April's Playlist

I have put together some of my current music faves to keep you singing and dancing all month... Happy April!

My husband came up with the most brilliant idea...

Stone should quit today and become an inventor... Why has no one ever thought of putting a sink in the shower? Then brushing your teeth and (for guys) shaving your face could all take place in the same spot as showering, brilliant! 

He put a ring on it.

(photos by: Lauren Larsen and Sean Menary)

Stone and I are SO excited. Two of our favorite couples got engaged this past week. Ryan proposed to my sister-in-law Kelsey on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia. And our friends Skyler and Kristin got engaged on the beach in Costa Rica. I loved getting to hear from both the girls and and guys on what each of their point of view was from their engagement. The guys always have such a different side of the story, how they found the right time to do it, where to do it, their nerves, how the ring was burning a hole in their pockets... and then the girls are so clueless... I love it.

Both Kelsey and Kristin were given gorgeous heirloom rings. Kelsey's came from her grandmother and Kristin's from Skyler's great-grandmother. I think it is so neat that they have a story behind their rings. One day I will make sure to pass mine along too...

Saving money one happy hour at a time.

Boulder has some of the most amazing restaurants... amazing and expensive! But, one of the best things about the restaurants in Boulder is all of the great happy hour menus (really, incredible deals). Here are some of my favs... (and if you don't live here, come visit and then we can go together!)

Brasserie Ten Ten

3-6:30 PM 7 days/week

Sliders $3

Crepes $3

Truffle Fritas $2

Fava Bean Bruschetta $4

Jax Fish House

4-6 PM 7 days/week

Cup of Gumbo $3

Peel & Eat Shrimp $3

Asadero Cheese Fries $3

Hapa

2:30-5:30 PM Mon-Sat

2 Sushi Rolls for $7

Calamari and Mango Salsa $2.75

Nigri $1.60

Laudisio

4-7:30 PM 7 days/week

Pizza $4.75

Calamari Fritta $4

Seasoned Bruschetta $4

Golden Fried Zucchini $4

Also if you don't live here, you would be surprised to see the deals happy hour around you probably offers... it will leave you... happy!

Plaid on plaid... trust me everyone is doing it.

(clearly he is happy about his photo being taken)

Stone likes to make fashion statements... and recently he has been trying on the 'plaid on plaid' look for size. I think it is hilarious. What really happens is when he comes home from the day (9 times out of 10 wearing a plaid shirt with jeans) he throws on these plaid comfy pants. You don't even know it yet, but a couple years from now this look will be all the rage.

I love this guy.

What to do with all of our Polaroid photos?

For our anniversary last year I bought Stone this Polaroid One600 camera... We love it, and have taken some great shots with it (unfortunately film is SO stinking expensive)... but now, how to display the photos? I love the ideas from these three homes.

The home of this cute family.

unknown source.

The bedroom in this Parisian loft.

Spring leather.

I really like when something as tough as a leather jacket is combined with a feminine touch of ruffle and movement (really, I just like anything with ruffles, the more ruffles the better). I saw this photo on The Sartorialist and fell in love with this jacket. I don't own a leather jacket, but it is on my 'fashion bucket list'... so I went on a search for something similar and found that a lot of designers are doing this look and carrying leather into Spring, nice to know, and since it is still a little chilly in Colorado, it can definitely be pulled off!

Clockwise from top: Vince, Diane von Furstenberg, William Rast, and Juicy

Chipotle truck?

I just saw an ice cream truck on my way home from work... this means Spring is finally here (right? please really be here Spring, please). I love the concept of an ice cream truck, they should do this with other things too, like there should be a Chipotle truck, that could get my husband in trouble though.

When I was little, I never went to the ice cream truck, except for at my tennis lessons. Whenever we heard the music we would jump in the golf carts and chase down the sound (yes, mom and dad, that is what your good money towards my tennis skills actually went to, no wonder I am not very good at tennis). Anyway, that is my only memory, but I do get excited whenever I see them, to me it means warmer weather is headed our way!

Working with my husband.

First of all... look at those cameras and lenses! They are huge and weigh even more. Stone and I shot a wedding yesterday, more truthfully, Stone shot a wedding yesterday and I helped out here and there. We shot this gorgeous couple, in this gorgeous location and the weather could not have been any better.

People have always told us that it is smart to keep your work and your marriage separate, and that it would be a mistake to work full time with your partner because there needs to be a degree of separation... well I don't agree. Not that we work full time together (if we did, however, I know we would enjoy it), but when we do work together it is a blast. Stone basically sees and does things that I don't and vice versa... in perfect harmony. Plus it is so fun to watch a creative person do what they love, whether it is my parents as graphic designers, my sister who is an architect, or Stone taking photos. Really I am in awe and love to be a part of it when I can.

Larkburger.

