Easter Shoes!

So my sweet husband insists that each spring Sawyer and I both get Easter dresses. I know, huh? Well, Sawyer's dress is for a whole other post, but yesterday I got my first annual pair of "Easter shoes". As much as I love dresses, I am all set for dresses right now & couldn't find anything I liked. However, I have been LUSTING over these little biddies for quite some time now and when I walked into Macy's yesterday they were miraculously on sale and now they are mine! Obsenely cute, huh? They are like spring on my feet and I love them.

digiscrap crap

I've been trying to be more consistent with my digital scrap booking. My sister-in-law Becky has recently converted from paper and she is amazing. She sends me new layouts nearly everyday, and it's really inspired me to get my booty in gear. I really do like it, but it takes me sooo long to finish a page because I over think everything. I really do need to do something like this to help me start trusting my creative instincts. (oh, wow. As I typed that it felt like an epiphany. This is totally an issue I have leftover from my awful high school art experience... that's why I never dare to decorate my house, or accessorize, or do much more than copy other people's wedding cakes! I don't trust my own creative instincts! Damn that Mrs. Hart!) Anyway, I am on the road to recovery, so please give my any comments or suggestions on these last few pages I've made.

DeeDoo (that's "thank you" in Sawyer)

p.s. I think if you click on them they will be bigger and you might be able to actually read the words.

p.s.s. huh. never mind. if anyone knows how to do that whole "click to view enlarged" thing, let me know.

three cheers for 17%

So I finally took the plunge and made a decision on the gym issue. We are now proud new members of Performax and yeah for that! I can't believe I waited so long to do this, it is such a better fit. I miss the crap out of my girls at Golds, (Shelley, Quincey, Kierstin, Lindsey, Jill, Jill, that means you!) but I know that I made the right decision for Sawyer and that feels really good. Out of all the decisions you have to make for your child, it feels good to instantly know that you made one right one. She is sooo much happier and excited to go to the "new gym" and play. They rarely have the TV on, and there are NEVER more than one or two kids watching it. They have a row of computers with great kids programs, tons of toys and books, slides and really active climby-on things as well as Sawyer's favorite: DRESS UPS!!! The only bad thing is that now I have a hard time getting her to leave! The people that work there are SOOO nice and love kids and have really taken to Sawyer, as she has to them.
It's a really fun time of life right now, things are great and my secret, well-hidden pessimist is skulking around in my brain wondering what will go wrong to throw things out of balance. How do I get him to shut up so that I can just enjoy stuff right now?
Matt & I are having so much fun in our marriage, we are very good at staying on the same page goals and priorities-wise so we never get too far out of sync. New Orleans was very good for us I think. I am so grateful for him, I never knew I could get so lucky. There is so much you really don't know when you are first getting engaged, stuff that becomes so important over the course of a marriage, and somehow I got lucky and Matt has all the right answers to those questions I never thought to ask. Does that make sense? Plus he's hot. ;) Oh, and he's getting hotter by the day.... he and some of his friends are meeting every morning at 6:45 at the gym! That is very sexy to me for some reason. I think because I love to work out so much, it is nice to share that commitment with him. And it makes him tired earlier, so we are ready for bed closer to the same time! Yeah! That's something we've kind of struggled with, I need more sleep than he does usually.
So anyway, as new members of Performax, we get 2 sessions with a trainer, and I had my first today. Tim is a very nice little meathead (in a good way. I mean nothing but that he is kinda beefcake.), quite knowledgeable and newly engaged, so I hope to be able to trade wedding cake for personal training once I am ready to get rid of baby weight in 10-12 months! But he tested my body fat on one of those bioelectric impeadance things that you hold in your hands which are supposed to be more accurate than the scale/foot one I've been using. That one has been telling me that I'm at 27%, and while I've been pretty sure that's high, I have been using it as a judge to tell whether I'm going up or down, you know? Well, today I measured at 17%!!!!! That is freaking awesome! Now, I know that's not the most accurate way to measure it, but when I hydrostatic tested in college I wasn't in as good of shape and was at 20% then, so I'm pretty sure 17% is fairly accurate. But that was a good little boost for me today. Basically he says whatever I've been doing is great, tweaked my routine in a few places and then as soon as I'm ready post-baby, we'll start doing some triathalon training and get me leaned down to where I am a freaking rockstar! How fun is that!?

New Orleans Pictures

The Alligator problem there is really just out of control.
Proud new owners of Oak Alley.
You wouldn't know it by looking at Matt's face, but these are easily the best desserts on the planet, Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce and Mississippi Mud Cake.
Evergreen Plantation. We didn't tour this one, but just driving by was cool. So beautiful. One of Celeste's dreams come true: going to the 3-11 Day show!

