Resolution for a New Year

Happy New Year!

What are your new year resolutions?
Have you started on them yet?

For 2011, I want to avoid having our living room look like this.

Resolution 1: Get Organized. Stay Organized.

Not planning a wedding should help me keep my first resolution: Get Organized. Stay Organized. Being better about putting everything in its place and having a set place for everything should also help.

Friday, I organized the kitchen and started dealing with the living room closet.

With the closet project, I was able to tackle two areas at the same time - the closet and bedroom. In the closet, I'd been using a shoe rack for additional shelving. The main problem with this? The shoe rack was designed to hold shoes not heavier items such as games.

I ordered an OIA Stackable Storage Rack from Cookware.com - A CSN Store. I liked the price - under $30 - and that it qualified for free shipping. Super easy. No hassle. The shelves snap together easily and are pretty sturdy. In less than 15 minutes, I had the closet storage reorganized and cubes' shoes neatly put away under our bed on the shoe rack. One less obstacle to avoid in the morning!

Be sure to check back tomorrow as I'll be continuing our recaps with "The First Look"!

Update: Registry Wrap Up

Image courtesy of Crate and Barrel

Lately I've been obsessed with typography, more specifically vintage typography, so these cute cocktail napkins immediately caught my eye. Why was I visiting Crate and Barrel? For ideas. Specifically ideas on what to get with our gift cards. When we set up our registry we didn't go crazy. The result? We got everything. The dilemma? What do we need?

Maybe we should stock our bar. Remember we asked for the Parker Spirits Cabinet? We got it, and cubes carefully assembled it under my watchful camera (I'll post pics in a future post). Cocktail napkins aside. A decanter (we have two - one of which is usable - that I inherited from my grandfather)?

Owen Decanter

A rapid beverage chiller?

Cooper Cooler

Or a wine fridge (to hold the collectible wines we regularly purchase and drink rather than store)?

Cuisinart 32-Bottle Wine Cellar

We're 2 Months Old!

Most recently married couples count how long they've been married in months. Some even celebrate month anniversaries. 

Did you count anniversaries in months?
How did you celebrate them? 

We did what any couple who loves cooking would do for our two month anniversary. We opened a restaurant Le Blanchisserie Americain with the help of friends. Not your typical restaurant mind you. A mobile gastronomic experience. A food truck? Sort of. A dining experience served up in your typical 24' box truck at the Lost Horizon Night Market.

Photography Credit: Neil Girling aka Carnivillain via Flickr

One of our first diners - one of our groomsmen!
Photography Credit: Our Diva of Honor Ames

Can you win favor with the maitre 'd?
Photography Credit: Piscean Electron via Flickr

The Third Seating
Photography Credit: Opal Essence

The Third Seating

Photography Credit: Piscean Electron via Flickr

The Third Seating

Photography Credit: Piscean Electron via Flickr

DIY: The Elusive Charm

There's no recap today. Last night I got sidetracked looking through more photographs of our wedding. Photographs of our wedding leave me speechless. This post and my reply to our friend took awhile to compose.

There are a few things evident in all of the photos taken that day:

• There was joy.
• There was love.
• We were in the moment.

Capturing joy and love in photographs is not as easy as you think. Documenting through images, observing while not altering events, is extremely difficult. A photographer brings with them numerous tools: art, technical skills, story telling, observation, and psychology.

This year, like last year, we get the last week of December off. I have two tasks lined up: wedding favors and gifts for our parents. The challenge for both projects is to capture the joy, the love, and the moment from shared meals and from our wedding day. That's a tall order. I'm not expecting flawless grammar and perfect spelling. While that's a goal with any physical project, it's hard when you've poured out words and then stared at them for hours in an attempt to tame the flow and navigate the currents. Harder yet is editing. Choosing words and images with impact. Too much and whole will not be greater than the sum of the parts.

Today's Etsy Tuesday post actually appears on our food blog and has more 1950s cookbooks that are influencing the design. Along with finalizing the design of our cookbooklets (and our wedding books), we'll be choosing prep photographs for recipes, editing steps, and adding tips.

