I am an old-fashioned girl through and through. That is one thing about me that's probably not going to change anytime in the near future. I am love with all things vintage, antiquing is one of my very favorite pasttimes, and most of the time, I'd rather own something old with a history than something brand spankin' new. I find myself being attracted to peeling paint on old wooden furniture, and I think old houses are the most beautiful ones.
My fiance, on the other hand, couldn't be more different. He loves having the newest and most updated versions of things and rolls his eyes when I mention dreaming of an old house with creaky wooden floors. The things that appeal to him in pictures of home decor are mainly monochromatic, metals, and lots and lots of open space. He is a modern guy through and through. This, as you can imagine, has led to some pretty interesting discussions over how to decorate and paint the rooms in our (as of yet unpurchased) home. I like clutter and coziness, while he's all about tidiness and space.
The latest argument, for example, has been over our living room couch. (Ridiculous, I know.) He wants a big, black, leather couch, while I want...well, basically anything besides a leather couch. All I think of when I see a leather couch is a.) whether or not my legs are going to stick to it and b.) if I move too much on it, will it sound like I'm farting? The following are some examples of what I adore and look for in a living room:
LOVE the rustic look of the coffee table and the splashes of yellow! (found here)
Such an open, sunny room with a unique couch (found here)
Apparently I'm very into the yellow again. This looks very rugged and fall-ish to me, and I adore the ceiling tiles (found here)
I am in LOVE with everything about this living room. It seems so calm with the blue; I love the birdcage, the feather canvas, and even the empty antique frames on the wall! (found here)
Sigh. They had me at the patterned couch and the bookshelves. (found here)
Ceiling medallions! On the wall! Couldn't be more beautiful/creative! (found here)
You know, I could go on forever. But I think you get the picture. Let's give Jared a turn, shall we?
A bit early this week, but I'm afraid if I wait any longer, I'll have read too many good ones and won't be able to choose just three! :) Here ya go!
Poser - Claire Dederer
As a huge fan of yoga, I loved this memoir! Each chapter begins with a different yoga pose (downward dog, child’s pose, etc.) that corresponds with a specific time in her life or a specific pose that she was struggling with at the time. I’m not sure if I would’ve been such a big fan if I didn’t know much about yoga and its poses, but I thought it was great. Very well written without being boring. I want to read it again!
Point, Click, Love - Molly Shapiro
Although I have NO idea why literary genius Tom Perrotta wrote a blurb for the cover of this book (it’s a fluffy, chick-lit piece that I would probably be embarrassed to be caught reading in public), I actually enjoyed it the whole way through. Four women all want different things from the Internet: Katie, recently divorced, wants a new man; single Annie wants to find the perfect sperm donor to mother her child; Max finds herself obsessed with celebrity gossip sites in order to deal with her less-than perfect marriage; Claudia just wants her husband to get OFF of Facebook and fix their failing relationship. While it did get a bit ridiculous (at some point, Katie finds herself interacting with a 60-something “sugar daddy” who gives her an “allowance”) and it was, of course, predictable and generic, it was a thoroughly fun read and I really liked it!
Swamplandia! - Karen Russell
LOVVVVEEEEE!!!! I was thoroughly impressed with this novel! Told from the perspective of Ava Bigtree, a young alligator wrestler mourning the recent death of her mother, and Kiwi Bigtree, her older brother who is yearning to leave the family business/theme park “Swamplandia!” behind, it sounds really weird, right? Well, it absolutely was, but in the best way possible. After “Chief” Bigtree leaves to raise money for the failing business, Kiwi goes away to the mainlands to get a job, and eccentric sister Osceola runs away to…talk to ghosts?, Ava is left alone, and she soon encounters a dangerous character called the Bird Man. It sounds utterly ridiculous, but trust me. I loved it. The swamp setting serves as an amazing part of the plot, and you will relate to the characters regardless of their strange occupations, I promise!
Happy reading!
xoxochelsea
Soon to come: Mine and Fiance's dream living rooms!
Oh my, Brenda, what would Dylan think? You're a grown woman. Playing dress up in flapper costumes in a commercial that runs in between reruns of Maury and Jerry Springer. Remember what you used to be?
