Noteworthy
Hello, and happy May! I hope you all had a lovely weekend! We spent lots of time working outside and it felt wonderful to enjoy some sunshine and get our outdoor areas set for the season. It’s finally feeling like spring here. Is it just me or does the year seem to be flying by? It has been awhile since we’ve had a casual chat and I’ve shared updates, so I figured it was time for a new Noteworthy post! Click through for updates, inspiring links, recent purchases, random thoughts, some spring vignettes, and all the fun things…
Our backyard is about to be bananas! We have tiny snowballs on our viburnum trees and in a few weeks they’ll be in full bloom- my favorite time during the spring season. It’s just so beautiful and we always end up spending a lot of time enjoying our patio this time of year. Last Friday I had a pool contractor come out for another estimate (I’ve gotten a few), and you wouldn’t believe the lead-time! Any guesses? The lead-time in our area is consistently 16-28 months! Meaning, if we decide to commit to a pool, we probably we won’t even have it for NEXT summer… maybe late summer 2022 at the earliest. Wild, right? Although that’s an amazing selling point for me to leverage while pitching this “little project” to Emmett… we have plenty of time to save money. You know we’re all about saving! I think we’re going to try to make it happen, whenever that may be. It will live over by our shed. I’ll keep you posted as things unfold.
What is everyone watching or reading right now? Anything good? We didn’t have a ton of time for TV last month, but I’m all caught up on The Handmaid’s Tale. Whew- that show gives me serious anxiety, but I can’t stop watching. Another heavy (yet interesting) one we watched was Seaspiracy on Netflix. On lighter note, I’ve been enjoying the Secrets of the Whales series produced by James Cameron on Disney Plus- as well as this Wild Yellowstone documentary (we’re hoping to make it back there again this year). I’m a sucker for nature docs. That’s pretty much all the entertainment we had time for in April.
I’d actually love your book recommendations because we’re headed on vacation at the end of the month and I’m going to have plenty of time to read and relax- without cell service to distract me. It will be our first flight since visiting France in 2019. That seems so crazy! Nothing like breaking the hiatus with a BIG flight. We’re headed to Tahiti to put our recent diving certifications to good use.
We actually planned this trip back in 2019 and were supposed to go in May of 2020, but obviously we cancelled because of the pandemic. It was one of those “go this spring or lose our deposit” type of situations- so off we go and I couldn’t be more excited for a much needed adventure. We’re staying on a boat for the majority of the trip with our friends & neighbors (the same friends we tackled the deck makeover for), to get in the maximum amount of diving.
I have to say, it has been so fun learning and getting certified in scuba. In college, Emmett & I both got certified in white water guiding and white water rescue (sadly after one of our friends drown), so we’ve always been into water sports. We always pack our snorkel gear for our tropical trips, but scuba is really next level. It has been a really exciting hobby so far- if you love marine life, learning more about the ocean, swimming, and the water- I’d highly recommend! In a couple weeks, we’re diving a popular spot here in Utah… the crater. Have you heard of it? It’s a geothermal hot spring, hidden within a 55-foot tall, beehive-shaped limestone rock. Clearly I haven’t travelled or adventured in a long time and am jazzed about it, but I’ll stop rambling with diving excitement.
Let’s move onto renovation updates, which is probably why you’re here… I’ve been itching to photograph and share the details about our finished roof, but we’re still waiting on the roofers to come back to install our heat strips (for snow melt). Right now the wires are just dangling off the front of our house and doesn’t look too pretty. I’d rather share truly finished photos, so thanks for being patient! I have TONS of info to share about Bartile though: facts, stats, why we picked it, how much it cost (luckily insurance covered it for us), and I even put together some favorite design combos. It’s really a cool roofing product that has a lifetime warranty!
I also owe you an office update! While we’re making awesome progress, visually it’s looking the same as it did in this post. Emmett finished running the electrical and the pocket door track is finished! We’re just waiting on the doors to arrive so we can test fit them before beginning drywall. Once the doors arrive (they’re being made locally and lead times have been crazy), things will start to move more quickly. I know we talked about materials and lead-times in Emmett’s money tips post, but it really is nuts right now. We ordered the glass for our built-ins locally and we’re expecting that to be finished in June. Anyway- it’s coming along. Once things progress a bit further visually, I’ll draft another update post for you! Luckily, we’re in no hurry for this one. We don’t have sponsorships or work obligations for this room, and my temporary home office setup is working out just fine. I also have plenty of room at our Tuesday Made office.
