things i will do before i'm 32.

yesterday was my half birthday... a holiday no one thinks to celebrate but me. and rubio's - who sent me a happy half birthday 2-for-1 burrito coupon. 

i didn't set out great expectations for 31, but six months in, i vote 31 better than the five years leading up to it and i still have six more months to continue to blow it out of the park!

i brainstormed last night the things that will happen - some known, some goals - between now and november... i will:

run my first half marathon {in the shoes on the left}

 spend my birthday in new york {right you guys? i will!}

hire a maypole employee {part time, but still}

keep my lawn green for the first summer in five years. i will!

sew something. maybe this or this, but definitely new pillows in my living room.

anything you guys want to do before your next birthday?

 

status check:

my life has become so boring in the last few weeks/months. this is absolutely evidenced by the lack of things to document about my life. the daily comings and goings are so mundane and in such an engineering groove, they go without mention.

but here are a few fun facts:

• i'm on the hunt for a great, white office chair. probably something like this.
• i'm also back and forth between running shoes. currently have the brooks, but haven't run in them yet since i realllly want the new balance.... but new balance won't sell their best stuff in my favorite local shop anymore because they're pushing everyone to their own stores. make sense, but is equally annoying.
• but if i had my choice, my running shoes would have polka dots. maybe i can justify trainers, too?
• i'm going to sit in the temple with my grandpa tonight and i can hardly stand the excitement of such a sweet moment.
• my dad's leaving for africa on friday for SIX WEEKS. i've never gone that long without access to my dad. i hope life doesn't fall apart without him. 
• the stove remains unfixed, but we're in total re-con mode and getting close to a solution, and the handiest man i know helped the little garden that could with a few new features that make maintenance a breeze. plus, the peas are coming up!
• i'm going home to san diego for fourth of july, just in time to see my dad home from africa and my nephew jared get baptized. 
• all i think about anymore is what kind of car i'll buy next. it's a long time coming still, but my mind and my brain are constantly radar-ing cars on the road. top of my list: acura tsx wagon, jetta tdi wagon, toyota venza, or a dang prius!
• memorial day is the first paid holiday i've had since new year's day {thanks corporate america!}. THAT'S FIVE MONTHS. i'm making plans to get the heck outta town!
• i'm going to the ballet tomorrow. my first ballet experience. i hope i'm refined enough for it. 
• i want to see les mis at pioneer theater and i want to see mary poppins at tuachan this summer. weekend girl's trip anyone?

weekend report:

this is where i report on and am held accountable for all the things i said i was going to do in my friday-ness post.

plant succulents in preparation for my indie + arrow plant hangers:

i applied copper leafing to your most basic pot {the .79 cent ones at the grocery store garden aisle} which took all of 10 minutes. i thought i was going to have room for a few more succulents in my pots, but they didn't quite squeeze in, so i have a couple spare minis to be potted somewhere else in my house. not complaining.

 floral arranging at west elm: with ashley beyer.

i reported on this earlier last week, but still, i crossed it off my to-do list and had so much fun doing so. not to mention, i've fallen madly in love with florals. and i hear trader joe's has amazing ranunculus on sale this week, begging me to explore more arranging.

 

word art above my bed:

just like this one, except - a lot longer. conveniently, i've been hoarding some brightly colored binder clips {i've got an office supply thing} at home and at my office for well over a year now, holding them close to avoid letting them go to the oblivion of corporate engineering where, undoubtedly, they would have been under-appreciated. no one in my office would appreciate a tomato-soup-red binder clip quite like me.

the task was simple and carried me through just one episode of brothers and sisters. 

01. in your favorite program {mine happens to be microsoft publisher}, type the letters of your desired phrase on a landscape page. these were printed in arial black font, size 400. two letters fit per page.

02. select your desired color. i chose the lightest shade of grey the program would allow. this gave the appearance of white text, but still provided enough variation against the white space to help guide me through the cutting process.

03.  place the words backwards, face down {i did this on my bed} in your desired spacing. have enough small pieces of tape on hand to tape the top of every letter. in the case of the "n" and the "v", i taped in two locations. lay the string across the top of the letters and apply your tape. this holds the string in place. the binder clips are for looks only :)

04. leave enough string on the ends of each word/line to wrap around a push pin and create a bow {or whatever finish you'd like}

05. flip the words over, right side facing up and place the binder clips at the top, center of each letter. 

