Digging my way out...

So I haven't had a chance to go through photos or anything, but I will just say that the wedding overall was a success.  Not just in that I am now married, but it was a really wonderful ceremony and reception, and it was great to see everyone and celebrate with family and friends.  And the 5 days in St. Lucia was a much much needed respite after the stress of the last 3 months.  2 days after the wedding I asked husband why I was so tired, and he said, it's because you've been a raging maniac for the last 3 months, and I said, oh yeah, that's right. :)

Now we're just trying to dig ourselves out of the giant mess that has become our home, and it's slowly getting better.  Saturday it was impossible to cross the living room without climbing on either the couch or the dining room table, but that has been cleared out.  Now I just need to figure out where all my socks ended up.

Orange you glad it's fall?

Completely corny title aside, I am.  I love fall so much, and it's finally cool in DC, and I'm so happy.  Part of the reason I love fall is the color palette.  Orange isn't necessarily my best color, but I love it anyway.  I want a jacket just like this one:

Photo courtesy of The Sartorialist

Getting Around

So it occurred to me yesterday that I should probably figure out exactly husband and I should get from the church to the reception location (first time I've typed husband - really weird).  Since I am a transportation nerd, this is actually a really big deal.  Obviously, we could take Clark, fiancées trusty Ford Explorer, but the missing trim and general shabbiness make it not my idea of a wedding chariot.  

My first idea was a trolley, since they are awesome.  They are pretty popular right now, but unfortunately, they are also very expensive, so that was out.  I looked around for classic cars to rent in Northern Michigan and didn't really find anything, so that was out too.  I then just happened to think about the fact that I will be buying a scooter at some point after the wedding, since I will be moving to Virginia, and they don't really believe it's possible to live without owning a vehicle there.  Seriously, how awesome would it be to leave the church on a bright red Vespa?

My mom thinks I'm crazy, and perhaps I am a little, but I think it's a great idea.  What do you think?

Photo courtesy of Kara Pearson Photography

My Turn to Cross Over to the Dark Side

So I wrote a year ago about how I wasn't super happy about boyfriend moving across the river into Virginia.  One of the biggest sacrifices that I will have to make in this marriage is following him.  I thought about convincing him to move back, but realistically speaking, it just makes so much more sense for me to move there.  It hadn't really sunk in yet though, until today I put up a Craigslist ad for someone to take over my apartment.  I don't want to give up my wonderful apartment in the middle of the wonderful city where I can walk to everything.  The things you do for love.  The funniest part of it all is though I got an email from a girl who said it reminded her of an apartment from the Apartment Therapy Small Cool Contest. :)

Still Plugging Away....

I haven't abandoned you, no worries! Life has gotten incredibly busy and the wedding is 30 days away, and let's just say there have been a few snags along the way. But I think we're on track, and it will all come together. That's what I keep telling myself anyway. So I have a bazillion little projects going on at once, and then today I ran across another really cool idea on Oh Happy Day that I just might have to try.

It is called a pajak, and is essentially a polish chandelier or paper mobile of sorts. Now I'm mostly polish, but my main connection to my heritage is through my love of pierogies and other polish foods. Still, I think it would be cool to include them.  Unfortunately, they are highly labor intensive, so they will be left to the back burner, just in case I happen to have some spare time at the end, maybe the 13 hour drive to Michigan? :)

image 1: Oh Happy Day, image 2: Wren Handmade

The Dress That Led Me Down the Garden Path

So I mentioned that I'm crazy and attempted to sew my own wedding dress.  This is kinda what I was going for, but with a sweetheart neckline:

  

I realize that my sewing skills, while they have gone much further than they were back when I sewed my high school homecoming dress out of a curtain and my mother looked on in horror at my seams, that I probably shouldn't go buy a lot of expensive fabric and go to town.  Hence, my test dress is being sewn out of an old sheet.  This is what I came up with after a couple of hours, with a base/lining, and the top draping bit (which took by far the longest):

I then added the rest of the bodice top layer, but it's really loose because I was planning on doing a corset bodice, so it was basically clipped together in the back with a hair clip:

And that's where I stopped.  I decided that since I wanted to do boning, I should probably actually get a pattern that would teach me how to do it.  After looking at every single evening and wedding gown pattern on the internet (approximately 2,375,338), I settled on an out-of-print Vogue pattern as my base:

I got the pattern in the mail on Friday, but seeing as how my invitations have exactly 3 days to magically make themselves, it's been put to the back burner.  But it's been simmering, have no fear.  So here are my thoughts, feel free to chime in.  First of all, that sheer thing on the top of the bodice is hideous and isn't structural at all, so it's gone.  So basically what I have here is a simple strapless mermaid dress.  I'm not exactly what you would call normal, and this definitely extends to how I want my wedding dress to look, so I don't want a simple strapless mermaid dress.  My first dress, which has since been returned, was a gorgeous, simple silk sheath dress, which was vetoed as being too simple:

I loved the straps and the differentness of it, but it wasn't as flattering on as it could have been.  

