Shower Thank Yous: Check!

So after an unsuccessful Saturday of not getting as much as I wanted to get done off my to do list, on Sunday I woke up and cranked out the rest of Jaclyn's bridal shower Thank Yous.

Huzzah!

We invited about 45 people so I made an even 50 Thank Yous just in case she messes up writing one, or needs an extra envelope...you know how it goes.

Showed J&A some calligraphy samples and I might have the job! :P There's a chance my aunt might have them sent out to be done by someone else, but we'll see what the final verdict is. I personally wouldn't mind writing all the envelopes out by hand but I can understand wanting a "professional" doing it. I guess it's all about the Benjamins. I'm cool with the decision either way.

As for me, not too much is happening. Jason got a job offer down in Virginia so within the next few weeks he'll be moving down there. I'm not so excited about the distance, but we've already proven we can stand it. It's a 6 month contract job and it's actually in his field! I especially don't mind that he'll be leaving his job at Subway making sandwiches to go do something he actually went to school for. This might just be the break he needed to get his foot in the door in his industry.

But ahhh, Virginia till January! Not looking forward to a 7 hour drive to visit him...

DIY Shower Invitations & Decor

As I've mentioned before my sousin Jaclyn is getting married in October and my sister and I are co-maids of honor. The other wonderful bridesmaids and the two of us decided to throw Jaclyn her shower in July and I've been crafting ever since.

It started with the invitations. I had an idea in my head and managed to get it into paper form pretty easily. (Some personal information is blurred out.) I bought the purple cover and matching envelopes from envelopemall.com. From what I've seen they have the best prices on envelopes out of any online store out there and have an excellent selection of colors and brands. I've ordered samples from them before and their customer service personnel are all very friendly and accommodating.

The ivory paper is actually some resume paper I've had forever and the ribbon came from Michael's. Each of these invitations fit into a long policy 10 envelope. I liked the different shape of the invitation and knew that this was a chance for me to do something creative since J&A decided to get store bought wedding invitations.

Two weekends ago Julibean and I started working on some decor elements. We're hosting the shower in our backyard, so we wanted to add some simple pieces to the canopies and to the trees in the yard to bring some of Jaclyn's favorite color (purple) into the space. We searched around for ways to create pretty and simple centerpieces and decided to make luminaries.

We bought small glass filled candles at the dollar store and wrapped vellum around them. Then we decorated them with the same cut outs that I used on the invitations. I don't have a photo of one while the candle is lit, but trust me, they look very pretty and were really simple to make.

I also came across these fabulous easy to make paper poms from Martha Stewart. You can actually buy kits to make these at Michael's since they carry her craft line there, but we were able to make them ourselves at home without the kit.

We wound up making about six or seven of these poms in different sizes and shades of purple. They look a lot better hanging up than sitting on a table. I hung one from my chandelier to give you a feel for them. When a breeze hits them and they spin a little they look soooooo pretty. And they were really simple to make and despite the fact I have tiny shreds of tissue paper on my floor we definitely had some fun putting them together.

So we have paper poms, little luminaries and we've gone ahead and purchased Jaclyn a fantastic tiara she can wear because obviously the shower is all about her. :)

I also decided I wanted to make Thank You notes for Jaclyn as part of my shower gift to her. I know she'll use them and I had plenty of purple cover paper left over so I got to making them this weekend. We've invited about 45 people to the shower, so I still have quite a few to make, but I'm getting there.

I designed them to match the invitations and go along with the whole fun little flower theme we have going on. I found a set of cute little stamps that said things like "Thanks a bunch!" and "I really loved it!" and those little messages are the kinds of sentiments that Jaclyn would definitely like to impart on her friends and family.

So once I finish the Thank You cards, which I made to fit into A2 sized envelopes, then I just have a few more poms to create and we are set for decor!

Then all I have to do is practice my calligraphy a little more. I'm going to hand address all of the wedding invitations for Jaclyn & Andy. So I've been working on exactly how things should look and how certain letters should connect into others. Calligraphy is definitely a dying art and it has long been something I have had a passion for. I haven't pulled out the stops yet, since my different pen nibs are in need of a cleaning, but it's interesting how your medium can change your end work. Same name with same style of writing in a regular marker, a ball point pen and a special calligraphy marker...all have a different kind of attitude to them.

