11.29.2010

Autumn Place Cards

Before autumn fades and winter starts bogging us down, I figured I'd better get this post up. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! My arms hurt so much from all the chopping and peeling and carving, but the end result was worth it. I will post pictures soon, but until then, chew on this.

Planning an autumn wedding? Why not use these beautiful miniature topiaries to let your guests know where to plant themselves come reception time!


These lovely topiaries were made by Olivia at Field Journal for Project Wed. You can find full instructions for how to make some of your own here.

(Photo via Field Journal)

11.25.2010

Happy Turkey Day!

This year, I am thankful for my wonderful husband. I am thankful for him every day, even if he still hasn't finished the damn thank you cards (that's a post for another time). I appreciate that he listens to me every day, that he loves me, that he loves our little life.

I am thankful for my family, and friends who supported me during my terrible, awful, no good summer.

I am thankful for my job, which I love (even if I work six days a week, 16 hours a day...).

I am thankful for Law & Order, which I watch to de-stress every day (and am watching right now between cooking...TNT marathon, y'all!).

And I am thankful for this little blog, and my wonderful readers.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and that your bellies are full, and your day is happy! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

11.24.2010

On the Cusp on a New Decade

Soon, my pets, soon, I will be 30. It's not for a few more months, but it's coming, so I'm thinking about it. I don't actually care that I'm turning 30. My one goal, the only one that really matters to me, is that my credit card is paid off. It will be. It almost already is. So, other than that, my only goal is to have an awesome birthday. Because the last four birthdays have been terrible. One year, my water got turned off, and nobody called me. So basically, I spent the day unloved and dirty. Kickass.

I feel bad, though, because I'm thinking about having a party, and last year, I super big time let A.P. down on his 30th. It was right at the height of wedding planning and stress, and I just couldn't plan a big to do for his birthday, too. So we went out to dinner, and I bought him a really expensive gift to make up for my ineptitude at multi-tasking.

Anyway, the party I'm thinking about having would feature all the music I listened to and loved in my 20s. How awesome would that be? Throw in these record platters, and you've got yourself a kickass party!


(Photo via Gangsta Bride)

11.22.2010

The Future

Sometimes I like to picture what our future will be like. For some reason I especially like to do this around the holidays. I always picture warm winters, snuggled up in cozy flannel pajamas, next to a big tree, with hot cups of cocoa and presents and kids, and visiting relatives. Basically, I picture a Folger's commercial, except replace the Folger's with cocoa since I'm not a coffee drinker. Now, I think I'm going to add these yummy homemade pumpkin pop tarts with buttermilk glaze to the fantasy. How delicious do these sound?


Dawn at Vanilla Sugar provides detailed instructions for how to prepare what she refers to as crack tarts here. Go. Explore. Make. (Then email me for my address to send me my batch!)

(Photo via Vanilla Sugar)

11.19.2010

A Real Wedding

Happy Friday! This has been a crazy week. On the one hand, my phone was stolen by someone at my job. On the other hand, I found out I won this grant I was working on for a long time! So...you win some, you lose some.

Anyway, It's been a while since I featured a real wedding on this blog. This is mostly because after my own wedding, I was sick to death of weddings. I still can't quite bring myself to even look at wedding blogs that I used to love, but still, some weddings are too good to pass up.

For instance, this gorgeous wedding shot by Tec Petaja. Catherine and Erik had a beautiful, rustic wedding in La Colle sur Loup, France. I've never seen a couple kissing in so many pictures and looking so stunning doing so. I don't know about you guys, but A.P. and I are not big into the PDA. Kissing so much in front of the camera at our wedding felt...strange. Guess I'll never be an actress, huh? But this couple makes all that PDA look...necessary.


(Photos via Tec Petaja)

11.16.2010

The Shift

There seems to come a point after you get married when you stop being boyfriend and girlfriend and start being husband and wife. And it's not when you say, "I do." Shortly after we married, everyone would ask A.P. and I if it felt different. "It" being that we were married now, and no longer living in sin. For the most part, I always responded with the joke, "No, it feels like the same boring sh*t." And I meant it, because at the time, it did feel like the same boring sh*t. But now...now it feels different.

I have never posted about this, which is a bit surprising, since many people seem to discuss this topic after they marry. My caution to broach the subject is steeped in the sense that I haven't been a member of the club long enough to know whether what I'm feeling is actually "the shift" or not. But lately, I've been feeling as if this awkward period A.P. and I have been going through is because we're experiencing this shift in both our relationship, and our attitudes towards one another.

I've made no secret that the past few months have been hard for us. We went from happy newlyweds to contemplating going to therapy. That's not a positive step forward for most married couples. In fact, I think most would argue that's a sign we'll become part of the statistic we're so desperately trying to avoid. You know the one...half of all marriages end in divorce. But the thing is, I don't want to divorce A.P. Even when things are terrible and we're at each other's throats, I don't want to divorce him. Heck, I don't even want to think about divorcing him.

