little bits of heaven

This is my first afternoon working from home in a long time and I'm quite enjoying it.

Simple pleasures include:

Indulging in this noon-day dessert, a peach cupcake. I found the recipe here through a series of blog links. Tasty, yes. Time consuming, yes, especially if you're a baker-in-the-making like me. There may or may not have been an entire egg dropped in the batter by accident. Luckily, no eggshells have surfaced in the finished product so far.

I'm also enjoying this band and song:

The Doves are one of my favorite British bands. Their music is so sensory and the lyrics never fail to make me think. I'm stuck on the song "Kingdom of Rust" at the moment.
(See playlist at the lower right to hear the song.)

Favorite lyrics:

It takes an ocean of trust
In the Kingdom of Rust

I'm also excited to see this guy tonight at Angels stadium:

The little things really do make life wonderful.

plastic patrol

Plastic water bottles are my dear friends and they will be hard to give up, but I am going to give into my husband's ecofriendly advice (he's always trying to get me to reuse my plastic water bottles-apparently, he loves the earth). Starting today, I will be using one of these -->

My canteen is blue and has Kent's law firm inscribed on it (thank you, Bremer, Whyte, Brown and O'Meara). Luckily, it doesn't leave that steely taste in my mouth like the ones my mom and dad had while growing up. You know, the round ones that you carried around your neck at Girl's Camp that were probably 30+ years old? Metal water bottles have come a long way.

I would also like to purchase this -->

A simplehuman® Deluxe Rectangular Recycler Can

Unfortunately, Kent doesn't love the environment enough to spend $179.99 on a fancy trash/recycle can. I believe he said something like, "Can't we just put two regular trash cans in the kitchen? One for recycling and one for trash?"

Practical, but not as pretty.

We also read an article about baby diapers and their impact on the environment, so when we have kids, we might go for these -->

Crazy? Probably.

the other brother

Last weekend, I met the other Sommer brother, Lance, and he is a cool kid. He returned from a mission to Brazil last Friday. Meeting him at the airport was our first encounter because Kent and I met right before Lance left, started dating a few months after he left and got married about a year into his mission, so it was great to finally meet the music-loving, water polo-playing little brother.

We spent the homecoming weekend at the Sommer home and had a wonderful time with all the siblings and some extended family. Shanon, my mother-in-law, is one amazing cook so we were well-fed, and the entertainment was fantastic, too. Kent's parents rented a bounce house for the kids, but I enjoyed it for a few minutes as well. We also played the game Ticket to Ride a couple of times. I love that game, but Dave managed to leave us all in the dust with his extensive train tracks.

Kent and I also got to camp out in the backyard in our new tent (wedding present) because the house was so full. That happened at my house during Christmas one year as well. I slept in an RV outside our house with my Mom, Dad and sister. Cozy, close quarters at those family get togethers, but it is always worth giving up a bed for a night or two-plus, it helps me feel like a seasoned camper.

On Sunday, we had a family dinner and it was delicious (Cafe Rio recipes). We also did a lot of mingling. Here are a few shots.

Mother-in-law, Shanon, and cousins, Jeannette and Bo, with two of their girls.

Nephew, Paul. Such a funny little boy.

Adam and Kent, the family lawyers minus Lindsey.

Little niece, Sommer. Her birthday is the same day as our wedding anniversary, so we'll never forget it. I hope she's okay sharing her special day.

Ron's children, plus one of Shanon's. Paige, Lindsey and Kent all got my father-in-law's blond hair and blue and eyes and Matt, Lark and Lance all got my mother-in-law's brown hair and brown eyes. I love how that worked out.

The Sommer brothers.

After dinner, we went to the park around the corner and took pictures of the nieces and nephews. How cute are they?!

The Sommer grandchildren by age (plus, the cute Romney kids).

Photo melt down. I don't know if the parents thought she looked cute doing this, but I thought it was adorable.

Boys will be boys.

Pull-up time. Go Ron.

Paul and Uncle Kent.

We had a great weekend and I'm glad I finally got to meet Lance.

I'm proud to call him brother.

let me count the ways

Marriage is great. I love that it continually progresses and changes and has multiple phases. Kent and I haven't been married much more than a year, but Phase #1, also known as Newlywedhood, has been wonderful. We have had the normal ups and downs that occur in life, but having someone to share the great and not so great moments with makes life infinitely better. Kent is my best friend and has been from the start. Our friendship has been easy and sincere. There is nothing to hide with him. He is just a good, insightful, forgiving man.

That being said, I was trying to think of some ways I can be a better woman and wife so I googled "top ten ways to show your husband you love him" and I found 100. I love search engines and the limitless supply of knowledge they offer. Anyway, most of these, if not all, seem like great ideas. They are pretty role-based and come from a very Christian perspective, which if you're a feminist and/or non-religious you might not appreciate, but even if you are, there are some good ideas for making your relationship with your husband fun, fulfilling and happy.

Without further ado...

