Happenstance

This year I thought I would try my hand at baking Christmas gifts (again) and I decided to get my sister, Leah, to help me (as last time I sucked it up and she is a great baker). I started by scouring the Internet for easy and highly reviewed recipes (provided with additional tips below). After selecting a mere 6 and deciding to double each batch (I mean I was just sending cookies to several people, so I should send a lot!), I made a shopping list and headed out to buy it all. I had nothing on hand (did I mention I don't do much baking/cooking?), so I had to buy even the most basic materials. Still, I had budgeted for around $100 (I mean the whole point was that cookies were a great, easy, yummy, ship-able, inexpensive gift). I was obviously Looney Tunes when I came up with that budget, as I spent $200 and ended up using everything I bought. I am a firm believer that when you do something at home, you should do it as comfortably as possible. So a full day of baking defini...

I have been feeling a bit crafty recently and decided to try on something new. I saw a DIY for  embroidery knuckle tattoo gloves  and decided to give it a go.  I bought some really cute tech knit gloves (the ones that let you use your smart phone while you are wearing them) and set to embroidering on cute/fun knuckle tattoos. I spent an entire evening trying to make this work and became quite frustrated. I used chalk to outline the letters, so I didn't have to wear them while I was embroidering. However, I had a hard time sewing the embroidery in to begin with, as the knots needed to be on the inside and it is hard to sew on the fingers and still see what you are doing on the outside. Then the damn knots kept pulling through the knit. I am sure there is a way to make this work better, but I think I picked the wrong glove type (the knit was too loose).  However, I was unwilling to give up (I had bought like 10 pairs of those damn gloves). So I decided puffy pai...

Jena (of McShane Photography ) was kind enough to show us some of the Pin-Up pictures that she has started working on from my party with her. (I want to talk more about the party and working with Jena, once I have all of my pictures. So look forward to another Pin-Up themed post!) I have to say that I am blown away by the teasers she posted on facebook . I knew they would be phenomenal (as I have seen a lot of Jena's work AND my friends are stunning ladies); but I was not anticipating just how phenomenal they would be!  I have to say, not only are my friends intelligent, strong, and fun people, they are also pretty darn stunning: Maybe this is weird coming from me, but the same goes for my sisters: Now, not to brag....but: Plus, we are all pretty much the most fun people you know: I am so beyond excited to see the rest of Jena's work. I can barely contain myself or wait! I secretly hope she works late into the night to get them all done by tomorrow...

Thirty…for women, that is a somewhat dirty word. A woman is told that they are no longer young once they are 30+. Which is not something women look forward to; as they are told their entire life that being young, thin, and beautiful means you have great value. Maybe now I will feel less pressure to BE young, thin, and beautiful all the time. After all, now I am old! YAY! But you know what? I feel exactly the same. I look exactly the same. I am exactly the same. On a lighter note, I had a phenomenal 30th birthday. I spent the day *celebrating* with close friends, by getting dolled up for our Pin-Up Party (more on that when I get the photos back) and having a great time. The atmosphere was light, the food (OMG Cortney's cupcakes!!!) was delish, and my friends were AMAZING. Then we headed out to a large dinner gathering at Claddaghs; where we continued *celebrating*. The food was great and I loved catching up with people I don’t get to see enough. Several people decided to ...

Halloween was, yet again, pretty fabulous this year. I was particularly excited due to Mark’s AMAZING Axe Bass creation for my ‘ Marceline the Vampire Queen ’ costume. He worked very hard on it and it turned out perfectly! I bet we could sell it for MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, or at least a hundred. He did not have the time to make his own electric Halberd Guitar for his ‘ Marshall Lee the Vampire King ’ costume. Which saddened me greatly. However, he did say he would make it in the future. This may be the first step to an awesome new hobby! Overall, I think we found very good replica outfits for our costumes and I was quite pleased.

Mark played a huge role in designing our Save the Dates. He wanted it to “accurately” portray what led up to his decision to propose to me and represent what he felt the wedding would be like (obviously, a lot of tongue and cheek is being used here). His inspiration came from feeling that I won the first round of our life match (He proposed) and that the second round would be at the wedding. Guests will have to attend to see who wins that match! Maybe parenthood is the final round? Personally, I am putting my money on me! Mark worked with his talented friend (Jeff Manley) to create the art for the front. Manley drew and Mark colored. Mark asked me to create something that was reminiscent of an “old school boxing match poster” for the back. I love how they turned out! They are very ‘us’ and a lot of fun. I am so glad that we are mixing traditional and very personal elements within every aspect of our wedding.

I (like most women I know) am not comfortable with my body. This is entirely stupid. I hate that I feed into society and media's interpretation of what beauty is and give it more importance in my life than is necessary. Being thin or prettier would not make me a better friend, wife (to-be), employee, or anything else. I tell myself that it would make me happier, but I have been thinner and was not any happier.  At the end of the day, maybe it is just an easy way to hate myself and explain why other's might not like me as much as I want: "You didn't stick to your diet, you didn't lose weight, you suck, that's why you didn't nail that interview". This is completely absurd. As a rational woman, I know this. Yet I truly feel that if I was thinner then people would like me more, I would like me more, and life would be easier.  Mark and I plan to have a child some day and there is a good chance that said child will be a girl. I absolutely do not want he...

Today Mark completed his gifts for his Groomsmen Ask! I am very excited about this for several reasons. Firstly, he came up with the entire idea himself and worked really hard to make it nice. Secondly, it means we have completed asking our Bridal Party to be our Bridal Party, and they have all accepted! Mark decided on a lot of personalized and cool items when he chose his gifts. He picked up some really nice cigar boxes from our local smoke shop. While he was there he also bought some cigars (Which I love because of the name and that they say 'Romeo's Court' on them...which is great since they are going to Mark's groomsmen). He also bought and personalized some cigar lighters. Mark worked on the best placement for each item in each unique cigar box. When the placement was finalized, he glued ribbons on the box and tied everything down. Once all of the boxes were ready, he wrote personalized notes for each of his groomsmen asking them to be in the wedding. Finall...