The Sale Rack > Goodbyes, Party for Two

This Friday, Dustin is heading off to Nashville for SIX AND A HALF WEEKS!! With the date of departure only a few days away, we set aside last night for our last date until I visit him in a few weeks! This is what I chose to wear to bid him farewell!

Here are the details >
Earrings by Susan Hardy (my super creative Australian friend/Artist) $5ish, Old Navy Dress $14, Thrifted Slip $3, Ross-Find Belt $2, Ross-Find Dollhouse wedges $18, Ross-Find Sunnies $4. Total cost of my look: Roughly Forty-Six dollars! 

Enjoy, mk

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! Before I go on to share the events of our beautiful holiday afternoon, I must send out a HUGE "Thank you" to all the men and women who sacrificed their lives to serve and protect our nation! Dustin and I are so proud of our family members in the service, and even more specifically, our dear brother, Alex, who this time next year, will be serving in the Marines! Thank you!

After putting in a few hours of work this morning while Dustin traveled home from a gig in Telluride, we decided to get out in the sunshine and go for a bike ride! We met up with our good friends Amos and Larae as well as their two adorable kids, Isaiah and Shyla, and headed towards the Riverfront Trail, which also happens to be a favorite space of mine from a few weeks ago!

It was a bit of a cooler, windier day, but the sunshine felt soo nice and warm on my face! Hopefully one of these days I'll get a little tan on my pale skin!

We stopped at a playground to let Isaiah play while the rest of us watched this perky little pup play with a balloon. Seriously, this dog had skills...he was bouncing this little white balloon up in the air with his nose for about 5 minutes without it falling to the ground!

It might have been just a little too much fun for little Shyla...She didn't quite make it all the way home. Larae and Amos had to bungee her in tighter to keep her little body from bobbling back and forth in her sleep! So cute! :)

I hope you were also able to get outside and enjoy the Spring Holiday! Don't forget to say Thank You to our Troops & Vets!
Enjoy, mk

Favorite Spaces > Crabcakes & Lanterns

This past week, Dustin and I joined his parents, siblings and grandparents on a trip to California. This was not your ordinary trip sun tanning on the beaches of the West Coast or wine tasting in the vineyards of Napa Valley. Instead, in true style of the Wise Family, we trailered out 7 shiny motorcycles behind Gpa & Gma's great big RV and Dustin's parent's Suburban.

If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I ever saw myself as someone who would enjoy riding on the back of a Harley, I probably would have laughed a little and said, "nah, it's not really my style". However, I must say, life is full of surprises! This trip was all kinds of fun, and not just because it was my first time vacationing in California. I have much to show and tell about our trip, but today I wanted to highlight my favorite spot throughout my entire time in Cali!

Once arriving in Paso Robles, where we set up camp, we would take the bikes out each day exploring the coast and the country side. On our very first day of riding, we headed straight for the coast. Being land-locked in Colorado, after growing up an hour away from the Chesapeake Bay and two hours from the Atlantic,  I was more than thrilled to see the ocean!

Morro Bay is where we arrived! It. was. beautiful! I couldn't stop smiling, and although I was further from home, I actually felt closer!

After playing around on the docks for a while, we headed to an awesome seafood restaurant for lunch!

The Great American Fish Company quickly became my Favorite Space of the Week shortly after being sat right next to a window facing the bay waters!

My top two favorite things about this restaurant, aside from the view, was the super tasty crab cakes and the nautical decor! I loved the lanterns that they used for overhead lighting. In addition to the fun lighting, they also used aquariums to separate seating areas, which doubled as great entertainment - there are some super fun sea creatures! They also had a unique mirror hanging on wall that was made from port-lights, rugged row boats hanging from the ceiling, a model ship in the foyer and other fun items you'd find on a ship! It all made for a great afternoon meal by the sea, one I will remember with a big smile for a long time!

Enjoy, mk

A Week Past, A Week to Come

Hey Hey! It's been a week, but I've got a good excuse! I'm un-packing, cooking up a storm, cleaning and visiting with friends today, but I wouldn't want to leave you without a little cliff hanger, would I??

