Un - Fork - Gettable Inspiration

Today I was happy to partake in one of my favorite pastimes...browsing through etsy.com. You might remember that etsy.com was where I managed to score my amazing 'Mrs. Chapman' wedding dress hanger:

(Read all about the hanger excitement here.)

I wasn't looking for anything specific during my etsy.com perusing, I was only hoping to get some interesting ideas. Once again, etsy.com did not disappoint. While looking through pages and pages of merchandise under the title 'wedding' I came across these awesome wedding forks:

Seriously, how cute are they?! As you can see more clearly in this close up photo the tops of the forks say 'I do' and 'Me too'. I think it's a really cute and sweet sentiment on such a small detail of the wedding.

The forks also have the wedding date stamped on the handles.

I have to give the seller a little shout out because I love these forks so much! These personalized dessert tasting forks can be purchased from Jessica on etsy.com for $25.00 for the set (plus $3 for shipping and handling of course). These are not the only forks that Jessica offers in her collection of custom designs. She can also make handstamped forks that say 'bride' and 'groom':

And forks that have the specific names of the bride and groom:

In addition to forks, she creates customized cake servers:

The cake server (which can be found on etsy.com here) sells for $30.00 (plus $4.00 for shipping and handling). Those who purchase the cake server are not limited when it comes to customizing them. On the product listing the seller has even included a few ideas for phrases and sayings to put on the server:

Just Married
Love Sweet Love
You make my life sweeter
Mr. & Mrs.
Your wedding date
Forever Yours
Lets Eat Cake
You & Me
Forever Starts Today
You wanna piece of me

I guess the possibilities are endless.

Sorry if I'm coming across as a total infomercial for Jessica and her handstamped creations. In no way am I getting a kickback from the etsy.com merchant. I just happen to love her designs. I haven't placed an order for these forks just yet, however. While I definitely think that they would be a sweet addition to our dessert table and make for a fun reminder of our special day (we could definitely use these forks every year on our anniversary) I'm holding off on ordering them until after I sort out my list of needs for the wedding. Supplies for things like centerpieces, decorations, the guestbook, invitations, etc. will all need to come before any additional small details, even ones as awesome as these dessert forks. I'm sure in the end they'll make their way onto the list of soon to be purchased items, but for now I'm happy leaving them on my list of wedding inpirations. (We all know how much I love a list!)

Speaking of inspiration here are a few other items I found during my window computer screen shopping on etsy.com:

1. Yellow and Gray Clutch

I thought this clutch was super cute and perhaps would make for a nice accessory for my girls' bridesmaid dresses. I even thought that it would be a nice touch to have the girls walk down the aisle holding these clutches rather than flowers but I can already hear my mother's disagreeing "Hmmmm". (My poor mom. From the description of my mother in my wedding nightmare and this last comment, I doubt people are getting the right picture of her. Yes, my mom has an opinion and she isn't afraid to let it be heard, but she's also very sweet. She's very excited for the wedding of her only daughter and has been active in the planning process, she has even begun to make some favors and fun details for the big day.....which you can check out in this post.) I must say that the vision of my best girls carrying clutches instead of flowers was a short one. I think that I would prefer they carry flowers but this clutch is still very cute. If you think that it's an adorable bag too you might want to check out the listing, here.

2. Yellow Flower Garter

I am in love with this garter belt from rosebudlips. It has such a vintage look and the color scheme is perfect. The combination of the pearls and the elastic lace.....yeah, it's love. :) I think that this summer will involve some crafty handywork for other wedding projects and I might have to add "attempt to diy a garter belt" to my to-do list.

3. Feather and Rhinestone Hair Clip

During my dress shopping trip at David's Bridal, I tried on a few feather hairclips. I have a thing for owls and Zac and I have decided to include some fun owl elements in the wedding decor. While trying on head pieces, the bridal consultant asked if we had a theme for the wedding and owls was the only thing that I could think of. (Our wedding doesn't really have a theme. Yes, a few owls will be spotted in different places at our wedding but there certainly won't be owls peering at our guests from the centerpieces of every table.) Sarah brought over a few different feather headpieces and (although one was kind of crazy big in size) I thought the idea of wearing feathers in my hair was really cute. Perhaps my craft to-do list might also include attempting to make my own feather hair clip as well. I plan to use this hair clip as inspiration. If all else fails, and my diy project doesn't turn out so well, I can always order this specific feather clip.

