Cruisin

Photo by One Love Photo. Just makes me happy.

Pure Romance

Everytime I see these shoes on S&I I want to throw a temper tantrum until they're on my feet. It's torture. They would look SO amazing under my dress. Well, I suppose they wouldn't "look" that amazing, since you wouldn't be able to see them. But I'd know they were there. That would be amazing.

Speaking of my dress, did I mention I found one? After way too many nights spent agonizing and looking for a better deal, I finally buried any strip of sanity I have, and handed over the credit card. The good news is, I love it. It's perfectly me. Wanna see? It's the Oceano by Pronovias; you can see it here, or in real life here and here. Don't worry, Raf promised not to look. I trust him; he likes surprises. :)

100th Post!

Can you believe this is my 100th post?!!? I'm amazed that I've thought of 100 things to say in just over 4 months. Chatty Chatterson, I guess. I've really appreciated the blog's presence in my daily life over these last few months. It's been a fun way to focus my thoughts, keep in touch, and develop a collection of things that make me happy. It's a great tool to help keep me grounded in such a crazy time of my life.

On to the goodness--how great are these flags?! I originally noticed them in a Snippet & Ink compilation, and followed that path to the woman who made them for her wedding. The idea is that guests can wave the flags after you say your I dos, rather than throwing things at you. Love them! I especially love that they just say "YAY".

Anyone have a screen printing machine laying around that I can come play with?? Or how about a little Gocco? I think I could make that work too! I might have to register for one of these puppies. Read about Gocco here, or check out the Etsy video here.

Wry & Ginger

While perusing for registry additions on Etsy I came across the Wry & Ginger shop. They make the most hilarious greeting cards, including a couple of my favorites here. They even have laminated ones you can leave on people's cars...so bad!

Sunday Soup #3: Cauliflower with Crispy Prosciutto and Parmesan

Evidently now I not only have trouble making soup on Sundays, I also totally forget to blog the results! This week's edition of Sunday Soup (pg 62) got pushed to Monday because it was a 3-day weekend and we were having Andy and Shannon over for dinner on Monday. I can assure you I'm not to a place in my life where I can handle back-to-back nights of good cooking!

The Cauliflower soup was definitely a winner. I think it's Raf's favorite so far, and super easy to make. The only complaint I have is the cooking of the Prosciutto. I see a trend developing where I really can't stand the cooking of the meats in these soups. Raf simply fried the Prosciutto in a bit of oil on the stovetop, but the smell was atrocious! Raf and Andy didn't notice at all, but Shannon actually had to go sit on the porch it was so bad. The good news though--once it was cooked, it tasted incredible! Yet another edition of: Just Deal With It, Brooke.

The best part of Sunday Soups is, of course, the leftovers. I'm typically a one-time leftover girl. After lunch the next day, I'm done and Raf has to finish off any remainder. This one I've come back to 3 times though, and am ready for more. Maybe it's because Raf made the famous bread this time...

Green Dimes & Yellow Pages

We signed up for Green Dimes when we were at Apt 345 to deal with the ridiculous amount of junk mail we received. For $20 they work with direct marketers to have your name removed from mailing lists--and they plant 5 trees on your behalf. Pretty cool.

In a newsletter they sent today, they talked about a new free service, Yellow Pages Goes Green, which allows you to opt out from receiving unsolicited phone books. Signing up was probably pointless at this stage, because I've seen how those guys deliver books at apartment buildings, and I can assure you they're paying no attention to addresses, but hey, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

And I'll definitely be revisiting both of these services when we find a new home.

Cloth Diapers

Knowing I'd love it, my friend Val recently shared photos of all the handmade goodies she and her crafty fam/friends are working on for her expected bundle. It's all adorable, but I was most excited to see these handmade, reuseable cloth diapers. How cute are these?!?!

I've known for some time that when we're the ones with the bun in the oven, I wanted to do extensive research into the wonderful world of cloth diapers. There are multiple benefits--keeping the average baby's 5,000 diapers out of the landfill, saving some dough, and keeping chemicals away from the baby's skin. But it never crossed my mind to make them myself, and I certainly had no clue they could be so darn cute! Ah, yet another way to feed my pattern addiction.

For the sewing pattern and instructions, go here.

While surfing Etsy the other day, I also came across these non-baby cloth pads (boys beware). Very interesting. Who knew??

It's a New Day!

Think Pink!

What do you think, Ash?? Except, instead of purple, think PINK! We could totally bling your space out! Hard core, yes. But so pretty at the same time! I think the fact that the room is so bright and airy (think ocean view banquet room!) allows it to work.

Not sold? Show your mom for me!! :)

Paper Flower Bouquet

Don't panic. I'm not suggesting that I've been so traumatized by talk of floral prices that I'll be carrying a paper bouquet instead of a live one. (Although, I must admit, it is a little tempting!) I saw this blog post tonight that suggests tossing a paper flower bouquet at the wedding, rather than paying for an extra toss bouquet. While I'm not sold on the whole bouquet tossing thing in general, the idea of being able to share a handmade paper bouquet with one lucky lady, does sound like fun! (Assuming it doesn't get gnarled in some nasty cat fight, of course.)

They link to all the fun paper flower kits over at the Paper Source--the same ones I eyeball everytime I'm in the store. The Paper Source even has a video on how to put them together (I love this lady's videos, btw, she's just so kooky--I can totally picture her crafting with Mom.) Because I'm budget challenged, and realized all it would take is those wire things and some floral tape to go crazy with any fun paper we want, I searched for a free petal template and found one with more instructions here. I could probably even draw my own if I thought I was that cool. (I don't.)

Jordan, doesn't this project have YOU written all over it?! You can start practicing for some home decor, then teach me when you come down for the Jason Aldean show!? Mom, have you made paper flowers??