I've got a lot of fun stuff up my sleeve for this week including an all new Favorite Space coming tomorrow... but for now...here's a little sneak peak!

Enjoy, mk

Favorite Spaces > Rivers & Mangos

Dustin and I have funny schedules sometimes, so there are weeks where mornings are the best time for dates! I actually don't mind at all, especially since I love a good reason to wake up early and get the most from the sunshine!

This particular morning, it was expected to get up into the mid 80's, so Dustin and I pulled out our summer active clothes (Did I really just say "Active Clothes"?) and headed to Grand Junction's RiverFront Trail. It was beautiful! This trail is paved and runs all along the Colorado River within Grand Junction limits.

Dustin and I took longboards with us to the trail and cruised all morning!

There was a lot to look at...and play on! We got off the trail a bit at some points and just let ourselves be kids...which is important to do every now and then!

And then, to top off our date, we headed to Grand Junction's brand new RED MANGO!! Oh boy was it tasty! Can you guess which one is mine?

Being near water, eating super tasty frozen yogurt and staying active...with my main man...I'd say that deserves a Favorite Space Award! I hope you all have a great weekend and find yourself in a space that makes you happy! Enjoy, mk

Fashion For Friday Featured

Friday is here! This one in particular brought a fun surprise that left me with a huge smile! Here's why...Docica Magazine, an e-publication about REAL women in all their beauty, stunning style, artsy abodes, delish dishes, and lovely lives released their Stunning Style Issue!

Light Gives Heat, the organization I work with, has been featured twice before, however today, part of what I do at work was highlighted in their article on Light Gives Heat! I'm not going to lie, I was pretty happy inside! 

Each Friday, I put together an LGH blog feature called Fashion For Friday which highlights current trends in clothes, shoes and handbags matched together with one or more of Light Gives Heat's products, whether it be Suubi, Epoh or our apparel line! 

Here is the rest of the lovely article on Light Gives Heat! If you want to check out the whole magazine, and I recommend you do, click (Here)! It's very fun!

That's all for day, just wanted to share my fun with you today!
Enjoy, mk

Healthy Eating & the Renegade Lunch Lady

Last night, my co-worker Teresa and I hosted a Light Gives Heat booth at a local fundraiser event. The fundraiser was for an elementary school here in Grand Junction that started a parent-initiated garden to allow for healthier school lunches for their kids! The event had tasty food, delicious wine (I chose the Reisling...mmm) and fun little booths full of creative items.

The guest speaker was Ann Cooper, A.K.A. "The Renegade Lunch Lady". First, a video of one of her presentations was shown, then she was skyped into the event to answer any questions from the event attendees.

The topic of healthy eating was so interesting. Ann mostly spoke of why school lunches are so unhealthy and then gave alternative ways for schools to provide healthier meals. Though I don't have any kids and I also don't attend school, it was still super fascinating to know what could be by the time I have kids attending elementary school.

I must admit, I found myself drifting off into my own thoughts at one point, examining what Dustin and I are doing to eat healthy and I decided, I think we are doing pretty okay! Of course there is always room for improvement, but in my experience, those small steps of consistent effort add up until one day you look back and hardly recognize where you even began. And if I might add, making small goals is a whole lot easier than a giant un-reachable goal! Let me tell you, I could eat 3 candy bars in one sitting if given the opportunity, but I choose not too... my high metabolism does not trump un-healthy eating habits. Despite what people may tell me, I cannot and should not eat whatever I want! So, with that said, here are 10 eating disciplines that Dustin and I live by. Sure, there could be more, but we had to start somewhere, right!?

1.) Wheat bread over white bread! (And fresh if possible)

2.) We try to not buy potato chips, cookies & soda. As an alternative we make iced-tea, snack on pretzels, cheese, homemade cookies/brownies, tortilla chips, fruit, veggies and granola bars. (It's actually kinda hilarious when Dustin and I go to BBQ's that have potato chips - it's like the greatest treat!! haha)

3.) I buy small cups of coffee drinks. After a summer in China, I realized, I actually don't need a Large drink, a small is just as satisfying!