4. Owl Cake Topper

Speaking of owls, I also found this adorable owl cake topper complete with top hat and veil. Look at that little bowtie on the groom. So adorable! Unfortunately, this adorbale little number comes at the price of $130.00. Cute, but not for us. Zac and I have already gotten our cake topper. The cake topper was another little diy project that I will happily spill the details about later. Although we already have a cake topper that we're proud of I still thought these little owls with their wedding wear were too cute not to share with all of you.

5. White and Yellow Striped Straws

Although our venue does not offer/allow hard alcohol (the majority of the glasses will be for beer, wine, and champagne) I think that these cute striped straws would be a fun touch in the water, iced tea, and lemonade glasses. They could add a little extra pop of color to the tables and they just have a fun, carefree vibe to them.

This is just a small peak at some of the inspirational items I found on etsy.com. There were tons of other photos that caught my eye and got the creative wheels in my head spinning and perhaps I'll post a little more about my finds, but I think that's enough sharing for now.

P.S. If you've never taken the time to check out etsy.com, you should!

P.P.S. For those of you who love etsy.com as much as I do, have you found anything that inspired you as much as I was inspired this time around?

Making A List and Checking It Twice Part 2

After experiencing my first wedding nightmare, I've decided that it's time to revist my list of to-do's and get a handle on things that need to get done.

The last time I peeked at my list it looked like this:

9 - 11 months

- Research and choose a ceremony site.

- Research and choose a reception site.

- Start interviewing caterers.

- Look for a ceremony officiant.

- Begin to narrow down and finalize your guest list.

- Start shopping for your wedding dress.

- Settle on wedding colors (if you haven't already).

- Set up appointments with florists.

- Look for reception bands.

- Research photographers.

- Research videographers.

- Start your registry.

- Start thinking about your honeymoon. (Planning in advance can help you get better prices on airfare and hotels.)

- Choose your bridal party.

I've managed to cross one item off of this list:

- Start shopping for your wedding dress.

Thankfully that task has been taken care of and I am the happy owner of a beautiful dress that I can't wait to wear!

Another item that we can check off of this list is:

- Look for a ceremony officiant.

Zac and I decided early on who we wanted to be our officiant. I guess since we haven't yet figured out the best way to ask this person to marry us, we can keep this item on our list for a little while longer.

Instead of just continuing on with this list I've decided to add onto it and get as much accomplished as I can in the next few months. I looked at other lists in my Bridal Bargains Wedding Planner as well as the list I created after my disturbing wedding nightmare. So with that in mind our new list looks like this:

9 - 11 Months

- Look for a ceremony officiant

- Begin to narrow down and finalize your guest list

- Set up appointments with florists

- Set up appointments with djs

- Hire dj

- Place order for wedding cake

- Plan out and purchase items for at least two of the reception games

- Design and create the invitations

- Begin purchasing coffee mugs, plates, bowls, and jars for the dessert and candy tables

- Purchase supplies for and begin putting together the guestbook

- Choose our top three photos from our engagement photoshoot to use for the save the dates

- Begin purchasing flip flops in a variety of sizes for the reception

- Look at JoAnn's Fabrics for different fabrics for a variety of wedding related projects

I'm looking forward to getting started on all of the crafty parts of the wedding plans, especially working on the invitations and save the dates. Being a scrapbooker, the idea of working on paper projects excites me to no end. (Yes I know, I'm a weirdo....but that's me.) Gathering things together for the guestbook is another project that I am excited to get underway. I think what Zac and I have decided to do for the guestbook will be fun for our guests and a keepsake we'll really enjoy looking at years after we say 'I do'. (I'll be sure to share the details about the guestbook project once it's well underway.)

I think this will be plenty to keep me busy over the summer. If I can get as many of the little projects done as possible this summer I will have more time later to focus on the bigger decoration details. Look forward to some update posts as things get checked off the list. :)

Budget Brides Unite

This afternoon after work I went to a late lunch with my friend and coworker Samantha. Sam got engaged back in April. Check out her beautiful ring:

The two of us have been excitedly planning our weddings and dealing with the same decisions and obstacles over the last few months so we decided that it was time to get together and bounce some ideas off of each other. It was so nice to have someone to talk to who understands and is going through the same things. To avoid becoming that annoying girl who always talks about her wedding, I make it a point not to mention any details in conversation unless asked about it. With Sam, the topic of our weddings is always on the table and rather than being an arena to go on and on about them, our conversations are platforms to help each other out, get excited about our big days, and compare ideas to make our events extra special.

