A post-wedding "what's up"

Ahhh. its over. Months - nay - YEARS of planning has finally come to an end. And our final product was a wedding day so perfect we can hardly believe our luck. To have so much love and support thrown in your direction at one time is blissfully overwhelming - and the perfect kick off to a marriage.

'Cause lemme tell you...I had fun planning and being engaged and all, but being married is waaaay more awesome then anyone lets on. I feel like spencer and I shall this little secret with eachother that makes everything cooler- and more fun.

The picture above is of me at one of my most bridal moments. Spencer is working his way towards the cake table and Im antsy to get to the cuttin' of cake and get back to the cuttin' a rug. But the dress looks fab, doesn't it? and the cake...yum...

So now i get my life back. Actually I am sort of getting a new and improved life. I transition from my current job to my new job this week and with that comes the shiny 9-5 scheduled i dreamt about all through college and this past year. With a settle routine in place I'm hoping to carve time for all the fun projects I've put on hold.

Once i catch up on my sleep....

A life led through magazines

I am a magazine junkie. Something about those glossy, fluffy throw away booklets conjures up joy and relaxation in my soul. So, naturally every time I visit the grocery store I allow myself a few minutes to browse thru the racks and make the perfect selection. The mags I gravitate to seem to reflect where I am in my life (hour, day, year, whatever) Today I was torn between Real Simple (organizational techniques for every personality!) and Sophisticated Hairstyles (looking for a new wifey/i got a 9-5 now coif). While I eventually caved and got a copy of OK!-there is no shame in that-I returned to a thought I've had many times over. A reflection on my life lived through magazines.

It all started with Highlights. Bright and cheery pictures, light stories in BIG print and a fabulous picture search game in every issue. I was growing and learning and Highlights was my perfect match, I can remember dreaming I would be a Highlights contributor one day. Ah, the simple life...

Next came a brief - but passionate - relationship with Teen Bop. If there were articles in that magazine I surely don't remember. I was all about glossy pull-out posters of Joey MacIntyre. My first crush. I put my Highlights editor-in-chief dreams aside to quietly pursue a relationship with a boy who wore topless top hats.

High School days came and I remember feeling very adult. Very grown up and craving womanly knowledge. I read Glamour and Cosmo by the pool everyday that summer. Also know as: The Tan Summer. My mags were well worn and stained with tanning oil. My best friend and I would read the horror stories aloud to one another and pass the magazines back and forth - vowing to apply the sex tips we had just learned...once we had a sex life. Looking back it was probably the only time a magazine became a social tool, a necessary accessory. Hmm...maybe THAT was the simple life...

After high school, i took myself much more seriously. I decided that Cosmo and other similar mags made women look like silly, boy crazy airheads more concerned with mastering the art of fellatio than become the first female president. I was at a loss..where would I go from here? I played around with newspapers for a while, but their complicated folds and smudgy print took all the fun out of it. An old roommate had a copy of a magazine I had long scoffed for being 98% advertisement. It was love at first read. My new accessory, new obsession. I had found VOGUE.

Now, VOGUE deserves to be in all caps. It's an institution, a planet, and state of mind. I kept every months magazine (and still have them) for 2 years straight because I was convinced they were historical property. And I imagined a great granddaughter of mine one day uncovering them and thanking me through the ages that I'd had enough sense to save them. The articles discusses art, culture and politics in a sophisticated way. Holding a copy was like holding a ticket into a flashy and elite world I longed to live in. While we aren't as close as we use to be...I will always keep a place in my heart for VOGUE magazine.

< enter college life here > this means I was primarily reading textbooks and could only occasionally sneak in a gossip magazine now and again.

When I became engaged- you guessed it - for about a year straight I read every wedding magazine put on the shelf. It was great at first. I was finally allowed to read them now that I was one of the engaged people. the blessed. ha! But after the honeymoon period (with the magazines-not my husband) ended I found I was ready to move on. They really all say the same things over and over. Plus, once I decided to forgo a "traditional" wedding, reading them just made me second guess myself and drove me a little craz(ier)y.

Thankfully we bought a new house around that time so I immersed myself in home design mags. Eh. It was more frustrating than anything. Can't somebody publish a glossy HD mag that doesn't require me to have unlimited funds?!

