Making me Smile

Today is one of those days where I just can't keep the smile off my face. Sun is shining, its warm outside, and I am feeling very satisfied with my life and the direction its headed.

James showed up with a Cardamom latte from Backporch Coffee Roasters this morn. They make BY FAR the best coffee I have ever experienced, and that's saying something, since I hail from the great Pacific NW. We buy their coffee bulk to  make at home as well.

My bulbs are sprouting!!!!!! The grape hyacinths (top 2 photos) are usually the first to bloom, but its looks like my tulips are pushing for that this year. So So So exciting!!!

Our baby Cash will be 6 months old on Saturday. Where does the time go? He is turning out to be an awesome pup.

Sophie is officially my little sister. And my little brother is kicking ass at his first 'real' job, straight out of engineering school!! I'm so proud : ) Love these two with all my heart.

Just bought the new Band of Skulls album, SweetSour. Its amazing, of course. And Edgefield has released the first of their summer concert tickets, Foster the People and Florence + The Machine. Seriously now.

I have a feeling its going to be an amazing, whirlwind of a summer!!!

{Special Party} One day at a time

Hello lovely bloggie friends!! Oh me oh my, J and I have been so so busy!! It's crazy how fast time flies, our wedding is now less than 7 months away, and Cash will  be 6 months old on the 25th!! Say WHAT!!! I know, my mine is blown as well. The weather has been spring-ish here in Bend, so J and I have gotten out on the bikes a couple times at HorseRidge.

someday we will get a good family photo...

Anyhow, the planning process is getting more enjoyable each day. A few weeks ago, we went down to Portland for the final adoption ceremony, yep, Sophie is now my little sister for life!!! Pretty cool. During that time we met with our wedding planner, Donna from Pearl and Roses Wedding planning. I must say, choosing to hire a wedding planner was one of the best decisions I have ever made. After our meeting, I feel so relieved and am confidant our wedding will be perfection. I mean look at some of these photos from her website, simply gorgeous!!

We also met with a potential caterer, and are waiting to receive our quote from her. Some of the quotes we've gotten thus far have been absolutely outrageous!!!

Here is a photo dump of inspiration I've been loving these days...

Loving these rustic, stuffed with flowers centerpieces. Hood River is quite windy, so I am thinking low centerpieces, and candles that are protected from the gusts. We also have decided to do family style dinner service, so we will need lots of room on our tables for platters of tasty food!!

Loving the simplicity of this aisle decor. I'll hang mine from shepherds hooks rented from Something Borrowed in Portland, then move the jars to tables or the bar after the ceremony!. Donna recommended we check out this company, which lets you "borrow" wedding decor for a nominal fee!!! Such an amazing concept, and budget friendly as well as low impact to the earth. Win win!!!

 

James is pretty much obsessed with mason jars, so we will be drinking out of them for the reception. We can rent these from Something Borrowed as well, super cool!!! 

Purple everything is our color scheme, and I love these bouquets, slightly wild and all different. I can't wait to see how ours turn out!!

We've also began to order some of our details for the wedding. My garter set came in the mail a few days back, ordered from Sew Unique garters on Etsy. I'm not going to post a picture, but if you check out the site, I bet you can guess what type I ordered. (spoiler: my hubby is from detroit and loves hockey!!!) I tried them on the other day, and must admit... garters make thighs look sooo sexy!!!

I also ordered my shoes for the big day, from Modcloth. I've wanted my shoes to be my something blue for a loooong time, and found these babies for a reasonable price! Score!!

They are quite comfy, I think I'll be able to dance for at least 4 hours in them, then its on to flip flops for this bride.

We also chose favors. We decided to go with these plantable wildflower hearts from Botanical Paperworks. As you all know, we lost our dog Cruz to cancer just over a year ago, (see time flies!) and planted a wildflower garden in our backyard in his honor. We decided these simple favors would honor him, and we are also making a donation to a canine caner foundation in his honor. Its simple, affordable and a perfect reflection of what we care about as a couple.

The ones we ordered are purple... duh

So thats where we're at these days with wedding planning. We have been starting the search for menswear, but haven't found the right clothes just yet. Any tips or suggestions out there?
I've been stalking Style Me Pretty every day, it is such a beautiful site with tons of inspiration. And if you need to see tons of pics of my dream wedding, click here. If I could transplant a wedding into my life, this would be it. Rustic perfection.

Happy weekend loveys!!!

My Passion & A Call to Action

Good morning friends!! Just popping in to share something that came up in the media this morning. As you all know, I am an advocate for rescue animals and have a deep love for the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. Cash, our puppy is a rescue, and Sammy and our past dog Cruz were as well.
This morning, it was brought to my attention that McDonald's has launched a radio ad campaign basically stating that eating Chicken McNuggets is safer than petting a pitbull. Please a take a moment and let that set in.

