Lazy Girl Holiday Dinner

Sorry for the delay in posts... this month is slipping away from me. I am having a hard time balancing a heavy work week, coffee stains (from the dog digging in the trash), recycling that is piled up in the downstairs bathroom(to protect from dog digging into), laundry, dinner, shopping, wrapping, packing, shipping, blogging, blah blah blah. Honestly, I don't know how the mommies in the world do this.

So in the spirit of trying to balance everything with lack of the biggest missing link in my life, TIME, I am going to have some friends over for dinner on a school night for dinner and drinks this week. Here is the yummy recipe that I will be using to entertain.... in the most handy kitchen appliance we have... the SLOW COOKER! Found here on the Kitchen.

It can't be naked!

I just bought Xmas tree skirt last night. It is a terrible picture, but $30 isn't so bad compared to the lovely from Pottery Barn at $120. I figured the ivory will be able to stand the test of time for after I fall out of my "vintage,rustic, burlap, twine phase" (not to be confused with country bumpkin okay!)and will hopefully transfer well in the many years to come.
Here are some more lovelies to share that I have found and am currently drooling over.

1.) ETSY found here

2.) Pottery Barn

3.) ETSY found here ( this one should be for Rose, for her grey and white tree next year)

4.) Ebay found here

5. Horchow found here. (wish I had a bigger picture of this $600+ beauty)

Note to self

If one day I am lucky enough to be able to design our own kitchen... make sure there is a fireplace in it.

It's that time again...

We are back after a week long excursion eating, drinking, laughing, and did I already say eating, in Oregon. We drove up stayed in Ashland on the way up to Portland and again on the way back from McMinnville. There was also alot of "This American Life" bumping. I would say that we had the best time, but really it was Ms. Delilah who benefited the most. She got to run wild and get all muddy on the Vineyard AND she got to sleep in the beds with us at the Hotels. Lucky dog, huh.

So this week, I am working on some major catch up on some Holiday projects I am working on and then... we will be decorating the place. Can't wait to get the tree! I will be posting all holiday love all month!

For the record... we had our Xmas tree ornaments stolen out of our garage last year (WHO THE F*%K DOES THAT??) So this year, the tree will be decorated in vintage , as in my old, as in from the early years, as in the 80s holiday ornaments. Including this one--- which says 1980 on it.

Bottles that Hang

So I really really really wish that I can someday host an event where hanging bottles are involved. Why the hell did I not attempt this at our wedding? Oh, right- the challenge.... finding the right thing and place to hang them. The bottle collecting and flower choosing is the easy part. Here are some adorable hanging bottles with flowers.

Images:

1. Eat Drink Chic (amazing surprise wedding)
2. Style Me Pretty
3. Ruffled Blog

I have the BEST friends who made me the BEST gift. I feel so bad that it is already November and my birthday was back in September. I feel bad that it has taken me so long to post this. I blame my laziness to upload photos. Actually, I blame myself for not having better pictures really.

For thank yous for a beautiful bridal shower, I gifted them vintage Vera scarves. They keep the theme on my 30th by creating a darling pillow made from a vintage Vera scarf. Lia hand stitched the music quote which really could not be more perfect. This is certainly not a couch throw pillow. This pillow deserves it's own chair or bed. I truly cherish it! How lucky am I to have such thoughtful loving friends in my life??

Unique Wedding Favors

We have been to 2 weddings where the bride and groom gifted donations instead of favors. For the record, I REALLY REALLY like that idea. But the creative bug in me likes to see what people are gifting as favors. 4 weeks before the wedding we found these adorable Seed Bombs at the Ferry Building in SF. We decided to reach out to the vendor just to see if they would cut a deal if we ordered in bulk and they did! They were fantastic and added just the right amount of color we wanted to the tables. Also, I really love the idea of guerrilla bombing.

We bought them from Visualingual. See their blog feature on our wedding here. Def check out their etsy shop too. I LOVE what they are doing these days.

We were planning on giving Arbor Trees as favors, but decided at the last minute it was too much work because we needed to time their arrival really close to the wedding and we were already stressing about doing our own flowers, it was just too much. But I really do still like the idea... as well as a couple of others....

How cute would these Best Wishes Wishbones be? You could stamp the bags easily and spray paint the wishbones (can order them in bulk for SUPER cheap here).

Image found on One Fine Philly blog.

Or these cute goldfish soaps... This one made me think of my cute neighbor how is getting married and wants to do it rock and roll style. Perhaps could use some other funky plastic figurines. Here is a DIY tutorial for these soaps. Or for any cool bride who has a fun sense of humor.

Image found on Making it Sweet

Of course I always tend to bring it back to Flora Grubb, but check their amazing (and $$$) favors. I bet we could find something cheaper (like from CB2) to DIY. Image found on Flora Grubb webshop.

Photo from Martha Stewart Weddings (of course).

Here are the Arbor Trees. Aren't they pretty? And a donation is sent to the Arbor Foundation on each tree. If I remember, they were only about 1.50 each. The tricky part is how traveling family can take them with them? We researched this a TON. It is totally doable, but the timing has to be perfect.

Gifted Magazine

I can't really put into words. ... just take a look at this online magazine from Creature Comforts. I am soooo impressed!

CLICK HERE to review the whole shi-bang. It's incredible!

DIY Holiday Brainstorms

Okay, so it is officially NOVEMBER! Which means it is officially time to start planning for the holidays! We are going to be spending Xmas with the Streu's in Florida. We will for sure be making this a big part of our holiday visit. Don't be jealous.

So I want to start documenting some of the DIY ideas for holiday gifts I would love to attempt if not too lazy....

