The Walking Pop Culture Dictionary

A Midsummer Night's Dream Video!

2012-01-15T22:31:00.000-08:00

A thirteen minute video about USU's 2010 production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." I was fortunate enough to be the costume designer for this production. I still can't get over how lucky I was to be apart of this!

If you click the button on the lower right hand corner, it will make the video full screen. The quality is good enough to support it.

December and Christmas and New Years...

2012-01-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

First off, I am TERRIBLE at taking pictures! Not necessarily the composition of pictures, just the remembering to take the pictures part. Unfortunately I didn't taken ANY pictures this year. None at all. Maybe that should be a resolution this year: TAKE PHOTOS AT HOLIDAYS.

December was eventful because I finished my masters. It's done. The fact that I'm not going to school tomorrow freaks me out in the worst way. I wish I had some cool job to go to but I'm still looking. Part of finishing my degree included cleaning out my grad lab space and my costume shop drawer.

My grad lab box:

And another view:

I also moved my set design boxes to the apartment. I'm sure I'll junk them when we move again. This one was for The Birds:

I also cleaned out my shop drawer but I didn't take any pictures. It was sort of an anti-climatic way to end the semester.

After tithing settlement that Saturday, we drove to Kaysville for the break. I was going to help Lauren get ready for the Christmas dance but she had her friends help instead. We went out for my Mom's birthday with Jordan and Lindsey afterwards.

Christmas was fun, Hil and her family drove up from Vegas and stayed at our parents'. It was really fun to spend time with them! Honestly, the break was spent relaxing and taking it easy. Not much to mention except for the fact that I spent a day throwing up when we were at the Beardall's. The same thing happened last year too! What is up with the flu and Christmas time? Gross!

I guess that's about it. It's a lot easier to blog with pictures. And it's probably more interesting!

Two of my favorite things

2012-01-03T18:20:00.001-08:00

James and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T14:34:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Next year we will send out actual Christmas cards because of the following reasons:
1) I won't be finishing up my MFA like this year
2) We won't be in school (yahoo!)
3) Maybe we will be interesting enough to warrant a Christmas card/letter

2011 was an interesting year full of adventures and challenges. We celebrated our first anniversary and went to a whole bunch of weddings/receptions. We went on an epic road trip with James' family to Nauvoo to see his sister and her husband and son get sealed in the temple. It was a LOOOOONG trip but totally worth it!
James started his last year of grad school, he will spend next semester finishing his project and writing his thesis. I know he'll do a great job! I finished my degree earlier this month, it was a lot of work but I'm really glad it's done. Now I need to find a job. Anyone hiring? Ha ha.

We hope you all enjoy this Christmas season! We are so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the blessings of the Gospel.

Merry Christmas!

James and Lindsay

December, so far

2011-12-12T21:59:00.000-08:00

As usual it has been COLD in Logan. Not as snowy as usual but cold. Here is some proof:

Lovely icicles connecting Tessie to the ground

And another picture

Don't worry, it's just ice from the INSIDE of my windshield. Did I mention it was cold?

I handed in my paperwork for graduation last week. It was all so final and somewhat scary.

The blue paper is my binding reciept from the library for my Plan B report, I can pick it up after 2 PM January 17!

Alex was set apart as a missionary on Tuesday night so we drove down for that. It was great to see.

The grandparents Arbuckle with Elder Keller

My ridiculously good looking siblings

Elder Keller showing off his mad yo-yo skills

Me and my Keller grandparents. I tried to get a picture with the Arbuckles but it didn't happen

My Dad with his parents

We slept over so we could see Alley before he went to the MTC:

See you in 2 years!

Some of the fruits of my education, a dress made in draping class and a mock-up from a paper patter I drafted off of a completed pattern.

I'm hoping that my dress looks more Modcloth than weirdo

USU is producing "Pirates of Penzance" with the music department. We borrowed several costumes from the Utah Shakespearean Festival (specifically the daughters costumes) and we need a few more. Luckily out of the seven (?) costumes we borrowed, six fit the actresses so we only need to build four. My job was to take a paper pattern off of the largest dress and then alter the pattern to fit the remaining actresses. Our luck continued because the four girls were basically two sizes so I only needed to make two more patterns! I wish I could be there to help make the other dresses. I'll really miss working in the shop with my friends.

I think that's about it! James took his only final today and I have to meet with my design studies professor sometime this week. We're basically done!

Alex is a missionary!

2011-12-07T09:17:00.001-08:00

My little brother Alex went to the MTC today. He is going to be a missionary in the Mexico Veracruz mission. I know he'll do a great job.

We love you Alley!

(The pictures were taken by one of his friends, McKay Bailey)

November in a nutshell

2011-12-04T15:35:00.001-08:00

What a month!

I defended my Plan B report, all 106 pages of it

The green square is my defense on the seminar room schedule

My printed report (for some reason the picture looks like it was at night)

Later that day I narrated the Relief Society Thanksgiving dinner. The cultural hall looked amazing!

I was grateful that when the needle shattered after hitting the pin that it didn't hit me in the eye.

The (almost deadly) pin

Over the Thanksgiving weekend my brother Alex gave his farewell address. He did a wonderful job. We had a bunch of people over afterwards:

After the crowd left we took some pictures as a family. It will probably look different in two years!

The soon to be missionary:

After that Hil and her family got ready to head back to Vegas. We had some fun before they left though.

Ave with her grammy

James and I helped my parents get the house ready for Christmas. We figure that since we don't have a tree at our place, helping someone else put up a tree fills our quota. Right?

And one last, random, picture. This is prop storage at Utah State. It looks like the room of requirements...

Did I mention that I have three sets of renderings to finish and then I'll be done? I can't believe I'm so close to being done. I'm very excited!

Phew!

2011-11-17T23:03:00.001-08:00

It has been a busy semester. We went to a wedding on Friday. James's old roommate, Lonnie, married his girlfriend, Amber. It was really sweet. Here is a picture that James took from before the ceremony.

I SWEAR I was wearing make-up...

I finished the dress I mentioned earlier. While I worked on the dress, James made this:

It's a pot holder. My husband has skills

The finished dress, front:

and back:

Oh, and I defended my Plan B Report on Wednesday. I totally passed. Now I need to finish my re-writes. But not right now. It's waaaaay too late for that.

Do you ever feel like...

2011-11-15T00:03:00.001-08:00

I'm halfway through my revisions of my Plan B Report in preparation for my defense on Wednesday. So far it is 103 pages long. As I have been working on the monster I've been thinking about next semester. It's going to be a weird semester because for the first time since I was 5, I'm not going to be in school. (I realize that I wasn't in school on my mission but it was kind of like school.) I'm trying not to freak out. It's a big deal to graduate and be DONE. I'm planning on working next semester so I don't go crazy and so we can live comfortably. As I have been casually job searching I feel like I have
no skills.

I realize that's not totally true, I can make stuff. Lots of stuff. I know how to take a drawing of a costume and make it real: pattern and all.

But I don't have the skills to fulfill the jobs readily available. It's kind of freaking me out.

That could also be the fact that it's 1 AM and I started working on my Plan B Report at...7? I'm not sure.

Bedtime. I'm sure about that one.

It's been a long day but another quick month

2011-11-10T23:20:00.001-08:00

The semester is drawing to a close at a frightening rate. I am going to defend my Plan B report in less than a week and there are only four more weeks of the semester left. What have I been up to?

I have been re-vamping my porfolio:

My renderings for The Nutcracker, I would LOVE to design it!

Exploring new parts of campus as I get paperwork signed:

Some pretty leaves by one of the Engineering buildings

Working hard on projects in the shop. This dressing gown is for 20th Century, opening December 1st.

I also put a dress together for one of my Mom's co-workers. Her son is getting married and this is the dress she picked out from the pattern book at the fabric store. It looks a lot better than I was expecting. Phew.

It's not done yet, I have a fitting with her on Saturday

And, in a first for me:

Yep, a parking ticket. Technically James got it but it was my car so... I'm glad it's only a $12 ticket. I swear it was $25 or so at Weber. Awesome.

Where did October go?

2011-11-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

I am seriously confused about how fast October passed us by. I remember General Conference and I remember handing in my Plan B draft...how is it already November?

I defend my Plan B Report in a week and a half. I still haven't received any feedback from my committee. Does that mean I don't have to do any re-writes?

I still do? I thought so.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

I decided to dress up for my last Halloween in school. I decided to be Margot Tenenbaum (from the movie The Royal Tenenbaums) because I had all of the elements I needed. It would have been even better if the striped dress was a polo dress instead of a v-neck. It's Halloween, not rocket science.

Margot is the surley looking one in the fur coat.

And me:

I was just really glad that I inherited my great grandma's fur coat, it was the PERFECT color.

Fun fact: the striped dress was also from my great-grandma. I have a picture of me as a baby and she's wearing the dress.

Margot has a fake finger and I wanted to pay homage to it:

I covered my finger in make-up primer then waterproof eye-liner followed by a dusting of eye shadow. I washed it off after I took this picture during design studies. It was smearing on things, I was just nervous. And distracted.

I learned something this Halloween:
You should be something readily recognizable because otherwise you're just the weird girl wearing too much eyeliner, over heating in a fur coat.

James didn't dress up but next year he wants to go as a one armed guy riding a velociraptor. The only problem is that the character in Jurassic Park that fits that description was played by Samuel L. Jackson. Maybe we can figure out another, less questionable option.

I turned in my paperwork for my defense on the 16th. I can't believe it's in two weeks! I have just a few more tables and things to add in addition to the re-writes. It's almost ready!

Kind of morbid but it's October...

2011-10-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

First up, a picture of the cutest girl in the world in her dress. It fit! The picture is a little blurry but you get the idea.

During fall break we went exploring around Cache valley. We drove to Millville and visited the park. At first I wasn't as thrilled about playing but it was really fun.

James loves his domes...

We drove down through the other towns until the road stopped being paved. We figured that if we kept driving we could have wound up in Morgan. (Actually we would have wound up in Huntsville. Tomato, tomato.)

We stopped by the cemetary in Millville on our way home. My great-great-grandparents:

And my great-grandparents. They were some of my favorite people. I wish James could have met them.

On Sunday we continued on with the creepy cemetery tours and drove out to Newton. My great-grandma Keller (Grandma great) grew up there. This is her parent's headstone:

It was fun to explore the valley and the leaves were so pretty. But apparently not pretty enough to deserve a picture or two.

We're doing well, more of the same. On of my friends is pregnant...with TWINS. It's intense. I'm not sure if I could handle something like that. (Knock on wood.)

Fall Break!

2011-10-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

Today is Fall Break, it's only one day but I am very glad to have it. While my parents and youngest sister are in Vegas, we are at home, wishing we could be there. I wish I could be there to see our niece's face when she opens her birthday present:

It was my conference craft. It might be here Halloween costume as well, she has said she wants to be Cinderella. I'm excited for the time when I won't be in school and I will be able to make stuff like this for more little girls. Seven more weeks of fun and then finals week. I don't anticipate that I will have anything much to do except clean out my grad lab cubicle and my costume shop drawer. It seems like I just moved in. Weird.

Next up, an old post of a DELICIOUS dinner. Sourdough bruscetta with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella:

We had purchased a bunch of sourdough loaves with one of our Bountiful Baskets and figured we shouldn't let it go bad. It was so good! I diced the tomatoes and then mixed in some basil and garlic. While that was marinating I pre-toasted the bread sliced in a frying pan. After that I layered some cheese and piled the tomatoes high! It was SO GOOD! I think we should have a tomato plant or two in our next place.

