To the moon

Last week I received some sad news. My Dad's beloved dog Rocky passed away. 
 
When I visited at Thanksgiving last year I realized Rocky was getting old. His legs were a little shaky and hearing was on the outs. I wrote about it here. 

 While everyone was devastated to see him go, it was his time. I hope Rocky made it to the moon, but wherever he landed may he rest in peace. He was a good dog, so he deserves the best!

On Thursday I was at a local book store and the owner had his two pet Samoyeds in the store. They were a lot bigger than Rocky or Schnee (my childhood dog), but it was fun to see them and reminisce. There is something about those black noses and all that fluffy white fur that I just love. 

Halloween 2010

Q: What do you get when you cross a Jellyfish and a Chilean Miner? 

1. A really bad joke.

2. Our Halloween costumes.

3. All of the above.
 

Halloween 2010: Jellyfish and Chilean Miner

A: All of the above! 

We had a fun, low key Halloween: watched the Giants game, dinner with the Tabers and wandered to a few bars in our costumes. My feeling with Halloween and New Years Eve is less hype always means a more fun evening. Not be to Debbie Downer, but too much time, energy and anticipation can lead to disappointment. I was happy we'd made our costumes: pretty simple, creative and definitely did not disappoint! We also managed to spend less than $50 (which was my goal) - double bonus!!

 Here's how we put the costumes together...

  As mentioned here, I found this costume idea on Martha Stewart's Halloween Central. To begin, I printed these instructions as my guide. I knew I wanted to make it a little more colorful so rather than using iridescent cellophane, I went with purple. I also used packing tape rather than hot glue, in an effort to possibly reuse the costume and/or clear umbrella (I didn't want to melt any holes).

When making the costume I was honestly a little nervous that it was turning out to be a cheesy homemade costume. In the end I was happy with the outcome and received quite a few compliments. For the price and final product, I give this costume two thumbs up! If you are going to a bar or crowded party, keep in mind an open umbrella with tentacles is large and may annoy some. After a few comments I carried the umbrella over my head but slightly closed (as seen in top photo with B).

I you decide to make this costume, here are the materials I used:

- Clear umbrella (Nordstrom Rack, $16)

 - Small and Large Bubble Wrap (CVS Pharmacy, $10 - they were BOGO!)

- Purple cellophane and curling ribbon (Michael's, $8)

- Clear packing tape
 

B's costume was inspired by the rescue of the Chilean Miners. After a little internet research, the costume was born. All of the items he already owned, except the $8 hard hat (Ace hardware). 

To make the costume he found an old pair of jeans and white t-shirt. With a new piece of BBQ charcoal (thank you neighbors) he created his "just crawled out of a mine" look. After not shaving for a few days, and a little mascara he had the scruffy face. The large Blublocker sunglasses were from an old costume. Headlamp from our camping gear was added to the hardhat. To complete the costume, he chanted "Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le" while out and about. It was a hit!

These two are off to the costume box in our storage unit...until next time.

you make my heart go BOOM

In our house, the word BOOM is used fairly often. It originates from the game John Madden Football for Super Nintendo, circa 1990. "BOOM, heck of a play" is the actual quote. B and his brother P shortened it to just BOOM. Most days it makes me laugh, other days I ask to take a break from using the word BOOM, but for the most part I've embraced it.

The other day I stumbled upon Vol.25 a blog/Etsy shop with adorable art posters. According to the artist "they're made to give at least one person the warm fuzzies." Imagine my delight when I saw this one:

{via}

Too perfect not to get for the guy in my life that not only makes my heart go BOOM, but uses the word on a regular basis. Plus the turtles remind me of one of my favorite commercials, the Slowskys.  

It immediately went into my cart and I continued to browse. I could have easily purchased tons of other prints, however only went with the BOOM poster...for now. It arrived just in time to put on B's desk for when he returned home last night. In the envelope were some free postcards too, including a mini version of this, lucky me!

Round here

It's officially in busy season at work. I love to be busy and productive. I don't love feeling like there aren't enough hours in the day to do the things I enjoy, like writing blog posts and reading my favorite blogs. So, please allow me to catch up a little bit on the happenings 'round here...