How about a screen printed bag for a sewing kit? Like this one from Same Made. Or should I just buy them? Cause I know with trial and error I will spend more than that if I try myself.

How about screen printing some napkins. Could I copy these adorable ones from Emersonmade?

Or how about these easy flavored sugars, yet packaged ridiculously perfect. From Chewing the Cud. Here is the DIY tutorial from SMP from last year.

I hope I don't spoil any surprises... but my mom has been cooking up some adorable gift bags with chalk board fabric. Yep, that's right CHALK BOARD FABRIC. What?! These are in the spirit of Halloween....

Random things in my head

Just some random things in my head just needed to breathe. So here they are.... just thoughts of things I love, things that give me chills, things that inspire me to want to do stuff.

In the spirit of Halloween, this is my absolutely FAVORITE SYTYCD performance. It gives me chills and how do you say? " I just want to dance!". And I have to say, that once I took a class taught by Wade Robson... and he gave me a hug to say I did a good job. (had to brag about that).
I give to you, Ramalama.

This song was covered last night by Sufjan Stevens whom we saw live at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. Wow... but this song still makes me "feel". The lyrics are so beautiful. I think just sitting there in that theatre watching crazy images and listening to insane music reminded me of things that (as my mom would say) "move me".

I MUST watch Hero this weekend. It has been too long. And for me this scene in the movie is just so unforgettable.

Confetti is neat-o!

I wish I had an event to plan and confetti could be the guest of honor. Bummed that we didn't use any at our wedding. (Even though it can be biodegrable) Like this cool stuff from one of my fav online shops: Save On Crafts.com





Image 1- Marianne Taylor by way of Once Wed. Image 2- Max Wagner. Image 3. Labor of Love. Image 4. Eurnice from Hello Lucky's wedding. Image 5. Martha Stewart Weddings

All pics from of my favorite featured blog weddings.

Painted Pumpkins

I love Halloween sooo much! This picture got me inspired. I do love carving pumpkins. However, it is a huge mess and to be honest- I hate the smell. But I do love the seeds so I guess it's worth it.

But, because I am a bit too lazy, I would rather opt for some cool painted pumps.

** Picture from this site.**

And speaking of "painted pumpkins" I have a before and after project we have been working on. I will post soon, but thought I would show a little sneak peak.

The Great Pumpkin

My mom sent me the above picture of her cold weather projects from last weekend and it got me so excited about Halloween. My mom always made a great effort at Halloween, so I think this blog entry is definitely a dedication to her. :)

Here are some of the tools she used. Also, you can download the pattern from Martha's website here.

And presto- beautiful. Not a bad picture either. WELL DONE, Mom!

Has anyone ever heard of the "Great Pumpkin", who comes to your doorstep the night of Halloween to collect candy that we leave for it? Here's how the tradition goes:

Step 1. Trick or Treat in your snazziest of kiddie costume.
Step 2. Come home and sort your candy into what you want and what you can give to the Great Pumpkin. The size of contribution to the GP indicates the size of gift he leaves for you. For example: 1/2 pound = Stickers. 1lb = Barbie. 2lb= Barbie Car
Step 3. Leave it on the door step for the GP.
Step 4. Open door morning after Halloween for a surprise.


This tradition will definitely be passed to our kids. However, I will do my best to trash the candy instead of stashing it for my own late night munchies/desserts. ( Yeah, Mom- we found the brown paper bag in the cupboard above the pantry).

My mom made me some of the coolest Halloween Costumes every year. Here is a list of just some:

1.) Carmen Miranda - with wax fruit on hat. Classic!
2.) Mother Nature - basically a Jesus Costume with leaves all over me.
3.) 50s Girl- every girl wears a poodle skirt once, right?
4.) Mrs. Claus- this one was more of an adult costume, it did include battery operated Xmas lights.
5.) Bunch of Grapes- this was a costume for lip sync contest. Temptations "Heard it Through the Grapevine." Won 1st place for Best Costume. Won 2nd place for lip singing. What? .... ever.

Thanks Mom!! You are the best! Seriously.

I love Dolphins and I love San Francisco.

I love SF for all the demonstrations, picketing, and protesting that happens here. I took this picture while walking to get some lunch by the office.

Thought I would add this as a little update to one of my first blog entries here.

Lust & Must

Husband is lusting on this $200 desk lamp from Restoration Hardware (What was he even doing in that store to begin with?). He is the cutest. I say second picture could be a "must" because it's $59 ( West Elm).

Baby Mobiles

The hubs and I watched Babies last night. It was an incredible movie, shot beautifuly. No narration, just documenting 4 babies from differnt axises. Completeley entertaining- it gave me the giggles the whole time. I noticed a common interest in all 4 families. They all had mobiles or hanging colors to stimulate the little pumpkins. I am compleltely surrounded by babies right now. It is so exciting to see my friends becoming mommies. If I weren't so lazy, I would make each and everyone of my friend's babies mobiles. They are so adorable! I pulled a few of my favorites to share/inspire. Image found here.

Can't find image host, so sorry!

I tend to lean towards rustic stuff, so of course, I love the banch. Image found here.

Full DIY turtorial here.

This last one deserves its own post. Image found here.

Balloon Theme

It's been about a week since something has really jumped out to inspire me. How cute would some touches of a hot air balloon be for a wedding? Or I suppose it could be a cute kid birthday party idea also. Just switch out the muted colors and go with the UP theme. Btw, have to attach a link to the cutest UP theme engagement shoot via 100 Layer Cake here.

A co- worker of mine got married a few months ago and she had these sky lanterns at her wedding. How pretty do they look in photos? They might not look so pretty on somebody's wood rooftop or in a coyote's mouth, but you get the idea....