In terms of our lives, James is working on his thesis project in the water lab. He's collecting data from his soil waste-water columns and this is what they look like:

It's pretty cool.

Here is my current layout for my Plan B Report.

I still need to include bibliographies, tables of contents, acknowledgements...that sort of thing. It doesn't look as impressive on the screen but once you hold 85 printed pages in your hands, it does. I defend it in 3 1/2 weeks. Wish me luck!

Proof Production Photos!

2011-10-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here are the production photos for Proof. They are in show order so if you look at the pictures, you've seen the show. It was a great last production to design and I'm very proud of my work. If you would like to see the renderings as well, click on my portfolio button or just click here.

Set design: Milinda Weeks

Lighting Design: Bruce Duerden

Costume Design: Lindsay Beardall

Directed by Adrianne Moore

Cast: Felicia Stehmeier as Catherine, Kent Hadfield as Robert, Nikki Baum as Claire and Adam Earl as Hal.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner tonight with James' friends, the Eraslans. They are a Swiss family from Winterthur he met on his mission. We're lucky they have been coming to visit every year. Some time soon we hope to return the favor.

Weddings, Rainbows and Weird Sculptures

2011-10-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

So far the weekends in October have been intense in a good way. Lots of stuff to do and people to see. This Saturday we went to Salt Lake for my friend Kim's wedding. I met Kim in Buffalo when she was investigating the church. I was in the right place at the right time, I guess.

The happy couple leaving the temple

I don't know what was happening with my camera phone. Oh wait, it's a camera phone...

It's starting to cool down in Logan. It's been rainy and overcast. This past week we had not one but TWO rainbows by the canyon.

I joked with James that we should go to the water lab to pick up the pot of gold. He didn't laugh. The water lab is where James does his research and it's located near the mouth of the canyon.

The actual sign for the Chuck-A-Rama on 4th South. Awesome.

As we were walking in to Chuck-A-Rama I noticed a gigantic bird house but I didn't think much of it (probably because I was hungry.) Afterwards I saw a sign on the fence in the parking lot that almost made me gasp. GILGAL GARDEN. It's one of those local placed I've wanted to visit but never got around to it. Lucky for me, James is really obliging so we drove around the corner (we didn't realize it was so close) and spent a few minutes in the garden.

James and the Joseph Smith Sphinx. I don't think James was excited.

Me and the statue of Child

It was a weird place but sort of cool. I'm glad I was able to finally visit it. Thanks James!

One more thing: I handed in my final draft of my Plan B Report (thesis) on Friday. It was 85 pages long! Granted, there are a lot of pictures.

Warning! Scandalous Pictures!

2011-10-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

One thing that I love about our place is our backdoor neighbors:

Or maybe I should say, "neighhh-bors."

Not funny? I thought so.
As of the beginning of this blog post (Wednesday night) this is how my Plan B Report looks:

It's not done yet but it's pretty close. I have some more to write for the last two chapters but I can do it. My draft is due on Friday. THIS Friday. Awesome.

In other adventures, I turned in my designs for Gypsy in Design Studies. I was really excited to do this paper project because it was a really fun design. I broke up my research into six musical numbers from the show and figured I could finish them all. Well, I stayed up until 3:00 last night and woke up at 7:30 this morning and...

I still didn't finish. It was okay because I finished 17 out of the 22 figures I had designed on 5 of the 6 pages. It was a lot of work and I am VERY tired.

Baby June and Her Newsboys

Madame Rose's Toreadorables

After this point in the musical, the theatres are replaced by burlesque houses.

Gotta Have A Gimmick

Louise's First Strip

Gypsy Rose Lee

Rose's Turn (Everything's Coming Up Rose)

And, finally, the centerpiece for my friend Kim's bachelorette party:

Our friend Nat made it. I thought it was really funny. Did you know that Ken's plastic underwear has his name on it? It's weird.

A warm up

2011-10-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

I'm supposed to work on my Plan B report tonight but I don't really want to do it. I figure I can write on my blog as a warm up to working on the awfulness. It makes sense, right?

Conference was this past weekend and it was great. James and I drove down Saturday morning and spent the weekend in Kaysville. In years past we have split time between the parents but we decided to mix it up this time around. I decided to snap some pictures as James drove (one perk of being a passenger.)

A few changing leaves in Sardine Canyon

Even more fall colors

James and his typical picture face while driving
Further evidence can be found here

The Brigham City Temple

I forgot I had this in my bag, when I pulled it out, there was a safety pin attached. It made me smile.

Back to homework and being "responsible."

Morning Inspiration

2011-09-28T08:32:00.001-07:00

My friend Courtney posted this video on her blog and I decided I would follow suit. It's amazing and it gives me such hope and clarity.

While I watched it this morning (and thought about how I STILL haven't watched the whole broadcast and how it's waiting on our DVR) I realized, once again, how hard I am on myself. It's so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when you compare their strengths against your own weaknesses. I have to sit back and realize that we all have our own challenges and we are all on different paths to the same goal. I need to remember how great the past experiences I have had and how they help me now.

On a slightly related note, sweeping announcements don't really work for me. It seems the more I forbid myself from doing something, the more I want to do it. Instead I am going to do what I have been the past few days: work on homework then portfolio projects and then my thesis. The days keep passing by but I know I can do it. I have a fantastic and supportive husband and I have the ability. I'm so glad that's it's General Conference this weekend. I LOVE conference.

Goodbye cruel world! Also, when it rains, it pours.

2011-09-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the title is a little bit over dramatic. I scheduled my defense for my Plan B Report (thesis) this afternoon during my graduate committee meeting. I am going to defend my report on Wednesday November 16th in the afternoon. So, what does that mean? I'm not going to be doing much of anything fun until that point. I also have revisions to complete for my portfolio and projects that aren't going to create themselves. I know I can do it. I HOPE I can do it. That means for the next eight weeks I'm going to be a writing machine. Ugh.

Proof had its final dress rehearsal this evening and we open tomorrow. Here are some pictures I snapped with my cell phone during the rehearsal process. Most of the pictures are from tonight with the exception of the first picture.

Felicia and Kent as Catherine and Robert

Adam as Hal and Felicia as Catherine

Nikki as Claire, Adam as Hal and Felicia as Catherine

Felicia and Kent as Catherine and Robert

Adam as Hal and Nikki as Claire

Felicia and Kent as Catherine and Robert

Felicia and Nikki playing Catherine and Claire

Adam as Hal

I'm going to try to balance out everything that I need to to with the things that I want to do. Hopefully I don't go crazy!

Ka-pow-ski!!

2011-09-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

I saw this DVD at JoAnn's at the beginning of the semester and it made me laugh.

What a weird week! Some good things happened and some concerning things too. Proof is ready for dress rehearsal on Monday, we have a wardrobe crew AND the stage crew is more than willing to help if needed. Another theatre miracle. One of the concerning things that happened was an accident my Dad had while riding my brother's scooter. He's banged up but he'll be okay. That was NOT a fun text to receive, much less while I was getting actors ready for publicity shots and a run through. I'm just grateful that he's okay! I'll have pictures from the pub shoot soon, my didn't really show up very well.

One last funny thing:

Proof Progress

2011-09-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Proof opens a week from Thursday. I'm feeling pretty good about the costumes just not the wardrobe crew. Apparently we don't have a crew. That's a problem when almost everyone changes for every scene. I hope we can find some people to work!

Our "connect with the arts" display and poster for Proof

My renderings, in the order of the show

Some of the shoes for the show, check out the wedges!

the rack of the costumes

the mock-up for the funeral dress

I'm taking draping this semester from the amazing Louella Powell. This is my dress form that is padded out and covered in tricot. It's sort of depressing to realize that you look a certain way but it guess it could be worse! This is our first draping project, the front to a foundation skirt. I have tiny darts in my skirt because I don't have a defined waist. Oh well!

Midsummer Photos part deux

2011-09-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my Plan B report (thesis) and I came across my Midsummer production photos. I don't think I shared these last time I posted them so I'm sharing them now.

Fairy girls and boys cavorting

Oberon and Titania, together again among the stars

The cast with the Mechanicals in their "play" costumes

My friend Felicia looks hilarious in this picture (she's the red head)

It was a lot of work to paint all of the silk for the fairy girl costumes but it was SO WORTH IT!

The mechanicals and the fairies

On a side note, I'm really loving the new options for photos on blogger. It's really great to be able to have them take up the whole of the page. Such choices!

And yes, I AM procrastinating!

Death is not the end

2011-09-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever driven somewhere fairly far away, stayed for a short time and then driven back? James and I did that yesterday. On Friday we drove down to Midvale to his parent's house and then woke up EARLY on Saturday and drove to Washington (St. George.) One of James' friends from his mission died last week from cancer. She was only 30. The funeral was an amazing tribute to a life well lived and well loved.

We woke up at 4:30 so we could be on the road by 5:00. We figured we would give ourselves plenty of time to get there for the funeral at 11:00.

A view of the sunrise in one of side mirrors

The funeral was such a celebration of a wonderful young woman. She touched so many lives, including my husband's. They met on their missions and stayed in touch as they both attended USU. When James had his jaw surgery, Whitni was one of the few who visited him. Although I never met her I feel like I know more about her through the memories shared by her family and friends. I'm looking forward to meeting her in the next life!

Apparently there were NO street signs in Washington!

Good bye Red Rocks!

It was surprisingly tiring to spend that much time in the car (although waking up at 4:30 might be a huge part of the problem.) When James and I woke up this morning, we felt like we hadn't slept at all. We packed up the car and headed home for church. Church is the best way to spend a Sunday.

I almost posted my journal entry from ten years ago. I evidently thought I had written something profound to capture the feelings of a wounded nation but not so much. I was overly flowery and just sounded ridiculous. In fact, I read the entry to James without pre-reading it and he laughed. It was that bad. Here is what I remember:

I woke up that morning after the first plane hit. I can't remember if I saw the second plane hit, the overwhelming news coverage sort of obscures the real memory. I was weeks into my first semester at Weber State and I didn't have Dr. Elsley's Intro to Fiction class until 11:30. I remember sitting on my parent's bed, glued to the TV, realizing that the world had been changed. I called my friend Kristin because it was her birthday that day. (Side note, I had THREE friends who were born on awful days: Pearl Harbor Day, Oklahoma City Bombings and September 11th.) The sight of the huge buildings falling down was shocking. I had visited New York the year before and I had pictures of the twin towers as viewed from the Empire State Building. I remember how eerily dark the sky was that night and the nights following.

I'm off to watch the CES fireside with Elder and Sister Oaks. You should too! It's on the BYU Channel right now!

Feeling crafty

2011-09-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

First of all: MY BROTHER ALEX GOT HIS MISSION CALL! He is going to serve in the Mexico Veracruz mission. He's leaving in the beginning of December.

I went on an adventure last week to drop off a draft of my plan B report (thesis) to a committee member. My adventure took me to the south side of campus, a place I had never ventured before. I'm kind of glad that I went because I saw two neat building from the 1930's.I call it an adventure but really, I just got lost trying to find an office that I had never visited.
This weekend we made another batch of banana chips and we tried our hands at raisins!
They turned out pretty good! The grapes were too small and gross so I put them in the handy dehydrator. It's amazing how GOOD home dried fruit tastes compared to store bought. Especially the bananas.
I decided to experiment a little with my hair today (I didn't want to wash it) so I followed the lead of hair tutorial I found on-line. I really like this site, Thebeautydepartment.com, it's by Lauren Conrad and it's really informative. The styling on it is pretty good too.
It's supposed to be called "the fun bun" but I don't really see how fun it is to have a knob on the top of your head. I hadn't realized how fly-away-y my hair had gotten over the course of the day. It really did look better in the morning.

