speaking of creepy

I was just reminded of an amusing story that I should totally not share. But I will.

I used to think it was funny to listen for the door in our apartment hallway to know when Nick was coming home from work. Then, when I would hear keys jingling, I would stealthily unlock our front door, jump out, and scare the crap out of him (would you believe he screams like a girl?).

So one day it was about time he should be coming home. I hear the hallway door. I creep over. Jingling keys. I quietly open our door then leap into the hallway and yell BOO! as loud as I can.

It was our neighbor across the hall coming home with her boyfriend. They just stand there silently staring at me. She looks as though she isn't sure if she should karate chop me or give me meds. I purse my lips, slowly back into my apartment, and shut the door.


The End.


Image from here

Part 2

A long time ago I posted part 1 of a "cool wedding clutch" series that I had all intentions of finishing- but like most things in my life (and if you are close to me you know this is all too true), I got distracted by a pretty object outside my apartment window, something cool came on tv, I got hungry... and I completely forgot.

Now it's almost a year later. I'm going to publicly admit that I recently developed a creepy new habit. For the past few weeks one of the first things I do in the mornings, after making a cup of coffee and prying my kitties out from their hiding spots to squeeze them, is run to the computer to check the new listings in made by hank's Etsy shop. It's like Christmas every morning (ok, not every morning, but close enough).

I've already purchased two and there's no end in sight. I'm addicted. Sure, white, satin, beaded, lace clutches are great- whatever- but aren't these colorful handmade bags so much more fun? Also, getting my favorites has turned into a sort of competition. The moment they're listed they go like hotcakes. You spot a favorite, get up to refill your coffee, then BAM, it's already gone. I've got to be quick. I've got to be alert. (To whoever bought the deer applique bag- *shakes my fist*)

Like I said, It's gotten me a little creepy. Creepier.


I just refreshed her shop again. *eye twitch*

Voodoo

Just when you thought you couldn't get enough of my "support local business", "Go Portland", "I ♥ Oregon" hoopla, I go and throw Voodoo Doughnut into the mix.

I'm happy to announce the addition of some yummy custom pink "Portland Creme" doughnuts to our wedding dessert table. (I think they'll look lovely next to our cakes(s)).I'm going to stack them all pretty on some of our vintage cake stands like Martha does here, except these won't be quarantined to the "kids' table" like she suggests. These are intended to make even the oldest of grandpas melt into a frosting-coated puddle of childhood glee (I'm actually counting on a few candid wedding photos of this exact thing happening. Please).

Because who doesn't love pastry filled with custard?


P.S. that lovely was for you Emilia Jane. ;)


Images from here and here

pillow talk

It's 4 am and my insomnia is getting the best of me...

Nick- [snore]

Me- Sweetie, I can't stop thinking about John Goodman doing yoga.

hmph

Actually, I think he was meditating.

[snore]

Is it wrong that I find the chubby kid so amusing?

mmhmph

[chuckle] Oh, that David Byrne!

OK


(Note for the morning: go buy more Tylenol PM)

Whimsy & Spice Favors

To be featured in an upcoming issue of Martha.

♥

Images from here

hmph

This weekend I relaxed. Hung out with my parents at the beach. 67 more days to go. I took some mediocre Polaroids (after I figured out how to work the shutter). Rejoiced in our handmade garlands (thanks again friends for your 6+ hours of hard labor). Pranced around in my sexy wedding shoes. Ate 3/4 of an entire pineapple upside-down cake (f*ck you pre-wedding diet). Went to a stupid beach wedding show. Squeezed some goats. Drank lots of wine. Now it's back to reality.

Work. Bad TV. Dishes. Work. More wine. Hmph.

Love,
Amanda


p.s. check out those guns in that picture. I know, right?


Photo by Joey Bloom

my sanity

I recently came across this photo taken of me at Meesha's Bachelorette Party. After my initial reaction of "what the hell was I wearing?", I came to realize that this really does embrace my feelings about wedding planning thus far. Note the expression on my face. It screams: awkward, reluctant*, annoyed, and hasn't ingested nearly enough booze yet to make this "fun".

Our wedding website says we've got 71 more days to go. Cocktail anyone?


*Not reluctant about marrying Nick, but still reluctant about the whole idea of "weddings" in general.

*And Meesha, I hope you know I'm referring to the wig, not your bachelorette party. That was fun. The wig was not.