06.  either measure or eyeball {i prefer the latter} the placement of your banner. place the pin in the wall and wind your string around the pin a time or two. repeat with the other side of the banner.

07. decide how you'd like to finish the strings. in the locations that didn't have a letter directly below it, i tied the string up in a bow. the others, i let hang, or created a slip knot/half bow. 

painted nails:

while document-less, i did it. with maximillian strasse-her, a very grey/green. 

wrote my guts out:

 lotsa lotsa orders went out in the mail today. art prints, felt balls, custom pieces, etc. i also held a mini photo shoot in my bedroom for the art prints that haven't made their way to my shop just yet. 

p.s. a few of my pieces will be in the utah valley parade of homes. eeeek!

outstanding: fixing the oven/stove top

but the list grew. all electrical outlets on one wall in my kitchen {the good wall... with the oven} quit on me. before you go on suggesting the obvious fixes, i already flipped the breaker. also, the electrical to the range still works... just the outlets don't. and i could cry about it.

more so, i could cry about my dependency on the nearest man in order to make this work again... and the level of desperateness i reached last week before i kicked myself upright and became resolute in my pride enough to live in my house, dysfunctional as it may be, before begging/asking for help one.more.time.

a totally healthy, and highly recommended, way to live.

friday-ness.

01.  the fact that it's the weekend has me in somersaults and cartwheels and handstands and round off back tucks. how i survived this week is beyond me. every minute of my weekday schedule from 8 a.m. til 10 p.m. was already programmed by last sunday. i sat down to organize the remainder of my to do list last night before i went to bed. i'd like to believe that will make me super productive this weekend. here's to hoping.

02. i've battled a heavy case of the blues this week, mostly haunted by a particularly bothersome {and unsuspecting} bout of this. unfortunately, filling every waking moment with appointments and work and fun things {defense mechanism, maybe?} doesn't replace or occupy enough space in my multi-tasking mind to make up for it. i'll recover... as soon as someone comes to fix the oven, i'm sure. 

pin.

03. i think i'll gold leaf some pots this weekend and find a really great place to hang my indie and arrow planters. i even have a few spare knobs to hang them from! it was the happiest of mail days when alyssa sent me TWO plant hangers. if you guys get there fast enough, there's a $10 off coupon code hanging around for mother's day!

04. i ordered a pencil pouch {it holds my life blood, you know?} a few weeks ago... and then forgot about it. it came in today. all the way from south korea. i wasn't expecting that! happy doing business with you, korea.

05. i met this week with a graphic designer to get maypole all proper and legitimized. i slapped maypole together wham-bam quick as a result of last fall's bijou market invitation. i have a site and a shop,but neither of them are any more than a logo on the screen and an "add to cart" button. the dynamic of how my business actually functions is wildly different than six months ago when i put a plan down on paper in my head.

thankfully, customers have looked past my poor {non-existent} design skills so far. big things are coming down the pipes and i'm investing some of my winnings in a little makeover. i'm talking hired graphic design for the web and physical collateral, product and stylized photography, and real copy {product descriptions, about, yada}... written by a professional copywriter. 

it is gratifying to have achieved this {little dose of} success enough that gives me the means to hire these things out in order to legitimize my humble business. it's also comforting to be a part of such a welcoming and supportive community that is willing to help me grow. so far, i've been my own biggest skeptic and any kind of success i've seen so far has been so cautiously accepted, i've barely believed in myself enough to take the steps necessary to become a "real" shop owner. just going through the motions of hiring out the skills that i cannot do myself gives me the boost i need to undertake this thang.

my new branding is inspired by the colorway in these buttons by erin jang.

 i think i'll paint my nails this weekend and make a banner like this above my bed. happy weekend, friends.

things i need:

via.

