working on the wedding

Here's my little vintage wedding couple!  Aren't they cute?  I actually bought this cake topper and gave it to a friend and she was sweet enough to lend it back to me for this wedding time!  

I have been getting my mind wrapped around some wedding things.  The top photo is of some scrapbook papers that Sweetie and I bought at one of my very favorite scrapbooking stores, Just 4 Fun in Pearland, TX

and some that I got today at Hobby Lobby.  It has been quite a while since I have even looked at their selection of scrapbook papers and let me tell you, my friends, I was very impressed!  AND they were on sale 50% off!  Yippee!  

This photo is of my happy couple once again with the bubbles that I found today to give to the kids at the wedding.  I love the idea of their being bubbles floating all around during the reception by our nephews and cousins.  I got them at Dollar Tree the best dollar store around in my mom's and my humble opinion for way less than they were even at Hobby Lobby!  Hooray for bargain shopping day.  

Adrian's birthday

I haven't posted about Adrian's birthday yet.  It was a couple of weeks ago.  We had so much fun.  These first three pictures were taken at the Frontiers of Flight museum.  It was really neat.  This older gentleman told us all kinds of stories about WWII.  

He wanted to teach me how to "fly" this plane.  

Of course we had to eat well!  Isn't that part of any celebration?  I made Adrian a coffee cake and green chili strata breakfast and we went to a fondue restaurant that night.  

This is our second birthday season (we're both June birthdays, mine's today!) to spend with each other and I'm looking forward to many more!  Kelly

new skill

Teacher during the school year . . . hair dresser in the summer

While we were in Missouri, I learned to cut Adrian's hair from Molly, the pro who used to cut his hair when he lived in MO.  

is this the cutest little guy in the world or what?

I had such a wonderful time in Houston with my family!  I got to spend some good quality time with lots of different people including my sweet sister-in-law and my precious nephew.  

He can say so many words now and it is so much fun to hear him talk!  

"Balloon"

"Bus"

"Ball"

"Moo"

"Mama"

"my Dada"

"Nanna"

and on and on

We're still working on "Aunt Kelly" but when you ask him where I am, he looks right at me and points to me.  

Mandy, thank you so much for helping me with wedding planning last week!  I had a great time and appreciate you so much!  I'm so glad we're sisters.  Kelly

I'm back!

It's good to be home!  I have been out of town for nine days and had a great time but it is also nice to be back home.  I love checking mail after being gone and today I had two birthday cards - yea!  (my birthday's tomorrow) and the latest Martha Stewart Weddings.  What a nice mail day!  

Hope you're having a good day.  Did you get anything good in the mail today?  

Happy Father's Day!

This is my dad.  He is incredibly supportive, thinks I'm wonderful and makes sure I know I'm never an orphan.  

I think he's terrific.  

I am so thankful for my parents, for their example of marriage and for their showing me God.  

I love you, Dad!  Happy Father's Day!  Kelly

the look

As I've begun to talk to other people about the wedding I'm planning a realization has dawned on me.  Everyone else has not been reading Martha Stewart Weddings for two years!  

Duh! 

The wedding I would have thought I'd have a few years ago, definitely included tulle in the decor.  The wedding I envision today so far does not include tulle in the decor.  

Not to say it may not show up somewhere and perhaps even in some unexpected way (my favorite way to use things) but I'm not scouring the internet for places to buy it in bulk.  

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I thought I'd share a few photos of some weddings that are similar to what I'm envisioning.  Each wedding is different but these will at least give you a feel.  Check out the blog Fiance Meeting You Here

for some pics.  

need a laugh?

If you need a laugh, particularly if you've ever been single for any length of time, head right on over to my friend Tiffany's blog!  Good writing, Tiffany!  Hang in there!  Kelly

the purse of a bride-to-be

I'm sure this question has not been keeping you up at night but just for the sake of it, let's take a look at the contents of the purse of a bride-to-be, or at least this bride-to-be.  

camera for documenting all kinds of things such as during my Hobby Lobby shopping excursion, color swatches from ribbons, tablecloths and wedding dresses (for those who are curious, that swatch is not from my dress, it is not even close to what my dress looks like but the shop gave it to me anyway!), a measuring tape for measuring heel heights, estimating table size in a space, etc., shopping lists, a notebook for jotting down inspirations, prices, questions to ask, etc., an assortment of pens and markers (even in wedding colors, does anyone else do this?) and . . . 

a shoe?  

yup!  sure enough, last Saturday as I was out shopping with my mom and reached into my purse for something else, my hand came in contact with this shoe!  I had stuck it in the night before to have with me as we shopped for the shoes for me to wear on my wedding day.  These are the shoes that I had tried on with my dress when it was time to take the measurement for the hem so I need to match the heel height when I buy my wedding shoes.