So why aren't things going swimmingly? Well, I think it's because I am finally starting to understand what it means to be married. It means...forever. I always knew that, but now I for real know it. I started really thinking about the problems I have with A.P. and our relationship, and I realized that a lot of the fights I have with A.P. these days center around how I can't tolerate certain behaviors forever. It's interesting because part of me feels like I'm having these fights as if I'm trying to work out the kinks now so that the rest of the marriage is mostly smooth sailing. I constantly remember my friend who got married years before my other friends telling me that if she weren't legally married to her husband when they first started out, she would have left him a million times. It's only now, years later, that there's a routine, a comfort. There's an understanding there, one that only comes with the comfort of knowing your partner so well you can predict their every move. That comfort comes from years of being and growing with a loved one.

I don't have years of marriage under my belt, but I do have years of knowing I love A.P. under my belt, and years of knowing he is the one for me. Those prove to be useful things in times like these. It makes me remember why I married him, and why I'm not going anywhere, even if this isn't what I expected or planned for in my first year of marriage. And I also try to remember that we won't always be having these fights. One day, our finances will be in order and work like a well-oiled machine, and we won't have to argue about sitting down and getting our finances in order. One day, we'll have a cleaning routine down, and we won't have to argue about who is going to do what. Those days might not be tomorrow, but they're not far off, either.

In the end, I feel like all this turmoil that we've been enduring as of late is really just the groan of our relationship shifting. I feel like I'm starting to understand what it means to be a wife. I'm starting to understand that a marriage is more work than a regular relationship, though I honestly can't pinpoint what it is that has changed. I'm starting to understand that it's not just about being with one another anymore, but is instead about building a life together. We're figuring out what works for us, and perhaps our learning curve is a little steeper than others.

A funny thing just happened when I was writing this, too. I wanted to verify that a steeper learning curve meant that it was harder to for us to learn. I asked A.P. whether that would be the correct expression, and he told me to google it since he wasn't sure. When I did, I found this answer, which states, "The steeper the learning curve, the progressively more difficult the concepts to be mastered are." And if saying that we have a steep learning curve when it comes to marriage isn't the most appropriate thing ever, I don't know what is! After all, the only "masters" of marriage tend to be those who've been married for fifty or more years, which means that A.P. and I have another good forty-nine and a half years to master this concept.

11.15.2010

Tattoo You

I don't have a tattoo. When I turned 18, I wanted to do everything that you can do when you turn 18, including getting a tattoo. My brother offered to get it for me as a birthday present, but for the life of me, I could never commit to anything that I wanted on my body for an eternity. Instead, I opted to be tattoo-free, which I totally am happy about. BUT...but, if I had to have a tattoo, if the world suddenly changed and we were required to tattoo ourselves, I would totally get a tattoo like this:


How cool are these paintbrush tattoos?

(Photos via Gangsta Bride)

11.12.2010

A Woman's Right to Shoes

I heart A.P. so, so much. Here's why:

As I've mentioned before, I have a strong addiction to shopping these days. I've been trying to stop, but it seems that now that I have money, it wants to be spent. That being said, I've been trying to update my wardrobe, including winter shoes, of which I have very, very few. Last year, A.P. got me a beautiful pair of Uggs for Christmas, which I adore and wear all the time. More recently, I purchased a pair of Hunter rain boots, something I'd been talking about buying for two years! Then last night, out of boredom, I was searching Zappos for a pair of leather boots. I'd found the perfect pair. I liked them so much, I even thought about them today a bunch of times.

After my stressful day of work, I went to Michael's and bought a bunch of art supplies for an upcoming project. I was exhausted. I got ONE hour of sleep last night because I worked through the night. Then I was in meetings all day today, and ended up staying two hours late at work. Needless to say, I was stressed, exhausted and running on empty. So imagine my surprise when I got up the stairs to our apartment, and saw these bad boys waiting outside the door:


Turns out, after I found them, he sat right next to me on the couch and ordered them without me knowing! He rushed the delivery and there they were, waiting for me by the door. How can you not love a man who buys you beautiful, wonderful shoes??

(Picture via Zappos)

11.10.2010

Up Inspired Party

Screw the kids...I want an Up-inspired birthday party!! Check out this awesome Up-themed 7th birthday party (btw, since when do kids have such fancy parties??? I was lucky if I got to have a few friends over for cake or a sleepover!). And of course the photos are amazing since the mother is a photographer. So jealous!


And of course you know I loved the favors the kids got (though I think A.P. pulls it off better than a 7 year old!)


(Photos via Hostess with the Mostess)

11.03.2010

I [Anatomically] Heart You

What better way to tell someone you love them than with an anatomical heart? I'm super into all these great etsy finds! (Meanwhile, I'm swamped with work...will post more soon!)

Beautiful Silver Anatomical Heart Necklace from etsy shop House That Crow Built

Simple Anatomical Heart Stationary Set from etsy shop The Craft Pantry

Bold, Fantastic I Anatomically Heart You Note Cards from the etsy shop Sweet Dee

Adorable Matchbook Mini-Notebooks Stamped with an Anatomical Heart from etsy shop The Little Bird Told Me

And one of the best for last...I Anatomically Heart You Note Card from etsy shop Letter Happy
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...