Newport Brass

Last week I had the opportunity to head to Orange Country for a Newport Brass factory tour. If you've never heard of this fixtures and fittings company then I suggest you head on over to their website now. All solid brass, 27 finishes, made in California, and beautiful designs. I enjoy selling these fixtures and it's pretty easy to do so too. My personal favorite series is the Keaton collection...sleek and contemporary. 

Goodbye, snow capped mountains. 

hello, palm trees.

solid brass stock. 

sanding/preparing the fixtures.

hung and ready to be plated.

the spout from the Keaton faucet.

Yep, we did a Seaway tour too and it was awesome. 

 And we went on a Duffy boat tour too. Basically we were very spoiled.
Overall, it was a fantastic getaway to sunny California.

I want a dog!

I've got puppy fever. Okay, well that's no surprise since I am always in love with fluffy cats and dogs. Now I just want a puppy of my own. Right now it's more talk than action but it's still fun to dog dream. Joel and I have discussed and we've set up the current criteria: 

1. Cannot shed. Must be hypoallergenic

2. Must be a good people dog (nothing scary, only adorable)

3 Not too small. Needs to be at least 25 pounds minimum.

4. Cannot be an all white dog.

5. No poodle mixes (This is more a Joel point but I'll work with it)

Where does that leave us? Our top two dog breeds as of now are the Portuguese Water Dog and the Lagotto Romagnolo. Both breeds have many similarities as they are both water dogs, hypoallergenic, intelligent, and super adorable. The PWD are popular due to the Obama family having two of them and the Lagotto Romagolo are a very rare breed throughout the USA with only around 500. Check out the Animal Planet videos of the dogs breeds below. We're also taking suggests for dog names too.

D & E

Yep, it's been awhile. It's so easy to fall out of the routine of blogging. My goal is get back in and stay consistent. Wish me luck. I guess it's like going to the gym and I've been way better at the gym than blogging. So there's hope...

Rewind to September where I was a bridesmaid in one of dearest friend's wedding. We've been friends since elementary and it was such a beautiful day to be part of. I was able to help out and put together the Bride's and Bridesmaid's boutiques. Floral design makes me so happy especially when I'm proud of the results. And these bouquets were lovely. We got all the Dahlias from Pike Place Market in Seattle. Every booth was filled to the brim of Dahlias is every color for a killer price. Our bouquets consisted of Dahlias, Queen Anne's Lace, Bupleurum, and Ferns. Dorothy Huynh Photography did a superb job capturing the day and the result are flawless. Luckily, the Bride and Groom are pretty easy subjects too. Also check out more photos on Dorothy Huynh Photography's website. Enjoy the wedding photos.

all photos by Dorothy Huynh Photography

What's Been Going On

I swear I haven't disappeared again. So what have you missed in the last week? I celebrated my birthday this past Thursday, Halloween. It was a delightful birthday filled with delicious food, people I love, and some fabulous gifts. Thanks for all that made it special. My boyfriend got me a marvelous chocolate cake that was gluten free too!

 

Joel and I headed to Missoula yesterday for a mini day trip. It was fun to see another town in Montana and check out what it had to offer. I really enjoyed it there and found the most amusing sign while on our walk. Hope your past week and weekend has been going well. We'll check up soon.

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Devitt Design - Michelle and Craig's Wedding

I am very excited to be sharing this post this evening. I had the pleasure of being a bridesmaid in my wonderful high school friend's wedding this summer. It was a long week in the breathtaking Lake Chelan, WA and the wedding was held at Karma Vineyards. Not only was I able to stand along side my friend while she married the man of her dreams, I was able to create all the flowers for the special occasion. I've dabble in floral design before but this was my first attempt at wedding flowers. I'm pretty proud at how they all turned it. They were so cheerful and fun...just like the bride and groom. So take a look at some photos captured by Stephen Probert Photography. And if you want more, then there's plenty more to check out here. I hope you enjoy all the flowers too. Happy Sunday.

 

// Stephen Probert Photography //

Have You Missed Me?

Guess who is back and ready for the blogging world? This girl! Oh, you've probably forgotten about me so let me reintroduce myself with some random tidbits.

1. Above is a photo of me and my parents' dog, Annie. Some point in the near future, we're going to get a puppy too...an adorable Portuguese Water Dog. So feel free to suggest any great dog names!

2. I use to think I was a city girl. More like silly girl. I live in Montana and I love it.

3. These past months, I dove further into new two hobbies. Floral Design and Calligraphy. I was lucky enough to design all the flowers for a good friend's wedding this summer. And calligraphy is a new thing filling my time....need a lot of practice but it's so fun. Photos on both will be coming soon because I'm back!

4. My hair is approximately 24" long.

See you again very, very soon. I swear.

Floral Crowns

After a couple hours, I succeed in making two floral crowns! It was my first attempt at creating these lovely head adornments so I'm pretty proud at how they turned out.  It involved a lot of wiring and taping and was far from being a quick task. But they're so beautiful that it was worth the time and pain. If only they'd last a little long. After a day, the flowers were goners without water. Hope you've been enjoying your weekend as well.

Flowers, flowers, and flowers

Yesterday, I attended another Montana School of Floral Design workshop. It was all about wedding flowers. We created cascading and hand bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages. We learned so may techniques that will come in handy when I put together some floral arrangements for my friends' weddings this summer. Here are some photos of my work. Clearly, I am not a professional photographer so I apologize for the subpar photos. Enjoy.

