the craft fair

was a lot of fun!

and really tiring but overall a lot of fun!

Here I am at the beginning of the setting up process first thing Saturday morning.

My mom and Adrian helped me SO much!!!

I absolutely couldn't have done it without them.

Here are some pictures of my booth set-up.

Cool lightbulb sculptures similar to those at Anthropologie and Jayson Home & Garden

for a smaller price!

The Christmas section

a cute kitty cat apron that had a lot of interest throughout the day and did sell in the last hour or so

even though I'm not a cat person I think it's really adorable!

display

the view looking out

the view looking in and my pretty mama awaiting customers

my friend Jacquie (who was my booth neighbor selling hair bows), me and my mom

two of my sweet friends shopping, Sarah and Jenni

So many of my friends came out to say hi and shop around and just encourage me in my venture. Thank you all!

So, some thoughts regarding entrepreneurship:

I was happy with the whole thing overall.

I made some money! Yea!

I would have liked to have sold more stuff so I didn't have to pack it back up and bring it home. :)

People do not like to have to get too close to the "sellers" when they're shopping.

It was fun when people bought things.

It was fun sitting and talking and meeting new people.

It was neat to be on the other side of such an experience.

One of my favorite parts was setting up. I like to make things look pretty.

I don't know where all this will lead in the future but it is fun and valuable to have had a wonderful experience, to have learned things and to feel like I have options.

Mama-to-be Monday - belly shot week 16

craft fair

Becky mentioned in the comments of the last post that I need to promote myself.

I am sooo not good at that.

For one thing, how can I promote myself when I staunchly refuse to go to Southern Living, jewelry, candle, tupperware, etc., etc., etc. parties? It's just not my thing.

Anyway, if you're local and want more info on the craft fair, e-mail me from my blog. The address is in the sidebar. If you're planning to come, I can send you a "golden ticket". (Isn't that fun? Just like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that will get you in free!)

I am a busy, busy bee this week crafting, pricing, planning, etc.

Sorry the posting's been so light.

Hope you are all having a great week!

Kelly

mama-to-be Monday - something new

While I will not be giving birth to this sweet babe for approximately another six months or so, Lord willing, I am birthing something new very soon.

In two Saturdays, on October 24th, I will be venturing into the land of entrepreneurship.

The process actually has already started as I've been buying and working on my booth of vintage and upcycled items for many months. October 24th is the debut.

I will get to share my treasures with shoppers and I'm really excited.

I will be participating in a craft fair and will have a booth for all of my wares.

Holiday, home decor, candles, accessories, kitchen items, tableware, etc.

So, I'm curious, are any of you entrepreneurs?

I hope you've had a good Monday!

Kelly

Saturday morning

As much as I love special anniversary trips and other traveling and everything else that you can do on a Saturday, I really do love Saturday mornings for staying at home.

After quite a long hiatus, we decided this was the morning

for Swedish pancakes to make a comeback!

concentration is required for a masterful flip

success!

With a wonderful breakfast fueling me, I dug into a project.

Is it too early for nesting? :)

I am tackling the laundry room today and cleaning/organizing it from top to bottom. Just wiping down the fronts of my washer and dryer made things seem so right with the world. :)

While working I was reminded of one of my favorite thrifted purchases that has stood the test of time.

A year or so ago, we spent . . .

two dollars and nineteen cents to become the proud owners of some sort of metal mesh office supply type thing. Maybe it was a magazine holder, not sure. Anyway, it is perfect for the shelf in our laundry room and holds all of our cookie sheets, cutting boards, pizza pans, muffin tins, etc. at the ready.

Do you have a thrifted find that is worth every penny you paid for it and then some?

I'd love to hear about it. I hope you're having a delightful Saturday!

Kelly

first chilly day!

yea for getting off work early, yea for fall, yea for a definite chill in the air, yea for unexpectedly getting to see two of my friends at lunch, yea for Fridays, yea for three day weekends, yea for big 'ole marshmallows in yummy hot chocolate

Thank You, God for all of the blessings You put in our lives and for eyes to be able to see them. amen.

Last night we had a date to the pumpkin patch. :)

I hope your weekend is starting off wonderfully!

What is something you're happy about today?

Kelly

Travel Tuesdays - San Diego anniversary

One year of A + K and we spent the weekend celebrating in San Diego!

There was a fire station open house on the island of Coronado. We got to see lots of equipment, watch them put out a fire for a demonstration, got hot dogs and bottled water for a donation to the girl scouts and even got free massages! It was great!

Our hotel, the Omni was fantastic!!! Go priceline!!!

The staff there was super nice and even moved us to a nicer room partway through our stay. The first night we were able to see fireworks right at eye level out our window because the hotel is connected via skybridge to Petco Park home of the Padres. The next two nights we had views of the pool and the bay beyond. It was beautiful.

starting to see a little bit of baby bump

We had a great time walking along the Embarcadaro

seeing the WWII aircraft carrier, the USS Midway

neat nautical graphics

the riggings of an old ship

boats in the harbor with downtown behind

Plus, we ate really, really well (we like to call it food tourism).

