11.30.2010

rest.

I have been a bit sick since Saturday night, so I have just been trying to rest up and get well!  The cold came on us so abruptly, and with no snow (which in my opinion is what makes the cold beautiful and more bearable)!  So, sorry for the lag in posting.  I have a feeling I might be a little less consistent with the holidays approaching, so please be patient with me :)

There are three things I'd like to share with you today (all of which I have been a little late to finding, so sorry if there's some repetition for you!)...

1. the second issue of the online magazine, RUE.  It's the holiday edition!  The colors, decorations, and free paper goods giveaways are delightful!  Also, there's a feature on the collaborative work of 2 of my favorite artists on page 56.

2. 100 layer cake has launched their website!!  It is a wonderful site full of resources and inspiration for wedding-planning folks :) check it out!

3. my friend Beth has finished her 2011 calendar (the one that mentioned here)!!  Here are some photos and if you are interested in purchasing one, shoot her a comment here (more photos there too!):





11.26.2010

homeseed (mini) calendar photos.

Here are some photos of the (mini) calendar I posted for you yesterday, as I don't feel like some of my explanations were clear enough (and I didn't have time to get this together earlier!):







Sorry for the terrible photo quality.  I'm working with what I've got! 

After a little more research, this is the camera I'm saving up for now...hopefully I can get it sooner (rather than later...what a silly phrase!) :)

11.25.2010

a homeseed 2011 (mini) calendar, for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm thankful for YOU! Here is my little gift to you (descriptions & "instructions" below):



The calendars should print on letter size paper (just click on the image twice and it will become full-size, then print!).  The first one would be better for hanging in my opinion, but the second has a couple of options.  It could be folded in half and propped on a desk or table (or some other fun surface), or, with a little bit of effort it could be printed on both sides, cut into a single strip, and then folded up accordion-style.  The latter could fit in a planner or purse.  

ps...there are 2 separate calendars on the second image.

I hope you enjoy them!  Share with friends and family!

11.24.2010

a gift for you...

To say "thanks" for you, I'm going to post a little gift tomorrow!  Nothing crazy, or super exciting, but still...a gift, which my dashboard dictionary says is "a thing given willingly to someone without payment".  

So with that, happy almost Thanksgiving!  

Sorry for the short/late/uninspiring post today, things might be looking more like that through the holidays!

11.23.2010

terri potter :)

So, what did you think of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1?!  I had a delightful Thursday-Saturday with my friend Terri (Potter...it works so well I just can't resist!).  I enjoyed the movie, however I viewed it with very new perspective this time.  Let's just get this out there first: I don't read the books, I listen to them!!  I tried to start book one in high school and just couldn't get into it, but when the movies started coming out-I was sold.  So, for HP 1-6 I had seen the movie before listening to the book (I still haven't finished book 6!  EEK!) and for 7, I had listened first and then watched the movie.  My friends who have read the books first have had a lot of frustration with the first 6 movies and felt 7 was the most true, where...I couldn't stop complaining about different things in this movie!!  Oh my.  Perspective.  

That might have been a lot about Harry Potter and my thoughts than you cared to hear :)

The butterbeer was a hit!!  You will definitely want to brush your teeth after drinking it, but regardless, it's quite fantastic.  Notes on the recipe: the maple syrup was a great substitute, and try not to have a whole lot of time between preparing and enjoying the beverage.  It's not something you want hanging out in the fridge or sitting out long.  The cream portion had the effect of the "float" part of a root beer or creme soda float, and that's the kind of thing you don't want sitting around.

As far as dressing up goes, Dan unfortunately wouldn't let us brand him with the lightning bolt, Terri had some compliments on her Umbridge outfit, and I re-discovered that I like straightening my hair.  

:)

Also, thank you for all of the love about our wedding and wedding photos!  It is truly appreciated.

11.19.2010

kristen & daniel (our wedding!!).

