Engagement photos

Paul and I are getting our engagement pics taken in a few weeks, and I'm totally inspired by these images:


Simply Bloom Photography


Matthew Morgan (he's AWESOME!)

I'll say hi to Barack for you....

I'm so excited to be in DC, for the first time since the new administration has taken office. I'm here for NWP's annual Spring Meeting - my favorite event of the year, when teachers from across the country come to talk to their legislators about supporting funding for the NWP. That part is the most amazing part, but I have to admit that hangin' out in DC is pretty cool as well. I'm really looking forward to seeing the new American History Museum (it was being renovated when I was there last year), and of course, hopefully a glimpse at the new White House garden. Thanks, Michelle!

I want to make these

...cute little kimono shoes for the upcoming surge of babies in my life. I swear, I think it's in the water!

Thanks Aimee of Home Spun Threads!

Invites....check!

Yay! I'm so happy these are done. I found a great, eco-friendly, somewhat local (Reno), invitation designer on Etsy that had the perfect invitations for us. Her name is Abby from Mavora Art & Designs. Seriously, check out all of her earthy and cute invites!

Speaking of crafts...

After seeing this post on CRAFT, I've been inspired to make some of these cute cards with my leftover fabric scraps. What a perfect way to recycle!

Trying on dresses tomorrow

I'm pretty sure that most brides get excited when they think about shopping for their wedding dress. I, on the other hand, am not too stoked. Having gained a few L-B's over the past 2 years, I know I can't fit into stuff I used to be able to wear. But I've realized that I can't be in denial about it anymore. That's why tomorrow, I have appointments at 2 boutiques in SF to look for a wedding dress. These 2 places are the only ones in Northern CA that carry the designers I'm interested in (Thread and Coren Moore).

So, here are the dresses I'm looking at. The first 2 are from Coren Moore, the second 2 from Thread:





p.s. the last model doesn't look too happy, does she? :)

Cute bag idea

Like many crafters, I'm in love with How About Orange. She always has some fun, easy idea for crafts, made out of ordinary things! Take these gift bags for example, made out of envelopes:


I'm trying to think of something I can put in these babies....

East of Eden

Yes, I would consider our wedding vintage/country/east-of-eden-esque. This inspiration board pretty much says it all!


Top row from left: oak tree photo by Ian Grant, photo by Allyson Magda, wine photo by Johnny Miller, mailbox from Grapevine Paperie
Row 2: twine-tied utensils photo by Bill Kingston, box of snacks from Martha Stewart Weddings, oak tree photo by Ian Grant
Row 3: bentwood chairs from Oh How Charming!, invitation from Martha Stewart Weddings, dress by Kate Towers, bouquet by Artfool
Row 4: bouquet from Martha Stewart Weddings, invitation by Wiley Valentine, mini almond bundt cake from Martha Stewart

Oak tree

At first, I didn't think that we'd need a "background" for our ceremony, since we'll be under a grove of oak trees, in the middle of a meadow, with a view of the mountains. However, after seeing this picture, the idea of draping some fabric or something could be fun!


Jessica Claire

Baby quilt

I finally finished and sent off this baby quilt for D's soon-to-arrive baby girl. It took me a while to embroider (and yes, I was made fun of on multiple occasions of my granny-like hobby), but I think it turned out great!

How did they know?

How did the ladies at Green Wedding Shoes know to create an inspiration board, especially for me?



photo credits:
Top row: Jonathan Canlas, Kara Pennington
Second row: Tempting Weddings, Hamburger photo by Marisa Holmes, Invitation by Wiley Valentine, Leo Patrone
Bottom row: Jose Villa, Priscilla of Boston dress via Instyle Weddings, Eric Laurits, Oh My Deer Handmades

Fonts, I love fonts!

I've found sooo many cool fonts online that I can use for our wedding, and for crafting in general. I found this one on iDIY courtesy of Rfonts that will be perfect for our escort cards, programs, and tables!

Another great set of fonts I found courtesy of MagicJelly. I've already used the "hoedown" font for our camping map I posted a few days ago.

More inspiration

Thanks Marcelle, for sending these pics along. These are all things I'm trying to incorporate into our big day....

courtesy of amanda kraft photography

not sure where this one is from....

courtesy of simple bloom photography

map test

Here's my attempt at creating a campground map for our wedding website...

