our "wedding faux-to" shoot

I'm on a Boat!

@joshnewton

The other day, Tim and I had the opportunity to be "models" for a shoot in an in-town photography conference. On a yacht.

Yeah, I couldn't say "yes" fast enough either.

Want to know the best part? (as if the aforementioned awesomeness wasn't enough) We got to wear our wedding duds all over again, and take a bunch of lovey-dovey faux-bridal shots. It was like a spur-of-the-moment year-and-a-half anniversary shoot! And did I mention that it was on a YACHT?!?

Pinch me, I must be dreamin'.

There were more than 30 photographers present that night; which was daunting to say the least! Taking posing direction from that many people from across the water was challenging, too, but it was f.u.n.

Want to see what popped up on Instagram afterwards? Enough to tide me over until we can see the rest, that's for sure!

@sarahdipityphotos

@megcourtney1  // @amyrizzutophotography

@xiomaragard  //  @shannoncronin
Many thanks to the wonderful people of United 2013! Can't wait to see the rest! 

Weekend

We had the most wonderfully quiet weekend, as weekends go, and it seemed to just fly by! I was thrilled to have my husband back after three days of business travel (the first of many trips this year), so I just drank in every minute that we had together. In a few short hours it was all over, but we managed to cram in both adventure and relaxation. Behold:

Beach-side bike rides and mimosas.  The weather was unbeatable for late February, and boy did we enjoy it. We jumped on our bikes to enjoy the sunshine and Santa Ana winds along the coast. 

Saturday evening, we got all fancy-pants. We ate and drank from our china. We had a Dexter marathon and opened a bottle of wine.

 

I also pulled my wedding dress out of the depths of the guestroom closet abyss to do some minor repairs and spot-cleaning. Talk about nostalgia!

Sunday after church, we fled to the mission lawn for a picnic! (#22 on my 25 before 25 list).

Other awesome events of the weekend: my bestie got ENGAGED (Whoo!) and our other friends got a PUPPY! Such an eventful weekend for all!

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

linking here.

today's pretty great because

// Tim comes home from Vegas today! YEE!
// I beat food poisoning. Sure, I  may have puked in the middle of homegroup last night, but I've come out ahead, mostly.
// There are donuts outside of my office AS WE SPEAK and I have resisted temptation. Normally, one of those suckers would be happy at home in my belly but a) see above and b) I'm trying to be good until at least next week....... {ooh I'm being all sneaky and stuff...!}
// It's Friday. That makes any day better.
// This video: 

Let's all thank the curling iron gods that this hasn't happened to us.

Happy Friday! Anything fun going on this weekend?

25 before 25

So, here's the deal. 

My birthday's coming right around the corner. I'll be the big 25, aka a quarter of a century.

{How is this happening?}

Anyway.
A LOT has changed for us in the past year, mostly for the better. I've already hit what feels like my "quarter life crisis" by quitting my job and starting to find out my passion, so I'm right on schedule!
Still, there are a few things that I'd really like to do before my next birthday.

So, I started this list, creatively dubbed "25 things to accomplish before I turn 25".

There isn't anything too wild and crazy on it, because I do only have a few months to get it done. Still, it makes me happy. Some things I have already done, some are still to-dos, but here's the list in its entirety {in no particular order}:

1. Go with Tim on one of his business trips
2. Have one job interview
3. Write my 250^th blog post
4. Go on a spontaneous road trip
5. Go to a movie by myself
6. Buy a car to replace the Cabrio
7. Sew with chiffon without screwing it up {Weird? Maybe}
8. Get back to wedding weight
9. Run a 5k
10. Bake an apple pie from scratch
11. Spend a day off at the beach
12. Take the motorcycle permit test {and pass it}
13. Tip 100% of my bill at a restaurant.
14. Launch an online store
15. Go see a play!
16. Bake French macarons
17. Touch my toes!
18. Cross 5 things off my Pinterest to-do list
19. Host a party with a signature cocktail!
20. Read 5 books from my high school “required reading” list
21. Go rock climbing
22. Have a picnic at the mission. A REAL picnic with a basket and wine.
23. Go media-free for a weekend.
24. Learn how to use our Rebel  
25. Go on a camping trip

 How'd I do?

Do you have a "Bucket list" of sorts? Do tell!

pinterest challenge: six projects in six weeks

My blogger "friend" Merrick and her sisters decided to tackle their uncompleted pinboards, and I thought I'd join in. The goal of their "Pinterest Challenge" is thus: Pick six pins, and complete them in the next six weeks! 

Now, Pinterest and I tend to have an interesting relationship. I tend to use it like Google--doing quick searches to gather inspiration for a soon-to-be-begun project. Most of the time, I will only pin things I want to remember long in the future {like baby stuff or home improvement things. Most of the home projects aren't exactly renter-friendly, and have to wait until we own a home}. BUT. That doesn't mean I haven't filed away a few projects for a rainy day on there...