Proof is moving right along. We're half way done with fittings and I have a pair of pants and a few accessories to buy. It's been a different experience to buy for a show on such a scale. I was able to find a few things in our stock but we don't typically produce contemporary shows. I went shopping on Friday and found A LOT locally. I felt so much better to have so much completed!

If you want to see Proof, tickets are available on-line or at the USU box office. Or, you can let me know! Just a ...caution? Proof does have some language by way of THE four letter word starting with an F. Just so you know.

The first week of school AND Def Leppard? Too much to handle!

2011-09-01T17:49:00.000-07:00

James and I went to the fantastic Def Leppard concert last night at USANA. It was so incredible! I never really thought much of Def Leppard before I started dating James but now I'm hooked! They won't replace Bowie though (notice my shirt: Ziggy Stardust.)

Heart opened with a pretty good set. We got there late because we ate dinner before because we thought there would be another band opening for Heart. Not so much. It was just the two bands.

I took the pictures with my cell phone so they aren't that great, at all. The Wilson sisters really rocked it even though Ann looked kind of terrible:

Her outfit was totally unflattering and just a weird mismatch of textures. I kind of wish her sister (who looked great) would have said something. Maybe they were in a fight...

Anyway, Def Leppard came on and they were AMAZING!Their set had tall screens that showed video of coordinating images for each song. It was really cool.

There was also a couple of levels and ramps around the stage.

This picture is of Rick Allen, their drummer, who only has one arm. And he still rocks.

This last one wasn't taken at the USANA concert, it was in Atlanta. I just wanted to show a clear shot of the set up. Also, our show was extra special because Phil (shirtless guitar guy) and Joe (blonde guy singing) both wore sparkly shoes. Viv (dark haired guitar guy) must not have received the sparkly memo.

Set list: Undefeated, Let's Get Rocked, Animal, Foolin', Love Bites, Rock On, Rocket, Two Steps Behind, Bringing On the Heartache, Swich 625, Hysteria, Armageddon it, Photograph, Pour Some Sugar On Me and Rock of Ages.

Last first day of school ever???

2011-08-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

I finished my renderings last night at 1 AM. It was just sort of hard to get them done. I'm glad it's done but it was just an ordeal to do it.Tomorrow will be my 23rd first day of school (not counting spring semesters.) Isn't that kind of disgusting? I've been going to school since I was five and I only missed one fall semester due to my mission. It's kind of mind boggling.

Off to bed...

So close....

2011-08-25T21:55:00.001-07:00

I've included a photo of my latest efforts, taken with my camera even though I have my real camera with me. Oh well, you get the picture.I've finished all of the plates except for the bottom row (minus the one second from the left) and I'm really close to finishing. I wanted to have so much more of the show ready for the time that school started again. This was hampered by the minor renovations in the costume shop and I didn't want to add to the mess by pulling costumes. Anyway. Here are all of the costumes for Proof, but it will probably change because that's what usually happens in theatre. I'm pretty proud of the fact that I've rendered an ENTIRE show. Shoot.

The past week and a half has been interesting and busy. James has been working at the Landfill and in Roosevelt. Why Roosevelt? It has something to do with cacti that have been threatened and a group of people has been tracking them. Seriously. I've been working on my renderings, trying not to go crazy. I've never done this many in so short a period of time. It almost makes me wonder if I've been lazy during the past five semesters. I'm going to hope the answer is "no" because I feel like I've really worked hard on my MFA.

Did I mention school starts on Monday? It's my last first day of school EVER.

Holy insert-favorite-curse-word-here.

I'm a terrible blogger

2011-08-14T21:19:00.001-07:00

I don't know if it's the sunburn talking but I forgot to mention a couple of things that happened during the past week. James worked four days this past week because he took the week beforehand off. Our friends, Emily and Ryan, got married and we didn't want to miss it. It was really nice to have James home a whole week. Commuting like that sucks. During our travels of last week we made some stops on the way to Midvale. Our first stop was to Kaysville to say hi to my parents and to admire the new paint in the entry way. I'm not going to lie, I didn't notice the new paint because it's so close to the former color. I did notice the trim paint though. Our other stop was in Salt Lake to pick up this beauty:

Behold! Our wedding album!

It's massive and shiny and it looks so great.

I am really, really, REALLY happy with how it all turned out. Becky Reed at Ravenberg photography was responsible. If you have an event coming up or you need new family pictures, contact her. Seriously. She was so great.

James and I also made homemade pasta with his Mom's pasta maker. It was really fun and it might be a Christmas possibility. I figure I can write stuff like that on here because James doesn't read my blog (usually.)

I really like that it's a hand crank design, the "extruder" type sort of creeps me out. I think it's because it reminds me of playdough and the toys associated with it.

Another thing, Pinterest kind of bums me out sometimes. I realize that I won't always be in school and that I will eventually graduate and no longer be a student but MAN it seems to take a long time! (almost as long to read that last sentence.) There are so many fun recipes to try, crafts to make, things to try; it makes me kind of depressed to know that James and I are going to be students for two more semesters. Only TWO. I should hang on to that and stop griping.

Phone dump part deux

2011-08-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday James and I went to Cherry Hill for a family reunion and to help his brother-in-law watch our nephews and niece while they swam. It was fun but I got sunburned. Toasty. It really hurts.

And now, the phone dump:

Lyric closed, oh, over a week ago. I snapped a few pictures on my phone of the set:

and the plant:We had just one car at strike so we shoved everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in our car. Good thing we didn't have James' drums in there too!

This next picture is from a while ago when I was visiting my parents. It was HOT!

During the past week I hung out with my mother-in-law and we worked on some upcoming birthday cakes. We made items out of fondant and gum paste powder. I used food markers on the seed packets:James and I took a quick trip up to a cute shop in Preston called Suppose. I bought some really cute fabric and I'll post a picture when I finish the project.

This is a really old picture from our last place. James sent me flowers when he went on a field trip with the engineering department. He's really sweet.

This one is random but I shot this last night while we were channel surfing. Can you believe this guy's hair?

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Contest

2011-08-09T13:43:00.001-07:00

My friend Erin told me about the Shabby Apple Dare to Design contest. I immediately got to work designing a dress that would fit in with the other Shabby Apple dresses but still show my design point of view. This was easy because Shabby Apple dresses are so cute and modest, two things that are for dresses! When I started designing a spring time dress I immediately thought of green. Not only is it my favorite color but it is one thing that I look forward to after a long winter.

If I were to construct this dress I would use a light green cotton with a slight sheen to it, not too shiny and not too plain.
Cotton would be the best fabric to use because it will hold the pleats used in the trim. Cotton is also a classic, just like a shirt dress. I think that the details; piping, pleated trim and covered buttons will dress up an otherwise basic shirt dress.

Enjoy! Maybe I'll make it to the finals!

A YEAR!

2011-08-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

It's kind of hard to believe that James and I have been married for a year now. It seems like the time has flown by really quickly. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband! Marrying James was the easiest decision I have ever made. I love you James!

It worked!

2011-08-04T13:41:00.001-07:00

I used a tutorial I found on Delia's blog to make a button for my portfolio. If I really knew what I was doing I would know how to make one without the copy box below. I think it looks a whole lot neater than just a line that says "click here."

In other great news (and much more important) James received a tuition waiver for this fall! We are so excited about it. James is very low key about it all. He's so modest.

I'm slowing chugging my way through my Plan B report. I really want to have a good solid draft for my committee to read and then tear apart with re-writes. It has become my lima beans on my dinner plate, standing in the way of dessert. Although in this case 'dessert' is making stuff and knowing I have a huge hurdle behind me.

UPDATE:

Being a "genius" I realized that I could use the text in the copy box and make a button for my profile without the copy box. Awesome.

Carry on...

One year! (Almost)

2011-08-01T17:57:00.001-07:00

As of this Sunday, James and I will be married for ONE YEAR. It's flown by and I am so thankful that I married such a wonderful man. I mean, he's fantastic. I finished James' present on Friday and wrapped it the next day at my parent's house. We loaded it into the car on Sunday and drove home. Once we got home my excitement got the better of me and I gave James his present, early. Here is a play by play of the happenings...

Yes, it is wedding paper but I added "anniversary" so it's legit. Right?
James and his excited face.
Getting closer...
Tah-dah!

I got the idea from my cool friend Amanda who made one for her husband two years ago. I only had to buy one extra Scrabble board and the shadow box so it wasn't too bad, cost-wise. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Mid 6 had a gig on Saturday at the usual place. This gig was different because it was a benefit for a girl named Jillyn Larsen who is fighting cancer. A lot of people came and the band sounded great! I took a video but I'm not going to post it because the sound quality is awful. The band sounded a lot better than the video.
Anyway, I don't usually go to gigs because of the venue but I'm glad I went this time because...

it reminded me of why James plays in the band, he LOVES music
it was a benefit to help someone with cancer and cancer sucks.

It's the last week of Lyric so we're going to go see "Amadeus" in a few minutes. I filled in last week and it is a LONG show. Maybe it just seemed long because I just wanted to go home to my husband. Probably.

Happy Pioneer Day!

2011-07-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

Because it's July 24th, I'm going to start this entry with a photograph of my great-great Grandpa Keller. Joseph X. Keller was born in Switzerland and came to the United States with his widowed mother and two of his sisters. They didn't have to walk across the plains because the railroad had already been built. He served two missions in Switzerland, married a Swiss born girl (Mary Frankhauser) with whom he had six children and then he tragically died in 1905 at Stake Conference. Mary was a widow for 51 years! Did I mention she was PREGNANT with her last child when her husband died suddenly? It's amazing.His second youngest son was my great-grandpa Mitt. Joseph's only daughter was named Hazel and her daughter was named Dorothy who was my friend. She died this week, unfortunately. I'm grateful for the time that James and I were able to know her and her sweet husband.

I spend part of this week at home, working on my thesis/Plan B report. It's been slow going but I only have one more section to finish before I can submit a draft to my committee. I guess it's kind of nice that it has drawings and photographs instead of just looking like this:

Depressing.

I took some breaks and tried some tutorials I had watched a while ago. You can see them here and here. They worked. Sort of.

We saw a deer near our house as we were driving home. I think it's kind of funny that we've seen deer at both places we've lived.
Even though our anniversary is two weeks away, James surprised me with this beauty:

It's a food dehydrator. Words cannot express the excitement I feel about this machine. I've wanted one for a really long time. James knew about this and he realized that we had a ridiculous amount of bananas from two consecutive weeks of Bountiful Baskets. I have such a wonderful husband. Case in point: I was at the theatre all day and when he texted me about the dehydrator I texted back to suggest drying bananas into banana chips. His response? Already in.

He's the best!

What else happened recently? We finished our good bye quilt for our boss Amanda:

We used the same fabric in the quilt that Amanda used in a lot of her shows and then we wrote messages on plain white fabric:
My friend Courtney took pictures at the park when we presented it to Amanda. You can see them on her blog.

Ten years???

2011-07-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been spent in more than a few different ways. James and I had our 10 year high school reunion the same weekend. Thankfully they were on different days. As I was driving I thought the sky looked so pretty I took a picture.

I got a picture with two of my high school friends, Becky and Kristin. We were pretty tight. I actually saw them a couple of times last summer because Becky took our amazing wedding pictures and Kristin came to some of the festivities.Me and James

Kristin and Jim

I've also been working on the wardrobe crew at the Lyric Theatre. I was hungry so I went over to Great Harvest and saw this funny sign. It's true.