A forward from a 1950 cookbook captured what I hope to convey in both of my December projects.

Image courtesy of MrsOtter06 (Etsy)

Ruth Berolzheimer writes:

The Personality of a Cookbook is as apparent as it is important. It is composed of known and stable ingredients with unknown and elusive ones to make a mixture as familiar, friendly and exhilarating as a pine woods early on a summer morn.

The Stable Ingredients are compounded of a sound knowledge of what the homemaker needs for herself and her family; an easy handling of all fundamental facts on preparing and serving foods ... and on the presentation of those facts in a simple, concise, explicit, well organized, specific, easy-to-follow, step-by-step procedure that gives a comforting feeling of confidence in the final product.

The Elusive Charm of this personality stems from clear overtones: a light touch -- a sense of humor -- a flair for the clever idea in cooking and serving that results in something called style, but above all a feeling for the kind of beauty that women want about them in their work-a-day world. 

Mini-Moon: Eating the Wine Country in Search of The Perfect Meal

We've had our first taste of Michelin-star food Wine Country-style at Solbar where we fortified ourselves with locally grown, sustainably farmed/fished food and now we're gearing up for a marathon of eating. (Remember that you can find more details on the restaurants we're dining at and what we're thinking of eating on our food blog.)

Day Three

On our final day of class, we'll go over menu planning. The cooking methods will delve into techniques for eggs and vegetables. Our education in sauces will finish with a variety of uncooked sauces and dessert sauces. We'll also learn about baking yeast dough.

When class is finished, we'll stop back at our cottage to refresh and change for our 8pm dinner at JoLé (inside the Mount View Hotel). We'll work up an appetite with a brisk short walk (two tenths of a mile) from our cottage to our table. 

Day Four

We'll head south to Yountville, CA, a city that claims to have the highest Michelin star concentration in the world - 6 stars in just 6 blocks. (Depending on traffic this wine country stop is roughly half an hour to an hour away.) In a valley known for its grapes, Yountville celebrates its chefs. In addition, two Yountville restaurants, Bottega and Bistro Jeanty, are now included in Michelin's Bib Gourmand category. (Bistro Jeanty received a Michelin star from 2007 to 2009 and had been thought by Michael Bauer in December 2008, and contradicted by The Accidental Wino, to be coasting on its success. Michelin apparently agreed with Bauer taking the star away in 2010).

We'll be dining at two of their One Star restaurants - REDD for brunch and Etoile for dinner.

Day Five

On our way home, we'll once again stop in Yountville. This time we'll be dining at Michael Chiarello's Bottega for Lunch. 

Mini-Moon: Pampering

A friend kindly pointed out that our mini-moon to Calistoga was lacking a key element. What did we overlook you wonder? A trip to the spa. After all, Calistoga is known for its mineral water.

Day Two

We'll spend the morning of our second day getting pampered - we'll need to be fully relaxed if we're to successfully eat our way around the valley - at Solage Calistoga Resort, less than three quarters of a mile away (approximately an eleven minute walk should we choose). Travel & Leisure Magazine ranked Solage Spa eleventh in 2009 among resorts with 40 plus rooms in the Continental U.S. and Canada. Condé Nast Traveller readers ranked Spa Solage first in 2010 among hotel spas in The Americas and Caribbean. 

We'll check in to our private couples spa suite at 8:40am for a 50-minute couples massage starting at 9:00am, followed by a 60-minute signature 3-part Mudslide treatment of "The Mud," "The Waters," and "The Rest" at 10:00am with access to geo-thermal mineral pools.

Photography Credit: Deforest W. via Yelp!

Before heading back to the kitchen at Casa Lana, we'll pop into Solbar at 12:15pm for lunch. (Check out our food blog for a teaser of what we're planning on indulging in.)

