How Engaging.

We're getting our engagement pictures taken today! It's the kick-off to another busy-but-fun weekend.

Image courtesy of PhotoBucket.com

So excited to meet our photographer, Dana (who I posted about here), and look cute and in love (hopefully). She's coming to us, which is lovely, so we'll be shooting in our 'backyard' - the local park we're in daily - plus the nearby waterfront - complete with lighthouse - and potentially even my fave 'grandma's-northwest-attic' style coffee shop in between.

She told us two outfits, towels, and a cute umbrella. The towels and the rain gear I've got.... The outfits are going to take some serious thought! I will surely post the results here ASAP.

Felt Flower Fiesta: Yes, Still.

Just thought I'd throw this up there :

STILL working away on the pomanders. It's my main project right now, so that's why this blog has been a little quiet on the craft front. I've polished off a pack of 250 'Woodsies' (not available for online purchase but find 'em at Micheal's craft store) on the felt flowers and am on to another pack, and am also pumping out the paper 'table confetti' accent flowers seen below in an Instagram shot.

We're getting there!

This Just In!

MY DRESS IS HERE!!

...2 months early, but it's here. Better scrambling to pick it up now (I ordered in a place about 2 hours from where I live) then wondering if it will get here on time, I suppose.

Luckily, my parents happened to be traveling through the city I ordered in on their way home from the airport last night. So, they snatched it up before the store closed, upon which I received an eardrum shattering phone call from my very excited mom.

Holy Gigantic Dress, Batman!

Image courtesy of BridalPromDress.com

It's HERE. I have a wedding dress!! Albeit a size too big thanks to having to fit my ginormous rib cage, but now at least I can see it and start the next super fun necessary shopping for appropriate undergarments and the actually fun shopping for jewelry! A bit nervous for the tailoring bill when the time comes, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

WOOHOO!!

No. Just..... No. But probably a small tailoring bill.

Image courtesy of Boards.WeddingBee.com

Fall Weddings & Football

Oh man, I came upon this article on CNN.com this morning and I'm trying not to snort behind my computer. So entertaining, and so true. The premise is that weddings during the fall college football season encroach on the fans in attendance's viewing record. There is even a full-blown website called FallWeddingsSuck.com (Tagline : "Online Therapy for Pissed Off Football Fans". HA!)

Image courtesy of Cleveland.com

I'm a crazy sports fan too, so I'm sure I've actually had these moments. I'm actually missing a baby shower for a soon-to-be cousin-in-law to hit a Husky football game.

And a little bird told me that one of Nate's cousins was in utter terror that our wedding would be this fall, preventing her from her high school volleyball team captain duties.

Ummm.... Been there.

Anyway. Fear not, fall sports fans. I fully plan on only interrupting spring sports like golf, which, if you must, is quiet enough that you can watch on your smart phone during the ceremony.

I'll understand.

A cake topper - And my new name! - from the UK.

Image courtesy of TiersAndTiaras.co.uk

Insta-Blister

Do you use the iPhone app Instagram? Well I'm a recent convert (thanks Amy!) so I thought I'd throw up a couple I snapped of my world this first  half of the week.

It was a crackdown on the felt flowers - Prep, prep, prepped those suckers! But as of last night I can actually say that every piece of felt in sight is ready to be whipped around a wooden stick slathered in hot glue and made into a floral arrangement. If you hadn't seen the partial results before I know you'd be nervous after that sentence.

Anyway, while I literally have 2 separate blisters from my scissor-fest last night, here's some Instagram shots of my blue felted world :

 Stitching yards and yards and yards and.... of felt tubing. See the accumulating pile behind the machine?

The scrap bin from trimming what will become rosebuds.

List-O-Rama

Just a snapshot of what my life looks like right now:

List - O - Rama.

Whoa.

I knew that leaving on vacation meant that I needed to soak up all the eating (and eating and eating and eating...) and non-emailing I possibly could, because the return to reality means GETTING. DOWN. TO. BUSINESS.