4.) We try to always cook with fresh veggies, if not fresh, frozen...but almost never canned.

5.) Since we have a smaller budget, we eat meat less often and save for good quality meats.

6.) We grow our own lettuce, tomatoes and mint.

7.) We don't eat fast food aside from the occasional Chipotle trips! :)

8.) Portion Control!!! I eat small meals through out the day. I think I learned to love this when I lived in Australia. There we would have breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and then supper. I find that I feel better and can properly digest foods before the next meal. I also stay more energized through out the day!

9.) This may sound funny, but I try to stay in tune with my body. Sometimes if I am drinking too much coffee, my body will start almost reacting to it in a way that lets me know to take a break before I become dependent on it. Another example would be when I don't have enough or I have too much sugar in my body. If I don't have enough, that's when I crave soda, oddly enough, haha! When I have too much, I try to drink more water!

10.) Lastly, we try to make all our meals. We tend to stay away from pre-packaged microwave type foods like frozen meals and such. We buy Annie's organic Mac & Cheese and Bear Creek Soup mixtures! They are quite tasty!

Of course, we splurge from time to time, but generally, these are some of the ways we try to stay healthy! I think in the years to come, I'd like to start buying a lot more local produce, buy part of a cow (I've heard of families doing that, but we don't have a big enough family yet to make it worth it), buy local milk, drink a lot more water, shrink the size of my dessert consumption (It's a weakness at times, especially ice cream!!) and grow more veggies and fruit!

One last rule of mine; I eat whatever I am served! If someone is gracious enough to host me, I will eat whatever they give me, even if it is duck neck or fish eyes! :)

What are some of your tricks to eating healthy?

Enjoy, mk

The Soundtrack to Our Summer

Simply put, today was just soo great, and not just for one reason, but two! Yesterday, Dustin graduated college! You'd think that would be one of the two reasons, but actually I'm kinda embarrassed to admit it's not. However, with graduation came some very generous gifts of money and with that money came a fun little financial chat between Dustin and I last night. You see, Dustin has been visiting our local music shop for months and months now eying one very specific keyboard, the Korg SV1! It is a gorgeous, gorgeous keyboard!

Well, as we counted up the gifts and added in our months of savings put towards the keyboard, we finally had the green light to go ahead and make the purchase! Gosh, it feels so good to not buy something on credit, but know that between the generosity of family and the savings over the past months, we could purchase this keyboard with no strings attached! Love it! Anyway, this morning approached and as we are sitting eating breakfast, Dustin mentioned how he didn't know what to do until 10 O'clock which is when the music store opened! Ha! (We decided to buy local, so there was no wait, well until it opened anyway!)

So, I went on my merry little way to work only to get a phone call from Dustin a few hours later! He was soo excited! Funny thing is that my friend said, "Sounds like you're talking to an excited little girl!" Ha Ha! Little girl or not, Dustin was definitely allowed to act however he wanted in this well-deserved moment of his! I am so proud of him! In a few short weeks, he and his new keyboard are headed off to Nashville until the end of July. Again, super proud! :)

Now, that's only part one of the day and while it was a huge chunk of why today was so great, it only gets better.

Today, we were finally able to buy the brand new Swimming With Dolphins Album, Water Colours!

Dustin and I actually went to see Swimming with Dolphins in March at the Brickhouse in Boulder. My good friend Megan is friends with Austin, the man behind the music, and so we decided it was more than worth it to road trip it 4 hours to see him play!

It was an awesome show even considering that three new members had just joined the band a week or so prior to this show. It was quite impressive, actually. (And I have been to a lot of concerts in my 26 years, big thanks to my parents for starting me off young!) The only bummer was that they played so many great new songs that we then had to wait to buy! That is until today! Are you now beginning to understand why today was so great?

Dustin ran into some childhood friends that were also hours away from home! It can be such a small world sometimes! I just had to take a photo to share with his mom, and now also you!

So, here is my official recommendation to go out and purchase this album! It is more than worth the money, which by the way, is only $7.99 on itunes! If I had to pick a favorite song right off the bat, it would be a tie between Sleep to Dream and Jacques Cousteau.

