Chalk White Arrow

photos - from - our - picnic - in - the - park

2013-05-23T11:22:00.000-06:00

an almost d.i.y.

2013-05-21T16:55:00.000-06:00

this is probably much too simple to be categorized as an actual d.i.y. project (more of a fun idea really) but love it i do anyway. yes, yes, this is another flower post ... i obviously have a love for the things ... at least these ones are paper, right?

for this project you will need: paper flowers, a clean martinelli's apple juice bottle, and peanut butter. ^

remove all of the paper label (sometimes warm water helps) then smother peanut butter on any leftover sticky residue and let sit for about an hour. ^

after washing off the peanut butter, arrange the paper flowers into the bottle, trimming them if needed, until you are happy with the way they look. ^

i found my paper flowers here

close calls

2013-05-20T22:04:00.000-06:00

thursday my phone suddenly started to ring ... a few hours prior, camden and i had both started our days at work and it was what seemed to be just another thursday. nothing unusual was supposed to take place, just the usual work things and the usual work schedules. but on this thursday, as my phone received this call from a not so usual number, i answered to find a not so familiar middle aged man on the other side whose first words were "we found your dog". i was bewildered. camden and i had, just like any other workday, left kramer at our home, safe and sound, behind locked doors. my first reaction was "our dog?" "um ... well what does he look like?". i seriously thought this was some bizarre prank phone call and i'm pretty sure this man seriously thought i was a complete idiot. "do you have a dog?" he said. "yes, i have a dog" i replied dumbfounded. ok, if this gentleman didn't think i was crazy before he definitely did now. "we found her running across a very busy street and she appeared to be very frightened" "she is lucky she didn't get hit!" - on a bit of a side note here, "everyone" always refers to kramer as a her even after we repeatedly tell "everyone" he is a him whose very him name is kramer. - still confused i asked "a white fluffy dog?" "you found a white fluffy dog?" "yes" he confirms, now sounding slightly annoyed. "we found a white fluffy dog running across the very busy street" "his collar says kramer and underneath is listed your number for this white fluffy dog!". now with the confirmation of kramer's identity taken care of, i began to explain to him why all the earlier confusion of the "do you really have my dog?" stuff. explanations aside and the location of our safe dog in hand, i began to now worry how kramer did escape in the first place and really started to panic that maybe someone had broken into our home and let him out in the process. i called camden and filled him in on the current situation and while doing so suddenly remembered an email i had received from our landlord the night before. in this email our landlord stated that sometime in the coming week, maintenance would be coming around to install our window air-conditioner. i quickly replied reminding him that we had a dog so if he could please let us know what day exactly they would be coming so i could make arrangements for him not to be home. i suddenly started to realize that this was probably the answer to all the strange circumstances now taking place. after my prediction was confirmed and kramer was safely taken home, angry questions began to flood my mind. 'why hadn't anyone tried to get kramer back inside?' 'what if kramer had died and we had no idea where he was or why he wasn't at home?' 'why hadn't our landlord made better arrangements with us so none of this had to happen in the first place!?!?' and then i caught myself. just as quickly as the anger had come, the anger was gone and replaced with this overwhelming feeling of gratitude. grateful that kramer somehow wasn't hit running across the streets. grateful that someone was watching out and was willing to take the time to rescue kramer from the fast passing cars. grateful that those man's first words weren't something like "we found your dog smashed in the middle of the street ..." suddenly none of the angry questions seemed to matter. all that mattered was that our family was safe and how grateful for that i was.

weekend brunch + a sunday snack

2013-05-19T22:20:00.000-06:00

for brunch this weekend we ate: toasted bagels with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, sprinkled lightly with salt and pepper and drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction, paired with some brightly colored red strawberries on the side. we ended up walking to the store this morning for most of the ingredients then came home, quickly whipped it up and sat down to our sunday morning meal ritual which of course included lucy. today we watched the episode where lucy, ricky, ethel and fred are in paris. lucy and ethel go to a fashion show and lucy wants ricky to buy her one of the dresses they saw at the show ... a completely classic lucy .... one of my favorites.

