Club: Culture

February C.C. Meeting = red letter fun

2011-04-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

We finally were able to get the supplies for the heart

felt wreath we wanted to make last year, and this craft

was so fun to make.

We started out with a red and white buffet to snack on

while filling out a "Red Letter Love Lines" quiz.

Lobster ravioli, cherry tomato and mozzarella pearl salad,

strawberries and grapes, red velvet cupcakes, and black Forrest

trifle.

Angie won the grand prize, red snacks, red necklaces, and an edited copy of Amelie

with a note detailing how the colors of RED and green are used symbolically in the movie. Libby won second place, red Justin Bieber nail polish and chocolate covered

cherries. OMB!

Then we set out crafting...

I also taught how to make ribbon roses, and frilly wired bows.

Thanks for coming everyone!

December CC = Crafty Christmas Creations

2011-03-10T05:04:00.000-08:00

(yum the baked brea was amazing)

We gathered for our second annual christmas craft make and take exchange. We started with a festive holiday meal, and then got busy crafting. The premise being: everyone brings enough materials to make 8-10 of your one craft, everone attending gets to make one (or more) of your craft so they get to walk away with 5+ different finished crafts to either use as easy christmas gifts or keepsakes for themselves.

I brought yarn and crochet hooks and taught how to crochet a scarf.

Libby brought materials to make paper medallion garlands, or flower earrings.

Angie brought her jewelry making materials and we went to town designing and making earrings.

Kelly Brought materials to make "pie-in-a-jar" gifts. line the jar with pie dough, fill with filling, cover with pie crust with a vent hole, wipe top with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar and bam! you have a gift to give to someone, for them to cook and enjoy right away..... or freeze and save for a cold winters night.

Thanks for the fun night. Crafting and chatting is my favorite use of time.

November's CC Meeting= Magical and Mythical Exposure

2011-03-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

Novembers meeting was delightful. We gathered at the Weights home and enjoyed some very yummy greek inspired treats.

Libby had put together a super fun and informative game of "who wants to be a drachma-niar?" where we had two teams (team Hestia, and the Athenians) and learned through answering questions. It was pretty close throughout but the Athenians won out in the end.

I put together handouts with Greek and Norse mythology trees, Roman names of Greek Gods, and comparisons of similar beliefs between the two and even with our own religion. I discussed these and displayed the very entertaining drawings from the mythology books I was raised on to illustrate my points.

In most sets of beliefs there is a creation story:

Greek- Prometheus was in charge the the creation of man, he was bound and punished for giving them fire

Norse- The first man and woman were made from an ash and alder tree.

There often is a flood story too.

Greek- the flood was released after pandora opened her box and let out the evils of the world, the human race had fallen to these evils and needed to be destroyed. Deucalion was the man warned to make an ark. The race of man that was generated by Deucalion was made of stone and was harder, was able to resist the evils a little better than the first race.

Norse-the world was destroyed in an epic battle of the gods and monsters, only two human survivors remained, Lif "Life" and Lifthrasir "Stubborn Will To Live", their descendants would people the new earth.

"Trees of Life"

Greek-Golden apples that were stolen by Hercules.

Norse- apples that gave eternal youth

It was interesting to discuss how our English word for Friday was dirrived from the name of the Norse God of beauty, Freya. (who drove a charriot pulled by grey cats ) The word friday in the romantic languages, ie french "Vendredi", was derived from the Roman name for the Greek God of Love, Venus. (Greek name: Aphrodite)

Similar Gods with similar strengths and purposes:

Greek- Zeus, ruler of Gods, fought with lightening bolts

Norse- Thor

Crafty Demi-God

Greek- Hermes

Norse-Loki

Three Fates that spin and cut the threads of life.

God of the Sun

Greek- Helios and his golden chariot the sun

Norse- Frey who rode a golden boar

And........ here is the picture that won the prize of most favorite image. Perseus saving Andromeda from the Kraken. (aka, drawing of the movie "Tremors")

Winners of the games won Ambrosia "yummy spreadable honey" and a pomegranate since that was Persephone's choice of food when she was being held hostage in the underworld.

Thanks everybody for the fun and informative night.

Learning and Love.

Cheese night = sophisticated tastes & Autumn Charm

2011-03-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

Our cheese night was an amazing success. Special thanks to John

and friends. The event was held at Nick's family's cabin up in

Sundance. First there was an delectable dinner including,

Mac 'n cheese made with aged cheddar, french onion soup made

with gruyere, gorgonzola and pear tart, and berry & spinach salad

sprinkled with blue cheese.

Then came an amazing presentation and cheese tasting.

John had worked with a cheesemonger at Caputos deli and

had brought the most exotic and rare cheeses. We tasted

the cheeses in groups specified by the different countries

they were from. France, Israel, America, UK, were just some

of the countries that were represented. We learned about

how to detect different flavors and describe specific tastes.

Fruity, nutty, creamy, earthy, sharp, sour, bitter, etc.

Fruit, olives, and crackers served as pallet cleansers.

We ended the night with watching a movie clip about

nuns that make cheese. We learned the process of curding,

and aging. It was fascinating to learn how the different

bacterias found in different cheese caves could change

the flavor of the cheese

so much.

We voted for our favorite cheese, I voted for this cheese,

O Banyon. Not only did it look pretty but tasted

wonderful. It came in second overall.

Some of us slept over at the cabin. In the morning we ventured

on a hike up to stewart falls. The leaves had just started to

change, the air was crisp, and the sun was shining. It

was so beautiful.

thanks everyone, this event was spectacular.

July Post Series: Event Planning

2010-08-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

So this post will be mainly sharing the places

and blogs that I get my inspiration from and

the stores that I locally use to get the supplies

that make my dreams a reality.

Party blogs/websites:

(good for food and activity suggestions)

-Entertaining

-Holidays

Design Blogs (Ill draw from the decor I see on these

blogs and manipulate some of them to fit particular

parties that Im throwing):

Col or M e Ka tie

Food Blogs:

Sarah Voortmyer (a cook I have taken classes from)

Hello, Cupcake! (I have a goal to make all the cupcakes

in this book, I plan parties around the designs or make

sure to make the designs that go along with an already

planned theme)

-See here, here, and here

Favorite Local Party Stores:

Dear Lizzy (specialty cupcakes, mini cakes, designer candy,

and some decor and favors)

10953 Alpine Highway

Highland, UT 84003-8880

(801) 492-0022

PartyLand (Decor, dinnerware, balloons, favors)

310 North 850 East

Lehi, UT 84043-8622

(801) 653-2806

Zurckers (same as partyland, sparklers can be found here)

340 East 800 South

Orem, UT 84097

(801) 734-6400

Costco (food and flowers)

Liberty Heights Fresh (unique foods, flowers, favors)

1290 S 1100 E

Salt Lake City, UT 84105-1813

(801) 467-2434

Michael's (decor, favors, craft supplies)

321 East University Parkway, Orem, UT‎ -(801) 225-1085‎

215 East 12300 South, Draper, UT‎ - (801) 495-4210‎

Robert's

640 East State Road, American Fork, UT‎ - (801) 756-0133‎

Jo-anne's (fabric, craft supplies, decor) I often by yards of fabric

for table decor (I dont even hem it, ssshhhhh)

268 East 12300 South, Draper, UT‎ - (801) 495-3158‎

172 East University Parkway, Orem, UT‎

Gygi design Innovations (food containers, cake decorating)

3500 South 300 West

Salt Lake City, UT 84115-4310

(801) 561-1222

Thanksgiving Point Emporium (decor, favors)

July Post Series: How to make a Low and Full Flower Arrangement

2010-08-02T14:49:00.001-07:00

I just made a couple of these arrangements one for my

mom and one for my mother in law, both have summer

b-days. I worked as a florist with "Pocket full of Posies"

when I was in high school, doing weddings and events. I

have really enjoyed using what I had learned from that

job when throwing my own events or when I need to

give a gift to someone who doesn't want or need anything

in particular (perfect description of my two mothers),

making a spectacular arrangement makes someone

feel special but isn't something that they will have to

keep forever.

-I always get the majority of my flowers from Costco, I

rarely go with a color combination in mind and usually

just see what is available and decided on a color theme

then and there.

-I will somtimes get a few filler flowers from Smiths Market

place, they actually have a good selection all organized by

color.

-If in SLC I love to get flowers from Liberty Fresh Market,

they are way more expensive but they always have unique

verieties as well as a good selection of greenery, which in a

tall arrangement done in a vase you really need and shouldnt

underappreciate.

(Favorite greenery: lemon leaf, dogwood (light and green

marble look), eucalyptus, theres one more Im trying to

remember the name of when I do I ll come back and and

put it into the post.

-For any arrangement done in a container with a large opening

oasis is the best (and sometimes the only) way to get a full

looking arrangement. Oasis is a green highly absorbant substance

that you buy in bricks (shape only, this material is very very light

in weight) and it is found in the Styrofoam/ fake flower sections

of craft stores, (Micheals always has it, Robert's only sometimes).