to re-caulk the master bath laminate. laminate...
to drill holes in my exterior brick to hang my garden hose.
to figure out why my stove/oven's pilot light won't start when i turn the knobs.
to create a facebook page for maypole.
to hire out a few felt balls tutorials.
to hire a photographer to photograph all of my current maypole stock.
to find some stay at home mom somewhere in my neighborhood who's looking for a little bit of work... and then hire her.
to buy new running shoes. and figure out this minimal running hype and decide if i'm jumping on or keeping off.
to buy a printer.
and the adobe suite.
and microsoft office.
and a postage printer.
and an office chair.
to fold my laundry. always to fold my laundry.
turn on my charm to woo a man who can take care of half this list.
find access his bank account to take care of the rest.

strawberry rhubarb crumble.

i had a moment of hippy/home-grown-ness last week, at just the right minute - the minute my weekly bountiful basket email came in. i scooped up as much as i could get - 8 clamshells of strawberries and 6 lbs of rhubarb. i was forced to make something for sunday dinner.

 i searched pinterest and scrolled through hundreds of recipes before landing on this one. 

my recipe search took me so long because i was looking so seriously into the perfect crust. not too dry, not too oatmeal-y, and perfectly buttery.

the winning recipe is adapted from desserts for breakfast:

strawberry rhubarb crumble
makes one rectangle deep dish... maybe 9" x 6"

for filling:
2 large stalks of rhubarb, peeled and chopped into small, 1/2" chunks
16 oz. strawberries, halved (or quartered, if you have bigger strawberries)
freshly grated zest of 1 large orange
3 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbs corn starch

for crumb topping:
1 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
freshly grated zest of one orange
1 stick butter, cold

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees f.
2.toss and combine all of the filling ingredients in a bowl.  spoon into the dish and set aside.
3. make the crumb topping. combine all of the ingredients except the butter in a bowl.
4. using a pastry cutter or fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture.  continue until the butter is the size of small peas and evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
5. top the prepared dish generously with the crumb topping, patting it down if you need to pile more on.
6. bake for 30-40 minutes, until bubbly and the tops are golden brown.  remove and let cool briefly before serving.
7. serve hot, with vanilla ice cream or a splash of sweetened cream.  

i have rhubarb to spare... and strawberries too... so i guess i'll need to make this one hundred times more. 

mother's day activities... for me.

if my mom lived any closer than 800 miles away, i'd shower her with all these things... but instead, it's a very floral mother's day for me. i've become quite the crazy flower lady lately... i think it started with the wallpaper. 

first:  paper flower workshop with brittany from the house that lars built on thursday. 

brittany taught a workshop at the slc pop up shop, but i was too busy working the booth to escape. {but i did score a few of the giant flowers she made and appeared on the today show to showcase - and WIN!}

second: a flower workshop with REAL flowers at west elm, based on inspiration pulled from the flower recipe book. ashley tipped me off to the event and she does flawless, flawless work. the class costs $65 {there may a few spots left!} and we get signed copies of the book, sweet shears, a glass vessel and i'm told there are coral charm peonies involved.  i'm a flower arranging novice, but it seems like the next obvious choice in the crafting/diy realm, right? 

i'll be sure to send my mom something really really great to make up for all the awesomeness not coming her way. 

friday-ness.

01. we're in that in-between stage with the weather where both open toes and layers are manageable. it's my favorite way to be. the average daily high isn't high enough to kill me, but the sun is out and the skies are clear and i can feel the sun on my body. <-- that's what it's like in heaven, you know? it's perfectly sunny there.

02.  i bought a new computer this morning... via text message... while i was on a conference call planning a public engagement conference. talk about engaged. my cousin danielle works for apple in nashville and hooked me up with a friends and family discount on a 27" imac. to me, purchasing electronics are on the same plane as paying medical bills or auto repairs. but truth be told, it was a little bit exciting. and now i'm a part of the mac family. i hear it's quite the gang initiation, but that once i'm in, i'm in for life.

03.  i'm getting a hair cut this weekend. that's not a big deal for most, but to me, haircuts are on the same plane as buying electronics... and thus paying medical bills and auto repairs.

04. as mother's day approaches, i've been creating art for lotsa husbands' wives. i'm practically the art mistress.... arranging meet ups.... leaving no trace of communication or proof of purchase. our interaction is untraceable. this, though, is a sneak i can get behind. i hope all my friends' wives are happy with their clever husband's {and my} effort. 