In the end, I realized, this is definitely going to become the sounds of my summer; Dustin playing his brand new keyboard and Swimming with Dolphins in the stereo! Enjoy, mk

Pretty Pretty Yarn

Last month I took a blog e-course called "Blog Love" written by Elsie from A Beautiful Mess. I really really enjoyed the e-course and learned a lot of great things both for From the Guest Room and Light Gives Heat's blog which I have the pleasure of writing daily. I could probably go on and on about the actual course, however I had something else I wanted to share that had inspired me while reading through the chapters.

This was the banner to Blog Love. Her photos are always so colorful and enticing, so of course right away I was drawn in and noticed the yarn-filled hurricane! What a cute idea! I have so much yarn sitting around from Dustin and my little hat making "business" over the past two winters, so I knew this would be a simple project, I just needed the right glass container. Well, that was easy because Saturday morning I went yard sale-ing and it seems like everyone has glass bottles and vases for sale. I found just the right one for about a dollar! I was super pleased because now my project could begin.

I grabbed all my yarn, a scissors and found a nice corner in my husband's music room. It was a nice atmosphere listening to him working on an absolutely beautiful song written and performed by two of  our friends, Natalie and Caleb Fenske. (P.S. They make the cutest singer/songwriter couple!) Back to the project; all I did was re-roll my yarn into small random sized balls of yarn. I chose all the accent colors of our family room, which would become the home to this lovely piece of decor.

Wa-lah! Finished! I love how it turned out, plus I really enjoy how it pulls together all the random accent colors of the room!

Enjoy, Mk

Favorite Spaces > Lemons & Limes

Dustin and I  just recently told our landlord that we would not be renewing our lease come this July 31st. We've decided to start looking for a slightly bigger place, so you can imagine, with the idea of possibly owning (or temporarily renting) a HOUSE, my mind is running wild with dreams of how I would love to decorate our future home! Thursday didn't help because my June issue of Better Homes and Gardens so conveniently appeared in my mailbox!

There was an article called, "Happy Hours", that showcased an adorable and decently sized beach cottage! Seeing photo after photo of beautifully decorated rooms perfect for hosting friends and family, I just couldn't help but get more and more excited.

Dustin and I, when we were registering for our wedding, chose all white dishes to allow room for fun accent colors in our kitchen and dinning area. Since then I have been compiling accent pieces to create my Lemon and Lime colored Kitchen! So, it's no surprise that I LOVE this cottage's kitchen with it's light green cabinets and yellow & white plates. The peach colored accents are a nice extra touch as well!

As I was cruising around BH&G's photo gallery, I found this lemon and lime colored nook that I would love to re-create for our future home someday. I can imagine sitting here in the mornings with my husband or friends that are staying with us, drinking coffee and chatting about an array of fun topics. The thing I love about this style of eating area is that it is comfortable and inviting. It's the type of space that you could kick off your shoes and pull your feet up! (May sound funny, but I love seating where you don't have to sit traditionally - not sure why, I just do!) Many quality conversations and good laughs would happen here. And if it's a place I can sit back, relax and laugh with friends...while drinking coffee, and we'll throw some chocolate in there too...then it's definitely my favorite space of the week!

Enjoy, mk

Love for O Jolie

Hello Friends! Today I had an email guest interview with Erin Smeltz, my beautiful sister and the woman behind O Jolie! If you haven't heard, O Jolie is a small Etsy business that creates hand-stamped and personalized jewelry, not to mention at completely affordable prices!!  I have a personalized necklace from O Jolie that has become my go-to necklace! I love it so much that I decided you should probably know about it too!

Meet Erin >>> She is a wife and mother of four!

MK: Where did the name come from?
E: Our daughter, Olivia Jolie, is literally a diamond in the rough--she came after her 3 active brothers and it seemed so appropriate to name my little hobby turned business after her!  And yes, she wears O Jolie designs every day.