-You need to soak the oasis in buckets till there are no more

bubbles coming up from the completely submerged brick, OR

I will run the bricks under water rotating to different sides

until the water starts to freely run off the brick. Youll notice

at first that the water wont even hit the sink as it gets absorbed

by the oasis so fast but as the brick gets more saturated the

water will start to run off more and more.

-Then you start constructing a form for your flower

arrangement in your chosen container. You want all the

peices of oasis that you are using in the form to touch

the bottom in some way (so when the arrangement is

watered the oasis can continually soak up the water that

pools in the bottom of the bowl and bring the water up to

the flowers' stems stuck into the oasis).

-Start with the middle and tallest part of your arrangement,

and cut the bricks to the desired hight. Its best to get the

hight in one piece of oasis than stacking multiple scrap

pieces together. The arrangement with be stronger this way,

if you uses multiple pieces the oasis is more likely to crumble

after you add more and more weight in flowers.

-For arrangements done in bowls yourll need to taper the

bottoms of all your side oasis peices.

-Then you can roughly shave off the tops till you get the

form you want

-When doing flower arrangemets choose your flowers based on:

-color, shape/size, and texture

-Its best to keep the color of your arrangements limited, so they

feel controlled and composed. Have more unity. Analogous color

combos will allow you to get many shades of slightly different

colors without making the arrangement feel busy. While when

working with complementary color combos you should limit

the colors to around two shades of each of the complementary

colors. When working with white I say "either commit or stay

away". Little bits of white around larger areas of bright color

feel like little holes in the arrangement. Either only work in

a saturation of color or count white as one of the major colors

in the arrangement and do lots of it. Green is always a perfect

accent color for any arrangement so if your arrangement needs to

feel more full, or needs more variance in texture you can add

green flowers (green roses, and Yoko Ono mums are my fave)

or green fruit (limes, apples, and grapes are my faves). I have

even been known to cover bald spots along the edges with moss.

-It took awhile to get used to but florists cut thier flowers

with knives instead of scissors. The knives slice the stem at

an angle giving more exposed surface area for the stem to

soak up water with. Scissors can slightly pinch the area cut

more closed limiting the area the stem can drink from.

-With these arrangements I start on the edges and work up, with the

flowers on the edges as well as the flowers with taller blooms I cut

the stems as long as I can then slowly push it into the oasis till the

bottom of the bloom is just barely touching the oasis. But then as Im

building up and need more hight I will allow the blossoms to stick out

higher and higher from the oasis. Always be conscience of the shape

and make sure you are forming the arrangement with rounded edges

and not flat sides.

-The colors and flowers are better displayed when they are arranged

in clusters. So dont evenly disperse individual flowers but evenly

disperse color and flower groupings. Dont be afraid of putting

two flower groupings of the exact same color next to each other,

as long as they are different textures and sizes and there isnt a

full side or half of just one color your good.

-When using fruit in lower arrangements I will use the left over

stems of roses (as they are the strongest) to stick the fruit on,

before sticking them into the oasis. I will also use greenery or smaller

flowers to fill in all the small gaps around the shape of the fruit.

-And I always have to take pictures of the final product.

July Post Series: Gardening

2010-07-26T14:54:00.001-07:00

(what I wish my garden looked like)

-Favorite garden stores: Wasatch Shadows (90th south) for

perenials and soil enhancers, Highland Gardens (just

north of the AF temple on the same road) for annuals we always

look for "the wave" petunias as they cover more ground,

Cactus and tropicals for perennials, pots, and expert advice.

So we had an arborist from Wasatch Shadows come out at

the beginning of the month to look at our trees and plants

and give us advice on their care and maintenance. I grew up

gardening in my mother's garden and thought I knew enough

to put together a nice little garden in my own house but I am

realizing that there is so much I still need to learn. Her garden

was 20 years more established then mine with all the kinks

worked out, I only learned about what was delegated to me when

I was young. (mainly planting, garden design, weeding, and dead

heading). I knew that due to different climates that we cant grow

many kinds of plants that are found in different states, but what

I didnt know (at least to the degree that I know now) every

neighborhood has a different climate and that even within one

yard there are microclimates that you need to learn to work

around. I tried many plants that worked in friends and family's

gardens here in UT but here at the point of the mountain, not

everything thrives.... or even survives. So here I will share basic

gardening tips that were given to us to help with what is struggling

in our garden (many of you probably know more about this,

but Ill share just in case there is a tip that could be useful).

As well as my favorite plants that have been tried and tested

and have been loved in my garden.

Trees:

So we knew we needed to get out and prune our trees but

we appreciated the tips we were given. Trim where branches

meet bigger branches so there will be less scaring, if you are

not sure where the branch is dead or not scratch the bark a

little and look for where the skin underneath stops being tan

and starts being green (or "wick" for all you Secret Garden

lovers). We have a hedge of mock orange bushes that still

havent bloomed, many spring flowering bushes only bloom

on new growth so they will need to be pruned. The best time

to pune those bushes would be in the middle of the summer

or right after they finish blooming so they can establish some

new growth before winter. This also includes Forsythia bushes

(one of my favorites!!!!!) which bloom bright yellow in the

spring and then turn into just a nice green bush durning the

summer, we have two of those in our yards that I cant wait till

they get bigger (the three twigs that they consist of are great

though....)

(Forsythia in bloom. looks amazing with spring

bulbs blooming all around it)

We also learned that we should feed our trees twice a year

because our soil and climate are so harsh. Spring and fall.

You can either do this by drilling 4-6 holes in a 3 ft

perimeter around the tree with an auger and then fill with

a tree and shrub food, or we are trying out some stakes that

we found at home depot. We drilled some smaller holes in the

ground to put the stakes in but we are hoping that the slow

release, continuous feed will help our trees for the remainder

of this season. We learned a few years back that evergreen

trees do not do well in wetter areas of your yard. It was hard

for us to know where those where since eveything looked pretty

dry from up top, but we had an area that was more clay than sand

and gravel and didnt drain as well when our sprinklers as well as

our neighbors sprinkler water was passing through. We lost a pine

tree that was planted in this area and was instructed to plant a

distigious tree there instead. We chose a dogwood, over the last

year the trees blooms and leaves got fewer and fewer. The arborist

told us that Dogwoods love acidic soil and that we should till in

a sulfer based soil acidifier as well as feed and prune. Lets hope

this does the trick. (you can also till in peat moss in your soil as

well to acidify and loosen up your soil as well)

Our maple was getting marbalized coloring on the leaves and

we were told that maples love IRON in the soil so we are going

to till in some Ferreplus. as well as prune and feed.

We unfortunately not only have the "garden variety" weeds

we also have some pretty pervasive and obnoxious varieties.

One being morning glory, the strangling vine-like weed with

the weak and delicate roots that break when you try to pull it.

At first I thought the little white flowers of this weed were cute

but now they frustrate me as I now know how it strangles my

plants and kills them. This weed spreads like wild fire too. We

were told one of the best ways to deal with this weed is to wear

thick plastic gloves and then dip your hands into a bucket of

roundup, the grab the vines and rub roundup all along the vine

and then into the small area around where the vine is going out

of the ground. This is a good way to localize the weed killer

without killing the surrounding plants.

The next weed is horse tail brush and looks like little pine

trees sprouting around. The roots on this weed are also very

fragile and make pulling very difficult or impossible. We were

told that this weed is pretty resistant to weed killers and that

we should try using shrub and stump killer. After that we hope

pulling up the weed once its dead will clear that area up for

planting.

Many of you have noticed that the soil in TM is CRAP! hard

and full of rocks. The first time I tried planting bulbs was a

blister-making experience. So we have tried to till in new soil

and pull out all the major rocks every season but we always

find spots that have remained tough and Im still pulling out

rocks that are the size of my head. But on the other hand there

are areas that are now much easier to plant in and the plants

are stronger and flourish as the soil is easier to grow in. We

now only buy the hefty duty garbage bags from Home Depot as

our yard waste including the build up of rocks that we are

throwing away gets so heavy.

Our favorite soil to till into our existing soil is this Harvest

Supreme found at Wasatch Shadows located just off of the 90th

south exit on I-15.

Blooming vines:

-We have a bunch of Wysteria growing over our pergola.

The first couple springs it bloomed its dripping violet

blossoms great but these last few springs our vines went

from winter to summer leaves skipping the blooms (my

favorite part!) we asked the professional and he said that

we will need to shock the plant and make it go back into

reproduction mode, it seems to feel too safe and doesnt

generate blooms in an attempt to reproduce. To do this we

are supposed to cut a few of the roots by driving a shovel

into the ground 2-3 ft away from the plant. We are going to

do this as well as thin out and braid the vines to train them

a little more. We have had great success in training our

wistaria and clematis by tying the vines onto the trellises

with raffia.

-Tips on designing flower beds- Organic edges (curvy

instead of straight) feel more natural help a garden appear

more flowing, plant taller plants in back then mid plants

and then small. We are putting in our edging in ourselves

using this product from home depot. We have some pretty

thin areas of lawn between flower beds and didnt want to

loose any more space visually and even physically with a

cement edging. Its a lot'a work but its cheaper, we like the

look, and its presenting great opportunities to till in more

harvest supreme in every bed as we dig the trenches to

install the edging.

