Mayan Riviera

Ben had a bit of vacation time this month and planned a last-minute trip for us to Mexico. What a great travel agent he turned out to be! We flew out Thursday for a long weekend and luckily everything was perfect... until the trip home. We got stuck in Dallas for a sleepover at the airport due to an ice storm. It was a total fiasco so I'm hoping that by blogging on the trip it'll help me remember the good times instead of the inconvenient travel home.

Ben was so kind to me... instead of planning all kinds of excursions and day-trips, he knew exactly what I wanted to do - relax in the sun. We'd wake up, put our suits on and head straight to the beach to stake out our lounge chairs. The weather was a little breezy but warm. (like summer weather in Southern California) We each had some good books we got into which was great as I'm trying to become a bookworm.

One thing we didn't know was that our resort caters very much to European travelers. We heard people speaking French, German, Spanish, and people with accents from the UK to Scotland and even Belgium. We thought it was really great and diverse until we hit the beach on the first day... we didn't know the dress was 'clothing optional'. The old, the young, the men, the women, the porcelain, the leathery...

By the last few days it didn't phase me that much, like watching national geographic or something. I even began wondering how free it would feel to let loose myself. :) just kidding mom.

We opted to do one really fun activity - parasailing. The boat was right near our resort and in a moment's notice, we were on the boat and being harnessed in. At first I thought it was expensive considering the trip was only 25 minutes, but after being up that high for about 15 minutes, we both became a little bit nauseated. The swaying wouldn't stop, help! It wasn't scary although we were hundreds of feet in the air - I would recommend it to anyone. Here is a view from the top-

Ben also went snorkeling one day - he loves the water so he had fun even though the guide told us we'd probably see nothing.

I was excited to break in my rhinestone visor - as Ben took the picture I was yelling, "stay back!"

A few nights we took the taxi into town and walked along the streets lined with vendors and little souvenier shops. We were handed a wristband to an outdoor club down the street and of course I wanted to take Ben for some dancing. (he missed that whole part of my life before we met)

We showed up a little early I guess because there were few people there on the dance floor. We spied a little cabana with pillows and lounged around waiting for the dance floor to fill up. It was well after midnight and people were barely trickling in. How late do these people stay up anyway? After about a half-hour our waitress asked us to get up as we hadn't ordered any drinks. "Uh, fine, bring us a diet coke." then she said, "two?" and I replied, "no, one." Then she asked us again to get up - I guess that doesn't count. Fine then! So we left. As it turns out, Ben doesn't really like dancing or clubs. Where were Lacey and Tessa when I needed them??? I was sad to leave what could have been a fun night of dancing under the stars. Maybe the most sad part was realizing that maybe I'm just not that fun anymore. Old, married, and boring? :)

our waitress took this picture when we first arrived, before she'd figured us out and gave us the boot

Ben's brother and his wife are headed to Mexico in a few weeks and so we created a little scavenger hunt for them: ( in fairness we only listed the things we saw ourselves)

Find the following:

* a large sign that says "diving is aesy"
* a sign that says "nihgt fishing"
* a man in a swimsuit smaller than a his girlfriend's, double points for man thongs
* five+ topless women per day: double points if they're leisurely walking up the beach
* a bride and groom
* a waitress who doesn't listen and messes up your "sin alcohol" order
* monkeys in the lobby
* a fight between two cabbies
* a next-door neigbor who comes home at 3 a.m. in a drunken rage and tears his whole room apart, cursing in a language you don't understand (terrifying)
* LDS missionaries (!)

Cybele Young

I watch a show on Fine Living Network called Room Service. It is hosted by Sarah Richardson, who has another show on FLN called Design Inc. which is my favorite design show. ( I want to devote an entire post to Design Inc. - it is on it's way)

On Room Service Sarah often highlights local artists and tradespeople. She visited Cybele Young in an episode from years ago but my dvr recently picked up that old episode and as I watched it I was reminded of how fascinated I was by the work of this artist.

She uses japanese papers and lithography to create miniature artwork. I think it is truly amazing. Maybe one of the reasons I'm drawn to it is that it reminds me of how I used to love the idea of dollhouses and playing in them. Her interpretations are so creative and they spark imagination and maybe even old memories for some people.

I'd love to visit one of her exhibits. I'd love to have one of her framed works and use it in a small space, near a vanity sink or in a little office nook, as the focal point. I think this piece below would be so great in a kid's room.

