junk drawer

be there...be square

Hey gang-

Kinda took a little leave of absense there...

With two weeks (TWO WEEKS!!!) to go until our wedding, I've been kinda busy over here.

Therefore, I dub this, week o wedding.  Each day this week I'll fill you in on a bit about our day.
Kinda exciting stuff.

First up:

Our invitations. 

If you recall I mentioned a very special fabric project a good while back.

Well- here is the main reason why I spent all those hours at spool.

Take a look:

Our envelopes (from paper source. They have the most dreamy colors!).  Calligraphy was done by our very good friend JZ.

Each guest recieved an invitation wrapped in very special fabric that I bought when visiting my friend Aimee at work. so fun. (thanks for the fabric guidance girlie!)

I designed the invitations myself on illustrator.  It was quite the process and WAY tougher than the sewing bit.  It had been a while since I had used a graphic design program...kinda cool to access that side of my brain again.

Otis and I really wanted to include our nicknames in our invitation.  Afterall,those names are what we call each other (Otis and MB) but we included our formal names on the main invitation.  (erased for posting here)

Our response card.

Our response envelopes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this project.  Most people thought I was crazy to sew all these little pockets (over 200!!), but I thought it was really fun concept and a personal way to set the tone for the party.  Best of all, by doing all the labor myself I estimate that I saved $2,000!!

And to be fair, I got the idea for this project from "The Knot" Magazine and the concept is from local Philly gals Bird and Banner. Thanks for the uber creative mojo ladies!!!

week of color: orange and red and pink

I'm back from the Big Easy...Otis and I had such a good time.  It was just what we needed before the last big push before the wedding. Words can't explain the joy of that city. New Orleans vibrates. It seems like the city was built for the sole purpose of having fun.

I'm happy to report that this year felt much more ALIVE than last year...a very good thing indeed.

But now we're back...back home in Philly.

And I'm back on hiatus again too.  Which, while it stinks not to be bringing in some dough, is a very good thing at this point in "operation wedding".

In addition this little break will give me one more week of quiet before I start a very exciting new gig that will have me all OVER the place.  Should be fun.

Today I just puttered around the house and settled out of vacation mode.  It was so quiet around here...after 4 raucous days down south and it was just what the doctor ordered.

Above is a red/ orange shot.  The pattern on the left is a new rug I got from Anthro.  Lovely.

And here is a shot I snapped last week for the macro challenge.  It was the last of the blossoms. When we got home yesterday everything is pretty much green.  All settled in...just like I'm trying to be.

I'll be back tommorrow for the last day of week of color and with some snaps from my trip.

peace

week of color: yellow

mellow yellow... tho it kinda looks orange. oh well.

I'm having so much fun here...in New Orleans!!

more tomorrow.

week of color: green

Hey there from vacationland.

Here is my photo for Leya's week of color...can you guess where I am???

This is the view from our hotel. I LOVE IT HERE!

See you tommorrow for mellow yellow tuesday.

sometimes...

..walking to work I can barely stand how gorgeous Philly seems. She's a tattered city in some spots, rough around the edges, and unapologetically so.

I like that.

I think it's beautiful.

And another macro shot.  I am really loving this project. so fun!

mas macro muchachos!

more macro. Anyone else noticing how great the light has been in the evening here in the mid-atlantic region?

gosh. It's glorious.

Reminds me of late summer light. (oh summer- How I can't wait for you to arrive!)

Speaking of summer, here are some fun links to get you in the mood for warmer weather.

this yummy recipe that I tried last night. So fast, so easy, so delicious!

these designer shirts. I'm really digging some of the cuts.

this yummy lemony drink by pink of perfection.

hasta luego amigos!

and counting...

looking around.  taking it in. it's monday folks...a new week begins.

A small addition to the macro challenge. More to come tomorrow!

MMMmmmmmmmm macro

I was super excited to hear about about the Orange Flower 30 day photography challenge.

Wow- Have you guys seen the flickr group page? lovely.

And while these photos aren't as macro as I would have liked, they are still pretty and worth posting. (I'm just sayin'...)

These pictures are from my friend Julie's wedding in NYC this weekend.  Her reception was held at the NY institution Tavern on the Green.

It was quite the affair...

And just for kicks and giggles:

Happy Monday

Magical fabric wonderland

When Otis and I started talking about what elements of our "celebration" were important to us, on the top of my list were some DIY goodness....(his was a rock and roll band. We both got our way)

I really wanted to incorporate fabric and pattern into something. This special addition was totally WAAAaaaaaay easier to accomplish with the opening of a very awesome fabric shop here in Philly.

Spool Sewing: Welcome to the world! (gah! this place is soooo awesome!)

Best of all (and perhaps most dangerously) it's located right smack dab next to loop, my most favorite yarn shop.

And the big time added bonus is that one of my best girl's, Aimee of betsy ross patterns fame, works there.  Familiar faces make fanatical fabric shopping sprees so much more special!

My super secret fabric projects will be revealed right here very soon.

For now, here is a sneak peak:

happy tuesday!

::insert blog post title here::

Hey there- been a while.

you know when you have so much to say you just don't even know where to begin?  yah.  I could write a post about the nearly twenty million kajillion things that have happened since I last post, like:

-how there are cute wild kittens that keep snuggling up in the trash pile between our stairs and our flower pots. Which in reality is like eeew.  gross.  but at the same time.  awh. cute! (note to self: um, could you clean up outside your house!? narsty!)

-or how I am paranoid that I'm going to get the flu and curl up on my sofa for days on end while trying to aimlessly hack up a lung or sweat to death, all the while trying to rationalize to myself, that really, a situation like that doesn't sound half bad.

-or how that planning a wedding is wonderfully horrific and terrifyingly such a good time all at the SAME MOMENT!

- or how much I love my wednesday night with the girls.

-or how Eric Ripert has been popping up everywhere lately.  wtf?! (btw- Who's his publicist?! they deserve a raise. Lately this man has spread like the flu!)

- or how excited I am about picnik.

-or how I can't seem to stop listening to this song! i keep getting weapy! (seriously, it's almost an epidemic and has been going on since NOVEMBER!)

Instead I'll just write a post about this:

I taught my first knitting class.  It was pretty awesome! In my opinion there's nothing like sitting in a circle with some gals, knitting away while dangerousely sipping on wine.  I was pretty impressed with the group of students.

pretty fast for 2 hours, right?

After after much delay.  Ladies...here are those links I told you about:

How to cast-on
How to knit
How to purl
How to bind off

Happy stitching!! and more fun stuff monday. I promise.  I have big plans for the weekend that involve rotary cutters and being surrounded by yards upon yards of fabric for hours on end.