-Our plan for our flower gardens is to build up base of

perennials with only small areas left to plant annuals

every year. Although we get much satisfaction out of working

hard in our garden we eventually want the job to be

maintaining rather than planting and constructing the entire

time.

-We have been bugged out of our minds with the drip

watering system for our flower beds. We were told that

it was not only cheaper but more efficient. But we are

discovering that it is only good at watering a "zero(dessert)

scape" garden as the coverage is terrible and only a few plants

get watered from the select hoses. We have lost many flower

plants because they werent watered enough. We have

punctured a couple main lines just weeding (as they are not

buried which is also ugly) and has caused us a lot of flooding

issues. We are now currently bidding out contractors to

switch our drip to a normal underground metal pipe sprinkling

system. So our recommendation would be a very strong NO

if you are thinking of having a drip system.

-Also if you are having someone install (or doing it yourself)

outdoor lighting remember to remind them that it is code

to burry the electrical wires 6" underground. The guys that

installed ours left all the wires floating around above ground

in our beds and they have been damaged, tripped over, and look

so ugly because of it. We are now burying them ourselves but we

checked into it and we could have reminded the contractors that

it was their obligation to burry them. So just a tip for you that

might come across this situation. But do look in to uplights on

your house and trees, great effect!

Our favorite perennial base flowers (that come back

every year and only need to be planted once) that are

tried and true for our climate in TM and in many other

areas in UT are:

Hollyhocks- we bought these as potted plants but we have

let the original ones that we bought go to seed every fall

and now they have spread and fill in the back areas of our

garden quite nicely.

Whirling butterfly bushes- get very big. beautiful floating

delicate white or light pink flowers.

Lavender- Fills in large areas with great color and

smells amazing, we placed it by areas where we would

be sitting in our yard so we could smell it on summer

nights. Do know that lavender blooms out in mid July

and then needs to be cut back (this picture was taken at

the tail end of my lavenders blooming season).

Salvia- Large areas of bright blue-purple. Also

ends blooming in mid July. We deal with this by planting

a few groupings of the annual variety of salvia around

the perennial salvia and lavender so when the later bloom

out we dont have large areas lacking in color the annual

salvia keeps blooming on. (annual salvia loves miracle grow

fertiliser and doubles in thickness and size if fertilized a

couple times in a season).

Annual saliva (blossom testure is a little different)

Day lillies- large areas of green and yellow, low in

height, should be cut to the ground every fall.

Jupiters beard- Large areas of pink (or white)

and if dead headed will bloom all summer long.

Spreads fast and thick.

Creeping Jenny has been a favorite of our ground

cover, we hope to have ground cover greening up

all our areas under trees where we havent planted

flowers or bushes.

As seen in this post (click here)- We love spring bulbs

and have had great performance from them. We plant

them in groupings in November. We have never had

problems with dear eating our tulips as we mix in

Daffodils and hysenths (flowers that dear hate) closely

to our tulips. I absolutely LOVE the smell of hysenths.

They are amazing.

-Our favorite tree ever has been our ornamental pear

(as seen in the link posted above) Beautiful full white

blooms in the spring, and gorgeous red orange in the fall.

Hope at least something has been helpful in this lengthy

post. Gardens are sooooo rewarding.

April CC meeting= A rich and Creamy Evening

2010-07-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

In April we gathered at Kelly's house to learn about

and indulge in CHOCOLATE!

Eric taught us about the processing of the cacao bean

how to make different qualities of chocolate. We tasted

different types of dark chocolate that tasted different

only because the different chocolates were made from

cacao grown in different locations. The flavor was altered

because of the surroundings. So interesting. We then

hand rolled truffles and made chocolate peanut butter

cups. Thanks so much Eric and Cassandra. This was

a fantastic event!

March CC meeting= artistically delicious

2010-07-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

In March a few of us went to the Art and Soup

Celebration at the Sheraton Hotel. We got to

taste samples of all the lead utahan restaurants'

best soups recipes, while strolling through art all done

by local artists. We got to experience all stages of the main

auction where a few painters were given a time limit in

which they needed to paint a mini masterpiece that after the

time limit was up was slapped into a frame and

then auctioned off where all proceeds went to charity.

Very cool.

We wished there were more sweet chilled soups as we

lived for the few dessert tables tucked in between all the salty

and savory soups. We ended the night with a run to Barns and

Noble to get passion fruit iced teas. Double yum.

Thanks Gals!

This was my favorite artist. Loved the modern paintings of

vintage equipment. Loved the color pallet.

February CC = Love

2010-07-21T15:01:00.001-07:00

Our initial plan for our February meeting was disrupted

due to scarcity of particular craft materials in UT, so

we called an audible and redirected the focus from craft

to learning about 3 celebrations that happen around

this time of year.

-Valentines

-Mardi Gras

-Chinese New Year

We had dinner made up of Angie's southern cooking

and Kelly's crepe making skills to represent Mardi Gras, Chinese

Chicken Salad, and the sweetness of Cassandra's

Meringue cupcakes with raspberry curd and creme freche.

We learned about St. Valentine, discussed Mardi Gras and got

a recipe for Kings bread, then familiarized ourselves with

the traditions of the chinese new year and read all of the

chinese zodiacs. This year is the year of the Tiger.

Thanks to all who came, we had a blast.

June C.C. Cancelled Until Further Notice

2010-05-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

Libby and I are in charge of June's Culture Club and after talking it over with her we've decided to postpone our Stewart Falls hike and cabin overnighter until further notice. (I know...boo!)

Unfortunately it's just a case of bad timing. We had scheduled to host C.C. June 11th-12th and that's the same weekend as our wards Priesthood camp out. With Bethany and Reece already out of town enjoying India, and our wards priesthood camp out landing on the exact same weekend, it would seem that we would only have a few individuals who could attend. Libby also mentioned that its still quite cold up there and the landscape is still greening up after all this moisture we've been getting. (Snow in May??)

We are definitely still planning to do the hike and overnighter and will inform you all we decide when to reschedule it. Libby and I have really been looking forward to this C.C. so we are NOT going to forget about, don't worry!

Kelly & Libby

Get Ready...

2010-03-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

Reminder...

Our March CC meeting is Tomorrow!

Thursday March 25th

Those who want to carpool to SLC, meet at Bethany's

house at 5:30 so we can arrive at the event around

6-6:30.

This will be a fun activity for sure.

See you then!

February Meeting...

2010-02-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

The February Meeting has been officially scheduled for

Tuesday February the 9th @ 6:30pm

location Bethany's House.

There will be tasty treats, a magical setting, and a

romantic film to accompany our main event...

Felt Valentine's Wreaths

For the past week I have been searching high and low

for styrofoam heart wreath forms and all my searches

have come up fruitless. Frantic that we might not

have a crucial element to our craft I ordered a few online

for fast delivery. I'm going on a felt run on monday...

If you are planning on coming to the event and

planning on making a wreath let me know asap via comment

on this post or email so I know how many supplies

I will need to get. (I thought that I could just

get the supplies in advance and have you all pay me

back considering how hard it has been to find some

of the materials)

We are looking at $8 a person for the craft.

If you dont want to do the craft still come and enjoy

yourself with the delectable delights, enlightening facts

on Valentine's Day, a fun flick, and wonderful company.

Hope to see many of you soon.

Loves,

Bethany

2010!

2010-01-19T19:41:00.001-08:00

2009 was sublime but now its onto a new year of

enlightening and entertaining enjoyment.

During our Grand Tea the next years schedule

was discussed and determined. I have posted

the events on the side of the blog so that you can

always refer to them to see whatever is up next.

Most of the dates are decided so mark them all on your

new 2010 calender so you can make sure to plan on them.

We thought we would try implementing a more standard

time of month for CC meetings and we decided that the

second saturday of the month will be it. (there are a few

exceptions due to special festival dates and some

peoples schedules)

So thus, there are a few dates that need some

solidification, let me know what you think....

First, February's event.... I figured that a lot of us

might have valentines plans (second weekend) and I have to

tend my cousin's kids during the first weekend soo....

how about meeting on the second

Tuesday the 9th?

That way you can have all the rest of the month to

display the wreath you will

be making?

Then May's event....what do you think about May 1st

instead of May 8th? (Kate and I will be out of town

on the 8th and would not want to miss the fun, but

if the 8th is the only day that will work for the rest of

you than stick to it)

Then June's event... since there is a sleep over offered

let me know if sleeping over from a saturday to a sunday

is problematic for you gals, we could probably make

a friday to saturday event work.

**Do note that November's event is planned on the first

saturday as that date is closest to the actual Day of the Dead.

Then lastly December's event is flexible depending on

how everyones holiday schedules pan out.

Stay tuned for a post describing the details of each event

so you can know more what to look forward to.

Here are some pics from Januarys Event.