The Laura Plantation was managed by Creole women for four generations.
The oranges we picked were actually very, very yummy.
I would love to live in a place where I could just go out my back door to pick my produce!
The 28 300 year old oaks at Oak Alley were sooo amazing!
Oak Alley Plantation back of house.

my best girls

I had to try to pop this picture a bit, because they were both sleeping and I didn't want to turn the flash on & wake them up, so sorry that it is very dark. I LOVE this new little friendship that is developing between Charlie & Sawyer, they love to hang out and play. Sawyer sometimes even reads stories to Charlie, I'll have to catch a picture of that soon, it is too cute! On this particular day, I decided to let Sawyer practice sleeping in a big girl bed so that she would feel okay about it at Steven & Jen's while we were in New Orleans, and since this is usually where Charlie likes to nap (don't tell any of our guests but it's actually Charlie's bed, not theirs. (Don't worry we throughly wash the sheets before you come.)) I decided to see if they could nap together. I had to go in a few times & tell Sawyer that it was not time to play, but that she could pet Charlie if she wanted to ONLY if she would stay laying down while she did it. That worked like a charm and here you see how it went. That dog is the sweetest thing I have ever seen. She is the BEST napping companion & I love her to death.

SOOOO not pregnant & New Orleans

I guess I just got a little thought stuck in my brain, that perhaps the reason why I had gained a few pounds in a few days was NOT because I had been eating like crap & not exercising, but rather that I was pregnant. Denial is sure strong, isn't it? Well, add that to the fact that I was completely off my rocker onery and irritable and you have the equation for my last stupid preemptive post. But I would like to be pregnant. Very much so, actually. (And it's not just because I forgot how incredibly bad having a period SUCKS!!!! God bless whoever came up with the IUD!) So, we'll get working on that, I guess. I'll let ya know how it goes. ;)
Okay, down to less intimate items of business.... Matt & I's trip to New Orleans was awesome! I was all worried that he would hate it, because he was not excited to be in the aftermath of Katrina (yes, I know. You try telling him it was 3 years ago) and we really weren't sure of what to expect. It was lovely; lovely food, lovely hotel, lovely weather, lovely husband all to myself time, lovely people, lovely concert (actually, the concert was a bit disappointing, I'll get into it later.) It was so much fun to be out on an adventure with Matt again, sure, he still had to get work phone calls occasionally, but it actually kind of makes me proud of him, because he is so good with the people he works with and I like to see that he is in a field that challenges him, but also one that he is so great at. New Orleans is actually pretty cool, easy to get around, we stayed at the Marriott at the Convention Center which is close to everything, we walked everywhere, and rode the streetcar and did lots of eating, the food was incredible. Fresh shrimp like you wouldn't believe, and bread pudding....oh my goodness... the bread pudding! oh! with a rum sauce! geez louise. And they have these little french donut/scones called beignets, and HOLY CRAP they are good! I am going to have to find a few recipes and make them soon, because I feel like a crack addict detoxing, and I only had 1.5 of them. That's how good they were.
We also took the streetcar to a part of the city called the Garden District, all these gorgeous Greek revival homes, from the early 1900s, that have the most stunning gardens with bright pink and white flowers all over, it's just so lush there. I'll have to get those pictures on here later, we had a disposable camera with us on Tuesday so that we could take it to the concert without fear of losing our expensive digital camera. That brings us to the concert...the reason for the trip....311 Day. I will say that it was a good show, but being my 19th 311 show, I realized that, as much as I love them, and as much as they evolve with each new album, they kinda don't change their live show much. The last time there was something new was the first time I saw the drum circle and the different verse in All Mixed Up, which was before I even married Jared! So yeah, while they DO put on a great live show, it's not like one of those things where "if it's not broke, don't fix it." I guess they played 3 sets of 19 songs, but we left at 11:30, 4 1/2 hours into it. Matt was hilarious at the show, once he got some caffeine in his system, I am just so grateful that he is always so willing to let me do these crazy things that I love and that he just tolerates, but he is always down for a good time & we have fun whether it's a me thing or a he thing. I love being married to my best friend. On Wednesday we slept in, walked around foraging for breakfast food after breakfast food time (one of my least favorite things to do EVER) and eventually stumbled upon those lovely beignets just in time for second breakfast. Then we met our little plantation tour and did that for the remainder of the afternoon. It was a very fun little excursion, we had a blast, and learned a lot. For dinner we walked around the French Quarter until we were about to pass out from hunger and settled on a cute little restaurant where we discovered Po' Boys and red beans and rice and jambalaya and hush puppies, all delicious! Especially the red beans and rice, oh, buddy. We didn't like their dessert selection, so we walked around hoping to find more beignets, to no avail, but we did venture into a restaurant right by our hotel called Mulate's with a zydeco band jumpin' off and everyone was dancin', it was quite a lively place and had the most unbelievable Mississippi mud cake and in-freaking-credible bread pudding. Got up at 4 am and sat on a joke of an airplane for 4 hours and now we are home. It was so good to see that Sawyer had so much fun with Steven & Jen, they are wonderful. Now Charlie is all bathed and snoring, and I will be soon too. Good night (nap).