After lunch we'll head back to class. On our second day, we'll work on cooking methods and techniques for grains and legumes and meat, poultry, and fish, including pan-searing and roasting. We'll also spend time on sauces - pan reduced sauces as well as egg-based emulsions and sauces. And in baking, we'll tackle tender cakes and the souffle. 

Mini-Moon: Expanding Our Culinary Knowledge

Everyone who knows us or our friends has heard of or experienced first hand our love of food. So when better to expand our culinary expertise and delight our taste buds than on our honeymoon?

We wanted to sign up for a bootcamp style program. While the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in St. Helena offers these programs, the timing was wrong - once a year in June for the 2-Day Skill Development program we wanted (maybe next November in Hyde Park, NY?).

After reviewing the various other options available breadth versus cost, we decided to further our culinary education at Casa Lana's Gourmet Retreats in Calistoga, CA: 1316 South Oak Street, Calistoga, CA 94515, U.S.A. 

Day One

We chose the 3-Day Culinary Learning Vacation (the 5-Day Cooks' Boot Camp, like the CIA's 2-Day Skills class, is in June). The first day we'll cover knife skills, stocks, soup and emulsion cooking methods and techniques, and pastry.

For our quest, we'll set up our home base in Calistoga at the Cottage Grove Inn (just under a mile away - 20 minutes if walking - from the kitchen at Casa Lana), recommended by Condé Nast Johansens: 1711 Lincoln Avenue, Calistoga, California 94515, U.S.A. While here, we'll be treated to a continental breakfast from 7:30 to 10:00am and wine and cheese from 5:00 to 7:00pm. As we'll be arriving late our first night, we'll be treated to wine and cheese waiting for us in our cottage.  

Image courtesy of Cottage Grove Inn's website

In our cottage, we'll be able to curl up in front of very own roaring fireplace and luxuriate in a Jacuzzi tub for two.

Update: Post Wedding Chop Complete

Until today I really thought I had just below shoulder length hair when cubes and I first started really hanging out. But um... well photos don't lie - it was actually longer as you can see.

Steve's and My Combined Birthday Party - January 2009

Photography Credit: NetDiva via Flickr

Fast forwarding through photos, I noticed a couple of things. First: my hair has pretty much been styled the same for at least two years.

Me at My Shower, October 2010

Photography Credit: Jessica Palopoli via Flickr

Ames' Bridesmaids and Matron of Honor (I'm second from the left)
Ames' and Steve's Wedding, June 2009

Photography Credit: Jessica Palopoli via Flickr

With the exception of my color, my hairstyle has been pretty conservative. And second: invariably my hair is pulled back into a ponytail.

BaconCamp SF, May 2010

Photography Credit: Dave Schumaker via Flickr

June 2010

Photography Credit: Jessica Palopoli via Flickr

Mooflyfoof and I at Promises and Pearls, July 2010

Photography Credit: San Francisco Photobooth

Now for some reason I had this idea that my hair was shorter and was more fun. And as a result of this idea... cubes has had to keep talking me down. Down from what you ask? From taking scissors and just lopping off my long tresses. I'd reached ponytail saturation and my stylist was unavailable before we left for our honeymoon (her new salon opens this week - while we're away). Luckily Ames came to his rescue - recommending her stylist Jaretta of Fringe Salon. Without further ado, here's my Deva - curly girl cut.

Photography Credit: Taken with my iPhone by cubes

What do you think?

Update: Enjoying Married Life

Recent brides all warn about it. They tell you to brace yourself. What am I referring to? The post-wedding bliss blues.

"One in ten women may suffer from post-wedding depression, an increase, experts say, that is due to the trend towards more elaborate weddings." - ABC News 

Right now a month after our wedding, I'm enjoying married life. I'm enjoying the lack of checklists related to one day.

There were times when I was angry that to have a wedding that was us and share that with friends and family, we almost had to isolate ourselves. For me at times, I felt like once we were engaged we had to choose between projects for the wedding or relationships/life. This appeared to be true of other brides as well. On nights when I decided not to work a DIY project, we'd be out with future husbands, their future wives at home working on an DIY project.