Every gal got a high tea package that included

a CD, Lipstick, gloves, and little candies. They also got

to pick a hat from my grandmothers collection to wear

and feel festive.

There were some lovely choices of what to drink, coconut

almond hot chocolate, plum spiced tea, raspberry

tea, and creamed chi. They even put a blooming tea flower

as our centerpiece, when they poured hot water on it

it began to bloom.

Thanks girls, it was soooooo much fun!

Fall Dinner Change of Date

2009-10-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Ladies! Just a quick update . . . our fabulous Fall Fest Dinner is going to be postponed. Thank you, Toni and Ashley, for being flexible on this! Just let us all know what the new date will be and what we can all do or bring to help! Can't wait to see you all!

Halloween Party Ideas

2009-10-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Gals, while researching halloween craft and

party ideas for my mom I came across a few ideas

that I thought could be fun for our get together on

the 24th. Leave comments on what you like or even

feel free to post other ideas that you gals have found

so we can take a poll of interest and decide on a definite

craft. If you want more info on anything email me and

I can get you full recipes or patterns.

I would love to make these favors for everyone!

Chocolate Ganache covered cheesecake.

Loved the snake design!

Sweet Potato Chips

Green Curried Chile Soup served in a caldron

Pumpkin-gingerbread icecream sandwiches

Love this punch bowl made out of a hollowed out

and cut pumpkin. I also havent seen dry ice fog

for such a long time too.

Black licorice creme brulee. (mmm bread pudding

would be a yummy fall dessert too)

Bartlett Pear soup (I also have a white bean and

sausage soup that can be served in hollowed out

pumpkins)

Loved this idea. Carving a relief on the face of a

pumpkin (you can hollow out the pumpkin so the

shaved parts glow when lit form inside) but then

ink the relief and make prints off of it. Prints to

hang on the wall or prints on paper lanterns.

Every gal could bring a fake or real pumpkin, a small cylinder

glass vase (to put in pumpkin to hold the water), and a fall

bouquet from Costco and we can practice our flower arranging

skills.

Large pumpkins + mini pumpkins= pumpkin owls

These pumpkins had christmas lights stuck through

holes poked in patterns. Great lighting effect.

Idea from our cute Kitch.

Carved pumpkins that are carved to light up certain

areas while wearing these cute masks.

Gilding real or fake pumpkins, gold or silver

and making nice silk leaves to arrange with them.

Great craft that will look great on display all through

thanksgiving.

****Also Kelly mentioned that we could decorate

Witches Hats (with feathers, cobwebs, glitter, ribbon)

as the group craft as well. Very cute Idea....would make

for fun pictures.

the 24th!

2009-10-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

pictures from marthastewart.com

hi cute girls,

toni and i are so excited to host the second cc meeting of this month! hopefully we'll get the chance to get to know some of you girls even better - we truly look forward to that.

anyway, the shin-dig will take place at ashley's home (up in midway - maybe the utah valley girls will want to talk about car pooling? it's a pretty drive - i promise). what do you guys think about 5 or 6 o'clock on saturday the 24th? we will be more than happy to provide some good directions and a cozy fireplace.

we are thinking we'll do something fun and festive (either a halloween or "fallish" type craft), a yummy dinner will be served and since toni is the QUEEN of classic scary movies, be prepared. or should i say...warned.

hope to see you all there!

xoxo,

toni and ash

September CC meeting....in October!

2009-10-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

Alright... Sorry about missing our date in Sept.

But the nature hike has now been rescheduled and...

just in time to see the wondrous colors that can now

be found up the road in American Fork Canyon.

These pictures are ones I took just in the last few days.

Really, its truly stunning.

New info:

Saturday October 10th

@ 1:00 p.m.

meet at Bethany's house

Fun treats, nature adventure, and then fun

craft will be included.

Email Bethany your RSVP as well as any questions

that you might have. Bring ideas for a fun and easy

dinner, craft, or movie that we can use for the

October meeting that is still scheduled for Oct 24th.

Ash and Tone you still on that?

Hope to see you all on the 10th.

August CC Meeting: Eastern European Day

2009-10-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks ladies for all your time in preparation,

I felt so enriched with knowledge after hearing

all of your presentations and tasting your yummy

authentic dishes.

Countries Covered:

Romania

Czech Republic

Russia

Poland

{So many lovely pictures.... I know my

"Places to travel to" list has now

gotten longer.}

July CC Meeting: Summer Concert

2009-10-01T21:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks for coming out.

What Lovely Memories!

Posting and hosting...

2009-08-09T09:04:00.001-07:00

Alright, this is my first time posting on here AND my first time hosting. Two things that rhyme AND scare me. I am not the wonderful Bethany Madison, so please don't expect party of the year :). I am excited to have you all over for Culture Club this month though. Here is what we need.

1. FIRST, sign up for a country (if you haven't already). These are your options:

Solvenia
Montenegro
Moldova
Lithuania
Republic of Macedonia
Serbia
Latvia
Balarus
Croatia
Albania
Eastonia
Ukraine

2. SECOND, prepare a 5-7 minute presentation. Get that gals? Short and sweet. We want to know what YOU find interesting. History, travel sights, experiences, whatevs. Short is best.

3. THIRD, prepare a snack, food, or little something from your country. For example, I am doing Romania. I will make a food that people eat in Romania. Difficult? Maybe, but you can do it.

4. FOURTH (don't you love that I'm writing the number twice?) come ready to party in our Eastern European way. If you don't know where I live, I'm the house next to Bethany (on the corner).

5. FIFTH see you here at 2:00 pm. If that doesn't work for you we can do it earlier, but not later because of a ward gathering I feel I must attend.

Who's HYPED? I know I am. And just to get you started here is a little bit about a country dear to my heart, Romania:

Romania was ruled from 1974-1989 by one of the most evil men in history, Nicolae Ceausescu. He and his wife made up the creepiest couple ever and ruled the country by fear. Do you know that while his country was starving and couldn't even buy toilet paper, he and his wife refused to wear the same thing twice? They would buy a new outfit (including accessories) for each day and then would burn them afterwards so that no one else could wear them. They make me sick. Anyway, what Ceausescu is most known for are his crazy laws. In 1966 he banned abortion (now although this might not seem like a crazy law, just you wait) and created a 20% tax on men and women who had no children after they were 25. Most of us would be doomed huh? Infertility, being single, none of those excuses worked. He then later decreed that women should produce at least 5 children. If you had 10 you were declared a heroine of Romania, but few women ever sought that title. So 5 children? What's the big deal right? I grew up with 5 siblings...big families here in this state. But, can you imagine trying to have 5 children when you can't even feed yourself? Many mothers were forced to give up their children, hoping that the state would give them a better life than they could...

This intro sets me up for what I am going to talk about, the children of Romania. My favorite subject. Can't wait to see you there!

(me and some of my Romanian babies, can't get enough of them)

Lavender Shoot

2009-07-12T00:40:00.001-07:00

{Pics I took on our picnic today}

I am so excited for this shoot I cant even tell you.

I just took my mother in law on a picnic for her

birthday in the fields and...oh my word.

It is so gorgeous, I couldn't stop taking pictures.

You guys will love it.

So here is the plan.....

-Everybody meet at my house @ 6pm

Monday evening, sun sets around

8:30 so we want plenty of time to

get there and shoot in good light

(for those of you that cant come till

later I will post directions at the end

of the post so you can meet us there)

-Bring a couple snazzy outfits, but at

least one all black dress or outfit

(group shot!)

if you dont mind I thought we could mix

and match our clothes for different looks

-Come with your hair done, but I will have

brushes, hairspray, bobby pins, etc

for some do's on the spot

-Come with your make-up done but do

bring your make-up bag with you

(I will bring some of my fancier

make up so we can add to and get

creative with your already gorgeous

looks)

-Im going to try to bring both of my

fancy chairs to pose with

-Bring some treats or drinks if you like

-Come ready to sass it up, lets not be

timid for the camera girls

I posted some pictures from my most recent fashion shoot

that is part of a vintage project that Im

doing for my grandmother.

Hope they inspire you and get you

stoked for our

shoot.

{my older sister Karin in Granna's power suit}

Directions:

-Go south on I-15 for 45 min from lehi

1 hour or so from SLC

-Get off on exit 242 South Sanaquin

-Turn left at the first stop sign

-go south on that frontage road for about 6 miles

-you will see the fields a few miles out

-Follow the signs to the visitor center and then

give me a call so I can direct you to our location

CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU ALL.

Fashion Shoot Anyone?

2009-07-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of gals thought that it would be fun to post

highlights on each one of us so we can get to know

each other better. The post would include your

answers to a fun little interview questionnaire and

a photograph. I thought that it would be fun to

collect lovely pictures of all of you in a couple

CC fashion shoots, photographed by me.

I came up with two particular shoots that you could

suggestions so let them flow if you have any. The

shoots will both be in that golden light that occurs

around sunset (the warmer tones make your skin look

great as well as create a great hair light that adds a glow)

I could bring all my gear reflectors, lights, and assistant

(Reece). We can go all out with make-up and hair as

well as multiple outfits and styles. (if you havent noticed

I love organized shoots, fashion shoots are the best)

Here are the options so far....