I've also been working on "stuff" for the shows including this bodice, over skirt and skirt costume for Amadeus. It's not done in the picture and I didn't take a picture of it after I finished. Cartridge pleating kind of hurts your fingers.

I also made two coats for the Emperor in Amadeus. I didn't get a shot of the finished product, it's missing the cuffs which really finish the whole thing off. I also made a gold coat with a different pattern but similar idea.During "Little Shop" I have a costume assist where I help Audrey put on her sweater. This is what I see while I wait. Kind of scary.
My friend/boss/mentor/big sister/shop manager, Amanda, is moving to Wisconsin in less than a month. She and her husband blessed their baby this weekend. Kamee and I played costume shop mice and finished Amanda's dress for her. She was really stressed out and we thought, "Hey! We can follow a pattern!" So we left it on her porch. We are all going to miss this great family, a lot.

The one where my brother got married, old toys were found and I got closer to 30...

2011-07-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

I realized that it has been almost a month since I last blogged. That is sort of crazy because it's not like I haven't had things to write about or pictures to post. A lot of stuff has happened. Let the spewing begin....

Jordan married Lindsey in the Bountiful Temple on June 18th. The sealing was beautiful and I'm so grateful that so many of the family was able to be there. Afterwards we did the customary pictures by the fountain. I didn't take any of those so you'll have to let this one suffice.
They had their reception at Mom and Dad's cultural hall, just like us. It's so convenient to have our parent's house so close! I liked this shot of right after they cut the cake. I think it sums up Jord and Lindsey:

And my brother, looking ridiculously happy. I'm so glad they found each other, I really like the new Lindsey Keller.Oh, and they had Mid 6 play. I think the drummer is pretty hot.

The week after the wedding was pretty busy because "Little Shop of Horrors" opened and we had a whole week of dress rehearsals and performances. This meant I was gone for most of the day, except for a short dinner break between costume shop work and dressing work at the theatre. I'm lucky enough to have a husband who can cook:
Doesn't that look amazing?!? Most of the toppings were in our Bountiful Basket from the weekend before. I love getting my vegetables on pizza.

Jumping to another subject; does anyone remember Playground Kids? I found the dolls that Hil and I had. I can even remember most of the their names: Laura, Julie? Becky, Tracy, Amy and Lindsey. Granted, after a certain amount of time the manufacturer printed the doll's name on their oversized shoe. I really liked these toys. I used to play with these with my friend Brandi.

Jumping ahead to this past weekend, we went to my parent's house to celebrate the holiday weekend and some birthdays. My Grandpa Arbuckle's birthday is July 2nd but when I was growing up he used to tease me that he was going to change his birthday to the 5th so we would have the same birthday. I like this shot of my maternal grandparents and Parker, even though PJ doesn't look too happy to be there.

Moving right along to today, I went out to dinner with my wonderful in-laws as well as James' sister Candice and her cute son. They came up to visit for the holiday and to wish me an early happy birthday.
My dinner was wonderful and yes, I just turned 8...
Melanie brought a cake she decorated especially for my birthday:
I really married into such a wonderful family! They have been so welcoming and loving. I really am so lucky!

Once it got dark enough, James and I decided to finally use the sparklers my friend Amanda gave us last summer. The fourth isn't the fourth unless you have sparklers.

I figured out that the pictures work better with the flash OFF.
Artistic fun with our sparklers...
James spelled out his name but I only got "Jam," backwards. It's still really cool!

It's supposed to be a star...
Neat squiggles...
Well, I think that about wraps it up! Hopefully I won't be as busy but I sort of doubt it!

Phone dump

2011-06-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

Very often I use my cell phone to jot down ideas or thoughts either via word or picture. I realized that I had quite a few random/funny thoughts that I should probably record somewhere. I'll start with a funny experience that happened while were cleaning the church for a ward activity.

Location: Old Ninth Ward building, chapel

Task: Scrubbing off the scuff marks off the pews

Experience: I volunteered to help clean the chapel using generic "magic erasers" to get the scuff marks and crayon streaks off the pews. We quickly realized that it takes a fair amount of elbow grease to cut through the gunk and that action makes a squeaking noise. As I was working on the back of a pew, sitting on the floor and scrubbing as hard as I could, I heard someone enter the chapel. Next thing I knew there was a little boy who exclaimed, "I thought you were a dog! I was wondering how one got in the church!" Apparently the combination of the noise and my alleged dog colored hair would make a kid think a dog had made its way into the chapel.

You probably had to be there.

Location: Our new place!

James spent my first week of working for the Lyric (and his free week before meeting with his graduate adviser) moving our stuff from our old apartment to our new one. I helped to move stuff after I finished working each day. I took these pictures as we were moving the smaller stuff over, before the furniture.

Our entry way/dining area:

Our bedroom (with a VIEW!)

A laundry room, probably the BEST thing about our new place:

Our bathroom:

Our kitchen: No couch or yellow cabinets here!

Our living room:

James had a band practice with his friends. They are playing my brother's wedding reception so they figured they should probably practice. A bit.James would probably like me to point out that he isn't playing his own kit (he doesn't like a lot of the bands mentioned on the stickers. He also traded places with the lead guitarist to sing a few songs.

My husband is the absolute cutest.

Next batch: Costume shop

Experience: A few projects that were particularly challenging

#1 sewing satin ribbons on silk charmeuse

The almost finished product:

Challenge #2: Bias cut chiffon that is flatlined with shiny polyester:

Challenge #3 Coloring in the grid on a sweater vest.

There you have it! Three weeks worth of stuff!

Names, names, names

2011-06-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

While in the costume shop today we had a lengthy conversation about baby names. None of us are pregnant but our shop manager just had a baby (her name is Pearl) and several of the other girls have recently attended baby showers. The main core of our conversation was the following question:

Is it worse to have a made up name or an old fashioned name?

If my boss's daughter's name is any indication, our answer was in favor of old fashioned names. Our collective thought was that it's easier in the long run with an old fashioned name. My friend Jared likes to use the example of "Grandma Tiffany" because it just sounds kind of off.

Anyway, this led me to mention a cutest baby contest held by the Standard Examiner back in 2009. The thing that stuck out to me was the amount of crazy names. Crazy names made weird by their spelling:

Deyn

Mattison

Keatyn

Nevaeh (yeah, it's 'heaven' spelled backwards)

Krew/Kru/Crew (anyway you spell it, it's still not a great name choice)

Others were mixture names, as if the parents couldn't decide:

Tylynn

Treytan

Braylon

Andriana

Ayzlee (okay, I don't know WHAT Ayz could be a diminutive of...)

And another group was...just confusing.

Taegan

Donoran Ray

Zaidyn

Jae (Her picture looks like she realized she was not only given a boy name but one with weird spelling)

Akayla

Atreyu (just to prove it, because I wouldn't believe it)

Kaebrie

Jorey Joy

Keola

Kynleigh

Lyric

Roston

Navy

T'Maea

Haggen

My lovely sister, Hil, blogged about stuff like this a while ago on her blog.

Well, with all that said, I hope that when the time comes that we have kids that we don't fall prey to any of these rules. Although, if we DO decide to go nuts and name our kids names that are bizarre hybrids of our own names I can rest easy because my friend Caroline has already thought of some for us: Jansay, Limes and Saymes. It's pretty awful.

And what do YOU think about all of this?

Post #200!

2011-06-01T06:04:00.000-07:00

Today is a wonderful day because this guy is 28!

Happy Birthday to the best husband ever! I love you James!

As usual, this is going to be another hodge podge of pictures and quasi-updates. This past weekend we went down to my parent's house for our nephew's blessing. Here's a picture of Grandma feeding the cutie:

The day before the blessing, the aunts threw a bridal shower for Jordan's fiancee, Lindsey. I made cupcakes and I had Avery taste test one before we went. I think they were good...

Speaking of said upcoming wedding, I "found" a dress. Actually, I got fed up after a couple of shopping trips so James and I went to Bernina and now I have this:

I really love the pattern, I just hope the cotton doesn't wrinkle too badly. I guess I'll see!

Last up, we moved this past week and with the move brings changes. Changes in the grocery store we'll frequent. Apparently Macey's has some pretty weird candy products on clearance. James couldn't resist trying it:

I have to say it was DISGUSTING! We both figured out that straight out of the tube it tasted like fluoride but without any of the benefits. The packaging was hilarious. The fact that it says things like, "Congratulations! You are about to enjoy..." and "Eat it slow, enjoy it more!" should have been red flags as to the disgust of it all.

You've been warned ;)

Post #199

2011-05-21T22:43:00.000-07:00

I've realized that talk of children comes up more frequently when I'm not in school or unoccupied. The conversations usually go something like this:

Lindsay: Hey, James...

James: Yes?

Lindsay: When can we start our family?

James: Ummmm....

Logistically, it would make sense to wait until I'm done with school and maybe even until James is done. I don't know how long it would take to get pregnant (knowing that would be great for planning.) I've had a couple of my friends who took years to get pregnant but I also have friends who got pregnant really fast after getting off the pill. Everyone is different, right? I just really wish I knew when things were going to happen. On the plus side, I do know that my last semester starts on August 29th. Isn't that crazy? I swear I was just blogging about how apprehensive I felt about grad school. It's almost done!

That post reminds me of the reoccurring fascination I have with bangs. I keep thinking I want them again. My history with bangs hasn't been great. Whenever I get them I usually regret it because they either look funny or I just get sick of them. Either way, I probably shouldn't do it. Here are some pictures of great bangs:

Julie Christie in "Darling"
Zooey Deschanel (recent, probably at an awards show) Doesn't she look THRILLED?
And Marianne Faithfull in the 1960's.

For some evidence of why I SHOULDN'T get bangs see here, here and here.

We're moving next week, we have a LOT to do!

It's DONE!

2011-05-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

With Annie's permission, I'm posting pictures of her wedding dress and some of the process pictures. She's getting married on Saturday to a great guy named Rob. She figured that the chances of him finding this blog were slim to none.

I learned a lot with this project, mainly the importance of acquiring all of your fabric at the beginning. We had the silk and the cotton for the flat lining but we didn't have the lace. I cut the dress out anyway so I could start tailoring the dress to Annie's body. So, here is the dress in plain silk dupioni on a dress form.
After Annie found some lace (she found some other lace on-line but they were both back ordered) I applied the lace on to the bodice, piece by piece. This was time consuming but totally worth it in the end. After another fitting I was able to install the zipper and the ribbon sash. This next picture is proof that if you don't check before you finish the zipper, you have to fix it two more times.
Although, the scalloped edge of the lace was dead on. Too bad the ribbon was not. Before I left for Nauvoo I tried to finish as much of the dress as I could. This included the facing on the collar, the horsehair hem and the closures. Granted, I still needed to fix the ribbon part.
And a front view of the almost completed dress:
On Tuesday I met Annie in the costume shop and we FINISHED the dress! Part of Tuesday was spent making covered buttons (and sewing them on!) fixing the zipper and adding netting to the skirt of the dress so it was properly poofy.
Annie in her dress and veil, so beautiful!
And the back view. I wish I had a side view because she really looks great!

I had some cell phone pictures from the Nauvoo road trip. Here is a cell phone picture of Wyoming. Vast.
I know that the commas probably wore off but I am really interested to know what "food sleeping" is and how it is accomplished.

This is probably Nebraska. Yeah, it's Nebraska.

