Flower Girls

Cute little flower girl shots, all from the knot, except the last one from the US Angels website.

Reception Look.

So our main colors are chocolate brown, bright pink and ivory. I want a gorgeous vintage/glam feel to the day and it's nice that the place where our reception is being held has huge tall ceilings with marble flooring, tall columns and beautiful molding all around.

image via theknot.com

I love the look of the pearls and the gold detailing on these plates!
Image from About Weddings.

image via theknot.com

Beautiful, sophisticated pink hues.
image via theknot.com

For a cleaner look I've thought of going with light blue tablecloths, like in this picture. We'll just have to wait and see! I think we'll probably stick with pink or bown to keep with our color scheme.
image via The Memory Journalists.

Cake Inspiration.

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Do you see a theme here? Round, white cake, bright pink flowers. That's what we're going for and we've come up with a design that puts a damask-type design along the top edge of each tier. so 14" 10" and 6" rounds to keep a good amount of sizing difference between each tier. I'm so excited to see our cake!

Vintage Wedding Inspiration.

Is it ok to change the theme of a blog? I guess if I'm just doing it for myself and don't really figure that anyone else actually reads it, then why not? Ok, I'm switching my "whatever inspiration" over to "wedding inspiration" because that's what I'm in now: wedding mode! I'll probably go back to the whole "whatever" mode in a couple months after our wedding.

First off: engagement photos! We haven't had any taken and I didn't really think we were, but I've been pouring through wedding blogs all over and now I want to do a vintage type photo shoot! I don't really like balloons at weddings (I used to think they were cheesy and should be reserved for birthday parties) but I've seen some pictures lately that I'm loving! I love the balloons in this picture (from the Sophia Coppola-directed Dior commercial) because they aren't typical balloon shape (they're totally spheres- so cool!) and the colors! So gorgeous with matte colors instead of blaring red, yellow and blue birthday balloons.

Nordstrom = Love

How awesomely glamorous does this new Nordstrom shop window look? I'm in wedding-mode now so anything shiny/pretty/detailed/glamorous/vintage has been catching my eye lately.

I love the jewel-toned dresses and background, the hanging bubbles and the shoes in their own bubbles. Sigh.

SF Girl by Bay

In other news, this photo collage by SF Girl by Bay is totally inspirational to me and now I just want to go spend hours browse through flickr! Scratch that, I want to go take photos! Isn't it just so vintage chic?

Mystery Record Player Photo

Ok, I know I have been seriously slacking on this blog, but I've been wrapped up with wedding planning for the past couple months!

Anyway, I was browsing through some pictures I'd saved on my computer in the "Inspiration" folder and came across this awesome Record Player photo and thought that it'd be a great print to hang up on a wall somewhere. Then I realized that I was seriously not thinking when I saved it, and didn't tag it or anything with the info as to where I got it. So if anyone's seen this pic around, will you shoot me an e-mail so I can find the photographer?

Thank you!

See Mom Shop

Ok, so I'm obsessed with little kids clothes. Even girl's and so far I've only got a boy. Ok, well especially girls since their clothes are so much cuter and have so many more options than boys. So I'm sure you can imagine how excited I was to randomly stumble across this mom's blog all about her toddler daughter's outfits: Confessions from a Daughter's Closet. I'm sure it helps that her daughter is super adorable but Bekki is hilarious and I just love checking out all her daughter's beautiful dresses and matching hair accessories!


*Photo from Bekki's Blog.

Fun Inside

We babysat my cousin's son a couple weekends ago and she's got this little play structure in her son's room that I thought was such a great idea! What a neat way to let your kids run around and play like they're outside while keeping them contained in the nice air conditioned (or dry, if it's raining) house. Christopher had a blast playing with his little cousin Connor.

Oh, and we caught a frog!

Red Wine Cupcakes (!)

Check out these gorgeous wine cupcakes made by my friend over at Occasional Sugar. They've actually got red wine in the cake and frosting recipes! That's so unique- I never knew you could make cupcakes with wine. Doesn't it look like you'd just want to drink it up!?