Option #1: To take place July 10th or 11th (late notice

I know Im going to call the location to see about some

more options, but all that great purple might get

harvested pretty soon)

With a chair that looks a lot

like this

this chair that I just got (will

look so hot with red lipstick)

Placed in the middle of this (in lighting

that will look a lot like this)

Mona UT, Young Living Farms

(south of spanish fork)

Option #2: Don't have a specific date for this one,

but I was thinking maybe the next week on the 17th?

This couch

possibly in the fields around my house

for this kind of look or maybe in front

of an architectural background?

but the lighting will look like this

(mixed, flash and daylight underexposed)

{photos are Rebecca Westover}

What do you gals think? Comment about

which option sounds best for you to sign up.

July Concert Tickets

2009-07-09T01:35:00.000-07:00

Hey Girls its time to get your tickets they are $25 each

you can purchase them here. Select general admission

(its the cheapest, and is a great option for buying our

tickets separately without having to worry if we are

going to sit next to each other or not.... cause we will

no matter what)

So get excited and mark those calenders....

Friday July 31st

Gate opens at 5:30, a carpool for whoever wants to

will leave Bethany's house around 4:30 or 5. Bring

some treats, blankets, and a camp chair if you can.

Location: Deer Valley Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater.

Directions: here

Comment if you have any suggestions or questions.

Im looking forward to spending yet another wonderful

evening with you all.

June CC Meeting = Time of Yer Lives

2009-07-09T01:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks Angie for your splendid traditional "Bubble and Squeak"

breakfast and the extremely informative yet humorous

slide show. We all arrived at the festival physically and

mentally fed. The festival was so much fun, thanks to all that

made it out even if it was for a little bit. Good times were

had by all. Hope to see you all again next month.

Calling All Wee Lasses and Wee Lads!

2009-06-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

Do ye think ye are ready to see sweaty, brawny men in kilts?!

Do ye think ye are ready to rock out with Molly's Revenge?!

Tomorrow is our visit to the Scottish Festival at Thanksgiving Point.

We will be meeting at my house at 9 A.M.

We talked about inviting our spouses to some of our get-togethers & this would be a perfect event to invite your wizbit le fe (Scottish Gaelic for husband).

You may want to bring your mackintosh (raincoat), to keep yourself dry during a skarrach (rain storm).

Come ready to try what they call "the full Scottish." I'll be making this delicious and hearty breakfast:

Pull out those calenders

2009-06-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

{Image taken at the Art in Bloom Festival,

which was lovely}

Alright, so we had an awesome planning session last

month, thanks to those that came and offered such great

ideas and suggestions, and we were able to work out

a schedule of events so we can all know when everything

is happening and plan in advance for the activities. All the

activities sound like they are going to be a blast. Ive posted

the schedule on the sidebar of the blog so you can always

check it for dates.

Here are some more details on those events:

June 13- Scottish festival. For this activity we will meet

at Angie's house (Ill send out the address in an evite soon)

and we will learn about scottish history and traditions. The

festival is held at Thanksgiving Point and there is a $10

entrance fee. Im looking forward to seeing all the events,

eating some tasty scottish food while listening to some

good ol' bag pipes.

July 31st- this concert series is held at deer valley

outdoor amphitheater with the UT symphony playing.

Tickets are $25, but well worth it. If you are a student you

can get a pretty good discount with a student ID. It would be fun to

bring blankets, lawn chairs, and tasty treats or picnics to

nibble and make the event comfortable and fun.

August 29th- Eastern European Night. This will be a fun

night to learn about all those countries we have all heard

of but know nothing about. It will be hosted by Mandi

Winkelman, Bethany's next door neighbor. Everyone is

to choose a country and then come with a traditional

dish to taste from that country as well as some facts

to share with the group. There is a list of countries to

choose from on the side bar. Email Bethany with your

choice so she can move your choice to the chosen list.

September 19th- Nature Hike. Here we will all meet at

Bethany's house to learn about some local flora and fauna,

you will receive a goodie bag with homemade trail mix and

granola, an info packet along with a list of leaves

and plants to collect on a not too strenuous hike up the canyon

to see all the fall leaves. The leaves and plants collected will be

used for a Cyanotype craft afterwards.

(Cyanotype- a photographic process were you brush on a UV

light sensitive emulsion on watercolor paper, then sandwich

your leaves on top of the emulsion in a frame to take outside

to expose it in the sunlight, and develop in water to create

leaf silhouettes on a painterly royal blue background) Fun huh?

October 24th- Halloween History- an activity where we will all

bring facts about the origins of the spooky holiday. then we will

decorate venician plaster masks....and maybe watch a scary movie

will decorating? THE LOCATION FOR THIS EVENT STILL NEEDS

A VOLUNTEER TO HOST IT. IF YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED UP TO

HOST AN ACTIVITY AND WILL BE IN TOWN FOR THIS DATE

WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO HOST IT. ALL ACTIVITIES WILL HAVE

AN EVITE INVITATION THAT WILL ASLO ABLE GALS TO SIGN

UP TO BRING THINGS THAT WILL HELP LIGHTEN THE LOAD

OF THE HOSTESS. EMAIL BETHANY FOR ANY QUESTIONS.

November 14th-Come find out more about yourself as we take and

study personality color coding tests. Kelly, our host, knows a ton

about personality typing and even after a few minutes talking to

her about my possible personality color Im most definitely

intrigued. Then Libby will discuss and unlock the mysteries of

body language and micro-expressions. Ever watch Lie To Me?

its a lot like that.

December: This activity's date still needs to be determined as

December is a busy time for all of us with family and parties so

if we could all stay in touch and start suggesting good times

to meet as soon as we know our holiday schedules that would be

lovely. This activity also needs a location to be hosted at as well,

if you are interested do let us know. But this activity will most

definitely be useful as well as being fun, everyone is to bring

6-10 versions of a certain craft total expenses totaling min of $15

and a max of $25. Then we will each make one of every craft and

be able to take home a variety of goods that we could later use as

various gifts.

There's the rundown, so pull out your calenders and

save the dates.

May meeting everyone...who can make it.

2009-05-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

Looks like the meeting will be held on:

Saturday May 16th

now as far as the where....I found out about

this amazing festival that looks incredible to see at

the U of U museum of art, where award winning

florists create arrangements especially for certain

pieces of art in which they will be displayed together

to create a whole new beautiful piece.

I was wondering if any if you would want to go see this

for about and hour maybe 11-12 and then eat lunch at the

museum cafe afterwards where we will discuss the schedule....

Entrance costs $10. For those that live in Provo or Lehi we

could all carpool... just come to my house and I will drive....

for more info check it out here...

I had one request for the Tin Angel in SLC

which has yummy organic food and an outdoor patio.

So let me know how you all feel....

If we go see the art in bloom we should leave my house

at around 10:15 get to the museum 10:45 or so then eat

lunch at around 12ish.

or we can leave my house at 11:30 and eat lunch at Tin Angel

around 12ish.

The carpool offer is open for both these events. Just be at my

house at the given times.

Whatever we end up doing please bring your suggestions and ideas.

Let me know.

May meeting anyone?

2009-05-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung and summer is shockingly close.

(wait..is summer already here?) and it would be absolutely

lovely to see everyone's shinning faces again. Last month

did, unfortunately, come to a close without a CC meeting

but Im pretty sure the month of April wreaked havoc on

everyone and everything. But let us see if we can meet up

this month for a lunch planning session. Im thinking:

May 15 for evening tea or dinner

May 16 for late breakfast, lunch, or tea

{I need to be home by 4 this day for a church activity}

{Im leave the 20th for the rest of the month}

Suggestions on where to eat:

Beehive tea house (SLC) for lunch or tea

Grand America (SLC) for tea

Ruth's Diner (SLC) for breakfast

The Dodo (SLC) for lunch or dinner

Cucina Deli (SLC) for lunch

"Spark" (Provo) for lunch or dinner and fancy drinks

Happy sumo or Mikado (SLC) for sushi

Anywhere with an outdoor patio too.

Please make some suggestions

As this will be a planning meeting it would be awesome

if all of you could come with at least 3 suggestions for

things you would want to learn and themes for meetings

and 1 or 2 things that you would be willing to teach or host.

Our CC activities can range from casual and small to

large and in depth, go with whatever style fits you.

Don't feel intimidated or worried about

any of your thoughts just write em down. It will be fun

to have the variety in styles.

Please comment or email me with your suggestions

and RSVPs so we can choose a definite time and place.

I look forward to seeing all of you.

We have a few additions too that would like to meet all of you.

Some suggestions for CC meetings:

-Sewing a simple dress pattern

-Making Jam and Bread

-Gardening

-Languages (learning phrases and making connections between

our english words and other language roots)

-Music (the eras Baroque, classical, romantic ect.)