Remember when you and Kelly wore the same dress to the spring formal? Surrrre, Kelly might be considered the more traditionally pretty face, but you rocked that Audrey Hepburn look in that dress! And later you and Dylan get to have sex, so there's that.
And remember when you went to Paris with Donna instead of Kelly? Yeah...Kelly was totally hooking up with Dylan behind your back while you were gone, but you had SO MUCH FUN. And learn from Lauren Conrad's mistakes. Lauren Conrad? Will always be the girl who didn't go to Paris.
Or what about when Color Me Badd stopped by the Peach Pit? That was pretty cool, right?
The point is, you can do better than this. Plus, you don't need your degree in liberal arts. You went to London for college, remember?
I mean, even the show you did where you and your two sisters had magical powers and you could move things with your mind was better than this gig!
I tell you what, if our first dance looks anything like the above photos (all from stylemepretty, one of the most inspiring wedding blogs out there!), I will be overjoyed! But one of my biggest fears about the wedding itself is the pure awkwardness of that damn dance. Neither Jared nor I really enjoys being the center of attention, and I figure the dance will go one of two ways: Either a.) The dance floor will not bond well with the surface of one of our shoes, and Jared or I will end up falling on our bum, a la Chandler Bing or b.) we will be so aware of the 300 or so pairs of eyes on us that we will simply sway back and forth and sweat uncomfortably, reminded of our first middle school dance. Who invented this tradition?! Certainly not a wallflower like myself!
Our first dance song, we've decided, is Unchained Melody...all sex scene references from Ghost aside, please! :) Originally planning on the most well-known version by the Righteous Brothers, I recently came across the U2 version and sort of fell in love with it as well, and now I'm all confused.
Righteous Brothers versus Bono: Who will win? What do you think?
Also, any thoughts on how to avoid the middle school dance feel? Jared and I actually gave it a test run one afternoon (oh yes, we did. There may have even been a disco ball involved.), and I won't lie to you, our dance skills? Ain't gonna impress nobody. There were definitely some feet being stepped on (mine). And there were also definitely some feelings being hurt (Jared's) when said feet stomped right back. I don't want our audience to fall asleep, that's all! Do we take dance lessons? Involve some fancy twirls and dips? What is the solution here, people?
Speaking of middle school dances...I was recently looking through old journals (ugh, I suppose in this case, I have to call them diaries), and I realized I have some awkward first dances under my belt already after all! For example:
My very first dance was the homecoming dance in sixth grade. I was all decked out and ready for some boy-girl dancin' in an extremely patriotic t-shirt, jean skirt, and matching red, white, and blue platform flip flops. Oh, and my purple-framed glasses and braces (a double whammy!). The only problem was that my current "boyfriend"? WOULDN'T DANCE WITH ME. (Can't imagine why: Who could resist all of that?!) I seem to recall sitting on the bleachers crying while he, for some reason, sulked in a corner. My night, however dramatic and emotional it seemed, was slightly improved when a different boy approached me at the bleachers, saying, "I'll dance with you, Chelsea!" (Oh, that Peter, what a sweetheart!) A few weeks later, after a drawn-out breakup with much whispering and passing of notes, I got a particularly ballsy note from The Ex Who Didn't Dance (possible band name?). The postscript read: "I was going 2 dance w/ u at this next dance, but I GUESS NOT!!!!!" Ouch! I will never forget that, BZ. Never.
Apparently the only other notable middle school dance was one I referred to as the "pizza party dance." I had a brand spankin' new boyfriend by this time - I guess I was quite the catch with my metal mouth and oversized Gap t-shirts. I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, though; his former girlfriend (if you could call her that: the definition of girlfriend/boyfriend at this time in my life was giving each other candy on major holidays and turning red when they said hello in the hallway) had told me during lunch that he might get "frisky." "At the homecoming dance," she whispered, "he put his hands in my back pockets!" WHAT?! She got hands in her back pockets and I didn't even get danced with?! Anyway, sure enough, during Aerosmith's "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing", I felt his hands wander toward the pockets of my incredibly high-waisted Old Navy jeans...and his freckled face remained nothing but innocent.
