Bunting Flags!

I previously posted that we were having our engagement pictures taken and I wanted something cute with our date on it. I wanted to make a bunting flag, but D said they remind him of the circus and we didn't want people to think we were having a circus themed wedding. He has a point.

Etsy

 

So I moved on to the idea of making a rustic window sign with a sweet saying on it and our date.

Then I realized finding an old window would be more work than I had time for. Like I mentioned earlier, I didn't have much time to put something together, so I couldn't spend a lot of time searching for the items required to make my sign.

After showing D some bunting signs that were not bright, cheesy, and multi-colored, he agreed we should do the flags.

I already had the burlap I wanted to make them out of. I planned to just write the numbers on them with a sharpie. Then I decided it would show up better if I added a white background. I made the sign in one day and tied it on to a rope, to make it look a bit more nautical since we were taking our pictures at the lake. We were happy with the finished product. I will post a how-to tutorial and a picture soon.

Say Cheese!

We are taking our engagement pictures this weekend! We are so excited. We have been preparing all week by figuring out what to wear, shopping, and making sure our outfits coordinate. (We are kind of silly, we know). I kind of forgot about making any props or signs. Now it's probably too late. I'm sure the pictures will be great because a) we really like our photographer, and b) my fiance is quite a hunk. :)

Our photographer shoots film, so he is able to capture emotion in a timeless way. One aspect that distinguishes his work is that he uses film. This enables him to capture an amazing color range and classic look in his photos, like you can see here: http://www.oncewed.com/54303/wedding-blog/real-weddings/the-bride-at-dawn/.

He was also just chosen by the Wedding Chicks as a hand-picked vendor, which you can see here: weddingchicks.com/hand-picked-vendors/bryce-covey-photography/.

He is super talented and we are so excited that we get the opportunity to be a part of his work. He also has communicated with us throughout my 1,000 questions I tend to ask, despite his busy schedule. I hope our pictures turn out to be as beautiful as those you can see by clicking on the links.

New Fresh Scent = Smells Like Bug Spray

As a very pale girl, I am a big fan of self tanner. Huge fan. Without this stuff, I would be pasty pale 24/7/365. One great self tanner that I have been using for years is this stuff:

L'Oreal's Sublime Bronze Gelee

This stuff works after one use (much more after two), doesn't streak, and doesn't rub off on my clothes. Because of this, I often put it on in the morning and wear it all day. It is awesome. Despite the fact that L'Oreal advertises its Sublime line as "sub-leam," which really bugs me, they may not be able to get the name right, but they got the product right. If you are into self tanner, or have never tried it, but need a little color, try it.

Despite all my raving, there is one small problem. They recently "improved" the product by adding a "New Fresh Scent" which they print on the bottle as if it is a benefit of the product. The problem is, this new fresh scent smells exactly like the bug spray I used as a kid. Pretty gross, I know, but it actually repelled bugs. As well as people. Just like always, I put it on this morning without thinking to smell this "new fresh scent" first. Now I get to smell like bug repellent all day.

To sum it up, if you buy this stuff, make sure you do not get the "fresh scent" one. At least it is clearly marked on the bottle so I can avoid this again. I may have to find a new self tanner.

Wedding Plans in Progress!

Ladies and Gentlemen: We now have a venue! Wooo hooo!!! That's right. After looking at countless venues, we finally decided to go with the one that would have been my number one choice all along. I am not the type of girl who has thought about my wedding day before. Not at all. Not until after I got engaged. But, I did think that it would be magical to get married at this place the first time I went there. Believe me, this is an unusual thought for me. Daniel just so happens to love the place too. Once I moved here, he couldn't wait to take me to see it. It's basically a huge garden. I am so excited, I can barely contain myself. The venue is a place that I want to be at at all times. Seriously, I never want to leave there. As much as I am excited about the venue, I am just as excited about the flowers. I think I might be in love with my florist's talent. She is absolutely amazing and crazy talented. Don't believe me? Here are a few pictures of her work.

Venues Galore!

Dan and I have looked at every wedding venue in the whole surrounding 100 or so miles and now we are tired! It has been fun, but a little exhausting. We have been on the search for just the right place- and right price- to have our wedding. Every place we have looked at is beautiful, but has one thing or another that is a deal breaker- for example, guests having to use porta potties is not ok. They should be required to tell you that kind of stuff before you drive all the way out there to see the place! Here's the best pictures of the places we have seen.

New Finds

My favorite store, Gray Living, was having a sale on lighting. I have been wanting to get matching lamps for my nightstands. I had driven to the store three times(!) at the last 30 minutes before the store closes, but could never make up my mind, and couldn't get much input from D on which lamps he liked (they will someday be his too!). Finally, I saw this beauty:

This ties in perfectly with my metal storage trunk, taupe trimmed duvet, and black iron bed. I love lamps. In fact, I could easily get carried away with lamps, but I have been able to keep it under wraps. Here are a few other lamps that caught my eye from Pinterest.

Here are a few from Anthropologie:

And Pottery Barn:

And Horchow:

I love them all! What lamps do you like?

I found a few other items I couldn't leave without while there. I have had some dark wicker baskets for years that I wanted to give some life to by adding labels. I got the idea from Pottery Barn:





One of my finds worked perfectly. I added wire to secure it to the basket.




Lastly, I couldn't leave without this little guy.

Those were my finds of the day! Don't you just love finding cute things?!


