Dancing the Whole Way Home

It's been a few weeks since I did a proper Friday dance and I apologize for that. The thing is, I have my guitar lessons on Fridays. 9 times out of 10, I come home exhausted from the long day and the last thing I want to do is blog. Then, Friday rolls around and I feel guilty. It's a never ending spiral of shame each week. If I were more on it these days, I'd at least start the post earlier in the week since often times I know the wedding that I want to feature. Oh well, instead I'm being a part-time blogger.

This week's wedding is very apropos to the way I've been feeling lately. I've become a full on homebody unless forced to leave. Luckily, I'm forced to leave the house pretty often, so I'm not a true homebody. But people, the desire is there. I'm primed for homebody-ness. Clearly, this lovely couple loves being homebodies, too. They got hitched...at home. That's right! Michelle and Ryan got married at home, with their family and close friends and dog. The intimacy of this couple's wedding is so evident in every beautiful photograph by Kristen Marie Tourtillotte, too! Seriously, how awesome, right? If only we had a home big enough, I would have done the same.

Don't you love that last photo where they are looking at each other while Michelle pets their dog? So sweet! They just look so in love (and relaxed)! Such a sweet, sweet wedding!

So, this weekend I have another 3 day weekend. Jealous? I know. I'm an ass like that. Sadly, my good friends lost their father unexpectedly this past Tuesday. So, I will be in good friend mode, helping out at work to cover their duties and then heading to the wake/funeral. After that, I'm working. But my hope is that by Saturday night, I'll be done with work and I'll be able to relax, relax, relax the rest of the weekend. This includes, but is not limited to, watching TV, watching movies, grabbing dinner with A.P. and being...a homebody. What are you doing this weekend? Something way more fun, I hope!

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

Pretty business cards

Fashion inspired by one of my favorite TV shows, The Big Bang Theory

More fake miniatures

Button earrings...and not in the way you're thinking

My new obsession!

The face symmetry of celebrities, or how Salma Hayek looks hot no matter what

Ever read Cooking Comically? It cracks me up sometimes.

Good news for my lifelong diet

Beautiful hanging lamp made from...coffee filters!

Plus five Not the Marrying Kind posts you may have missed in the past month or so...

Single Girl Pressure vs. Married Girl Pressure

A Quick Visit(or's Guide) to Milwaukee

Do you include children in the wedding?

Factoring Divorce into a Marriage

Worm composting

(Friday dance photo via here; Michelle and Ryan's home wedding photographed by Kristen Marie Tourtillotte via Miss Moss)

Shifted Worlds and Blurred Vision

I've been having some fun with my camera(s) and Photoshop lately. When the weather gets ice cold again, I have a photo project in mind. Then when it warms up again, I have a photography class to take! So that's exciting! But in the mean time, I am playing around with some fun, little things.

Bokeh filter (of sorts):

The cheat? I held those 3D looking glasses that you wear and when you look at any point of light, you see a certain image, which was a snowman, in this case. The neat thing is that you also get a nice vignette. Pretty. : )

Tilt-Shift:

Tilt-shift photos are those awesome photos that make the real world look like a model or diorama. Using this tutorial, I've been playing with some new and old photos. Here are the best ones so far.

Orlando Spring

Chicago Winter

(Photos by me!)

Snow Dance

This week has been soooo exhausting. Last night, I fell asleep for two hours after work! And also yesterday, it finally snowed. After 50 degree weather and so little snow, we finally got hit...hard. It started around 10am and continued until today. It was scary driving home from work, with a definite frightening moment where I couldn't break and kept rolling into traffic. Luckily, people were driving carefully and were nice and didn't, you know, kill me. After that, it was fine, but I kept a safe distance from other cars in case the same thing happened again. I also decided not to attend my guitar class. I figured I'd rather live and play next week than die and never play again.

In honor of the snow, I'm giving you another wintry wedding this week. Photographed by Jessica Watson, Veronica and Grant's cozy lodge wedding is so cute, it made me head explode. I love all the details: the thermos vases, the vintage woodland figurines adorning all the centerpieces, and the bride's winter boots. Plus, you have to feature any wedding where the bride braves the cold and exposes herself to the elements for the sake of beautiful photos. Go, Veronica!