Beach Family, $38

Heritage Tree, $32

Fight Like a Girl, $32

MK: What made you decide to start a jewelry business?
E: One of my girlfriends had a hand stamped charm bracelet that I was in love with.  When I tried to find one like it, they were all out of my price range and I thought, "I bet I could make one myself!"  So I took an online class and one at a local bead shop, but mostly I'm a self taught jewelry designer.

MK: Where do you get your ideas for each design?
E: My ideas are based on functionality and personalization.  Most of my pieces are born out of custom orders.  A friend or visitor to my website will give me an idea of what they want or need and I try to take it and make it functional.  Each piece is personalized to express who you are and who you love!  Whether it's kids and grandkids names, anniversary dates, favorite quotes, loved ones who are gone, commemorating accomplishments (marathons or graduations), weddings, bridal party gifts, fundraising, advocating or declaring war on cancer, my jewelry can help you display those things near and dear to you.  
  
MK: When do you find time to do this business with 4 kids?
E: I usually manage to set aside 2 nights a week where I work after the kids go to bed and sometimes those nights turn into mornings but it works for me!  I think I would gravitate towards motherhood consuming me and becoming my identity and that's not healthy for kids to bear that responsibility.  Having this facet to my life seems to keep things balanced in a way I didn't anticipate.

MK: Whats your favorite thing about O Jolie? 
E: I LOVE turning something ordinary into something personal!  I love the stories behind the pieces that I create.  Sometimes my customers will tell me about the loved one they lost or the long-awaited child they recieved or the love they have found and I feel privileged to help them celebrate life.

Erin is such an inspiration to me in that you can be both a mom of four yet make time for creativity! If you're interested in seeing all of Erin's beautiful creations, check out O Jolie on Etsy! <Click Here>

Enjoy, mk

The Sale Rack > Downtown Jazz

Happy Monday! Today is my first "The Sale Rack" post. I'll be doing this feature most every week. I love bargain shopping, it's a challenge I absolutely love. So, naturally I love to share the prices I find on quality clothes.

I wore this outfit yesterday to the downtown Jazz Festival in my town. Dustin was playing keys in the Western Colorado Jazz Orchestra. Here are the details: Old Navy Shorts $19, Ross-find Shirt $10.99, Necklace - I became the owner of this  locket after it sat un-claimed for a month, Payless Shoes $15ish - they were my wedding shoes that I found under my bed after a year and a half, H&M handbag - given to me for my birthday from my sisters and mom, Ross sunglasses $5, Earrings were a gift. Total cost of outfit: $50.

Enjoy, mk

Favorite Spaces - Dustin's Senior Recital & Grad Party

This past Tuesday night, it was Dustin's Senior Recital and Grad Party! This is my favorite space of the week, in fact it's probably my favorite space of the month! I couldn't wait to get to Saturday to show it to you!

Dustin's recital went brilliantly, I think it is the best I have ever heard him play! During intermission I had to giggle because he sent me a text message saying, "So Excited right now! I'm freaking killin' it!". After all the times of hearing him so down on himself after a bad practice, that little message of full-on confidence made up for all of it! I was soo proud of him and it was fun for me to see him having so much fun!! Right after the show, we invited all our wonderful friends and family to a coffee shop right down the street where we held Dustin's graduation party.

Dustin played the first 30 minutes solo, including both jazz and classical pieces. The second half of the show, Rob Labig & John Handley joined him, performing all jazz pieces ranging  from Herbie Hancock to Miles Davis. Dustin even pulled out a talk box for the last song! At the end of that song, I thought, "I'll be a good wife and give him a well deserved standing-ovation!" but before that thought even ended, everyone around me had jumped to their feet, it was just that good! And I am not just saying that because I am his wife!

I love Dustin's Cake! My friend Larae has a little cake business and she made this keyboard cake customized just right for Dustin! It was a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and Oreo filling.  Pretty much, it was a big hit!

One last thing I'd like to mention is just how awesome Dustin looked! His shirt and pants are from H&M and his tie is vintage. Then his blazer is from 21Men and was my gift to him for graduation! Not only did he sound good, he looked good! To sum it all up, I'm a lucky woman!

Enjoy, mk