oh, also, I think I'm pregnant

Oh goodness, Miller, would you quit whining?

...so, as pathetic as it is, I have been pretty blah lately, probably due to the fact that what I had been looking forward to since OCTOBER is not happening. (uh, that would be meeting 311 for those of you too lazy to look back two posts.) It's stupid, I know. Oh, another thing that sucks is the fact that my gym's daycare has reached a new low of quality in care and I feel so not good about leaving Sawyer there during the onery day shift, which is when I'd really like to go! Since they haven't made any improvements since I origianally complained (or even acted like they gave a crap when I did) you'd think I'd have changed gyms by now, right? Well, it's one of those decisions that, while looking simple to the naked eye, actually has a million aspects to it that make it a surprisingly difficult choice. You know, one of those you keep putting off until it drives you crazy and makes you feel like an indecisive, getting-more-out-of-shape-by-the-minute slob. grrrr. Tuesday I went to the Angels & Airwaves concert with Rossi, (BTW, that girl is so freaking rad, I'm so lucky to have an awesome concert buddy who is just down with anything and everyone's new best friend. Rossi, I bequeath my Mrs. Congeniality crown to you.) which was a lovely show, despite the fact that no Fire Marshall on the planet would have approved of the overcrowedness, and the fact that it started like 4 hours after they said it would, seriously. crap, I just noticed the time, I have to go get ready to meet Matt at the temple & get our sitter. laters.

Sharon's Cake

Normally I try to keep the cake blog & the life blog separate, but I am just so stinkin' proud of this little biddy, that I want to show everyone! I just think it looks so classy! Plus it's my first airbrushing attempt, and I was very scared and look how great it looks! Oh and it is also my first marshmallow fondant usage, and I am totally and completely converted! If anyone would like to attempt fondant, and for some reason you feel inclined to do it yourself instead of having me do it, (WHY??) get this recipe from me, it is soooo easy!

(I just re-read what I wrote, and there are far too many exclaimation points in that paragraph, I'm sorry. It looks like my mom wrote it. Love you Mom.)

When we went to deliver it (clear down in Springville, boo) Sawyer and I had a lovely time looking at the artwork in the museum that the wedding was taking place in. The current show was a collection of high school students artwork, and I could NOT believe some of these peices. It really made me regret the fact that I let one crappy teacher kill my artistic ambitons. I must start drawing again. Check these out, keep in mind that they are all pencil of some sort (yes, even the cat). You really should click on them to enlarge to do them justice.

disappointment and disillusionment are some of my least favorite emotions

so, if you haven't already guessed by now, I did not meet 311 on Monday night. nor do I think I ever will. This has taught me a very important lesson in communication. Despite being afraid of acting like an ungrateful mooch, I really should have specifically asked whether we would be meeting the band or just getting free tickets to a sold out show. If you do not specify, you risk creating all sorts of lovely scenarios in your imagination that will never come to pass and spend the next few days in a dark valley of disappointment. The concert was very lovely but mostly due to the fact that I was with my very sweet husband who constantly was telling me that I looked extremely hot. Also, everyone, fans & venue workers alike, were very nice and surprisingly pleasant, even for a 311 show. Also, said lovely venue was non-smoking. We found Jim at the show and said hi & tried to buy him a drink as a thank you, and chatted with him and his friends for a while. When it became apparent that we were not going to meet them that night, I asked Jim to give them my little letter... and here is where the real disillusionment comes in.... Yesterday I texted Jim to again thank him, to which he replied that Tim had read my letter, I asked if Tim had said anything about it, and he said that Tim asked for my PHONE NUMBER!!! No, this is not a good thing, it is VERY annoying. After reading a heartfelt letter in which I tell you that your music has helped me escape an abusive situation and thanks for helping me get to a good place now and that I am happily married, all your skeezy brain can think to ask is if you can have my phone number?? Besides, I did include my email in the letter. I have decided that I am not getting the whole story. Perhaps Tim asked that before reading my letter when Jim told him that I was "a 6.5 footer supermodel" (his words, not mine). I HATE TEXTING!!! You have no idea how much I over analyze things, there is so much room for error and misunderstanding, and it just takes so damn long to clarify things that I don't even bother!!! Oh, and I asked Jim if we could get backstage at 311 day, and he said "no one gets backstage at 311 day, it's too crazy back there." whatever that means. So, although I'm very excited to go to New Orleans with Matt and stay in our fancy pants hotel and go to a 311 day concert finally, I would love to go back to the conversation that I had with Jim wherein I got the impression that if we went to 311 day, we would be able to get backstage passes. boo.

