12 days

I've always been a fan of the 12 days of Christmas carol and today, I am a HUGE fan of these 12 Days of Christmas plates. How darling would they be for a holiday dinner party setting? Each plate is so unique and lovely.

tannenbaum

We couldn't wait another single day to hop around town and hunt for the perfect tree. On our drive home from Tacoma last Sunday, we passed truck after truck hauling loads of tightly wrapped, magical pines down from the mountains. Combine this whimsical sight with 2-rounds of Sarah McLachlan Wintersong (my current and perhaps most-favorite-ever Christmas album), to pass away the long hours on the road...and I was 100% in the spirit! Yesterday was our first free afternoon together--we wasted no time, bouncing from tree lot to tree lot in search of 1. a bargain 2. a 7+ footer to scrape our high ceilings and 3. nothing Charlie Brown. With such high standards, I will admit, it took us 5 stops to get it right. Our local Target Garden Center to the rescue! This lovely Noble Pine cost half of the standard rate in S.F. Plus, I scored some chic gold beads on sale to trim this glorious tree. {Sigh.} I couldn't feel more at home in our twinkling, pine-scented living room!

joy, joy, joy

Christmas is officially on the brain. I spent today cleaning up a bit, getting ready to haul in our decorations + tree tomorrow! I'm hoping I'll have time to squeeze in a few handmade ornaments this year, amid making Christmas cards, cookies, and wrapping gifts. Love the handmade ornament inspiration here.

h + j

As promised, here are my absolute favorite pics from Heather & Justin's simple, elegant wedding last weekend. Heather was a perfect, gorgeous, stress-free bride! She wore Aunt Leslie's veil--so vintage and beautiful!

Although Heather and Justin are both in the military, everything about their day was purely civilian--except the location. We all needed special passes, photo id, etc. to make it to the beautiful chapel at Ft. Lewis on time.
They had the most elegant wedding party! It's hard to tell in the pic, but the bridesmaids had shimmery champagne colored sashes to match the groomsmen's classy ties.
Not surprisingly the little flower girl, Hailee, stole the show with her cute white stuffed pony that went up and down the aisle with her. I am *so bummed* this pic is blurry!

I was so delighted to help Sally arrange all of the flowers. We spent all day Friday making Heather's special bouquet, these vibrant bridesmaid bouquets, 3 vase arrangements for the church, and oodles of boutonnieres. Thankfully, the flowers & the entire event came together nearly flawless.

The reception was located at a nearby state park in an old train station designed to look like a pagoda. The site itself made a lovely setting, so I'd like to say that decorating it was a breeze. But with less than 2 hours to decorate the reception hall right before the guests poured in, I was in full scramble mode! Thankfully, I didn't have time to get carried away with planning the decorations--it was tricky enough to set up these ultra-simple centerpieces:

And last but certainly not least: Jenny's masterpiece! Let me say that Jenny was the heroine of the day. Not only was she Heather's MOH, she also made the most delicious lemon wedding cake I've ever had the privilege of tasting!

Congrats you two & welcome to the fam, Justin. Happy honeymoon & Happy ever after!

home sweet home

We just walked in the door from our 13-hour drive home from Tacoma. Unpacking can wait; I am uploading all of our pics from Heather+Justin's absolutely gorgeous day. Hope that everyone had a weekend full of safe travels and blessings {like this!} to be thankful about. Stay tuned for the full wedding scoop tomorrow!

cute as a button

Hooray! Erin's baby shower on Sunday was a complete success. {And this is just warming up...I'm excited to plan the next shower for my SIL Katie next month!!} In keeping with the invitations' little catch phrase, the shower's theme was Cute as a Button. I am strongly convicted that baby showers, especially prenatal baby showers, should be all about the mom. I love the idea of having a supportive, social, grown-up luncheon to celebrate mom and get her set for her upcoming bundle of joy. I love showers that are less about wrapping toilet paper around bellies and baby bottle drinking contests. ;) I'm pretty happy with how our mix of girly baby pink and grown-up girly class turned out. Above are the favors: I simply glued yummy over-sized buttons from Britex onto magnets. (Thanks for the cute idea, Marta!)

