pinch me

We just scored an immaculate angela adams area rug off craigslist for $70 delivered. Say what?

The woman showed up to drop it off sporting a crisp a-line bob, dewy cheekbones, and a brimming glass of white wine resting nimbly on her fingertips (in a stemless flute, I might add). A woman after my own heart.

I'm just waiting for her to wake up sober tomorrow morning and realize what she did. In the meantime, I have a rug to go rub my face all over.

Things I've been lusting after lately

Chic dog ensembles by Beantown Handmade

Colorful pillows from Olive

Melissa shoes

Wood coasters

And gallons of homemade Sangria, of course.

feast & frolic

Remember Meesha who created all of the beautiful paper flowers for her November wedding?
She recently opened her own Etsy shop that's full of custom arrangements. Even peonies! ♥

My favorite is the Cheerful Colors Bouquet (and not just because she's using our wedding napkins in the photo shoot).

I would totally commission her to make a paper wisteria for my apartment if I didn't think my cats would turn it into a jungle gym.

Favor

When we started the planning process many ideas were tossed around. Vintage salt & pepper shakers, bonsais, saltwater taffy, macaroons. All were scrutinized and left to fall by the wayside (or in the shakers' instance, the back of my mom's closet). Eventually just the sound of the word "favor" made me collapse in a sugary mental meltdown ("Sweetie, will you do me a quick favor?" Ahhhhhhhh! 'Sleep deprived bride goes to prison for shanking unsuspecting fiance...').

Then one day I ordered some goodies from Whimsy & Spice and fell madly in love with their homemade marshmallows. Soft, fragrant, heavenly. It was fate.

And so the story ends. We ordered a box of rose flavored marshmallows. Bows were tied around them with nimble fingers (*ahem*). Custom labels slapped on the front. A few may or may not have been secretly devoured in the meantime. And voila!

Would any of our guests have noticed if we didn't even have favors? Eh. Probably not.

Did Nick and I think they were cool-as-hell? Totally. And that's all that matters.


Disclaimer: No fiances were shanked in the making of these favors. And yes, the word "favor" still does make my eye twitch.

Just in Thyme

I'm not usually a fan of cheesy wedding puns slapped on favors (i.e. "two peas in a pod"), but these herb favors make me smile. Who couldn't resist a little "roseMARRY" and "Mint to be"?

Photos by Jasmine Star via Earth Friendly Weddings

I guess you could call it an intervention

The other day we found ourselves with a group of friends, wandering the aisles of City Liquidators, where all of the Snuggies and cheaply framed Scarface posters of the world go to die. After resisting my urge to snag a phallic driftwood statue, I ran into a display of LED tea lights. Like, gazillions of them. For cheap. Sure, they were discolored and slightly off-kilter. Maybe they worked. Maybe they didn't. I nimbly snatched a few off the wall while contemplating the lighting at a 3pm wedding- when I noticed Nick eyeballing me. He furrowed his brows and said, "Put them down."

So I did.

Image from here

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.

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.

Garland Party cont.

I think I drank more mimosas than anyone else and still complained the most (my fingers feel like they're falling off. I can't do this anymore. I'm dyyyyyyying!)

Nonetheless, after 5 and a half hours of non-stop garland making, the four of us completed six very lovely, very long (45'), doily garlands. My friends might look like they're smiling in that last photo, but rest assured, I'm positive they were envisioning wrapping those garlands around my neck and strangling me with them.

Say hello to my first and last DIY wedding project. I'm crafted out for the next year- at least.

Pink Bouquets

I want all of these lovely pink bouquets from Martha.

Sarah,

Because of you I'm begging my mom to plant Sweet Peas in her garden.
Images from Saipua, of course

Ok, I lied

I just got these in the mail. Next step, pack them up and ship the fabric up to a lovely woman in Vancouver who's going to make napkins for me. It looks like I don't actually have the cojones to sew them myself (besides, I happen to really like my digits, and I know I wouldn't want to start sewing until after a glass of wine or two).

Cojones or not, these napkins are going to look sweet on my linen tablecloths. Thanks again, Chelsea!

Livia Cetti

I love these arrangments by Livia Cetti , especially the fish bowl vases.

Found at Eco-Chic Weddings

Again with the tea party...

