Daily Love - The way to a man's heart

is through his tummy, "they" say.  "They" is pretty smart again :)  I made the honey brownie batter waffles (thank you Rachel Ray) Saturday morning for breakfast.  He had to wake me up and push me out of bed to do it, but I did it, nonetheless.  I have to say, I love to cook for my hubby.  I don't do it often enough (insert excuses here), but it is quite rewarding to nourish those you love with enjoyable edibles.  They were absolutely delicious, by the way, but how could they not be considering the primary ingredient was a box of brownie mix.

Daily Love - Start small, they say

To my honey bunny - Today I read a blog by a very inspiring couple who seem very good at keeping their marriage fun and interesting and loving and all that jazz.  While you and I have a great marriage, I am interested in making a commitment to show you I love you through my actions on a daily basis.  That doesn't sound so hard, does it?  It doesn't really sound very hard at all, but I have a feeling it will be harder than I think it will be, because day to day trivialities can trump showing our love for each other before you know it :)  I started this blog awhile back about doing crafty type things, but didn't really stick with the blogging so much.  I see this blog now as a way to hold myself accountable with loving you daily.

Daily Love - Start small, they say

I don't know who "they" is, but sometimes "they" is pretty darn smart.  My first effort at Daily Loving in the form of a text:

Me:  I sure am glad you're my bestest friend :)
You:  Me too ;)

We say I love you all the time.  And I'm glad we do, but sometimes, saying we love each other in a different way warms up the blood pumper a little bit more.  When I got that itty bitty winky face back from my non-emoticon using hubby, I lit up on the inside.  Hope he did, too.

Halloweeny!

What fun, what fun!  My friend Mimi and I prepared lots of fun Halloween themed dinner items and treats for the children to have before trick-or-treating.

Monster toes made by candy coating Keebler's chocolate stuffed cookies and topping off with a Mike & Ike toenail.

Jack-o-dillas

Monster eyes made by candy coating Nutter Butter Double Stuffed cookies and topping off with a gummy eye

Mummy dogs - Nathan's hot dogs and crescent rolls

Halloween pizza - Peanut butter topped chocolate chipped cookie drizzled with melted cream cheese icing and topped with white chocolate candy corn M&Ms

Catherine the good witch and Jackson the red ranger enjoying their treats (although, lots who've seen the photos think Jackson was going for Prince William day of the wedding)

The kids enjoyed talking to the policeman, especially when he turned on his lights for them

And I was a witch

Haunted house at the neighbor's house - The children would only pose in front of it.  The did not dare to enter

Definitely one of my favorite times of the year!  And thanks to Pinterest for all of the food and decor inspiration!

Accidental Vacation in Florida

We hadn't planned on going anywhere over the July 4th holiday, but Andrew's mother was hospitalized for some intestinal issues, so we took the opportunity to go visit and have a little fun.  An accidental mini-vacay, if you will. We stayed most of the time at Aunt Celia's and Uncle Gadge's house in Punta Gorda, FL, but we did visit New Smryna Beach on our last day before heading home, as well.

Andrew, Aunt Celia, Uncle Gadge and I dined at Harpoon Harry's on the water.  Quite festively decorated and perfect place to enjoy the sunset.

Andrew and his big catch :)

After searching urbanspoon high and low, I discovered a relatively new restaurant in Punta Gorda called Tapas One.  Great food and great beer selection.  Hers and his shown below.

Got caught by my dream pirate.  Thinking the 3 arms should work to my advantage ;)

Snake 'n Gas

Yesterday, at the Wal-Mart gas station as I was waiting in line for gas, a man came up with a little snake.  Asked if I wanted to hold it.  Had his son take my picture with it.  Snake's name was Sissy.  Very interesting trip to the gas station.  Made my day, really.  Creepy acts of kindness are good for the soul.

Here we go again (thank goodness!)

Just a few weeks after my own dywloh (do it with lots of help) wedding, I'm envisioning another.  And who is the lucky bride?  Non other than Amanda (Panda).  I am so thankful that I can have a big part in creating another wedding - I was experiencing a bit of wedding hangover until I started brainstorming Amanda's big day!  Before I start revealing ideas and plans for hers, though, I'll go through some highlights of mine.


A little back story - My wedding was tree/wood/rustic themed.  The first venue was crushed by a tree with 5 weeks left until the wedding.  Stressed?  Yes!  Deterred?  No!  Found a better venue with 3 weeks to spare, and the rest is happily ever after history.

The Invitations/Guest Book/Favors

How fortunate I am to have such talented friends!  We started collaborating with Brad about invitations a few months before the wedding.  I wanted an oversized invitation that needed no envelopes.  It had a tear off RSVP card (can we get a witness?!) and a tear off refrigerator reminder.  What the guest was left with was a "poster" to keep as a memento of our wedding.  The same graphic on the invitation was on the guest book "poster," and the mixed cd's for guests to take home were similarly styled.  Great job Brad Grizzle!


