instafriday- birthday boy

yesterday was my husband's birthday and i had a really cute, funny, even tear-jerking post all lined up...
in my head.
and then we just spent the entire day with each other and i didn't get on the computer....
but, which is more important? right?
Jeremy's parents took us out to breakfast at a new restaurant in town called herm's
i guess it used to be an old diner way back in the day,
and they've recently gave it a renovation.
i'm very much in love with the architecture and the care that they took during the remodeling.
check it out

they spared no expense and the whole building is trimmed-out in copper.
I <3 copper...

the inside was amazing as well,
everything was done with a vintage modern feel.
the booth tables were just large slabs of white marble connected to industrial looking metal posts with wheels

the light fixtures were all amazing,
i love the style & i don't usually get to witness it 1st-hand in our little town

the bar was amazing

and the food was great
avacados for me!
yum!

 can't beat a pancake the size of a pizza! :)

all drinks were served out of mason jars
bunch of hipsters

birthday boy opening his card

his card

kiss the monkey

it was a really fun time, though i'm sure the fam was sick of me taking pictures

i take that back, the kids never get sick of getting their picture taken ;)

my husband drooled over this bad boy ;)
(and i drooled over him, haha)
(but, seriously, he's HOT)

we went to dinner too, of course & celebrated with some yummy pizza and desserts

and a nice phenomenon, when waitresses see me trying to take pics of the fam they offer to take a photo of the whole family, how nice :)

and I'm blogging to you today from my husbands new macbook pro...happy birthday, borgie!
xo danielle

Snap Conference

My name is Danielle
and I'm no longer a conference virgin.
You guys, i went to Snap Conference
and it rocked my socks!
I can't wait to do it again.

to be honest, i spent a lot of the first day wandering around lost and lonely.
i went back to my room, teary-eyed and texted my hubby.
his advice?

don't hide your awesomeness, let your awesomeness shine.

best. advice. ever.
so, i had to step out of my comfort zone
and introduce myself to people,
ask if I could sit by people,
just start talking to people i didn't know.
it was weird at first.
i thought everyone had come there with a friend,
that everyone already knew each other & i was the odd man out.
but, it turns out, a lot of people came not knowing anyone.
and they were stepping out of their comfort zone, too.

walking into Snap Conference the thing i most wanted to get out of it was to get to know other people like me.
people who love to create, to blog, to share
I met so many people!
I walked away from Snap with a lot of awesome friendships.
but, i also walked away with more than that.
I hadn't really considered the classes beforehand.
but, the Snap Conference classes were really amazing.
Things like, how to grow your blog, SEO content, Facebook rules & regulations, networking, how to photograph...
there were a lot of amazing classes!
I think my favorite part of the conference was getting to know some of the "big" bloggers,
and realizing that they're just people, too.
Some are shy, some are outgoing, some are talkative & reach out to others, some are slow to get to know others...
they're real people.  with their own personalities- and it was great to meet them :)

meeting Jessica, of Allora Handmade (and the Queen Bee Market) was a highlight

no, i cannot smile regularly when i'm around Gussy, it's too exciting! ;) and, of course, she just looks adorable!

who knew that me and Mandi from Vintage Revivals would be fashion TWINS?

Alissa from Rags to Stitches is super nice and a good peacemaker :)

Heather from Glitter and Gloss is sooo much fun to be around and super nice!

i <3 these two girls so much! Jenna and Heather from Just.Lovely.Things seriously, 2 of the nicest girls you could ever meet!

Jenna striking a pose :)

Kristen Duke taught me how to take the amazing photo of her ;)

the 2 Jacqui's, and YES, they both spell their name that way! Jacqui, aka Crafteemcgee, and Jacqui of Baby Boy Bakery They both know how to rock a cute outfit!

I was so lucky to get to sit by these girls at dinner! Lindsey (linking up with her today for WIWW!:), Jessica, Alissa, and Gussy

my awesome, amazing room mates!! Cindy and Shelby!

I luv these girls! Carrie and Caroline

I would go to Snap again in a heartbeat,
the weather was awesome, the facilities were gorgeous and amazing...
(Cindy may have a pic of me literally hugging a tree, they were so gorgeous!!)
but, most of all, the people were amazing!

 Until next time, Snap...

Downeast Basics Giveaway!

When my aunt visited us from north carolina
we took her to all the best places northern utah had to offer
we took her to the best restaurants
the best shopping
the best recreational activitites

and ya know what she said her favorite things were when it was all over?
rock climbing with us
and shopping at Downeast

ive gotta say, one of those things is my favorite thing to do, too...
(but i'm freaky-deaky scared of heights, so i'm gonna let you guess which one i'm referring too ;)

when downeast contacted me to do a review & giveaway for their new spring line
i just about peed my pants was super excited because i really do love their clothes
anyone who knows me in real life knows that i own about 57 of their half sleeve tees in all the colors that they offer, they're my "go-to" item any day of the week

so, i now own the timepiece dress from downeast in the color atmosphere
and i couldn't be more thrilled
it's uber comfy
and with it's neutral color i can add all my favorite colorful accessories

 jeremy was so kind to take me to the middle-of-nowhere and photograph my pretty new dress
i added a coral ribbon belt ($2 hobby lobby)
pretty feather earrings (jc penney)
mint tights (from we love colors)
new shoes (TJ maxx) (i LOVE these shoes, they're super comfy, too!)
necklace & ring (gifts) (my grandma made the awesome turquoise necklace!!:)