So we bought a Polaroid 210

...and I found a killer hookup at a local camera store for some cheap-as-hell 669 film. (I love being a girl)

Check out these amazing wedding photos taken with a Polaroid 210 that I found on Flickr. I'm going to cry with joy if ours turn out half as nice.


From Dunstan's Flickr

70's wedding

Stumbled across this on flickr and had to share. Yes, I have a thing for dresses with long lace sleeves.

It's almost dress season

I just love the look of a sweet summer dress paired with colorful heels and a cardigan. In less than two months I will be wearing this look five days a week. I have a vast collection of Anthropologie sales rack items and cleverly tailored thrift-store dresses that are dying to jump out of my closet.

Enough with turtleneck season already!

Dress found here

wedding map

In our attempts to keep our wedding as eco-friendly as possible, we decided to forgo the usual direction cards in our invitations and make a wedding website instead. When I was hunting around online for the best way to give our guests sensible directions to our ceremony and reception, I came across wedding mapper.

It's free, includes user friendly "directions to" and "directions from" functions (similar to Google maps), has symbols to show ceremony, hotels, airports, etc. on the map- and even allows you to add photos for each location (again, very reminiscent of Google). Once I put ours together I added a link to the map in our wedding website, and voila!I don't claim to be the most computer savvy person around, but our map turned out pretty freakin' cool if I might say so myself.

(I believe some of the fancier wedding websites include mapping functions, but since ours was free and simple, this worked well for us.)

short wedding dresses under $500

Custom vintage slipdress by kt jean designs on Etsy. $250

White as snow and Mayflower dresses by Sarah Seven on Etsy. $455 and $195 (custom colors available)

BCBG Strapless Appliqué dress at Nordstrom. $398

Gold Spalding dress by Makool Loves You on Etsy. $475

Diane von Furstenberg Hippolyte dress from Nordstrom. $495 (my favorite)

And don't forget my all-time favorites from Holly Stalder: here, here, and here. I'm a little obsessed.

earring hunt

I'm currently on the hunt for the perfect gold and pearl/pink stone earrings to complete my wedding day look. I've been hunting for hours to no avail.

I need something delicate. Not too long. Not too loud. But still unique. Easy on the wallet. Preferably handmade or vintage.

Any suggestions?


Have a lovely weekend!

Oh yeah- Giveaway Winners!

I was so caught up in Polaroid drama this morning that I completely forgot to pick the winners of the Napkin Giveway (I won't get into too many details, but it involved me trying to shove Fuji pack film into a Polaroid 600 camera and cursing myself for being such a jackass. I know.). Along those lines, would you believe that I couldn't even figure out how to use Random.Org? No joke. In my defense, I haven't had any coffee yet this morning.

So I dug through a pile of crap on our counter and came up with Nick's old hunting cap,
haphazardly cut up tiny bits of paper and wrote names on them, then used the old-fashioned method of closing my eyes and letting fate take its course.Congrats to Heidz and Caitlin (of Think Happy Thoughts)! Please send me an email (amandarose_w [at] hotmail.com) with your napkin of choice and mailing address and I will get those out to you as soon as possible.
And of course after the drawing I fed the names to my obese cat...who was more than happy tear them to bits and devour them. (Please no emails from angry animal rights activists. It's only fiber- and lead.)

Thank you!

An Ode to Munchkin

This photo brings me back to my years as an awkward, underdeveloped pre-teen (ok, ok, teen), who carried a pet rat around in her pocket everywhere she went. His name was Munchkin. I fed him cheese from a can.

He went with me to the park. To the store. There are snapshots tucked away in a scrapbook somehwere of just the two of us posing in an arcade photo booth. My most vivid memory: the look of anger on my mom's face after I got us kicked out of Costco for sneaking Mr. Munch cheese samples through my coat pocket.

Those were the days. Who needs boys when you've got a rat the width of a grapefruit hanging out on your shoulder?

(Hey, the pair of morbidly obese cats lounging around my apartment right now, if you're reading this- be warned. You could so be replaced with a $5 rodent any day. I don't bluff.)


Image from here via Double Takes

vintage stamps

I've managed a hook-up via the kind gentlemen at my local Post Office for a handful of vintage stamps at face value. If you've ever gone vintage stamp hunting on ebay, you would know what a steal this is. While on the inside I'm screaming with bargain glee, the whole process seems like a secret op, black market, undercover mission to me.

I go to the Post Office. I tell him it's for my wedding. I bat my eyelashes and smile. The man behind the counter shows me a page containing the photocopied images of various stamps. I point out which ones I like. I come back the next day, the man behind the counter slips me a sheet of paper with a man's name and phone number. I call the number and leave a voice message. The man on the sheet of paper leaves my stamps with the man behind the counter. I leave a check.