100 Ways You Can Love Your Husband HIS Way

There's also...

100 Ways to Show Love to Your Wife HER Way

for any married men that may or may not read this blog.

Like I said, these are pretty Christiany (the site is called Marriage Missions), but there is some good information there.

So, here's to ever-more marital progression and phase fun.

the devil wears prada in real life

Yesterday, I had to take the Audi to the mechanic again. We took it in over the weekend while we were in Claremont for Lance's homecoming (upcoming post) because the engine was smoking on and off and at every stop light, we were inhaling fumes. Not good for the car, or our lungs.

Anyway, when Kent drove it back home from Claremont on Monday night, it had a new problem in addition to the ever-present fumes. It now made a horrible screeching noise when turning left. Since I have a more flexible job, I scooted up to Claremont the next day (listened to the new Muse album-think Depeche Mode meets Queen and a little modern day Mozart-so good) to take it back to the German Auto Tech. I thought I would do some work on my laptop at the Sommer house and I did, but little did I know, I was in for a treat.

My sister-in-law, Paige, and my mother-in-law decided we should go out to lunch and see a movie. We ended up in Old Town Pasadena where we enjoyed eating at Louie's Trattoria and watched one of the most entertaining, interesting documentaries I've seen, The September Issue. Paige had mentioned it over the weekend while we were all together, but I had never heard of it and I had no idea what it was about.

The film is a documentary of Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue, and the making of the September 2007 issue of the magazine. Now, it may not sound fascinating, but it is. Anna is something else, quite like the "fictional" character in The Devil Wears Prada, but not as cold-well, cold, but not as cold, and the amount of work that goes into that one issue alone-astounding! There are so many unique people involved in the process. My favorite: Grace. She is an artistic genius.

So, if you've ever thought about creating a magazine of your own and you're a die hard Project Runway fan, I can almost guarantee you'll love this documentary. I'm hoping to get Kent to go. After all, he does watch Project Runway with me...

same thing, different genre

I like Taylor Swift. Really, I do. She's cute and has a good voice. I even downloaded that Romeo and Juliet song ("Love Story") off of iTunes, which kind of shocked Kent due to its teenage flair, but as I was driving to work yesterday, I heard her song "You Belong to Me" and I thought to myself, where have I heard this before? The lyrics, the idea behind them....it all seemed vaguely familiar. Then, I pinned it down. Avril Lavigne. Yes, Avril's "Girlfriend" song is the punk version of "You Belong to Me". No joke. Their videos are even the same (in an opposite kind of way), one is just country pop and the other is punk pop. See for yourself.

Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me
Uploaded by UniversalMusicGroup. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend (Radio Edit)
Uploaded by mixshow. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

videos.

(Sorry for some of the swearing, I tried to get the radio edit. Avril isn't quite as sweet as Taylor.)

So, they're the same, but not. Either way, I like the teeny-bopper stuff sometimes. It's catchy and takes me back to high school. Who wouldn't want to relive those days?

le tour de bain

This morning as I was about to brush my teeth, I realized how much I love our current toothpaste. It's nothing fancy, but it's great. Foamy, minty with a bite, not too pasty, and it leaves your mouth feeling fresh. Then, as I hopped into the shower, I noticed I like quite a few of the products lying around our bathroom. Kent doesn't really pay attention to the products we use and that's perfectly fine, but I love to scope out new items at the grocery store, in magazines, online or at work. Unfortunately, I might be an advertiser's dream come true.

That being said, here are a few of the beloved items:

Wintergreen Ice. It tastes and feels like it sounds. I usually prefer Colgate, but this is good stuff.

I wouldn't suggest paying full price for this shower gel, but it was on sale for $5, so I thought I'd give it a try, and it's lemony fresh! Perfect for summer.

A few years ago, I borrowed my sister-in-law's shampoo and conditioner and loved it. The brand: Redken. After that, I was an avid buyer, but then decided to branch out. This summer, I went back and it feels great. I don't know if it really keeps color in better, but it makes my hair much softer.

This is the best basic cleanser. It's inexpensive compared to other brands, but it's Neutrogena so you know you're getting a good product. My face feels so soft and clean after I use it, and it really does remove everything. I've used it for years and will probably use it for years to come.

Love this scrub. All scrubs claim to be gentle, but this one really is. The beads are the ideal size; not too big so that it feels like you're rubbing pebbles around your face, but not so small that they feel like minuscule nothings. It's the right blend of seemingly tiny, smooth sand granules (it's not really sand, they're jojoba beads or something) and cleansing cream. Ahh. So nice.

This is a new night product for me. I usually use Retin-A Micro (really great), but I was given this bottle by one our dermatology offices to try. So far, I like it. It has an interesting scent, but it claims to have amazing antioxidant power. It has CoffeeBerry extract in it and is supposed to "revitalize and rejuvenate your skin throughout the night". We'll see.

Kent's favorite products:

Gel.

Bar soap.

And we can't forget this last object:

Every good bathroom should have one of these floating around.