Don't get me wrong, I loved our DIY projects. And by comparison to some weddings we didn't have a lot (our original list). But there were times when the point of our wedding seemed to get lost in stuff. I loved our wedding. I loved the excitement and anticipation. But I'm glad we've moved on to celebrating our life together.

Last night we hosted our first dinner as a married couple. Our first dinner since the end of February - the month when we realized we couldn't continue our monthly dinner series and plan a wedding. It felt great not to be thinking about what we weren't checking off. It was absolutely amazing to prep vegetables and herbs with friends. And best of all? It was great to sit. To drink wine. To talk. No rush. No pressure.

Sure this dinner party was different than our others. We're a "we" now. And that means we're a team. Recipes were worked on together and shared. Cleaning and prepping was shared. When I ran out of time yesterday morning, cubes made sure the ice cream for the Apple Apricot Persimmon Cake I'd just baked happened.

Maybe the post-wedding blues will hit me after we return from our mini-moon. So right now I'll continue enjoying this. A feeling of. "A life well lived" for lack of a better turn of phrase.

Here's hoping that having a wedding that reflected us, having been able to cut DIY projects in favor of more time with friends and family, and being passionate about many time consuming, life long hobbies, is the answer.

For those wondering where all the pretty photos are, we'll get back to the regularly scheduled programming - recaps of our wedding - this weekend.

Update: The Perfect Bachelor/ette Weekend

This past weekend we had our Honeymoon Revue - aka our Bachelor/ette Weekend. Why after we were married? Well when you're having two weddings, running a Burning Man camp, working full-time jobs, you run out of available weekends. 

But this was perfect. We were married and our friends were celebrating us. There was none of the frantic checking of To Do lists or talking about wedding projects that still needed to be done. It was just good friends. Good food. Good times.

Everyone brought to the potluck dinner. We had spinach salad with strawberries and an amazing Tahini dressing. We had a yummy fruit salad. And... we had cheeses and quince. 

Everyone brought food that I could eat! This touched me the most because cooking without any cow's milk (butter, milk, etc.) or refined sugars is tough. So let's just say I was a little piggy at the dining table. I had two helpings of paella. (You too can have this absolutely wonderful paella. Ames has her grandmother's recipe on her food blog, DigestThis!)

I had a bacon-wrapped scallop with papaya salsa. I'll see if I can get Nathan to share the recipe so you too can have some. He also made his Velvet Crush drink. (Turns out you can buy Velvet Falernum premade.)

I had cheeses and quince. I had the absolute yummiest moistest vegan cupcake ever.

Of course we had wine galore, champagne, and our signature wedding drink - The Fangbanger. Then we spent hours catching up and just chilling by a roaring fire while the rain fell outside.

Still Doesn't Feel Real

In four days, we will have been married for exactly a month.

I still get this amazing thrill when I see my new name. First at Mooflyfoof and EdRabbit's wedding. In my email. On Facebook. And the other day on a thank you note from Mooflyfoof. It feels right. Natural. 

Even though we planned our wedding, it still doesn't feel quite real. Maybe it's this waiting for the County of San Francisco to process the marriage license and send us a certified copy so that I can start using my new name all the time. Maybe its because we haven't gone on our mini-moon yet. Maybe then it will really sink in.

Maybe it's because for so long I cast myself as the girl who stalked her friends camera in hand - the observer. Maybe it just takes time get used to the role of actor. Who knows.

Maybe when our new bedroom furniture arrives this afternoon. When our bed - an engagement present from my parents - arrived last year, OMG we're living together hit. As well as OMG we're engaged. Plus OMG we have adult furniture. Real. We're an "Us." An Us with a future. 

I do know that I like how one day in our relationship - our wedding day - hasn't changed "us." I like that he still plans for breakfasts in bed and lazy days together. I like the thrill I still get when he tells me his plans. 

I like that in eleven days, it'll be just us for five days. No work. No errands. No demands. Just us. Together. 