05. i got some happy mail this week from indie + arrow and i'm so so pumped to find the perfect place to hang these plants in my house! the entire buying plants/setting up messy-soil-shop, process absolutely thrills me. makes me feel like a real woman. killing them off three weeks later, however, does not. thank goodness for this season of succulents we're experiencing in 2013.

06. i'm really really late to the game, but i'm 3 seasons into brothers and sisters. can anyone tell me where justin has been all my life with his crooked smile and his pain pill addiction? you know, two things that really get me...

happy weekend friends!

skin care routine: update.

pin.

i've written about my skin care routine before... but i suppose like most things in life, it's a moving target. the other day, i posted a photo on instagram of my daily cocktail of "creams" {as my mom would call them} that currently guard my face and oh! what a conversation starter it was! lots of requests for names and details and lessons!

i, by no means, have porcelain-perfect skin, but i can tell you... i've never fought with my skin or complexion, so that may mean i have something to offer.  

and - with a giant gulp of pride, i'll say: i'm becoming my mother. the queen of facial preservation. just like it says above.... your skin is your skin and we only get one shot with it. we ought to treat it like it's a million bucks. 

so here's where i'm at right now. settle in and get comfy.

jan marini bioglycolic face cleanser/bioglycolic bioclear lotion/age intervention peptide extreme

why i like it: i used to go for the scrubbiest, foamiest cleanser on the shelf because it seemed that if it didn't foam or scrub, it had no other way to prove to me that it was working.  the glycolic feature in this wash does its duty as if it has nothing to prove, just business to conduct. my face feels fresh and clean after the bioclear lotion. again, glycolic biz doing its biz and the peptide situation is enough to make me feel like i'm giving the proper tender loving care its asking for. truly, when i come home from the work day, i feel beat. i look beat! it's begging for some attention after a day of warfare. 

frequency:

cleanser: once a day. i still use whatever scrubby/foamy face wash i have in the shower {currently neutrogena naturals purifying pore scrub}

bioclear lotion: once a day. 

peptide: morning and night.

dr. perricone's super firming activator

why i like it: i began in pursuit of a pore minimizer. when i learned no such thing existed {you can't shrink them, but you can keep them clean} i thought cleaning + tightening would do the trick. this was a bit of an impulse buy at nordstrom rack. the perricone line is discontinued, but i had heard incredible things about the whole line. so far so good. it's refreshing to my face.... i automatically associate liquid toners with stinging and burning. this is not that.

frequency: when i think about it. a few times a week.

bobbi brown hydrating eye cream

why i like it: my eyes leak. not like tears, but melty mascara and withering liner. it's the worst problem! i'm all raccoon'd out by 11 a.m. this, though.... on top of keeping the most precious piece of your face protected and hydrated, normalizes things around my leaky eyes and prevents the melty eye make up problem from getting out of hand. 

frequency: when i put on a full face of makeup. 3-4 times a week. my sleep > makeup priorities mean eye make up doesn't always happen.

jergen's natural glow face moisturizer

why i like it: i use the all over lotion all over... but i bought a set that included an spf 20 moisturizer for my face. as opinionated as i am about other products, i am opinion-less about moisturizer... other than 1. use it. 2. double-duty it with an spf {as if i need another step in this process}. so during the spring/summer months... i use jergen's natural glow. my mom was a child of the OC... with the sun spots to show it. as much as i love to be brown brown brown, my 31 year old brain won't allow myself to be damaged by the sun. so i've got to fake it. 

frequency: everyday.

proof of my thoughtless extreme sun exposure:

N-E-V-E-R allow yourself to do this. immature actions and untold consequences right here...

e.l.f. mineral infused face primer

why i like it: just like it says on their site, it gives me a smooth canvas to work with. it's like magic. and for $6, you can figure out this magic for yourself.

frequency: every time i apply make up.

