favorite products: aveda soothing aqua therapy

On my birthday in December, I received Aveda soothing aqua therapy from Claire. What a treat! These bath salts are AWESOME, and just what I needed to hydrate my dry, stressed skin. It definately turns your bath into a tranquil spa. Thank you Claire for this fabulous gift! And, another Aveda product to LOVE!

knock, knock...welcome to iowa.

Last weekend, my mom and I drove up to Iowa City to visit Beth. Brooke drove down from Chicago and met us there too! We missed you Claire :(! We visited Sisters' Garden and Bloom in Kalona, Iowa. The shop has everything from furniture and antiques to vintage purses and necklaces. Brooke and I found some great vintage necklaces inspired by the J. Crew Spring Catalog! This shop also sells Papaya art, journals, and cards. Beth gave me a calendar for Christmas and she purchased it here!

This is the Kalona Cheese House. We ate some of these yummy cheese curds before our lunch at Tuscan Moon in downtown Kalona, Iowa.

On Friday night, I had an accident and this was the mound of snow that got in my way! UGH! My company car has a few bruises. The passenger door and fender will have to be replaced. I'm just glad that mom was okay, since the other driver hit her side of the car! (Obviously, this photo is in daylight. And, my accident was at night)!

Thanks for a nice visit Beth. Too bad, I didn't take any photos of your clean basement. I hope it is staying tidy! Enjoy the rest of that Iowa Winter!

quite lovely.

i might have to grab a pair of these this weekend when i am in iowa city visiting beth. very pretty sister.

Everyone loves a contest!

Go to Lola B's shop and enter.

inspiration attic.

i finally looked through the arhaus 2009 catalog and fell in love with these patchwork chairs. this might be the inspiration i need for my attic update. who wants to help paint?

action abstraction

On New Year's Eve, I joined Beth and Tom for a tour of the current exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum Action/Abstraction. Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940–1976 is the first major U.S. exhibition to reconsider Abstract Expressionism in over 20 years.

My favorite painting was Jasper Johns Numbers in Color (shown here). The interactive portion of the exhibit was also quite fun and I left many messages for and about Beth and Tom.

I am excited to also join the SLAM as a Sustaining Member, which will allow for reciprocal memeberships across the country at art museums including: The Art Institute of Chicago and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Go see this exhibit today. Don't wait too long, it ends on January 11th.

phone call from key west

Tonight, I received a phone call from Brooke, Adam and Tracy. They were screaming with excitement for me to find a computer. I typed in the address they yelled into the phone, and this is what I saw. They were in front of a LIVE webcam at Duval's in Key West. I love it!