summer lunch

This is what I had for lunch... and it took twenty minutes.

Grilled Salmon (the frozen salmon fillets from Costco) topped with crumbled goat cheese and cherry tomatoes sauteed in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh garlic, and a side of spinach.

It was so delicious and so easy. Do any of you have a favorite summer lunch?

well, we did it! two years of marriage in the bag.

Mr. Alexander and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary this weekend. What did we do? What we always do when the time calls for a celebration. Eat. James and I had never tried the breakfast menu at one of our favorite restaurants in Utah, The Communal. Sheesh, it didn't disappoint. The prices were so reasonable, the food so delectable, and the setting so romantic. I'm pathetic though. You know what one of my favorite parts of the experience was? This adorable cast iron tea kettle! And you can get it at Crate and Barrel. This will be my next purchase. The rest of the day consisted of watching The Fast and The Furious (since we saw Fast 5 in the theater and had no idea what was going on half of the time - don't go see a sequel if you haven't seen the last four movies of the franchise), seeing Pirates 4, and being mall rats. Anniversary #2 a success. What am I thinking - I can't forget to tell you this. James bought me 2 roses and plans to buy me 3 next year, 4 the year after that, and so on... I can't wait until we are old fogies - he is going to break the bank buying 50 roses 48 years from now. What a champ.

in which rinda attempts to be crafty

O.K. everyone, I'm definitely not the crafty type. I don't generally get the urge to turn a set of drawers into a credenza or make a lamp out of toilet paper rolls. I do, however, watch episode upon episode of "This Old House", I have built at least 7 tree houses in my lifetime, and I wish I had a carpentry shed in my back yard. That being said, and since I don't have much going on in my life right now but waiting for baby Claire to get here, I've decided to enter the realm of "crafts" by making the holy mirror of mirrors, "The Captain's Mirror" by the holy furniture companies of furniture companies, BDDW. Feast your eyes upon this.

Collecting the materials to attempt said project is taking some time... anyone know where I can get a solid, circular, wood hoop to place the mirror in? Anyway, hopefully sooner than later I will post the finished product and my experience making it step-by-step. Wish me luck!

updates, updates, updates

firstly, i feel like i haven't blogged in ages. i can't really think of any excuses other than moving to a new place, finishing off the semester, and getting things ready for baby claire... is that good enough? baby girl is about ready to come (i hope)! i'm 35 1/2 weeks along, so 4 1/2 weeks left, and i'm just shy of looking like an elephant. james and i have been going out a lot lately and i can't help but notice everyone staring at me. i hope it's an "oh cute, she is pregnant" stare, and not a "oh my gosh she is huge" stare... i'm thinking it might be the latter. anyway, i've been in ultimate nesting mode for the past couple of weeks. james caught me scrubbing the kitchen cabinets in the middle of the night the other day. i even looked at our bookcase (bookcase = stacks of books on the floor) and had the urge to color coordinate every single one, but i resisted. plus, i'm in the process of doing some much needed interior design in our new house, and i'm waiting for this blasted weather to heat up so i can finally plant my garden. 

 

 

 claire's bedroom - my dear friend, catey, made the adorable flag banner.

my sweet sister, lauren, threw me a baby shower! this picture was taken right before the festivities started. this is the living room of our new home. i love the wood floor and the amazing stove. the interior design project i was talking about was to get some framed pictures on the wall.

james and i went to the arcade fire concert with a bunch of our friends. it was a treat! i was the least squished person in the crowd... i think people were afraid to bump in to me. rinda - 1, crowd - 0.

 after finishing up my last full-time semester at byu, james and i went on a much needed trip to az over the easter weekend! i was so excited to take james to his first ever easter pageant experience. a bucket of kfc, beautiful weather, sitting on the grass and being with family = best easter ever. i love my family and can't wait to see them when claire arrives.

 oh, i also bought a bunch of cacti (i feel weird saying cacti... cactus') for our kitchen!

our landlords keep our yard looking amazing, and its always a surprise to go outside and see what else has bloomed. the tulips have since died, but our trees are blooming with beautiful, pink flowers. 

hopefully i'll have more updates on finishing all of these interior designing projects and planting a garden soon...