We had a busy, busy weekend! After we shot the wedding in Denver yesterday we rewarded ourselves at Larkburger. Like I have said before, in the past I was not a big red meat eater, but Larkburger (and my husband) changed my views on that. We went with our friends Vic and Syd, and indulged in fries, burgers and shakes. They even have truffle oil and parmesan fries, amazing!

Happy weekend.

Photo taken by: Paul Octavious

On our agenda this weekend, movie night tonight (we rented Amelia), tomorrow we are headed to Denver in the morning for a breakfast date, then Sunday we are shooting a wedding here, it's going to be awesome. We are pumped.

Enjoy some fun posts from around the worldwide web : )

A wine country wedding.

Colorful coffee press.

Some music for your weekend.

This and that.

Pretty potholes.

A medley of mint and tomato.

Sixx family design.

Again, I love anything that balances modern design with rustic country. This is the home of designers Courtney and Robert of Sixx Design (named after their six children, however, the newest baby made seven). They have perfected the art of taking empty lots, run down spaces and complete wrecks and turning them into homes. Not only homes, but gorgeous, contemporary and brilliantly designed homes. I have been keeping up with this family ever since I read a post about them here, and I am excited about the news that they are soon to be BRAVO stars. I will definitely be watching.

By the way, did you notice the in ground trampoline in the last photo, genius, no bloody noses from overjumping!

Nonnie's banana bread.

Because we had some extra old bananas lying around (thank you Cody), I decided to whip up some of my grandmother, Nonnie's, famous banana bread. Well, at least famous to everyone in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Hope you try it out someday. Stone and I had it for dinner and breakfast if that tells you anything about this delicious loaf.

ingredients:

3 bananas, mashed

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 sticks butter

3 eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Set Oven to 325 degrees.

first mash the bananas and mix in baking soda. let stand.

cream sugar and butter (yes, lots of sugar and a TON of butter, how could this not taste good?) together and beat in eggs, one at a time.

next, add the vanilla and mix in the bananas, blending all the ingredients together.

last comes the flour. (Nonnie's recipe calls for "sifted" flour, if "sifting" is something you do then have at it, i just don't)

after the flour is completely mixed in well, pour the mixture into a greased and floured loaf pan leaving a little room on top the bread to grow in the oven.

depending on size of pan, the batter can make 2 loaves.

Bake for 1 hour-ish.

Enjoy!

Sneak Peek: Luke

Check out more here...

A lazy day.

Stone and I rarely get days off together, but today we did and we took advantage by going to the mall to get some new shoes for Stone to wear to the weddings he shoots. He has been wearing his dress shoes and after 8 hours on his feet, comes home with some nasty blisters. He got a new pair of Vans, problem solved. While we were out there we had to go to Chick-Fil-A too, nothing like a good sweet tea fix.

By the way, the mall (which is out in the suburbs of Boulder) is super depressing on a weekday afternoon, just a lot of screaming children eating fried food in the food court. Stone and I were then spurred on to have a conversation about what our kids would do one day when they were not quite in school yet... we came up with lots of good alternatives.

-rock climbing

-indoor swimming (still too cold outside to swim)

-cooking class

-pottery class

-pretty much anything but go to the food court at the mall :)

** But, we were eating Chik-Fil-A so I guess I can't say too much...

Design inspiration.

We have a huge, blank, orange wall in our home... really it is huge! And we have not hung anything up these past two years because Stone and I both are terrible at making decisions, and when it comes to putting nails in the wall, we really cannot commit to doing it. However, Stone has always said that a home does not feel like a home until there are things hanging on the walls. I have had an ongoing folder on my desktop of prints I would love to have printed to decorate our house. Unfortunately these will never go up in our current apartment, because we are moving in August (where are we moving? we don't know) and putting up a beautiful collage of prints, just to take down three months later is too much effort... but alas, I hope these inspire you as well!

Oh, Zooey.

I am a pretty big fan of She & Him and I love how creative their new video 'In The Sun' is. The hula hoop sequence is the best part in my opinion.

The Pioneer Woman.

Have you read The Pioneer Woman blog? It is pretty awesome. She has some amazing skills in the kitchen too, so much so that she has made a cookbook, which all the ladies in my family now own. Well, turns out the blog is being made into a movie, which is not such a shocker after Julie&Julia was so popular. Ree Drummond, the writer of the blog has a sweet story of sacrifice for love, she has transformed from a city girl to a country wife.  It sounds like the makings of a good romantic comedy, and of course you don't have to twist my arm too much to see a movie with Reese in it!

Lovely things.

I feel like I could dig through my grandmother's attic and find jewelry just like these, and that is what I love so much about Anthropologie's Spring jewelry line. Such a fun collection of color! Any of these would be the perfect compliment to a plain t-shirt and jeans. 

Nobody warned me...

Nobody warned me about the crazy March weather in Colorado. This is my second winter here, however, last year was such a mild winter I barely noticed the snow. March has been tricky, one day I am wearing flip flops and the next I have on four layers and my snow boots. 

Please hurry up Spring, I am tired of scraping my windows!

