is for real now. I have been a "wanna be" blogger for two years now. That's when I created my personal Facebook page and started practicing posting daily. It is hard to come up with some sort of entertainment for the "masses" (currently 105 Facebook friends) on a daily basis.

I still don't know what this blog will really be about. I'm thinking it will be a place to feature my crafts, my now famous daily Etsy finds, and anything else that catches my eye. I will probably mention my family occasionally too but it will most likely be interspersed among all the decorating and design ideas.

I would love suggestions from the "masses" of readers out there on what kinds of things you would be interested in learning / hearing about. I'm thinking I might talk a little about starting an Etsy shop and discussing all of the little details I've picked up over the last year in creating a shop that will attract those ever coveted and elusive buyers. A lot of crafty women and some crafty men (I have tremendous respect for guy Etsy sellers) would like to be able to stay at home and work and I believe this could be a legitimate way for them to do that. Get ready for a bumpy ride as I get going here. :)