Peek-a-Sku

Ever wanted to know what baby Gap or Janie and Jack's new lines are going to be before they're released? Peek-a-Sku.
You're welcome :)

Where the Wild Things Are

Ok, I must say that I have mixed feelings about this moving coming out in October. But for a different reason than one might think. First, I can't wait to see it! All the wild things look awesome and I love the trailer for the movie, plus what kid didn't love this book? But the only opposition I have to it, is that it's coming out in October... October 16th... right before Halloween....

Now, ever since Christopher was a baby I've had the idea for one of his Halloween costumes to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are because I thought it'd be totally cute and original and there wouldn't really be any kids out there with the Max costume (I've never seen one anyway). Either this year or next year would be a perfect year for Christopher to be Max, because he's 3 now and might actually be excited and enjoy Halloween this year. Plus I've got this aversion to letting him wear a boring, store-bought, out-of-the-package Halloween costume now that he's old enough to have an opinion. I think Halloween is a time for creativity! In 4th grade I was actually a calendar for Halloween... don't ask I have no idea how I came up with it either, one side was October and the other was November.

So anyway, my problem with this movie coming out this October is that I really want Christopher to be Max for Halloween and I actually want to try and make his costume (eek!). But now that the movie's coming out my idea isn't going to be so original anymore and I'm worried that there's going to be a bunch of Max's running around on Halloween night.

I'm only hoping that if I can get his costume made this year, it won't look all crummy and generic and hopefully there won't be a lot of Max's yet, since the movie is only coming out 2 weeks before Halloween and most kids will already have their Halloween costumes picked out by then... right? Or does everyone else but me wait until right before Halloween to decide what they're going to be?

Disneyland at Dusk.

Sorry about the lack of posts! The family and I just got back from a wonderful vacation in Southern California, which included lots of sun, beach, family and Disneyland! Hopefully now I'll be able to get back into the swing of things and start posting again. Here's a few of my favorite pictures from our trip to Disneyland...

The Small Stakes

If we had our own house and I had a room where I could put all my music/concert memorabilia, I'd totally want this poster to put in there. Not because I love The Walkmen or anything, I just love the artwork! It's by a company called The Small Stakes and their artwork for concert promotion is so original, I love it! I'm thinking an entertainment room is in order with a pool table, mini fridge, big old flat screen tv and one of those cool U-shaped couches. I also like this She & Him poster.


Ok, I was looking around and found another cool one. Death Cab Hurricane Katrina benefit concert poster.

First Giveaway: Peek!

I'm so excited... it's my first giveaway! Not anything big, just a few really cute buttons.

On Saturday we made our way out to Roseville to visit a few stores that we don't have close to us. One of the said stores we randomly happened to go into was Peek... Aren't You Curious, a children's store (because I can't pass a new kids store and not go in!). I hadn't ever been in one and didn't even realize that I'd already heard of this store on a Design Mom blog post until I saw the Battleship shirt that I'd had my eye on online.

Anyway, we ended up getting Christopher 2 shirts and I grabbed a few buttons on the way out. And Christopher had a blast playing in the store! They had these little bikes that he rode around on and then he got to pick out a bouncy ball and lollipop. That is awesome marketing, to have fun stuff for the kids to play with while mom shops (they also had granola bars and little toy animals the kids could have). Plus the 2 girls working were super nice and played with Christopher while we were in there.

So if you'd like to win 4 Peek buttons, simply leave a comment on this post and I'll pick a winner this Friday 6/5. Good luck!

According to random.org the winner is... Calligraphy Girl, congratulations!

Madsen Cycles

How neat is this new Madsen cargo bike? It totally takes care of the need for something separate to put your kid in for a bike ride with you. Click the picture and go to their site- they're giving away 2 bikes next month!

Famille Summerbelle

The sweet little children's accessories and decorations store Famille Summerbelle is celebrating their 1st anniversary with free shipping worldwide- WOW! And the cool thing is that even though they are located in France you can pay in UK Sterling, Euros, and US Dollars. I've got my eye on the Count the Sweets print. Too bad the Paper Cut Paris Map isn't done yet.

