This is Thirty Something – Page 48 – Hold my beer, I got this.

A day in the life: Dressing the part

October 27, 2010

“Okay everyone, remember to wear your firm logo shirt for our office picture tomorrow!”

Obviously, I am not a team player.

(Seriously though, that color washes me out!)

Feeling so corny

October 22, 2010

Wednesday night Steve and I went to a corn maze with some friends. It was such a nice day; I really hadn’t expected it to be as cold as it was! I wore my new jacket with a sweater underneath and a scarf and I was still cold. The maze was a lot of fun, although there weren’t any lights on the field so it was a good thing we brought a flashlight along. I thought we were going to be able to go into the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins too but it is only open on the weekends. That was a little disappointing.

Afterwards we all went out to eat at The Rock Woodfire pizza. I love that place.

I had a delightful Thai chicken salad in hopes of being semi-healthy, but that was quickly destroyed by brown sugar Mozzarella bread and homemade chips and cheese. Not to mention I am eating this horribly thigh engorging meal at 9 o’clock at night!

Time to start the work out again.

Me & Steve

Trying to scope the land

Rindi hiding in the corn

When we started the maze, we were told if we get lost to find a worker in a red hat to ask for help. We didn’t see a single person! Kinda Creepy.

Oooooh spooky!

Of course our night wasn’t complete without a little Cornmazing photo opt!

Screw you pumpkin patch that was closed, I’m gonna steal a cob! Totally wasn’t ripe… is ripe the word? That makes me think of fruit. The kernels were still little babies on the cob. How about that?! Steve and I took a bite anyway. It was kinda sweet.. but also kinda tasted like dirt. Corn Maze, you win this time.

Onomatopoeia is friday’s word of the day!

October 22, 2010

Hats all around! I love this little accessory I found on etsy. It is an Onomatopoeia. Zoink!

Great addition to your superhero Halloween costume or maybe just something fun for a cocktail party! While checking out hats… I found some hats for cats!

I am not huge on dressing animals… OK, yeah, I am. It’s so freakin cute! It’s like having a kid… but not.

Cirino De Bergerac cat hat

The Unicorn Cat Hat

I’m not sure but its awesome

I can’t stop there…..

Lady Gaga Dog outfit

Dr, Seuss?

Pirate Dog hat

Yeah this is ridiculous but I had to share it. Bahahaha

Marie Antoinette Wedding in Seattle

October 20, 2010

While I was cruising the blogs I follow yesterday, I came across this awesome wedding that I wanted to share with everyone! I didn’t even realize that it was local until I finished reading about it. Although, the venue looked rather familiar to me. It took place in what is now known as the Arctic Club Hotel, but years ago it was called the Dome Room in the Arctic building. AH- HA, that would be where I went to Senior Ball in 2000!

( “In the year two thousand *in Conan O’brien voice*)

The bride had 4 outfit changes, all of them amazing! These weren’t just dress swaps either, we are talking a whole new set of shoes, accessories, jewelry, everything. There are tons of DIY projects and desserts from Bakery Nouveau to make you drool. All photography done by Barbie Hull.

I present to you the wedding of Danielle and Ed!

The Rings

Boutonnieres: Curtsy Bella (DIY)

Dress – Madina Vadache from The Finery

Shoes – Roberto Cavalli

Bouquets: Curtsy Bella (DIY)

Dress – (Portland designer) Urchin

Petticoat – American Apparel

Shoes – D&G Dolce & Gabbana

Centerpieces: Aria Style

Dress – ASOS Black Label Collection

Shoes – Georgina Goodman

Ship Fascinator – Vintage pearl ship made into fascinator by Jillian Szymanowski

Desserts: Bakery Nouveau

Cake Topper: Queen of my Heart by Paisley Buescher

If you want to see more photos from this wedding please take a lot at Rock n Roll Bride’s Blog!

This is truely a unique wedding that I wish I had been invited to! What fun!

She Sells Sanctuary

October 19, 2010

Last night Steve and I picked up the bed I ordered! We aren’t putting it together yet though. We haven’t purchased a new mattress yet for it (any suggestions?) and we might be moving soon, so it made more sense to wait. We did, however, open the box before storing it away to check for damage and see it in person, since they don’t carry it in the store; I have only seen it online. It is SO not white! It’s more of a butter color…not yellow, but more yellow than white. I am not sure how it will tie into the room design I am going for as far as color scheme. We may have to paint it .

