Where's my Good Samaritan?

So this happened today:

In case you can't tell, that's a blowout. A MAJOR blowout. Like, the whole side of the tire was shredded. I was on my way to an appointment on a winding road, and this evil curb that sticks out at too fr on a blind curve... Well. You know what happened. That curb is dumb and everyone hits it. 

Once it happened, I drove a little further until the road straightened out, pulled to the curb, and hit my flashers. I know what to do! That's right, I know how to change a tire. It was one of the conditions when I moved to school--my dad taught me to regularly check oil levels, tire pressure, and how to change a tire if I needed to. He taught me well. No one I called was picking up the phone, which was just as well. I've got this.

But here's the thing. Any time I bring up changing tires, all I hear is "if you were stranded on the side of the road, you'd have half the cars pulled over immediately--you'd never get the chance to change the tire" or "ladies don't need to change tires; anyone would pull over and help". I'm sure you've heard/said/thought this before. So, when I flicked my flashers on and pulled the jack kit and spare out of the trunk, I anticipated people stopping to help.

You couldn't miss me, I was RIGHT where that car across the street is parked. Photo via noozhawk

I was headed to an appointment, so I was dressed nice. I had lipstick and heels on. I was pulled over across the street from a school (see photo) and it was early, so parents were dropping off off their kids and it was a busy road. My flashers were on, and I was lugging a spare tire. 

I worked on that tire for thirty minutes in plain view, and no one offered to help.

Not a single person even looked my way, which is suspect because my top was very brightly colored and I was right across the street from the entrance to the school. People basically had to drive around me to get by, and nothing.

I got the chance to use my tire-changing skills today.

I did it! 

And you know? I was incredibly pissed initially--I was already emotional for other reasons, and now this??! Really???! Add to that no one stopped to see if I needed help??! Who DOES that to someone? But, doing it on my own? 

That's the best feeling in the world.

Friday the 13th

Happy Friday!

Today was a weird day, but it was the end to a weird week so I'll take it. Tim's been out of town so I've been taking the opportunity to watch all the crap tv shows on Netflix (um, seriously though. You should see my feed right now). So, here are just a few things (of note) that have been going on this week while he's been away (via my iphone camera, sorry for the quality):

One

Take a look at my NEW "project" ROOM! It's not a sewing room, I'm too young for that. For some reason, I feel like only old ladies have sewing rooms--no offense to either old ladies or people with sewing rooms! Long story short, we got a "new" dining room table and moved the former one to what used to be our TV room so I could have a space of my own to work (Tim has a corner in there to use as his office space too!). We are blessed to live in a two bedroom apartment so we can do something like this, and I'm loving it! I've been working in it constantly, and because of that fact no photos of its current state will ever see the light of day haha

Two

Some vintage love, in relation to the above photo. The majority of my sewing notions came from my grandmother, who passed away my senior year of college and gave them to me. How great are these; 25 cents for a giant spool of thread?!? It's the best thread I have, and the same type is 1.25 now. And those labels?! Oh man could you imagine Tim wearing something I made with a pink label declaring "made with love for my sweetheart"?! 

Seriously, though, I love the thought of my grandmother making something for my grandfather and using those labels (although from what I know of him he probably wouldn't have worn the pink label either, but who really knows since he died before my parents were even married). Every time I break out the sewing machine, I feel closer to her.

Three

Speaking of vintage, I found my old hot rollers (which had been my mom's before me, way back in Farrah Fawcett's day) and took em out for a spin. I LOVED these things growing up, but I forgot all about them until recently. Um, why the heck did I stop using em?! 

Four (and on)

Daisy and I went to the park, I took bachelor party bottles and cans to the recycling center and got a grand total of five bucks and change back (which will be used towards brewery fare when Tim gets home; ironic, right?), and I've watched an obscene amount of netflix shows (which I've already said, but seriously). 

Fly home safe, sweetheart! I'll see you soon!

Want to see a little sneak peek at what's coming on the blog next week?
First, I'll take you through step-by-step how to make any t-shirt flattering with a little sewing, and then I'll show you how I did this:

before & after

cotton

So last week was our second anniversary (whoot!).
The traditional gift for the second year of marriage is cotton; you're more comfortable with your spouse by year two. Sweet right?

Except here's the thing. What the heck do you do for a cotton gift??! Even creative me was stumped. All the websites said T-shirt or fluffy robe or socks or something, blah blah blah. Boring as heck.

But then I saw on some wedding blog or something (I read a lot, don't judge me for not remembering where) that someone had gotten a getaway for her husband for their anniversary, and counted it as cotton because of the hotel linens.

Sweet! Since Jordan and Elisse were getting married on a Friday, we would extend our stay in Ojai through the end of the weekend as a little Anniversary getaway.

