the hills

My love for Etsy is unending, and I think I add at least one pretty print to my Favorites daily. I added this hills print from leahduncan's shop yesterday because the soft colors and line details won me over, and hills will forever remind me of my time spent as a camper and counselor at Camp Akita.

yagööting

Yagööt opens today at Easton Town Center, and I seriously cannot wait to try it. So much that I may just make a trip over there tonight before the Bachelor finale, and I've been looking for a reason to trek out there for a few of these.

Frozen treats are my weakness, as evidenced by the fact that this winter I've stopped at Jeni's a few times on the way home from work when it's. been. snowing. Also need to try Red Mango and can't wait until Menchie's opens next door to my Kroger.

yellow

Back in grade school, a classmate told me I look good in yellow. I think I still remember that because it seemed like such a random color to look good wearing, and I don't know that it would have occurred to me if someone hadn't said it. Whether or not it really does work for me, I'm attracted to it since it's so sunny, and it pops up each season in my wardrobe. I have this handbag from last year, and now I'm especially loving this sun kiss necklace (currently sold out) and Lauren Conrad's jacket which, I think, showcase the color at its best.

(image sources: Anthropologie, Francesca's, PopSugar )

traveling owls

Columbus has been hit with 3 snow storms in 11 days, and I'm hoping flights are running smoothly tomorrow so I can get out of town for a long weekend in South Carolina. I already have a few totes to choose from for my carry-on, but I would love to tuck this bag with funny-looking owls under my arm to hold my MacBook, iPod, and other travel necessities.

Valentine's eats

On my way home from work on Friday, I stopped at Trader Joe's for a few staples and couldn't resist a box of their seasonal chocolate truffles. I'm a sucker for pretty packages, so the clean white space with whimsical hand-lettering made them an irresistible buy, and I'm so happy that the chocolates inside made the purchase worthwhile with their perfect mix of dark chocolate shell and fudgy interior. As good as these are, it's a good thing that these are only on sale a few weeks a year because otherwise my grocery bill would be $5 higher every trip.


Yesterday, Nathan requested mushroom risotto for lunch which was a nice departure from our usual Saturday afternoon meals of Chipotle or whatever's in the fridge. I've made this version a few times now, substituting fresh shiitake mushrooms and leaving out the Gorgonzola, and I was happy to make a simple filling lunch to share with him. Anything that he'll eat 2 bowls of and then go back for the rest for dinner is a recipe I'll gladly make over and over again.


We ran errands most of the afternoon, and since we were close-ish to my favorite bakery, Pistacia Vera, I requested a small detour for cookies which, of course, didn't surprise Nathan. I love their lime sugar cookies, but apparently so do other sweet tooths out there since there were none left, so I went with 5 of their macarons in various flavors. Naturally, I couldn't wait until I got home to eat one.

Valentine's treat

I know if I got flowers for Valentine's Day, my kitty would eat them, and my calorie intake doesn't really need an onslaught of candy. For those of you looking to give or get something other than the expected chocolate and flowers, a pretty little ring like this one from Coach is such a sweet alternative since it's simple and pretty enough to wear year-round, yet makes perfect sense for a holiday all about love.

Green Louboutins

(photo: Cheri Pearl, source)

When looking for the perfect wedding shoes, I would have given anything to be a few inches shorter and have a few extra dollars to have these Louboutins. But alas, I don't think there were even for sale anymore when I was on the search for my wedding shoes. Plus, since my husband's only a couple inches taller, I wanted to keep my heels more around the 2" mark. It's rare that I even wear 3+" heels anymore, but when I do he always jokingly glares at me, and I really didn't want to be taller than him in all our wedding photos.