- Today my department hosted a meeting, which I had a hand in planning. One of my tasks was putting together our giveaway for the meeting attendees. With a little help (wink) I settled on these notebooks which are made from recycled materials. To spruce them up, I made labels that coordinated with the other meeting materials.

For the presenters, I added a small thank you card and tied it to their notebook with a ribbon.

- B is in Hartford, Connecticut all this week for work. It's only 5 days and I'm totally fine, but wow, it's quiet at home. While I feel like we are both still adjusting to being together 7 days week, these few days have given me a chance to be extra thankful that we finally live in the same city and same apartment. I've also realized I'm a lot tidier when B is home. I told him that today and he said "let me guess, crafts all over the coffee table." He knows me well.

- In case you might have missed it, the Giants won the World Series! It was really fun to watch them throughout the season, but especially in the playoffs.

- Just started watching Mad Men: Season 1. So far, I'm a fan! I love that there are 4 seasons available on Netflix. Maybe the rainy season won't be so bad. 

- Tonight I went to our communication class solo. I really liked this quote from our workbook:
If you begin the day with love in your heart, peace in your nerves and truth in your mind, you not only benefit by their presence, but also bring them to others. - unknown   And if you're keeping tabs, our classmate was wearing lilac socks.  


- This Friday our office will most likely be shut down due to potential riots in downtown Oakland. I'm planning to work from home to avoid what I think is more probable than potential. The sentencing for the BART police officer will be announced that morning, and they're already speculating he will not get the maximum sentence. This will be riot #3 in less than 2 years. Dislike!


- Inspiration for blog post title: Round Here, by the Counting Crows. I love the whole August and Everything After album. Reminds me of college. 


I hope you are having a great week. Especially now that you're caught up on the whole enchelleada!

Personalized Wedding Gift: Picture Frames

Last summer when we visited Chicago, I fell in love with this photo collage in Emily and Ryan's guest room.  

I even went to the boutique and looked through all the letters but couldn't settle on anything I loved enough to have it spelled out. B also pointed out that it would be fun to take our own pictures if we were to do this. Genius - I love a good D.I.Y. project!

Inspired by their Chicago collage and a photo idea I saw earlier this year, I suggested to B that we personalize their wedding gift. My idea was take photos of pretty, artistic numbers of their wedding date (10-16-10). I also wanted to somehow incorporate a picture of Hyde (their last name) street in San Francisco. We ended up taking a bunch of different pictures and settled on these as our favorites:

OCT from a concert venue sign in Chico
16th Street in Sacramento
2010 address in Sacramento
the corner of Hyde and Francisco in San Francisco

I searched their registry and picked two frames from Pottery Barn, which happened to also be on sale! Using Picassa, I made several versions of each picture with different tones and filters. I'm happy I printed multiple versions, because on the computer I loved the black and white (like their Chicago collage), but in the frames the Sepia tone looked the best. 

And here is the final product wrapped up, tied with ribbon and ready to be carried on planes, trains and taxi cabs! 

We included a note with the frames explaining our inspiration for the gift, the extra copies of the photos (in case they prefer the B&W) and also a disclaimer that we won't be offended if they use their new frames for say, their gorgeous professional wedding photos. We had fun taking the pictures and have no doubt they'll appreciate the thoughtful gesture. 

***
Imagine my delight when I saw this awesome wordle collage at their rehearsal dinner. One of the bridesmaids made it as a wedding gift. It includes words and dates from the first day they met (at CareerBuilder, Ryan was on the panel that interviewed Emily!) up to their wedding day, 10-16-10. Another great gift idea!

Monster Mash

It was a dark, rainy night in the hills of Berkeley. Most ghouls and goblins in the bay area were glued to their televisions watching the Giants. While Count Dracula kept score, we 

prepared a hauntingly delicious fest. Over dinner we caught up on life. It was spooky how long we'd all gone without seeing each other! In case you weren't keeping score, the Giants killed the Rangers, who looked more like zombies out on the field. 