Both Sam and I are definitely trying to pinch every penny when it comes to our weddings so the best part about our conversations is sharing with each other ways to cut corners and make things easier on our wallets. I was so excited today to hear details about her wedding plans and I look forward to our future planning adventure together.

Sam is a total sweetheart and so is her fiance Matt. I've known Matt since we both got hired at The Cheesecake Factory together almost 6 years ago. Samantha and Matt have been together for two and a half years and they are so cute together.

Photo by Chad Adams Photography

Congratulations you two!

Wedding Nightmare!

Last night I had my very first (and hopefully last) wedding nightmare. It was completely vivid and so real that for a while after waking up, when I was still in that half sleep state, I was still nervous and panicked about the whole thing.

Having served tables for a number of years at two different restaurants I am used to having vivid server nightmares that seem so unbelievably real they leave you worried for at least a few hours after you wake up. For those of you who are not familiar with server nightmares (and I envy all of you) they can really be stressful. These dreams usually involve getting sat more tables than is possible for you to take care of at once, having demanding guests, dealing with separate checks that are never right, forgetting to put in orders or having food that doesn't ever hit the table, etc., etc. Basically anything that can go wrong does go wrong in these dreams nightmares. For some reasons, these nightmares seem to last much longer than any other nightmares and especially longer than the nicest of dreams. (It's really messed up, right?!) While I've had my fair share of server nightmares, I have never experienced a wedding nightmare and I'm hoping that I won't have to ever again.

So in this wedding dream my mom was over at my house askng me questions about when both the dj and the hair stylist would be arriving at the venue. My answer wasn't just that I didn't know but the reason that I didn't know was because I hadn't hired them yet. My mom of course freaked out. She couldn't believe that it was so close to the wedding and I hadn't yet chosen and hired two key vendors. I assured her that we still had plenty of time until the wedding and she shouldn't panic. This is when the dream turned into a nightmare. My mom gave me the craziest look before walking over to the calendar and pointing out that the date was May 3rd. It was the day before our wedding!

Needless to say, my dream persona began to freak out but surprisingly only a little bit. For some reason dream me thought that I could fix it all and get it all together by the next morning. (I kind of appreciate this about my dream self.) My mom left my house yelling about how she needed to get this all fixed because I wasn't taking it seriously.

The dream then jumped to the next day and we got to the venue....which of course since it was a dream was not our actual venue, Wolf Lakes. Instead it looked like the inside of a warehouse. Of course it was a big, mostly empty warehouse, but it was a warehouse nonetheless. In the dream I wasn't surprised by the venue, only surprised that the decorations weren't up yet. My mom was there with a few other ladies asking me where to set up the games for the reception cocktail hour. Of course, dream me hadn't figured it out yet and I told them that I hadn't picked out the games yet and I certainly hadn't gone shopping for the materials for the games. My mom was speechless and walked away.

I headed to the bridal room to get ready. To my surprise I still didn't have anyone to do my hair, so I started to do it on my own. I was sure that I could figure out something nice to do with it even though I hadn't practiced. I put my hair up in curls and within seconds it had fallen down and the curls wouldn't stay. The frustration mounted and after a while I could feel myself getting really panicky and upset.

A few minutes later my mom and the ladies were back saying that the venue wanted to know when the cake would arrive so that they could get the table ready for it. Dream me made a face to my mom instead of saying anything. I hadn't ordered a cake. Before my mom could freak out on me I assured her that we could just whip up some cupcakes before the reception started and everything would be fine. My mom lost it! She demanded to know what I was doing the whole engagement and why I didn't seem to have anything done when I had a whole year to get everything ready. My only explanation was that I thought that I had more time. Without saying a word, my mom left in a huff and that was the last time she appeared in my dream.

I guess what I got out of the dream (aside from waking up freaked out) was that I need to start putting some things together for the wedding. Over the last few weeks (since school has ended) I have been asked from a bunch of different people how the wedding planning has been going. I told myself that as soon as graduation was over I would have time to go full force with the planning. The reality of the matter is that I have taken a much slower start getting prepared than I anticipated. My main thought is 'we have time'. So I think that my subconscious was reminding me that time goes by quickly (a point that my mom has been driving home since the day Zac and I started planning back in January). Thinking about it, Zac and I have already been engaged for 5 months. (Zac actually proposed 5 months ago today. Check out the details here.) It doesn't seem like it's been that long already but it has.

