Tuesday, January 31, 2012

They Just Look Like...Dirty Socks


Posts like this will be very rare, but I am in love with this little commercial.  All these kids are cute, but watch at about 11 seconds - he makes my heart melt!  Adorable!

xoxochelsea

How was your Weekend?

(Note:  I apologize in advance if this post is a bit scattered...I'm currently being distracted by the show New Girl.  I <3 Zooey Deschanel (and her bangs) sooo so much, so my eyes keep being drawn back to the TV.)

I can't believe it's already Tuesday night!  It seems like the weekend just flew right by.  I am not at all ready to get back into the swing of things...but it was a pretty great weekend!  My adorable niece turned two, my sister picked out her bridesmaid dress, and we had some roller-skating fun!  Here's a little photo collage I put together:

1.  Pokey Little Puppy book that Audrey got for her second birthday

2.  <3

3.  Happy Birthday! 

4.  The birthday girl was all pooped out from a full day of birthday festivities...poor thing!

5.  "Hi, my name's Gidget!  I have a pretty serious underbite, but I'm still cute!"

6.  Ohhh, this girl and her facial expressions :)  Love it!

7.  The Valentine's Day Countdown starts tomorrow!!! <3

8.  Would you believe this tiny dog can eat an entire Big Mac?  True story.  (Also, how pretty is my grandma's nail polish?!)

9.  Old-school rollerskating never gets old!  ...Even when they play the theme song from Cops and Puff the Magic Dragon.

All photos taken by me via Instagram, except #9, found here

And finally, here is a sneak peek of the bridesmaid's dress my big sister will be wearing as my maid of honor.  When doing wedding research, mismatching bridesmaid's dresses always jump out at me - it just looks so laid-back and relaxed!  So I've decided to incorporate that concept into our wedding as well:  all the dresses will be some shade of charcoal (our colors are grey, yellow, and Tiffany blue), but they'll all be different styles or cuts.  After trying on approximately 30 dresses, we decided on, yes, the VERY FIRST dress my sister had tried on.  It looked great on her, and I'm excited to see it in the grey rather than the burgundy-ish color it was. 
Would look so cute with some pale yellow heels?!  What do you think?

In other news, I wore my new hot pink snakeskin smoking flats to school this morning (right here), and the pink color was making me all happy and excited about the day!  And as I was walking to class, I noticed a rather uncomfortable pinching sensation on the back of my heel.  "Hmm, no big deal," I said to myself.  "I am used to uncomfortable shoes!  It ain't fashion if it don't hurt!"  (Okay, I didn't actually say that.)  So I went to class, where I immediately got a compliment on the shoes from the stylish, hat-wearing girl sitting beside me.  "Score!" I thought.  "I KNEW these were a good impulse purchase!" 

After class, I walked to the library, where I noticed something...odd.  Were my feet...sweaty?  No.  Did I step in an unusually large puddle?  But, no, it was worse than that.  It was blood.  My beautiful new shoes cut my ankle open.  :(  I wondered simultaneously how long I had been walking around whilst dripping blood and how I would walk all the way back home in a pair of shoes that double as torture devices.  So I decided to tuck toilet paper in the back of my (now soiled) shoe and limp back to my car a few blocks away.  When I got upstairs to my room, I discovered that the blood-stained toilet paper had been trailing out of the back of my shoe since I had left my car.  Wonderful.  So I decided to stay in my room the rest of the day and watch reruns of The Office.

Typical day.  Sigh.

In other news!  The Fiance and I watched 50/50 over the weekend, and I found it to be quite enjoyable!  I'm not sure how much he enjoyed it (or how much he even was able to watch, considering the fact that I made him play with my hair the whole time), but I love anything involving Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Seth Rogen's character was absolutely hilarious and did a lot to tone down the seriousness of the movie!

(From here)

It was actually based on a true story of a 20-something who gets a very serious form of cancer, and it's pretty much just about him struggling to deal with his diagnosis and his loved ones' reactions to it.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt did an AMAZING job in the role - such a touching performance, particularly one heart-wrenching moment in his car.  Anna Kendrick (of Twilight fame) played his awkward therapist, and she also did a great job with her part.  IMDB refers to 50/50 as a comedy, but I definitely wouldn't classify it as a comedy.  While Seth Rogen especially did well at lightening up the somber subject of the movie, I really think it was more of a drama.  But it really did have some beautiful moments (even if you're not a fan of Rogen's crass humor), and it's definitely worth a watch (or two) - bring tissues!!

