To Sense: just a few pennies

Oh, don't worry! No real content here... still. I'm just testing some RSS feed nonsense...

Wonder if it's working yet?

I've been neglecting this blog! I'll get back into blogging, soon. I'm still figuring out exactly how, what and where.

That's all. Nothing to see here! Move along now...

So I've been a busy MOH leading up to my sister's wedding, and I haven't even gotten to post about any of the fun stuff I've done yet! For now, I'm tossing up images of the invitations & recipe cards I designed for her shower...

There were a few hitches in the design process, when I decided to abandon my original printing/mailing idea inspired by these lovelies from Jordan at Oh Happy Day (super blog, btw!). So I'm not 100 percent pleased, but here's a peek:

Invitations:

Front

















& Back (yes, you gotta rotate & flip)



















And here are the recipe cards (a late-add to the invitations, required by the MOB...)

Front:















& Back:















More post wedding--I'm feeling a little like showing off! (And possibly even re-jump-starting this poor little starved blog...)

Labels: "wedding sis"

Just in case you haven't already voted for Cindy & John, here's an update:

My little sister, Cindy, recently got engaged and is a finalist in an online contest for free wedding photography, via Real Photography in Colorado. What makes her different: Cindy was recently deployed to the Middle East on her first mission as a pilot with the Air Force (her FI is a pilot too--you can read more about them here). The contest is finishing up while she's still overseas, and so we're looking for one final push of votes! Traci Turchin, the nifty & friendly photographer who's holding the contest, has decided to switch the contest over to "blind" so that we can't see who's currently in the lead ... which means no more obsessive checking to see who's ahead!

Here's to helping them win! Make sure to Vote for Cindy & John!

P.S. Loyal Reader, if you're out there: Sorry for the spammy post with very pointed links--I just want to make it easy on ya! Stay tuned for better content! -b

3/18 UPDATE: Cindy & John won! Thanks for your help!

In the wake of my inactivity (wait, how big of a wake does inertia leave?), my sister is planning her wedding! And with a vengeance! She's actually deploying to the War in less than two weeks, and is determined to have a good share of her planning done before then. She's got a ceremony location, and is close to deciding on a dress & a reception location.

Next up: The Photographer. And this is where you can help.

Cindy & her FI John are finalists in the Real Couple of the Year contest, held by a Colorado wedding photographer. The top prize for the contest is a free wedding photo package with Traci Turchin of Real Photography! Winners of the contest are chosen by vote--so hurry up and Vote for CINDY & JOHN!

OK, caps-lock & exclamation points aside--I really hope my sister and future brother-in-law win. (And haha--no, I'm clearly not biased on this topic!) But even though I've heard plenty of stories about their relationship, when I read through their contest entry--I realized that a very subtle theme emerged. From meeting him at track practice (where she felt at home) at the Air Force Academy, to deciding to forsake her Great Britain dreams solo for sharing the Great Plains with him--she's found a home in John.


OK, so I can't take credit for that. It's pretty much literally what Cindy said herself:

"I just keep thinking about heading down the aisle in my elaborate white dress ... and John ahead of me. With him by my side, I'll always be home" Read more...

And really, what more could one ask for in a brother-in-law, than someone who makes a home for my sister? Uh-oh, I'm getting a little too emotional on my poor, long-abandoned blog. Cindy better not read this, or she may recognize my speech in a few months ;)



Of course, creating a home isn't the only theme for "real" love stories. And it doesn't take a contest to legitimize a fairy tale. What theme runs through your own love story? I'm developing a few of my own...

Ok, this is literal and a little hokey--but here are directions for DIY paper lanterns that I think could come in handy for my vaguely-in-the-future perfect
wedding: Style me pretty actually referenced a 2004 Martha Stewart weddings mag for this info, but... well, it's still good info.

Labels: my Martha Stewart wedding

Paper stores, how I love you all. It may seem strange to be obsessed with paper (huh? that white stuff that comes out of my printer, you ask), but nothing makes me want to spend my soon-to-be hard-earned money (you like that? I don't have the money yet, but I'm already spending it) than pretty, pretty printed and dyed and cutout papers. It's not that I scrapbook. It's not that I really have that much stuff to do with said pretty papers, other than make occasional birthday cards.

But they are so pretty. They must be worth my (future) money.

Here are two shopsites I luv: Paper mojo and The Paper studio.

Labels: window shopping

In the continuing spirit of picking out gifts for myself (and insane domesticity), I happened upon this lovely china site, Rosanna. While it's unfortunately set up for little gifts of dessert plates or teacups, wouldn't these designs be fun for a wedding registry? I really, really love their Boho pattern--or should I say patterns?

