Love This Dress!

As you probably know by now, I am addicted to Etsy. It would be safe to say that I spend at least 10% of my day searching through the listings and drooling over various items. Well, when I logged on this morning and started to peruse my list of "favorite sellers" I spotted an absolutely gorgesou beach-style/casual wedding gown that is sure to make any bride swoon. It is by local Portland designer Holly Stalder, and I'm all about supporting local artists. I only wish that I didn't already have two wedding dresses (a long gown for the ceremony and a short one for the reception) so that I could add this to my collection. If I could somehow justify having a third dress this would definitely be it.

Simple, flirty, and has a vintage flair that I adore. To top it off, the dress is under $300- which is very budget friendly! If you want to check it out, here it is in her Etsy Shop.

This is going to make one lucky bride very happy!

A Honeymoon in the Wilderness?

For our honeymoon I have my heart set on hiking. But, not just any hiking. I want to go hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail. Of course I don't mean the whole trail. That would be insane, and I'm sure Nick and I would get picked off by wild animals before we made it past Southern California (assuming we started in Mexico). I specifically want to go hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail up in Canada.

Crazy? Maybe. But if you knew me at all you wouldn't be surprised. What better an idea than combining the two things I love most: Nature and Nick?

I found a lodge up in B.C. that sits on the edge of the trail. You can go hiking during the day and enjoy the comforts of a warm bed at night. Perfect. Now I just have to convince the fiance...

All this talk of hiking takes me back to our one year anniversary. As a gift to Nick I surprised him early in the morning by getting a picnic together and driving us out to Saddle Mountain for a hike. The view was absolutely gorgeous and we had an amazing day. It has been one of the most memorable moments of our relationship- and the only times I ever regret that we are car-free are when I want to go back!

Here's a little video from our trip:

Eco-Friendly Fish

On my quest to have the most eco-friendly wedding possible (It's been hard, I know. First I have to sample delicious wines and now I'm forced to do research via blogs!) I have quickly become enamored with the blog earth friendly weddings. One of their recent posts about eco-friendly seafood helped Nick and I out a ton when it came time to decide what type of fish we would be serving at our reception. If you get a chance, you should definitely check out Please don't eat me! for lots of good info on eating responsibly. picture courtesy of davesalbacore.com

Seafood Selector

The Dreaded "D" Word

I decided that since I picked out a slinky sheath-style wedding gown it would be in my best interest to...*gulp*... diet.

Yes, diet.

The dreaded "D" word.

To be honest, I'm on unfamiliar grounds here. While I may ocassionally talk myself out of purchasing a tub of Ben & Jerrys at the grocery store, I don't really know what it means to actually diet. You know, the kind of diet that lasts more than two days and takes real willpower... willpower that I do not have. As long as I can remember I think I've only tried to diet once. My friend Ginny gave me a copy of this detox diet that was only supposed to last a week.

One. Measly. Week.


Well I lasted a whole two days until I got deathly ill and decided losing weight just wasn't worth it. Not that way at least. I'm not so much interested in losing a ton of weight in a hurry as I am in developing an overall healthy lifestyle (can you tell that advice came straight from the mouth of a dietitian?).

I need to learn self control. You see, I have a problem and it looks a little bit like this:




Actually, it looks exactly like that. I cannot stop myself from eating them. I crave salt the way people crave chocolate. I need it. I love it. You could give most women truffles and they would love you forever (well, I would love you forever if they were Moonstruck truffles). If you gave me a fresh pack of Salt & Vinegar Stax I would love you forever and then some! That, or a bag of Roasted Salted Almonds... or even the salty rim of cold margarita would suffice (I have blood pressure so high it would make even Kristy Alley shudder!).

Plus: salt= water retention= bloated= unfortunate looking curves under a hip-hugging sheath gown.

You see where I'm going with this? I need a salt intervention!

So I guess I should rephrase this. I'm not going on a diet per se (because who the heck do I think I'm kidding?), I'm going to learn how to have a healthy diet (wait... isn't that the same as going on a diet? I think I've been tricked!).

I've got my mantra all picked out. I will just repeat "sheath dress, sheath dress, sheath dress, heart attack!" whenever I peer wistfully down the snack aisle at the grocery store. (I'm guessing this has a 15% chance of actually working)



Ugh, now I'm craving chips.