 

I took apart of the designs from last week and made smaller arrangements. We have so many flowers throughout our house right now! 

Floral Design

This past weekend I took a floral design workshop through Montana School of Floral Design. It was a lot of fun. We learned some basic principles and techniques. We made a total of five arrangements that are gracing my home. I love all the fresh flowers! My favorite arrangement we did was our very last one and we created whatever we wanted with the flowers provided. The photos below are my arrangement. I'm really pleased how it turned out. It lush and colorful and makes me smile! I cannot get enough of floral design so I'm heading back this weekend for the wedding flowers workshop. Wish me luck.

Insta

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1. Wheat place cards

2. French Toast

3. Old Stella and Dot Necklace

4. Stringing Candy Corn

5. Saturday Place Setting

6. Fall Style

7. Sassy boots and socks

8. Awesome new tiles for our house

Insta

here's what my iphone has to say about my life lately.

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Instagram

My views as of late.

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1. The wildflower and weeds that I picked while on our walk to Peet's Hill.

2. Black bean brownies. Yes, black beans with brownie mix. seriously, they're delicious. 

3. Creamy mint and pea spaghetti. It was an excellent meal. Recipe here.

4. Peony from my garden.

5. Our raised garden beds and new picnic table that we stained. 

6. Stella and Dot arm party.

confetti throwing

I'm so ecstatic! I had an interview this afternoon and accepted the position a few hours later. Yippee. Check for finding a job in Montana. Now we just need to find somewhere to live.

// 1 //

I'll be working at a local tile and stone company in town. I'll be in the plumbing department. Beautiful faucets and fixtures, here I come!

Hiking

I'm a little disheartened in our house search in Bozeman. We're still homeless (thank goodness for fabulous people who let us stay at their houses). So to distract myself from the pain of not having a place to live, I will recap our weekend in pictures. We went on two different hikes and they both were beautiful. On Saturday, we were at the Indian Ridge Trail. On Sunday, we stayed closer to Bozeman and hiked the Sypes Canyon Trail. We also had a cute hiking partner with us too.

This is a valley view of Bozeman.

Meet Jasper. We had the pleasure of watching him yesterday. He came on our adventure with us. He really enjoyed himself. He especially loved when we got high enough and there was still snow. He burrowed in the snow to cool off. Isn't he adorable?

mountains

This weekend we packed up our house in Portland, Oregon and made the 750 mile journey to Bozeman, Montana. It's my first time in Montana. It sure is beautiful here. There are mountains, mountains and more mountains all around us. I've already consumed delicious local micro brews and hamburgers galore. This could be dangerous. Joel and I are on a lookout for the perfect place to call home in this lovely state. The next couple weeks might be light on postings as we search for a home and get settled in. Wish us luck in our search.

// map //

Facts about Bozeman, Montana:

1. Bozeman was elected an All-America City in 2001 by the National Civic League

2. There are roughly 37,000 people living in Bozeman.

3. Bozeman is located at an altitude of 4,820 feet 

4. Yellowstone National Park is 93 miles to the south of Bozeman.

5. Bozeman is home to Montana State University. 

Wahoo

I'm particularly excited about two things at the moment.Well, two things that I've taken pictures to demonstrate my excitement. 

Number one.....I found gold flatware! Yep, beautiful gold eating utensils. The best part is that I found them at Goodwill. It's not a complete set but it's a start. And after a lengthy Google search, I was able to find replacements/additions for this fabulous 1970's set (sans the monogram). Goodwill with the win.

Number Two....I bought our Hunger Games tickets. I'm sure you all understand my excited me with these bad boys.

What are you excited about on this Monday?

Moving!

My fabulous boyfriend just accepted a job in Bozeman. We're moving to Montana in April. It's crazy, exciting, and a little bit over whelming all at the same time. There's lots to do before we move. I'm looking for a job out in Bozeman too. If you know anyone out there then send them my way.

blank state outline via The Vintage Lemon

on a roll

I swear I'm still around and haven't forgotten about you all. It's been a little crazy lately. I do have some very excited news though. I won tickets for all three days at the Gorge for Dave Matthews Band this Labor Day weekend. EEK! Amazing, right?

The local radio station, Kink 101.9 FM, was giving away the tickets and I called in and they actually answered the phone! I had to ask if I'd won because I didn't believe it. I was ecstatic. If you follow my blog or are one of my friends then you know that I love DMB (proof here). I've gone to three years of DMB at the Gorge and this will make my fourth. And Joel will get to finally experience DMB at the Gorge too.

photo via.

In 2012, I've already won a pair of  SOREL boots and now DMB tickes. What else can I win?!

Strike

My Saturday is going to consist of zumba, cleaning, and bowling. I know, I live a crazy life. But let's get serious....zumba and bowling are awesome. And well, cleaning and organizing is a current must in my household. I just need to figure out what to wear to bowling tonight. Yes, I did just say that. Style is important. Happy Saturday and I hope you have some fantastic plans today.

bag // jeans // shirt // shoes

Opening Ceremony Fall 2011 photos

Rock & Roll

It's rolling! I'm very excited that the 340 ton rock has started its journey to LACMA. Yes, a HUGE rock is head to the museum. It is known as Levitated Mass. I work for the company that's transporting the artwork to LACMA and we're all very excited to see it actually leave the quarry. I've been in charge of coordinating and organzing all the utility companies for this project. Having a hand in this enormous project has been rather fascinating. The transportation has just begin and there are plenty nights of travel ahead of this rock. Check out this video from KTLA.

All photos by Alex Gallardo.