We'll see which style and which pen the bride and groom like the best, I can adapt to a certain degree with my handwriting. I'm excited to get going with more wedding craftiness, but my hand is definitely tired from just the practicing. When you've spent the past four years typing everything instead of writing it by hand, writing a lot suddenly is really a pain :P

Always in 3s

This week has been horrible when it comes to the loss of celebrities. On Tuesday legend Ed McMahon died and then just yesterday we lost Farrah and Michael!

I hardly have words to describe what amazing entertainers they were. It's just so sad to have so many amazing people die at once.

Why is it that celebrities always go in 3s?
May you each find peace.

Sending sentimental fuzzies and happy thoughts to your families, close friends and fans.

It's the little things...

Remember how I was swooning over something fantastic last week? Well check out what Amanda gave me:

FIESTA!

I was telling her and Jason all about my love and want for Fiestaware and lo and behold, there in the dinning room were two plates she had mistakenly yoinked from the dinning hall at school and brought home.

First of all, how gorgeous are these colors?! Secondly, how utterly amazing is it that Amanda's college dinning hall had Fiestaware?!

The collection begins...

Please disregardful the quality of the cell phone photo...I know you love my little Outback Mate!

Ode to the US Open

A Haiku:

Dear US Open
Gone you are, but traffic still!
Exit closures suck.(Photo taken by m'Dad at Bethpage Black. US Open Practice Round.)

The Wedding Date

A few weeks ago, my good friend Matt asked me if I would go to a wedding with him. I love weddings and even though I knew I was a replacement date I couldn't have been more thrilled to go. It actually isn't the first time a friend of mine had a date cancel at the last minute and I love meeting families and seeing the different traditions people incorporate into weddings.

Matt and I have been friends since freshman year of college. We met at an a cappella workshop before classes even started and I wound up going to Six Flags with his family later that week on a whim. Since Matt's family lived in the area I got to see them frequently and always enjoyed the time spent with my surrogate family. Also, I had met the bride on a few occasions prior to the wedding so I didn't feel too awkward going.

The ceremony was wonderful. It was short and sweet, outdoors by a little stream, and the Appel Inn in Altamon is just adorable. I love small weddings. I think sharing the moment with the people who matter most and not throwing a party for your cousin's boyfriend's vegetarian yoga instructor is the way to go.

The reception was intimate and the ceiling of the "Gathering Space" is goregous!

Most importantly Beth and Dan looked so happy and the day was simply fantastic.

Soon to come...

I haven't been able to get a chance to upload some photos off my camera yet, but once I do expect to see lovely pictures from a wedding I went to last weekend with Matty and all the arts and crafts I did with the Beaner this weekend.

Review: Rhiannon

Last night was night four in clean/scour the basement for garage sale items extravaganza. Somehow my father, sister and I got onto the topic of trashy romance novels and my father revealed to me that my great-grandmother loved trashy romance novels. And here I always thought that she was reading large print biographies when I went up to her room to visit her...

Anyway, it reminded me that I still have yet to post my review of Rhiannon by Evangelynn Stratton.

After I finished reading No Place for a Lady, my friend Ashley and I decided we'd swap novels. Ash holds this book near and dear to her heart and I was definitely interested in what made her so excited about it.

She warned me it was trash, it was fantastic, and I would love it, so I was anticipating its arrival at my house. On first impression: the cover art made me giggle (image via Amazon.com), as did a fantastic drawing of Jarreth atop his trusty steed on the inside of the book. I believe the drawings were done by one of the author's daughters so I appreciated the work once I realized it wasn't done by a professional. In fact I thought it was kind of sweet Stratton had done that.

This book was so different from the Harlequin Historical I had the pleasure of reading previously. It was well researched and the language helped to portray the story. In a nutshell Rhiannon finds out her father has arranged yet another marriage for her and runs away only to meet the man she's contracted to marry on her escape route, but they both conceal their identity in a very Twelfth Night sort of way.

She is silly and always find the worst ways of getting into trouble, sometimes setting places on fire, sometimes getting attacked by pirates, other times getting attacked by gypsies, sometimes almost drowning...and Jarreth seems to always manage to save her in one way or another. The whole time though, she has no idea that he is her betrothed. Yeah, he plays a dirty trick on her and hilarity ensues.