Downeast has agreed to giveaway any item of your choice to one of my lucky readers!
to enter this giveaway
your first entry should be a comment telling me what you would want from Downeast if you were the winner..
there are lots & lots of other ways to enter, 
let the rafflecopter be your guide...
this is my first time using rafflecopter, so hopefully i know what i'm doing ;)
good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Fine Frenzy

When my husband refers to "the band with the cute red-headed singer"

I know he's talking about A Fine Frenzy

I mean, just look how pretty she is!

anyway, i just wanted to share this song with you today

because i love it, it's so pretty

this, and gotye's somebody that i used to know are on repeat around here




do you like A Fine Frenzy?

if you want to share your favorite song, link up! it's fun! :)

xo

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.mysugarblossom.blogspot.com/search/label/music mondays"> <img src="http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l534/sugarblossomboutique/musicmondayswithsbb-1.jpg" /></a>

the big reveal...

come on into my home,
make yourself comfy
i'll get you a big bowl of cookie dough ice cream...
or i have some skinny cow ice cream sandwiches if you're watching your weight...
or, i have oodles of easter candy, if you're lactose intolerant.
we can talk while the kids fight over an etch a sketch


i've been re-doing my front room for a while now, & i'd love to show you, now that it's done.
it's a small space. only about 10 feet wide and 12 feet deep.

the motivation for the makeover was this here brown couch.
it might look ok, but it turns into the devil when you want to sit or lay on it.
it wasn't terribly uncommon for a cheek to fall asleep while sitting on it because it has bars under it that hit you in all the wrong places.
it's super uncomfy. and brown.
quite frankly, it was boring in there.

i had to find the perfect couch that would fit the room and fit our budget.
we were searching for a grey leather couch with a vintage modern vibe.
it had to be leather, because of it's proximity to the kitchen (and inevitable spills)
and it had to be 35" deep or narrower
it had to be comfortable
and hopefully under $1000.
(which is a hard price point when looking for super adorable grey leather couches)

our search ended when we found this pretty leather number.

I added some random, pretty grey and turquoise stripes to the wall.
I had all these paint colors on hand and didn't have to go buy any, which was nice.
I'm loving the stripes.

1. We found the leather sofa at Macys.com 
it's the Claudia sofa in Taupe
we had to wait about 3 weeks for the sample to come in the mail.
we were worried the taupe would be too brown.
but, when the sample came it was a nice warm grey so we went for it.
and, since we have a history of getting credit cards and never activating them, 
we decided to go ahead and get the macys card to save an extra $100
it ended up being $899 plus tax and shipping (around $1000)
(which is waaaaay better price-wise than the other sofas I had looked at)
2.  Pillow from Moxie Mandie more info HERE
3. IKEA
4. Pillows from Mindy Mae's Market (they sell all sorts of awesome stuff at discounted prices online...follow them on facebook & you won't regret it!)
5. Oh, how I love these paintings! Jeremy (my husband who is an artist) painted these of each of our kiddos :)  They make me happy!  To see more of his work click HERE

I kept the same Danish Modern side chair because the chair wasn't too terribly uncomfortable, and i happen to LOVE danish modern furniture.

I just added some bright reddish orange-ish color fabric and more pillows from ikea and some chevron from MMM. (since re-upholstering this, i've noticed this color ALLOVER the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Price  (& if you don't know what SCDP is, i feel so sad for you.))

Dont' look too closely at my reupholster job...it was my first crack at sewing upholstery with piping...yeah, it's perfectly imperfect, just the way i like it ;)

Then, I wanted to add a little extra seating for when we have company.
With only the sofa and side chair, there just wasn't enough.
So, I went on the search for a table/bench that could be used as a coffee table OR a small bench for the kids to sit on.  I found the perfect one at IKEA

IKEA Molger bench in brown

it's decorated with another snazzy pillow from IKEA..(did I mention that I found those pillows for $2.99 each?? crayzay! that may be why there are 3 in this small space) and here's the third beautiful copper item that i was talkin about the other day...and some adorable vintage childrens books and some coasters.

The armoir also got a makeover, making it a lovely shade of yellow.
open it up, and it's (surprise, surprise) turquoise :)

some things we kept the same:
the turquoise table with our copper antiquities (no way i was getting rid of that!)

our collection of ebony elephants that we've been collecting each year on our anniversary, our lamp we bought when we were first married, our vase from downeast

 and some cool Aesop's fables illustrations from Jeremy's dad

and, in an effort to keep it real, i'll show you what it will really look like when you stop by:

so, come on over.  we can watch an episode of the new girl, or what not to wear (as seen here), or once upon a time ( i have them all recorded on our dvr :)  or, maybe we could watch madmen...or just gossip about WTFreakityFreak is going on with Don Draper...hope to see you soon!