Daydream

I came across this picture in the Vogue Living: Houses Gardens People book I borrowed from the library. Perfect timing on a dreary Monday. This photograph makes me happy. I'm going to file this picture away in my "someday" folder. It makes me dream about one day looking out my kitchen window to this view... the puppies playing in the yard, overlooking the breaking waves... add some little ones playing in the surf with a handsome daddy (a la j.crew catalog shot) and that's about all I'd ever need.

Good Reads

I finally got into Good Reads. I was first acquainted with the site by e-invitation from my sister Taryn. I had to 'sign in' to see her profile, and before I knew it, I had not only signed myself up but also inadvertently invited 45 other people from my hotmail address book. They really got me!

I admit I'm not an avid reader, it's something I woulnd't even say I'm 'working on', but I do aspire to someday be considered well-read. I love when people are described as well-read. I want that to be me.

I have had several lists over the years. I always lose them. 'Books to read', 'books I've read', 'books I've read and want to buy', 'books I read as a kid and want my future kids to read', etc., ad nauseum.

Now I can just plug it all into the website and it remembers! Brilliant. If you are on the list of people who get my feeds, I'm sorry if it has become annoying. Sometimes I come across a "featured books" page in a design magazine and I have to add them all to my 'to read' list. Today I added Brooches to it. The site is so good, why didn't I think of that?

Today I'm in love with...

... this fabulous table from one of our manufacturers, Antigua. It comes in various sizes to be used as a dining table, but I'd never cover the view to the table's base, the urn/flower shape is my favorite part. I'd use this piece in a foyer or maybe an indoor/outdoor space... well, I'm off to my daydream

Missing Christmas

Although it is the most beatuiful day in Park City, I am doing laundry and chores around the house today and I'm missing Christmas. I left the cedar garland on my mantle but other than that, the tree is down as are the rest of my decorations. I did put them up right after we got home from Thanksgiving, but I was just getting used to them when it was time to take them down.

This year I forwent my crazy carnival decorations and settled on a simplified theme of green and chocolate. ( in past years I collected things I loved of all colors, orange, lime, purple, pink, turquoise) It all began with a trip to Home Depot where I saw these fabulously beautiful poinsettias that were white instead of red. I bought some and it was all downhill from there. I had hints of red in a few places, but other than that I only used the silver, clear, green and brown ornaments I had.

Here are a few pictures and some suggestions on easy holiday decorating:

My mom treated us with 15 feet of fresh cedar garland. I'm crazy for it. I love the way it drapes and gives such a great scent. I laid this up on the mantle and then a few days later added another cut of the same length to bulk it up a bit. I bought inexpensive spools of brown and copper ribbon and added some lights. Very easy.


With the extra cedar garland I wrapped the lazy susan on our dining table. As long as you don't have to move the garland much, it will dry and not be too messy. Notice the cute little clip on cardinal - with a feather tail - what a great find!

Symmetry makes this arrangement look complete when really its just a few topiaries and some unused ornaments. I usually have the trees and the urn out, but for the holidays I tied the pots with some extra ribbon and it helped tie everything in.


I don't really have many sentimental ornaments yet, as we have only a few Christmases under our married belt and we're still working on our own traditions. One of my favorite things to unwrap every year is our "Our First Christmas" ornament. Why do I love this? Is it cheesy? I can't wait for our kids to be teenagers and laugh at this ornament, but I think it'll be special over the years. If you don't have one, get one. Have it post-monogrammed if you have to. I always loved to see the felt ornaments we made as kids with my picture and my sisters pictures pasted on. I definitely plan on having them four our babies too. Whenever that will be. I'm sending one to Reese this week to cheer me up. :)

So here is our tree this year. It appeared a little short on it's normal stand so we put it up on a box and covered it with some remnant fabric. It worked great. I used some of the leftover twig lights from the mantle and stuck them in the tree for a little more light. Our tree is pre-lit and it's just too much for me to mess with stringing additional lights in. With a skinny tree it doesn't take much to make it look full. I used mostly beaded orbs, pine cones, snowflakes and stars... and clip-on birds which were so much fun.

I thought I'd miss the usual green and red but it seemed like with just a few accents of red it was this great pop of color. I found an inexpensive box planter and wanted to do a big floral arrangment in it. I picked out amaryllis, green hydrangea, a variegated boxwood with a pretty shade of purple on the leaves, and something similar to amaranthus. My 'associate' Derek whipped it all together for me in about five minutes. He is brilliant. I have loved it.