Our Wedding Was[n't] Perfect

I write "not" in brackets because in my mind our wedding was perfect and I really want to say "Our Wedding Was Perfect." By that I mean if anything really went wrong I don't know about it. Unlike Jem, our Day of Coordinator didn't get lost and arrive 15 minutes before the ceremony started. Unlike Vera, our Day of Coordinator didn't get sick and cancel, leaving us without a replacement.

No everything didn't go according to plan. So if you look at our wedding in that context, it like any wedding wasn't perfect. Sure there are things that got forgotten, misplaced, etc. That happens to everyone. For us that was:

• In the last minute printing and assembly of the programs, we mistyped the name of an entrée and misspelled a guest's last name (she was very good natured about it).
• While in season, Dahlias were nowhere to be found the morning we went to the San Francisco Flower Mart. 
• Somewhere in our apartment I misplaced the garter Christina gave me at Burning Man that I was planning to wear again this past Sunday and was going to use in our garter toss when demanded by guests.
• Having not gone to the Med Tent at Burning Man this year I never made it back to my Burning Man weight from last year (an unhealthy, unsustainable weight for me), and while the dress could be zipped up without a corset the bustle could not easily be fastened with the corset. So breathing while sitting down was somewhat of a problem (the day after the wedding there were still marks on my torso from where the corset had constricted me).
• In the rush to get to our apartment to get ready with the girls, we forgot breakfast (the boys routed back and dropped off a variety of bagels from Noah's), champagne (Monica dashed across the street to the corner liquor store), and straws (my future sister-in-law Jamie went on a scavenger hunt first to the liquor store and then to a couple of coffee shops until straws were found). 
• In the rush from our apartment to the venue, we left my getaway dress behind (Bri made sure the dress was retrieved). We left my vintage fur wrap behind (it was so unseasonably hot none of us even realized we'd forgotten it until the next day). We also forgot the Watermelon Vodka in our freezer (we toasted instead with one of my favorite tequilas Corralejo Reposado).
• In the excitement, we forgot that we were supposed to circle each other before getting to the Chuppah. 
• In the midst of a last minute music change, we almost missed the Mother-Daughter Dance (we got the DJ's attention and the dance went on).   

So why do I think our wedding was perfect? We agreed early on that we would create a Top Three and ensure that each other's Top Three happened. cubes' Top Three: me, the rabbi, family/friends. My Top Three: cubes, the rabbi, family/friends. 

And guess what? Our Top Three happened. Surprisingly along with the Top Three, we also realized our inspiration board (I'll share more in a future post).

With this focus it was easy to let things go - including the wedding dress two bites into dinner (for those wondering about the seemingly abrupt costume change, I chose being able to eat over being photographed in my wedding dress when we cut the wedding cake, danced our first dance, etc.).

For all you other Type A's out there I highly recommend two things: 

1. Sit down with your partner and exchange Top Three's. It's all that should matter in the end. Make them happen. Forget about whether or not the rest comes out exactly as you envisioned.
2. Hire a Month of Coordinator. Handing all the DIY projects over to a professional (I'll elaborate in an upcoming What We Did post) reduces Day of Stress tremendously. I'd read so many hindsight stories from DIY brides that I had expected not to really enjoy myself. I got to enjoy time with my new husband. I got to eat - dinner AND cake. I got mingle with our guests. I got to dance. I got to have fun.

The Bride: What I'm Looking Forward To - Part 2

Our first dance as husband and wife.

Photography Credit: Wes Roberts via Glamour and Grace

I get chills every time I hear the song we picked.

Update: Guestbook

This weekend I took a brief break from the table number and program projects. What did I do? Mixed media and scrapbooking.

Specifically I embellished our guestbook. I'd hinted that I'd planned on customizing it when we decided to use a journal from CreARTing Handmade. Here's what it looks like now.

Personal Photos

At the reception guests will have the opportunity to add their favorite recipes, recommend restaurants and dishes, recount meals shared with us, and suggest the next meal they'd like to share with us. 

