the name thing

Do you read Design Mom? It has been one of my very favorite blogs for a long time. I have always loved the names of her kids, so when Ask Design Mom Week rolled around, I decided to ask her where she found her inspiration. And she answered! I had to figure I wasn't the only one wondering what the stories were behind Ralph, Maude, Olive, Oscar and Betty were.

way better than the real thing

Tuesday

One of the things that feels more and more like it's fading into a former life, is my relationship with music - namely my constant search for the new, the chill, the undiscovered, the raw; the subtle harmonies and rhythmic acoustic goodness that were ever so sweet and constantly bombarding my hard drive, overflowing with itunes playlists.

I used to look forward to Tuesdays - new album release day - and would purchase new CDs (so old school, right?) or download entire albums so I could hear songs in the context the artists intended. Tomorrow is Tuesday. And I don't know a lot about which albums you should be anticipating, but aren't - except for one. I've long been a fan of Kings of Convenience, and their happy, honest, understated music is coming together once again after a nearly five year hiatus. Declaration of Dependence debuts tomorrow. Check it out.

Bright Star

I just got home from the movie Bright Star. I knew nothing about the film before seeing it, but would have to say Abbie Cornish's performance was fantastic. Add her to the short list for deserving a nomination this year. Her character made me want to sew all of my own fashion-forward clothes - ok not really, but they were stunning none the less. The movie leaves you somewhere between deliciously depressed and in a post-Keats euphoria. So, so good.

Also, Toots was my favorite.

New Designs In My Shop

I don't usually plug my shop on my personal blog, but I've been working hard on lots of new designs and thought I'd share a few.

Here are some of the latest birth announcements
And some new Christmas card designs
If you're really interested in all the latest, you could sign up for the newsletter, twitter stalk, check out the blog, or become a fan on facebook. Also, I've started selling digital print-your-own designs on Etsy. Ok, enough of this shameless plug... time to get back to work.

here comes autumn

The only thing I find moderately depressing about autumn is that the days start to get noticeably shorter. The rest, I can definitely live with. My love affair with autumn is no secret. I savor every chance to bask in the glory of the season we call fall. The crisp air, the cooler days, the beautiful rusty colors of pumpkins and apples and gourds, the celebration of harvest and smell of spice, the foliage, the fresh start of a new school year... I just love it all.

Back when we got married, some generous soul gave Spencer and I a gift card to Williams Sonoma. Of course nearly everything in their store is delectable and tempting, but I knew I'd probably end up spending the gifted money on something more spontaneous than practical. When I stumbled across these pocket pie molds yesterday, I knew I had found my treasure. {I bought an apple peeler/corer too, for good measure. I'll be a mini pie making fiend!}

128.65 miles (of training)

A long time ago I set a goal to run a half marathon. I tried twice to run a Utah race, but due to it's popularity and my lack of luck, I was never selected to run it (it was lottery style). When my sister made plans to run a race in her new hometown on her birthday, I thought it would be the perfect excuse to train for one myself.

Amanda and I ran the American Discovery Trail Half Marathon on Labor Day and had a great time. We were both pretty nervous in the days leading up to the race, having never attempted such a feat, but everything went really smooth and we had a really good race.

This is right before the race while we waited in the infinitely long bathroom line and tried to warm up and stretch a bit.
Waiting for the starting gun...
Coming around the final stretch (trying to give a thumbs up)
Just after finishing
All done!

Made My Day

Despite all my best efforts to coupon, I've never been able to score terribly amazing deals with it... until now. I just have to share because I'm so excited about how it worked out!

At Target, Dreyer's ice cream is on sale for $2.50 per 1.5 quart. A decent deal.
But, they also have a deal going where you get a $5 Target gift card for every 5 tubs you buy. That brings the price down to $1.50 per tub. A pretty good deal. My sister Amanda told me about a coupon she found online for $1 off of one tub. Print if 5 times and you get each tub for $.50! I thought that was a total steal until last night when I was at Dan's and saw a tear-off pad in the freezer section for a $4 rebate when you buy 4 tubs of Dreyer's ice cream... which can only mean two things: 1)I had a freezer cleaning party this morning to make room for my new acquisitions 2) Dreyer's paid me $1.50 to take 7.5 quarts of ice cream off their hands. Hooray!

the butter to my bread and the breath to my life

Last night Spencer and I went to see Julie & Julia. It was charming and fun, as expected. Meryl Streep was the perfect choice to play Julia Child and I wouldn't be surprised if she gets an Oscar nomination for her performance (surely she deserves it). I came away from the movie hungry and happy, and with a renewed sense of confidence to try difficult things, particularly in the kitchen.

But perhaps my favorite aspect of the film was how it portrayed marriage. It wasn't the glitzy, glamorous rendition that Hollywood so often feeds us. Instead it showed spouses encouraging and supporting one another in their pursuits and on to success, even despite the frustration, challenges, and setbacks that they each confronted. Patience and humor were trademarks of their marriages - and fine french cooking to boot.

Maybe it stood out to me because it's something I have been thinking about lately. It seems that more than fairy tale or Jane Austen ideals, marriage is two people simply going through life together. And the best choice you can make is someone who will cheer you on through it all, even - and especially - when you're determined to do something daunting.

Without saying too much about my husband's saintly qualities (watch the movie and you'll understand why I'd avoid the topic), I'll just say I made an excellent choice.

tumblr.

I heard about tumblr a while back, but didn't think I needed yet another blogging device. However, I signed on recently and have found it extremely helpful in cataloging things I find for the house. So I've created a tumblr account as a morgue for all of my homemaking daydreams. The only crummy part is that there doesn't seem to be a comment feature. Either way, feel free to check it out: http://sarahcarioca.tumblr.com/

update: I figured out a way to add a comment feature. So comment away!