I feel like James Bond. James Bond with some cool-ass vintage stamps.

Image from here

IWD: Pretty Pictures

I can't believe that up until reading this article on NPR today I was completely unaware of the treasure trove that is Flickr Commons. I spent the afternoon floating through vintage photography heaven, and even found a little something for us wedding-crazed brides to enjoy:

Did I also mention that I'm not a huge fan of traditional cake toppers either?

But I can totally see something like this by the runny bunny on Etsy making an appearance on our dessert table.

Nick's vintage suit

Yesterday we made a trip over to Keep 'Em Flying on 21st and picked up the slickest vintage 70's suit for Nick to wear to the wedding. I have to admit, when I first saw it on the hanger it seemed a little too loud for my taste, but the second he slipped it on we knew it was the one.

The best part was when we brought it home and discovered these vintage ticket stubs in one of the pockets. After snapping a few pictures, I decided to slip the tickets back into the pocket where I found them. The superstitious part of me doesn't think it would be right to remove them. Who knows, maybe they will bring us some luck?

Frocky

I love all of these eco-friendly ensembles from Portland designer Julia Barbee.

A statement from creator Julia Barbee:

"Frocky Jack Morgan served in WWI and lived in North Carolina near my family. He defected, and wore a house dress because Jesus wore a dress.

I create because I am created. My inspiration draws from tactile bits, woolen fiber, and gossamer. I deconstruct because it allows me to embellish with extraordinary antique pieces exploring the history of the garment industry through old couture hems and grandma's tatting; it breeds a dance between finding materials to design with, and composing a form to work towards, and I can be a steward of the environment in a small way. I favor a neutral palate forcing texture to become a more dominant element. Formally trained in sculpture, I use my education in creating clothes, sculpting on the human body.

Each piece is one of a kind; mass-market is not the ideal here."


Images from here.

I've never been too keen on guest books

There's something about the idea of standing in line to try and write something clever and heartfelt in a boring ledger that makes me cringe, but when I saw this sweet little book that Emilia Jane of Auburn & Ivory made for her fiance, I knew I had to have one.Doilies left over from the Garland Party + Polaroids + a little creativity = best guest book ever.

Napkin Giveaway (and no eyeballing my obese cat)

Melissa just reminded me that I completely forgot to share pictures of the napkins my grandma generously sewed for our wedding. Ta-da!

Now that the pictures are out in the open, I have a little confession to make. You see, being the wonderfully sweet lady my grandma is, after receiving yards of fabric in the mail, she did some equations with the measurements and decided to surprise me with double the number of napkins I originally requested. How did I get so lucky?

While a greedy part of me wants to keep every last piece of delicious fabric, I know what needs to be done. Being the eco-conscious, practical young woman that I am, I decided the best thing to do is host a little napkin giveaway to thank my readers. So, if any of these vibrant pink patterns catch your eye, please leave a comment letting me know which one is your favorite by midnight on Wednesday, March 11th, and I will randomly pick 2 winners to receive a set of 6 napkins of their choice. (Use them as hankies, bandannas... napkins, I don't care- just please appreciate my granny's hard work while you do so.)

I hope you all know how grateful I am to receive your comments and words of encouragement on my upcoming wedding- and this is just a small token of my appreciation!


:?: Note: The obese cat in the 1st photo is not part of the giveaway. I know, I know, I'm such a tease. Don't worry, you're not missing much.

:!: Also, a super-duper thanks to East Side for validating my cool-blogness by recently adding me to her blog roll. I know this might sound creepy (OK, whatever, I'm creepy), but when I squealed in excitement after discovering this the other day, Nick gave me perplexed look like he didn't know if he should give me a congratulatory hug or shove some wine and a sleeping pill down my throat- but I didn't care. Fiances don't need to understand how cool East Side is. They just need to know that when it comes to groom style, what she says goes. Thank you.

Tina Givens

Ever since I got the materials for our napkins, I've been obsessed with the fun prints of Tina Givens Fabric. I see a few throw pillows in my near future (that is, when I recover from the garlands).

Images from Fabric Shoppe on Etsy.

satin reservations

I have to admit, despite my undying love for my 30's inspired satin gown, I've been having reservations about the idea of satin on the beach. Thanks to this post over on Polka Dot Bride, my mind is now at ease. Does she not look absolutely stunning?

I think I can pull it off.