Labor Day 2011

Labor day was exactly what we needed.  A full day together.  Pure bliss.  There aren't many days that are completely blank of parties, errands, or obligations.  Monday was one of those days.  A blank canvas of a day for us to paint-sound a little cheesy-too bad.  It fits the day.  

After the busy (and fun) wedding weekend, we needed a day together.  It started with me waking up with a vision of pancakes, so pancakes we did make.  By "we," I mean Burl and me.  He helped me crack the egg.  He helped me dump the ingredients.  He helped me stir.  He got antsy when I had to take a turn stirring, and I remembered what it was like to cook with my parents.  They let me help, but every so often, they would need to stir the correct way-scraping the sides, getting down deep.  I remember that being more tortuous than waiting out adult swim, wondering, will I EVER GET MY TURN AGAIN???

He had his turn again.  He enjoyed himself.  He waited patiently for breakfast #2.  

We braved the rain-the first we'd seen in a month-and went for lunch.  Not just rain, but downpour.  It took us 3 different routes to get there, but we made it to my new favorite sub shop for lunch.  When we got home, before the nap, I sat Burl down for a picture in his rain jacket.  His too-cute-rain-jacket.  He's not sure about wearing long sleeves, but he rolled with it.  

There was a little bit of fussiness, so I did what every good, American parent would do.
I consoled him with a cookie.  

It did the trick.  Lunch. Cookie. Nap.

I pressed another cup of decaf, grabbed my book, and hit the den for some nice, rainy day reading.  Our den is a lot less stressful with it's recent face lift.  And coffee just taste great out of a lettered mug from Anthro.  

For dinner, we warmed ourselves up with the famous 5-bean chili.  Really, I could serve this once and week and John and Burl would probably love me more for it.  

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This was supposed to be more about what we did on Labor Day, not what we ate on Labor Day.  Oh well, sometimes those are the cutest times with Burl-watching him feed himself.  There is something so precious about it to me!  What joy.  What bliss.

Jenny and Andrew's Farm Wedding

This past weekend was Jenny and Andrew's farm wedding.  I was honored to be the matron of honor, which meant heavy involvement.  Some might see this as a burden, but I see it as awesomeness.  I haven't been in many weddings, so it was really a treat for me.  I love love, marriage, celebrating, and most of all seeing my friends happy.  Everyone loved Jenny and Andrew as individuals, but mainly, we loved seeing them find wuv, twoo wuv.

The week before Jenny's wedding was fun and filled with preparations: 

Tuesday night: chat and tie bows on the homemade apple butter for all the guests at the wedding.  Remind them to get a marriage licence.  Giggle.   

Thursday: girls night on Jenny's roof.  Relax. Giggles. Trade first kiss stories.

Friday: Rehearsal (look at that proud and happy father!!!)  Love the picture above!

Rehearsal dinner where I had the best steak I've had in a long time.  I also grabbed this fun and cute picture of Jenny and Andrew with Chrissy and Robbie-the officiant.  

Then, Saturday was the big day.  The wedding was at 6:30 pm, which I left my house for at 10:30 am.  The wedding wasn't that far away, but the preparations where that fun!  John kept asking us what we were going to do for all that time.  Well, we started out with some girl time at Jenny's apartment where we hung out, made some wedding play lists, tied up some loose ends, and ooohed and awwwed over Jenny.  Then, we went to the salon where we finalized hair and makeup.  She did my makeup and I have to say that I might start stepping up my A-game.  I loved what she did!  We ordered subs from a great place that delivers.  We laughed.  Then, I saw the coolest up-do that I've ever seen.  Here Jenny is seeing it for the first time:

Then, we left for the farm where we got dressed and took pictures.  Everyone said the same thing: Jenny looked like a movie star.  The dress, the hair, the makeup, the jewelry-they were all perfect.  And Jenny was so happy and so excited, she made it all so fun!  We took a lot of pictures by this pear tree right outside the room where we got ready.