The ratings:
Raunch Factor: *****
It honestly wasn't that raunchy at all.
Writing Style: *****
As I mentioned, it was decently written.
Ridiculousness: *****
Between the gypsies, the pirates, the nuns and the war-horses, it was mildly ridiculous.
Actual Plot: *****
Although agnoizing at times, the plot was decent. It probably would have been more fun to hide some things from the reader though.

All in all it was pretty fantastic. Ashley did not disappoint in this one. I personally enjoy a little more raunch in my trashy novels, but that's just a personal preference.

The Double X Curse

I spend a lot of my downtime surfing the Internet. Who doesn't?

Recently my humdrum of an existence has turned to creating Wish Lists on websites. Typically I keep my Wish Lists private, they're really for my own amusement and I enjoy having lots of pretty things all in one place. But still, I would be lying if I didn't say I had a Wish List at Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon.com, Macy's, and Target, and that seems kind of wrong to me.

Sometimes I'm creating Wish Lists just to entertain myself. Sometimes I'm creating Wish Lists so I can live an exciting life vicariously through these fantastic items. Either way, it's almost becoming a problem.

I was chatting with an old friend the other day and when he asked me what I was up to I flat out told him I was searching the web for shiny things I can't afford that I would love to own. At that precise moment I just happen to be looking at dresses.

I don't need dresses, but there are so many wonderful sun-dresses out there right now and I can't help but look at them. My friend admitted that he had never really gone out of his way to waste time shopping for things he didn't need online. And that's when I realized it...I don't think any of the men I am friends with would spend time swooning over things they can't own.

It hit me right then and there...I was cursed.

I have what I'd like to call the Double X Curse. Maybe it's that extra X Chromosome that puts us women over the edge and makes us want to continually look at beautiful things like diamonds, dresses, shoes, purses, etc. that we cannot afford but merely covet for no reason.

Right now I am coveting this:

Fiestaware has long been something that makes me extremely happy. I forgot it existed up until a day or two ago when I was looking at Pfalzgraff dinnerware that I think is beautiful but Jason has already shot down because it is somewhat floral, and I remembered how plain yet gorgeous Fiastaware was! The colors are so beautiful and the idea that I get to mix and match items depending on my mood that day is really cool too.

So now my Double X Affliction has turned me to creating a ridiculous Wish List on Macy's. And there it will sit, mocking me until I can turn it into a registry. But I can't wait till I have a home of my own where I can open up my cabinets and see such happy dishes smiling back at me.

I know, I'm lame.

(Photo borrowed from: jcipa's Flickr)

Review: Key West Bed & Breakfast

I love the Keys. One day I plan on retiring to a small cabana somewhere in Key West and live out the remainder of my life as a Conch. So when we started planning this whole Birthday-excursion, I decided it would be the perfect time to pop Jason's Key West cherry.

When I travel down to the Keys with my parents, we typically stay in the Southernmost Collection (which is always gorgeous). This time, since it was just Jason and I, and since we wanted something more homey than a resort, I searched around for an alternative.

Jason and I on the Conch Tour Train, a must do if you're a tourist in Key West

I'm not sure how I came across the website for the Key West Bed & Breakfast (aka the Popular House), but I certainly am glad I did. We booked it months before we figured out the rest of our plans for the week and I was definitely excited about spending our two nights in a B&B.

We were greeted by a very friendly man (I believe his name was Richard but I could be completely wrong, it might have been Dave) and he showed us around and helped us to our room.

Since Jason was still recovering from his regrettable salmon interlude, he went to lay down and I explored the house. The room we were staying in, Mo's Room, was cozy. There was enough space to move around, but it wasn't a huge room and we shared two bathrooms with the rest of the guests on the floor. Both bathrooms were immaculate. The first one was gorgeous and I have to admit if it had a claw-footed bathtub in the corner, it would have been my perfect bathroom. The second bathroom was very nice, but the shower could use some updating. It reminded me of a dorm shower. It was clean, just extremely ordinary.

The 2nd floor porch. I loved the hammock!
(The black shudders in the left of this picture were actually our room's windows.)

As Jason napped away I settled myself into the hammock on the porch with a book I borrowed from the little collection in the living room. Can we say relaxing?

The next morning we enjoyed the best part of staying at a B&B...the breakfast. There were fresh baked breads, ripe fruit, bagels & schmear, and an old fashion juicer with a huge basket of oranges. Jason had a lot of fun squeezing his supremely fresh OJ.

It was quite a beautiful spread!