A Spring Inspiration Board

Here are a few more things I adore:
From top: wedding cake found on flickr, hairstyle photo courtesy of The Knot, Stuart Weitzman shoes at Nordstrom, key lime caramels by simply seasonal on Etsy (lime is my absolute favorite flavor in the entire world!), photo by Joey Bloom of In Bloom Photography, earrings by hawaiibeads on Etsy, bolero by Twigs & Honey, bottom two photos courtesy of Aisha Harley Photography.


I don't want to give away too much info as to which of these items will be making an appearance at our wedding- so I guess you'll just have to wait and see!

A Little Bit of Bling...

I hate the word "bling" but find it ever so appropriate when describing this gorgeous ring:
We finally picked up my wedding band from Gilt this past weekend! For those of you that don't know, it is the same place Nick purchased my Edwardian engagement ring- circa 1910 14k yellow gold shank with Old European Cut diamonds set in platinum. See the pic below: They had to size the wedding band down to my itty-bitty 4.75 size ring finger, and I'm trying my hardest not to wear it while lounging around our apartment. It is by Granat Bros., circa 1938. 14K yellow gold with 12 diamonds set in milgrain platinum.

Vintage, simple, and oh-so-sparkly! (our camera does not do this justice)

Guilt-free never looked so good!

Nick & Amanda Warholized

And to think, sometimes I complain that I don't have enough free time!

Bird ♥

There's something about birds that makes me giddy with joy. I can't put my finger on it. I love to look at them, touch them, and collect them. Now, I don't mean birds like the ones my mom and dad have at home. Those birds, while lovely to stare at from a safe distance, wake you up in the mornings with the perfected sound of a ringing cell phone or the yip of a poodle. They would also gladly remove a wandering finger if given the opportunity. No, I mean the kind of birds that are completely harmless and you don't ever have to clean up after... ceramic birds.

It all started when I stumbled upon my now favorite owl ring at Anthropologie the other summer. It has rarely left my finger since the day I brought it home.

Photo courtesy of krisnations.com

Then to my excitement, during a Christmas present exchange at my grandparents' house Nick managed to wrangle us a vintage cookie jar in the shape of a plump owl.

I was hooked.

Conveniently, I find that birds can also add that extra vintage charm to our wedding reception. The only problem is getting the right kind of bird without the kitsch-factor. After scouring the internet, I found exactly what I was looking for on one of my favorite sites Etsy. A little shop called runny bunny makes these beautiful ceramic birds that I think will go wonderfully with our wedding decor:

And although this may not be wedding appropriate, I think I can find room for this creative trinket on one of our bookshelfs at home:



I'm sure Nick will understand.

Engagement Photos Are Here!

Nick went and picked up our engagement photos this afternoon. Our photographer is Joey Bloom of In Bloom Photography and we absolutely love him! I also want to thank Josh at Dezi Salon for doing my hair before the event. They are the best! I hate being in front of the camera and was really nervous about getting them done (note my "what if?" post). My mom suggested we drink a few mimosas before heading over to The Rose Gardens. I had a few... too many. It all worked out though. We met with Joey, were in and out in under fifteen minutes (my kind of photo shoot), and I actually turned out much more photogenic than I usually am. Then I went home to nurse my champagne induced headache and thank my lucky stars we found such a cool photographer.

Here are some of our favorite shots:
Above photos by Joey Bloom

For the rest of the photos check out Our Photo Album!

Inspiration Photos

Although I keep changing my mind about various aspects of our ceremony and reception, we do have a few things set in stone. One, we want a non-traditional outdoor ceremony (which will hopefully not get rained out on the Manzanita beach). Two, there will be lots and lots of peonies- everywhere! Three, our wedding colors. They are ivory, peony pink, chocolate brown, and hints of spring green as a popping color (pretty much the colors of our blog). And four, the theme is very vintage, shabby chic, spring, eco-friendly inspired (phew- that was a mouthful!).

Here are some inspiration photos:Photo courtesy of perfectbound.blogspot.com

Photo courtesy of sencenectar.com


Photo courtesy of parrottdesignstudio.com

Photo courtesy of Twigs&Honey (the lovely flower Myra made for my hair!)

Photo courtesy of theknot.com

P.S. engagement photos will be up tonight! I can't wait!