better late than never

Engagement photos! I am sooooo late in posting these, but for your viewing pleasure...

Some highlights from the very fun, very wet photo shoot.

The rain changed our plans - and for the better!

Did you see the wet cobblestone street?

It never would have looked that swoony on a sunny day.

I love the pics.

Hope you do too!

numbers

159  - days until I marry my best friend.

TheKnot.com says so.

I'm pretty excited about it - he is, in my opinion - quite a catch.

He deserves a whole post to himself, really. Maybe tomorrow...

Back to the wedding.

Big things already accomlished: venue, music, flowers, THE DRESS, menswear, photograher, various decor and accomodations.

Things I need to get to soon: catering, my shoes, wedding party gifts, finishing invites.

Lots to do...and 5 months to do it in. I know this is what I do for a living, but I'm always open to suggestions...let me know if you have any you'd like to share!

Note: The weather in Washington - the Seattle area specifically - has been completely nutso the past couple days. Defitely the kind of conditions that make a girl crave grilled cheese sandwhiches (with pesto!) and tomato soup. So have at it.

(I didn't take this picture...but its close enough...seen one grilled cheese, you've seen 'em all)

for the love of aqua

Its pretty darn gray around here.

No rain yet, but there's a definite gloom everywhere you look.

One of the joys of northwest winters.

And so, in an effort to brighten my outlook, I wore my spring-iest aqua sweater yestersday...

As you can see, it made me smile :)

The gray gloom is still here, so today, since I was too chicken to
wear the sweater to work again, I'm celebrating all things AQUA.

I love these super perky flats from Nordstrom....

...and this lovely pale aqua cardy from J.Crew...

...who said Valentine's decor has to be red or pink?

Not me.

...and if I had this aqua Anthro apron, I might never take it off.

I love how fresh and clean all things aqua feel.

(sigh)

changing subjects completely now...

Tomorrow we are having our engagement pictures

taken by my friend Maggie.

We'll use them for our save the dates and for some wedding decor as well...

Maggie does beautiful work, I'm excited for her to do the shoot!

I can't wear white, polka dots, stripes, or - as Maggie called it -

"RuPaul eye makeup".

I don't think she has anything to worry about.

If I wear more than mascara on these peepers, its a pretty fancy day.

The plan is to do some pics at the local park so that we can have

Sawyer (the dog) with us, and more pics at Borders Books...

since that's where we first met.

Awwwwww.

Sawyer can't wait!

a very dangerous idea

Today I took a lunch break, something I rarely do.

I dragged my co-worker Jenny with me and paid a visit to The Spare Room.

It's a great little antique / flea market shop in Everett, just a 5 minute drive from our office.

Like I said...danger.

I only took pictures of the things I wanted and did not buy.

Not sure how that happened...but I'll take pics of the two things I did buy later.

For now, enjoy these lovely items that are still in need of a good home!

All this pretty chalkboard needs is a new ribbon to hang from.

It has no obvious home in my house, so I couldn't do it.

Oh, it was hard to walk away from.

This pretty was there 2 months ago the last time I visited.

I couldn't believe it was still there!

It is the most lovely pale sea green.

It has all kinds of organizational potential.

Maybe next time...

Ah.....Paris.

GORGEOUS.

This would look fantastic over a side board or in a formal foyer.

I don't have either, so again - it wasn't for me.

But I love it, and I hope that one day, this mirror - or one much like it - finds it way back to me.

Pretty.

Nothing like a big bowl of glitter covered angels...don't you agree?

I did buy a small tiered basket for the kitchen and an adorable winter farm scene painting.

I'll post those pics later...I love them!

It was a fun trip to The Spare Room but I was once again reminded why I go so rarely.

It is a dangerous business, this treasure hunting.

One more thing!

Last night, I copied her great idea.

Jane Eyre is now a lovely paper Valentine wreath on the inside of our front door.

It was just as easy as Flower Patch Farm Girl

said it would be and took just 2 hours!

I love it.

a clean house is a happy house

Jason announced last night that he wants to hire someone to clean the house twice a month.

Perhaps I should have been offended, but I wasn't.

Sounds good to me. I like a tidy house.

And there are days when I don't have the time to keep it as tidy as I'd like.

Jason is so thoughtful.

So tonight we have people coming over to check out our home and give us a cost estimate.

And I feel like I need to clean before they get there.

I'll get over that... er, hopefully.

This is a pretty kitchen. Mine doesn't look like this.

But maybe someday!

I love Meg's blog. Her house and all her photos inspire me.

Other things I'm inspired by today:

this Valentines Day book wreath that Shannan made

this custom belt from Laura Bee Designs...I'd choose the WaterColorMums fabric.

And how cute is this? I haven't tried knitting since I was seven, but this makes me want to give it a go!

rainy days and Mondays

Today was your average Monday.

Woke up much earlier than I would have liked to and eventually made it to work...where there were meetings and a couple meetings topped off by more meetings. My tasks for the day weren't exciting. I printed 250 invitations, then stuffed, sealed, stamped and labeled them. Oooooo. Ahhhhhhh.

I was cranky. With no real reason to be.

But, then I made turkey sausage ragu for dinner and got to enjoy a lovely meal with my boy.

I had a glass of red wine.

I talked to a dear, sweet friend who lives much too far away.

I cut hearts out of red felt.

I watched a TiVo'd episode of Oprah.
And I reminded myself that I had a job to go to. I am so fortunate.
I got over myself.

And now, a full hour past my bedtime, I am getting ready to sign off.

So, all in all, today was good....for a Monday.

flower power

Since I couldn't pass on these lovely "pins with purpose", I thought I'd share.

Photo from Laura Bee Designs blog

Check out these gorgeous felt flower pins from Laura Bee Designs.

The proceeds from these cuties support Mercy Corps, an agency supporting Haitian earthquake victims.

Such a nice reminder that every little bit of help counts.

Here's her blog.

I think you need one...I know I do.