let's be friends, k?

I didn't do this, but I wish I had.

"Will you be my bridesmaid??"

Wrapped up, and put into a little box.

Too cute! (but, unfortunately, too late for me)

From Hey Gorgeous 

strawberry pop tarts, au natural

There was a state-wide wrestling tournament going on one block away from the restaurant that I work at ...

Did you know that wrestlers are very hungry people?

However, I'm still not sure if their appetites beat out those of the cheerleaders from last weekend's cheerleading tournament (yes, I am serious).

After giving all those people all that food, this weekend, all I want are some of these from Eat Live Run:

Well, made into these --

All natural. Whole grain. Butter. Vanilla Bean.

(that's right -- vanilla bean).

This weekend is lookin' tasty.

some bright things on this rainy day

Sometimes, you just need something to brighten up your day whenever your town is experiencing torrential rain and flood watches.

Like some half off pink tulips from Walmart (tulips, despite what Meg Ryan says, are actually the friendliest flowers)

Or some Fiestaware daydreams (after lingering ten minutes in front of the Fiesta display, the lady at Macy's asked me if I needed any help -- I was too embarrassed to tell her I just liked looking at all of the bright, yummy looking dishes)

credit 

And some chicken parmesan, waiting for me and James in the crockpot after my afternoon class.

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Stay above water today!

craft your memories

While I'm not going to even pretend like I've made any of these yet (spring break, anyone?), I love receiving Martha Stewart's "Craft of the Day" in my inbox each morning.

For example, how cute is this picture frame photo box?

make it!

Or this accordion photo gallery?

make it!

assembly required

these are itching to be transformed into these ...

oh, spring break -- come quickly! (... or maybe I can just have a two day weekend?)

oh, baby

Happy Monday everyone!

Today, I am loving looking at beautiful baby shower ideas. While there will be no babies for me for quite some time, I may or may not have a friend who deserves a super cute shower.

Like this yellow-and-gray, bird-themed shower from Hostess with the Mostess 

And the best part? You don't even have to wait for the big gender-reveal to start planning it!

Anyone up for a bachelorette party merged with a baby shower this May? ;)

what's your something blue?

blue shoes peeping out from under your gown?

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a cover-up in blue?

bhldn.com 

a (shhh) blue surprise? 

bhldn.com 

or maybe just a band of blue bridesmaids?

So how about you? How do you like your blue? 

(more) decorations for a bibliophile

We have been toying around with various ideas for wedding reception centerpieces, and I seriously do not know where our creative process would be without my friend Maggie. She has been sending me so many beautiful, book-ish centerpiece ideas.

Like this little number right here from Twig and Thistle:

With this (and more) serving as inspiration, here is what we have come up with so far:

Ignore the teacups. Focus on the books. As well as the flowers. And fill in a white table number on the blank, black card.

Thoughts? Like 'em? Love 'em? Think it's dumb? 

let them eat (more than!) cake

Let me preface this with, this will, in all honesty, probably not happen at my wedding.

But if a little Cinderella birdy dropped by our reception site and laid out some dessert tables like these, well, you wouldn't see this girl complain.

No siree, you would not.

All from Ruffled

I and love and you

Love is, actually, everywhere

Sometimes love comes in the form of a wedding flower sneak peek delivered to a fancy restaurant

 Sometimes it's cupcakes, crafts, and sweet notes (made by Joy  ) :)

Sometimes it's a mother's love

Sometimes it's stamped

And sometimes it's under the umbrella.

Like this: 

"'Ah! Thou gifest me such hope and courage, and I haf nothing to gif back but a full heart and these empty hands,' cried the Professor, quite overcome.

Jo never, never would learn to be proper, for when he said that as they stood upon the steps, she just put both hands into his, whispering tenderly, 'Not empty now,' and stooping down, kissed her Friedrich under the umbrella."

Because, sometimes, love is about not being empty.

And filling others up.

Happy love day!

BHLDN

Happy Valentine's Day! One more thing to be in love with today is the unveiling of Anthro's new wedding shop, BHLDN (or Beholden)

Just check these pretties out:

Check out bhldn.com for even more gowns, as well as dresses, jewelry, shoes (oh, the shoes!), and other accessories.

This is what a wedding looks like ...

or, rather, this is what a ridiculous amount of Sunday afternoon crafting looks like (and for my parents, Monday through Sunday crafting ...)

Invitation pieces, waiting for assembly

A field of  hand-folded, stamped paper flowers (oh, and trust me ... there are more)

What you see here is the first few minutes of two hours of paper butterfly cutting ...

Real dads can craft 

Aka, a test of patience

Someone's getting creative, photographing me crafting through a left-over paper flower scrap (that someone would be our star neighbor-photographer friend, Anthony)

Final products are always nice.

More of those to come soon :)

Happy Valentine's Eve!

Etsy Shop: Karamell Creations

My soon-to-be sister-in-law, Kara (get it? Karamell? Cute, right?!) is now selling her incredibly adorable yarn wreaths on Etsy:

I love the combination of buttons and rosettes! Perfect for a little girl's room. 

Isn't this such a perfect spring-time color combination? Maybe if you hang this wreath up, you can will spring into coming early!

Head on over to etsy.com and check out Karamell Creations. She'll be adding new stuff to her shop each week!