Everything went off without a hitch.  Jenny and Andrew had a ton of friends helping with everything and it went smoothly.  The heat was pretty intense, but it became a back seat issue when the festivities got going.  The barn, the lights, the animals, the food, and the decorations filled the atmosphere with genuine celebration.  We were all so happy!

At this time I would like to take a minute to give a shout-out to the wedding party.  We were a pretty good crowd, always good for a laugh, held our emotions together during the ceremony, and looked smoking hot standing next to the wedded couple.  

Here I am with my small friend Patty.  It was late in the night.  My hair was pulled back.  We were hot.  And we were HAWT.  She was the maid of honor and the only other bridesmaid that lived in town.  We saw a lot of each other.  But, we usually do being that we're pretty great friends to begin with. 

We would like offer our services as The Best Bridesmaids Eva'.
We like making a happy fuss over pretty brides.
We love being needed and pay attention to detail, so we're better than a wedding planner.
We are pretty funny on our own, but something magical happens when we are together.

But, most of all, we do great with bridesmaids speeches.  Just ask us! 

Happy Wedding, Jenny and Andrew!  That.Was.Awesome.

Photo Wreath

Wreaths.  Wasn't it just the other day we all thought that wreaths made with berries were the bees knees?  Ha.  Well, behold.  There are wreaths for all seasons made from all things.  Spoons, paper cups, coffee filters, close pins, and paper umbrellas.  Here's my recent wreath in our master bedroom:

When the Nester announced a little show-and-tell party for wreaths, I was eager to see what us ladies created.  I wasn't really planning on getting involved.  Then, I saw her pinterest board for wreaths.  Here's what I learned:  wreaths are cute.  I should incorporate more wreaths.  And, they can made for very little dineros.  (That's Spanish for $.)  Go there.  Be inspired.  

I was particularly struck by this picture: 

A wreath made out of pictures.  The light bulb went off.  I was inspired to make a wreath out of all the pictures that I took of the ocean this year.  It only made sense.  I took 589302 pictures of the ocean-give or take.  The colors were s.t.u.n.n.i.n.g.  Blues, greens, aquas, with a dash or orange and pinks.  I got a little crazy with the camera.  I love the colors of the beach while I'm at the beach and while I'm at home.  Someone once pointed out that all the wall colors that I had chosen could be found at the beach.  Very true.

While running errands, I picked up a straw wreath at the craft store ($2.50) and had some pictures developed (less than $4).  I had several 4x6's and one 5x7 made.  

To make thepictures a bit heavier and sturdier, I taped a piece of card stock to the back of each picture.  Then I arranged and taped them on the straw wreath.  I knew that the colors of the beach would look great against the color of our master bedroom.  Also, I had an empty spot that I've been meaning to fill for a while.  

It might be a bit silly looking for me-something I would have done as a teenager, but for now I'm keeping it.  That was a fun beach trip for me, and I can never get enough beach in my life.  To put several ocean shots in my bedroom is quite a refreshing feeling.  

Pallet Love

So because of yesterday's post, everyone has a Pinterest account, right?  Great!  Because I'm going to introduce you to my favorite thing on Pinterest right now: Pallets.  

You know, pallets?  Those wooden things that they ship stuff on.  When I worked at The Linen Closet, we had tons of these laying around.  We had a hard time getting rid of them.  Now, people are using them to furnish their homes!!!

My pallet love all started when my small friend Patty told me about Pallet bookshelves for the walls.  She sent me a link to Little Lucy Lu about them.  How great!  I could do that, right?

When I was poking around the link for directions on how to make them, I saw that Lucy loves pallets.  She has a pinterest board dedicated to Pallet Projects.  That's where I got all these pictures.  Everyone needs to go there right now and see all this cool stuff.

Pallets are so easy to come by!  Most places will freely give them away-just have to ask.  I think my dad can get me some.  If you want me to get you one too, then let me know.  I'm all about some pallet projects!

Just look at that beautiful, raw wood.  Just watch the splinters.

Who wants to get together and play craftsman and make us some stuff?