So my thoughts for the front of the dress are to modify it to have some sort of strap that either is sheer that goes over the sweetheart strapless neckline, or modify it entirely to look more like the original dress, and this one:

My thought is that this will also still get vetoed for being too plain, so I'll add something like this waistline doodad:

The back is definitely too plain on the pattern, so I have to spice that up a bit too.  I have no idea if this is possible or not, but I would love to lower it a bit and have the straps do something like this:

Although I'm loving how the straps go down into the detachable train like this one:

I will definitely add some sort of detachable train, just not sure yet the best place and method for attaching it.

So there you have it folks.  Who knows if I will actually do any of this, but at least I have lots of ideas. :)  Any thoughts?

(photo 1: unknown, 2 & 3: my lovely camera phone,  4 & 5: Vogue, 6 & 7: Nicole Miller, 8, 10, 11: Amanda Wakeley, 9: Jenny Packham)

It's Official - Wedding Planning Has Made Me Go Crazy

My wedding is 74 days away, as my incomplete gift registry tells me, and I'm crazy.  Right now, there are two wedding dresses sitting at fiancées house (one of which is returnable, the other is not), and last night I spent 5 hours seeing if it was possible for me to sew a wedding dress.  Let's ignore the fact that we haven't even started making our complicated invitations that need to be mailed in like a week and half, just for starters.  I was actually pretty impressed with the results, but I still think I'm crazy.

I love clever solutions

This is just simply brilliant - who would have thought to use a tension rod like this?  My massively jumbled cupboard of cleaning supplies thanks Jen from A Thousand Words for this idea.

Looking Down

So, as you may have guessed, since I am planning a wedding in 3 months, my blogging with a) not be as frequent  and b) have a lot to do with weddings.  I'm actually trying to keep my intake on wedding blogs and shows and magazines and stuff to a minimum, because honestly, I find it depressing how much work and money goes into these things.  But since I am me, there will definitely be enough work and randomness to make it interesting.  Fiancee and I are making our own invitations, using wood veneer instead of paper, and he had the idea of doing a pattern that looks like a wood inlay floor.  So I've been look at wood inlay floors a lot, and realized I really like them.  There are just so many amazing patterns out there - here are a few of my favorites:

How do you feel about inlay floors?  Should they make a comeback?

Photos 1: Design Amour 2: Wood Floors Online  3: Ali Express

Big News!

So I've been pretty silent the past few weeks, but for a good cause, I promise.  Boyfriend and I went on vacation in New Mexico a few weeks ago, and while on top of a mountain overlooking Albuquerque, he proposed, and so now boyfriend has become fiancée!  We are trying like mad to pull together a wedding in Michigan in October (planning from DC), so I've been a little busy the last few weeks.  We have the church somewhat lined up, but we have to pick between two reception locations by tomorrow.  I haven't seen either place in person, but I've sent my parents to go check them out.  Which do you think?  (Seriously, I need help deciding here).

Option 1:  The Old Art Building

This is a building that is used for art shows and performances and whatnot, and is basically across the street from Lake Michigan.  You can't see the lake, but it's a short walk, and there is a river that runs right next to it.  It's the cheaper option (by a decent amount), and is slightly closer to the church.  It's slightly smaller, which means we might have to take down a few tables after dinner for dancing.  It's a similar style to option 2, just more rustic.  If the weather cooperates, I might set up lawn games or something, because there is a nice big yard.

Option 2:  Willowbrook Mill

This is a water mill that was recently renovated for the purpose of being a reception location.  It's gorgeous.  This is on the other side of the Leelanau peninsula, so it overlooks the Grand Traverse Bay.  Again, it's across the street, but doesn't have a super view of the water, but very easy to walk to.  And I will say it again, it's gorgeous.

So there you have it kids, what do you say?

What's Wrong With This Picture?

It's 96 degrees outside and I was excited to just go pick up something from the printer, because I was able to warm up my hands on the paper.

My Favorite Thing About Cleaning...

...is all the random stuff I come across that I forgot about. I tend to use my email as a virtual notepad, sending myself emails when I want to remember something, or go back and look at something on the internet, but my email is so full of all of these little reminders, that I can never find what I'm looking for. I decided to go on a cleaning splurge, and weed my way through all my little reminders, and see what I could find. One of these great finds was Kate Towers, a clothing designer from Portland, who has incredible designs. We all know by now that I love texture, and her work is full of it.

You can see more of her work on her website, as well as her Etsy store.

All images: www.katetowers.com

Come See Me!

I've been a little MIA lately, but that is because I've been hard at work, preparing to be at the Fenton Street Market tomorrow, peddling my wares. If you are in the DC area, you should definitely come see me!

This Sums Up How I Feel Right Now

"Work when there is work to do. Rest when you are tired. One thing done in peace will most likely be better than ten things done in panic.....I am not a hero if I deny rest; I am only tired."

--Susan McHenry

Almost to the Finish Line!

Apartment Therapy's Small Cool contest is approaching the end of Round 1, and I'm doing pretty decently, if I do say so myself, currently 10th out of 40 in my category. I could do a little better, though (hint, hint)! Thanks to everyone who voted for me! And definitely check out some of the other entries - there are some really good ones this year.