This was in Iowa, I thought it was really cool. I didn't get a picture on the way there so James reminded me as we drove home. I love him so much!

The "Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo" show in the Cultural Hall. I couldn't believe how many people were on that tiny stage! It was out of hand!

And I think that's about it! Lyric starts on Monday!

Nauvoo Trip (told through pictures...)

2011-05-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

Big news: we all survived the Nauvoo trip! I'm going to tell the tale of our travels through photos. Just so you can get your bearings I'm starting out with a model of Nauvoo and the Mississippi River from the Nauvoo visitors center.

Before we arrived in Illinois we had to DRIVE. Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois. Much of the scenery looked like this (in varying colors):
Here is a picture from the Iowa welcome center. Please excuse the face, we woke early and I was too tired to get ready.

This is probably Iowa. But it sort of looks like bits of Nebraska too. I'm guessing Iowa.

After DAYS of driving, we arrived in Nauvoo. We stayed in log cabins. James's parents and his sister and her kids stayed in this one.

James and I took a walk to the temple later that day. We were sick of the car, can you blame us?

The view was amazing!

The next day we went to the park.

The kids enjoyed it.

Especially us!

Later on we visited Carthage Jail. It was incredibly spiritual and it reminded me of the blessings of eternal families.

After Carthage we drove to Iowa to do some grocery shopping. Zack seemed to want to make a break for it. Not that I can blame him...

We didn't stop here but it made me giggle. I'm not crazy, I have a reason. It can be found here.

Another grocery store we didn't stop at but holds significance. Both James and I shopped here on our missions. Cool huh?

We went on an ox cart ride, here the kids are getting acquainted with the beasts.

The kids also enjoyed the blacksmith shop. Brooklyn received the miniature horse shoe because of her red hair (the Elder had red hair when he was younger.)

James looking at the artifacts in the press office.

James showing off his newly learned coopering skills!

The reason for our trip: Liz, John and Waylon were sealed as a family in the temple. It was a wonderful experience even if Waylon screamed the entire time! He's so cute !

The last day we visited a few more sites including the Sarah Granger Kimball home. It was a bit of a walk but it was worth it!

We were even able to fit in a session with Candice and Hutch. It was really great to spend time in that sacred place!

Of course I realized on the last night that I didn't have a clear picture of Liz and John's restaurant. It's called Dottie's Red Front and it is located at 1305 Mulholland Street. They have owned it since the beginning of the year. Here is a local article about it.

Totally out of order but... We stayed in the Danielson cabin with Candice, Hutch and Perrin.

It looks like Pioneer village on the outside and a modern cabin on the inside.The one downside was probably the door. I have a hard enough time with modern keys, much less OLDY TIMEY KEYS. It was still fun.

And, because I am a total nerd, this is a picture of the property one of my ancestors owned. I found the information at the Lands and Records Office. I really geeked out.

The last day of traveling. Our niece, Brooklyn, wanted to take a picture so this is what she took. Bleary traveler, no?
We had lunch in Rawlins, Wyoming at a place called Cappy's. Funny story about this place: nine years ago my Dad drove me and Jordan to Denver for the David Bowie concert. We needed to stop for lunch and we saw JB's on the hill so we thought, hey, that sounds nice! The problem was that it was closed, along with most of the town!
It was a pretty funny experience but I think you had to be there.

I'm really glad we were able to be a part of it. But, I don't want to take a long road trip like that for a VERY long time.

Happy (early) Mother's Day!

2011-05-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

Happy early Mother's day to the best Mom ever!

I could go on and on about how much I love and admire my Mom but you probably don't want to read it. All you need to know is that she is a wonderful mother and I love her very much!

She's the best!

I love you Mom!!!

YES!!!!

2011-05-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

Some things that I am particularly jazzed about:

I got an A in my Theory class. AN A!!!!!!!
I won best costume design at the department banquet last night (yeah, we didn't go. Ironic.)
Annie's dress is coming right along (pictures will follow after the wedding, just to be safe.)
We met with our new landlords yesterday (again) and they are still wonderfully sweet.
Last up, my last spring semester EVER is over!

The weekend

2011-05-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was kind of a doozy. There was the royal wedding (I LOVED Kate and Pippa's dresses,) I had my LAST day of class, we cleaned the church and we had some friends over on Saturday.

It's kind of funny how it didn't totally sink in that it was my last day of Spring classes. I had a continuance evaluation for grad school (they'll let me finish) and then I rushed off to class. It was sort of anti-climatic. On Saturday we cleaned the church, inside and out, as a ward activity. I helped to clean the chapel. We used magic erasers to clean the scuffs off of the benches. It was a lot of work but it was worth it! James helped in the cultural hall and outside. He's such a trooper.

After we cleaned ourselves up we worked on homework. I finished up my final essay and James did a take home exam. I went up to the costume shop to work on the wedding dress some more. It's coming along! I went home and made a pizza for dinner. We had some friends over for pizza and Wii. It was fun and laid back. After that we went grocery shopping where James was recognized for his senatorial achievements. Here's how it went down:

Jacob (the Smith's checker): Hey, don't you the ASUSU senator or a graduate senator or something?

James: Uh, yeah

Jacob: Yeah, I recognized your picture on the web site. I thought, "He shops at Smith's"

James:....Yeah....

It was pretty funny. More funny than I my re-telling. Just ask James.

The last thing, I really like this website: Pinterest.com. It's a cool electronic bulletin board that you can sort things that you like according to subjects like food, crafts, home, fashion...etc. If anyone would like to join in, send me an e-mail Lindsaydesigner@hotmail.com. I can send you an invite.
It's kind of addicting. Just a warning.

2 1/2 years

2011-04-27T19:30:00.001-07:00

We had our portfolio review today for designers and stage managers. It didn't take as long as last year but it was still sort of grueling. Here are the renderings I chose to display on my wall, five different shows of various styles. I also had three set design models and STACKS of my other renderings, divided by year.
Here are all the stacks together, in the costume shop.

I'm tired.

I might be crazy

2011-04-24T18:30:00.001-07:00

HAPPY EASTER! I loved this message that my sister shared on her blog. It is a wonderful reminder of why we celebrate and the reason for our lives. I am so grateful for our Saviour and His sacrifice for us all. I know that He lives!

I recently finished my renderings for Frost/Nixon for design studies. It's a play about the 1977 interviews between David Frost and former President Richard Nixon. I wanted to delve deeper into the characters so it wasn't just a design of men in suits. I'm really happy with how they turned out and as soon as I get them scanned, I'll post them on my Behance portfolio.

It was also a good experience with patterns, as seen in the rendering of Caroline Cushing.However, my sanity could be called into question with my decision to render a PLAID SUIT. It's crazy but it's a totally appropriate choice for that time period. If you have any question of that, please refer back to this picture from a previous post. It's my Dad's yearbook picture from that time period. Not only is it appropriate for the time, it was also fitting for the character. While I was working on the rendering I decided to take step by step pictures.

Picture #1 shading and horizontal lines:

Picture #2 vertical lines and some of the secondary lines

Picture #3, the completed rendering. I cheated here and skipped a few steps including the layers in the shirt, face, hands, shoes and hair. Plus, I totally repainted all of the main plaid lines because they weren't right. It was kind of frustrating. Despite that, I'm happy with the end result.Exhibit B for my case of crazy: I'm making my friend's wedding dress. We designed it and I'm making it. I drafted a paper pattern and then made a muslin mock-up. After the fitting I altered the pattern and used that to cut out the pieces in silk dupioni. Now I get to finish cutting out the flat lining of the leftover muslin and serge all the pieces together.I used my cool Ginghers to cut out the silk pieces. They really are the Cadillac of scissors, as my grandma has said. I hope to have it finished by this week so my cute friend doesn't have to worry about it during finals week!

Isn't the silk beautiful? Even with a crappy cell phone picture you can still see the luster of the fabric. (Side note, I stumbled upon the work of a wonderful LDS designer. Her work is mind blowing!)

With all the craziness, I do have someone who helps me stay sane, James. He is so wonderful. He played his guitar and sang for me while I painted on Saturday. Plus, he did the laundry while I was at the shop working on the dress and striking "Three Musketeers." It was so funny, he wouldn't tell me what he did while I was gone. It was only when I saw some of the wet clothes drying in our bedroom that he admitted what he had done. He's so cute like that. Did I mention he also does the dishes? I'm so lucky!

And last up, renderings of Nixon. I was trying the get the shadows dark enough so I took pictures with my cell phone. I think it worked.

One more week until finals! AHHHHH! We can do it! I know we can!

A break from homework

2011-04-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

I realized after I put the first picture on my blog that it's kind of nauseating. It's basically upside down.

I changed it. Can you tell a difference?

It just seems slightly more natural the second way. I'm working on designs for Frost/Nixon, one of my favorite plays. It's the first batch of watercolor renderings this semester. The first two sets were in marker and pen. I'm glad that I haven't totally forgotten how to paint!

The design process sort of goes like this: script, research, sketches, renderings, costumes. It's the bare bones description of how it goes. Below is some of my rough sketches, completed on tracing paper with Prisma pencils. I wanted to experiment with color and this was the fastest way without working on the computer. I'm kind of old school that way.

You can't get your sketches without some research. Yep, it's a yearbook. Check out the sweet plaid suit, lower right hand corner.
Three Musketeers opened this week, hooray! I was responsible for patterning four dresses including the queen's ball gown:
and Milady's dresses. This one wasn't finished, we added more trim to the collar and cuffs plus interchangeable stomachers.
Up next is another shot of my grad lab box. I don't really work in here much apart from class. It's not the coziest room and there isn't a sink in the room which is a pain when I'm painting.
I made a couple of discoveries this week including:

Spray and Wash+bleach=FOAM! Granted, this was probably toxic so it's a good thing I'm not pregnant! I dyed some lace for Milady's dress and it was way too dark so I tried to get out as much of the dye as possible. I few tries and a go in the washing machine and it was perfect. I think I was just lucky as opposed to qualified.
Someone hung this up on the art hallway. In case you can't read it, it says "Hello?" and under Lionel Richie's picture, "is it me you're looking for?" Here's a link for those who aren't laughing.
Finally, I made grapefruit marmalade using Nigella Lawson's recipe. I was very pleased with how it looked. It was so jeweled and pretty in its orange-ness.
However, it was disgusting. Anyone want a few jars of stomach-turningly-tart marmalade?

Just when it couldn't get anymore awesome...

2011-04-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

It all started last Monday when my brother walked into our parent's room and told them some important news. It continued when he told me the same news on Wednesday. The fun escalated even further when I got a call from my youngest sister saying that our other sister was in the hospital. It's sort of crazy.

Now for the clarification:

Hil and Josh had their second baby on Sunday morning. Lauren called me and said that they were planning on leaving for Vegas that night, as soon as Dad got home from the Priesthood session. It was pretty crazy. They made it there about an hour after Parker was born. I love this cute picture of Avery and her little brother.It kind of makes you wonder how long until he's bigger than Avery.

My funny brother Jordan proposed to his fantastic girlfriend Lindsey today.

I haven't heard how he did it but I'm sure it was nice. I'm really happy for them! We did sort of joke that there could only be Keller kid weddings every 5 years because Hil and Josh got married in 2005 and James and I got married in 2010. We sort of figured that Lauren would get married in 2015 (don't worry, she would be 21,) Alex would get married in 2020 (he would be 28) and Jordan would finally get married in 2025 at the ripe old age of 38. I'm glad I was wrong.

The good news continued with...

WE'RE MOVING TO A NEW APARTMENT!