I definitely enjoyed gorging myself on the melons and pineapple aplenty. One morning we sat in the kitchen and ate, the other morning we sat out in the garden and had a little friend visit us.

Goo!

This little guy's name is Goo! He was pretty much the cutest little dog I've ever seen, and very friendly. He belongs to the woman who owns the house. I want to say her name is Joan (I apologize I am the worst with names). We chatted with Joan(?) for a bit one morning and I could tell right away she was from New England, so that got us talking even more about the northeast and how she wound up down in the Keys.

1st floor porch

All in all I thought the Popular House was a wonderful place to stay. I was definitely curious as to what the other rooms in the house looked like, but since we didn't know any of the other guests we didn't find out.

The staff is extremely friendly and very helpful. They gave us maps and directions and suggested places to go, things to see, and where to eat. Since I'd already been to Key West many times, I found many of their suggestions on par with my experiences. They know the island, they know the community, and they are wonderful people!

Thanks for a relaxing time!

Our Birthdays! (part 2)

Day 2, my birthday!
(aka Operation Drink Around the World)
For my birthday the following day we did Epcot. And by "we did Epcot" what I mean to say is Epcot gave us the big fat middle finger all day long. My mission for the day was to take a leisurely stroll around the world and drink my way through each country. Epcot's plan was to have it rain, then have it POUR, then close down one of the rides I really wanted to go on early, then send us home with food poisoning.

About an hour after we got in the park the sky opened up and it started POURING. Jason and I were stuck under a monorail-rail, in a tiny sliver of dry protection for a few minutes before we could muster up the decision to make a run for one of the shops a good 100yards away.

Let's just say we got really really wet. Even though we pretty much ran the whole way across to the nearest building.

Now I love Epcot. Epcot is the home to Figment, who is by far one of my favorite Disney creations ever. We went into the shop and I bought my mother a new Figment towel to replace her 15year old tattered one, and then proceeded to use it to dry my hair. I scoffed at Jason's reasoning that in a few minutes we'd have to go back outside and I'd just be wet all over again, and proceeded to dry myself off. Say it with me: futility.

It was soon after this that we ran over to Mexico and got two margaritas to start off our day. I had a fun little exchange with a woman behind us in the line at the margarita stand. When she overheard me order two margaritas and nothing else, she pondered aloud: "Is it too early for margaritas?"

I turned to her and we both answered in unison, "It's 5 o'clock somewhere!" ...despite the fact that it was really only 11am in Epcot. Yes, we started drinking at 11am.

We ran into the Mexican building and admired the art. I have a huge love for any Dia de los Muertos art, so it was nice to see a few displays. We people watched and counted how many people could walk past the maraca stand without picking them up to shake and do a funny dance. The count was pretty much zero by the time we finished our margaritas.

The rain let up a bit and we walked back to the Test Track to use our Speed Passes. We just got on before it started pouring again and they had to shut down the ride until it cleared up. So it was off to Norway for us! As the sweet Norwegian girl poured us our second drink we realized that if we were going to make it around the world, we'd have to share. So after our margaritas, Jason and I pounded back half a beer at each destination.
We were entirely confused when we hit a patch between China and Germany that wasn't labeled on the map. It appeared to be the entire continent of Africa in one little "Outpost" I have to admit, the African beer was one of my favorites the entire day, but I had to add Africa? to the map when I threw together these photo collages.

We decided (or rather, I decided since it was my birthday) that we would have our big meal for the day at the Biergarten Restaurant in Germany. My grandmother's side of the family is German so this kind of food is like coming home for me. The Biergarten is awesome, it's family style so we shared a table with another couple and a girl with her two uncles. We had some friendly conversations and enjoyed the show...which was fantastic as well.
There was one unintentional snafu here though. For some reason Jason decided to try some steamed salmon from the buffet. This was the only food item that he ate on my birthday that I did not also eat. I say this because after Germany Jason was not feeling well and later that night got the worst food poisoning ever. So might I suggest not eating the salmon, and sticking to the traditional schmorgasborg if you ever take in the Biergarten?

After Germany, we slowed our pace to a snails crawl. Jason wasn't feeling well and getting him through Italy, America, Japan and Morocco was a great feat. In France it started raining again. We found an alley to sit and drink our beer in. And trust me, the hilarity of us sitting in an alleyway in France slightly intoxicated while Belle and Aurora signed autographs for little children in the bookstore across from us as we drank beer does not escape me. Perhaps this is why the French hate us..?