P.S. D thinks this stuff is unnecessary and would much rather live without anything. Seriously, anything. His favorite picture of Steve Jobs is one where he is sitting on the floor of his first(?) house, with no furniture (see below). He once told me that we wanted to live that way. His exact quote after I purchased my little artichoke was "That's exactly what I need- more choking." Good thing I have a good sense of humor! ;)

Sneak Peek

Since moving into the new house, the decorating process has been very slow. I have a picture in my mind (actually several) of what I would like it to look like in the end, but actually finding the pieces is the difficult part. Here is a little sneak peek of what I have so far. I will post more pictures after the room is complete.

Lamp: Gourmet Pantry

Turquoise Picture Frame: Ribbit Ribbit

Wood Objects: Gray Living

Framed Pictures: Frames and mats from Michael's Arts & Crafts, horse drawings by my hubs-to-be, floral print- scrapbook paper from Michael's

Miscellaneous books from college and leisure reading

Glitter jewelry box: The Gypsy Wagon

Silver bowl: Target

Apples: I've had them forever and can't remember where I got them

Wood box: a gift given to me

Silver Initial: Target

Always a Bridesmaid...

I got the cutest package delivered to my door today! It a bridesmaid's package from my roomie from college. I was so excited to open it and see what wonderfulness she sent. This girl is like Martha Stewart (but much younger and without all those issues with the law). I opened it up to find this adorable gift.

Have I mentioned I love burlap?! I love the bow! After opening the whole package, I searched for the place I wanted the burlap bow to have a home in my home. It looked really good on two of my lamps but it was too little. I will return to that part later. Once I opened the box, I found this inside:

The cutest little bee themed things from a custom made t-shirt to a cookie that read "will you bee my bridesmaid?" I loved it! It was so cute! I had planned on doing "will you be my bridesmaid" cookies and after knowing how exciting it is to get them, I only hope mine turn out this well!

Complete with a really sweet handwritten note with her own slogan on the back. :)

And even the burlap bow found a new home :)

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful

The Bad:
I went to West Elm this weekend for their "flea market" and was so very disappointed. They had several employees just standing around chatting, but none of them were willing to help me. In this flea market, they had a few pieces of damaged furniture in the back of their store for sale at "flea market" prices, supposedly. I found a side table I have had my eye on for a while. It was lopsided and basically broken, but I thought I would be able to repair it with a little TLC. Unfortunately, all the tables had three different prices on them! I asked an employee for help, but he made it clear he had no interest in helping me. He reluctantly gave in and tried to tell me that none of the prices were right and he would have to find out. He later said that one of the prices, the highest price of course, was correct and that the others were the prices of the stock pieces that make the finished piece. You cannot buy the pieces individually, so why not put one price on the table and stop confusing your customers. I decided not to get the table because the "sale" price seemed awfully high.
       I continued through the store, only to walk up on the same table, but not damaged and regular price for less than the flea market one! I knew the price had to be wrong on the sale piece, so I searched for a salesperson. I found several chatting away in a circle, and when I approached them and stood awkwardly over their shoulders, they ignored me. I figured I did not want help from that kind of service, so I went searching for someone else.
       I saw a lady walking in my direction, made eye contact with her, and she immediately looked away and looked like she was going to try to avoid me. I then asked her if she was busy. She responded, "Um....well, *big sigh* what do you need?" As if I would need to tell her first and then she would decide if she was busy. The sigh made it clear she was not interested in offering any service. I ignored this and pointed out that the broken table was marked a higher price than the table that was regular price. She responded, "How do you know?" I told I saw the price tag. Doesn't that seem obvious? Even if not, shouldn't she just go check.
       I have worked many years in retail and have those days where you really hate your job and may not have done my best, but I have never given such poor service like this. So the lady takes the tag and walks off to the registers. Great, now there is no tag on the table and I might not ever see her again. She doesn't give me the impression she will be back to help me. Finally, another salesperson sees that I look stranded in the middle of the store, so she asks if she can help me. Relief! I am grateful! I explain that the situation and she says she will help, but she has to ask a manager. No problem. For fear of losing the one chance I seem to have at getting an answer, so I ask her if I can kind of follow her. She tells me that employees get in trouble for asking managers for help in front of customers. What?! Employees are discouraged from helping customers!!! This is insane. If an employee cannot help, they should seek out a manager and let the customer know that they are attempting to get answers. I have been a retail manager for years and would cringe if one of my employees even thought that was the case!
       I sit where I am and wait for her to return. She does, but instead of telling me the price, she asks if I want to carry it out or have them put it in customer pick-up. She says if I want to pick it up she has to write a ticket, then starts writing it. I say that I am not sure I am going to get it because I do not know the price yet. She ignores this and continues to write the ticket, asking me for my information. I repeat that I want to know the price before deciding to buy the table. She then tells me the price, which is $40 less than the regular price! Really, $40 off for the broken version is your "flea market" price?! They had a coffee table there for $80 and a upholstered (ripped) chair for $70, but they wanted to charge me almost $200 for the broken table. I told her that I did not want to buy it for $40 less than regular price since it was lopsided and damaged. She immediately walked off. I left very disappointed in their service. I will not be returning to West Elm.

The Good:
Dallas has a new ladies' clothing store on Henderson! The new Milk & Honey is super cute, eclectic, and basically, a smaller clone of Anthropologie (but cheaper). The store was decorated in a really fun, down-to-earth way using common item in unexpected ways. I was excited to see that one of the light fixtures I have was displayed in their store. It looks like a barrel or apple crate.

Here are some pics from their store from D Magazine, who declared the store as "awesome." I agree.

If you are ever in the area, you should check it out! The store is next to We Are 1976, which is another really fun store to browse.

The Beautiful:
I received an email from Restoration Hardware that had beautiful pictures of -my favorite- neutral tone, all white rooms with their gorgeous furniture and decor. I love all of it! If I could, I would adorn my whole house in this look. Check it out for yourself.

www.restorationhardware.com