A Utah County Gem called "Now & Then"

Disclaimer: I did not receive any goods, cash, or discounts for writing this post.

You HAVE to visit this store in Utah county.

I don't even know if you can call it a store, it's more of an experience.
I discovered it while looking for photography props.

It's called Now & Then, and it's just down the way from Thanksgiving Point. You can see it from I-15. It's next to "Rod Works."

The store is one-third antiques...

(That's a tobacco cart/stand)

...one-third consignment...

...one-third boutique...

(I love love love these boxes!)

...and 100 percent amazing.

(This was one of my FAVORITE items in the store!)

I couldn't believe all the cute stuff I found! And the prices are great!
Right now their necklaces are buy one get one FREE!

All their Campbell's antiques are 50% off! And they have A LOT!

They even have a MAN corner!

This is Dave. He and his wife Nicole own Now & Then.
He was super nice to let me take so many pictures of the store.
He even revealed what sale they're having next month!
In all of August, all of their boutique items will be buy one get one 50% off! That's ONE-THIRD of the entire store!!

Are you ready to see what I bought here? I'm SOOOOO excited about it!

I bought two sizes of these baby-themed baskets to use for my baby shoots. I already got to use this one today! And the best part is, they were only a couple bucks each! I had to ask to make sure the price was right! I heart this store!

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, D.I. (the local thrift store) is selling ugly used sunglasses for $5 each. What's up with THAT!

Working in T.V. has its Perks

Look who I met today!

It's BYU's Stephen Jones, or should I say, the "New Spice Man".
He was on Studio 5 today as part of the segment "His Perspective". Check it out if you have a minute, it was hilarious!

Wanna know what Stephen's favorite blog is?
Check it out.

Okay, I know that was totally shameless.
But TOTALLY worth it!
Thank you Brooke Walker for planting the idea!

Shooting the video with Stephen was so much fun! This guy is hilarious!
Here's a cut down of our shoot.

That's me giggling in the background while I'm holding the camera.
Who knew "Harker Herald" was such a tongue twister.


Joining us on our little tour of the newsroom were a couple girls who also appeared on Studio 5.
I told them I would post their photo.


I feel really dumb because I didn't realize who they were until after our adventure.
On the left is Kami Watson from the blog Sweet Charli, and on the right is her sister.
I feel like an idiot because I already follow her blog! I'm a huge fan! She's really creative. Today on Studio 5 she did a super-cute segment about how to turn shirtsleeve cuffs into chic bracelets.

So there goes another average day working in television...
Okay, not really.
But still, my job is pretty awesome.

July Sweeps

Here's a promo I produced for July Sweeps.
Story airs this Wednesday on KSL 5 News at 10.

Toga Party with Ashley and Chase

Meet Echo and Narcissus.
A.K.A. Ashley and Chase.

They asked me to take these photos so Chase could use it as a reference for a painting.
It was the best shoot I've had to date!
And since I've now had three, that's saying A LOT!

In the story of Echo and Narcissus, Echo falls in love with Narcissus, but Narcissus is in love with himself (his reflection). That's what we were portraying in these pictures.

Aren't they hot as Greek characters?

P.S. You are never to speak to Chase about these photos.

Ad-nalysis Sunday: BYU Old Spice Spoof

This video was posted THREE days ago and already has nearly ONE MILLION views.



BYU stands for Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. It just happens to be where my hubby went to school. Go Cougars!

BYU is also a religious school, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That's why the "celestial sandwich" comment is HI-LARIOUS!

Did you notice there's a man lying on the ground with a sideways plant at 0:16-0:19?

The actor is a BYU student named Stephen Jones. He's also a member of a campus comedy troope. Watch some of his standup on YouTube. He's super funny!

The commercial is REALLY well shot. The quality is amazing! It was produced by the Multimedia Production unit at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU. Good for them. It looks so professional!

My fav line?
"Did you know that 8 out of 5 dentists say that studying in the library is 6-bagillion times more effective than studying in your shower?"
I laughed out loud when I watched it the first, second, even the third time around. The sentence makes sense until you analyze it and realize it makes absolutely NO sense!

And of course "I'm on a cart!" is pretty great too.

Makes you want to go to the library, doesn't it!

This is not my baby.

Just had to put that out there so I didn't confuse anyone.

This is McKay.

He is six days old in these pictures.
He was the subject/victim of my first real photo shoot.
Most babies just want to sleep at this age, but not this guy. He was wide awake and laughing at our futile attempts to put him to sleep.

As you can see, he did finally fall asleep. The picture above is my favorite from the shoot.
He put his hands like that all by himself.

Who doesn't love a cute baby foot picture?

His momma's hand.

I love naked babies!

Rock-a-bye baby!