If you're ever in San Diego, may we recommend:

Filippi's - we walk up to a line out the door that continued a good 30 feet into the restaurant. We were assured by locals around us in line that it was worth the wait. We didn't have to wait too, too long and along the way we were able to peruse the shelves of imported Italian groceries. Our server was one of the best we've had in a long time and the basket of garlic bread, antipasto salad and the spaghetti topped with a giant meatball hit the spot! The sauce was very fresh tasting and yummy.

the Farmers' Market in Little Italy - this was our first destination on Saturday morning and we were not one bit disappointed. My favorite sample was the Basiltops pesto. The people were friendly and the weather was great.

While we were at the Farmers Market, we stumbled upon a book talk and food tasting sponsored by the restaurant Tender Greens. They just kept bringing food over for us to try, from the best salad I'd had in quite awhile to a plum cake with delicately flavored, fresh whipped cream! And, get this, it was all free! Woohoo!

Pappalecco - fantastic gelato, great atmosphere, fun Italian speaker to talk to, a hit!

Mootime - that perfect vacation cone, both of us agreed it was a premier waffle cone and I choose the triple chocolate (dark, white and milk) paired with the birthday cake ice cream with marshmallow creme as my mix in. It was delish!!! For real . . . sugar overload! Oh and did I mention that the birthday cake ice cream had sprinkles in it too? And, get this people, they did not charge one cent extra for the waffle cone or the mix-in and you can get two different flavors in the small scoop size! Happy, happy!

Heavenly Cupcakes - As you probably know by now if you've been reading long, we are cupcake connoisseurs of sorts. Well, I have to admit, when we walked in, it looked like a Sprinkles clone and I'm not too much

a fan of theirs and I also like places that have originality. But . . . the mint chocolate cupcake was VERY

good! Good job afterall, heavenly cupcakes and a reminder to me not to judge a book by it's cover.

Zanzibar Cafe - I really liked this place. It may have been my favorite place we went just for the whole experience. It was a wonderful night, cool breezes, open windows, candles on the tables, good, fresh, interesting food and a great hostess and waitress who we got to chat with since we were practically the only ones in the restaurant.

Cafe 222 - their website is almost as fun as our dining experience. It was exactly what I was hoping for our last morning in San Diego. Fun, funky, fresh . . . lime green walls, quirky, pastel teacup and tiny spoon chandeliers, a broken egg painted on the floor, etc. The Eggs Italia were truly scrumptious (and I saw that she has the recipe on her website - yum!), the orange juice was very good as was the pumpkin waffle. Bravo, Cafe 222.

And last but certainly not least,

Extraordinary Desserts. It was um, yum, yum, yum, yum! Thanks for the recommendation, Edmund! If you follow the link, I had the pavlova - fluffy meringue shell with passion fruit cream and fruit in the photo. Adrian had this cake.

and, any guesses what this is?

their signature kiwi lemonade! delicious!

We also thoroughly enjoyed being so close to the airport and seeing all kinds of planes land right over us, visiting Balboa Park, the weather, the weather, the weather and watching the Steelers beat the Chargers. :) (Not in person, they were playing in Pittsburgh, not San Diego.)

All in all, it was a wonderful anniversary trip!

A + K

together for one year and forever after!

wedding Friday - it's time!!!

photo: Kelly

Do you remember this post?

I had set it to automatically post at the time of our wedding.

After all of the planning, dreaming, waiting and getting ready, it was time!

I loved showing up at the Cotton Mill and seeing how everything had turned out. Everything was ready to go, I felt great and I was so excited that it was finally time to marry Adrian.

photo: Rachel Debell Photography

I really like the crosses on the door in the background of this picture.

They were already there and went great with our decor.

photo: Rachel Debell Photography

a shot of my bouquet

From what I can remember, my hands were calm. I was just ready and happy and sure.

photo: Jenni

For some reason, the bottom of this photo is gray, but I love the way the sunlight is streaming in on the podium where we will stand together before God and all of our family and friends and publicly state our commitment to each other for the rest of our lives.

It was beyond my imagination to get to stand on such a beautiful bed of rose petals as we said our vows but it turned out to be quite doable to get bags of rose petals from our florist and was one of the easiest ways to cover the makeshift stage that was provided.

What I didn't know until the day of and what you can't see in the photo is that the stage was quite high actually and it would have been quite a step up from the floor. My brother and my friend Mindy, and maybe some others, I'm not sure, found some smaller steps to put in front of it and draped them with crocheted doilies that had been made by my great-grandmother. It was so special to me to have her present at the wedding in that way. What a blessing!

photo: Betty

Everything is ready and it is almost time for the ceremony to begin!!

photo: Betty

Seating

and finally . . .

photo: Rachel Debell Photography

the ceremony

What a blessing it was to be surrounded by our family and friends for such an important occasion. The whole room just radiated with joy.

photo: Rachel Debell Photography

Kelly