After much consideration, here are the six projects {in no particular order} that I'd like to accomplish in the next six weeks:

Top:
Window film via Design*Sponge {see my version here!}
Floor-length curtains framing bay window via Amanda Carver Designs
Fridge Work Station via BHG
Polka Dot Shirt via Merrick's Art
Bottom:
Framed Bunting via Landee See, Landee Do
Envelope-Back Pillow via Freshly Picked {my goal: finish half of the pillows I'll need for the Pillow Project in the next six weeks. We'll see how that goes}

Tim will be going on a few business trips during these next few weeks, so it's a perfect time to take on a few extra projects. It's a good thing I have a long list of non-husband-approved TV shows to catch up on--I do my best work accompanied by Netflix or Hulu!
Will you join the Pinterest Challenge? Whether you have a blog or not, it's a good motivator to tackle your Pinterest-inspired projects!

president's day

What. A. Weekend.

Friday night. Drinks and appetizers with Tim's coworkers. {What a great group of characters; haven't had that much fun in awhile}. Visited a brand-new bar, then hit up a winery. Said winery was having a pairing night; serving their glasses of wine with chicken and waffles. 

YOU GUYS. I don't know why I had looked down upon chicken and waffles before. THIS DISH WAS LIFE-ALTERING. The waffles were crispy and perfect. The chicken was fresh, free-range, and topped with BOTH fresh goat cheese AND a delicious berry reduction. No idea what kind of berry it was--all I know was that it was berry delicious.

har har har.

Saturday morning. Bright and early, we drove up to the lake. I LOVE the lake this time of year; it's so dang beautiful. Everything is so green and alive because of the rain, the trees are hung with moss, the vineyards are barren and still, and there's hardly a soul in sight. It's like a whole different world up there!

Once we arrived, we got straight to work. The dock upon which we spend the entire summer was in need of some intense repairs, and this was the weekend to do it! The whole family congregated at the cabins to do the work. We pulled the entire thing apart, replaced the old dilapidated floats with shiny new beefier ones, and put the top back on. 

Manual labor is dang good for the soul, I tell you! I have never been so physically exhausted yet completely mentally relaxed. It didn't hurt that the weather was absolutely gorgeous-- the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and we all came home a little pink!

It was long and hard work, but we finished most of it--just a few more screws to go and it's ready for the new sunshade {We're REALLY excited about that!}. We also have to get rid of the gross old floats. I can't wait to destroy them--I got cut a couple times on those buggers which was the worst. Note to self: Replace all of the expired first-aid crap at the cabins. The band-aids were the only things newer than 10 years old, and I needed a little more than that.

As a result, I got to spend most of the morning of my blessed Monday off in the waiting room at Urgent Care to get a tetanus shot. Better safe than sorry, I say! 

I rewarded my precautionary measures with an eleven-dollar shopping spree at a few downtown President's Day sales {70% off? Don't mind if I take on in each color, thanks. Hello new saucy backless dress!} and two dozen roses for 5 bucks. Again, gotta love post-valentine's day flower hauls :D

What did you do this weekend?

linking up here and here!

a bouquet for him // cook

Now that Valentine's Day is over and Tim has received his gift, I can post about it! 

Okay seriously, this was the easiest gift ever, and it was received VERY well. I mean, who doesn't love bacon? Not Tim, that's for sure.

 

Coil the bacon up in a roll and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet, fatty side down. I put mine on top of a cooling rack, so the bacon wasn't sitting in its own fat. Your choice.

Place in a 400* oven and bake for 25 minutes.

{make sure all windows are open and the fans are running. You'll set off the smoke alarms otherwise. Trust me}

You will also need a bouquet of fake flowers. While the bacon is baking, remove the heads from your flowers. You want them to look like this:

 

You'll want the stems sticking up out of the "base" pretty far, to support the weight of the bacon buds.

Once the bacon is cooked and cooled, stick them on as far as they'll go. Arrange them in a pretty vase {even though he won't notice it to save his life} and that's it!

I was so happy this turned out so well. I'm glad I didn't decide to do a dozen of these because they were gone right away. {I helped, of course; it was only fair. YUM!}. Tim was so excited I forgot to give him the card that was supposed to go with it:

What do you think? 
Would the man in your life like something like this?

sequin heart shirt // refashion

Today's DIY was so quick and simple that I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner. It seriously took maybe 20 minutes, and that mostly was because I was super picky and my sewing machine was being finicky.

This could be considered a Valentine's Day craft, but I picked strictly non-V-day colors so it could be worn year-round. It'd look great either way: your choice!

The supplies couldn't be simpler: Shirt that fits you well and fabric for the heart (my heart fabric came from a too-short sequin shirt, but any contrasting fabric would do!)

I cut a heart shape out of the sequin fabric (like elementary school, folding it in half and cutting out a mirror image) and pinned it in place on the shirt. A quick pass through the sewing machine, and I was done! Cute, right?

It reminds me of these (more pricey) versions:

gold // pink // black // red

light pink // copper // red

shared here, here, here, here, and here.