the rest of the day we sort of bummed around the house which is honestly kind of a rare occurrence for camden and i to both do together. - but it was one of those off and on rainy days and nothing sounded more appealing to us then to spend it relaxing within. we made our favorite cookie recipe just as one of the first bigger rain storms rolled in. the house was immediately filled with the smell of warm, buttery, chocolatey, cookies while the rain puttered down making a soft "tink-ing" sound on our newly installed air-conditioning that sits awkwardly in our living room window. after the cookies had finished baking, we propped the oven open to warm our slightly-cool home, poured ourselves a large glass of cold milk and sat down to watch breakfast at tiffany's with our warm gooey goodness in hand. i seriously wish all days could be just like this.

a chalk white arrow giveaway

2013-05-16T21:29:00.000-06:00

today's giveaway is from the gorgeous designer and jewelry store, lisa leonard designs. lisa and her team design all the jewelry along with a few other fun things including my beautiful twig necklace shown above. today they are offering one of you lovely readers the chance to win a $50 gift certificate to her store.

to enter: head on over to lisa leonard designs and sign up for their newsletter, then come back here and leave a comment below to let us know you did. you may receive an extra entry for liking them on their facebook page, just be sure to leave a comment for each. this contest is open only to chalk white arrow readers so double check you follow along here as well. the contest ends one week from today, good luck!

dwelling small #7 - fresh flowers

2013-05-14T17:33:00.001-06:00

*or decorating with fresh flowers when your home is small and budget is even smaller

i love decorating our home with beautiful fresh flowers, especially during the spring and summer months but don't always have the money or storage for pretty vases to display them in. i find myself looking for reusable solutions that look just as good yet more unique than the alternative. the key for me is to keep the flowers and arrangements simple, this way the overall look compliments itself. i also love using filler flowers as it helps keep the overall cost down while still achieving that effortless look i'm going for.

^^ mason jars: we tend to use mason jars for just about everything around our home and decided why not flowers too? i love the idea that you can purchase a dozen of these at the store for under $10 and have an end look that is enchanting with just a few elegant flowers placed inside.

^^ frappuccino bottles: i always hate throwing glass bottles away and reusing them as a vase for flowers works brilliantly. just peel away the sticky label, smother the sticky residue left on the bottle with peanut-butter, allow to sit for an hour or so, then rinse the residue off with a sponge and warm water. be sure to clean the inside well and you're set.

^^ soup cans: i can't take all the credit for this idea as i found it on pinterest, but it's still a fantastic one nonetheless. i think a few flowers in one of these soup cans looks really sweet and i love the idea of reusing them. you can see how to prepare the can as well as the original idea here.

^^ soda bottles: a few years ago after drinking this mexican sprite, i kept the bottle wanting to reuse it for something … anything. it eventually became the perfect vase for plopping a few flowers in and i really love the way it turned out.

i wore this when ...

2013-05-13T22:11:00.002-06:00

... to do meet up with camden for an afternoon bite and to do some last minute mother's day shopping. it has been a summer kind of hot around here really, and i'm not sure i fully approve. what classic utah behavior, to have such quick brisk springs then without any warning .... boom! it's summer. however, saturday was perfect for a walk to city creek under the big shaded trees where the air stayed a good ten degrees cooler. have i mentioned this is one of my favorite things about living downtown? ... all the big leafy trees. i know this may sound a bit strange, having this as one of my favorite features of where we live, but coming from a newly built area with only those little scrawny trees having just been newly planted, it's really quite refreshing.

i wore: jacket, j.crew // lace sweater, urban outfitters // necklace, pink lemonade c/o // pants, madewell // shoes, blowfish c/o // hat, target // purse, vintage coach

p.s. pink lemonade is offering chalk white arrow readers 20% off their next purchase. enter code "arrow" at checkout.