One more thing:  I have a new guilty pleasure.  Dance Moms on Lifetime.  So entertaining!  These little girls' dance instructor is not to be believed.  And if you think the pageant moms on Toddlers and Tiaras are bad, get a load of these dance moms! 

(Picture from here)

Still to come tonight:  Tutorial Tuesday AND a preview of some Valentine's Day projects!

xoxochelsea

Friday, January 27, 2012

Drooling Over...

Recent Etsy finds:

Etsy and I have a love affair the likes of which you've never seen.  If I weren't so far into this wedding planning business, and Etsy just happened to be a person rather than a website, I just might run away with him.  Just kidding, Jared.

Not really, though.

Handmade Silver Hoops - BIRD, unique contemporary jewerly, nature creature animal flying, maryandjane   Orange Peach and Fuschia Satin Warm Flower Statement Bib Necklace - Featured on Etsy Front Page   Yellow Partridges Screen-Printed Dishtowels-set of 2

Can you blame me, honestly?
(Found here, here, and here, respectively)

The entire Golden Days Collection currently at Target:

This whole line is so beautiful, I could cry.  ...Especially because I know that it will be out of stores by the time Jared and I get around to registering.  The chevron-printed lampshade and blue base are my favorite pieces, but ohhh my gosh.  If I received the entire collection and never got another gift in my life, I'd be one happy girl.

Mix-and-Match Lamp Shade - Chevron Lamp Shade - Gold (Large)  

(Hey, Jared!  Look how pretty I'd look on your fiance's nightstand on that Tiffany blue lamp base!  Come and get me before I get sold out!)

(I heard she wants this, too.  Just so you know.):

KitchenAid Artisan 5-qt. Stand Mixer - Ice Blue (KSM150PSIC).Opens in a new window
(Both target.com)

And this obviously needs no explanation:



Too bad Fiance is a Dog Person.

(From here)

Soon to come:  Movie review (plus a special section on my LOVE Joseph Gordon-Levitt), best books of the week, Valentine's Day special, a DIY project, and possibly even a review of something...technology-related?...from Fiance!

xoxochelsea 

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Love is Sweet...


I told myself I wouldn't make this into a wedding-planning blog.  SO I'm going to try to limit myself to one a week.  Our wedding is largely a DIY affair, mostly because I wanted to avoid the traditional, cookie-cutter wedding.  I realize it shouldn't be all that important to me (after all, marrying him is much more important than handmade invitations or serving lemonade in mason jars at the rehearsal dinner - I know this.)  However, this is the one day we get to show the people we care about who we are as a couple, which is really exciting to me!  So we wanted to make it as personal as we could.

We designed our Save the Dates separately (his is shown in my very first post).  His were pretty awesome, very graphic and bold, in our wedding colors.  My Save the Dates were basically stolen from an idea in a magazine (probably Martha Stewart, that crafty minx)...and they involved large/small antique keys, as the script read "Your presence is key."  Clever, no?  :)  Anyway, I backed them with different styles of vintage wallpaper, so every one was a little bit different.  I had so much fun making them!  They are very similar to the ones shown below.



Anyway.  I've been spending most of my time today punching out circles in different patterns and then writing on them.  These are going to be part of my "favors", put on each guest's placemat at the reception.  It probably won't make any sense without the mints, but two circles are going to...sandwich?...the mint for each guest.  We are having a candy and dessert buffet at the reception (with a cotton candy machine and chocolate fondue fountain, no less!), so we're sticking with the "love is sweet" theme - so fun!


















And yes, I fully realize these will be tossed in the garbage, the floor, at other people...but they were fun to make.  I am alone up here at college, and I get so bored, so God knows this was better than watching another episode of Kourtney and Kim Take Miami or whatever city it is they're taking this time.  I can never keep track.

So the next couple of months are going to be a blur - so much on our to-do list!  Order invitations, meet with our dj, premarital counseling, get my reception dress tailored (yes, I have two dresses; I know - ugh; BUT the second one is vintage!), figure out flowers (my most dreaded task), and schedule a FREE engagement photo session!  I also can't decide whether or not to schedule a "boudoir" photo shoot...I know more and more women are scheduling them to surprise their grooms with, but I'm still not sure.  Do people actually do this?  Is it awkward to be so...scantily clad in front of a stranger?  Does it get cold in there? 