Inspired by Martha Stewart Cupcakes, Rachel set up our laboratory. Stocked with chocolate and funfetti cupcakes, frosting and candy in all shapes, sizes and colors. With a glass of Charles Shaw elixir, we got straight to work. 

The creative juices were a little slow to begin, but before too long our eyes beheld an eerie sight. 

Monsters began to emerge. 

Before too long, we were all doing the mash...the monster mash!!

Sarah's monsters

Ashlee's monsters

Rachel's monsters

my monsters

Happy Halloween! Remember to watch what you eat, in case what you eat is watching you!!

Emily & Ryan's Wedding

The weekend before last we traveled to Chicago for Emily and Ryan's wedding. Brian was a groomsman in the wedding. He and Ryan met in college and have been good friends ever since. 

The first time I met Ryan and Emily was in LA when we met up to see the Cubs play the Dodgers. Ryan was one of the first friends of Brian's from Iowa that I got to meet. I was releaved to know Brian had nice, normal friends who were also insanely passionate about sports (specifically the Iowa Hawkeyes). 


The four of us get along really well. Although we live far away, we've had the opportunity see them quite a few times: once to visit them last summer and then we hosted them here in CA last fall.  

During our visits Emily and I would talk, among other things, about friends, parties and weddings. From those conversations alone I knew their wedding would be fabulous. During his toast, Emily's father mentioned that in their family when they think of "wedding" they think of the movie Father of the Bride. He went on to say that if you're looking for Franck (the wedding planner), look at Emily she's our wedding planner. I loved the reference to the movie and it was a sweet statement, because she really did plan a fabulous wedding. It was classy with well coordinated details, tons of family and friends and A LOT of fun!


The Hyde's ~ October 16

Chicago, IL

Highlights:

Gorgeous church, beautiful bride and groom and adorable flower girl and ring bearer.

After the ceremony the wedding party drove around Chicago to get pictures. I was lucky enough to be invited to ride along with them, so much fun! This was the first stops and one of my favorite pictures of the couple. Roscoe Village is where they live.

Next stop was the lake front, with a view of the city skyline. I snuck behind the photographer to get this shot of the whole group. I love how the green flowers pop against the navy dresses. And well, I also love the view of the city in the background - so pretty!

a few of my favorite pictures of the group: 1. Amazing shot of Emily. Not only does she look stunning in front of the skyline, the light wind was perfect for a flowing vail shot! 2. i LOVED the bridesmaids dresses and especially shoes. They were a perfect combination of classy and cute. 3. I also loved how sharp the guy looked in their matching suits. Really an all around good looking wedding party! 4. Last but certainly not least, B's herky belt buckle made it in the wedding. I love that the photograph snagged a photo of it!

click to enlarge  

The maid of honor made this for the back of the limo. This is Emily and Ryan's dog, Archie. His sign says "JUST HITCHED HAWKEYES" 

The happy couple celebrating on the way to the reception. Cheering and a fist pump for the hawkeyes victory and their wedding, of course!!

a few of my favorite details from the reception: 1. the place cards were little tags pinned onto white pumpkins. i loved the subtle incorporation of fall  2.more pumpkins and how cute is that personalized round box cake in the background? I'm not sure if it was a gift or made by the bride but I know it must be inspired by Paper Source!   3. Each champagne glass was filled with bubbly and ready for the toast. Sweet addition, a strawberry on the side!  4. Continuing with the elements of fall, each guest received a caramel apple to take home (sorry the picture is so dark. take my word for it, they were delicious!)

click to enlarge

From the Save the Date to the invitations to the programs and menu cards, all of the paper were coordinated and very well done. Come to find out, one of Emily's good friends is a graphic designer and made them all. Shown here is the menu card in the background, although blurred, you can see the table number uses the same circular design.

Here is Emily and her Kappa sisters doing their tradition for weddings. Although I couldn't hear all the words, it was sweet. I must say it was much classier than singing to John Cougar at the top of your lungs, per the (beta iota) Theta wedding tradition. 

Thank you for allowing us to be part of your special day! We were so happy to be able to make the trip out for their festivities. Here's to many happy years of marriage, Hawkeye victories and continued friendship!!