So I think that it's time to get a few more of the major items and a few of the smaller details marked off of my list. Before the summer is over these are the things that I would like to get accomplished:

- hire a dj

- take care of the cake order

- plan out and purchase items for least two of the games

- finalize the guest list

- design and create the invitations

- begin purchasing coffee mugs, plates, bowls, and jars for the dessert and candy tables

- purchase supplies for and begin putting together the guestbook

- choose our top three photos from our engagement photoshoot to use for the save the dates

- begin purchasing flip flops in a variety of sizes for the reception

- look at JoAnn's Fabrics for different fabrics for a variety of wedding related projects

If I can get these items taken care of before September I think that I will feel a lot better about all of the smaller details.

Hopefully I won't have to deal with wedding nightmares anymore. I'm sure as the day gets closer and more details are added to my list, my stress level will increase, but for now I'm feeling okay about everything. This one nightmare was enough to force me to narrow down the details and determine what things I really need to work on.

I can't wait to get started.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Last week while shopping around for a new bed for Jim, I stumbled upon this beautiful mirror at Marshall's.

For only $19.99 (down from $40.00) it seemed like a great deal for such a pretty mirror and I knew exactly where it would go. Recently Zac and I have been talking about putting a mirror on the wall behind the front door that faces the staircase. The wall is completely bare and it has needed a little something to give the space some character and say "people live here".

At first we were looking at something like this:

The hooks would add a bit of functionality to the mirror, giving us someplace to hang our keys. We realized however that since we come in through the garage door and not the front door (a fact that inspired Zac during his plans to propose to me back in January) having hooks by the front door wouldn't make much sense. In addition, Zac built a spot for our guests to hang their coats when they walk in so the hooks on the mirror probably wouldn't be used anyways. So in the end we decided that functionality could take a backseat to something that looked interesting and unique. The mirror from Marshall's seemed to fit the bill.

Zac and I both think that the mirror's style and size fit well in the space. The size of the mirror isn't too big that it dominates the space yet it's not too small that it get's lost on the wall. As for the color, I really like the way that the black finish pops against our choice of paint color. I have a tendency to paint everything white. I just love the crispness of white against other colors. As a result, while working on our house we have added a lot of white elements including painting all cabinets white, adding white trim to the bathroom mirrors, and building a white desk for our office. So, when I came home with this intricate black frame, Zac immediately assumed that I was going to whip out a can of white spray paint and go to town turning it into a white glossy ornament to adorn our wall. After putting it up against the wall I surprised us both by saying that I liked the mirror just as it was and that the black really made a statement against the paint. I think Zac was more excited about this news than he let on. The few black elements we have in our living room (the trim around the fireplace and the coffee and console tables) are his favorite pieces. I think perhaps the strong look of the black pieces gives a little masculinity to the room that I have made light and dainty with all the white. In any case, I see a few more black pieces being added to our space in the future.

This summer I hope to dedicate a few posts to our house and the changes we''ve made to it. Zac and I are both very proud of the work that we've done and excited about the potential our house still has to get even better. Every change we make gives our house a little more personality and makes us more and more excited to call this place home (if that's even possible).



20/20 Challenge Update: Week 3

Today makes the end of the third week of the 20/20 Challenge so I thought that it was time for a little update. (To refresh your memory and get details about the 20/20 Challenge check out this post.)

Part 1: As for the first 20 of the challenge, unfortunately I have nothing much to report. My summer workout plan has not officially been put into action and instead I have been enjoying my new found freedom from school a little too much. Although I haven't yet made any real progress to speak of yet in this area of the challenge, I'm not letting my slow start get me down. I know that I'll be able to start making progress very soon while still being able to enjoy my summer. I have a few things to look forward to by the end of the summer including my love's 30th birthday and a girl's weekend getaway that Amy and I have planned towards the middle of August. These are not only some fun events to look forward to but they are also serving as some motivation to get myself in gear.

In addition to the fun end of summer plans, I recently bought this dress from Forever 21 (for only $10.80) to serve as motivation as well.

I bought the dress in a smaller size than I currently wear. The plan is to hang this dress in my closet somewhere that it can be easily seen so that it can serve as a reminder of my final end of summer goal.

Part 2: Surprisingly, I have had more success with the second 20 in the challenge. I only say surprisingly because with as busy as I have made myself over the past few weeks, I wasn't expecting to be able to do much reading. Since the beginning of the challenge (May 23rd) I have finished 4 books. While planning out my goal of reading 20 books this summer, I calculated that I would need to read 1 book every 5 days. Having finished 4 books at the end of 3 weeks puts me right on track to reaching my reading goal by the end of the challenge.