loreal magic skin beautifier bb cream

why i like it: it's not thick and it matches my skin exactly. i first read about it on nat's round up of bb creams and tinted moisturizers. up until then, i was using a bb cream i found at sephora and - ignorantly - loved. it was thick... thicker than foundation, not quit as thick as putty... but thick. i knew that when i ran out of that, i'd try another formula and was set on the garnier option {thanks to some beauty mag recommendation}. but nat said garnier was the most chemical-ridden of all. so i went this route. and i love it. it's white... its drippy thin... but blends into my face to match my skin tone {which, historically... is capable of changing 14 shades of brown in the summer}. and it's $8. next, though - on good recommendation from a true asian beauty - i'm going the skin79 route.

frequency: every time i apply make up.

that's a lot of stuff but here's the thing:

i don't use everything every day and they don't all cost a lot. this year is the year of quality over quantity {a la the great wardrobe edit} and in that same tune, i'm learning to invest in a few quality things for my face that will weed out the fluffery and cover up-ery. with a few good products that give my face a natural lift and the investment in the very un-natural eyelash extension every few weeks, i'm practically a 3-2-1-out-the-door girl anymore. my morning routine - the baseline for my day - is so much simpler. 

the jan marini products are typically available through a derm or skin spa office... but i happppen to know a girl {who i know would be willing to sell you some product.} the rate at which i buy jan marini is a fraction of retail cost. and to avoid sounding like a budding mary kay distributor, we're both willing to host a party to impart all our wisdom on you. think less MLM party and more real housewives of beverly hills spa girl's night {you know... where the friendly doctor appears and offers skin treatments and botox to all the girls.} no botox, but high end skin care products.

should we do it?

 

the bennion family tree.

 before my {great} uncle bob's funeral last week, we did as every good mormon should do and gathered at the church for an hour of light refreshments and chit-chat. it was the bennion family reunion i didn't know i needed.  

the thing about being a bennion is - there's enough of us, there's not a chance we'll meet them all, but if/when we do happen upon a strangers bennion, we know we're related and instantly bonded.

i think i have the family history down from the beginning of the bennions... 

john begot israel and israel begot glynn and glynn begot george and george begot scott and scott begot me.

israel is the begotten of a 3rd wife and glynn is the begotten of a 1st wife.

complicated.

fun facts: 

john came from wales. the bennion name was derived from a river there... the ep ennion river.

bennion roots lie in the west desert of utah. a little place called green jacket. little, like, three fields along a lone highway, near vernon.

glynn's wife lucille - my grandpa's mom - painted beautiful maps. maybe that's where i get my love for maps. or maybe from the engineers. 

glynn had five kids: my grandpa george, colin, owen, bob, and eileen.

grandpa george and grandma joye had ten kids: lowell, liza, rebecca, my dad scott, anne, mark, {the order gets fuzzy here...} david, brian, alan, and alex.

my parents have five kids: matt, jeff, me, trevor, brett.

so picture it - there are a lot of us.

and i hope everyone's as proud to be a bennion as i am.

lots of university professors and artists in our family. and me. a professional talker.

here's a lot of us:

 me + my aunt anne.  i've been told all my life we're twins.

my cousin amy. aunt rebecca's daughter.

my uncle david.

ingesting grandpa george stories, no doubt.

uncle joe. my grandpa's brother owen's son. george + owen's families lived next door growing up. my grandparents still live in the same house.  

i don't know about the surprised lady - but aunt rebecca, my dad's older sister, and her husband phil.

francine, bob's wife. for being the widow of the hour, she handled the night with complete grace. truth be told, the night was full of fun and laughs. not very funeral-y.

my grandpa george. i'll never not melt at his sight of his sweet, gentle face.

george and eileen. the lone survivors of the glynn and lucille bennion family. grandpa george is 93.

this is, no doubt, his story telling face.

grandma joye and aunt sergene, grandpa's brother colin's wife. 

howard, son of owen, anne, my dad's immediately younger sister and my twin, and john. i've always known him as johnny b, but he's an english professor at byu, and i bet they don't call him that in class. john comes from the colin/sergene family.

grandma joye. the sharpest one of all.

uncle mark, my dad's younger brother and, bizarrely, my neighbor/best friend when moving to SLC 8 years ago. admittedly, we were the biggest blessings in each others lives at the time. they were kind of our glory years. and paul, the son of my grandpa's only sister, eileen.

i sure love these people.