 

I am absolutely outraged by this, and have already contacted McDonalds via email, as their phone number says they are experiencing 'technical difficulties'. I'm hoping that is stemming from a massive influx of responses regarding this ad. Please please please, take a moment to reach out to McDonalds and express your opinion on this matter. 

I can personally attest to the absolute love and loyalty of this breed, and everyday I fight a battle for their equality and rights in the world. I take my pitbull everywhere and expose him to all sorts of situations, and answer any questions positively and honestly. I attend weekly obedience classes with my dog, so that he may be an ambassador for his breed and other rescue animals. He is not perfect, but neither am I, and neither of us will ever be. But negative images painted by ignorant and uninformed corporations will continue to make our lives more difficult. However, we will never rest, and we will never lie down. It will only make us stronger, our voices louder and our mission clearer.

Here is my sweet pitbull and chow-mix, just a few days ago, after a fun bike ride in the woods.

 

Safer than a chicken nugget? I think so!! 

Here a some rescue organizations with more information and fabulous resources. 

BAD RAP: My heros. They are based out of the bay area and are an absolutely amazing group of people. 

VillaLobos: Based out of New Orleans, this group specializes in rehabilitating both dogs and people. An amazing cause and group of people. 

Born Again Pitbull rescue:  Based out of Portland, Oregon (local!!), and have lots of great information and resources on their website. 

Thanks for listening.

The Dining Nook!

Hello hello all my beautiful bloggy friends!!! The sun is shining, and I am feeling the approach of spring, although here in Bend it won't actually show up for at least 6 more weeks.
Thanks for all of your props on my ampersand project last week! I still love it, and today you get to see some more, since I will be showing off our dining nook!!! That's right, another room, or in this case, bump out off a room, will finally be making an appearance on the blog.

When James and I bought our house in March of 2010, it was pretty much move-in ready. The only fixes needed were purely cosmetic, a few updates to get her up to the present day in decor and fixtures. I mentioned in a previous post, an older woman used to own our home. Much, much older. And this was the dining room light fixture when we moved in.

 

Brass and stained glass... gorgeous. A unique, one of a kind piece. Not. But to our dismay, we could not find a light fixture we agreed on. For almost two years...

A couple weeks ago, Pottery Barn was having a lighting sale and I used my charms to get J to finally bite the bullet and order one. And the day I leave for Portland to go wedding dress shopping (I found one BTW!!!), this shows up on our stoop.

 

Big box of happiness right there!!! 

The process of changing out the chandelier was simple, but still a 2 person job since the install is happening 12 feet in the air. 

And here she is!!!! Hello beautiful!!!

 

It is the Graham Chandelier from Pottery Barn, and we are infatuated!!  The size is perfect for a dining nook but has a delicate presence that allows it to blend seamlessly with the rest of the room! We just swapped the bulbs from our old chandy, I would like to find some round ones, and maybe seeded glass covers... but for now its perfect!! 

Our dining nook is just a bay windowed area, just off our kitchen. The open door you see there is our laundry/mudroom, the door to the right of that is our pantry, and then on the far right is the hall leading to our bedrooms and office.

Our dining room table was a CL score for $75, from a family who had outgrown it. We love the chunky legs, clean lines and dark finish. The chairs were $60 each from Casareal, an imported furniture store here in Bend. I love their size, but ability to be pushed all the way in at the table, thus taking up less space. Gorgeous. The bench in the back was quite the ordeal to obtain.

 

I found it on Overstock, and fell in love immediately. It quickly sold out, and I complained for days until I got the re-stocking email, and ordered it as fast as I could. It arrived quickly and was already assembled (BOOM, love that), and I went to bed a happy lady. The next morn, I went in the kitchen to make coffee and sit on my new bench and the gd cats had tested it out as a scratching post!!!!! Rarrrrr!!!!!! Now, it has a blanket over it unless we have guests over. And James and I are learning not to buy nice things until our animals grow up or leave us. Sigh. But I love it regardless. 

Finally, there is one special spot in our dining nook that makes me smile every time I glance at it.

That lovely wood box on the right contains some of Cruz's ashes. The book on top of it was sent to us when he passed away by one of the vet tech's at the office where he received chemo and took his last breaths. I highly recommend to this book to anyone who has suffered the loss of a beloved animal. It is exactly how a dog would look at the situation. Kina, the vet tech who sent it to us, wrote some kind words inside and attached some photos she had taken of Cruz while he was chilling at the office with them. During his chemo, he had to stay there for 6 or 7 hours at a time, and he really bonded with the staff. The bag behind the box has all the cards we received after he passed away. We jokingly call it Cruz's shrine, but really its just a nice little moment where we can pause and reflect on our boy.

And that concludes the tiny tour of our dining nook!!! What do you think of our new light fixture? Anyone else eagerly awaiting the arrival of Spring?