I think Anne was right when she predicted pink as one of the new "it" colors of 2009.

Maybe a bit rosier than the baby pink she prefers, but the color is definitely growing on me.


photo styling by Camille Soulayrol

DIY?

The new year has brought to light my unhealthy distaste for absinthe and a yearning for superior sewing abilities.
I'm purchasing the fabrics. I got a new sewing machine for Christmas. But, do I have the cojones to make my own napkins for the wedding?

Check back in a week.

If there are no updates it means I'm missing a few digits and the sewing did not go as planned.

swatches from here and here

Margarita induced rant: the best kind

So I met up with Chelsea* this morning to get my DIY plan. I must say, I'm very impressed. It's chock-full of fun, fresh, and creative ideas. Ideas I wish I could claim as my own. Unfortunately, my design aesthetic is still stuck in 1998.

Armed with my delightfully foolproof plan, my good friend and I head over for my first venture through an event rental warehouse. I have no idea what I am in for.

We are met by an awkwardly giddy woman who seems all too eager to parade me in front of their vast selection of stemware. I don't want wine glasses. I don't even want to be here. I just need linens and chairs.

I smile and nod, and we finally make our way out to a sea of tablecloths covered in plastic. I start to get nauseous.

"I would like linen colored tablecloths, please."

She looks irritated but continues to grin while showing me a few choices.

"Okay. These are nice... but I'm looking for something more... linen. Like, in between ivory and beige?" If you show me one more damask print I'm going to gouge out my eyeballs and run blindly from this warehouse.

She starts to giggle. That is absurd. In the fourteen years she's worked here she has never had a request for such an odd colored tablecloth. It's so blah. Why not just go with white?

My eye starts to twitch.

She snatches the plans out of my hands and flips through the pages sighing. She disagrees. White is much more fitting. And why not a plastic chair? What is all this? What am I trying to achieve here? If it were her she would do this...

I graciously take my papers back and wonder why we didn't just elope. At this point I'm feeling personally insulted and want to pummel her for thinking the plans are anything less than genius. I'm tempted to lie and tell her Chelsea has arms the size Hulk Hogan and would totally kick her ass. Then I snicker at the thought of Chelsea putting this lady in a headlock with Hulk Hogan biceps and forget for a minute why I'm so annoyed.She runs us by napkins and aisles of metal chairs. She talks- a lot. Have I considered chargers? Damask? If I put down a deposit now I can get a great deal on delivery.

My brain is screaming. My friend eyes me suspiciously then leads us towards the door before I do something rash. Thanks, we'll be in touch. Not.

We drown my misery in margaritas then I go home and drunkenly call my mom and attempt to explain what garlands are.

I still need supplies but fear for my mental health if I return to another rental warehouse. Maybe next time I can go armed with a taser? That way I can zap anyone that tries to pawn a satin napkin or aisle runner off on me. Or I can just zap them for fun. Nothin' like a good old fashioned tase to bring back the wedding spirit.

In the famous words of East Side, f* this.

Image from here

Decorating Bookworm Style

Images found here

Porcelain Perfection

From bailey doesn't bark on Etsy.

Too bad my pre-wedding budget doesn't leave room for $12 porcelain spoons.

Registry perhaps?

DIY Treats

After an exchange of emails regarding wedding favors, Anne from The City Sage has me feeling a bit more creative than usual. I recently saw an article on NPR's Kitchen Window by one of my favorite contributors Nicole Spiridakis called 'Holiday Gifts Good Enough To Eat' and instantly thought "DIY wedding favors". In the article she includes recipes for some yummy treats such as preserved lemons, mouth watering truffles, and my favorite, a savory lemon-rosemary sea salt. She suggests these be used as budget friendly Christmas gifts, but I can easily see any of them packaged up and presented to guests as unique and tasty favors as well. But alas, I am not nearly crafty enough and my kitchen is much too tiny to pull off tasks like these. That doesn't mean I can't drool!

If any of you other brides-to-be decide to give it a try, please do share pictures!

Photos from NPR


P.S. to Anne- A 30's inspired sheath gown paired with a Twigs & Honey bolero and followed with a funky lace mini-dress for dancing. Don't worry, there will be more details to come! ;)