My love letter to 311

So, in anticipation of meeting 311 either tonight or on the 11th in New Orleans, I have written a really cheesy thank you note, just stuff that I know I will be too starstruck to say, but that if I were them, I would appreciate hearing. I'm too chicken to ask Jim if he plans on getting us back stage tonight or just on 311 day, but his last text said this: "you have tickets waiting for you at will call, I'll meet you there." Now, does that mean that he will meet us there at will call in order to escort us backstage before the show, or does it mean, pick up your tickets, maybe I'll see you there? I don't know, I'm just glad I had finished dating before texting took over, because I totally overanalyze every misspelled word and lack of punctuation. Anyway, I'm sooo excited!!! AAAAUUHHHGGGGGGGGHH!!! Dear Chad, Nick, P-Nut, SA and Tim, I feel more than a little silly writing this letter to you guys, but I figure it’s the least I could do for the people who have unknowingly helped, inspired, and given me so many great memories. I was introduced to your music in the first week of my sophomore year in high school, in the height of the blue disc’s popularity. (I know, I know, I wish it were earlier too, I’d love to be able to say I’m a real grassroots fan…) It was love at first listen. I baked pies for my neighbors to earn money to fly home early from a family vacation to make it to my first show. At that show I lost a shoe, and all the guys around me in the mosh pit, made everyone look for it until we found it. It was just such a positive feeling compared to pits that I have since been in. I know you appreciate your fans, but you should know that your fans also appreciate the atmosphere that you guys create at shows with the “take care of yourself & someone else” mentality. Anyway, after high school I started dating my first husband. Not one of my better choices. He was a highly manipulative and abusive sociopath. Five months after we were married I was able to kick him out, and actually had the strength to stick with it. I have a very supportive, loving family who helped me come to that decision, but also, in the back of my head, I had the 311 soundtrack to my life running, telling me that life is beautiful, quit taking myself so seriously, people are generally good, and that there is always much to be grateful for. I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I could ramble on through my life listing the songs that most affected me at various times, the shows I’ve seen and the memories of crazy road trips I’ve taken to see you guys, but that could get a bit lengthy. All I really want to say is that I am so grateful to be where I am today, married to an amazing man who supports me in every way, (including my 311 obsession) raising a beautiful 2 year old daughter who already loves to rock out with mom, and running a growing cake decorating business; all dreams that would have never been realized, had I not had the strength and support to leave a bad situation. And you guys are a part of that. I just wanted you to know. With love & gratitude, Celeste Davis Celeste_Miller@msn.com

I want to be better

There are so many things that I wish I could do better. I wish I could pause life and just practice for a few weeks on each thing, and then push play again, and resume my life as a better scrapbooker, momma, scripture reader, cake decorator, wife, house cleaner, writer, friend, temple- attender, sibling, daughter, neighbor, eater, dresser, etc., etc., etc. I think I'm a better learner when I can totally emerse myself in something for a while, and that's why it's been pretty discouraging in the last few years, a toddler really doesn't let you focus on any one thing for more than a few minutes at a time. So, if I look at my life, the things that I am doing at a level that is acceptable to me must be the things that I feel are most important, right? Well that is a very short list, and here it is: exercising and more recently blogging. How dumb is that? You'd think that by this time in my life I'd have a good scripture study routine down at least. But, no. Instead of doing the things that really matter as far as true progression goes, I am at the gym. I guess if I were one of those people who hate excercising, I'd be singing a different tune. I suppose I should look at is as "well at least I have that one down," and move on, keeping that good habit intact. Okay, that's what I'll do. My next life-long habit to create is one that will affect all the other truly important ones: daily meaningful scripture study and prayer. Please help me out by asking how I'm doing occasionally, okay, friends? Thanks.