My friend is now looking at the coveted Louboutin for her own wedding, and while I was checking out her potential choice, a couple green pairs in the current collection caught my eye:



They're perfection. Despite the fact that I already own 4 pairs of green shoes, I'd still like to add a pair of these to my shelf.

shoe source: Saks (first pair) (second pair)

Fast, Fresh & Green

(photo: Jessica Hische)

Jessica Hische's work is constantly inspiring, and I'm loving the combination of type, illustration, and photography here. It's so nice when great design comes together with something that can be so mundane, like a veggie cookbook. Most of my vegetarian recipes come from the internet, but this would make such a lovely addition to my small stack of cookbooks.

fabulous clutch

I have a dangerous habit. When I like something, I buy A LOT of it. Found some basic shirts that were the perfect length for my long torso...I think I now have 10 of them in almost all of the available colors. Scarves? In the passed couple years my stock pile has grown beyond what's really necessary. But I justify it because I wear one almost every day. And my worst offense? Might be my love of the clutch. I have plenty, yet I seem to always grab the same gray one found at Gap on clearance a couple years ago. (Which I had bought in black too the week before.) It's slightly bigger than the rest in my closet and the perfect neutral, with a little ruffle to add a unique touch.

And now, I've found another I'd really love to add to my collection this spring. The Fabulous Clutch from Boden has a ton of eye-catching ruffles and a giant clasp, which to me, completes any perfect clutch. It meets the perfect size requirement for my essentials for a night at the bar, along with my camera which doesn't fit in a few of my bags. Plus, since it's color options are all perfect for my wardrobe, ideally, I'd take one of each.

Giada for Target

Two of my favorite things together...Target AND Giada?! Pretty much every Saturday includes watching the newest episode of "Giada at Home" and a trip to Target, so this collection couldn't be more me. Too bad I seriously do not need one more thing for our kitchen since we got SO many gifts for the wedding. Where was her stuff a year ago when I was creating our Target registry?

Bye for now Conan

I have been a fan of Conan since I started staying up later and later once I went off to college, and I'm so sad to see NBC let him go. It's incredibly unfair that he only had 7 months to do his dream job, but I can't wait to see what he does next. I hope he has the rights to the string dance.

my dress

Today's my birthday! So it seems only fitting to dedicate today's post to one of the most wonderful gifts I've ever received. My wedding gown. I won't ever be able to thank my mom enough for it. And it deserves a montage:

My sister-in-law Vanessa was responsible for the buttoning, and I think I love those buttons a lot more than she does.

(all photos: *Print, except the 4th photo: my collection)

the honeymoon

As I noted , a couple weeks before our wedding, swine flu was all over the news, and Nathan and I decided to cancel our honeymoon trip to Mexico. After hours on TripAdvisor, I suggested we go to St. Lucia instead and more specifically, Discovery at Marigot Bay. The cost was much more than the trip to Mexico would have been, but the island is so wonderful and lush and we couldn't have been more pampered during our stay.

view from our drive to the resort


with Husband


our room and private pool


the harbor


poolside


view from my pool chair


the Pitons from a boat while on a land & sea tour


all geared up to go zip lining


at the breakfast table on our last morning

(all images: from my collection)

the invitations

New year, new motivation to continue posting here. I have been trying to figure out if it's worth it to continue with the blog since once again my blog's name rings true and I've remained indecisive for months. Yesterday I got a little encouragement, and I've been watching a couple of my friends (Jenny and Lindsey) maintain blogs, so I've decided to post lightly again. Though more frequently than last year hopefully!

I've been wanting to pick up an SLR camera again and relearn how to take photos beyond my point-and-shoot. Nathan was a photo major in college so I have a nice camera at my fingertips, and I took a photography class in college, so I just need to take the next step. Due to my tendency to procrastinate, I've been delaying posting my wedding invitations because I wanted to get a few more close-up shots beyond what my wonderful photographer (Christa at *Print) captured. For now, here are a few shots of the finished pieces.



The original plan was to print these with a gocco, but my boss was incredibly generous and, as a wedding gift, paid for the cost of letterpress. This then freed up some money in our budget to mail boxes instead of envelopes and use custom Zazzle stamps again. (Yes, I'm a crazy cat lady and addressed my sample-to-be-photographed set to the cat, who shares her name with a fabulous actress.)