Anthropologie at Last

I've been trying to avoid it all these years (ok, well for the past year anyway) because I've heard about how great it is. It hasn't been too hard so far since we don't have one close to us, but I finally made it into an Anthropologie store this past weekend when we stopped in Berkeley... and again in San Francisco. Great store but a mistake to go in when you're trying to save money! I'd been in one years ago one time but didn't care much about it then. This time I actually wanted stuff! I made out with a pair of capris for the summer and two tops plus some bubble bath for my sister's birthday present.

But I love this Musing Moon dress! It just makes me want to throw a dinner party... in the 50's, lol. Unfortunately they didn't have it in my size in San Francisco where I saw it. But that was probably a good thing though since until I win the lottery, I'm not about to pay full price for anything there. Right up there next to Sur La Table and William's Sonoma, I think I've found my new store to visit every time we're in the area.

Also next to the Anthropologie in Berkeley was this great paper store which carries stuff from the Cavallini paper line, which I just so happen to love. I almost bought the Paris stamp set but decided to wait... maybe we'll have to stop by again on our next trip to SF in a couple weeks.

Sunday

Hope all the moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. We took a lazy Sunday and after church we picked up some breakfast to take back home since the wait was too long (an hour and 40 mins!). French toast for me and a breakfast burrito for Gregory and time to play trains for Christopher since he'd already eaten. Gregory and I also split a hazelnut iced mocha- yummmmmm! After that we decided to go for a drive and visited a couple of cities just outside of ours, browsing around and checking out a couple stores. We then drove back home and spent the afternoon at the park letting Christopher run around. A nice and relaxing day with my family! Oh, and did I mention that Gregory got me the beautiful Kate Spade wallet I'd been craving? How great is he!?

Wish List

Since it's Mother's Day tomorrow and I just happen to be a mother myself, I figured I'm allowed to make a wish list. Not that I'm actually expecting to get anything from this list, but I can dream!

1. Report Ilana Ruffle Ballet Flats. Ok, this one is cheating since I've already ordered these online, but still, here they are. I live in flip flops and Uggs, so I think it's time I branch out my shoewear but since my feet are so wide, these are the only cute one's that I've tried on this past week that aren't too narrow since they're all leather and streatch. Plus they're pink and SO cute!

2. Kate Spade Thompson St. - Noel Remy Slim Wallet. This one is actually at the top of my list because I need a new wallet. I figured that the bright pink color (actually "geranium," how cute!) would be easy to spot in the bottom of my purse, which tends to be a black hole for whatever I stick in there.

3. Kate Spade Mariachi Rickrack Bracelet. I couldn't do with just one color of these bracelets! I know I'll never actually get these but love how they look stacked.

4. Kate Spade Thompson St. - Noel Stevie Tote. Might as well since it matches the wallet! No, I was browsing around at Nordstrom the other day and was actually looking for an emerald green purse, but came across the pink sale section and found this one (at least I think it's this one, if not it's very similar). It's a tie between this purse and another pink leather one.

5. Lucky Brand Sequin Embroidered Top. As you can tell, I'm trying to update my wardrobe with more bright colors for the summer and apparently pink is my color of choice. I like breezy tops with pretty details around the top, so this one is perfect. It was either this pink color or in black, but really I have enough black tops in my wardrobe.

6. This white sundress by Suzi Chin just screams summertime to me! Gorgeous.

Inspiration from Millalove Paper Creations

Gorgeous paper flowers look from the etsy show Millalove. Also check out the lovely custom banners she makes too!

Rainbow Cupcakes

Like everyone else who's seen this Rainbow Cake, I've wanted to try to make one. Christopher's Birthday cupcakes seemed like the perfect opportunity so I did all of the Sesame Street cupcakes rainbow on the inside. I didn't want them to be a perfect upside-down rainbow inside, so I tried to spread around the blogs of color in each cupcake. I thought it'd be a nice little surprise for the kids when they ate them but they didn't seem to think it was as cool as the adults did. I thought they looked neat and the inside of the cupcake wrappers looked pretty too!