I'm very excited for this because of the following reasons:

It is a larger place with an actual living room and TWO bedrooms
Cable and internet are included in the rental price
We will finally be able to watch movies on our couch (our place is so small that our couch is in our kitchen, it's a kitchen couch)
It has a washer and dryer!
Our landlords are super nice as opposed to crazy
The new apartment has multiple actual windows with nice views instead of the tiny windows and no view from our one good window
The walls aren't covered in dated wallpaper (although the kitchen wallpaper is sort of fun)
Providence seems like a nice place to live

It's been a pretty good week. Busy as usual, but good.

One more week (and a month) to go...

2011-03-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

This past week has been awesome, in varying levels of awesome-ness. Of course, that means that with the good there was bad. Here is a photo montage of cool stuff and random-ness.

Photo #1: Amanda with a mask. She was using toxic smelling glue and doesn't want her unborn baby to have two heads.

Photo#2: A $3.00 CD in a $5.00 bin. Awesome. I did find a really great CD of Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson on VH1 Storytellers. Only five bucks!
Photo #3: A costume idea that represents Utah for the upcoming Mrs. America pageant.
Hopefully it works out. We talked about her ideas and I sketched this out. It's for an former neighbor of my parents who is heading to the pageant this week. Vote for her here!

Photo #4: My set for Aristophanes' The Birds, for design studies. It's due tomorrow!

Photo#5 Eeep!

Nah, I'm just kidding. It's totally a joke.

Photo #6 Our new computer.
Our old one bit the dust so we gave in and bought a new one. It's so tiny!

And, with that, I'm going to sleep. It's been a long, productive weekend!

Oh! This is for Jenny:

Banana Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

2 large very ripe bananas, pureed

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Line muffin tins with cupcake liners (I wound up with about 40 cupcakes finished.)

Combine flours in a small bowl, set aside for later use. Add vanilla to the milk, set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth with an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs, one a time and beat well after each addition. Add banana puree, blend well. Add the dry ingredients in parts, alternating with the milk/vanilla mixture. Beat well but don't over beat. Fill the muffin tins 2/3 full, bake for 15-20 minutes until a cake tester is inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes and then finish cooling on a wire rack before icing.

Hey Jenny, I fixed it! Now the banana cupcakes actually contain banana!

Okay, now I just feel like it's overkill....

2011-03-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I realize I've posted a lot of pictures of this set but I hadn't posted any with the cool lights we have in class. So, it's okay...right?

Seriously though, I did add a few extra bits to the living room, namely the sconces and the junk above the fireplace. I think it really adds to it.

If I had really been ambitious I would have made the items dimensional. Seriously though, if cutting pictures out of a magazine gets the job done, I'll fall back on that.

And, here is ACT II with the painted backdrop.

I'm so glad this project is over!

Grey Gardens set design

2011-03-17T02:03:00.000-07:00

As I am typing this entry it is 3:09...AM. Yep, I stayed up late but I FINISHED! Apparently we each get a turn to stay up late doing homework. Yesterday James was up until 4:30 finishing assignments. I'm surprised he made it through today. He's a champ and I love him

Any who...

I'll just add captions to these since I'm not really up for witty comments (then again, I'm not really that funny at other times.)
An aerial view of the main room/entry/drawing room set with 1/4" scale figure. My FAVORITE adirondack chair and the rocking chair of death (it kept tipping over so I filed the bottom flat.)

ACT I, full stage setting.
A full view of ACT II, all scenes combined. It's really crazy looking but that's sort of how it's supposed to be.This is another view of ACT I with the porch piece flown in. I'm not sure how I feel about it but it's 3:15 AM and it's due in less than six hours.

I wasn't too hip on the faded garden backdrop so I tried a different approach. I found a really cool painting of the Grey Gardens house on-line so I printed it out, glued it to illustration board and painted over the top. It really gives the set a different look.
ACT I with the porch piece.
ACT I without porch.
ACT I garden piece. I'm really pleased with how this piece turned out because it looked straight out of Camelot before I added the vegetation stuff.
And ACT I again. Apparently I didn't take any pictures of the ACT II set up with the painted backdrop. I'll let you use your imaginations...

SPRING BREAK!!!!

2011-03-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

So the title is almost the same as the last one but there is a slight difference. Can you tell? Do you know? Okay, it's an extra !. I'm a little too tired to make up an exciting title for this entry. Spring break has consisted of homework, mainly. I finished writing a paper for my theory class and I worked on my set design for Grey Gardens. It kind of makes me feel ill when I realize how many small things I still need to do to finish the project. Ugh.The basic set for ACT I, set in the 30's in a summerhouse in the Hamptons.
And the set up for ACT II, same house but in the seventies. I realized after how crooked the picture wound up being. Oops. I really should just use my camera. Oh well!

The rest of the break was broken up like this:

Tuesday: New haircuts for me and James. Nothing super different, but needed!

Wednesday:Lunch at Applebee's with Grandpa Keller, it was a lot of fun!

Thursday: I had lunch with my friend Erin and then James and I visited his old boss, Esther, at the landfill. It was really fun, honest.

Friday: James had a gig at Flirts (complete with a belly dancer in between the band's sets. Weird!) I went out to dinner with his parents and worked on my set.

Saturday: Lunch with James' family and grocery shopping back home.

Is it weird that I feel like I need a break from the break?

Oh! I forgot to write about a REALLY weird dream I had during the break:

Apparently USU was preparing to stage Black Swan: the play! and I had been involved in learning the choreography during the rehearsal process. This would have been fine except for the fact that I can't make my feet move and my tights keep falling down. I'm in the dressing room, trying to help the other dancers with their make-up and one of the writers/directors/person in charge comes up to me and demands to know why I didn't say any of my lines. I told them that I didn't have any lines, I was just learning choreography. Then they tell me that I'm supposed to be the lead! Ahhhh! Scary! The funny thing was that we had a bunch of "guest artists" including Janeel Junker, Marci Muhlstein and Andrew Joy. It was so bizarre! Next thing I know I'm trying to convince the people in charge that Marci would be a much better choice and I start safety pinning the costume on to her because it's too big.

Ugh, I hate dreams like that! I don't even like letting people down or slacking off in my dreams.

SPRING BREAK!!!

2011-03-05T23:14:00.000-08:00

Or, spring break-down could be a more apt description for today. I had an awful paper to write for a theory class and I was having a really rough time getting it together. A few hours and a crying session with James later and I had a first draft sent to my Mom for feedback. It was amazing how much better I felt about everything after that. Honestly. I'll finish and submit it on Monday. Awesome.

I also made a miniature baby grand piano for my set design class.
It still needs paint and details but it's basically there! We're sharing furniture for the class and I volunteered to make the piano. I'm going to make the rest of my furniture just in case I want to include this project in my portfolio. Spooky.

I'm glad that the break has started, I know that we both are in sore need of a break.

Oh! I have a funny story to tell about my cute new sandals:

They were supposed to arrive on Thursday which corresponded with James' field trip to Elko (the engineers have ALL the fun) but when I got home they weren't there. I didn't really think too much of it until my old roommate texted me. Her grandparents left her a message about a box that arrived for me, at their house. I thought about it for a second and realized that the last time I had ordered from 6pm was when I bought my wedding shoes when I was still living at the grandparents house. It was pretty funny. I picked them up the next day and they are WONDERFUL! I'm so excited to wear them because they are so comfortable and cute in a slightly hippie way.

That is all.

Is it Spring Break yet?

2011-02-28T19:27:00.000-08:00

A week from today will be the first day of SPRING BREAK. It can't come soon enough.

I made another batch of lemon meringue cupcakes this weekend (amid a batch of renderings in marker.) I learned a few things this time around:
1. If you refridgerate the cupcakes after you've filled them with lemon, the marshmallow cream spreads a whole lot easier.
2. Make sure the oven's broiler is totally heated before you put the cupcakes in to brown. If you are impatient like me you will just melt the marshmallow cream.
I bought these sandals last week on 6pm.com. They are Borns and I got them for more than half off. I'm really excited to get them this week. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to wear them until...June?
I registered for the Intermountain Graduate Research Symposium at Utah State. I'm going to do a poster presentation on my costume designs from A Midsummer Night's Dream. I still have everything put together from ACTF so I figure I'm most of the way there. I'll add some more to the book, academic-wise. Probably a bibliography or something.
In the costume shop we're working on Three Musketeers. My friend Brandee is the costume designer and it is going to be a beautiful show! I get to pattern some of the beautiful historic dresses and I am pleased to say that it is going well! (Knock on wood...)
James is a great husband, no surprise there. He's been busy with school and helping out the missionaries as the ward mission leader. He's such a champ.
Did I mention it's a week until Spring Break? I could use a break!

A Plethora of Pictures

2011-02-19T10:41:00.001-08:00

I basically dumped a bunch of pictures I had on my phone, on to my blog. Most are from after ACTF but a few are from before. First up, Valentine's Day. My husband is amazing, wonderful, loving, thoughtful and funny. I think that his gifts show all of his sides. He bought new garments (I really needed them, mine were all gray!) risque candy hearts and a jewelry box.I was really surprised by the jewelry box but he pointed out that I usually complained about my necklaces getting tangled and lost earrings. It was extremely thoughtful and I really love it!

Next up: STAIRS. I'm taking set design this semester and although I feel pretty confident about it, I obviously still have a lot to learn.

Case in point, this photograph:
As you can see, there is the 1/8" stair section on the left in heavy paper followed by two failed attempts to replicate the same stairs in 1/4" scale. It took three tries to FINALLY get the stairs to be wider at the bottom than the top. And I'm in grad school....

The skirt that Amanda is holding up is the long-lost skirt from The Cripple of Inishmaan...from SEPTEMBER! It was lost during the build of the show, replaced with something else and, of course, found months later. I think Amanda's face says it all.

Also from the costume shop is a picture from the trim used on the officer's coats for Our Country's Good, in performance until next Saturday at the Morgan Theatre. It was my task to thread the serger in gold thread and then serge 160 strips for the coats.
I really hated that job. But, I finished it.

Yesterday morning, as I was making breakfast, I noticed that the pepper I had pulled from the fridge made a funny rattling noise. I half expected some scary bug or something to fly out when I cut it open. Not so!It was a baby pepper! Crazy!

I noticed on Thursday that our tailor's ham was looking particularly sad. It had a gash on the back and the plaid side was falling off. I took it upon myself to fix our sad little ham.

I think it is much improved:

What do you think?

Wednesday morning I saw this:
Yep, a horse and buggy. Technically I think it was pulled by shetland ponies but I'm probably wrong.

Last up (I'll bet you're glad) my "completed" set for The Goat or Who is Silvia? which is technically still in the white model format but that is all we had to do for the assignment.
I'm going to remake the window piece (the center piece) because the balsa wood just didn't look as nice in real life.

Next up: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus in Design Studies and Grey Gardens for Set Design.

Oh! I forgot to mention what I gave James for Valentines: "Manly Mustache Mirror clings," guitar shaped ice cube molds and underthings (technically it's for both of us.)

ACTF!

2011-02-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

Warning: there are a ba-jillion pictures in this post. I'll come up with captions so you can follow what happened.

#1 A photo with Avery. I stayed with Hil and Josh on the way down and the way back. Ave and I had a good time!