Instead of an inner envelope, I decided to group the pieces with a ribbon and use a tag to list the names of the people invited. I had my parents help punch those out, which was quite an entertaining event. My mom helped again by putting the grass in all the boxes while a couple bridesmaids assembled the groups of papers and tied them together and Nathan cut and singed the ends of ribbons to keep them from fraying.



For the printing I worked with Travis at Parklife Press, and his printing exceeded my expectations. I seriously still can't get enough of the texture of the printed pieces. There's nothing better than letterpress! It was an exciting morning when FedEx dropped these off and I got to see my designs the way I'd always hoped instead of just on my computer screen.


My RSVP cards are my most favorite part of the system, and I really love the texture created by the polka dots on the ceremony card. Plus I need a photo of the front of the return envelope. So I'll get a few more shots of those up, eventually.

(all images: *Print)

MARRIED!

photo: Print

May 9, 2009 was perfection.

All of my favorite people were there to see my most favorite person and I say "I do" and the day went SO smoothly. No rain, there was no drama, I was never nervous, I didn't cry, my dress zipped, all bridesmaid dresses zipped, I didn't trip and fall, my makeup didn't get shiny, my bustle stayed in place, all vendors were where they were supposed to be and made everything happen, the cake was graphic, gorgeous, and delicious, almost all of the cookies were eaten, and people noticed EVERY detail. The programs, place cards, menus, little signs, guest book, the birds on my bridesmaids' hoodies, our shoes...everything. Even though I approached the day as the biggest graphic design project of my life and chose to do projects just because I love the details, it was so great to have people like my great aunt and a groomsman comment that they noticed it all. I never expected that. So worth it. And the day felt so us.

making the honeymoon decision...again

I want the most "bang for my buck", even when buying shoes or cereal but especially on the large purchases, such as a honeymoon. When it came to finding the place to spend my own, the whole world before me was way too much. To narrow it down a bit, I knew I wanted a beach and Nathan wanted a short flight, but the options still seemed limitless. One Friday a few months ago, Nathan finally brought his laptop to me with photos and details of 2 options in Riviera Maya, my suggested destination, and made me choose which we would stay at. Both were all inclusive and had the modern decor that really attracted me. I made a choice, he dealt with Expedia, and we were both relieved that the trip was finally planned and started getting excited for paradise!

Now, 10 days from the wedding, we've had to reconsider due to the swine flu. Not good timing for anyone with plans to head to Mexico, but especially for an indecisive girl trying to finalize every other detail of the very soon wedding.

Where to go now?!

(photo: from my family vacation to Maui, May 2008)

Decision: to Save the Date or not Save the Date

Our kitten Natalie was near the best source of natural light in the house, so she got to pose with our postcard

As a graphic designer, there was no question for me as to whether we'd send a Save the Date or not. Since most of our guests live in Columbus, or at least within driving distance, it wasn't a complete necessity, but I've taken any excuse to design paper pieces for our wedding. Once we had picked the date and color scheme, it was an easy process from there.

I knew I wanted to keep them inexpensive since a chunk of our budget would be needed for the actual invitations, and a postcard seemed like a natural way to convey our message. The one indecisive moment that arose was when considering how to print the postcards. I requested letterpress quotes and purchased a gocco, but the letterpress would not have allowed me to flood the page with green and was too costly for us so early in the game, and the gocco was too small and didn't allow for the oversized cards I envisioned. Ultimately, I used a laser printer, and I was really happy with the clean results. Cutting corners in some places has allowed us to spend more in others, and this was a perfect situation to create something inexpensive yet still stylish.

I think the 250 page pack of 100lb. Cougar paper in bright white cost me all of $11 and I have access to an incredible laser printer, so really the only expense was a bit of a splurge on postage from zazzle. I wish the site didn't charge so much on top of the postage itself, but I think the details are the most important part of a design and Nathan agreed it would complete the piece, so we went with it. In the end, we got more comments on the stamp than the design, so it was really worth it. (People love a novelty!) I went with typefaces that were already on my Mac, and I knew I wanted our names to be big and bold with a calendar incorporated somewhere (much like the Chewing the Cud Save the Date featured on my inspiration board).