-Southern culture and cooking

-Spain- Maybe teach how to play a little guitar

-Italy

-Greece

-England

-Ireland

-China

-Any country

-Poetry and writing

-Reading a couple spark notes on a few classics and discuss

-Fitness

-Interior design

-Silk Screening

-Photography

-Mens days (having a couple of our husbands come in and teach

us a few man skills and then go to a baseball game)

-Pie making

-Painting

-Science day (an Imax show, the planetarium, star gazing

constellations)

-Utah Day (go swimming in the great salt lake (CANT sink)

take a tour of Saltair) Eat somewhere Utahish (not training

table)

-Go to the Sprial Jetty take pictures learn about the artist

and other artists like him, maybe create our own installation

-History day

-Go to the opera

-Go to the Symphony

-Learn Photoshop

-Learn Illustrator

-Beauty Day (give ourselves facials, manicures, pedis,

learn more about skin car and makeup application)

-Personality color coding and interpretation

-Nutrition

-Dancing (learn and then go)

-Charles Dickens Day

-Jane Austin day

-Sharing holiday traditions and recipes day

-Country day (share recipes and go to a rodeo, learn some

cowboy skills)

-Etiquette day discuss manners and behavior

-Animal day (Play with pets, learn more about our pets, or

go to an IMAX, or go to the zoo or aviary)

-Memory day (share favorite things from our childhoods)

-20's Day

-50's day

-80's day

-Victorian day

-Fashion Day (fashion throughout the decades)

-U.S.A. day learn more about politics and our country

-Children's Book day

-Canning

-Cupcake decorating (HELLO CUPCAKE!)

-Baking 101 (maybe get cupcakes from So Cupcake shop)

-Cake decorating

-Movie day (watch a classic discuss history of film and get a top 100

movies to see list)

And Im sure you can think of a few too...

What about April?

2009-04-23T14:51:00.001-07:00

Hey gals, this month has been a most terribly busy (and even overwhelming and busily terrible) month, and it is coming to a close without it's Culture Club meeting really fast here. Things are still extremely busy with me but I was wondering if any of you would want to scramble and help make a meeting happen in the next week or so? If not that is definitely fine but having monthly meetings will have to be a group effort so if not this month try to share future months and activities that you will be willing to host.
I am totally willing to help organize your input and suggestions into a concrete schedule. So let the brainstorming begin.
Just some last ditch suggestions for this month:
-We can go out to lunch together for a future CC meeting planning session
-Go see a cool movie together
-Visit the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point
-And also.... I teaching a photography class for an enrichment night for my ward at my house tuesday 28 at 7 pm. If you would want to come and learn more about photography this is also an option.

Im excited to here from ya'll.

In the meantime here is an absolutely lovely film that will spark the creativity (and romance) that is in all of us. Happy Spring, too!

March CC meeting = Exotic Enlightenment

2009-04-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all that came out for the activity. Most of the

info discussed has been posted in the post below so either if

you weren't able to make it and you are wanting to get filled

in or if you were able to participate and you just want to

review in case you missed something, its there for you. Thanks for

all your patience as I was more than just frazzled that day and

putting you to work the moment you walked through my door

probably wasn't what you all had in mind, but for the most part

the food turned out alright thanks to all your willing hands and

in case you were wondering I never found out what went wrong

with the cashew fudge, I tasted it later that night and it was basically

like a very nutty sorbet (since we had put it in the freezer to get it

to thicken up) but please do to post some of your favorite Indian

recipes if you have any, so we can feel a little more edified in

that department. But as for the cultural info a big thank you

to our little Kitch! You did great.

For more pics of the event click here....

India lecture notes

2009-03-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

Some History:

Major influential invasions-

Aryan 1500 BC

-Brought sanskrit language

-Brought Vedas (hindu scripture)

-Caste System

3 major Islamic Invasions: only the last held influence

-1st-Arabs 8th century

-2nd-Turks, Afghans, Persians 13th century

-3rd-Moguls 16th century- actually succeeded, Taj Mahal was built

by a Mogul

Religion:

Hinduism-

-enfolds other religions (believes Christ and Buddha were avatars* of vishnu)

*avatars are reincarnations of Gods

-Polytheistic

-3 Major Gods: Brahma(creator), Shiva (destroyer: like summer to fall),

Vishnu (the preserver like spring from winter)

-3 Popular Gods: Krishna (blue), Parvati (mother goddess {name of character in

Harry Potter}), Ganesh (elephant god)

-Varna or Caste System {5 levels}

-Kshatriya-warrior

-Brahman-priestly, intellectuals (highest)

-Vaisya-merchants

-Sudras-peasants

-Parians-untouchables

-Reincarnation

-Cycle of death and rebirth=samsara

-Getting reborn into different caste (after living only one caste in

per life) is based on the total Karma collected in the proceeding life

- Moksha/Mukti- "release" liberation from the cycle, when one has

reached the highest level, reunite with Brahman

{Painting of Krishna, is NOT believed to have multiple arms they just

represent different personality traits}

Hindu Temple

3 major tiers representing different levels of glory

-1st is decorated with human and carnal figures representing the level

of the natural man (can be painted and brightly colored)

-2nd- less carvings of figures and what carvings there are of Gods (?)

-3rd is decorated with only geometric tessellation as they are considered

the purest form of art, no figures to make into idols, {same reasoning as

Islam's for using only tessellation and calligraphy in their art}

Isalm-

-Monotheistic-one god Allah

-Everyone is equal as they submit to Allah

-Started by Mohammed

-believed to be the last great profit in the line of Adam, Noah, Abraham

-Orphaned at a young age, raised by family

-As a young man help resolve a major issue of the black rock stollen

from mecca, each leader from all the different tribes in the area

wanted to be the ones that brought back the rock, source of

contention, Mohammed's solution was to carry back the rock on a

cloak which was lifted by each leader at a corner.

-Then started to become influential religious leader

-Last part of his life became a war lord conquering and creating the

Islamic empire

-After Mohammed died Islam population divided

-Sunni- believe that the rule of the religion follows with whom the

latest prophet designates ( much like LDS take on presidency of the

church after Joseph Smith died) make up 90% of islam population

-Shi 'ite- believes that the religion should be ruled only by descendants

of Mohammed (Much like RLDS take on who should be president

of the church after JS died) Make up 10% of population

-Religious Scripture

-Qur'an/Koran- passages written down in poetic form of what

Mohamad said, Mohammed did not write it, Official cannon,

moral guidance and legal instruction

-Sunnah- "way and manners of the prophet", official cannon

-Hadith- not official cannon, actual content disputed and changing

-The 5 pillars of the faith

-Shahadah- creed, excepting Allah as god, testifying of Mohammed

-Salah- Prayer, 5 times a day, facing mecca,

-Zakat- alms -giving

-Sawm- fasting during month of Ramadan (only eating when it is dark)

-Hajj- pilgramage to mecca, must walk around the Kaaba (black cube

housing the black rock) 7 times

**only a minority of conservative sunni population believes Jihad to

be a sixth piller of Islam

-Jihad- "to struggle" defined as "exerting one's utmost efforts

to contend with an object of disapprobation" definitions of

such "objects" differ whether it be aspects of ones own self or

a visible enemy. This difference is important when discussing

the motivations of groups such as al-Qaeda.

{Love the motion blur of the groups circling the Kaaba}

Buddhism-

-Started by Siddhartha Gautama- Hindu prince in Nepal saddened by

the poverty he was seeing set out to find a way to reach enlightenment

without having to go through all the castes

-Buddhism caught on very fast as it taught that everyone could reach

enlightenment

-Traveled to China where it caught on fast but didn't last long due to

overpowering governments (hmmmm, I wonder if there is any connedtion

to there being 5 stories on buddist pagodas and there being 5 castes in

the Hindu religion....arent they both showing how many levels there are

in the progression to enlightenment?) (If any of you know for sure there

really is a connection, please post about it)

Music:

(Kitch has by now taken back her lecture notes so I cant refer to them

so I will outline what I remember but Ill try to get her to edit this post

and fill in some blanks)

Hindustani: India's classical music

Qawwali:known for its highly ornamental singing, use of harmonioum

Filmi: Baliwood musicals. Usually very escapest and unrealistically

happy. Huge productions of singing and dancing. Kissing and

romantic gestures usually not allowed and considered

offensive (reason why Richard Gear got all that flack for

kissing the indian actress that presented his award), but

suggestive dance moves make up for some of that lost sex appeal.

Other Facts:

Bindis and other forehead marks-

-Bindis- Mark usually red placed on the 6th chakra (seat of wisdom)

stared out being a mark worn by married woman only, color red

chosen for being auspicious and believed to bring fortune

-Marks that are associated with caste

click here for information (look for section 1:5)...

Henna- paste painted on the skin in intricate designs, traditionally

for weddings, believed that beauty brings fortune, some brides

henna decoration can be so intricate and need so many re-applications

that it can take up to 4 days to be ready for the event, grooms will get

henna as well

Notice traditional saris are always draped over the left shoulder.

