New Favorite Planning Tool…Color help!

Oh the colors. After “Did you set a date yet?” the next question seems to be “What are your colors?”

You know, I haven’t really cared. I don’t really have a favorite color. I know I’ll be wearing white or ivory… I guess I should pick one so the bridesmaids look somewhat decent though, no?

Although we’re having a fall wedding, I don’t want fall colors. I don’t want orange and burgundy or eggplant. They’re too dull for me.

If our wedding is going to be the party of the century (as Charles promises it will be), I want bright fun cheery colors! Let’s start with yellow.

And in the goal of having inexpensive centerpieces, I’ve been thinking a lot about bottles. And I like the colors of old glass. So I started thinking of maybe green…maybe blue…but how to bring it all together?

I found this blog through another blog, and I’m so glad I did!

I love the way colors are mixed together and easy to search. And I LOVE the “you might also like” suggestions. That’s how I found this.

Now remember, my wedding isn’t for another 14 months…so my mind could totally change…but for now (and I never thought I’d say this), I like chartreuse.

Maybe I’m Glad I’m not an Architect…

Life has been rather slow lately (not that I’m at ALL complaining!) so I didn’t have anything earth shattering to blog about today, so I figured I’d post an update on my gingerbread house post from December.

The day after Christmas is family day for my family. We tried getting together on Christmas eve one year, but it confused the kids way too much! Did they miss Santa? Was it already Christmas? Why were they getting so many presents?!?!

Christmas day, we feel, should be spent at home with your family. When we were kids, we had to be at Grandma’s house by noon for lunch. So that means waking up, opening presents quickly (but not before your siblings were up, you had slippers AND a robe on and you woke up Mom and Dad), eating breakfast, and then the worst part…

Choosing ONE toy to get to take to Grandma’s to show off to Will and Lara. Just one!

So here, happy Christmas. Here’s a bunch of toys, but you only get to play with one!

That’s cruel.

So we chose the day after so the kids could spend a relaxed day with their toys, siblings and parents.

However on the day after Christmas, at Granny’s house, my “Granny’s House” gingerbread house met it’s fate…

O Christmas Tree

I finally got my tree decorated yesterday (due in large part to not wanting to work on my final paper for class!).

I’m not a huge fan of the tree itself. If it weren’t for my allergies I’d have a real one because at least they smell pretty. but to me, the tree is really just a venue to hang some of my favorite things on. The ornaments are really where it’s at!

I’ve found it rather odd when I’ve run into people who buy ornaments. Other than to give to other people, I’ve never bought an ornament for myself before. My tree has no “theme” or cohesion to it, other than the fact that it’s a story of my life. From the “1980” ornaments I was given the year I was born to the very angel that tops the tree, every piece has a story behind it and a person who lovingly picked out that special ornament for me to have. And each year, I get to remember those special people and times in my life when I unpack the box and unwrap the carefully packed pieces.

Dee Dee's mice. They like to hang together on the tree so they don't get lonely. And they're always on the front. Anything with a face goes on the front. You wouldn't want anyone to miss seeing anything!

My angel made by DeeDee, when I was probably 4 or 5.

Not my first Christmas, but pretty close!

My baby ornament. I think also made by Dee Dee. And in thinking of Dee Dee, this one is also stored during the year in a small Parkay tub.

Pacman. Hand-crocheted by either our neighbor Irma, or Mary Steelman.

My prettiest ornament. I don't know that this one was mine to start with, but Mom gave it to me when I had my first tree of my own.

The first angel ornament my dad gave me as a teen. He always called me "Angel Face" and for quite a few years, gave me an angel ornament.

Another one from, you guessed it, Dee Dee. She seems to have had a thing for mice in the '80s.

Mosaicing with My Seesters!

Two friends and I have committed to getting together at least once a month. We switched to having them at each other’s houses instead of Uncle Julio’s to same some cash (we can still remember when margaritas were $4 during happy hour. Ahh the good old days!).

I have to say, we’ve kept up with this tradition quite well! And somewhere along the way, we started adding in crafting.

This month we met at G’s for homemade pizza and a smashing good time! We worked on mosaics, inspired by G’s recent summer trip backpacking through Europe.

I don’t know that any of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into…but it ended up really fun!

Angie was our banger. She seemed to enjoy sitting on the hearth smashing stuff (mostly my old wine bottles I scavenged from my recycling bin). I have to say my Saratoga water bottle made an excellent sky!

The easiest thing to do was probably using up my bottle caps I’ve been saving for who knows how many years. My father would be so proud of me! He started collecting them which made me think maybe I should too. But then he also saved an entire cabinet door of banana stickers. We never found a use for those…

Thanks Seesters for another wonderful time! And for teaching me that evidently, I’m an expert grouter 🙂

Next month, we’re thinking of painting wine glasses at Angie’s!

My Very Domestic Weekend – I’m now Accepting Reservations!

It almost looks like something out of "Little House" doesn't it!

As if I didn’t already have plenty of furniture for a single girl living alone…Mom showed up Saturday morning with a truck-load of more furniture for my little house. It’s amazing that I live in a completely furnished two bedroom home and I have yet to buy a single piece of furniture for it!

I’m so happy to finally have my “Granny Largent” bed…and hopefully I’ll have visitors soon so I can make use of it! Granny is my great-great-great-great grandmother. Yes, four greats!

Granny’s dresser wouldn’t fit on the truck, so it’ll be arriving sometime within the next month…along with Granny herself (in the form of a super old photo with a funky old frame).

I also got a completely new dining set. My brother is moving into my mom’s house soon and building her a smaller house (that won’t have a formal dining room) so I was lucky enough to be handed down an antique table (the first thing my parents ever bought together at their first estate sale they attended). To go with it, six shaker chairs my father made. It may have taken 13 years to finish them, but I’ve never seen wood so shiny in  my life!

With Mom’s visit came some intense cleaning of the first floor (I love when Mom comes!) so my floors are shining and all the wood furniture is dusted. And there are no little dust critters hiding behind my couch.

On a boat. And full after a lovely brunch!

The domesticity stuck after Mom left. Sunday I was heading to my cousin’s in Annapolis and asked what I should bring for brunch. “Some sort of pastry.”

Good thing I keep banana’s and butter in the freezer so I could whip up a banana bread! Yum!

After all that cleaning and a fun day walking around Annapolis, I was more than ready for a nap Sunday evening. And very tempted to sleep in my new guest room.