After France though, we were in the homestretch! Just the United Kingdom and Canada to conquer and we had drank around the world! We were slowing down though and walked our UK beer over to the Canadian Pavillion to finish it there. The 360-degree movie on Canada narrated by Martin Short gave us enough time to finish, but after that we couldn't find a Canadian stand to buy our last beer. So our last beer was purchased right outside of Canada. Ahwell.

We went to see Figment and were greeted by a man in a silly jacket who told us Figment went to bed for the night. Figment went to bed? This was now the second time I've been at Epcot in my adult life that I have not been able to get into the Figment area...sadness. The last time I was in Epcot the entire Figment area was actually closed off for some reason and I got very upset that Disney might possibly be getting rid of him.

Defeated, we sat down on a park bench and waited for the fireworks. Jason was feeling infinately more sick so we decided to just leave. The ride back to Ron's wasn't the prettiest, and Jason was sick for the rest of the night and slept most of the drive down to the Keys the next morning. So all in all my birthday was fantastic.

Never eat the salmon.

Our Birthdays!

Day 1, Jason's birthday!
In some weird twist of fate, my boyfriend Jason and I were born less than 12hours apart from each other. We find this a perfect excuse to have a joint celebration each year. (In college I also had two friends with birthday's on either side of ours so we found that a perfect excuse to have birthdayapalooza parties. Which were practically legendary.)

If you haven't already heard Disney is giving away free park admission tickets if you go on your birthday. We thought this was the perfect way to celebrate since we'd only each have to pay for one day, and since we haven't been to Disney in a few years.

We flew down early Sunday morning, managing to make stand-by onto the first flight out of JFK down to Orlando.

It was beautiful. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and we got the tiniest rent-a-car in the world. (Free park tickets, stand-by, tiny rental...are we sensing the cheapo pattern here?) We made it to Magic Kingdom by noon and I immediately began the birthday torture.

Jason's first ears!

We had a "magical" day, wandering around Frontierland for quite a long time and getting some what lost on Tom Sawyer's Adventure Island (which I had never actually ever crossed the water to get to). It was really warm though...really warm, and we spent most the day eating ice cubes and didn't actually have a real meal while in the park.

We decided after a decent stint in Tomorrowland that we'd forgo watching the fireworks to meet up with my friend Ron and grab some dinner outside the park. We piled back into the tiny red rental just in time for it to start pouring. Florida's fun like that!

Met Ron at his house in Orlando and he gave us the grand tour of the area and we had some delicious dinner at Panera and caught up on those "olden days" we'd shared in college. You know when your friends are nerds when this is the post-it on their fridge:
I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that I, the graphic designer, looked at it and knew exactly what the note meant and why it was there, or the fact that Jason, in all his engineering wisdom, looked at it and said, "Filter triangled..."

Sometimes it's strange for me to see friends from college. I don't necessarily consider myself old, but some of the stories Ron and I were prattling on about to Jason happened six years ago. Weird, right? I guess I'm just getting to that age where I have friends across the country and I'm realizing the enormity of it all. We spent four amazing years together and now we're scattered, I hope at some point in life I get to see all of them together again. I guess that's what reunion is for.

...tomorow! My Birthday's recap.

Here's to those Golden Days...

When I wound up going to the same college as my brother (but for a completely different degree), my parents, sister and I were invited to a brunch of some sorts. My father off the cuff mentioned to the President of the University during our photo op that I was the second of his kids to attend. Shirley J turned to my sister to ask if she'd be joining the two of us when it was her time to go to college.

To which my sister curtly replied, "Definitely not."

Looks like Shirley J got the last laugh.

After only 3 years, Julibean's gone done gradumated.

Check out that beautiful Troy sky!

A full generation of our family, all cranked out of one college. Hooray! And Congratulations Julibean!

June is busting out all over!

And apparently so am I.

I have been the WORST blogger EVER, but it's June and I'm going to turn a new leaf. I have many goals this month and one of them will be to blog more frequently. Daily, if I can stand it.

Goals for June

1. Keep room tidy.
2. Start the Couch to 5k Plan and really stick to it.
3. Drink 100oz. of water (or water-based beverage) every day.
4. Update blog constantly.
5. Eat more fruits and veggies.
6. Rinse, repeat.

So here goes nothin', time to kick June in the teeth!