As you may have noticed, I started loosing my

steam towards the end of this post. If any of you have

any more information or interesting facts please feel

free to post them.

GeT ExCiTed

2009-03-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

::REMINDER::

Just reminding you girls about

our CC meeting coming up this Saturday the 21st.

If you have accepted a food assignment &

have any questions just let me know.

Or haven't accepted one yet but want to.

::LETS MEET::

@ 12:00 Pm

Bethany's House

get excited.

If you liked the brushes I used in the above poster

(Which Im sure that Crystal would have made a much cooler one)

Here is a link. They are an exciting new find for me.

And the image was an image that I shot and then

used the "cut out" filter in photoshop to stylize.

That filter reminds me of the work that this girl does

a great idea for some personalized wall hangings

that you could make yourself or get through her.

Sorry for the random tangent

just thought I would let you know as

I would love to hear your creative ideas.

March Culture Club Meeting: INDIA

2009-02-23T15:39:00.000-08:00

{Image I took at the Krishna Temple last saturday during the Night of Shiva Festival}

Hey girls the theme for next months meeting has been chosen....India. Kitchen will been kind enough to give us a lecture/ presentation based on all the amazing things she is learning in her eastern art and culture class at BYU. Religion, music, traditions, and general culture will be discussed. Along with fun activities where all your 5 senses will be enlivened. Unfortunately I dont think Slumdog Millionaire will be out on DVD by then as it would be perfect to watch and discuss together. Go watch it if you can or have an interest in it as it is an amazing film about India. But we can read a book to supplement what we will learn in the meeting and have a little book club action added into the mix. The book that Libby recommended is "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry. Its about 600 pg long (which is about half as long as MY favorite book on India which we didnt choose for obvious reasons) so I thought I would give you a heads up so that you gals can start reading it.

Where: Bethany's House

When:The tentative date for this meeting will be March 21st and probably will go for a good part of the afternoon.

We wanted to Study India this next month as the Festival of Colors will be held at the Kirshna Temple in Spanish Fork on March 28. An extremely popular and fun festival to attend where they throw colored chalk and eat good food. So we thought that we would get you in the mood. PLEASE comment back and let me know if this date will work for you or any suggestions for the activity. Thanks. Im totally excited.

Bethany's 30 min Recipes

2009-02-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

Zucchini Risotto

4 sm zucchini, cut 1/2'' thick

1 Chopped and seeded tomato

1 onion finelt chopped

1 clove of garlic minced

3-4 cups chicken broth (2-3 cans)

1 1/2 cups raw Arborio rice (looks like really short and fat grains of rice, found next to the noodles in the store NOT the asian or rice sections)

Saute onion in 1 T olive oil until limp, Add 1/3 tsp. salt and 1 cup of broth, zucchini, and rice. Stir then cook over med low heat until liquid is gone, then add another cup of broth. Repeat until all broth is used. This will make the rice creamy. Sprinkle with 1/4-1/3 cups parpasan cheese and toss.

Rosemary Lemon Chicken

Very easy. Wash and trim chicken breasts, spread out on plate and then sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp grated lemon zest, 1tsp finely chopped rosemerry, 1/4tsp salt, 2 cloves of garlic onto the chicken and then rub in the flesh with the back of a spoon. Place in fridge while you assemble and get the risotto cooking. When the risotto is ready saute chicken until done and then serve over the risotto.

Beef Stroganoff (Reece's Favorite)

3 T. butter

1/2 cups green onions chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic minced

2 lbs extra lean hamburger

4 cans sliced mushrooms (optional)

6 T fresh lemon juice

6 T Red Wine Burgundy

2 cans beef consomme

2 tsp salt

1 pkg (12oz) egg noodles

2 cups (one small tub) no fat sour cream

Melt butter in a deeper saute pan, saute onions and garlic, add meet and brown, add mushrooms lemon juice, wine, consomme, and salt. Add noodles (uncooked) 15 min till noodles are soft. Just before serving mix in the sour cream but dont let the mixture boil.

I think the secret ingredient is the wine and lemon juice. Dont blush you are all old enough now to go buy some if this stuff (for cooking purposes only).

February C.C. Meeting = Yummy

2009-02-23T14:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Libby for hosting the February Culture Club meeting. She did a cooking demonstration for an impressive, healthy, and very yummy 30 min meal and did a wonderful job. She cooked Salmon with a brown sugar glaze, brown rice, asparagus, and garlic breadsticks. It was fast and amazingly tasty. We got great tips on where to shop, what to get, measuring tips, and seasoning suggestions. Not to mention sweet chic little binders to store our recipes. It was so fun to spend an afternoon learning and chatting with my lovely ladies. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. She is going to post the recipes soon. We were also asked to bring our favorite 30 min recipe which I will post soon as well. All of you feel free to post your delightful yet fast recipes even if you couldn't make it to the meeting. I cant wait till next month. Be planning on our monthly meetings being about the 2nd or 3rd saturdays of every month so mark those on your calenders, we will hold the meetings those weeks with whoever can make it that month. I look forward to see all of you.

New Inspiring Magazine

2009-02-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

Just heard about this beautiful mag that writes for women that "want to be stylish, sexy, and engaged in the world while retaining high standards in dress, entertainment, and lifestyle." Im in love with the photography and am inspired by the styling.

Some suggested creative blogs to follow....

2009-02-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

Here are some views that will spark your creativity.

Get Your Tickets

2009-01-16T16:20:00.000-08:00

Hey Gals!

Just to remind you....its that season again....the Sundance Film Festival is just starting. Click below to see whats showing and to get your tickets....I just bought some today for the animation spotlight (different selections of all the animation films that are entering) on Jan 24th. Tickets were only $15!!!! Im looking at other films to see what else I want to go to. There are still lots of tickets available. It would make for a fun date...

Sundance 2009

Oppps!

2009-01-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

Looks like I didnt register in time for the upholstery class. So hopefully I can be better prepared and act a little faster for the next semester...which I think are fall classes.

Im just editing the pictures of our Tea Party. OOooo they are lovely. Thank you all for coming over and making that afternoon so amazingly fun. Cant wait till the next get together.....

Libby, are you still on for hosting our february club get together? Still planning on a cooking demo and yummy recipe sharing? All you gals be looking at your schedules and be commenting on possible days that we could get together next.

Upholstery Classes!!!!!

2009-01-03T18:44:00.001-08:00

Hey girls I have found an upholstery class that we can take, it is held at Hillside Middle School in SLC for those of you that arnt alma mater of that lovely institution it is about 2300 East between 1700 S and 2100 S just off of the parleys exit on the I-215 east. The class costs $130 which might seem to be a bit high but its extremely lower than a custom made couch. :) Registration is Jan 5th-9th and classes start the week of the 12th. Im totally excited and want to know if anyone is interested in doing it with me. I teach tuesdays from 1-5 but I think I can race up to SLC for the 7:00 class.

Here is more about registration and schedules: click here The upholstery class info is on pg. 20.

Please let me know what you guys think......

Utah Restaurant List

2008-12-19T23:01:00.000-08:00

I had spent some time putting together a list of yummy restaurants for a requested Christmas present for my sisters. I thought that I would post it so we could add our own reviews and suggestions to the list. Also its a great resource if you are planning a date with your honey.

I've separated them into "Favorites", "Great", and "Havent tried yet....but cant wait":

Favorites:

Bambara

American Fusion

15 West 200 South

(Hotel Monaco)

Salt Lake City

801-363-5454

Faustina

American French

300 South 454 East

SLC

801.746.4441

The Grappa

Formal Italian

151 Main Street

Park City

435-645-0636

Himalayan Kitchen

Indian/ Tandori cooking

73 East 400 S.

SLC

801-328-2077

Beehive Tea Room

12 West 300 South

SLC

801-328-4700

Cucina Deli

french/italian

1026 E Second Ave.

SLC

801-532-8360

The Dodo

American (must get: Artichoke pie, BBQ turkey sandwich, toll house pie)

152 S 400 W. (Gateway Mall)

801-456-2473

1355 E 2100 S

SLC

801-486-2473

Pudding On The Rice

serves just different flavors of rice pudding

YUMMY!