photos - from - our - road - trip - to - antelope - island -

2013-05-11T19:29:00.000-06:00

a chalk white arrow giveaway

2013-05-09T17:40:00.001-06:00

today's giveaway is brought to you by tukula. tukula is a cause-driven business invested in giving local ugandan artisans the opportunity to grow above poverty. each artisan is given above average wages for their quality handmade products plus medical care, access to saving programs, and pride themselves on providing an encouraging work environment. this gives them the ability to provide for themselves and their families with homes, food, and education.

today tukula is giving one lucky reader (sorry, u.s.a. residing only) the chance to win a mint green foldover clutch as well as the purple rain shami bag just like mine pictured above. i love to use my mint green foldover clutch for holding my "on the go" makeup and it fits perfectly inside my purple rain shami bag. to enter, head on over to their facebook by clicking here and become their newest friend. you may also receive an extra entry for following them on twitter as well, just be sure to leave a comment for each. as always, this giveaway is only open to chalk white arrow readers, so be sure to double check you follow along and do so if you don't already. the winner will be chosen one week from today, good luck!

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the winner of the tukula giveaway is LaurKnotter. she said:
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congratulations, an email has been sent to you!

four

2013-05-07T18:14:00.000-06:00

today is kramer's fourth birthday. i can't believe he is already four, it seems like just yesterday we brought him home for the first time as a wee little pup. we celebrated by going on an extra long walk and letting him unwrap a few toys we found on major discount at the pet store. oh how kramer loves unwrapping new toys, something we found out this past christmas as he went around attempting to open everyones else's presents in hope they were all for him. kramer opened some new mini bouncy balls for fetch, a few furry friends to replace his old torn and grungy ones, and a new fur for lounging upon, mostly on account that his old one was starting to get a bit on the dingy side. he's currently taking a big long birthday nap completely worn out from all the day's excitement. happy birthday kramer, we love you!

dinner for one

2013-05-05T21:33:00.000-06:00

i always have the hardest time cooking for myself when camden is working late. i feel like i most often find myself getting takeout (once again) and have recently been looking for options that are healthy yet still easy and delicious. this dinner is one i've recently been obsessed with. it's so beautifully simple; asparagus splashed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and baked at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes, then drizzled with reduced balsamic vinegar. i paired them with sliced gouda cheese and grapes with skins so tight they are bursting from the seams. seriously i've made this more than a few times recently and plan to make it just a few more (at least).

i wore this when ....

2013-05-03T22:47:00.001-06:00

... and it turned out being one of those evening trips where you both forget your brains and it seems nothing goes as planned, ultimately unraveling the two people into absolute grumps (there seems to be a lot of this going around lately). one of those evening trips where you end up heading home a few times after you've left to grab forgotten items ... and then when you finally arrive, you remember the park doesn't take credit cards and you have to go searching for an a.t.m. in a teeny town you know nothing about (and neither does siri apparently) ... and then when you finally reach the island the sun has almost set, the bugs are coming out and it's getting cold ... and when you finally leave the island to grab some fast food for the way home they totally botched the order and all goes to _____ (insert your word of choice). we managed to still capture a few pictures i will share later on ... still i think we'll head back next week to try again with our brains back where they should be .... maybe.

i wore: lace dress, sheinside // shirt, thrifted // shorts, target // boots, the paisley pomegranate

because sometimes we all need a reminder ...

2013-05-01T13:58:00.000-06:00

weekend brunch

2013-04-30T16:57:00.000-06:00

have you ever had almond croissants from trader joe's? they are magnificently delicious. i mean the "let's forget about bakeries and just bake some croissants from trader joe's" kind of delicious. the kind of delicious that had camden eating three whole croissants all by himself. we paired ours with strawberries and milk and a little bit of i love lucy. we are already planning on going back for more.

p.s. make sure to remember and leave your croissants out overnight instead of forgetting like we did friday evening resulting in a day later brunch than planned...

saw snapped & shared

2013-04-28T21:58:00.000-06:00

1-2. bel fiore or beautiful flowers.
3. delicious leftovers ...
4. favorite shows, chores, and fast food, or just a regular night.
5-6. our efforts to try and eat in instead of out.
7. a sleepy krames after his first trip to the dog park ... oh how he loved the dog park!
8. evening errands.
9. candlelit nights.
10. baking ingredients.
11. kramer's subtle attempt to love camden into sharing his food.

i wore this when ...