We asked all of the dear guests to bring a baby picture of themselves to share. I whipped up this little display board out of a superfluous picture frame sitting around + leftover invitation supply paper from Paper Source. Rows of plain jane string created a clothesline effect with mini wooden clothespins {Sigh, my latest crush!}.

I'll admit things got a little baby overload with these Pampers cake centerpieces! With 6 of these, Erin will never, ever have to buy diapers. At least for a few weeks! :) *Love the idea of reusable decor!* Around the diaper cakes, I scattered loads of pink and white buttons from the stash. (Way cuter than confetti!) Double duty: The guests used the buttons as bingo chips for our little game! Before Erin opened her gifts, everyone filled out a blank bingo card with different baby items. When she opened something on someone's card, they put down a button. And well, you get the just. ;)

And now for the icing on the cake: My co-hostess, Ida, aka culinary-extraordinaire-puts-Martha-to-shame, made real CHOCOLATE LEAVES to garnish this simply scrumptious frozen dessert. Heaven. Truly.So congrats, Erin! I'm so happy that you received such darling little things for your new little princess + a lifetime supply of girly gift bags. I can't even wait to meet her!!

crazy*busy

Hello, hello! Sincerest apologies for such blog neglect. Life has been out of control lately! I've been practically living at the hospital the past few days, working, working, + planning baby showers, + pulling together everything for our road trip to Tacoma this weekend for Heather and Justin's wedding! Just a sampling of my crazy (but fun!) to-do list swirling through my head right now:

1. Pick up Jeff's suit
2. G-store: stock up on car-friendly trip goodies
3. Buy tire chains + learn how to put them on for the inevitable snowstorm we'll get caught in on an already-dreadful steep mountain pass
4. PACK
5. Finish decorations
6. Assemble a wedding emergency kit: safety pins, eye make-up remover, florists' tape, Shout wipes...What am I forgetting!?
7. New iTunes for the road
8. Clear camera memory cards
9. Phone calls
10. Prayers. Caffeine.

love a man in argyle

Shopping is Jeff's least favorite thing. Ever. I think he'd rather scrub the toilet with his toothbrush than go shopping with me. {Ok, perhaps that's a slight exaggeration.} So I knew yesterday would be a difficult day when I mandated that it was the absolute latest possible day for him to find his new black suit for Heather's wedding. We've known for a month now that he needed to purchase a suit for the wedding next weekend, but somehow it got pushed to the back burner. To make a long story short, after searching at the obvious places {Men's Warehouse, Macy's, Target???}, he found a killer steal at none other than JCPenney! I'm so proud. We found him a decent $450 suit that was 50% off plus mismatched with the wrong sized pants. Waist size 57, no problem. We scoured the clearance rack to find the matching pants in his size and got them for just $20!! Let me tell you, it's a mighty handsome suit that he loves. Of course, on our way out of the store he asked, "So with all the money I saved us, do you think I could buy some movies?" :) Love that boy. And now for the icing on my cake: Yesterday, I also kindly hinted at getting *this* a-dorable argyle sweater. He actually liked it, tried it on, and talked about wearing it. I just never thought this day would come. After years of worn-out Batman and Anti-Terrorist Task Force tees, I finally have a well-dressed husband!

guess who'll be home for christmas?

To my absolute delight, I just fannagled *6* happy days off of work, the week leading up to Christmas! Now it's just a matter of tweaking Jeff's schedule and forking over the funds necessary for two overpriced airline tickets to Minneapolis! I'm so excited!! :) These ribbon ornaments from Pottery Barn are totally getting me into the holiday spirit. Like a good crafter, I'm thinking that I should make these myself!

off and away

The only thing better than getting a surprise package in the mail is sending one. I had such fun scraping some of my scraps together for the wonderful Leslie, my partner in the Domestic Bliss Swap! My fun little package included some of my favorite little craft supplies:

*ribbons

*tags

*labels

*a roll of scrap paper

*stickers

*toile fabric

*buttons

*a little inspiration notebook

I think that this little swap was a good thing for both of us. :)

out of the fog

For reasons I cannot explain, I've been waking up under a more ominous layer of fog than usual here lately. That's right, I'll say it, I've been in a funk. Not that it's uncommon or unsusual for one to be in an occasional funk. It's just that lately, my funks have seemed lengthier and more gloomy than ususal. Missing home, adjusting to a thousand new things, and spending too much time alone. Today I grew tired of having poor little me days. Today, I had a breakthrough. I love the days when the funk is over and you realize, that duh, the sun is shining above the fog. On the upper half of the bridge. It always has been. I'm going to be o.k. For a million reasons and answered prayers, I am happy as a lark again today. So thanks, Lord, for a day of clarity. Thanks for creating a beautiful world, thanks for your grace + mercy on days when I'm worthless, and thanks for filling me up with Christ's love to make it all worthwhile...Thanks for smiling down on me, even when I'm under this fog. Photo by flickr.

muse

It's high time that I be more proactive about finding sewing classes that fit in with my schedule and budget. While googling around for more craft stores in San Francisco, I came across Muse, which was formally located in my neighborhood. To my dismay, the business has relocated to L.A. If you're lucky enough to live in SoCal, you should definitely check this place out. They offer mod + darling patterns and affordable, private sewing lessons. What more could a girl want? Ooh, and speaking of patterns, you need not live in L.A...You can order them online!

nervous little thoughts...

I am so excited and honored to be able to come up with the decorations for Heather's wedding! Since the blessed event is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, she wants the decorations to be fall-themed. It's coming up sooo quickly. I'm getting a bit nervous and I really need to pull all of the pieces together! Above is a little sampling of my idea/inspiration collection. I love the look of glittered gourds. {Are they not the most fairy-tale Cinderella things ever!?} I tried glittering our Halloween pumpkin with over-sized crystal glitter, and it turned out looking a bit frost-bitten. Lesson learned: Use glitter that's a similar color to the gourd you're decorating! I also really want to find reasonably-priced + ready made carameled apples to use as favors, but have not had any luck. *Does anyone know of a great caramel apple source?*

britex

Today I embraced a free afternoon to check out the famed Britex Fabrics of S.F. Not sure why I hadn't heard of, noticed, or checked out this awe-inspiring place sooner!? It's located in Union Square, the hopping hot spot of all glamorous department stores in the city. When in San Francisco, it's a must see for crafters and seamstresses alike. This place has four charming stories jam-packed with every color, pattern, and texture of fabric under the sun, plus an entire wall of buttons. (Of course where I spent 90% of my Britex experience!) Yum. This just reinforces the fact that I desperately need to dust off Amy's sewing machine, figure out how to wind a bobbin, and get to work. Lately just the sight loose fabric makes me feel simultaenously inspired and debilitated. I need to face my fears and my free-time. Seriously.

once upon a happy halloween.

I deserve a slap on the wrist for being such a negligent blogger. Here I am {finally} to brief you on our first grown-up Halloween. I'm proud to say that our Halloween was utterly understated and uneventful, yet wonderful. Hanging-in. Just us. No costumes. Enjoying all of the little princesses and Pokemon, and Harry Potters that came to our door. But my all-time favorite was Curious George with the Man in the Yellow Hat. In between our steady flow of cute costumed kiddos trick-or-treating, we managed to make a super simple, yet special Halloween supper. {Chef} Jeff whipped out a few tricks and treats of his own. {He likes to disguise the fact that he knows how to make more than just PB&J.} But tonight, he made his very own secret childhood recipe of cheesy chilli cornbread to accompany our chicken tortilla soup. Don't you love how he sits at the kitchen table and studies his recipe as he goes? It's pretty much the most adorable scene ever.

Ta da! Jeff's cornbread was a hit!

And after our candy bowl ran dry, we closed up shop, dished up some apple-cranberry crisp, and watched Pushing Daisies. { I'm absolutely in love with that show!!}