Example:

Not a big deal, just a little annoyed that the website deceived me! This bed is a monster; we had to rearrange the garage to fit the box in there. I hope our new bedroom is big enough for it! I also purchased our bedside tables this weekend. I had the money for them and decided to go ahead and buy them since they were on sale. I got them from Pier One Imports. It was a tough purchase for me, they weren’t exactly cheap. I have been drooling over them for a year now though, so I was able to semi justify buying them!

Ta Dah!

The nightstands in action!
Note- this is not my room

Here are some more pics of room inspiration I found.

Accessories I want to add

acrylic lamps for the nightstands

silver starburst for above the bed

A cozy blue sitting chair that Steve is convinced I won’t use

Black and white frames all on one wall like this

I also picked up this great white ceramic deer bust at Kohls this weekend. It was with all the new Christmas stuff they have out. I thought it would go great in the room, since I want all the accessories white.

I have been loving the faux mounts I have seen in room designs and on Etsy, like these seen Here and Here

I wish they weren’t so expensive though. I need to figure out how to make my own.

Super mall…. isn’t so super

October 17, 2010

After working hard this morning on a wedding cake. I spent some time with my parents. Steve is out of town this weekend hunting, so I decided to shop! I saw an ad for the Auburn Super mall ( which is outlet stores) and they added a Victoria’s Secret! I have been wanting to go to a VS outlet forever but there aren’t any in Washington. Long story short, the mall is switching from outlet to regular mall and the VS is NOT an outlet store. HUGE disappointment considering I drove over a hour specifically for that store! Besides VS, the other item I had on my list of must haves is a leather jacket. Luckily the Wilson leather store is still an outlet so I got this lil’ number. It was 300.00 and I got it for 95.00!

there is Bentley

I like it with the scarf

I also got these items. The faux mercury glass finial is for the new bedroom design. The little crowns are tea light holders.

I knew they would go perfect with the larger crown I already had on a shelf in the living room! Ta Dah!

So even with the VS set back, it was still a good shopping trip, and mom and dad took me to Red Robin…yum.

Fall Decorating

October 15, 2010

I was cruising around HGTV online/ rate my space looking for bedroom inspiration today. I came across some really cute ideas for Halloween decor in the home!

So much more chic than traditional orange

Love the white cuckoo clock

crows form the dollar store!

Great idea using all white pumpkins on this design

I am jealous of the hearths these people get to decorate!

For me, one of the most important places in the home to decorate for the season is the fire place. I don’t know why. It just belongs there. Maybe, because that’s the way Mom did it.

I am lucky enough to have a wood burning fire place and mantel in my house. The only problem is, the flat screen TV that is mounted directly above it. There isn’t any space to put anything on it!

So for now. I decorate the coffee table, not quite the same!

From Inspiration to Real life : DIY Part One

October 14, 2010

One of the reasons my wedding was so special to me and unique to my guests was because of all the personal touches Steve and I did. We spent lots of time during the year of our engagement preparing and creating crafts and constructing projects together. I wanted to show some of our inspiration we used as well as what we came up with in the end.
Enjoy!

Centerpieces

Inspiration

Ours

Our theme was “Rustic Woodland” These went perfectly and were easy to make. We collected Mason jars from garage sales and craigslist. Then filled them with bird seed and white votive candles we purchased in bulk from ebay. Tied a random amount with ribbon also purchased in bulk from ebay. Then set randomly on rounds with moss we collected from the back yard , along with twigs, greens and flowers from Pike Place Market. Some also had twig bird nests that we purchased from Save- on -Crafts

Cake stands

Inspiration

Ours

Using some of the larger rounds left over from the centerpieces we glued the rounds to bases and lacquered the top.

Moss letters

Inpiration

Ours

We bought oversized letters made out of cardboard from the craft store and used spray adhesive to attach fresh moss we gathered from the yard. I attached ribbon loops to the back to hang on barn doors.

Chalk board Menu Signs

Inspiration

Ours

Using old picture frame I painted white and an old window we sprayed the glass with black chalk board paint. Took about 8 coats. Then used them to write our dinner and bar menus on.

Bathroom baskets

Inspiration

Ours

I bought some inexpensive fabric boxes from Big Lots. I glued brown ribbon horizontally around them and using a template online printed out the signs attached to the front. Then I filled the boxes will all things you may need for emergencies.

Wood signs

Inspiration

Ours

Using scrap wood from my parents old deck, Dad cut to size the wood pieces for the signs. We then drilled holes in each piece and strung them with wire which we attached to a post to stick in the ground. My aunt Joan hand painted all the lettering on them for me. Some were cut at angles to use as arrows and other rectangular. We used them around the venue grounds as well as on the main roads near by to direct guests to the venue.

