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?

Extra Large Ampersand

I feel like I start so many of my posts by stating I am a bad blogger. Yes, it may be true that my posts are somewhat sporadic but HEY! I have a real life people, one that consumes at least 40hrs a week, plus nurturing my relationship and raising my furry babies. But enough excuses.
I made something. And its pretty freaking awesome. And I will make another one, that is even better.

Its a giant Ampersand (you know, the AND sign, this one - & - )

Finally, a picture that shows the wall color as it looks in real life!!!

Perfect, no. Good for a first attempt, YES!! Here's the breakdown.
Whilst browsing Pinterest and blogland for wedding inspiration, I came across many pictures where the couple holds an ampersand between them. I love it!! But the pre-made sizes at Joann's and Micheal's just weren't bulky enough for my larger than life style. So I took matters into my own hands. With all the new construction at work, we have been swimming in giant pieces of cardboard, perfect for creating large projects.
I thought I knew how to draw this. A few million attempts, and I kind of got it right.

 

I freehanded the ampersand onto a piece of cardboard, and cut it out with a utility knife. 

 

Roughly following the technique laid out by Becca over at from GARDNERS 2 BERGERS, I did a faux zinc finish. 

I laid out two pieces of tin foil, shiny side down, and cut off the excess, and used scrapbooking adhesive to adhere the foil to my symbol. 

 

After smoothing out most of the wrinkles, I dry brushed black acrylic paint over the symbol, lightly and randomly to give it a tarnished look. I got a little heavy handed near the top, but because of the slickness, I was able to wipe it off and mostly fix my error. 

 

I'm out of Mod Podge, but when I get some more I will be giving this baby a few coats for extra durability, but in the meantime, I think it turned out awesome!!! Its little tail is kind of stubby but I like it that way. Its unique. 

Check out this other handmade ampersand by Living Savvy!! I'm loving the texture she achieved! 

Lots of other changes have been happening around the house here, including a new rug that gave the living room a new lease on life, and further de-grannyfying with an updated light fixture!!! Stay tuned!!

Sick Day

So the madness has begun at work with our construction and closure for several weeks, and the training process for our new employees is just ramping up. And the sickness strikes. Being a restaurant employee, I have a kick ass immune system, but I'm thinking the combo of a certain time of month and adjustment to a new sleeping schedule has gotten me all mixed up inside. So I'm home today with a rocking headache and other yuckyness and an extra crazy puppy. Le sigh.

I haven't been posting much about wedding stuff lately, mostly because we are at a standstill until this work crazyness wraps up. My bestie Lacey, who also got engaged recently, and I are going to the Central Oregon Bridal Show in a couple weeks, and I am headed up to Portland the weekend after to look for dresses and meet with our coordinator, invitation designer, and potential caterers.

Anyhoo, here is a collection of images that are making me happy in this time of yucky.

I can't wait to include our boys in our special day this Fall, however this last picture makes me giggle with anxiety. I am pretty sure Cash would pose perfectly for the pic, then in one fell swoop, slurp up the rings and trot away like nothing happened. And J and I would be left digging through doodoo for the next week in hopes of getting our rings back. Yikes.

 

We are still in the hunt for a tandem bike for our wedding day. I'm hoping for a sweet vintage one, the newer ones just don't have the same charm for me. If that doesn't work out though, I will be perfectly satisfied with some shots of us and our townie bikes. Gotta represent our love for the pedal power! 

The ceremony in our wedding will be short and sweet. While James and I are spiritual people, we will definitely be non traditional in our I Do's. I am loving how this couple is holding hands during the ceremony, and this is be happening for us for sure. I'm not to sure I'd be able to stand on my own anyhow. Lo fact : VERY emotional person.

Lo fact: huge hair = extra hot. I love this messy braid. So gorgeous.

Shades of plummy purple are our wedding colors, and J is wanting gray for himself and his entourage, I am sweating big time over this combo above. Sleek and sexy, perfect.

And last, but not least, details have been coming together for my bachelorette debacle. We will be doing a whitewater rafting trip on the Lower Deschutes in Maupin, and I will definitely be getting these type of shots. So necessary.

 

Since I like to finish strong (twss), I will leave you with a shot of the rock. The one that started this whole journey, the one that symbolizes J and I's past, present, and future. Behold! 

Gorgeous, I know. I love it too.

Now off to my nest on the couch with some lemongrass soup and a marathon of Gossip Girl on dvr. yess......

{all image source info can be found on my pinterest special party gems board. except the ring shot, that belongs to me}

Switch it up... Change it up

Good morning friends and Happy New Year to you!!!
I can't believe 2012 is here... the year I will become a wife, the year my place of employment gets a HUGE makeover, and the year of so many other adventures and discoveries I don't even know about yet! Woop Woop!
Remember a few weeks ago when we put up our tree and I started ranting about how I wanted to re-arrange the living room? As I also  mentioned in that post, to me the worst part of holiday decor is taking it down, so two days after Christmas, I dove into it head first and took down ALL of our holiday decor. And it felt good. But we were left with a gaping hole on the giant wall where the tree had been.

Please excuse the mess and crappy TV images...

As you can see in the bottom of the image, Cash's crate is giant and takes up a lot of room in our walkway, and all the furniture is smooshed together toward the right of the room. And we are still dealing with the lack-of-tv-console in the space.
OVER IT!!!!
James left the room to take a shower and I started doing some shuffling of furniture.

 

I shifted the ugly floral chair over next to the wall so it opened up the space as you look in from the front door. It also makes a sitting area that's not focused on the TV, which I like in a room. Then I went to our guest room, aka the land of furniture with no appropriate home, and snagged a small shelving system to put our TV on. James was not sold at all on this idea until I started getting whiny about the speaker from his surround sound blocking part of the TV. The wheels started turning and he disappeared to the garage and suddenly!!!! 

TaaaDaaa!!!! I know I know, kind of an uneventful change but... its soo much better than before! We cut about 6" off the legs of the shelf, so now the speaker sits lower and all of our components are off the ground. We also lost the floral ottoman that was a speaker stand before, and used the random side table that used to hold our TV.
I understand, it still looks like a total shit show, but this is one small step towards success people! The ottoman is GONE and at least now all the elements of the console are similar. And I don't have to stare at the back of that damn chair every time I walk in the front door. Much better.

Moral of the story: Its much easier to convince your man to take part in a project if it involves power tools, and you bring him a beer in the midst of all the chaos.

The end.