2013-04-25T18:18:00.000-06:00

sunday i was a serious grump ... the grumpiest of grumps. really the only explainable reason for my poor attitude was that i must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed, the bad side. yes that invisible side resting somewhere in all of our mattresses, randomly pulling even the most peaceful of sleepers into its crabby abyss, leaving one only with feelings of crankiness and irritability. sadly, however, the longer the day went on the grumpier and moodier i became and to my surprise, even through the thick fog of my ill-humor, the kinder and more patient camden grew. because, i guess camden woke on the right side of our bed? it turns out the only thing that fully cures the symptoms left over from unwilling grumpiness is a sweet husband willing to put up with one's sour attitude and shower one with love anyway (even if one is completely undeserving of one's "love showers"). thanks to camden, by sunday night i had fully recovered from the grumps and was able to enjoy the rest of the evening as a normal, civilized, human being. thank you camden!

i wore: jean vest, the result of an old navy jacket gone d.i.y. project // baseball tee, husbands // pants, j brand jeans // shoes, brass plum (old) // purse, vintage coach

dwelling small # 6

2013-04-23T20:48:00.001-06:00

- function + form .. or multipurpose decor .. or because sometimes you just run out of space.

i have never been a particularly practical person because practicality doesn't suit me ... because ... well why not? i have always had this slightly spontaneous side, making special trips for ice cream late at night, hours after we've been ready for bed or wanting to take vacations on the spot just for the fun of it. this can drive camden crazy at times. he who wants steadiness and consistency doesn't always see eye to eye with spontaneity. however when it comes to dwelling small, pragmatic i sometimes have to to be. in our current home we have had to give a few functional items a decorative purpose because frankly there is just nowhere else for them to go. i find, for us, this works best when keeping it simple ... not cluttering walls with an overbearing amount of stuff but here and there, adding small functional things in a decorative way.

weekend brunch

2013-04-22T21:51:00.000-06:00

like i mentioned earlier this week, we made this lemon thyme cake that's had my mouth watering for weeks now. first off let me just say, i really need to start reading the entire recipe before undertaking a new one. sort of like it would have been nice to know this particular cake needed to bake for over an hour ... if i had read this say when i first found the recipe or even the night before, i may have started making the cake slightly earlier. having said this though, it should be noted here that for us anyhow, this cake doesn't need a full hour in the oven. we may just have one of those extra toasty ovens but our cake seemed slightly overcooked at only forty five minutes in the cooker. mumbo jumbo aside, this cake was quite tasty and at our later than expected brunch hour, we devoured almost all of it ... lucy, the whole gang and all.

because sometimes it rains ...

2013-04-21T16:18:00.000-06:00

this weekend has been quite the stormy one. friday night we took kramer out for his last walk of the evening when it started to rain ... and i mean rain. by the time we got home we were all completely soaked even through our "rainproof" jackets we had worn incase of the expected downpour. we wrapped kramer in a towel, lit some candles, and relaxed together on the couch while listening to some of the most perfect music for a rainy friday night. it was honestly one of the best evenings we've all had together in a long time. incase it's been raining wherever you are lately or you just need a good (according to me) playlist, i have included one below ... enjoy!

because sometimes it rains ... by Sara Charlesworth on Grooveshark

a "pinterecipe": a recipe found on pinterest

2013-04-17T21:47:00.000-06:00

you know those recipes you find on pinterest that look so good yet you never get around to making? or in our case, making anything not straight out of the freezer... well last night i decided it was time to try one i'd been eyeing for a while and get out of our frozen food rut. we made "skillet baked stuffed rigatoni" and ... wow! was it good. besides being slightly difficult to prepare in a tiny kitchen (but then again, what isn't?) and stuffing each noodle with the combined cheeses, which was a bit time consuming, i think we would make it again. plus we have plenty of leftovers to last us a few nights this week. and seriously ... it was so nice to sit down at our actual dining table and give our poor coffee table a rest for once ... i mean really ... that is what it's meant for anyway! next week i'm thinking of trying this "lemon thyme cake". maybe for our weekend brunch?