Will you be my bridesmaid?

Inspiration

Ours

I wanted to do something special for the girls I asked to be in our wedding. Rather than just asking them to be a part of the day I made them each a special card and sent it to them in the mail. I used accessories I had in my craft box and paper from the scrapbooking store. Then envelopes all had rub on transfer details to tie them together

My Hair flowers

Inspiration

Ours

I only wore my veil for the ceremony so I wanted something in my hair after I took it off. I used scraps of lace and vintage tulle that I had bought on Etsy 3 years prior. I hand sewed rhinestones on to add some sparkle and then attached them to bare hair clips.

Bridesmaids Hair flowers

Inspiration

Ours

Along with the jewelry I purchased for the bridesmaids to wear I also made hair flowers. I used vintage French tulle and silk flowers I purchased of Etsy. I had stitched them together with vintage rhinestone details and then glued them onto a swatch of felt that I stitched to a hair clip.

Grooms mens ties

Inspiration

Ours

We decided to get custom ties made for the groomsmen as our gift to them. Steve came up with the design and we submitted it to a vendor or etsy. It was then screen printed on micro fiber ties for us.

Flowers & bouquets

Inspiration

Ours

Flowers were one of the least important details to me. I didn’t want to spend much money in this area. A week before the wedding I went to Pike place and ordered 12 bouquets of flowers in green and white. The day before the wedding a few bridesmaids and I picked them up along with a few multicolored dahlia bouquets for centerpieces. We split apart the green and white bouquets and wrapped them ourselves. I used 2 different types of ribbon and crystal pin I purchased off Sav- on Crafts.

Chapel

Inspiration

Ours

The ceremony was outside but we wanted a way to make it seem more unique and intimate. Steve built the wood structures out of scrap wood and we assembled it on site

Cookie buffet

Inspiration

Ours

I feel like the candy buffet at weddings is overdone. I read an article in the New York times about the customary cookie buffets at Italian weddings. I am Italian, I was sold. I started collecting vessels and apothecary jars from thrift stores and discount stores like Marshalls and TJ Maxx. All of our family members and friends chipped in and made 100 cookies each of their own choice. We set them out at the reception with take out boxes for guest to fill as a favor to take home

Vintage table clothes
Inspiration

Ours

I didn’t want to use all white linens from our rental company so my mom and aunt collected vintage table clothes that we layered them on the sweetheart table, cake table, cookie buffet and sign in station. They added a little bit of whimsy and a lot of color to the venue.

Signature cocktails
Inspiration

Ours

Along with the beer, wine and alcohol we served we wanted a few premixed specialty drinks for our guests. We purchased these glass decanters from Costco and had 3 signature alcoholic drinks in them for cocktail hour. I love how they look with the fruit floating in them

People seem to think if you DIY it’s a great way to save money. I have found that isn’t always the case. Some projects will probably cost more to make than to buy, not to mention the time and effort you put into it. So you should enjoy doing it & take pride in the accomplishment of the final product. Sometimes that is a bigger pay off than saving a few bucks.

Trash to Treasure….or a Treasure Trashed?

October 13, 2010

I am still trying to make up my mind as to what I want to do with my wedding dress. It was expensive and took some work to obtain. I don’t want to sell it… but boxing it up for 20 years seems silly too. I would love to just wear it out…but, I don’t know how practical that is. I could wear it on my anniversary every year… but I know that eventually one day I will no longer fit into it and that would just be depressing.

I am still considering a Trash the dress photo shoot. I loved the idea when I first discovered it a few years ago.I feel like it is a little bit 2008 though. Yeah, I know, how can a photo shoot be dated? It just seems that it was a fad and turned into overkill. At least for someone like me, who lurks on wedding sites daily. For you, maybe you have never even heard of it before!

Although, I have noticed there has been some evolution with the style of the photos taken recently. When the hype all began, it really was about TRASHING your dress. Brides rolling in the mud, Climbing on greasy tires, finger painting, chocolate syrup, you name it.

For example:

This year it seems to be more about wearing your dress in an unconventional way. Taking photos in a setting that is completely unexpected and out of place. That is what entices me. I don’t want to rip my dress to sheds, nor do I want to hang a photo of myself rolling in a mud puddle on the living room wall. What I think I would like is some great art, taken in unusual places, of me in my dress.

Here are some pics of a great shoot I found