Time for a smaller purse?  

Any suggestions for places to shop for great wedding shoes at great prices?  No, $100+ or worse, $1000+ shoes for this bride please!    

summer seashells

Meredith inspired me this morning to decorate for summer with sea inspired treasures.

In the bathroom: 

shells a gift from my third grade teacher many years ago

votives a gift from my mom

saucer found at a thrift/antiques store for a dollar or less

more bathroom shots artfully taken without catching me in my pjs with the camera in one of the mirrors! 

On another note, picked up this pie holder at a consignment store for a mere $4 yesterday and thought I'd add a little red, white and blue to the kitchen.  

What ways do you like to add summery touches to your home?  Kelly

Rejoice with me - tables and chairs!

Alright!  It's time to celebrate!  I've decided that the little things in this whole wedding planning process should be celebrated!  The whole thing of keeping it under budget and getting all of the details in order is trickier than I imagined.  

So without further ado, please celebrate with me that the tables and chairs

have been ordered!  

Yep, they are those humble little beauties above and not these:

and certainly not these at $8-$12 A PIECE!!!  Would you ever even have imagined?!  I naively did not!

 Or my absolute preference, mismatched wooden, vintage chairs!

Who knows how you even go about getting those!  It's probably best if you're having a less than 100 person wedding which I'm convinced everyone in all of these magazines doing time intensive things is doing!  

But here is a big deal:  I am only spending $445.25 on my tables and chairs as opposed to the $2,148 I could be spending for just the simpler of the two above chair options!!!

Seriously!  And, the determined side of me is coming out and I am convinced I can have the classiest looking metal folding chairs anyone has ever seen.  :)  I am also thankful for the fact that the tables are exactly what I wanted all along and I didn't have to do any compromising there!  In fact they are the only kind of tables this place with the really good deal on tables and chairs offers!  Hooray for the little blessings!  Thank You, God for caring about the little things too!  

Thanks for letting me celebrate my good chair deal!  I already have some ideas but if you have ideas for sprucing up metal folding chairs (or especially links to pics!) please pass them along!  Kelly

photo credits:  top:  folding chair in my living room

second:  the knot wedding magazine Texas edition

third:  simply creative weddings magazine summer 2005 (thanks Jenny!)

fourth:  Martha Stewart weddings

Hobby Lobby

I had a great time today!  I wandered into Hobby Lobby because I was right by one and there is no longer one all that close to my home.  I thought I'd just see what they had that might be in the wedding colors/work with the wedding decor.  

I normally do not venture into the floral section at crafts stores but being drawn in by the 50% off sign and the fact that my previously-a-florist friend, Jenny

strongly recommended silk blooms for some of the wedding flowers, I took a look.  

I found some neat flowers like this:  

that I liked and continued to gather stems until I had something like this:  

I then proceeded to a back aisle of hobby lobby to take photos to share with you all AND so I could have a record of what they had there and what the prices were:  

so I could come home and decide what I would need and how much.  That way I can go back and just get everything at once and know that I'm gonna use it.  

I like these too:  

I also picked up some glassware that might come into play somewhere but I'm not sure.  

Meredith and Jenny in particular, if you read this I'd really like your opinions! 

I like the ice cream ones for spoons at one of the serving stations perhaps.  We'll see.  

I documented the ribbon that might be later procured.

as well as the cool blue glass marbles that are the right color and these river rocks that could possibly come into play.  

Here's a pic of another ribbon with the tablecloth swatches I picked up at Ducky Bob's on Friday.  