#2 Caroline couldn't drive with one hand during this stretch of road so Molly fed her cheeseball and crackers.
#3 Caroline's boards. She won the regional prize! Good job Kennedy!
#4 The winning designs, headed to the national competition at the Kennedy Center in DC.
#5 The ceiling of the Los Angeles Theatre Center. It used to be a bank.
#6 Caroline and her boards, the day we presented. She was much relieved.
#7 Me and my boards and book.
#8 Trying to get a jumping picture. We really did jump. Promise.
#9 Molly and Caroline at Babycakes NYC bakery. The banana cupcakes were the best- gluten, sugar, dairy and something else free. I can't remember, there was a big list. I'm glad Molly and I swapped halves of the red velvet cupcake because it tasted weird.
#10 The guest house in West Hollywood, it was built in 1928!
#11 Guest house, kitchen.
#12 Guest house, sun room.
#13 Guest house dining room.
#14 Guest house, view down the stairs.
#15 Bathroom (1 out of 4!)
#16 Annie's room, with really cute windows.
#17 A view from the landing...
#18 the front room.
#19 the entry way.
#20 Hollywood boulevard, Milinda and I went exploring.
#21 The Kodak Center
#22 Disney's El Capitan theatre
#23 A view down the Boulevard
#24 Milinda Weeks and me, at the Kodak Center, thank you camera timer
#25 Milinda and a Chinese statue at the Theatre
#26 Feeling the love at Sephora. Shocking news, I didn't even go in any Sephora store.
#27 Feeling confused at Cary Grant's shoe and hand impressions. We're about the same size.
#28 Bowie!
#29 Molly and Caroline at Max Factor's star, he was a make up pioneer
#30 The Hollywood sign as viewed from the Kodak Center
#31 Guest house, another view of the beautiful sun room
#32 Beautiful GREEN trees!
#33 The ferris wheel at the Santa Monica pier
#34 Annie and Milinda on the ferris wheel
#35 The beach at Santa Monica
#36 Milinda taking pictures...she did that a lot
#37 Caroline basking in the sun with her ukulele
To sum up: Brandee and Molly are going to Nationals in April for Set design and Make up, Milinda, Annie and Caroline won regional prizes in Lights, Set and Costume. Way to do USU proud!

ACTF here I come!

2011-02-06T18:42:00.001-08:00

My boards are ready...

My book is together....
And my bag is mostly packed. I'm ready to go! I'm riding with some fellow USU costume designer students. We're stopping in Vegas which means I get to see HILARY!

(And Avery and Josh, of course!)

I'm really excited, this past week was horrendous. I don't think James and I went to sleep before 1 AM at all this week. Sick. Being so busy is really tiring.

Oh well.

ON TO LA!

Cupcakes, Candles and Cubbies

2011-02-03T22:02:00.000-08:00

I made some cupcakes this week for a birthday in my design studies class. I could have used a box and a jar of frosting but I like to bake and try new things. Plus, I stress bake so the timing was PERFECT! I talked to some class members and using their feedback I made the following decision:

LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES

I didn't have an actual recipe so I combined a couple of recipes together. I started with vanilla cupcakes, I filled them a little under the usual amount. After I baked them I used a plastic juicer to remove the middle of the cakes. I used about 2 teaspoons of filling per cupcake (a quick note about the filling, make sure it's at room temperature so it will spread easily.) Once all the cupcakes were filled, I lined them up on a baking sheet and topped them with marshmallow cream. This part was tricky, that stuff is hard to spread! I think next time I'll warm it up in hot water or try piping it with a large baggie. The last step is to brown the marshmallow so it looks like meringue. Ideally I would recommend using a small blow torch to burnish the tops but I don't own one so I put it under a broiler. Make sure you watch it so they don't burn.

ENJOY!

Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcakes (The recipe says it yields 24 but I wound up with 36)

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 3 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

America's Test Kitchen's Lemon Curd Filling

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice from about 6 lemons
1/2 teaspoon gelatin (powdered)
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen

FOR THE FILLING: Measure 1 tablespoon lemon juice into small bowl;
sprinkle gelatin over top. Heat remaining lemon juice, sugar, and salt in
medium nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally,
until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot but not boiling. Whisk eggs and
yolks in large nonreactive bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly pour hot
lemon-sugar mixture into eggs, then return mixture to saucepan. Cook overmedium-low heat, stirring constantly with heatproof spatula, until mixture
registers 170 degrees on instant-read thermometer and is thick enough to
leave trail when spatula is scraped along pan bottom, 4 to 6 minutes.
Immediately remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture until
dissolved. Stir in frozen butter until incorporated. Pour filling through
fine-mesh strainer into nonreactive bowl (you should have 1 1/2 cups). Cover
surface directly with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm enough to
spread, at least 4 hours.

We had not 1, not 2 but 3 birthdays on Wednesday (hence the cupcakes.) Here are some shots of the birthday girls in the scene shop, blowing out their birthday candles.

Cake in the scene shop, nice.

Cubbies is sort of a funny term. I guess my work station in the grad lab is a cubby but Amanda's office isn't really one, she has an actual desk and a sort of room.

Anyways.

Here is a new batch of renderings for my first project in Design Studies: costume designs for The Dark of the Moon. I used my friend Brandee's Prismacolor markers and they are SO COOL! I've never rendered in marker before so it was a new experience.

I'm really pleased with the results. I should take a picture with my camera so you can actually see the pictures.

And now, the picture that goes along with the reference to Amanda's desk:

We had a mouse in the costume shop. We think it was a girl because she ate part of Amanda's Cadbury egg. Look at the little nibbles. It's cute and gross all at the same time.

Food!

2011-01-29T11:59:00.000-08:00

We had a very productive morning, food-wise. First we picked up our "Bountiful Baskets" order. It's pretty cool, we pay $15 and get a bunch of vegetables and fruits. Granted, we don't get to choose but it is SO worth it!

We got strawberries and a cantalope! I was so excited!

After that we went to Gossner's to buy a bunch of economy cheese. It's basically the odd shaped pieces so it's cheaper. We bought about six pounds of colby-jack, mozerella, swiss, cheddar and muenster. We spent about $15 on it. Not only was it inexpensive but it is REALLY good cheese!
And, another picture of my rough draft set.

Set Design

2011-01-28T23:13:00.000-08:00

I'm taking set design this semester. Here is my rough draft for my first design, Edward Albee's The Goat. It's sort of an awful play but the setting is cool. I'll post more as I get more work done.

Shhhhh, I'm hiding...

2011-01-26T13:30:00.000-08:00

I'm hanging out in the shop manager's office, sort of hiding. I thought I would jot down a few thoughts that have been jumping around:

There is a funny lady who works in the shop occasionally who calls me "Hilary" on a regular basis. It's weird because she doesn't know my sister, I've mentioned her a few times but nothing excessive. Today she said I must "remind (her) of a Hilary." Odd.
My ward is awesome. I went visiting teaching last night and it was really great. It's funny because it takes a while to start but then I'm really happy that I did it. And, I had a really random conversation with a lady from my ward. She called me about some ward stuff and then we chatted. It made my day.
Wearing short sleeves in the winter time makes me excited for spring. When I was a kid I used to put my swim suit on for less than five minutes but it would get me excited for the eventual thaw.

Okay, I'm done. Back to work....

Friday Night Fun

2011-01-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

James and I had a fun night, complete with a visit from the rooter guy. Apparently trees roots and sewer pipes don't mix well. While James cleaned up the aftermath, I made the dough for this:

It was really, really good. We covered it in spinach, tomatillos, green onions, Canadian bacon and tomatoes. It was sort of tricky combo but it was delicious. (The really cute polka-dot hot pad was made by my talented cousin Hannah.)

And last up, a random picture from our wedding day. It's of James with my Keller grandparents. I love how happy everyone was on our special day and it's some of my favorite people. (Don't feel bad, I have a lot of favorite people.)

Next up, ACTF in Los Angeles in February. I put most of my boards together today and it won't take long before they are all ready for the festival. And now, I just need to figure out what I am going to say so I don't look totally terrified.

Midsummer Production Photos

2011-01-18T15:37:00.001-08:00

First off, I just have to say that being sick for two weeks totally sucks. It's not a new discovery, it's just one that I recently experienced. Well, with that out of the way, here are photos from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Titania and the fairies hanging out with Bottom.

Oberon telling a story to Puck and the other boys.

Theseus, Hippolyta, Philostrate and Egeus discovering the sleeping lovers. This picture shows off the black and white color palette for the humans.

The play within the play, it's in color because the fairies helped them with their show. That was the concept!
The pre-show, three of the guys doing rope tricks. It was really neat!

Titania and Oberon fighting over the Indian boy. Actually, it's a cute little girl named Avory. She's about the same age as my niece Avery but this one is a lot taller!
And a final shot of EVERYONE; cast, chorus and conductor! It's a nice shot because it shows off the stage and the whole cast.

Phew. It was a lot of work.

In other news, I wore red lipstick/gloss to church today. I'm not sure how I felt about it. It was rather bright.

Patsy Cline Production Photos

2011-01-14T07:09:00.000-08:00

Here are the Official photos from "Always...Patsy Cline." I put them in show order and they are better than the photos I had before. Enjoy!

Picture update

2011-01-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

The following is a bunch of pictures that I started to take at the beginning of the break, I thought I use them in my blog and I also thought I would take more pictures.

First up, the "decorations" from our apartment. I figured our place is small enough and we were planning on leaving for the whole break. Thanks for the Christmas cards!
Next up, the pretty drive through Sardine Canyon:
Even James was excited to go on break:

The next picture is my Mom coming into the house at the beginning of her surprise party. She was really surprised.

Nice face Alex...
My brother and his girlfriend made this sign:
Here is Hil presenting our Mom with her birthday cake. Believe it or not, our Mom is 50. I don't think she looks like it at all.
Jordan the lumberjack and Avery.
The candles from her cake:
Avery and her computer from her grandparents, she likes to send "e-mails."
A better picture of the Christmas stocking for James. The elf on the left is Eric Clapton, the one in the middle is Paul McCartney and the one on the right is Mick Ronson. Awesome.
And the final picture is my re-organized make-up tray. It's sort of a ridiculous quantity but it was just Christmas...
I know it doesn't look organized, but it really is. The face stuff is on the right side of the box, the lip and cheek stuff is on the left side and the eye stuff takes up the rest of the box. I love make-up.

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation (warning: there be lists)

2011-01-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas was part of many firsts. There was the obvious, (our first as a married couple) but there were also a few that weren't as...obvious.

Raclette. It's a cheese and a meal, all in one. Apparently it got started when some Swiss shepherds placed some cheese on rocks near a fire and realized that melted cheese tastes really good. Anyhow, it's a tradition that James brought back from his mission to Switzerland. We had it three times over the break, coincidentally, every Friday. We ate on the 17th at a party with James' parent's friends, then we ate it Christmas eve and on New Year's Eve. It was really good.
Note: If you purchase this type of cheese, melt it first. It stinks and it isn't as good unless it has been cooked.
My Mom turned 50! We (the kids) threw our Mom a surprise party. I think a good time was had by all and Mom was mostly surprised.
I got a kiss at midnight on New Year's. Yep. First time. I'm glad I finally hit that milestone.
I got sick, twice. The week of Christmas I got a stomach bug and then this past week I've had a cough. It's been sort of frustrating but hopefully it means I won't be sick during the semester. And last up, related to #4...
I took my first pregnancy test. I was throwing up and as much as people like to tease newlyweds I didn't want to chance it. No worries, it was negative. As much as we would like to start our family right now, it's not the right time. I mean, we're BOTH in grad school and we're lucky if we take care of each other. We plan on starting that project next year. Uh, I'll keep you...posted?