One design sacrifice was the rounded the corners I originally planned for, but upon researching the USPS regulations, I discovered postcards need square corners to be mailable. (So glad I discovered that before rounding them all; it pays to do a little reasearch beforehand!) In the end, the design of the postcards paved the way for the rest of the invitation suite (which went into the mail a few days ago) and one friend described them as chic, which made my day.

the front of our Save the Date

the back, with our custom stamp

Design nerd moment: I determined that the green I'd use for all the printed pieces would be PMS 376 by holding a Pantone chip book up next to my shoes and choosing the color that most closely matched. Yes, I realize this is overly obsessive, but it helps to be consistent! Plus I love that everything comes back to the shoes :)

Decision #3: THE dress

I love to shop. I prefer to shop by myself. That way I can go at my own speed, linger over the items I like, and try on as many shirts as I'd like, without holding anyone up. This wasn't really an option when wedding dress shopping, but I did keep my shopping entourage pretty small. My mom accompanied my indecisive self to about six stores around Columbus in the course of a month. We saw many pretty styles and a bunch that flattered my shape, but since it seems like 90% of the options out there are strapless (not the most flattering on my long torso), it took me awhile to find "the one".

I had been stalking a gorgeous mermaid dress with a v-neck on Pricilla of Boston's website, but I knew it would be out of my budget. My mom offered to buy my dress as a gift, which is so amazingly generous, but I knew I could not abuse her generosity. I preferred the streamlined look while my mom gravitated to rouching, and I'm so lucky that she never once made me feel like I had to buy the dress that she liked just because she was buying (but I did have to try on a few that I otherwise would not have given a second glance to!). My most promising trip was to Saks, where I gravitated toward styles from Amsale and Monique Lhuillier, and I left that particular trip really liking a unique strapless with a crumb catcher and a sleek gown with a plunging neckline. Ultimately, I decided that while the dresses were beautiful, they weren't what I wanted for my one and only...and the Pricilla dress was in the back of my head the whole time. Many dresses had components I liked (buttons down the back!), but none had them all.

On a Saturday in October, just seven months before the wedding, we, along with my sister, headed to Bridal and Formal in Cincinnati, and the first one I tried that trip was an Alvina Valenta with a subtle mermaid shape, v-neck, and even my beloved buttons all the way down the back. I compared it to the other 12 dresses I tried on the rest of the time I was there, but I realized quickly that that one felt most me. Looking back, I think Monica Geller's dress was a long forgotten point of inspiration.

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Once they placed a long veil on with it and a whimsical hair piece, I had my complete look. I was a bride that thought I'd never wear a veil, but I couldn't believe how much different (and more bride-like) I felt with such accessories. We took all of it, hit up Quiznos, and headed home to watch the Buckeye game. I was so relieved to have found my gown after rejecting hundreds, and I really hoped it wouldn't take more than four to six months to arrive. (It ended up arriving in Columbus in January.) Since then, I've had to refrain from peeking at the new 2009 collections that have appeared online! I just love eye candy.

Decision #2: the colors & an inspiration board

I've been reading wedding blogs since long before I was engaged, justifying that I was getting inspiration as a graphic designer, which was mostly true. But naturally, I was also gathering ideas for a day I knew would come eventually. I had always been drawn to the black, white, & green color combination, so the color decision wasn't too tough. The difficulty comes when I see other weddings that have such great and original color schemes. I knew that my bridesmaids would probably have to wear black, and it was photos like this that made me second guess the colors I chose.