Finally, our photos are out!!  Oh my...I want to describe our celebration with you a little bit, so here goes:

Dan and I got engaged in March of 2009 and after some deliberation with family, friends, and each other, we decided on a December wedding.  We had a budget of $7,000 which at first sounded like a very large sum-until we realized some of the costs of the different things that normally go into a wedding (especially when the guest list reached about 300!).  In all areas though, I feel we were able to cut down costs quite a bit.  I really liked the idea of doing a lot of things ourselves, which also greatly cut down costs!!  Our two very close friends got married in June of the same year and had a combined ceremony-reception, where, when the guests arrived they actually headed straight to their tables where they would later be enjoying brunch.  We really liked that concept and the fact that it could tone formality down quite a bit.  We also decided on having an early wedding (it helped with things like: cost, still having at least an hour or two to enjoy our wedding day together after everything was cleaned up, and...avoiding dancing!  Yeah, there it is...we're not into dancing!).  We decided on December 19th, 2009 at St. Elizabeth's, a big and beautiful old Catholic church that is now owned by the Vineyard.

After figuring out those big details everything else just had to come together slowly and in its time.  After seeing this lovely tutorial/DIY idea we decided on fabric flowers.  I purchased fabric for my dress with the help of my friend Beth at an amazing warehouse near Minneapolis.  We decided on having Spicy Pickle and homemade organic soups for lunch, with Izze's to drink of course (Spicy Pickle even let Dan create his own sandwich...which was gobbled up before we got to try one!)!  Espresso Guild catered the tea and La Terza coffee which was delicious.  We had a very original cake made by Take the Cake.  I've never been a huge fan of normal cakes (growing up I always requested cookie cake, ice cream cake, or dirt cake!!) so I called them to see if they might be able to create some kind of tiered cake that was cookie like.  It was hard to explain and I wasn't really even sure what I was asking for but we settled on a 3-tier cake, each tier made up of 3 layers: blondie brownie with raspberry swirl, buttercream connecting that to a chocolate layer of cookie/brownie, and then ganache connecting that to another blondie layer.  Oh my, it was SO delicious (and not to mention, under $400 for two!!).  I created the paper goods which later resulted in...homeseed!!  I did not expect to enjoy that portion of the process so much, but I really did.  We had some very dear friends do the music (I walked down the isle to sigur ros :D) and scripture readings, some more dear friends help with serving the food, a dear friend officiate, and two other very dear friends take the lovely photos below!  

A lot of how we were able to have a wedding as big as ours was with the budget at hand, was thanks to our beautiful community.  So many of our friends and family were willing to help (everyone asked me through our engagement how they could help!).  One of the most beautiful expressions of this willingness to help and sacrifice self was when 3 days before our wedding I slammed my finger in the car door.  I still had a fair bit of my dress to finish, the flowers for bouquets/tables/boutonnieres had not really been started, tags needed to be tied to the guest gifts...and more!!  It was awful, I was so afraid of what was going to happen...but, my wonderful bridesmaids, now mother-in-law, aunts, and cousins took care of the flowers and my mom drove over two hours to rescue my dress!  It was incredible.  So was watching the church get set-up (again, all of these beautiful people are to thank).  It was just an amazing thing to behold-the support, love, and friendship that was surrounding us and our future marriage.  I am so thankful.

One of my favorite memories from the day was of my incredibly peaceful morning.  Some family and friends along with all of the bridesmaids and I stayed right next door at the old convent which has been turned into a wonderful retreat center.  I woke up a couple of hours before any of my bridesmaids and went downstairs to coffee and bagels that were ready to be enjoyed.  I took a long shower and was able to take my time getting ready, not feeling rushed at all (which was amazing, I'm not the most relaxed person when it comes to time).  It was so fun too, to be getting ready with four ladies that mean a whole lot to me.  And then...it SNOWED!  I was so hoping for snow.  It was beautiful.

Well, I think that will do for now, I suppose that wasn't really a little description!  Enjoy!!


Happy eleven months Roger Daniel :)



















































I hope you liked those!  Here are some of my personal favorites.  Maybe we can call them bloopers?  Just look at the progression of body movement and facial expressions, amazing!  The photos we took with the bridal party might be my favorites... 








 And in these two, I really like how disheveled we look...:)



Thanks for looking, and friends and family-thank you, thank you, thank you for your endless and sacrificial love and support.

dress: me and my momma!
bridesmaids dresses: Calvin Klein
paper goods: homeseed
coffee: Espresso Guild and La Terza
food: Spicy Pickle and Consumme Soup
photography: Cameron Huntington and Sarah Greco Elam
rings (only the bands, engagement is heirloom!): silverwoods
burlap table numbers/banner: funkyshique
paper goods/rings photography: Joe Lieske
flowers/boutonnieres: everyone!

ps...If you have any questions about anything or if you'd like help/ideas for more inexpensive ideas, shoot me an email or leave a comment!