The guestbook station will be set up initially in a bay window with stickers, paper scraps, markers, and glue sticks. After the cocktail hour ends the station will move to near the bar so that guests have time throughout the evening to add their tips.

This is one DIY project that could have been overwhelming had we (I) decided to make the journal from scratch. Instead by starting with a handmade journal, this has become one of my favorite projects. I can't wait to see what our guests contribute.

To our guests: Be sure to check out the sample page layouts in the guestbook. (Hint they tie to Our Story and our table numbers and may have some of the answers to the puzzle found in our program.)

Update: We have a Plan - A Seating Plan that is

We had our site walkthrough this past Thursday. It was great to see the space again and get opinions from our Onsite Coordinator - Kerry - and our Wedding Coordinator - Brittani. 

While not everyone will be on the same floor for dinner, we were able to successfully seat all of our guests in Freja. We walked through the balcony and double checked the view of the main floor. All of our guests will be able to see the wedding party as well as the toasts and the cake cutting. 

We were also successful in that no additional tables were required (so no new rental fees). The tables on hand at the venue work. That also means no additional table linens were required (so no last minute rushing around to match our ivory). And the best part? We actually need less table runners than originally planned. Less sewing for our friends!

Here's a rough layout of where our guests will be. 

We decided to forgo escort cards and use place cards (when we originally made the escort cards we left the table numbers off until we had a final RSVP count). This layout with table names will appear in our program along with a listing of seats per table. At each table guests will find their seat by looking for their place card.

I'm so relieved that we have successfully placed each guest at a table; thus ending the seemingly never-ending game of musical chairs.

Planning a Mini-Moon, Update: Dining like Royalty

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that cubes and I love food - especially good food. So what are we doing for our honeymoon? Cooking and eating of course. 

We also love reading about food. One of our favorite books, The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner, is the inspiration for our honeymoon. Our theme? The Couple Who Ate the Wine Country: In Search of the Perfect Bite.

So when we started planning months ago, we had an idea of the restaurants we wanted to dine at. Now, getting to dine at said restaurants is easier said than done - one must hit the phones and the Internet two months prior and hope and pray. Two of the restaurants were completely booked: The French Laundry (3 Michelin Stars) and Cyrus (2 Michelin Stars). One had an early brunch available but would have required waking up at an ungodly hour, so we passed: Ad Hoc. 

Want to know the lineup for our quest? Here you go!

• (James Beard Semifinalist Best New Restaurant) Bottega Napa Valley
• (One Michelin Star 2010, 2009) Domaine Chandon - Etoile Restaurant
• (One Michelin Star 2010, 2009, 2008) REDD
• (One Michelin Star 2010, 2009) Solbar - Solage

Making Up the Bride: Inspiration for Take 2

Ok I'll be the first to admit I know nothing about makeup. Smoky eye? Sexy eye? Um one means one thing and the other means a completely different thing. So with this caveat, my first makeup trial was probably doomed to failure from the start. I probably said one thing and was really thinking another.

Here goes. This is what I looked like after my first makeup trial.

I think I look like a raccoon. I also hate that the makeup is cakey (is that a word?) and not more seemless. When I do wear makeup, I prefer DiorSkin AirFlash Spray Foundation as my base. So I'm probably also suffering from what every bride who typically doesn't wear makeup suffers from - fear of looking like a clown or not me. Besides the foundation - I think the blush and the lipstick are too much.

Tonight I have my next makeup trial. This trial is with another makeup artist (MUA) - one who made me up last year for our friends double wedding.

So I pulled looks that routinely catch my attention when I'm flipping through magazines at the salon.

What I like about the looks is the pale lipsticks (top two photos), the touch of pale blush (top two photos, bottom right photo), the shadowing of the outside edge of the eye (left two photos), and lighter shadow near the nose that gradually moves to the darker edge (left two photos, bottom right photo).