By the way, we were so excited to get a package in the mail with our favorite coffee from Dallas (Thanks Mom!)... I could not make it through March without it! Now, if only we got a box of JD Chippery cookies along with this, then that would be perfection : )

Chipotle Tuesday.

Mmmmm... Well tonight, of course, we met for weekly Chipotle Tuesday, I got my normal (black beans, rice, extra lettuce, no meat, guac and salad dressing  on the side), always so good, if you have not tried the salad dressing, you are definitely missing out. I thought I'd attach an excerpt from a Chipotle email that Cody sent out a couple weeks ago, as he does every week, so you can get a glimpse... Enjoy!

Funny things of the week: 

1. A great video about the ridiculousness of Facebook. 

2. This is why Trampolines at basketball games aren't a good idea. 

3. Ridiculous product of the day.  

4. A presidential reunion of all the best SNL president characters. If you liked those guys, you'll love this. 

5. Improve Everywhere is back. A group of 50 people get together and throw a birthday party for a random guy in a bar.  

6. The greatest coaching reaction ever. 

Thought of the week:  I wish people were more like bears.  I bet humans are the only species in the animal kingdom that has to work out in order to maintain their physical stature. Bears hibernate for months but could still kill us with one swipe of the paw. Same with lions, crocodiles, and gorillas. Then again, I bet lions don't eat many potato chips or twizzlers. I should layoff the Skittles.  

Question of the week: How would you classify your sense of humor?

A little Gavos family history.

A couple days ago my dad sent me an email with this photo attached. The handsome little boy in the center of the photo is my grandpa, Papu. He had asked Papu to write a brief history of the Gavos family for us, I thought it was pretty interesting. Stone and I both love history and we both feel fortunate enough to have heard about our heritage from our grandpas themselves. Anyway, this is what he wrote: 

In 1907 Chris Gavos arrived in New York at the ripe old age of 15, with his three brothers and was processed through Ellis Island Emigration Service. He and his brother Johnny were placed with a Greek family through the Greek Church in New York City.  His other two brothers were treated the same with another family.  Chris remained with this family for several years studying English so he could pass the exam to become a citizen.  During the time he lived with this family he worked as a dishwasher at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. In 1915 he enlisted in the Army during the first world war.  He served until the Armistice and was discharged.  He went to work for the railroad and was sent to Yakima, Washington. In 1923, he left the railroad and moved to Dallas, Texas.  There he met Lois Cantrell.  They were married and in 1926 they had a son (Thomas).  In 1927 Chris and his wife bought the Santa Fe Cafe, near the Santa Fe Railroad Yard House in Dallas.  They ran this establishment until 1938.  They sold this business and Chris worked for several restaurants in the Dallas area.  His wife remained at the Santa Fe Cafe as the cook.  Thomas, their son, graduated from Crozier Tech High School in Dallas and enlisted in the Navy and served from 1944 until 1946 during World War II.  When Thomas returned home from the Navy the family purchased a cafe, Tom's Cafe on Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas, owned by Lois Gavos' brother Tom Cantrell.  In 1948 Thomas married Betty Ross.  They had three sons, Robert, Richard and Joseph, and one daughter Shirley.

Time to get a pedicure.

It is finally warming up in Boulder... sort of. But, everyone has Spring fever and I am loving the new styles of footwear that have come out this season! The details and colors are so fun, I just need to get used to the height, I am learning to wear heels, one day... one day.

Some of my favorite shoes (pictured above) are designed by Cynthia Vincent, Tory Burch, and Frye. 

Barn doors and farmhouse sinks.

I have not stopped thinking about the design of this home since I saw it on Design Sponge, I think it takes a good eye to be able to mix conetemporary and rustic as seamlessly as the couple who owns this home did. I love the tall ceilings with wood beams, the built in bookshelves in the dining room, the secret loft space, and the kitchen has such a unique blend of materials that make it feel like part of the home rather than a separate entity. I love love it...

Sneak Peek: Annadee

Check out more here...

Sunday morning breakfast.

I love a good big breakfast. Eggs are a must for me in the morning, although, lately when I make hard boiled eggs they do not peel well, I blame this on the altitude, as I do all of my cooking mishaps : )

Mary Poppins.

Our favorite parts of Mary Poppins were the set design, the dancing, and the acrobatics... Bert walked on the ceiling and Mary flew over the audience! Not to mention the child actors in this musical, they had incredible voices and were so confident on stage, so impressive. We had an amazing time, and are already planning our next musical, I am thinking South Pacific...

Delish.

Last Thursday Stone and I had a date night in Denver. Because we don't eat at nice restaurants too often, I always do my research. We decided to go to Osteria Marco which is in Larimer Square, near the Denver Center of Performing Arts, where we were headed after dinner to see Mary Poppins. After having the pesto and ciabatta bread, hand crafted mozzarella and salami, balsamic artichokes, sausage pizza and tiramisu, we were stuffed, but both agreed that this was one of the best dinners we have ever had. mmmmmm.