Song List on Mixed CD
Two of Us - The Beatles
5 Years Time - Noah & the Whale
I'm the Man Who Loves You – Wilco
First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes
January Wedding - The Avett Brothers
Strangers - The Kinks
Mystifies Me - Son Volt
Stay Forever – Ween
Golden - My Morning Jacket
Funny Little Frog - Belle & Sebastian
Home - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
Dress Looks Nice on You - Sufjan Stevens
Love and Some Verses - Iron & Wine
Make you Feel My Love - Bob Dylan


The Programs

I had no idea what I wanted as far as programs went, and it was Monday of wedding week.  I almost decided not to go with programs, but my mom was dead set that programs are a must.  So, internet searching I went.  I saw an invitation that included a handkerchief, and I thought that would be a wonderful item to include in the program for guests' joyful tears, and it could double as a favor.  I wanted the actual program to have a box shape to it, so the hankie could be held by it.  My mama purchased me a Martha Stewart Crafts Scoring Board, so we could create the straight folds necessary.  Had some issues when starting out (getting the hang of the right amount of pressure to use was tricky), but it worked really well and achieved the effect I was going for.  My friend Brad said that a Bone folder is easier, so I'll be sure to try that next time.  I definitely ended up needing a hankie - I made it through the ceremony just fine, but I teared up quite a bit during my sister's beautiful toast.  My son, Griffin, came to the rescue with our monogrammed hankie and then hung onto it for me to  have as a keepsake.  Sweet, sweet boy!


The Wreaths

My initial genius plan was to make my own burlap tablecloths and use a lace table runner as an accent.  I ordered 100 yards of burlap from a packaging company and eagerly waited on it to arrive, so I could take it to my mothers, and she could instruct me on how to proceed from there.  I was so excited when it arrived at my house.....  until I opened it.  It smelled SO bad.  Who knew?  Apparently, a lot of people know that burlap doesn't have the most pleasant odor, but I am not one of those people.  And it's probably not a good idea to put something that smells so bad on a table where people will be eating.  I discovered on the internet that they do sell odor-free burlap, but it was too little, too late.  We started by spreading the hundred yards of burlap out in my mom's front yard.  Our thinking was that laying out in the sun for a couple of days would dissipate the odor.  It didn't.  And now it was covered with grass and Cicadas (very unsightly bugs).  Scratch burlap tablecloths.  What to do with ALL that burlap??  Google burlap diy.  See what ya get.  Found some pretty nifty wreaths that I thought would make beautiful wedding decor and a'craftin we went.  We made 15 wreaths in all.  At 2 hours each, it's a pretty time intensive project but looking at the finished product, it was well worth it!  Basically, you just cut out circles and fold them twice and attach to wreath.  The instructions I found online suggested hot glue, but I used floral pins.  Much easier and less messy.  


Candles by the hundreds

Wow. All I can say is wow.  My mom and I made 130ish candles from mason jars using lace, and they were absolutely gorgeous.  We then made 130 mason jars without lace to use across the pond to form an R.  Guests had no idea it was there until it got dark, and it was such a pleasant surprise!


Centerpieces and Aisle Flowers

I love simple.  Flowers were all hydrangeas.  My bouquet was ivory hydrangeas.  All centerpieces and aisle flowers were ivory, lavender, and green tinted hydrangeas.  In mason jars.  There were also small tree trunks on top of the lace table runners on the reception tables.  


The Cake 

My neighbor cut down a tree in his front yard a few weeks before the wedding, so I asked him to cut me a few stumps to display the cake on.  We thought it would be a good idea to polyurethane the trunks to keep dirt and bugs away from the cake, but it didn't work out so well.  We did it the day before, so it wasn't completely dry.  It made the entire room smell like polyurethane, so we ditched them and use stumps minus polyurethane.  Certainly a mis-adventure, but it turned out just fine in the end.  Kathy Scott from Sweet Expressions in Abbeville, SC made our cake.  I just asked for the offset square tiers and that it be wood grain.  It turned out beautifully!  And the red velvet cake was absolutely delicious.


The cocktails

Of course they were served in mason jars!  We made Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka and Lemonade "Sweeteas" for our cocktail hour.  I was originally going to use risers covered in burlap for the display, but we had leftover tree trunks and beautiful vines that my friend Claire ended up using to create a beautifully display matching the theme perfectly.  You'll have to excuse the image quality.... and the fact that all of the beverages are gone.  They went quickly, and I didn't think to get a pic before they started to disappear ;)


The Gift Table

Burlap, burlap, and more burlap.  At one point, Andrew said we were in serious danger of OB'ing (over burlapping), but I just don't think there can be too much burlap!  :)  We covered cardboard with burlap and mounted them behind rustic frames that we picked up at Hobby Lobby.  We also got the wooden letters from Hobby Lobby as well and spray painted them brown before mounting.  


Accessories - Flower Girl Basket, Ring Nest, Handmade shawl

Mom ordered the ring nest from a shop on Etsy, and she attached the flowers and moss to the flower girl basket herself.  My mom's longtime friend Mary made me an ivory knitted shawl just for my wedding day!  The boots were for the reception, btw ;)  Perfect for getting down to a little bluegrass, ya know?


Some of my favorite miscellaneous wedding photos :)  What a perfect day!