Like, for real. I've got a crap-ton of things to do (seems like I think of another detail 10 times a day... How to keep them all straight!?), and 8 months to do them in.

So coming across this blog entry by one of my fave gals, Maegan Tintari of Love...Maegan, just kind of put it in perspective for me. No, Mom (and all of you with plane tix already), I am not going to elope. But I sort of love that Maegan did, and that she wouldn't change a thing. Here's an exerpt from her blog entry:

"After about a month of wedding planning, the husband and I decided to leave all the stress behind and sneak off to Vegas and tie the knot... just the two of us, with no fanfare. And we did. September 4th, 2006.... Labor Day weekend, 5 years ago Sunday. And it was wonderful.

Though we returned home to some saddened family members who felt left out, all in all, our little wedding ceremony was really special. And in the heat of the Vegas moment, we wed Vegas style. I in an Agent Provacateur ivory corset and jeans and the husband in an ill-fitting suit, adidas sneakers and a t-shirt that said "Everyone loves and Italian Boy" with an illustration from Super Mario Brothers. Yeah, klassy I know, but it was Vegas and really, wearing a wedding gown in a chapel where an Elvis impersonator was waiting in the next room just seemed silly.

We threw a reception party for our friends and family a few months later with a bit of a 60's theme. I found a vintage 60's dress topped with champagne colored sequins and a velvet bow complete with the original tags and I altered it to modernize it a bit. I wore my grandma's leopard coat which she had made for herself in the 60's and a pair of champagne peep toe marc by marc jacobs pumps. I was a bit too tan and a bit too over the top but it was fun."

 Images courtesy of LoveMaegan.com

Thanks, Maegan, for reminding me that the details are just that - DETAILS. Minor bits and bobs, which if go missing practically no one will notice. We're celebrating a marriage, not a party, and everything else will fade into a comfortable whirl of memories of a magical night.

Thank Goodness

Just a little thankful moment...

Just before I left on vacation, the restaurant next to the bridal salon (David's Bridal) I ordered my veil and dress from caught fire. No one was present or injured, but the restaurant needs a major kitchen renovation and there was some serious smoke damage to David's.

So this is a less-than-stunning image, but really, it was bad.

Image courtesy of OlympiaWA.gov

Thanks to my mom who picked up my veil just days before I was spared having to re-order or take a loss. I feel HORRIBLE for the girls who did. What a nightmare to have severe damage to your dress just weeks before. Here's hoping the store and their corporate headquarters is coming to the rescue!

Stringing Me Along

I'm intrigued by the idea of see-through string balls.

Image courtesy of apweddings.blogspot.com

Remember making these guys in grade school? I know I certainly did, and haven't given 'em a thought since. But a single shot of a wedding featured on one of my fave blogs, 100 Layer Cake, had a couple hanging as decor, and DING! Lightbulb.

So. I'm pretty sure now Nate's kitchen is going to have crafts in it too. By the end of this he'll almost be willing to move the big screen and the cable subscription to my apartment just to have his free space back. Here's the how-to from eHow.com if you'd like to make a few with the munchkins in your life, or let's face it: For your own self.

Meet My Vendors: Yessie Makeup Artistry

Super excited to have found and booked a make-up artist for The Day. We haven't met face to face yet, but the emails have been a'flying, and I can't wait to have a sit-down with Yessie of Yessie Makeup Artistry when I get back from a little lake vacay this week.

The girl has some serious skillz (yeah, with a Z. She's that good.), and has earned her stripes working on fashion shoots and just generally making the world a more beautiful place.

Image courtesy of Thumbtack.com

It honestly would have never occurred to me to have a makeup artist for my wedding, but after witnessing the transformative powers of a good one at a dear friend's wedding last year, I was sold. I wanted to pack that girl into my carry-on and bring her back home with me for daily use.

Image courtesy of Best.King5.com

Image courtesy of Yessie's Facebook page

Can't wait to have Yessie work her magic on me! Love her quote on her Tumblr page: "I like your face, even if you don't!"