For the (little) girls

We're pretty excited to have 3 little flower girls at our wedding, and I'm even more excited to dress them up! I'm thinking of having them wear little white eyelet dresses (I know, white = very dirty on the ranch, so we'll have to take pictures very quickly). Of course, the outfit wouldn't be complete without cowgirl boots!

from Old Navy

from Small in the Saddle

Yellow inspiration

Since I've decided to go with yellow (dark) and green (sage/olive) as our wedding colors, I've been on the lookout for yellow inspiration. I found a great inspiration board and some pics over at Wedding Chicks. Here's a sneak peek:


pic courtesy of matthew morgan photography

Kalamazoo!

Yes, I'm here in Kalamazoo (it really does exist, as the locals say!) I arrived last night to attend NWP's Rural Sites Network Conference, where teachers from rural sites across the country come together to talk about rural issues. This is my first time attending the event, and I'm really excited to be here and to explore Kalamazoo. So far everyone I've met is super friendly, and the view from my hotel room is amazing! Granted, it's not quite spring yet so the trees are bare, but there are lots of old brick and marble buildings and churches. Today I'll explore the downtown area (home of the country's first "outside mall") and attend a pre-conference discussion, then tomorrow there are many more workshops to choose from. I met a guy on the plane from Chicago that can get me on a Kellog's cereal facility tour - he said that during the summer, the area smells like frosted flakes. Who would've thought?

A gentleman

Here's a great picture of what we're envisioning for Paul's wedding outfit. He doesn't want the usual tux/suit thing - he wants it to be more vintage. And, I think he's dying to wear one of these derby/bowling hats! I really like the tweed vest and the chain - not so much the spectacles :) I think it'll go perfectly with the bridesmaids dresses. Oh, and that means I better get a dress!

outfit at Gentlemen's Emporium

Craft station

I just realized that I haven't posted pics of my "new and improved" craft station. I have to admit that I haven't down much sewing lately, but I have been doing other crafty things (rubber stamps and save-the-dates anyone?) Enjoy!

...tucked in the corner of our bedroom

i love my shelf from ikea

my inspiration board

supplies...lots of supplies!

Vases

I totally scored some old vases from the Salvation Army here in Alameda. There was a 1/2 off "brick-a-brac" sale, and I ended up spending $7 for 5 vases, 2 sugar bowls, and a big basket. Here's a few pics of my finds - you can see Uintah really likes the basket....

Crazy people

This weekend, the "east bay tornado" (i.e. Jenny, Marcelle, Paula and I) headed up to Truckee to visit Kim and enjoy some mountain fun. Of course, our first stop was the Bar of America, known for it's exceptional people watching, live music, and men swirling around like vultures, waiting for single ladies to show up. Needless to say, THAT was an evening for the record books.

The following day, Kim took us to Gar Woods in Carnelian Bay to watch the annual Lake Tahoe Polar Bear swim. Those people be crazy!!! 40 degree water, a long-ass swim, and most with no wetsuits. Yes my friends, it chilled your bones just thinking about it. Of course we watched from afar, drinking a famous "wet-woody" (which is basically a POG/rum smoothie). Probably not the best drink for a cold mountain day. I was just in awe thinking about all those poor cold people. At least they could hang out in the hot tub after (which I was seriously considering jumping into).

Our trip ended on a very mellow note, and a loooong drive home. Yes, it was snowing bonkers and I'm sure there were gail-force winds. A normal 4 hour drive turned into 6 hours. Blah. I'm just glad I took today off!

Happy Monday to all!

Ordered.

a new stamp for bills....and wedding invites!
I got it at paperwink. check out all of their cute stamps and invites

Takin' it back a few years...

When it's rainy outside like it is today, I can't help but think about the time I spent in Boston being couped up on cold rainy (snowy) days and nights! And then I think about the music Jenny and I listened to obsessively in our little cold apartment. This was one of my favorite albums from that winter, and I've been listening to it a lot recently.

He's gonna hate me....

...but I had to post this pic of Paul when he was a young child model. Yes, he modeled when he was a kid. This ad is for Tavist D cold medicine. Man, I can't wait to have little cuties that look just like him!



...allright, here's an embarrassing one of me as well. Thanks Barbara, for sending it along!

A possibility...

I'm constantly searching every website I can think of for the "perfect" dress for my bridesmaids. As I've posted before, I want something short, something that goes with my vintage-western chic theme, and something they can wear boots with. I've found this one at Urban that fits all 3 requirements. Oh yeah, and it's cute as well!