And the price:  

All of this stuff is 50% off this week though so maybe I can come up with a decorating plan really soon and actually purchase this week or maybe I'll just pick it all up when these things rotate back through the 50% off loop.  I just love that Hobby Lobby has things on for 50% off EVERY WEEK.  I also would be so happy to support them with my business as they are closed on Sundays and are Christians.  

I left Hobby Lobby without even going through half the store but 

A) I thought it would be so much more fun even to go through with a friend and 

B) I was getting really hungry and needed some lunch!

So, if you're a local friend reading my blog and you'd be up for a trip to Hobby Lobby this week to look at wedding stuff, I'd love the company!  Let me know!  Kelly

HAPPY SUMMER!!!

Happy Summer everyone!  I am so excited to be out of school and back to blogging!  

I've officially been out of school since Thursday afternoon.  I've celebrated summer so far with a wonderful ice cream sandwich cookie concoction at Pokey O's in Dallas.  For you locals, I don't believe you'll regret a visit!  It's on Mockingbird, right off 75.  Thanks to Katie for the recommendation!  I also wore a new pair of shorts on my first official day of summer, had two intense and good days of wedding planning with my mom, wandered around Hobby Lobby today, Wal-mart and a dress store quite leisurely mid-morning (ah the joy!) and am presently watching rain fall in a steady stream outside with thunder rumbling!  I LOVE being home during a summer thunderstorm!!!  Ahhh!!!

Adrian and I also went to a luau last night hosted by a couple in our class at church.  My friend Jenni thought that a photo of me wearing a grass skirt brought back to me from Hawaii as a child should be the pic that heralded my summer return to blogging.  I fully intended to take pics last night and would have happily shared them but I must say that grass skirts are best worn when standing and when you sit down and step on your skirt trying to get up and continually sit on it weird and then finally spill your drink on it and have wet, stringy, sticky grassy things swishing your legs, you decide to ditch the skirt for the remainder of the evening and therefore don't get any photos.  :)  

Happy summer everyone and feel free to leave some comments.  I'd love to hear how you've welcomed summer so far!  Kelly

photo:  taken last summer while on a float trip in Missouri.  I was taking a little break from paddling in the canoe.  :)  

Score!!!

So exciting! Lots of people are cleaning stuff out up here at school. Then they'll put out an e-mail saying something to the affect of "junk available upstairs by such and such storage room, come and take what you want". Well, I just scored a rug that Adrian and I can possibly use in our new home and a box of metal stand things that can hold table numbers, etc. at the wedding! There are also some glass vases that I'll have to look through and see if they'd be good for the wedding or if they are a little too cheapy/generic florist-like. Anyone with ideas of ways to spice up glass vases, please share! I'm so excited to take pictures and post them for you to see as well of my scores of the day!

repast

simple loveliness

a crystal vase given to me as a gift filled with carnations and greens given to me by the first grade teachers at my school for a job well done on the first grade musical and chocolate angel food cake - yum

A Lovely Weekend

Adrian and I had a wonderful weekend!  We road tripped to attend a wedding of a childhood friend and visit my alma mater.  We got to stay with my cousin and his wife, saw many longtime friends, enjoyed a white chocolate/espresso shake at my favorite coffee house in the world, saw some favorite professors, basked in the beauty and meaning of a wedding ceremony, looking forward to ours upcoming, and stayed with a set of "adopted grandparents" on their farm and enjoyed a home-cooked "farm dinner", wonderful visiting and a stroll along a country road.  Perfectly delightful.  

I'll leave you with one photo of the beautiful wedding but don't want to post anymore without securing the bride and groom's permission.  

Heart-warming Wedding Toast

I saw this wedding toast on Masterpiece Weddings' blog. It completely warmed my heart! I love it! Take a look here. What a neat tribute to their friend Amy on her wedding day! Especially if you like musical theater, you've gotta watch it! Have a good day everyone! Kelly

teacher appreciation week

Last week was teacher appreciation week.

I received this lovely rose from a second grade boy and it continues to bring me enjoyment.

God makes beautiful things, doesn't He?

Our PTO brought us these cupcakes with our pictures on top!

And they brought us a little breakfast treat one day with a water bottle with our pic on it, and a little crystal light to go packet, a yogurt and a muffin!