*p.s. you can see the recipe mentioned above as well as the pin's original home here.

i wore this when...

2013-04-16T19:43:00.001-06:00

sunday on our way up to park city, we decided to take the "scenic" route in order to see how far spring had made it up the canyon and possibly take a few pictures of the pretty flowers and blooming green leaf buds on the trees. only about two miles up the canyon we realized spring hadn't really made it very far at all. in fact, by the time we actually reached park city, the air had cooled down to a very crisp thirty nine degrees and my three shirt layering action was no longer keeping me warm. there was actually still large patches of snow covering about fifty percent of the city's ground. so much for my picture idea .... if this cooler spring means anything, i hope it's a sign of a cooler summer that is not scorchingly hot? please!?!?

i wore: jean shirt, j.crew // plaid shirt, madewell // printed tee, alexa chung for madewell // pants, madewell // shoes, vintage // camera bag, vintage

because some weekends are just that good

2013-04-14T21:36:00.000-06:00

this weekend was one of those exceptionally good weekends. saturday night a group of us went out dancing for our dear friend jason's birthday. the night was filled with lots of energy, silly dance moves, and lots of laughter. since we didn't get home until around 2 a.m., we took this morning easy and after getting a bit of spring cleaning done, we eventually headed up to park city for a delicious dinner this evening. -and boy was it delicious. if you ever make it up to park city, do yourself a favor and stop at bandits bar and grill for amazing barbecue. mmmm barbecue ... we ended our weekend with some homemade chocolate malts and the last movie in the bourne series, the bourne ultimatum, which is only the fiftieth time we've seen it. yay for weekends! seriously though, we love them! how were your weekends??

a chalk white arrow giveaway

2013-04-12T21:38:00.001-06:00

you guys! today we have another giveaway brought to you by our very fun sponsor, blowfish shoes. blowfish offers a wide selection of adorable shoes for unbelievable prices, if you haven't been over to check them out yet ... do so now! i've been wearing my new daisy shoes all week and i absolutely love them. today they are giving you readers the chance to win your very own pair. all you have to do is head on over to their store by clicking here and choose your very favorites. then come back here and share your choice with us by leaving a comment below. you may receive extra entries for following them on one of these social media sites: twitter, facebook, or pinterest. be sure to leave a comment for each. as always this giveaway is only open to chalk white arrow readers, so double check you follow along. the winner will be chosen by random one week from today, good luck!

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the winner of the blowfish giveaway is romina-santana-art. she said:
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congratulations, an email has been sent to you!

weekend brunch

2013-04-10T18:14:00.000-06:00

i know this really isn't traditionally a brunch food, but i had been craving tapioca pudding all week. it's one of those foods i've grown up loving and love it i still do. we sprinkled our pudding tops with a little cinnamon to change things up a bit and sliced into some juicy grapefruit we had bought at whole foods the day before ... you know, so we felt like we were being slightly healthy ... even if it was just slightly.

how to dwell small // #5

2013-04-09T21:55:00.000-06:00

as much as i try, i find at heart i am not the most organized of people. as you probably can imagine, in a small apartment, this can sometimes be a problem. my biggest problem of organizing grief takes place in the bedroom. my drawers eventually find themselves full of bunched up wrinkly clothing begging to be neatly refolded and nicely stacked away. camden and i decided this year, because of our downsized lifestyle, to simplify our dressers and closets a bit especially with the promise of warmer weather ahead. we have lately been going through our clothes and setting our warm winter pieces aside to be stored until next year as well as donating a few pieces we could do without. - and it's helped. my drawers have stayed noticeably neater, plus it always feels good to do a little organizing and cleaning with this new beginning, spring.

^ the eventual mushy clothes drawer.

^ a pile to donate, a pile to store away 'til next year, and a pile to stay within my drawer.

p.s. i like to keep a few cooler weather pieces out since i find myself in need of them from time to time year round.

and there you have it, nicely organized drawers ready for spring.