And that's it! That is basically the exciting parts of the break. James worked a bit (got sick right before Christmas) and I watched an unhealthy amount of TV. Looking back at it I sort of shake my head in disgust but it's not like I'll be watching a lot once school starts. But, I did sort of learn stuff:

As conservative as I am I felt like a total wild child when I watched part of the wedding special for the Duggar's oldest son. It was a re-run, apparently they are working on their second baby. I was shocked when I heard that the two had never been alone together and their first kiss was going to be as a married couple. Yowza. I understand waiting until you're married to have sex (hello, we did) but not spending ANY time together? James and I were able to get to know each other because we spent so much time together. Like I said, I sort of felt like a hellion watching this special.
If Gordon Ramsay tells you to do something with your failing restaurant, it's probably a good thing to do it. If not, you'll probably continue to fail and he'll spew a stream of profanity at you. Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares was oddly watchable, especially when the restaurant owners do exactly what he says without throwing too much of a tizzy fit.
MTV's I Used To Be Fat. Hello, awfulness! I watched one episode and it was like a train wreck. The episode I watched featured a girl named Marci who had been home-schooled and enabled by her mother. She didn't eat dinner with her parents who ate "normal" food, instead Marci would eat fast food in her bedroom, purchased by her mother. Enter a tough talking trainer (there are no other kinds according to television) and she is on track to lose 90 lbs in 90 days. Just like "The Biggest Loser" I found myself sucked in, wondering if she was going to reach her goal. Spoiler alert: she does.
The E! channel is awful. Full of garbage. Hardly redeemed by the Soup. Ugh.

That's about it. I can't believe I'm starting my last year of grad school. Heck, it seems like just yesterday I was starting my first year. Wow. It'll be December before I know it and I'll be DONE.

Crazy.

A few images

2010-12-29T14:04:00.000-08:00

First up are two of the elves from my husband's stocking. I started the green one and the guitars the week we got married. And then, nothing. I had planned on working on the stocking on Sundays because the other days were spent doing homework (big surprise!) Anyway, this didn't happen so by the beginning of the break I had two done and basically nothing else.

One Christmas miracle later and this is what James had Christmas morning:

Granted, it would have been nice if it had been a surprise but it's okay. He stayed up with me until 2 AM while I finished it. Seriously. I have an amazing husband. We switched back and forth between the following:

A Christmas Story
The King's Singers and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Midnight Mass at St. Peter's

I hadn't ever watched it and James was interested. It was a weird combination of shows but it kept me working until I finished the stocking.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

I don't have pictures available, I forgot my camera cord and my phone album isn't loading.

Anyway.

Christmas was great! Time together and with our families.

I'll post pictures soon.

Hopefully.

Finals are almost over

2010-12-15T11:39:00.000-08:00

What has happened since I last blogged? "A Midsummer Night's Dream" finished its run. My parents, one set of grandparents, a brother (and his girlfriend) and my in-laws came to see the matinee. James' sweet parents gave me these beautiful roses.I like that some of them look like the fairy costumes. I was inspired by flowers so it makes sense.

On Sunday I tried to make a fancy Swiss braided bread. It wasn't totally successful but it was mostly good.
It got a little mangled when we took it out of the oven. Notice the poke mark on the upper right hand side. The bread looks awfully yellow, due in part to the egg wash and the yellow cabinets in our kitchen

My final FINAL project is a group of designs for a children's play called "The King of Ireland's Son." It's based on medieval shapes, James Christensen's amazing paintings and it is also a work with patterns and colors. I'm really pleased with how far I've come even in the past two years. My techniques have gotten better, I've gotten faster with my production and I think I've become a better designer. It's sort of hard to see the progress unless pieces are juxtaposed.
Okay, mostly I just wanted to type juxtaposed.

On to Christmas!

Wow. Seriously, wow.

2010-12-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

My friend Courtney and I are totally fascinated by this lady in our ward. She is really stylish AND ridiculously creative. Her inspiring blog can be found here.

As much as I love my life (and totally hate the stress) sometimes I find myself fantasizing about how it will be when James and I are both NOT in school.

Hopefully James will have a good job that he loves and I'll be a stay at home Mom.

Theoretically we'll have some cute kids, maybe two boys and two girls.

Sometimes I think about how cool it would be to ride around on one of those cute cruiser bikes (despite the fact I'm really clumsy.)

Sigh.

Instead, I'm going to be grateful for the wonderful things that I do have:

My husband James

A really awesome opportunity to go to grad school (I mean, seriously, who else gets to the stuff we do in the shop?)

Great friends in the costume shop

Also, Midsummer is OPEN! That is definitely something to be grateful for!

Christmas is just around the corner and that means FAMILY! I'm so excited to spend the holidays with both of our families.

Final Dress and Opening Night

2010-12-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures from second dress rehearsal and final dress for Midsummer. Tickets can be purchased at the Caine School of the Arts Box Office or online here. The show runs until Saturday with a matinee that day at 2:00 and all evening shows at 7:30.

First Dress Rehearsal

2010-12-04T22:08:00.000-08:00

We had dress rehearsal this morning for Midsummer. I snapped a couple of pictures with my cell phone. Some are good, others not so much.

This was the cast on stage, hanging out.
The cast doing warm ups. Isn't the set cool?
Oberon watching Helena and Demetrius argue about who loves who. Apparently Oberon is invisible to the mortals. Here is a shot of all of the guy fairies. We painted all of their pants with dye. We also added fabric strips to Oberon and Puck's pants. It was really time consuming but I think it was worth it.

Here are the fairies sleeping on the ground with Lysander and Hermia. This picture shows the color scheme: mortals in black, white and gray while the fairies in color.
Here is a shot of Bottom after his transformation. A dentist donated the fake teeth, which you can't see. It looks great!
It was probably the most stressful lead up to a design that I've ever gone through. I wasn't sure if it was going to work or if things were going to happen but it did work and is has happened. We have two more rehearsals before opening on Wednesday. I'm really pleased with how it worked!

In response to a comment from the last post: I didn't use a pattern, I just made it up. I measured Avery's torso and then made a trapezoid shape by taking an inch off each side and angeling the sides in. I just sort of guessed in regards to pocket size, strap length and ruffle size.

Projects: Midsummer and an apron

2010-12-01T22:04:00.001-08:00

As you guys probably know, this play is quickly approaching. As in, we open in a WEEK.Working on a show like Midsummer, you see a lot of weird stuff in the costume shop. Such as pairs of legs wearing stretchy pants:
People painting on tables:
Sometimes people (ahem, me) paint with tiny brushes. It took more time than it should have.
But, I think it was worth it. I'll post an actual picture of this costume, Mustardseed, rather than this pinned together one.

Over the Thanksgiving break James and I spent time with our families. We had dinner at his Grandma's house and then we ate dessert at my parent's house with my Dad's side of the family. It was a well deserved break, I think. While we were at my parent's house, I kept a promise I had made earlier to Avery. She spotted Hilary's apron and decided she needed one too. I'm sure she said something like, "I yant un" or something cute. I used leftover fabric from Hilary's hooter-hider and the quilt my Mom made for Avery. It is a reversible apron. Here is the white floral side:
And the pink side, as modeled by Ave.
I can't get over how cute she is! It was so great to be able to spend time with our families, especially Hilary and her family. It will be Christmas before we know it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-23T21:37:00.000-08:00

While the low forecasted for Thanksgiving hardly seems like something someone should be thankful for, at least it isn't...
this:
Holy cats that is COLD! I predict the return of my Sorels, scarves, hats and gloves. As opposed to regular shoes and only a combination of two of the last three items.

BTW, USU closed campus at 2:00 today which meant an early day at the shop. I'm sort of terrified of next week, because we go into dress rehearsal on Saturday, but I know we'll all pull together and it will some how work.

Hopefully.

My husband IS a rock star

2010-11-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

I'm quite possibly the luckiest woman in the world because I married this guy:

James is in a word, FANTASTIC. And in another, WONDERFUL.

Seriously. There is no amount of exaggeration going on here. I figure as it is Thanksgiving next week I'll list the reasons why he is such an amazing spouse.

#1- He has a sense of humor and is able to maintain it during stressful times.

#2- He is understanding. Case in point, "costume shop time." Usually when I'm working in the shop and I say, "I'll be done in fifteen minutes" it usually means twenty or twenty-five. I usually try to not hold to costume shop time if we have somewhere to go but even then

he's so patient!

#3- James doesn't think my taste in music is weird.

#4- He takes charge of things when I'm stressed out or busy with school stuff.

#5- Connected to #4, he can cook AND clean! Here is some proof. Sorry about the color levels, I was trying to be sneaky and take the picture from the dark hall.

#6- James may be laid back but he is also ambitious and responsible, a crazy-great combination.

#7- He sings really well. (Funny story: when we were in California last month an elderly couple asked him if he was professional singer after sacrament meeting. I still tease him about it.)

#8- He has a wonderful family. I was pretty sure I liked him a lot before I met his parents but I knew for sure after meeting them. His sisters are all amazing too.

#9- James keeps me focused. I've been a little distracted lately and kind of baby hungry but he sweetly reminds me that we are BOTH in grad school and graduation is less than two

years away. It's not too long to wait.

#10-James noticed me. Sure it took him a year to ask me out, but he was only guy in our singles ward to do it. I am so lucky!

My husband is a rock star

2010-11-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

Sort of.

He is in a band with some of his friends from high school (and before in some cases) and they had a paying gig this weekend. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I took them with my handy cell phone.

The marquee with the band name: Mid 6.

And some dark pictures...I guess it's better than nothing. Right???

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

2010-11-10T21:38:00.001-08:00

I can usually gauge how busy/stressed/freaked out I have been when I can't recall exactly when something happened recently. What? That didn't make sense? Case in point, I was just talking to someone on the phone, telling them about my recent publicity photo shoot and I couldn't immediately recall which day it happened. It's not a big deal but it is a pretty good indication of stress.

Anywho...

I also finished another paper project for design studies. This time we worked in groups and we all designed different versions of "Much Ado About Nothing" by Shakespeare. One person did lights, another designed the sets and another handled the costumes. My group decided to set it in contemporary England on a country estate during Christmas time.

First up is Leonato. He is the owner of the estate and he has invited the prince and his soldier friends to spend a month with them. I wish the camera had done the rendering justice but you can't always get what you want.

Next up is Hero, Leonato's daughter.
She is sweet girl, in love with this guy, Claudio, who loves her too. Sweet.

This is Hero's cousin, Beatrice, a catch who doesn't want to be caught. She likes to verbally spar with...
Benedick. I wish I would have finished this rendering more but I'm happy with the line drawings.Between this project, Midsummer stuff and school, I was trying not to freak out. I sort of did, a little bit, on Saturday but my husband is a champ. He is the most wonderful man and I can't believe we're married. It totally rocks.

Christmas!

2010-11-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, I realize that Christmas is a ways away but I like to take care of things and I'm sick of homework. So anyway, here are somethings on my wishlist:

New scriptures. My current set is six years old and it is falling apart. Plus, it has my old last name on it. It would be cool to have scriptures with Lindsay Beardall on them.

Art supplies.

I'm running low on cadnium red.

Sephora giftcard. Always nice. I also made a registry on their website. I can't figure out how to update my account so it's still under Lindsay Keller.

Black stretchy Gap t-shirt. My old one is falling apart. Literally. I like in a large in the stretchy variety.

Brown riding boots. I'm not really copying my sister, we just have similar tastes. My old pair wasn't really my size and I finally owned up to it last year. You know it's a bad sign when your shoes hurt your feet.

They are all so cute!

School starts tomorrow. Bleck. Three more semesters after this one for James and two for me. Hopefully.