What I like about the top two looks is that the blush isn't overwhelming and much more natural. The two bottom looks caught my attention for the paler blush with pale lipsticks - the eyes are too smoky.

I also pulled looks that I dislike and totally could not imagine on me. Here those looks are:

There's too much blush on the photo on the left. And the smoky eye is just too dark - especially with the pale lipstick (which I actually do like). (Now that I've seen an example of smoky eye I think it's not well suited for my face.

Hopefully these images give the MUA a better idea of what I'd like for our wedding. Basically I want to feel like me - the me cubes fell in love with. (Maybe this next admission makes me a bad bride but I love the makeup I wore for our playa wedding - none. You can see what my face looked like in the recap of me getting ready.)

Did you struggle with getting your makeup right?

Check In: Nineteen Days to go

Two weeks and five days. Nineteen days. Why can't it be now? I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of boxes arriving. Of lugging things down to the car and then from the car up into our apartment. Of the unpacking, organizing, and repacking. Of writing instructions. Of meetings every night.

Even with planning everything still comes down to the wire. Hair and makeup trials. Corset fittings. Dress fittings. Music planning.

Still so much to do...

1. Take going away dress to tailor for alterations
2. Design and print ketubah
3. Decide on table arrangements; assign seats
4. Layout, print, and assemble table numbers
5. Proof programs, print, and assemble
6. Print photographs and adhere to ribbon for entry way decoration
7. Finish watchwerk "time" pieces
8. Design and print signage for kippahs, cards, and guest book

Our Previous Checklists

• March
• April
• May
• July
• August
  
  

Unexpected Consequences of Photographic Vision

This post should probably be titled "cubes gets his wish! A clean apt before we say I Do." 

Why you ask? Well I just realized that the girls and I are getting ready in our apartment. If we want any photos of us getting ready (and I loved the shots from both Ames and Helen's weddings), our photographers would probably appreciate a space that's uncluttered. 

Remember how we were hiding everything in plain sight? Well that organized space was soon out grown. Plus we packed for and then returned from the playa. As cubes is fond of saying our apartment currently looks as if we were hit by both a Hurricane and a Tornado.  

What got me thinking about de-cluttering? Eye candy. Specifically this dress shot. Well not a "true" dress shot - it's actually a shoe shot - but what a neat idea: hanging your dress on a form. 

Photography Credit: Ever After Photography via A Lucky Orchid Wedding

The composition and framing of the shot caught my eye. Clean lines. Simple background. 

And now you see why the light bulb went on and I realized we need to add unpacking, cleaning and styling our apartment to the Wedding To Do list. I see why brides opt to get ready at a hotel - an uncluttered space.

DIY Update: A Commercial Option for Our Envisioned Throw Pillows

We - rather I had - these grand plans of softening our venue. Irresistible super plush in our neutral wedding colors - black, charcoal, and ivory - was sourced. Orphaned flowers from initial tablescape plans were united with a new DIY project. 

Then... Syzygryd happened. So no DIY throw pillows. (Stop laughing now. Would you want your grandmother sitting on a cold hard bench? Yeah I thought not.)

Seems that no idea is truly unique. Just in time for Fall, throw pillows with flowers. 

18" Throw Pillow 

$24.99 at Bed, Bath and Beyond

(Source)

Quite elegant. Almost our wedding colors even!

Don't worry you're not going to find this accent at our wedding. Why? It's not us. The Dahlia covered pillows and plush do tell a story. A day I sent my parents on a scavenger hunt for silk flowers in our wedding colors. A day my mom and I took our scavenger hunt to the State Capitol. An evening when cubes and I prepared the flowers. An afternoon when cubes and I scoured Michael's for non-sew pillow closure (think fusible velcro in place of zippers) options.

While on the subject of decorative pillows I came across two other more budget friendly options in two of our wedding colors - Ivory and Black - from Brentwood Originals. I think they'd look better in a more modern setting than in our early 19th venue - a seating group similar to one we saw at Promises and Pearls. How inviting would that high-backed settee be with a couple of Rosette pillows?