2293 N. University Parkway Plum tree shopping center

801-375-5007

Greats:

Trio

Modern Italian

680 S. 900E

SLC801-233-8746

Tuscany

Formal Italian

2832 E. 6200 S.

SLC

801-277-9919

Mikado

Classy Japanese (best Sushi)

6572 S. Big Cottonwood Canyon R

SLC

801-947-9800

The Melting Pot

fondue

340 S. Main

SLC

801-521-6358

Zin Bistro

Italian

2020 E. 3300 S.

801-485-6644

(must have reservations, dinner takes awhile)

Log Haven

fine dining/american

up millcreek canyon, cross street 3800 south

801-272-8255

(reservations a must)

Luganos

Italian

3364 South 2300 East

SLC

801-412-9994

Market Street Grill

seafood/american

48 WEst Market Street

SLC

801-322-4668

The Pie

Pizza

1320 East 200 South (Downstairs)

SLC

801-582-0193

Bombay House

Indian

1615 Foothill Drive

SLC

801-581-0222

Oasis Cafe

international/vegetarian/seafood

151 South 500 EAst

SLC

801-322-0404

(great german pancake)

Cucina Toscana

Classy Italian

307 West Peirpont Avenue

SLC

801-328-3463

Flemings Steakhouse

American

20 South 400 WEst

SLC (Gateway Mall)

801-355-3704

Kneaders

Cafe/deli (must go for the bottomless cinnamon french toast)

multiple locations throughout valley

Havent tried yet.....but cant wait:

Biaggi's

Italian

194 South 400 West (Gateway Mall)

SLC

801-596-7222

Cafe Molise

Italian

194 South 400 West

SLCC

801-364-8833

Martine

Spanish tapas

22 EAst 100 South

SLC

801.363.9328

Elizabethen Tea House

575 E 700 south

SLC

801-433-1170

Grand America High Tea

555 south Main Street

801-258-600

Tea Grotto

2030 South 900 East

801-466-8255

Metropolitan

modern american

173 West Broadway

SLC

801-364-3472

Cafe Niche

779 E. 300 South

European

SLC

Tin Angel

organic

4th South 365 West

SLC

801-328-4155

Spark Restaurant Lounge

Chic

89 N. University Ave.

Provo UT

801-701-6780

Caputo's Deli

European/Italian market style

314 West 300 South

SLC

801-531-tony

Dew

international/ yummy desserts

669 E 800 N

Provo UT

Settebello

pizzeria napoletana

260 South 200 West

SLC

Pizzeria 712

320 S. State Street

Orem

801-623-6712

EM's Restaurant

271 Center Street

SLC

Snow Mum.

2008-11-20T17:12:00.001-08:00

So, my mom is quite the seamstress, and my sister and I finally took an interest in her talent this summer and learned how to sew. I found this pattern here and since I think we're all obsessed with the holiday season, they might be fun to make. What do you think? I don't know a ton, but I would be happy to share pointers that Mama J. has passed along. Oh, she is so wise.

Project?

2008-11-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

Hey Ladies, ok I stumbled upon this through a friend (Catherine Stevens) and I think these headbands are absolutely adorable. But they might be a little pricey and we are in a recession and all, so then I thought, I'll just make one! And then I thought, this would be the perfect little project for the Culture Club. What do you guys think?

We could go pick out material and any other things we want to use together and then just go back to someone's house and work on them, maybe while we watch one of the movies? The website is marielizabethcouture.blogspot.com

It has a ton of different designs and patterns there to inspire us. Anyways, it was just a thought, let me know what you think.

Some really quick movie reviews....

2008-11-08T09:42:00.001-08:00

I watched this film classic during my intro to film class at BYU (one of my most favorite classes I ever took at that institution). And I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Part of my enjoyment could have been brought about by the fact that this was the last film that we watched and I had all the semester's lectures on analyzing film still fresh in my mind so that I was truly able to recognize how innovative and rule braking the cinematography was for this film at the time that it was created. Sometimes its hard for our younger generation to watch older films with the lack of realistic special effects or out-dated humor and acting quality. But this film was so creative for its time that I didnt have much of a transitional moment where I had to prepare myself for a typical old movie. The filming angles and framing are so unique.

The plot was also thought provoking as well. It causes you to think of questions such as "what would people think of my life after Im gone?" "In the end what is the most important thing in life?" "What would I remember from my life while lying on my death bed?". Although the actual characters never fully found the answers to these questions for Kane's life the viewer does get a glimpse at the very end, and my interpretation is that although Kane was so successful and rich the thing most important to him (although he never expressed this until on his death bed) where his memories of being with an actual loving family.

I also enjoyed finally seeing many references from this movie that I have heard all my life, in their real context. "Rosebud....", "Xanadu". So many actors and films refer to this movie, and now, finally I can catch those jokes and references.

I would definitely recommend this one.

I finally got to watch the original version of this movie on Halloween this year. And as many of you know, I hate scary movies. Im sensitive and dont have the ability to watch a scary movie and then sleep soundly with all the lights off. My most common reaction is to stay up the entire night with all the lights on watching G rated movies to try to get the images out of my head, I get scarred pretty easily. I used to do alright and I saw a ton of horror films, but one day like a light, I just switched. So I accepted to watch this film hesitantly. I had seen the shower scene over and over agin in my film class so I thought I knew what to expect. But after the shower scene happened (and it happened way earlier that I ever expected) The film was gripping. I was on edge the whole time. I think that a good scary movie shouldn't have to rely on countless deaths and endless blood and gore to scare you. A really well written and acted plot is all that it takes to intrigue and totally scare the viewers, without any psychological or evil-spirit-inhabiting-your-body residual effects. And that is exactly what this film was. The definition of a psychological thriller. There was very little blood and surprisingly you never see a knife enter someone's skin. I oddly enough thought it was a great movie. I would definitely suggest it for your next halloween night.

Just got on CD

2008-11-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

I thought that I would make my commute to work down in Orem more productive. Any suggestions or reviews that you want to pass my way so my listening can be more productive?

(yes this is enough listening for about a years worth of commutes, hopefully I get into them enough that I will continue to listen to them while doing chores at home)

I know I should have done this much earlier with my commute to BYU every day before I graduated but that driving time was better served as quiet-my- time where I didnt need to be studying or anything just time to relish my own thinking time. (dont worry I would still drive very safely, non of those daily accidents on I-15 ever involved me......knock on wood)

Warm you soul its so good...

2008-11-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

This is my new favorite treat! It is the right combination of cranberry orange with a tiny "plant" flavor that comes off more as a spice flavor. I have always had a love hate relationship with herbal teas. Growing up I liked the idea of drinking warm tea but every tea that I had just tasted like a watered down version of something that might have been good with a planty sometimes dirt-y (not to be confused with "not clean" but actually tasting like dirt) aftertaste. But in my recent years as an adult I found out that I can make my own tea however I want, which makes all the difference. I like to have this tea with:

-rally warm water (non of this luke warm stuff)

-TWO tea bags for just one mug

-two spoonfuls of sugar (helps the medicine .....tea......go down......)

-and a good helping of Half and Half (straight from the fridge into the hot tea, cause warm cream just curdles up and makes a nasty texture to your tea)

I also really like to make a very Yummy iced tea with my peach and berry teas, but Ill save those recipes until next summer (unless requested before then).

Movie List Ideas

2008-11-04T20:26:00.000-08:00

Here is a list that was compiled by my Film Class Teacher of her favorite movies to analyze: (I cant vouch that all these films are good as I haven't seen them all) And if you like more older options than check out the link of movies under "Suggestions and Inspiration".

The Queen

March of the Penguins

An Inconvenient Truth

Iraq in Fragments

The Illusionist

Super Size Me

Hotel Rwanda

Edward Scissorhands

Duck Soup

Anything by M. Night Shyamalan

-Lady in the Water

-Sixth Sense

-Unbreakable

-The Village

On the Waterfront

Casablanca

Seven Chances

Any Alfred Hitchcock Films

-Psycho

-Vertigo

-Rear Window

-The Birds

-Lifeboat

-Strangers on a Train

-To Catch a Thief

To Kill a Mockingbird

12 Angry Men

Gone with the Wind

Wait Until Dark

Funny Girl

My Fair Lady

Roman Holiday

Breakfast At Tiffany's

Sabrina

Sundays in the Park with George

D.O.A

Double Indemnity

The Maltese Falcon

Out of the Past

Public Enemy (1931)

The Third Man

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Hero

Once Upon a Time in the West

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Blue Kite

House of Flying Daggers

My Darling Clementine

The Man Who shot Liberty Valance

Shane

Jeremiah Johnson

Rio Grande

Whats up Doc?

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Bride and Prejudice

New York Doll

The Great Train Robbery

Chocolate

Arsenic and Old Lace

Princess Mononoke

Howl's Moving Castle

A Streetcar Named Desire

The Lady Vanishes

Color of Paradise

Hearts in Atlantis

The Bicycle thief

Memoirs of a Geisha

Spirited Away

Walk the Line

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Stangers on a Train

The White Countess

My Neighbor Totoro

The Triplets of Belleville

Finding Neverland

The New World

Out of Africa

Amadeus

Chariots of Fire

West Side Story

Ben-Hur

The Bridge on the River Kwai

42nd Street (1933)

About a Boy

the Long Walk Home (1990)

Il Postino

400 Blows

Paradise Now

Secondhand Lions

Lawrence of Arabia

2001: A Space Odyssey

Citizen Kaine

Solaris

American Graffiti

Holes

Chronicles of Narnia

Seven Samarai

the Road Home

3 International Films that I really loved are:

-To Live (its chinese, beautiful, about forgiveness, and is very symbolic with its use of the color red, much like the "sixth sense's" use of red)

-Life is Beautiful (total waterworks but very meaningful)

-Mostly Martha (The original german version not the american "No Reservations" version is an interesting study on one woman's battle with OCD and expressing emotion)