St. George Parade of Homes version 2000.8

I don't know why I do this to myself every year. By the end of the weekend I'm always a bundle of lust and envy and probably sloth and nearly all of the other seven dealy sins. I would LOVE to live down there one day, particularly in Entrada, with the beautiful red rock views and multi-million dollar stunning homes. Deep down I know that I wouldn't be any happier and I know that these things are not the ones that truly matter in life, but, seriously.... how cool is this?

Or this?

Or this?

Welcome to my house, please come across the plexiglass bridge over the fountain into the front entry....

And yes, this is the master bathroom, completley enclosed in glass. (it's cool, they have a snowball's chance in hell of ever being seen by neighbors)

I highly recommend making the trip down there for this parade of homes one day. If you're into that kinda stuff...

poor little leper-dog

So, Charlie can't come to St. George with us and we are too cheap to kennel her, so the poor thing goes to uncle Scott's backyard kennel with two other dogs who may or may not like her very much. It's actually a pretty nice setup if you have 3-inch thick fur and are used to being outdoors in 20 degree weather as opposed to sleeping on the couch like a little princess. Scott keeps 2 little dog igloos out there with heat lamps in them, and one of them fell out, and he tried to gorilla glue it back in. Apparently he got a little generous with the glue and it dripped all down in the igloo and Charlie sat in it and then covered that in a lovely combination of hay and dirt. So when I picked her up Tuesday, she looked like a big nasty white-trash pooh-rolling-in dog. Anyway, the only way to get that nasty conglomeration of stuff off of her booty is to rip it off one chunk at a time. Yeah, if anyone needs any practice in their waxing technique, I'd be happy to let them use my dog, there are still pieces left. It doesn't seem to hurt her unless it's on a bony spot like her shins, then she doesn't like it too much. The good part is that this little adventure has gotten Matt to agree to kennel her when we go out of town instead, so that's good, I always worry about her when we leave her there especially in the winter. She's just the sweetest thing, we got so lucky the day we found her, she gives the best hugs and is very obedient and incredibly patient and fun with Sawyer.

boo, bad decision Randy, Paula & Simon!

They let that albino show-tunes guy in over my boy Josiah!!! What the Crap??? Poor little dude has been living out of his car for goodness sake. yeah, I know he screwed up on his last audition when he excused the band, but come on, the kid is the most sincere person on the entire show. He has that whole emo-band thing going on and I'm sure that Saves The Day would be happy to have him. I wanted to just put him in my pocket and take care of him. dang it. (remember the days when I used to HATE double HATE American Idol? yeah, those were good old days.)

Anyone else need a laugh on this crappy snowy-blowy day?

Low Five!

The Brainwashing is Complete wha-ha-ha-ha!

Today for a post-nap oneriness RX I asked Sawyer if she wanted to watch a bit of tv, of course the answer was "esh". When I started a DVR-ed episode of Dora, she said "no, no! Carlie & Ola" It's a miracle! She and I finally like the same show at the same time. Three cheers for Charlie & Lola!

American Girls Doll Tea Party

Grandma Susie throws the BEST parties! She invited all the grandgirls over for an American Girls Doll tea party to celebrate Valentine's Day. It boggles my mind to think about the kind of money she drops into these parties. Everyone had a little high chair for their doll, a teaset, a new outfit for their doll and a valentine box to decorate. Sawyer had a great time with her cousins and did some serious bonding with her dolly. She disappeared for a while & I found her playing in the front room with a toy first aid kit and her doll. She had the stethescope in her ears and was checking out the doll's heartbeat, giving her a shot and putting on bandaids. It was so funny to me!

Rain, rain, go away

Sawyer and I took an adventure shopping trip to Steve & Barry's. Here is my review: if you are a size 0-2 or 12-22, go. If you are a normal size, maybe don't worry about it. Anyway, we did find this lovely anorack in a sack, (that's what we call it at the davis house, it folds up into it's own pouch.) Sawyer wanted some rain pretty bad when she learned of it's purpose, so I figured "what the heck, she's due for a bath anyway." Let's just say I had to hide the anorack in a sack so that we don't have to do that for every bath.

Charlie & Lola

(you have to read this entire post in an english accent) I have recently discovered (thanks to Kirsten, of course) the most wonderfullest children's television program, evah. If you have not yet seen Charlie & Lola on playhouse disney, you are missing out. I find myself wanting to watch it even when Sawyer isn't with me. Perhaps this is due to an overdose of Dora and Diego while we were sick. They are adorable. I hope that when Sawyer has a little sibling of some sort, that she treats him/her with as much patience as Charlie does Lola. I hope that they are friends and that they giggle their brains out together.