So here are the books that I've read so far:

#1. The Murderer's Daughter

#2. Something Borrowed

#3. Something Blue

#4. Baby Proof

I'll be starting my #5 book today. And # 5 iiiiiiisss.... drumroll....

Official Book Club Selection by Kathy Griffin

I love Kathy Griffin. Her cracks about celebrities, reality tv stars, and pop culture make me laugh so hard I hurt. If you've never watched her stand up you're seriously missing out. Just check out this clip from her special "Everybody Can Suck It!":

*Disclaimer: If by any chance you're at work or hanging out with some little ones nearby I would recommend putting in your headphones now or waiting for a better time. It's not raunchy or anything but there are some jokes that are not work or child friendly.*

 

Amy and I have tickets to see Kathy perform when she comes to town on July 15th and I am so excited!!!! Until then I can't wait to read what crazy things she has to say in print.

Safety First

On June 1st, we welcomed Jim to our home. Although we had thought about bringing him home a few days before we actually did, we had not prepared for his arrival until we picked him up and drove him from Chowchilla to Fresno. Before we came home we went by a few stores to pick up some essentials including a food and water dish, leash, indoor training pads, collar, flea collar, a few toys, and of course food. These seemed to hold us over for a few days until we were able to see exactly what we would need to keep our little guy healthy and happy.

On occasion over the last week and a half, Zac and I have both had to work during the day which meant that our little Jim was left at home alone. We didn't have many concerns about the kind of trouble that Jim could get in. After all, our little guy is too little to jump up on the furniture which meant that our throw pillows weren't at risk of becoming chew toys. Also, to prevent Mr. Jiminy from chewing on the cable and television cords, we turned off the power strip just to make sure that we didn't come home to an electrocuted pup.

Our biggest concern about leaving Jim home alone was coming home to a wet mess or a stink bomb. Thankfully our floor downstairs is all tile so the mess wouldn't be to difficult to clean, but we worried that leaving Jim without a way to get outside (we don't have a doggie door) would hinder our puppy house training...but that's a whole other story.

When we first brought Jim home we encouraged him to follow us up the stairs so that we could get him acquainted with his new home, but he only stood at the bottom of the stairs and stared up at us. We figured that he was too small to climb our staircase and decided that we wouldn't have to worry about any puppy mischief upstairs while we were gone. After a few days, we realized that Jim was more than capable of getting himself up the stairs and he was only stopped earlier by his own fear of the unknown. We also realized that although he could make his way upstairs he was (and still is) too scared to get down the stairs on his own. So, as a temporary solution, we barricaded the bottom of the staircase.

Although the boxes full of books and the computer lap tray seemed to do the trick as a temporary solution, they quickly became a hazard after just a few days. Not only did they make our normally clean downstairs space look cluttered, but Zac and I both almost tumbled down the stairs tripping over our quick fix. Also, while Zac and I were upstairs one afternoon, getting ready to go to work, a surprise visitor appeared in the hallway. Somehow, Jim had manuevered through our barricade, climbed over the box and made his way upstairs. It was clear that a more permanent solution would need to be found sooner rather than later. So one afternoon while Zac was getting ready for work, I headed to the store to pick up a baby gate to protect our newest addition from getting stuck upstairs and causing chaos while we were at work.

I went to Target and found this secure pressure gate made by The First Years for just $10.99. Not a bad deal, right?! The baby gates that Target had in stock ranged from $10.99 to over $150.00. Without doing any real research and seeing what the difference was between each item, I opted to go for the cheapest one. If it didn't work out I could always bring it back, look online for the best rated gates and make another trip to the store to get a gate that best suited our needs. For now, anything had to be better than box of books.

So, I brought home the gate, quickly read the almost unnecessary instructions, and voila!  the baby Jim gate was assembled and in place. I had neglected to measure the space before heading to the store to pick out a gate which could have been a real problem. Thankfully, the gate fit the space, but just barely. The space required the gate to be locked in place at the very last notch possible. If our staircase was even a half an inch wider, the gate would be rendered useless and we would probably be stuck spending a bunch more money for a wider gate to fit the space. Thankfully that isn't the case and even though the gate barely fits, it does indeed fit!

Thanks to the baby gate, Jim is happy and safe downstairs while we're gone at work. Most importantly, there's no way that he can get through this barricade and get stuck upstairs. Zac and I are still getting used to stepping over a big gate as we go up or down the stairs, but it's a small adjustment to make for the saftey of our new pup.