Wedding photos

The one thing that I'm willing to spend lots of $$ on for the wedding is a photographer. Sure, the memories will last a lifetime, but the night itself won't. I'm really picky about it, since hey, I'll be looking at them for the rest of my life, along with all of my family and friends. Thank goodness my favorite photographer in Tuolumne County is available for our wedding. Rich has done our family pics, my senior pics, dances (back in the day!), and other friend's weddings (Dawnelle's pics turned out great!) So yeah, needless to say I'm already looking for photo inspiration online, as I don't want our pictures to be "traditional" - since we are not, by any stretch of the imagination!

(yup, those are my parents!)

Card making

When I was younger, I was really into rubber stamps. I'd stamp everything and anything I could get my hands on (I'm sure to my mom's dismay). I haven't stamped in a while, but ever since I began my wedding planning, I've seen so many creative and cute (cheap!) ways to use stamps. Right now I'm working on creating our escort cards, but in the meantime, I've been making some b-day cards for some very important people....

Busy weekend!

Paul and I got SO much stuff done this weekend. Here's a recap of the highlights:

1) Got to explore the new CA Academy of Sciences. It was definitley apparent that they spent a lot of time and energy when planning the new building. It was pretty cool - I especially loved the penguins and the sand dollars. I did not, however, enjoy the millions of kids running under my feet, and getting run over by strollers. You know I love kids, but it was a bit much. We're thinking about going to the "nightlife" (i.e. adults only) session next time.


2) I finished addressing our Save the Dates. Yeah! I'm SO ready to get these out.


3)Yeah, V-day is an incredibly overrated "holiday", but any excuse to cuddle up on a rainy evening, eating yummy food with my honey is cool with me....

Kind of my new favorite...

Invitation, courtesy of chewing the cud. I'm kinda going back and forth between getting some made, making them myself, or having a friend make us a poster like this one. I was at papersource this weekend and was completely inspired by all of their beautiful paper and accessories. What do you think?

Early Valentines Date

I took today off, after working hard for the last 11 days straight. Yippeee! As our (early) Valentine's Day present, we're going on a "date" to the new CA Academy of Sciences in SF. I'm so excited to see it! I remember going there when I was very young (and I'm sure I didn't appreciate it as much!) I'm really looking forward to the aquarium and the penguins. And the indoor rainforest. I think Paul just wants to go for the planetarium. Anyway, it's going to be a great treat! I'll post pics soon...

Happy Friday the 13th to all :)

Happy (almost) Valentines Day!

....from Apartment 307. Just a little paper thing I made after I was inspired by Angi's wedding invites....

My ULTIMATE bridal party

I found this picture on afarmhousewedding.blogspot.com (a blog I'm in LOVE with!) She and I both agree that this would be the perfect bridal party. And whoever this bride is, I want to be her friend. She's pretty rad!



[image via matthew morgan photography]

2 Jazzy's and Malcolm

I always tell my friends when they come to visit that they better like cats. And by like cats, I mean let them lay in their lap. And pet them constantly. And not mind if they sniff your head or roll on your purse.

Jaz, Nate, and little MC came for a short visit and instantly fell in love with Jazzy (#2). As you can see here, I think the feeling was mutual :)

Wedding tunes

If it were up to me, I would be very content with a rockin' bluegrass band and my ipod to provide the music for our wedding. However, Paul being the musical connoisseur that he is, the bluegrass band, at least, is outta the question. I can live with that. However, one thing I KNOW we will struggle to agree on, at some point, is our "first dance." Because our wedding is already going to be somewhat "untraditional", I'm a little reluctant to choose just 1 song. But, then again, I guess some traditions are there for a reason.

Anyway, I've always imagined my "first dance" song to be Norah Jones' "The Nearness of You." Now in a perfect world, I'd be the one singing the song on the dancefloor to Paul. Yeah, right. I don't wanna scare anyone away! I guess playing it through the speakers will have to do...

In case you've never heard this song, you can hear it here. And yes, this is a weird "Pride and Prejudice" video. Don't pay attention to the video montage, just pay attention to the words :)

Another dress

What do you think about this dress? Apparently you can wrap it in many different ways (i.e. keep it with or without sleeves) - and the best part is, it's only $349!
I'm not sure if the silk will be flattering on me, but I love the shape. Check it out here.