100

{Via Google Images ... 1st to pop up!}

The forecast calls for temperatures reaching 100 today (eek!) which is quite appropriate. Upon updating my wedding website with registry information, I discovered that today marks 100 days until the badger & I say I do! Mom and I've been busy crossing items off the list the past few weeks ... time is certainly flying by! The invitations are at the calligrapher (yay!), bridal portraits are taken, registrys are set, cake is designed (double yay), lists are complete, & we are on the way! Cheers to the next 100 days!

Esty Finds

Modern + Classic in one pair of earrings. Simply lovely.

Wedding earrings perhaps?

The perfect size floral clutch to add a little zing to a wedding dress? Yes please!

Or maybe this one as a birthday treat? After all it's just 5 days away.

Floral + Feminine.

I was on the hunt for jewels for my maids. Thoughts on these?

Or perhaps these?

The crystals can be color-customized!




{Found on the Etsy shops of Bridal Emunique, Red Ruby Rose, Penelope G, & Handwired}

Three Cheers for Yummy Food & Grainy Cell Phone Photos!

The Badger and I have been members of a supper club for several years now. The dynamic has changed a bit over the years, it started out with mostly dating couples with large dinners, morphed into a smaller group of mostly married folks, and is now living life as a mostly appetizer & cocktail Sunday afternoon with 3 babies and another due next month! It was our turn to host and naturally the weather was hot. Our plan for a picnic in the park was derailed by forecast thunderstorms & temps nearing the triple digits and was moved into my condo.

{my favorite summer meal: fresh tomato, basil, & mozzarella on a baguette + the beautiful pink peony napkins that were an engagement gift from KP complete with an adorable acrylic holder sporting our new last name!}

I came up with ideas that would not heat up my kitchen as we were going to have 9 people & 2 new-borns in my 800 square feet!

{Currently LOVING trays. I found this aqua + gold one at an estate sale last summer.}

{Is there anything more perfect than sangria with fresh fruit? I think not!}



{Prosciutto, Pancetta, + Cheddar}

{Cheese, cheese, & more cheese!}

I spy a commuter.

Every day my Volvo hits the highway on about a 35 minute one-way commute to my place of work. It's gotten to be pretty routine and I've come to like the quiet-to-my-self time, jam-out-to-Gaga-time, listen-to-books-on-tape-time (almost finished with Eat, Pray, Love), & of course, I play a lot of solo I spy.

I've spied all sorts of random things along the side of the highway. I've seen a plethora of solo shoes (don't you miss those?), a toddler booster seat (frightening), a sofa, and even one time a full bathroom vanity complete with a silver faucet. (perhaps they thought they needed a new one from CSN Stores) Didn't you notice it fell out of the back of your truck? Seriously folks.

Speaking of trucks. This little baby sported a fantastic bumper sticker my grainy stop-light-taking cell phone image did not pick up on. "I break for Boiled P-Nuts" me too mister, me too.

Another favorite spotting? The Subaru Brat. Its a vehicle with an identity crisis. Is it a car? Is it a truck? Who knows, but I surely think it is a party on wheels.


Can't tell what that is hanging out on a ledge on a bridge overpass on one of America's busiest highways the runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific? Why it's just a 2 foot tall concrete bear sporting a fishing hat leaning on a shovel. (If you live in the triangle area email me and I'll tell you where to spot this furry creature.) That must have been left by a commuter with a sense of humor.

One of my least favorite spottings: traffic jams & lane closures. Particularly after 9pm when I'm oh so ready to be home. Lame.

It's the little things that make life interesting ... you just have to keep your eyes open!

Department Store Make-up Look... without the price!

Recently arriving in the mail were a couple of packages from BzzAgent. Being a member of BzzAgent, from time to time I am sent products to try and report on for market research. If you enjoy trying out new products and sharing your findings with blog world you should sign up too! (It's free!)
The first package I received was from CoverGirl. It contained their new ShineBlast lip gloss & Smoky ShadowBlast eye shadow. I was excited to try these products as I had recently purchased "Lash Blast Length" from Target and was extremely impressed! It lengthened my lashes better and flaked less than the more expensive brand I'd been using from Ulta. The angled tip on the ShineBlast lip gloss applicator was perfect. It was easy to apply, even on the run, and didn't look messy or sticky like some glosses. (I had just purchased a lipgloss with a brush applicator from Bobbi Brown and enjoy the Cover Girl much more ... plus it gives you a great look for much less!)
I decided to add a little oomph to my look one evening and tried out the Smoky Shadowblast eye shadow in "Onyx Smoke." I'll start by saying I am no make up artist but when I added this to my regular eye liner routine for a night out, I got the great "oomph" look I was trying to achieve! I even got some great complements on my "fierce" eyes! I use the white end on a daily basis to highlight, then add more color for a fun evening out!
Three cheer to CoverGirl & their new line of "blast" products! If you are interested in trying them out for yourself, I have several $2 off coupons to be used towards any Cover Girl product I'll be happy to mail you one!

Gifts & Groupon

We're back into the swing of regular life here after a brief coastal vacation and it seems that wedding planning has rushed into full gear! The invitations, napkins, & stationary arrived in a rather large box last week. I did a little jump of excitement and loved the way they turned out! We hit a highlight with a cake design & tasting session. Since then its been spread-sheet central to finalize the guest list and pull middle names out of folks. Under 4 months to go now!

I could use a little blog land help ... I want to go ahead and start working on the bridesmaids gifts. Do you have any suggestions for something you really liked or disliked? If anyone's gone the etsy route, do you have any favorite sellers? I want to give my girls something they'd really like as a small token for all they do. (I also have a 11 year old jr bmaid & a 2 year old flower girl that will need ideas too!)

On another note, I saw my daily groupon deal is $35 for $110 at Photobook America. Has anyone used this site before ... would it be good for wedding photos?

As always, many thanks to my readers. I love hearing your feedback & comments!

Sunrise

On this, my first day of a coastal vacation, Pete decided to awaken me about 6am. I tried to quiet him and encourage him to settle down, "it's not time to get up yet" as I do at home. Boy was I wrong. He was like a toddler on Christmas morning (or perhaps on their first day at the beach). I can't say I blame him, we did arrive last evening after a considerable car ride in dog time to the coast blanketed in darkness. He did wonder as we settled into slumber just exactly what that rolling and constant crashing noise was. To save the rest of my family from an early vacation rise we crept down the stairs, tshirt, shorts, sneakers, & a leash in hand and headed for an early morning long walk along the shoreline. Since my daily commute is now narrated by Eat, Pray, Love I have a slight philosophical moment of clarity ... while my spotty alarm clock did awaken me way too early for vacation, (which will leave me in need of a 2pm nap for sure, but hey, its the beach, I can do that!) if he hadn't, we wouldn't have caught the sunrise. {Dear Birthday present fairies, I could really use a new camera}

We wouldn't have run into a fisherman on the beach who had just caught a shark, and we wouldn't have gotten to see the rather charming patterns a jelly fish had made on the sand. I took the "if you can't beat him" mantra, went for a long, quiet walk along the shore and just enjoyed being at the beach, no matter how early it is.

But hey tomorrow buddy, let's sleep in a little ok?