Seriously. Is that not the bravest thing you've ever seen? I got a chill just looking at those photos of her bare shoulders and legs in the snow! But totally worth it. And what a gorgeous wedding (and only 14K!!!)!

So, this weekend, we are (sadly) taking down the tree, though we'll probably hold off on carrying the heavy boxes down the back stairs which are always scary when it snows/rains. I'm always sad to take down Christmas decorations. I love having the tree all lit up in the apartment. Lately, we've been turning on the tree and then just a few lamps throughout the apartment. We call it our "soft lighting" and it's super cozy and makes an evening hanging out on the couch feel instantly intimate.

Other than that, I'm grateful for the 3 day weekend. I know I was just on vacation, but I didn't really have a lot of opportunities to sleep in and relax. So, this weekend, I say bring it! Depending on the weather, too, we may brave the cold and go see a movie. I really want to see Young Adult or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so it's all about whichever I can convince A.P. to see. What are you up to this weekend? Anything fun?

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

Craft Room supplies getting out of hand? Try these inventive organizational tips!

50 Non-Photoshopped photos that make you remember how beautiful our world really is

Bleeding Heart Cupcakes

Knot Pony

Thousands of kids + Thousands of Stickers = Amazing

This would be such a simple gift to make for people...

...And you could package it in oh, so pretty mason jars!

Have you heard of Whichbook? I'm going to use it to help me pick some of my books for 2012!

Add this to Your Man's Blogroll: The Art of Manliness

The History of Tanning

(Friday Dance Photo via here; Veronica and Grant's Oregon Wedding photographed by Jessica Watson via Intimate Weddings)

Let's Face the Music and Dance

This is my 401st post! Can I get a what, what? I can't even believe that I've been blogging that much! I can't believe I've shared 400 things with people! That's madness, I tell you, madness! I have such big things I want to do here, peeps, and I have no time to do them. Can you guess what's going on my list for 2012 (which I'm for sure debuting next week)?

This week has been a whirlwind. In addition to last week, I took this week off. The Half-breed Swede and her man, Cash Folds, left us Monday (see pictures of their trip here), then Tuesday I had jury duty. Luckily, I didn't get picked. Then the past few days I've been relaxing and feeling guilty for not doing work. Tomorrow, I swear. I know I don't have to because technically I'm on vacation, but I will feel a lot less overwhelmed if I go in with a bunch of stuff done. So much to do, so little I actually want to do. : )

In honor of the new year, I'm posting this absolutely gorgeous New Year's Eve wedding. Cameron and Jason were married in Vermont at The Murphy Farmhouse, a home dating back to the 1700's! The intimate, cozy wedding was so gorgeously photographed by Alex Maldonado of Alex M Photography. I can't imagine a better New Year's celebration than a wedding just like this!

I am loving the simple ceremony decor. I love that the room is the star of the show. Well, that, and the couple. : )

This weekend, I'm going to get some stuff sorted out before I go back to work on Monday. I'm also going to savor every last moment of freedom and cozy up next to A.P. with the dog and cat. Finally, we're giving my brother-in-law a bunch of stuff from our storage for his new apartment. This is super exciting because it's only temporary (1 year) and will greatly help us clear out some of the clutter in our actual apartment! Yay! What are you up to this weekend? Whatever it is, I hope it's cozy and warm and relaxing!

Amazing trolley depot makeover

Daily dose of beautiful

Better than spotify...drinkify

Tips and more tips to make life easier

A cozy, 16th century drink for a wintry evening

Simple, gorgeous hair even I can do

50 Wedding Websites to bookmark

Transfer old photographs onto wooden blocks

50 healthy recipes to kick off 2012

(Friday dance photo by me; Cameron and and Jason's Vermont New Year's Eve wedding photographed by Alex Maldonado of Alex M Photography via A Paper Proposal)