There are actually six patterns for each set of dessert or dinner plates... Ah me, how I love matching-mis-matched sets.



Another wedding-must for any Martha Stewart wannabe is, of course, a customized monogram on everything. I mean, people might get all confused if they're at your wedding and they pick up a bottle of water, and it says Crystal Geyser on it--they might be like, "Crystal Geyser? Who're they? I thought I was at the Smith shindig!" You can help them out by putting your monogram on that bottle of water, you see. And on envelopes, stationary of all kinds, the cake, the flowers, table and aisle runners, small children attending--really, I mean it--everything.

Luckily, there is this fabulous site, i Do Originals, that will customize or design your monogram for you. Now all kidding aside, I actually think this is pretty cool--possibly because my common definition for "cool" includes the word "cheap." For 3 buckeroos, you can get a design updated with your intials and colors or you can get 5 completely customized just-for-you designs for 15 bucks. And then you can print that jpeg design on everything.

Labels: my Martha Stewart wedding, window shopping

Ok, here are some things I need, haha.

To satiate my recent Martha leanings--and because I need another cake plate like I need a hole in my head--here's where someone can buy me this darling cake plate. Wouldn't it look cute with different ribbons woven through it? Don't you want to buy it for me? Admit it: It's cute-cute-cute!



So, this is Bumble & Bumble hair powder, which I have been dying to try for years--I guess that sounds dumb, but I suppose we could call it an on-and-off-again desire. But a strong desire. Just not one that has ever quite gotten me over the shock of spending something like 20 buckeroos on, like, 1 ounce of powder. That I'm not totally sure will really work or look that great on me. But I have a strong suspicion it will do both and, like I said, a strong desire. (And I happen to know there's a salon near where I live that sells this possibly great stuff).

And, while we're on the subject of hair--I could also use this snazzy conditioner from Aveda. In fact I could really use it, like, now. So I guess this is probably more of a reminder for me to buy it than anything else. But there you go.

So, I guess that's about it--I'm currently all about "domestic" goods (um, hello, I have a few new favorite stores- Crate & Barrel and Ikea--where more shopping can always be done, should someone so desire) and, apparently, hair products. Hmm, there was also this awesome movie, which I actually might have been born to watch and which is also currently out on DVD. Hmm... Also, there are many wonderful flavors of fragrance filed away at Demeter, and while most may a bit pricey, there are some smaller versions that only cost $10.

Hmmm... I should stop now. Trying to come up with gifts for myself only makes me more greedy. Dreaming up ideas for what other people can buy me is always a chore that I take very seriously and generally find rather rewarding. It's a rough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

Labels: window shopping

Today was kind of my first day at my new job. Sort of. And to kind of unwind, of course, I'm window shopping online again. In honor of my first day (almost-maybe-ish), I want to make note of the silliness--including office toys--at perpetual kid. So that maybe when I actually start working, I could sorta have fun with my office-like space. Ish.

Labels: window shopping

So it takes me an extremely long time to give in & admit to really, really being girly. For quite some time now I've been wandering the web on a wedding streak, checking out blogs and biographies for ideas and tips, perusing vendor sites for reality checks (hello! expensive) and more ideas. And now I have decided that one other use for this mostly defunct blog (turned personal bookmark site) is to actually document the "dream" vendors that I find as I wander the web on a wedding streak. The wedding web wandering has been fun, but since I will soon be working again, all that wandering will be for naught if not recorded.


So.


So I refuse to call it my "dream" wedding. Because, really, I'm not the kind of girl who has been dreaming of "the biggest day of her life" since second grade. (Zac actually says that I have stockholm syndrome when it comes to anything wedding & domestic--I resisted at first, but seem to have thrown myself into the subjects with verve as of late, as if of my own free will.)


So call it my Martha Stewart Wedding--you know, the one I would possibly choose to have were money and time no object, and I knew a certain magazine would help kick-off my career as a wedding planner when they featured my fabulous event on their cover.


First up: The florist. In my MSW, flowers would be one of (if not the) main themes of the wedding. Fresh wildflowers everywhere. In reality, wildflowers aren't very easy to come by and are even more difficult to preserve. But then I read about Blomma Flicka Flowers. Nevermind that they're located in Vermont--this is simply the first florist I have heard of that is using wildflower-looking arrangements--yay!


On another note the post on Weddingbee which alerted me to this great florist also has many links for online flower wholesalers--a possible alternative (though no wildflowers).

Labels: my Martha Stewart wedding