Boom. DONE. That totally counts. Don't you dare tell me otherwise ;)

So, from Thursday until Sunday morning, we rented a little guest house just two blocks from "downtown" Ojai through AirBNB. Thursday and Friday were filled with the rehearsal dinner and wedding, and Saturday and Sunday we had mostly to ourselves to celebrate two years of marriage.

Our rental cottage was a dog-friendly mother-in-law unit in the backyard of a local home. It was a teeny tiny little studio with a kitchenette, dining area, bathroom, sitting area, bed, and patio. All we really needed, right?

The room from the front door (showing kitchen and bathroom) // view from patio door (showing bed and sitting area

Outside the french doors in the dining area, there was a cute little patio with a stone wall setting it off from the main house's backyard. Yes, I did find it a little creepy that the owners of the house had full view into our little patio area, but they never went out there so I worried for nothing. The wedding was Friday and Tim had the morning "off" from best man duties, so we enjoyed breakfast out on the patio before it got to be scalding hot outside (temps hit 110 in the afternoons!!!!!!!). I was able to get some sun and reading in before the wedding out there, too, but I made sure to sit under the umbrella!

The cottage's patio // Daisy watching the chicken coop

It was charming and woodsy (read: unfinished) and although it fit our needs, I wouldn't have recommended it to anyone else. Simple amenities like trash bags or a pen to sign their guestbook weren't provided and the owner did not communicate very often with us (um, what's the wifi password? When's checkout? Where can we park? What's the ADDRESS??!). This was the first so-so experience we've had with AirBNB though.

Saturday morning we slept in (a ton!!! we were exhausted after the wedding) and went to a late breakfast at a little place called Eggs n' Potatoes. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and this place passed muster. They gave us complimentary breakfast crepes while we waited for our food (read: the food took a good long while but we didn't really care because the crepes were free and yummy. Good ploy!).

post-wedding excitement // free breakfast crepes while we waited!

After breakfast, we decided to spend some time poolside at Ojai Valley Inn with some of our friends who were staying there. While parking by the lobby, we ran into Jordan and Elisse, who were on their way to the pool too!! After making sure they wanted to hang out with all of us on the first day of their honeymoon (they would leave that night at 1am for Thailand), we headed down to the pool with them.

Tim debriefing the wedding with Jordan and Elisse!

The Newlyweds! (Not sure why this picture's color is so funny!!)

It was so fun to catch up with Jordan and Elisse and debrief the wedding with them. I was so humbled and blessed that they wanted to spend the first day of their honeymoon with us, because we could think of a bunch of other stuff they could have been doing ;) It was a really special time.

The six of us alternately lounged poolside and took dips to cool off. 

I had to take the picture like this because every other angle made us both look naked haha

After the newlyweds left to go check out and head to LA to catch their plane to Thailand, Tim and I spent a little more time by the pool before heading to the nearest beach in Ventura (because frankly we were a little bored with Ojai). Daisy had been locked in her kennel most of the morning and needed to get a little exercise in, and we were a little tired of the ridiculously hot weather. It was time for some ocean breezes.

ready to RUN // ahhhhhhH!

We walked up and down the beach while Daisy chased birds and children, stalked other dogs, and tried to eat a dead seal. It was adventure for all haha

Daisy is more interested in stalking other dogs than playing with them, most of the time.
She'll sniper-crawl all the way across the beach sometimes to sneak up on some unsuspecting animal!

When Daisy had her fill of chasing things and we were sufficiently cooled down, we headed back to Ojai for our anniversary dinner. We chose Suzanne's Cuisine as the restaurant, mostly because Yelpers said it was good and there wasn't a whole lot else to choose from.

The food was delicious (we ordered a mushroom crostini for an appetizer, Arugula salad with grilled veggies and goat cheese for him and butter lettuce salad with bleu cheese and pecans for me, followed by a delicious scallop dish that claimed to be thai curry but they must have forgotten the curry). Unfortunately, both of us got food poisoning from the mushrooms and had to leave before having dessert! We picked up a box of instant hot chocolate to have at our cottage once we were feeling better.

The whole night wasn't a bust, though, because we got to pop open the last bottle of wine left from our wedding. We finished most of it a few months after our wedding, but saved this bottle to be opened on our second anniversary. There was dust on the bottle and everything! It was so totally worth the wait; even though it wasn't an expensive bottle or anything, it still got better with some time :)

In all and with a few exceptions, it was a fabulous weekend. The setting was beautiful, the company was fabulous, and the occasion for visiting Ojai was meaningful, but the town itself left us underwhelmed. We recognize that we are incredibly blessed with a current hometown that never ceases to surprise us, and we were a little disappointed with what Ojai had to offer. We probably won't visit again, but are we glad we went?