So now I a married woman. I still love VOGUE and OK! and People and yada yada but today I was looking at A LIFESTYLE magazine for the organization article. So as a part-time magazine anthropologist I'd have to declare - Im a little bit of a grown up. Whats next for me? TIME? Travel? The New Yorker? Fit Pregnancy?

I'll see you in the aisles....

Wedding Preview

Repeat after me: this isn't a wedding blog. this isn't a wedding blog.

But it IS my blog and I'M getting married. So *sometimes* this will be a wedding blog.

I'm awfully proud of our sort of untraditional, totally US community wedding. So I'm gonna brag a little and tell -you- (all 3) a little bit about it!

I love parties. I love hosting them and getting into the details and hearing my guests tell me how genius I am. So naturally I stressed a bit over what *our perfect wedding* would look like. Plan A-rent a museum, serve surf and turf, unlimited champagne and a guest appearance by Chromeo. Plan B- reality, oh there you are!

Reality=budget for those of you deciding which pair of YSL pumps to don today.

So we thought. ok, I thought. I'm a (over)thinker, and this wedding was no exception. But late one night I had a revelation. GUESS WHAT? it's 2010, ladies and Gentlemen...we can write our OWN RULES! so that's what I did.

We've rented out the boys & girls summer camp where Spencer and I met way back in '96 as junior campers. We're inviting guests to come early and play games (frisbee golf, boccee ball, kickball) or delight in arts & crafts. We'll say our vows about 7ft away from where I agreed to go out with this random boy I hardly new and will be my husband in 56 days. We'll drink margaritas by the trading post while Mr. Alfred Hams it up on the accordian. While we dine, a 50's mowtown cover band we love will serenade us. After we've danced and cut cake and gotten all sweaty, I'll change into my mother's old courthouse wedding dress and we'll make s'mores and have a sing-a-long till we pass out from joyous exhaustion. Everyone will stay at camp. We'll get together for waffles and mimosas in the morning and sneak in a volleyball game or two before we head out.

Oh yea. and the VIP's stay Friday night too for the rehesal diner. which, by the way, is cowboys and indians themed crab feast.

oh boy oh joy!

well hello sunshine!

Not that it's very sunny here. but the trees are in bloom and look great against the stormy gray sky...and that's good enough!

I've been MIA. why? I lost some steam which is directly related to my current job-unhappiness. I'm workin' on it though. Also, big house projects have taken a back seat to crunch-time wedding planning. (a blog post about hanging a shelf in the bathroom seems about as uninteresting as it can get)

Spencer and I have been together for over 12 years and engaged for about 20 months. What can I say? we like to marinade. But with our wedding under 2 months away our dreams and inspirations have quickly catapulted into tangible goodies.

and oh boy its been fun checking stuff off the list! I spent about 5 hours with the gang over at "Law and Order SVU" hand addressing envelopes. The local liquor store had their big blow-out so we waited in multiple lines, argued over the importance of vodka-quality and $1000 bucks later strolled out with all our wedding weekend booze.

One of my favorite things has been creating our invitations. I'm non-traditional and DIY all the way. I'm also a huuuuge cheapskate. So I was BEYOND delighted when one of my besties KTScarlett and her graphic designer beau Z. offered to help me craft my invites. I am in love with them. I could stare all day long. I will post as soon as I can. Not only was it a blast working on it all together but they ended up gifting the invites as their wedding gift. enter tears of joy. Our "big day" has really become a community affair and it makes me so joyful. A family friend has offered to belt out German accordion classics during the cocktail hour, My first boss at a small bakery has gifted our wedding day pastries and cake and my almost sister in law plans on pouring stress sweat and tears into decorating it.

There are no words to describe how blessed we are. but I'll try. maybe tomorrow.

Crazy baby Shower

why crazy? because it's for a fictional baby.

yeah.

It is common knowledge amongst my clan that spencer and I are avid Office fans. We have put staplers in Jello. We have purchased several bobble heads and even won a Dundee.

And as a result, we are quite excited for the Thursday's hour episode in which Jim and Pam Halpert give birth to THE OFFICE BABY.