Since the office renovation is moving at snail speed, I’ve focused my attention to our entryway, just outside of where my office pocket doors will live. I actually really like our traditional staircase railing, so I’m thinking I’ll just stain the cherry sections black to better fit our aesthetic. The existing traditional profiles are nice! I ordered samples of this gorgeous floor tile and I’m waiting on it to arrive. I have ALWAYS wanted limestone cabochon tile in our entryway… which has been exceptionally difficult to source. While I like the look of marble harlequin flooring that is taking the internet and Instagram by storm, the popularity is honestly kind of a turn off for me. Though I’ll say- if you love something and know you’ll love it for years to come… do it anyway. Popularity comes and goes. I think the harlequin is a very timeless look, but given my existing vision of cabochon tile- that just feels right for the space, so I’m sticking with my gut on this one. I’m sure cabochon will have its moment in the sun and I’ll still be very into it. I also think limestone will hold up better than marble in our entry, which sees a lot of traffic. Do you ever avoid the super hot in-the-moment things just because they’re so popular? I only do it for certain things- so interesting.
If you’re an ice cream fanatic, I just tried a new-to-me Jeni’s flavor and it’s incredible… buttercream birthday cake! It tastes just like the real thing- swirls of buttercream icing, pieces of cake, sprinkles, and rich ice cream. It’s so good! Back when I was a designer in the food industry, I got to meet and hangout with Jeni a couple times. That lady makes the BEST ice cream and she’s just a really nice human. I have her cookbook and have shared recipes here on the blog in the past: buckeye state ice cream, wild berry lavender, extra dark chocolate, and strawberry. Ice cream is my preferred dessert and I love whipping up a homemade batch during the spring & summer months!
Do you subscribe to any physical magazines? Having a background in print design- I would much rather thumb through the glossy pages of a magazine or interior design book. If you subscribe to ElleDecor, did you see their latest Italy Forever issue? Ugh, it’s an absolute dream! I’m itching for another European getaway, but am trying to be patient.
My friend Joanna’s cabin renovation was featured in Domino last week! Remember when I designed her kitchen a few years ago?
I’ll admit, most of my recent purchases have been for our upcoming Tahiti trip or scuba gear. So I’ll spare sharing the masks and fins, for the things that are probably more applicable for most. Ha!
- swim coverup // This swim coverup is super affordable ($26) and has the best ratings. It comes in lots of colors- I got the black one.
- garden trellis // Since sharing my new garden trellis, I keep getting requests for the link. I bought four of these for our garden, which I started over the weekend! I’ll share a post soon, so you can see how it looks and what I planted. It’s so much better than last year!
- swimsuit // Swimsuit shopping is the worst- I absolutely hate it (I tried on about 20 for our trip… seriously). I usually splurge on one good suit that I’ll wear all summer (swimming, kayaking, diving, on vacation, wherever). This one checks all of my boxes and is really well-made and flattering. Albion Fit is a local Salt Lake company and they’ve really delivered since I started shopping with them a couple years ago.
- oversized vase // This vase was for a shoot I’ll be sharing with you in a few weeks, but this is another thing I’ve been getting lots of requests for, since sharing a sneak peek on IG over the weekend.
- beach towels // Here’s our beach towel story… for our Hawaiian honeymoon (a decade ago), Emmett & I didn’t realize we needed to pack towels. We ended up spending wayyy too much money on the towels at the tourist shop in Maui- they have a map of the Hawaiian islands on them. Ha! If that doesn’t scream tourist, I don’t know what does. Anyway, our honeymoon beach towels have seen better days- they have holes and are super faded at this point. We have to pack towels for our upcoming trip, so I invested in what Emmett calls our “grown up beach towels”. I got us matching, monogrammed (you know I love a monogram!) cabana towels that pack pretty small. They’re really nice and big.
I also wanted to say THANK YOU for your continued support. It has been a busy blog season working with brand partners I truly love. This spring and summer I have some incredible outdoor living space posts lined up for you. I’ve been creating and shooting a lot of really fun things lately. From tablescapes to outdoor furniture and DIY paint posts, your support means a lot to me. It’s how I keep this blog (my passion) afloat. If you see me posting on Instagram or other channels, I’d be so grateful if you hit the save, share, comment, or like button (in the order of most helpful). I’ve honestly been struggling with social media lately. The algorithm seems to be my nemesis. Anyway- I just wanted to say thank you and I appreciate you! I probably don’t say that enough. I hope my blog and channels continue to be a source of inspiration, creativity, design education, and a happy, positive place for you.
Per usual, this is getting long (I talk too much)– so I’m going to wrap it up. I hope your week is off to a fabulous start. Our weather is finally feeling like spring and I’ve been in a great mood, soaking it up over here. I hope May brings you lots of happy moments with friends & family doing some things you love.