Thanks to Jen for letting me take pictures of her newborn baby. It was so fun and such good practice! I didn't even mind when McKay peed and then pooped on my blanket. LOL!

These were all shot with my new 50mm lens using only window light.
I'm also learning lots of new skills in Photoshop!

If anyone wants me to take pictures for them, I'm totally FREE!
I'd like to practice on newborn babies (two weeks old or less), but I'm open to try anything. Just e-mail me. My contact info is on the side of my blog.

Ad-nalysis Sunday: Emmy Nods

Remember my first Ad-nalysis Sunday post (or was it my second?) about this commercial?



Well guess what! It was nominated for an Emmy!
Did you even know commercials were nominated for Emmys? Neither did I!

Want to know what other commercials were nominated?
Well, it's no surprise most of them are Super Bowl commercials.
I could do an Ad-nalysis Sunday post on each one and really drag it out, but you know I'm too impatient for that.

Absolute "Anthem"


Love the music in this commercial!
I don't even want to think about how much it COST and how much TIME it took to put all of that together. But it sure made an "exceptional" commercial.
I love that the motto of this commercial can apply to anything in life. "Doing things differently leads to something exceptional."

Coca-Cola "Finals"


I'm not in love with this commercial. I doubt it will win the Emmy. But it's an interesting concept and they sure put a lot of work into it.
For me, it's just too many things happening at once. Plus, I'm not a fan of "fantasy-themed" anything. It's too "Gulliver's Travels."

Snickers-Mars "Game"


Can you say anything bad about this commercial? It's Betty White! Love her!
I can also completely attest that "You're not you when you're hungry" is a true statement. Just ask my husband!

Audi "Green Police"


Catchy, holds your attention, and makes you feel good about recycling.
I love this commercial, but that's because I'm an eco-nerd who brings her own bags to the grocery store.
Now I want an Audi. But then again, who doesn't want an Audi?

Nike "Human Chain"


A feel good Nike commercial. Perfect for the Super Bowl.
Love love love love LOVE the song!
I pretty much love the whole commercial. It gives me goosebumps.
A SERIOUS contender for the Emmy.
P.S. Can you name all the celebrity athletes in this commercial?

What commercial do you think will win the Emmy?

Sidenote: The 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards will air live August 29 on NBC (KSL 5 in Utah).

Fourth of July Cake

Check out what I made for the Fourth of July!

Pretty cool, eh?
Do I even need to write the idea came from Studio 5?

Wanna see how I made it?

You need three cake layers. One red, one white, and one blue. These cakes are frozen because I made them the night before. They're ten times easier to work with if they're frozen.

Then you need to cut the red and white one in half. I bought a special gadget called a cake leveler just for this project. It made cutting the cake super easy.

Ta Da! These are my cut in half cakes and my super cute husband.

With your icing you made ahead of time (I used cream cheese icing), ice the top of one white layer and put a red layer on top. Then ice the top of that. (I don't have a picture for that step.)

Pile up the rest of your cakes like this. Find a bowl that will give you a 2-inch border. Then cut this circle through all three layers.

Immediately EAT the outer parts of the red and white layers and the middle of the blue layer. You will not need these parts for the cake.

Place the outer blue layer on the cake. Ice the inside.

Ice between the white and red circles (with the white circle on the bottom), and place the circles inside the blue layer.

It will look like this.

Ice your cake all over. Leave it really plain-looking so people will be EXTRA surprised when they cut into it.

This cake was a HUGE hit at our family party. It was gobbled up in no time!


This was the first year I really got into the spirit of Independence Day.
You know, because I'm Canadian and all.
But this year Tom and I dressed in festive colors...

And even bought Yoda a festive toy!

Happy Independence Day!

Ad-nalysis Sunday: Hyundai Sonata

Generally, I hate car commercials.
But I don't hate this one!



Finally, an out-of-the-box car commercial.
Isn't it like a breath of fresh air?

I love that you don't even know it's a car commercial until near the end. But you don't forget it's a car commercial. I think the point definitely gets across.

16-year-olds are on the road. Get a safe car.

Almost anyone can relate to this commercial. One, because we fear 16-year-old drivers. And two, because who doesn't LOVE that song from Sound of Music. It totally brings you to a happy place.

I love the simplicity of this commercial. There are exactly three scenes. Three cuts. The bedroom. The car. The text.

I don't envy the person who had to put together the bedroom scene. That's A LOT of stuff. But who knows? Maybe they got lucky and one of the producers had a teenager who's room was already this messy.

As always, let me know what you think of the commercial.

The end.

Yoda's First Haircut

Yoda - Before

Add clippers.

Yoda - After

His first haircut!
Doesn't he looked thrilled?