You betcha.

Year 1 from him & her

another one bites the dust.

Jordan & Elisse's unique invitation: A letter from the bride's family!
I love unique touches and this whole puppy was letterpressed!!

I ran into a friend last week who asked me if I'd gotten into the wedding planning business because of the amount of weddings (and wedding-related events) I've attended the past few months, and I had to laugh. You'd think I'd be sick of it by now, seriously, but no signs of it yet! 

Introducing the newlyweds!

This past weekend, we had the joy of witnessing the marriage of two friends (Elisse of the swanky Bakersfield shower and Laguna Beach bachelorette party finally married Jordan, Tim's best friend and former roommate).  Their wedding took place at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa (where Desiree from the Bachelorette had her first date with Bryden, and where Jimmy Kimmel just got married). Um, hello gorgeous!!!

The beautiful bridesmaids. They all wore different J.Crew dresses and the same adorable punchy wedges. LOVE!

All of the groomsmen, with Jordan on the far left. Tim was one of the Best Men (he gave a toast at the rehearsal dinner along with one of Elisse's Matrons of honor). The guys to the right of Tim were on a step; he's not that short!!

The stunning bride was escorted in by her dad and step-dad, wearing an absolutely stunningly unique art deco dress. She looked absolutely amazing, I couldn't get over it!

Can you believe her gorgeous DRESS!?! She looked fantastic. 

Elisse bidding goodbye to her dad and stepdad

The couple had written their vows to each other, and I am not exaggerating when I say that there was not a single dry eye in the courtyard. Every word was filled with so much love it was palpable, and this couple has endured a lot to get to this day. I was a hot mess from the instant they began talking and it didn't stop until they were introduced as Mr. & Mrs.

Elisse reading Jordan her vows  // Jordan's vow ended with the phrase "I'm yours"

After exchanging rings, they kissed and were pronounced man and wife. WHOO HOO!!!!!!

Mr & Mrs!!! It's real!

SO HAPPY

After the recessional, the wedding party took a few pictures while the rest of us guests were released to cocktail hour. UM SO FUN. They had so many fun little appetizers like corndogs, two types of fries, quesadillas, coconut shrimp, etc etc etc. I could have eaten my weight in it all *coughMAYBEIDIDcough*. 

Kasey and I during cocktail hour. It was her 25th birthday that day too!!!

Wedding party pictures were over SO FAST, so for the first time in the history of ALL THE WEDDINGS WE'VE BEEN TO EVER (when Tim is a groomsman, that is), I got to hang out with my husband during cocktail hour. Props to photographer Jessica Fairchild!

We matched, more or less.

LOVE THIS MAN!

Donnie & Nat, who left THE NEXT DAY for South Africa // Best Man #1 Matt, Donnie, Skye, and Tim (best man #2)

The Santa Barbara Six, minus one. Tim & I, Donnie (sans wife Natalie), Kasey & Skye. Love these guys.

After cocktail hour, we were released into the ballroom for dinner and dancing. Wives/husbands got to sit with wedding party spouses at the incredibly long head table (there were 18 of us total seated there, including Jordan & Elisse). It was a party.

For favors, Jordan & Elisse roasted their own coffee for each guest. They live in Seattle, so duh coffee is a huge part of their lives, but Jordan also started a coffee roasting business with his cousins right after college for fun so it was doubly meaningful for them.

We very much appreciated the coffee, since the cottage we rented didn't have any. We may or may not have snagged a few extra ones that others had forgotten on their tables when the night was over haha.

Toasts and first dances happened before dinner. Elisse's sister Amanda (one of her two MOHs) threw her prepared toast out the window because she was too emotional and just spoke from her heart, which was so sweet. Elisse's dad and stepdad both gave toasts, as well as one of Jordan's best men, Matt. Tim was the second best man, and he gave his toast at the rehearsal dinner (he knocked it out of the park, btw).

Amanda giving her toast // Elisse & Jordan surveying all the people who love them

Sweet first dance

Elisse also danced with her father and stepfather, and Jordan had a fun salsa dance with his mama before the floor was opened up to the rest of us!  We all had the night of our lives, and too soon the clock struck 11 and we had to pack it up and leave.

Groomsmen lifting up Bride and Groom during the final song.   

It was such a beautiful wedding for such a beautiful couple. We saw them once more before leaving on their honeymoon for Thailand (SO JEALOUS!), come back tomorrow to find out when :)

Jordan and Elisse: Thank you for letting us witness your special day. May God bless your marriage beyond all comprehension and keep you safe in Seattle. AND HURRY THE HECK BACK TO SB.