On a recent trip to my parents, my mom discussed changing the carpet in the bedrooms of their new (to them) home. The carpets had been in the house for ten years and smell like the previous owner's dog. She knows she needs and wants to replace them, but can’t decide on the right carpet. It’s an expensive and long-term decision so you want to make sure you make the right choice. Here are a few things we learned when researching carpet.

Start with the Padding

The padding isn’t something you initially think about when choosing carpet because it isn’t visible, but it makes a bid different to the feel of your carpet. Padding helps hide imperfections on the floor and adds extra cushion. It may be tempting to skimp on the padding, but a good padding…

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I was driving on Red Cliffs Drive the other day and a heart in a window caught my attention.  It was a bright red heart and it said Waffle Love.  I decided to give the small restaurant, in St. George, a try today.  When you walk into the place you immediately are met with the delicious smell of waffles.  Recently we tried chicken and waffles in Las Vegas and we were excited to see that was on the menu.  

The menu offers numerous specialty waffles, such as:

  • The Churro Waffle with cinnamon and sugar
  • The Cinna Love with cinnamon butter and cream cheese frosting
  • The Red Wonder with biscoff, strawberries, raspberries and cream
  • Nutella Love with Nutella, cream and your choice of fruit
  • Banana Cream Pie with chocolate, bananas and cream
    • …

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The area your washing machine and dryer are located can be the least favorite part of the house. It is often a mess, filled with junk, and in many cases an impractical space—laundry rooms in garages, unfinished basements, or small spaces off the kitchen. Having a well-designed laundry room can bring organization to your home and make the never ending process of laundry more enjoyable. Below are a few things to consider if you are finally creating your perfect laundry room.

Make a Place for Everything

While in the design stage, think of everything you could possibly store in your laundry room and give it a home. Make sure there is a place to hang laundry, store folded laundry, and store any laundry supplies such as soap, ironing boards, etc……

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I was shopping in Ancestor Square in downtown St. George and I came across the St. George Art Museum.  I wondered if there would be galleries and art museums when I moved here from the Salt Lake City area and I have found a wealth of museums and galleries throughout St. George, Washington and Hurricane, Utah. 

The mission of the St. George Art Museum is “to education all visitors through quality exhibitions from all periods, cultures, and media, as well as to collect, conserve, inventory, exhibit and interpret art and artifacts from Utah and the West”.

The St. George Art Museum is right across from the Main Street Post Office in historic downtown St. George.  The museum was formerly used as a sugar beet seed storage facility.  Now it is a…

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A recent National Geographic article named two Utah towns on its list of “America’s 20 Best Mountain Biking Towns”. For adventure seekers, this may come as no surprise. Between all of Utah’s national parks and wild landscape, Utah is a great place to find outdoor adventure.

Moab made number one on the list. The red rock landscape makes for an otherworldly view. Some of Moab’s best trails include Porcupine Rim, Slickrock, and Whole Enchilada. The location of Moab makes traveling to other beautiful areas such as Arches and Canyonlands also makes the trip worth it.

Park City made the list at number four. The International Mountain Biking Association awarded Park City its first gold-level status of its 37 designated “ride centers’. Park City…

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My friend came to visit us in St. George from up north and she told me that we must visit the best quilt shop in Utah – Clover Patch Quilt Shop in Santa Clara, Utah.  I am not a quilter and the only thing I sew are buttons onto a shirt or two, if I have to.  But this was an incredible fabric/quilt shop.  The Clover Patch is on Santa Clara Drive in a home that has been renovated into a quilt shop. 

I have never seen such beautiful fabrics in every color imaginable.   We spent time looking at the wide selection of quality fabrics available.  The fabrics were displayed by colors but also in groupings, such as:  holidays, nature, children, floral, southwest and novelty. 

 

The Clover Patch is family owned and operated.  The people were very…

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Trail Tuesday took me on my favorite hike of the summer – Red Reef at Red Cliffs.    The Red Reef hike begins at the Red Cliffs campground and it takes you by beautiful red rock formations, arches, caves and great water holes.  There are spectacular views and numerous photo opportunities.  The trail follows Quail Creek and you enter a winding beautiful canyon.  There were several pools of water and at one point you have to navigate around a large pool, over an 8-foot sandstone wall, with carved-out foot holds.  These are called the Moki steps by locals.  Going up these steps is scary, but coming down them was fairly terrifying.  There is an anchored rope for you to hold onto, but if you fall you land right in the pool of water.

This pool is…

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Whenever I move it takes me months to finally hang pictures on the wall. I’m always nervous I’ll hang them in the wrong place or hang them the wrong way. I know I shouldn’t be intimidated by something that isn’t permanent, so I did some research on how to hang a picture correctly the first time.

Find the Place to Hang It

It’s hard to tell if the placement of a picture looks good from up close. Have someone hold the picture where you want it so you can step back and look at it from different angles. You can tell the person to move it around on different parts of the wall until you are satisfied with the location. A few things you should keep in mind is lighting and wall studs. Pictures might look very different depending on the time of day, so…

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After eating a delicious breakfast at the Main Street Diner, I came across an interesting antique/vintage shop in Hurricane, Utah.  It is called the Gypsy Emporium Antique Mall.  It is located at 25 East State Street in Hurricane.  This is one of the largest antique stores in all of Southern Utah.  

There is really no way to classify this shop.  It is full of antiques, souvenirs, mementos, crafts, vintage clothing and jewelry, consignment items and yet they also have new, locally made items too.  The building is huge and also has an upstairs packed with items.

I don’t really love shopping for antiques, but I enjoyed shopping at the Gypsy Emporium.  I found a few unique items I bought as gifts.  My daughter was with me and it was fun to explain…

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The Pasta Factory is located in Ancestor Square, downtown at the corner of St. George Boulevard and Main Street.  The Pasta Factory is a MUST if you live in St. George or if you are visiting.  The restaurant has an inside dining area, but I always enjoy sitting in the temperature controlled patio area. 

The unique thing about the Pasta Factory is that you can custom-build your pasta dish.  You select your pasta from a numerous assortment of choices – angel hair, spaghetti, fettuccine, penne, bowtie, linguine, radiatore, fresh zucchini, tortellini or ravioli.  Then you choose your sauce – alfredo, red clam, white clam, spaghetti, classic pesto, creamy pesto, meat or Szechuan.  Finally, you can add toppings to the dish – chicken breast, Szechuan…

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