Circle Dance

I kind of can't believe how incredibly fast the end of this year is going. I feel like we are all being plummeted to our demise, aka the end of civilization as we know it: the 2012 apocalypse. Ha! I'm just kidding. Seriously, though, October was a flash and now we're already halfway through November! What the what??!!?? Soon, it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then The Half-breed Swede is coming to visit!! Yay!

I'm not complaining about how fast time is going, though. It means we'll get through winter faster, hopefully. Frankly, this is the year I'm officially over the cold, cold weather. Yesterday, it snowed for something like ten minutes and I was actually sad. That's very unlike me. Usually, I relish in the first snow of the season. It's just that we've had such nasty weather lately. It's constantly rainy and cold and gray out. Ick. That is why, I fell in love with this Bali wedding. It's not only a beautiful affair, but it's also an excuse for me to fantasize about jetting off to Bali and getting away from the cold Chicago weather.

Grace and Michael's beautiful wedding was shot by Kelvin Koh of Lightedpixels Photography. They were married at Alila Villas Soori, a gorgeous resort in Bali. The focus of the wedding was firstly on the beautiful, exotic black sand beaches and breathtaking backdrop of Bali and secondly on the culture itself. The couple served Balinese BBQ and featured Kacek dancers, a tradition of Balinese culture. But more than anything, it's the couple's clear love for each other that made me want to feature this wedding. After all, I love when I see a wedding where everybody's crying...it shows how emotionally invested everyone is in the couple and their love for each other. Enjoy!

Isn't that whole thing just...amazing? Makes me want a do over. This time in Bali. It's on like Donkey Kong, people!

This weekend, I'm helping my dad out by taking him to the doctor. We're also working on a top secret project I'll share more details about next week. Lately, we've been doing so much of nothing, that I'm hoping the weather will be nice this weekend and we can get out and do something. Though, I have no idea what yet. What are you up to this weekend?? Hopefully something more fabulous than us!

In the mean time, here are your dance moves for the week:

Love this mustard custom made jumper...and only for $100! What a deal!

Sick of your swimming pool? Turn it into a sustainable food farm!

Thinking about working my way through the 50 Greatest Cult Movies. Luckily, I've already seen a bunch, so I've got a good leg up.

Polaroid Guestbook How To

How to Curl Your Hair with a Sock

If this doesn't make you cry, you're a robot: A Dog's Seeing Eye Dog

Dream Big

These trump my flying photos by, like, a million

Don't you want a slide in your house?? The real question is, why wouldn't you?

And of course, the Thanksgiving recipe series

Plus, some great posts from October you may have missed:

Three Weekend Looks for Fall

Breaking Up Again and Again and Again

Reader Q&A, Part 1 (and Part 2)

How old is the right age to get married?

(Friday dance photo via here; Grace and Michael's Bali wedding photographed by Lightedpixels Photography via The Wedding Bureau

It's Been So Long Since We Danced

First of all, I have to say (and I know it's not humble to say this), but yay me for FINALLY getting back into my blogging routine. Maybe it was because I was sick this week and took a day off work, but I finally had time to read and catch up on a lot of my old blogs, and can I just say, it's crazy how much has changed! Some people announced that they're pregnant, and some people wrapped up their first 100 days of marriage. So much happened, and it was so nice to get back to my old "friends," that it reminded me it had been forever since I did the blogging stuff I used to do...like the ol' Friday dance. So here it is...in all it's glory: a fabulous new Friday dance. Enjoy!

First, let's give my mom props for finding this wedding recap on Project Wedding. My mom sent it to me so I could read some tips this bride had for saving on my money, and it was worth the read (though I felt like we're already doing a lot of the things she suggested). But more importantly, it was my mother's first foray into the wedding blogosphere.

This made me crack up so hard, I almost peed a little.

The goal? To make A.P. more like this husband. Tell me you don't swoon when you read this story! Plus, one of the biggest reasons I read this blog (besides the craftiness of the mom) is because those kids are so freaking adorable!

A.P. and I already have our guest book idea figured out (we'll share more on that later), but if we didn't, I'm loving this idea featured on Victoria with Roses.

I secretly hope it rains so I get the opportunity to wear some kickass wellies like this bride.

I'm loving this poster and am tempted to buy A.P. one for his wedding gift. But I think I should find something more "manly."

This isn't wedding or relationship related, but I with just a few weeks before Christmas, I need to get more into the holiday spirit, and this adorable and easily crafted advent calendar seemed like a nice holiday project.

If A.P. and I hadn't already bought our chalkboard to display our menu and program, I would have totally done this:

Image via 100 Layer Cake

After all, it's super cute, and super easy and affordable. Oh well. There's always the next wedding. Just kidding.

How cute is this DIY engagement session? Our photographers rates for the engagement session are really affordable, so we tacked it on to our wedding package. But for those of you looking for engagement photos, but who can't afford a wedding photographer to take them, I'm loving the idea of asking someone you know who is a good photographer. (Plus look at the results! Fantastic!)

Images via The Wedding Chicks

And finally, I don't know if it's because my dad was in the hospital this week, or because when we asked my friend Sea Shell (obviously that's not her real name) to officiate the wedding yesterday she asked me how we were going to incorporate my being Indian, but this wedding was really speaking to me this week. It made me hope I do my father proud, but at the same time, despite it's beauty, I realized that kind of wedding wouldn't be me either. And it certainly wouldn't be A.P., the whitest white boy.

Images via The Wedding Chicks

Reader's Find: Mimi's Guest Book

This blog has readers! Seriously...somebody call the pope! A miracle has occurred! We have two new blogs in the "I'd Marry These Links" section. One is Chuckle's Blog, which is new, but awesome. I read all her posts, and she's right...her life is interesting. The other is Mimi's great blog, Not a Bride Yet (although she will be soon...what will she call it then?). Both great, both worth checking out. And please notice how you give love to me (in the non-sexual sense), and I give love to you. It's all about the bloglovin'.

Okay...now all that being said, I've been combing thrift stores, antique shops, and ebay looking for cool vintage stuff to possibly buy now, possibly save pics of for future ideas, but all with the idea that we could use them somehow in our wedding. So lo and behold, when I go to check out Mimi's blog, she's got a kickass guestbook that would make the vintage lovers among us shiver with jealousy! Seriously cool! I've seen a lot of pretty neat ideas for guestbooks around the blogosphere: using vintage typewriters, polaroids, photobooths, etc. Ultimately, though, they are all the same, which of course we all know I hate. But Mimi here, well, she's outdone them all. While perusing her local Salvation Army, she happened onto a couple of books with record sleeves that had the coolest names on it (e.g. Band of Gold, I Love You, etc.). Very cool. Check it out below, and check Mimi out to your right.