It was a nice week. Tonight is my first grade musical, I also got a strange urge to rearrange my classroom (which I did) and after this week there are only three weeks left of school! Here comes summer! Kelly

Ribbon, Ribbon Everywhere!

I ended up having a ribbon bonanza last weekend. I bought these pink hued ribbons at a booth in Canton (the world's largest flea market) for pretty presents and packages.

On Friday, after school, I had stopped in at Michael's to buy a birthday gift and per usual sorted through the dollar ribbon bin to see if there was anything good. Lately I haven't found that much but last Friday I hit the jackpot so to speak. I bought this brown gingham ribbon. I don't know if it will fit into the wedding in anyway (welcome bags?) since brown is a fall color but it's not really the wedding colors but brown gingham ribbon can be used in so many ways for packages, decorating, etc. that I snatched it up.

These are my wedding color ribbon finds of the weekend! Spools from Michael's dollar ribbon bin and striped ribbon in glass canister from Canton. Doesn't it look like ribbon candy? Yellow has not figured into the wedding colors before but I liked this color yellow and perhaps some little snatches of yellow will make an appearance in a few places or perhaps not. We'll see.

If you have ideas of what I can do with any of this lovely ribbon for the wedding, I'd love to hear them. Have a great day! Kelly

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I appreciate you so much and am so happy to call you mine, not only my mom but also my friend!  I am really enjoying sharing this time with you and also appreciate all your help!  I hope you have a very happy Mother's Day!  I love you!  Kelly

Meet me in St Louis

Two weekends ago I went to visit one of my college roommates, Jenny in St. Louis.  We had the best time!  

A mother/daughter brunch at her church that I had the pleasure of going to with she and her mom, getting gelato in St. Louis, vintage clothing shops, cooking dinner, a tour of her garden, sitting outside on Art Hill in Forest Park, talking weddings and catching up.  It was a great trip!  Thanks, Jenny!  

Sacred Threshold

Wow, that was a long gelato break!  Actually, since my last post I got another taste of gelato in St. Louis with my friend Jenny, went to Ben and Jerry's with Adrian and our friends Marla and Trey, made (and ate!) rocky road sundaes from the recipe in my cookbook from the Serendipity III restaurant in NYC, and have consumed not a small amount of ice cream from my own personal stash of Ben and Jerry's pints in my freezer!  Whew! 

But you didn't really come here to read about my ice cream eating habits, now did you?  :)  

I am excited to be back to blogging after my long break!  

I wanted to tell you about the best wedding related book!  Thank you, Mindy, for telling me about Sacred Threshold by Gertrud Mueller Nelson and Christopher Witt!  It is really, really good.  I got it from my library's inter-library loan program which I have now learned is ILL to all of the cool people out there who know how to ILL.  :)  

I have greatly enjoyed flipping through and reading many a bridal magazine, book or especially blog recently.  I have begun to notice though the "magazine mentality" that I thought I was so immune to.  I mean really, does anyone think real life turns out just like the photos in a magazine?  Well,  it's easy to want that "picture perfectness" and to even think it's "normal" and what "everybody" has.  

This book, Sacred Threshold is a breath of fresh air!  It explains the history and significance behind so many of the customs that surround weddings and just gives you a chance to decide if it will really bring meaning to you and your fiance and your wedding together!  

I want to say so much about it to recommend it to any and all of you readers who may be planning weddings but not feeling able to adequately sum it up at the moment, I will leave you with words from the book itself.  

"Wedding celebrations "work" when everyone present feels brought together - even bound together - in an active, holy, and deeply satisfying undertaking."

"We wrote this book convinced that it is possible to plan and celebrate a wedding in a way that both reflects and enriches your love." 

"You do deserve the best - which has little to do with what money can buy.  You deserve the fondest support, the dearest expressions of love that family and friends can provide.  You deserve the blessings of God.  It is your special day - a special day for you both - but it is also a special day in the lives of everyone who loves you.  And it can be perfect - not flawless, but perfectly wonderful, right, true, joyful - as perfect as our less-than-perfect world allows.  And its perfection is nothing you pay for but exists because of who you are as a couple and because of the Spirit you invite to the wedding."  

Wow!  Isn't that good stuff?  I'd love to know your thoughts!  Kelly