If you are unaware (and that's ok!) Jim and Pam are the Romeo and Juliet of NBC prime time. Except they live in Scranton and they don't kill themselves. Aren't happy endings swell?

So, to celebrate, I'm indulging in my crazy and throwing a baby shower themed viewing party.

There will be games...
-pin the sperm on the egg
-guess the name
-guess the sex
-guess who says the babies name out loud first

There will be baby themed foods...
-rattle in Jello
-little tuna's (Jim's nickname is Big Tuna)
-sweet buns (in the oven)

and naturally I'll pick up some blue and pink balloons.

I just love being weird....

Dream kitchen: Where art thou?

*uuuuuhmmmf*

it's Saturday. I'm working. I'd rather be crafting a headboard...

But, work = money = headboard supplies = headboard. so.

yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to come home from work and find P.May and my future in-laws had come over to install our tile-like stratamax in the kitchen to cover these vinyl tiles which drove me crazy because aside from not being my style at all, they were crooked and sloppily laid...


It looks great but...of coarse there's a but...now it makes me really want to spruce up my workable, but outdated kitchen.

Where do I start though? I have big plans for this little kitchen which include knocking down a wall or two, upgrading every appliance and getting new cabinets and counter top. That plan also includes a wait time of about 5 years...




It would be silly to get just new cabinets or just new counter tops now when we're planning a major redesign. So I need to perform a mini makeover. PROBLEM: I am having serious issues with my next step. I don't have a dream kitchen in mind, there are a lot of styles I like...

Before the purchase of this home I had fantasized about a Mediterranean style kitchen, like this:

Rich colors, dark wood, something that screamed: "people eat well here"

But, I also lean towards a more modern look as well, like this one from Young House Love:

I love LOVE the extreme tile work here and the punchy patterned towel that picks up the pace.

Then again, there is something ultra-cool and classic about this mostly-white beauty...

(Not to mention, I adore the french blue accents...)

Or, why not go with the flow and pick a fun, retro look, like this one from Amy's Blog:

Can you say, "sunny side up"?

The final contender is a more unique look. Something rarely seen outside the Internet, but definitely a growing trend:

So cool! These chalkboard painted walls are making a big splash, as far as I can tell, and I'm on board! How fun would it be to have an ever-changing wall!?!

They all look great, but somehow I think a "Modern-Mediterranean all-white retro kitchen with a chalkboard wall" doesn't translate into awesomness.

But that's down the road. Like, the Highway, or one of those long dirt roads that creep you out a little if you just watched "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I don't have to worry about all that now, here are my current dilemmas:
1.) Paint the counter tops a'la DIY network BUT WHAT COLOR?!
2.) Find a temporary way to cover up that scenic tile back splash. Ideas include, but aren't limited to: Mounting a custom-cut-by-bria chalkboard painted wood board, cover it up with sticky tile or OTHER (help please)
3.) Counter tops...I don't mind the color really for now, but I'm open to repainting although that really doesn't sound fun...

So, if you read and split, lurk occasionally, or whatever...please give me your 2 cents NOW and help me formulate a fabulous PLAN B!

things we all do

I've noticed a few trends among recent home buyers.

We always apologize. "Oh this is just such a mess" or "excuse the orange wall, we're repainting soon" or even apologizing for lack of furniture. HELLO! why do we do this? The whole planet knows that when you first move in, it takes time to go from zero to awesome...so why so many sorry's?

We agonize over paint. I know I had up to 10 color swatches on our living room, all of varying shades of beige, for nearly a week before deciding. So I sympathized when I saw this at BRAD's house:


The wall is yellow. There are 3 yellow paint swatches pinned to it. It has been this way for 6 months...

We ignore our gut instincts and lament over the perfect shade. Or we (me) impulsively nab a $5 gallon of whoops paint and do this:



Which brings me to another observation. We ALL make mistakes. The above guest room color was one of mine. BRAD's was ripping out his weird bedroom carpet before realizing how crucial it would be come his first vermont winter.

We delight in the details. I can't tell you how happy this light fixture made me...


even though I KNOW nobody else would give it a second look.

Finally. we love. we love hard. I love every squeaky floorboard, every muddy backyard ditch, every crazily wallpapered closet of our little home.

Do you notice any typical home dweller behavior?