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I knew I liked a neutral pair with a pop of something, and the black, white, and green certainly fits the bill. Ultimately, my choice was almost made for me when I came across a pair of alluring apple green heels across the shoe department at my local Nordstrom. I glanced over, saw them on a pedestal, and said to my mom, "That's the green I want for my wedding!" I had envisioned a more delicate shoe, but these were the most perfect color and I could not pass them up. They became my first wedding purchase, and a few months later, I came across a blog post that had my exact shoes (and the same spectators my groom-to-be and I had chosen for him). I just love the way they photograph!

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Going through the stockpile of images I had gathered, the trend certainly emerged that I gravitated to the color combination, and since my fiancé also responded favorably to the color combination, I figured we had a winner. He's had very rare opinions to the wedding choices I've made, and I'm glad we went with my first instinct. I had to rebuild my image library after a MacBook hard drive crash, but one Saturday in September I assembled my inspiration board, and it's been such a great reference to go back to and see just how well everything is lining up.

Decision #1: the venues and the date

I am a coastal girl at heart that was born, raised, and still lives in the Midwest. Not sure how that happened, but I've always been so attracted to anything related to California or NYC, and I've felt so at home whenever I've visited either. When I graduated college, I said that I wanted to go somewhere larger or warmer than what Ohio offers, but my laziness and dislike of change combined with a city containing my boyfriend, family, future in-laws, friends, a job I like, and low cost of living has led me to remain in my hometown longer than I anticipated. When it came to starting the venue search, I didn't have a lot of hope searching in such a city. All I wanted was a clean and modern space, such as The Viceroy in California or The Metropolitan Pavilion in NYC. Or a place with a beach and no threat of rain in May, such as Club 19 at the St. Regis in Southern California. Is that too much to ask? Well, naturally yes, since I was looking at locations in the center of the country. I searched for months to find something that reflected my style, and I said over and over no hotels or country clubs. The thought of drop ceiling panels in every photo makes me cringe.

When I came across the Venue at Smith Brothers early in my search, I thought I could stop looking because I had found a fun modern space! Yet of course I knew deep down it would be a long shot because Nathan is strongly against exposed brick, which I've always thought lended a loft-like feel. The Venue wasn't the first place I visited, but eventually I did rule it out since I don't think our estimated party of 180 would fit. And a flickr photo album I came across showing how dark it could look in photos. My mom and I visited many many places in Columbus, the Vault (not kept up as well as I'd like), the Museum (while beautiful, not enough "elbow room" for our group according to my mom), the Conservatory (my obsession until I saw the caterer's estimate), the Athenaeum (would have been the most reasonable cost-wise downtown), Corazon (beautiful exterior, but the room was a bit too red, too small, and thank God I didn't book there since it has since closed!).

I had been so set on having a wedding downtown so that the hotel, church, reception, and after-hours fun would all be walkable or with taxis available. I still wish our locations, chosen in the suburbs, were closer together since I dislike moving all over town at other weddings, but I am so happy with our locations that proximity had to be sacrificed. My "no country club" rule was reconsidered once I went to a college roommate's wedding and I saw how lovely it was without being too cookie cutter. While I'm attracted to places with a bit more personality and that are more industrial, guests don't necessarily see them the same way, and I finally came to terms with that and moved the search out of downtown. My mom and I visited a couple country clubs close to where we live, and I found that I was really drawn to the high ceilings and chandeliers at the Country Club at Muirfield Village. After drawing out the process as long as I could, we finally put a deposit on it. This happened around the same time we had been meeting with a deacon at the Catholic church Nathan's parents belong to, and May 9, 2009 was available at both spots. After about three months of engagement, hours of researching online, driving around Columbus, indecisiveness, and many questions of "Have you set the date yet?", two big decisions were made! It's a bit more preppy than I originally envisioned, and not at all industrial, but it's lovely, and now that I've had a menu tasting there (more on that later), I'm even more thrilled with our choice.

I forgot to take my camera when we stopped by the first time (when a lovely wedding of about 250 was being set up), but I snuck out to take a few photos after work one day so that I'd be able to reference the main part of the room when planning. I took a couple photos, and layered the windows in to show the great view of the golf course outside.