Having dance parties at friends' houses was considered the cool thing to do. There was one in particular during Halloween week in 7th grade; I don't remember much, but here's what I do remember: I dressed up as a "Goth", which basically meant wearing slightly more eye makeup than usual and exchanging my Gap t-shirt for a Hot Topic one; the rascal from above dressed up as a basketball player of some sort (typical); there was a viewing of Jeepers Creepers amid the dancing during which much ice was thrown; and we were all kind of enthralled with a brand-new couple in our class and kept making them kiss on command, which they did, and that sounds absolutely sick, but we were young, sickos; kissing at the time meant a peck on the lips. It was during O-Town's All or Nothing that this still-frisky boy turned to me and asked, "Wanna kiss?" I hesitated. "Um...okay." I thought it was weird that he had asked before doing it. (Note: It totally was. I hope you don't still do that.)
My first prom was quite the experience. I won a microwave playing Plinko. He took it from me. His argument? "I'm going away to college before you are." Fair enough.
Haha! That was so fun! :) Hope you enjoyed my look back into the past.
With a cupcake! :) So there any many different things that go along with Fat Tuesday, but my interpretation of it is that it's 1.) the biggest day of Mardi Gras and 2.) the last night before Lent to gorge oneself with rich, sugary, fatty foods. I've never been one to celebrate this day before, but I'm not one to turn down a holiday that encourages binging. In celebration of this, I present to you list of the tastiest foods I know of, the only way for Mardi Gras to go out in style. Also, I must warn you that these are mostly local businesses, so I apologize if you don't have access to all of these amazing calories.
1. Scratch Cupcakery: Located in downtown Cedar Falls, these cupcakes are BY FAR the best thing you have ever tasted in your life - even if you're not a huge fan of cupcakes in general. With a beautiful shop and a large selection of flavors, you cannot go wrong with this place. Jared and I make sure to stop there every time we are in the area, and we can't agree: Jared says the frosting makes the entire cupcake, while I am a bigger fan of the cake. My favorite flavors are Wedding Day (vanilla frosting and vanilla cake with a hint of almond flavoring - SO good) and of course Red Velvet! :) They also have amazing seasonal flavors, such as Salted Caramel and German Chocolate. Honestly, you have not had a cupcake until you've experienced a Scratch cupcake.
2. Cookies Etc.: There are 3 different Cookies Etc. shops, found in Clear Lake, Mason City, and Ames. I have loved these cookies since I was little, and chains like Great American Cookies and the like just cannot compare. These cookies are soft regardless of the time of day they're made, and the flavors are all equally amazing! I am partial to Monster and Snickerdoodle, but fiance prefers plain ol' chocolate chip! Fiance also argues that Cookies Etc. is better than Scratch; however, I'd be hard-pressed to agree with him. They are pretty darn close in my book, though!
3. Scoopy Doo's Ice Cream: This cute little ice cream shop and diner is located in downtown Forest City, and it's one of the first places Jared ever took me out on a date. They serve many different things, like paninis and soups, but we go there mainly for the ice cream! Tons of different flavors, but I like the rainbow sherbet the best. To be honest, I enjoy the decor probably more than I do the ice cream, though. Each table is painted a different, vibrant shade, and there's huge, bright polka dots on all the walls. In fact, Jared and I love the shop so much that we had some of our engagement photos taken there!
If you live in the area and haven't tried these places, put it on your to-do list ASAP! They are all definitely worth a visit!
Another tradition of Mardi Gras is to make "King Cake," a festive-looking round cake that tastes kind of like a cinnamon roll. I used a recipe from Martha Stewart, which can be found here.
Tasty, no?
Since I'm all about the sweets tonight, I might as well give you a little taste of what our wedding reception is going to be like. Both Jared and I are big into desserts, so we decided to make our reception into a dessert and candy buffet. Besides a few things including a popcorn machine (!!), the reception will be sweet as can be - diabetics, I apologize. So far, we have a cotton candy machine, a chocolate fondue fountain with various fruits to dip, huge glass fountain-type things for different flavors of lemonade, and many different stands (which are made out of old records!) for our cupcakes. We are planning on having different candies displayed in pretty glass jars, several toppings for the popcorn, mini cheesecakes, miniature pies, and various other things. I am VERY excited. I think it's going to be very cute; they always say the bride never gets a chance to really eat at her own wedding, but looking at my own menu, dammit, I'm gonna EAT!