Holiday 2008

I scrolled up and down and realized I never posted about Thanksgiving break. Now that it's January, I thought I'd combine all the winter holidays into one massive post.

It was my parents year to have all the kids for Thanksgiving. We all arrived in Montana between Monday and Wednesday of the week - from D.C., Cincinnati, San Diego and Park City. Even Good Ol' Uncle Pat came along with me and Ben on our adventure. It was just like old times having him with us.

We saw several movies over the weekend, had malts and burgers at Norm's News, and of course, went to Sportsman Ski Haus... it wouldn't be a Stimpson vacation without it. Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic - complete with new gourmet additions to the menu such as pecan pie cheesecake, yams with a citrus twist, sweet potato casserole and delicious homemade cranberry sauce. I love that my mom and sisters try new dishes every year - it's so fun and unpredictable!

We also had the first annual Stimpson Turkey Bowl in the open yards bordering the golf course next door. It was a blast. We were all distracted by Reese in her snowsuit (it didn't look cold, but it was!). I couldn't decide whether to cheer or play - that was my strategy to confuse the opposing team. The game was short and sweet with only two injuries sustained... Mike Smith's hamstring, and his other hamstring. In the South we just say, "blessim."

For Christmas Ben and I stayed in Utah this year to be with his family in Layton. The entire family gets together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - instead of driving back and forth from Park City in blizzard conditions, we packed our jammies and spent the night at Ben's parent's. It was great to be with everyone for great food, Grandma Kathy's holiday story, and of course, lots of presents.

Ben and I left around 5 p.m. on the 25th, as we wanted to get home to open our own presents that we left sitting under the tree. We drove home to at least 18 inches of new snow, and still falling, in our driveway. It looked only 'powdery' to me and I encouraged Ben to pull the car in a little bit. We immediately were stuck. Oh great! We ran our things inside and changed into our shoveling clothes. We had no shovel but got creative with a large 40 gallon trash bucket and a garden shovel. 30 minutes later we had enough snow gone to pull the car partially into the driveway and out of the path of the dangerously large and unwieldy snowplows. (doing the whole driveway would've taken hours!)

Opening presents together was really fun. One for you, one for me, one for you, one for me... and so on. With only two people it goes pretty quickly but there were a few surprises that kept things interesting. Afterward we ichatted with Mom and performed a special excerpt from her most-recent fave movie, Love Actually, and also displayed on camera all of our new gifts.

The next day Ben and I hosted the Oviatts for a White Elephant party. The theme was unmistakeably revolved around underwear of all kinds; with pink fur, king-sized, and of the tighty-whitey variety. I ended up with "Abs of Steel" and one of Cindy Crawford's work out videos ("Yes! Just what I needed as the new year approaches!") The "fishnet leg lamp" from A Christmas Story also surfaced.

In preparation for the dinner I pulled out most of the serveware I received as wedding gifts. I enjoyed setting up and entertaining in such a fun kitchen. I even filled my punch bowl. My clam chowder turned out as a result of a little help from my mother-in-law and some much needed cornstarch. After the party, Matt & McCall and Meghan and Cody stuck around to have a spend the night and to play Time's Up. We played boys vs. girls and luckily all three rounds ended and we were still on good terms! Here are some shots of our game faces.

Since Ben and I have been together, we've spent New Year's at my parents in Montana. You may ask what was going through our heads in driving north almost to Canada during the dead of winter?? Yes, the trip is just too fun to pass up. Ben and I hadn't seen any of Dean's basketball games since he began playing for his high school team. We went to two of his games and he definitely impressed us... the way he plays reminds me of Deron Williams or Steve Nash. Quick, smart and a great sport. He's such a mini version of my Dad. So much.

Mom hosted a 'make your own sushi' party and had some friends and neighbors come over to enjoy the yummy food with us. It was delicious. We stayed for five days and the snow finally stopped in time for us to leave. I think Kalispell had some record snowfall. Luckily Ben was happy to stay home and read while we were pretty much snowed in. Mom, Linds and I just sat around and caught up on Mom's tivoed design shows.



The holidays flew by so fast. It seemed like a blur now that I look back. Let's hope dreary January and the rest of the winter can blow by just as quickly.