Dance Hall Days

Today is the last day to fill out the NTMK survey. Those of you who have filled it out already, thank you very much! It's been sooo helpful and has allowed me to really put things into high gear. I've come up with a lot of great ideas from your feedback and I can't wait to share them with you over the next few months. If you haven't yet filled out the survey, it's not too late! Click here.

I can't believe this week is over already! It flew by! I hate that we had to wait so long for summer to come and now it's flying by. Sometimes Chicago weather is lame. Today, A.P. has taken the day off work and I am planning a day trip for us. He needs a day of relaxation and I am trying to plan one for the both of us. We need a bit of fun.

Speaking of a bit of fun, this week's wedding is so charming, it's going to make you wish you were one of the lucky five guests invited. That's right! Five! Steven and Amanda's gorgeous, intimate wedding is so lovely and filled with such sweet details. It was beautifully shot by Bend the Light Photography in the bride's home state of Texas. But the thing I love the most, the thing that made me feature this wedding is the what Amanda wore. I love her beautiful skirt and super, super cute plaid shirt! How awesome is that?

Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? I love all the silhouettes and, of course, Steven's way cool pompadour. Der.

So, besides tomorrow's day trip, A.P. and I are hanging with family and chipping away at the apartment some more. We also have to take our dog to the vet...again. We took him last week, but he had another seizure (we are calling them this for lack of a better word since we are not entirely sure they are actually seizures). It's really, really sad and has cast a shadow over our house. I am trying to stay positive, but I worry that something is really wrong with poor little Radar. So we are giving him a little extra love this week to make up for the sad seizures and the three trips to the vet in the past week! What are you guys up to this weekend? Hopefully something better than worrying about a five pound beastie.

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

How about a dinner party in the middle of nowhere?

Did you hear? Did you hear? You can be darling on your wedding day, too! Yay!

The simultaneous joy and heartbreak of kids growing up

It seems like friendship bracelets are making a comeback. I was never into them the first time, but if you were, here are some easy DIY instructions. Rock it hard if you do make it, ladies!

One of my favorite wedding inspiration boards. Green and stripes? Ummm...count me in!

Thinking about submitting your wedding? First off, save it for me (more on that later). Second of all, have you heard of the Wedding Blog Directory? It outlines the submission requirements for different sites. So cool!

Want to go tubing through an old sugar plantation?

Vintage suitcase craft organizer

Pretty homemade peppermint patties

Do you subscribe to Not the Marrying Kind? If not, you should! It's free and fun and it means you automatically get new posts when the blog is updated. No having to check back! Click here for more details.

(Dance Friday Photo via here; Amanda and Steven's wedding photographed by Bend the Light; Photos via Love and Lavender)

Sharing Is Caring (So Is Subscribing!)

Hi all! A fresh, new post will be up later this afternoon (check back around 10am CST), but first, some maintenance.

First up, I finally fixed the share buttons on the blog so that now you can email posts, blog about them, tweet about them, post about them on Facebook or Google Buzz, and +1 me on Google +. The buttons can all be found at the bottom of each post, next to comments link (see picture below). So, feel free to tweet, blog, and facebook/google it up to your heart's content!


Speaking of Google +, I'm on there. Are you? If you are, feel free to add me as a friend! I'm still learning how the damn thing works, so if you friend me, you'll have to forgive my inexperience.

Finally, if you don't already, have you considered subscribing to Not the Marrying Kind? If you've never really subscribed to a blog before, you're in good company. I was scared to do this for a long time, but now I have several blogs I read in Google Reader. It's awesome. I no longer have to check back to see if a blogger has updated. When they do, it automatically updates in your Reader. I highly encourage you to subscribe if you haven't already. And there are oh, so many ways you can do so! You can use the drop down menu on the right under "Get Updates On" to either subscribe via RSS to posts or comments or both! Or you can subscribe via email right below by entering in your super top secret email addresses. Finally, if you have a blogger account, you can add me to your reading list on the dashboard by cutting and pasting the URL for NTMK into the window that pops up when you click the "add" button. See? So many ways you can get updates on posts that way you don't miss one boring moment of my life!

Also, you can always keep up with me on twitter, pinterest, and polyvore, too! So go, go subscribe, follow, tweet, and whatever else your heart desires! I promise I'll do my part to say stupid, useless crap like how according to klout, I'm quite influential about The Bachelorette.

See you soon, my sweets!

Are You a Leader or a Follower?

One of my goals for this year is to increase my blogging to five times a week. Of course a big motivator for that is to have new people (in addition to my lovely longtime readers) to write for, and new interest in the blog, as close to daily as possible. That means working to increase readership. So my question for you, my lovely readers old and new, is: are you a leader or a follower? Click here to subscribe to this blog (if you prefer a different method, there are some other options to the right of this post, under Get Updates). And if you too are perhaps not the marrying kind, and so are not ready for a full committal, maybe just leave a comment and say hi, especially if you never have before.

Also, check out these wonderful blogs from around the internerd:

Midge Me - crafty gal who inspires me with all that she takes on
Take Heart - another crafty gal who has the cutest little towheaded kids...and they take the cutest damn photos
Greedy Girl - fashion, fashion, fashion
A Day in the Life of the Gilded Bee - etsy shop owner's super inspirational (and colorful) blog
Musing on Beauty - good makeup tips/product reviews here!
Yolk - a hilarious, if sometimes heartbreaking, blog of a woman on a journey to get knocked the heck up...by her husband
Pop Culture Librarian - found this through The Maiden Metallurgist...and she pretty much writes about everything I love...movies, music, books, life
Zilredloh - new blog by Felix @ Avoision's wife, Liz, who is crafty and awesome

(Photo via Etsy Shop SunnyLaneBoutique)