The Best Is Yet To Be

Tomorrow will mark the 5th anniversary of our engagement. It was a beautiful fall day at Thanksgiving Point where we walked around and got affianced (as Tony liked to say). Then it was dinner at a wonderful Italian place in downtown Salt Lake followed by Peter Cetera and the Utah Symphony. Inscribed in my ring is "GROW OLD ALONG WITH ME," and Tony's reads "THE BEST IS YET TO BE," from Rabbi Ben Ezra by Robert Browning (below). This verse was the theme for our wedding, and it seems just as true today.

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:

Our times are in His hand

Who saith "A whole I planned,

Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!''

Tony: The best IS yet to be!

Starbucks

For someone who doesn't drink coffee, I sure go to Starbucks a lot. So what do I do there? I get a cookie and some organic vanilla milk. Or I get an iced peppermint hot chocolate - yes, it's a bit of an oxymoron. The latest is their new signature hot chocolate. It started pouring the other day when we were walking around campus, so we stopped in Starbucks and I had the new hazelnut hot chocolate. It was delicious. I got Tony the new salted caramel hot chocolate. I think I'll have to try it next.

White Kitchen

My sister is in the middle of building a new house. I was talking with her the other day, and she said that their contractor told her not to get white cupboards for the kitchen because they went out in the '90s. While that may or may not be true, I really love this kitchen - almost totally white! As seen on the beautiful blog, Modern Country.

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: Blue Bird Lane

Today's Etsy seller is Blue Bird Lane - handmade gift tags and papers with a vintage look. They have gorgeous French-inspired items and right now some really great seasonal things. Don't you love the green seam binding?

Thursday Tunes: Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby

I know I posted about Bruce Hornsby a couple of weeks ago, but he really is so great. Last Saturday we saw him in concert with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. Bruce and Ricky collaborated on a bluegrass album a couple of years ago, and it is really good. The concert was fantastic. One of the best (and most hilarious) parts was when they did their version of Rick James - Super Freak.

Check it out:

Tiffany's

I am a happily married woman with a wedding ring that I love - so why can't I stop looking at the Tiffany & Co. web site? Probably once a month or so I get lost on their site. There are so many lovely things to see. Like this ring - isn't it stunning?

TAG

I've been tagged by Rochelle, a reader of this blog (thanks!). I'm supposed to share 6 details about myself and tag 6 others. Here is my list...

1. I currently live in a town of about 200 people in the middle of Missouri. (See map above.) There are a bunch of antique shops and bed & breakfasts and a fantastic biking/walking trail, so it's a fun place to be. It's also not far from a much larger city.
2. A couple of summers ago, my husband and I drove to Toronto over the 4th of July just because we wanted to. It was a really fun trip, and we drove back (all 878 miles) in one day.
3. I have 4 sisters, 4 brothers-in-law, 4 nieces, and 4 nephews. But the balance will be disrupted when my sister has grandchild #9 in the spring.
4. As mentioned previously on this blog, I was able to go to the Olympics when they were in Salt Lake. Awesome. The best part was the medal ceremony and thousands of gloved hands clapping.
5. Our family had our colors done by the Arbonne cosmetics lady when I was 4. I went to preschool and told my teacher, "I'm a fall - I should wear brown."
6. Growing up I really wanted to be an astronaut. When I was 12, I went to Space Camp in Huntsville, AL. So fun. Later I realized that math and physics are not my thing...

I'm not actually going to tag anyone (sorry!), but I'm going to list 6 blogs that I love to read. Hopefully you will love them, too. Enjoy!

1. DesignMom
2. Bloesem
3. bloom, grow, love
4. Modern Country
5. Just Something I Made
6. Eddie Ross

Boo!

Boo on me for not posting yesterday! So here's one a day late. Don't these look delicious? From Martha - recipe below.

These spirits may look frightening, but they're actually quite sweet. Make the faces with melted chocolate painted inside the glass. A ghostly white vanilla milk shake is topped with piped whipped cream. And although you wouldn't want these spooks to haunt your house, they would be welcome at a Halloween get-together.

Ingredients

Makes six 8-ounce servings.

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 pints vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Directions

Blend milk and 1 pint ice cream in a blender until smooth. With machine running, add remaining pint ice cream, one scoop at a time; blend until smooth. Pour milkshake into six 8-ounce glasses decorated with chocolate faces, filling them 3/4 full.

Put cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add confectioners' sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.Transfer whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe spiral mounds of whipped cream on top of milkshakes. Serve immediately.

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: Stamp

This week the featured Etsy shop is Stamp - beautiful, simple metal jewelry. I bought the filigree earrings below for myself for Christmas last year and really love them. I was just noticing that the prices have gone up a bit in her shop, but it would still totally be worth it. I've got my eye on the green blossoms - maybe for Christmas this year?

Thursday Tunes: P.S. I Love You soundtrack

I know it's late, but I have been down with a cold for a few days... So here's my post about music for this week. A while back I watched the movie "P.S. I Love You." (Don't worry - I didn't make my husband watch it!) As someone who was widowed at a young age, I'm sure that people would worry about me when they find out that I watched it - but I really enjoyed it. And I loved the music. I don't own the soundtrack yet, but I think I'll get it if only for the first track by The Pogues.