That will mean I need to start working out and tanning as well, then.  Wonderful.

My favorite part about the wedding planning thus far (besides the fact that I get to plan with my husband-to-be) is all the DIY projects!  I love them so so much!  Here are two that I'm especially looking forward to:


I have several vintage floral brooches that I would love to work into a brooch bouquet like this one!  So beautiful and unique!



I want to hang these colorful doily pom-poms above my dessert table!  So cute. 

And I digress.  No more wedding talk!  :)  Promise.

xoxochelsea

Photo credits:  bouquet - http://www.fancypantsweddings.com/how-to-design-a-brooch-bouquet/; pom-poms - http://www.fancypantsweddings.com/paper-doily-project-round-up/

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Extremely Loud and Incredibly...Meh

SO I think I should start off by saying that I am a voracious reader.  I consume books much faster and much more frequently than I consume food, and it's safe to say I usually average about a book a day.  One of my favorites so far has been the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.  It was the best one I've read in a long time.  Oskar's character seemed precocious, charming even, as he searched around the city for a lock that would fit his dead father's old key.  The people he met in New York each formed a unique relationship with the young boy, and each moment was very poignant and touching.  My favorite thing about the book in particular was the character of "The Renter."  Although he was mute, he used his letters and Post-It notes to communicate with his loved ones and the son he gave up.  I also really loved the way Foer used pictures throughout the novel as well.



Needless to say, I was absolutely pumped to find out that they were making it into a movie.  Starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, no less!  But oh....my...gosh.  The first hour or so of the movie was tolerable.  But during the second half, I honestly could have cried.  And not because the acting moved me to tears or the fact that Tom Hanks lost his life in 9/11, no...I just wanted those two and a half hours of my life back.



For such a wonderful book, I found the movie to be utterly mediocre.  The only likeable character (in my eyes, at least) was Tom Hanks, and he was shown only in flashbacks.  Oskar's cleverness came off in the movie as being pure immaturity, hatefulness, even, rather than comic sarcasm.  His faux swear-words ("succotash my Balzac" and "shiitake") were pulled off well in print, but fell flat on the big screen.  I was just so very unimpressed.  Perhaps I shouldn't have read the book first, who knows?  This seems to happen to me a lot when books are made into movies, especially when I've already read the book (Water for Elephants, The Help, to name a few).  Thoughts?

xochelsea

Photo credits:  1.)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_Loud_and_Incredibly_Close; 2.)  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477302/

Happy Bird and Fiance

She is a 21-year-old college senior who works in retail part-time.  A psychology major and creative writing minor, she wants to change the world and look pretty doing it.

He is a 22-year-old computer forensics major, working full time as a systems operator at a large corporation.  Averaging approximately 4 hours of sleep per night, he can't wait for the day he no longer has to work 12-hour night shifts.

Living in Iowa, but dreaming of winters spent in Arizona, they met three years ago while she was dating his best friend and he was in a "sk8er boi" phase.  He sat behind them at the movies on a date and spoke three words to her.  Two years later, he contacted her via Facebook and they became best friends...and 5 months after that, he asked her to marry him.  She said yes.



Its been a whirlwind romance, and they've loved every second of it.  They will be married on September 8th of 2012.


She loves:  reading (it's the second love of her life), wedding-planning, writing, clothes, vintage/antiques, birds, Tiffany blue, The Office, and her fiance. 

He loves:  computers, Apple products, video games of any sort, baseball, V-neck tees, antique Coca-Cola bottles, TrueBlood, and his fiancee.

She wants to write about....

*Planning a wedding














*Do it yourself projects

Photo credits:  http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2011/04/how-to-make-your-own-fabric-bouquet/
and Kristin Rogers Photography

*Book reviews
(The Underside of Joy by Sere Prince Halverson:  Excellent!)
Photo credits:  http://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2011/05/buzz-reviews-the-underside-of-joy-by-sere-prince-halverson/

*Home decor

Photo credits:  http://lovely-little-vignettes.casasugar.com/Vignette-Top-Shelf-18142840

*Fashion and other pretty things

Photo credits:  http://www.fanpop.com/spots/zooey-deschanel/images/8422251/title/zooey-deschanel-widescreen-wallpaper-wallpaper


*Life as a newlywed











He wants to write about...

*Movie reviews

Photo credits:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477302/

*Video game reviews

*Home decor

*Travel

*Food

*Life as a newlywed








Enjoy!  We'll see where this goes :)

xochelsea