Here's a little idea of what the reception is going to look like:
Sigh. Hope you guys bring your appetites! (all pics from ruffled)
I hope everyone had a wonderful Fat Tuesday, and that you did it up right...we sure did! :)
The Etsy obsession continues! I swear you can find ANYTHING on that site...some not so pretty (see Regretsy for more!) I've noticed that one of the hottest trends as of late - not just on etsy, but on fashion websites, home decorating magazines, and crafting projects - is chevron, zig-zaggy stripes that have quickly become huge in textiles and housewares for 2011-2012. I've seen it on walls, pillows, canvases, tanktops, jewelry, and even fan blades! I've decided that I'm in love with it, and the chevron pattern is currently taking over my "heart" list on etsy. See for yourself!:
(I apologize in advance for the overabundance of yellow, grey, and turquoise. I guess my wedding colors are creeping over into other areas of my life as well. I used to hate yellow!)
I didn't want to like this movie, I really didn't. First of all, this is not a movie that originated from a Nicholas Sparks novel. But people thought it was. I wonder why. I am steadfastly against the Nicholas Sparks-related movies (except, oh God, The Notebook, ohhh, Ryan Gosling), including but definitely not limited to: A Walk to Remember, The Last Song (no Miley for me, thanks!), and Dear John. I Just Say No to these movies. And I don't understand women who say that Nicholas Sparks is their favorite author or The Lucky One is their favorite novel. Yikes. They don't know what else is out there. So when I read the terrible reviews bashing The Vow and saying it may as well have been derived from a Sparks book, I said to myself, "Oh, boy, I won't be seein' that one!"
And when I saw the preview where Rachel McAdams gets married to Channing Tatum in an art museum wearing an adorable PINK wedding dress, I said to myself, "Huh. Okay. Well, I might be seein' it, but I sure as hell won't be enjoyin' it!"
So I went. And I drug my fiance with me. And we snuck in two huge monster cookies. And I enjoyed myself through the whole darn thing! So take THAT, cynical reviewers! It definitely was not as bad as I expected. I can't say it was good, necessarily, that would be against my moral code or something, but it was...nice.
Also, the entire movie would have been worth it even if it was horrible. Because while we were in line, Jared said to me, "So who's in this movie again? That girl from The Notebook and...Tating Channum Carter?" Yes. Tating Channum Carter.
Anyway. You know the story; Rachel and Channing are happily married, but a tragedy occurs in which Rachel loses her memory and thinks it is 4 years ago, when she is basically a completely different person. Channing's character must work to "make her fall in love" again, even though she is not even the same woman he married and doesn't remember anything about him or their lives together.
Yes, it's predictable: Do you really think she will get back together with her ex-fiance Scott Speedman and forget about Channing forever? Well...hmm. You need to read more Nicholas Sparks, I guess. Yes, it's cheesy: Channing's mumbling voiceover made me giggle, and at some point, Rachel used the phrase "live within the warmth of your heart and call it home."
However, I enjoyed quite a few things about this movie. (Cough...Channing Tatum's bare butt!)
1. The Wedding Scene. I thought the part where they were married (in an art museum!) and got chased out by security was so unique and fun! I loved Rachel's whole look in the scene, and the idea of having a little pink wedding dress is adorable. Their vows, if a little over the top, were very cute, and I just enjoyed the entire sequence.
(found here)
2. The Robyn song in the restaurant scene!!!! Okay, this favorite thing is soooo tiny and ridiculous, but I couldn't help but squeal and turn to Jared in the theater when I noticed they were playing a Robyn song. Robyn is from Sweden, and she's probably the most underrated performer of all time. The song played in the movie isn't her best; it's called "Get Myself Together." However, I am in love with Robyn, awkward dancing and all! Check her out!
3. The book. Okay, yeah, another case where I enjoyed the book better. It was a very fast read about the true events that happened to a couple named Kim and Krickitt, and while it was more faith-based than the movie, it stuck pretty true to the plot. I find the whole premise to be absolutely heartbreaking. Imagine being that husband, who wants to kiss his wife goodbye in the morning, but can't because he's a stranger to her. Imagine not being as infatuated with this version of your wife as you were with the one before the accident, but not really being able to do much about it. I just think it's devastating, and the movie brought that out too.
You know you want to go see it. Just do it. It's at least a rental!
And say hello to Tating Channum Carter (and his bare bum!) for me!
