Unraveling

I'm back!

2010-01-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry it 's been so long! Like this little guy (from our backyard, last winter), I've been up to my eyeballs!

I've been:
-working on sewing and knitting projects.
- tasting cake and wine
- shopping with my lovely ladies
- organizing our crazy apartment
- and keeping up with everyone else's blog but mine!

Not to mention doing the work I actually get paid for. But I'm back!

And pretty maids all in a row...

2010-01-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

Thank you Martha...

I mentioned before that I was planning on letting my bridesmaids choose their own dresses. This seems to be a new trend lately, but I can't think of why it hasn't been done before! In my case I have four bridesmaids. All four of them have very different body types; two tall, two short, two skinny twigs, two of average build, one has chest, the other three, well... You get the idea. Very different bodies need very different dresses to look fabulous!

Taste also has to be considered. Even though we're all great friends and have a lot in common, our ideas of fashion are not all necessarily the same. Again, I want something that they love and would feel comfortable wearing for the night.

That brings up the concept of bridesmaids having to buy a dress that they will never w
ear again. It just doesn't seem fair! So, by letting them pick what they want, hopefully they will like it enough to reuse it!

So far , I've been out with two of my lovely ladies to pick out their dresses. First up was the lovely Jenny! We went to Classic Bridal in Buffalo (I wouldn't recommend them now) and Jenny tried on a wide variety of dresses. The poor girl probably tried on as many dresses as I tried on wedding dresses! But at last, there was a definite winner! It was super flattering on Jenny, comfortable and flowy and came in the right color!

The dress is made by B2 is chiffon and will be a color called "celadon". Jenny hasn't ordered it yet, but I can't wait to see her in it again!

Next up was bridesmaid Holly. Like all the rest of my lovely bridal brigade, her schedule is nutty, plus the fact that she lives on the other side of the state. This meant that our dress shopping spree was completed in the last 45 minutes before the shop (New York Bride) closed. Like with Jenny, Holly tried on a number of dresses, including the one Jenny ended up with and it did not look good on her at all. Still, Holly was successful and ended up ordering this dress from a bridal shop closer to her that night.

The dress is by Eden Bridals and is satin with a little chiffon poking out the bottom. Holly wasn't so hot about the flower at the bust line, but luckily its a pin so it can be taken off. We matched up a swatch of the color fabric that Jenny will be wearing and found out that Holly's dress color is called "green tea".

So far I think the two dresses will look really nice together, will fit in well with the style of the wedding and most importantly, look great and feel comfortable on the girls!

That leaves Corey and Jamie. We have plans to go shopping for their dresses in February. Check one more thing off the list!

Sewing Project: Pretty business card case

2009-11-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the lovely Pamela over at Dayton Time, I was suddenly in possession of 500 wonderful business cards. It makes it so much easier to share my fancy new google voice phone number and my work e-mail when its all on a handy dandy little card! One teensy weensy little problem. For those of you who have been following the game here, my name is set to change in t-minus 205 days, so I had to get those babies out the door! My solution, make the cutest ever business card holder so I can convince people to take my card. So far, its gone something like this...

Me: Oh! Let me show you my latest sewing project ~~that I completed in all the time that I have free~~.

Unsuspecting parent/teacher/specialist:Wow! That's super cute! But what could be inside? I must know!

Me: Why, I'm glad you asked. I have right here some handy dandy business cards so you have ~~no excuse not to call me back~~ my information easily accessible.

Unsuspecting parent/teacher/specialist: Oh! Wonderful! I'll take 5!

Or something along those lines....

Anyway, I found a great pattern which, as with the best projects, took about 30 minutes, including the time I spent rummaging though my crazy stash of random fabrics and clothes that will someday be awesome projects. The finial product was a combination of pretty print fabric left over from my days of making sorority shirts, some terry cloth remnants from baby bibs I made this past spring, a ribbon that was decoration on the package of some gift given to me, and a metal spare button that came with a piece of clothing I'm pretty sure I no longer own. After gathering those things up, and a few cuts, pins and stitches, I ended up with this!

Even better, when I showed it to my cousin, she requested one for a Christmas gift. Wonderful! I love an excuse to make things for people, but its tough sometimes to know how they'll react to a homemade gift.

Sewing Projects- The lunch box

2009-11-12T18:53:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, there hasn't been a whole lot of free time built in to my schedule. Somehow, I've managed to complete two sewing projects lately that I have been very happy about the results. Okay, so maybe I finished the first one in September and am just getting around to posting about it now... but you're still happy to see it, right?

It all started this summer when I finally opened my eyes to the fact that Mike was going though paper lunch bags, while I was happily using my nice fabric lunch bag. When they finally ran out, I offered to make him a fabric lunch bag of his very own and surprisingly, he accepted! (score for my big green purse!) Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

For those of you who don't know my dear Michael, he is both a Virgo and an engineer... which means very specific ideas about how some things must be. Because that's the only logical way they could be, right? Right. Mike's lunch box requirements were as follows:
1. Must not have corners, because food always gets stuck there and its gross.
2. Must close and have a handle.
3. Must not be feminine.
4. Must have a place for putting silverware.

So after drawing out several designs, I finally had the bright idea of looking to my sandwich wrapper. Its a large diamond shaped piece of fabric that folds into a square. By folding it a slightly different way, I could make a rectangle, just the shape of a typical lunch box. It unfolds to lay flat, so no corners for yucky food!

After raiding my mom's fabric stash, I decided on heavy duty outdoor canvas, dark navy blue for the outside and navy, yellow and white striped for the inside.

I made a pattern first out of newspaper, then out of construction paper, carefully trying them out with Mike's typical lunch to make sure it would fit inside, measuring where to put the handle holes, etc. The hardest part of the whole process was sewing on the snaps to keep it closed. I had to estimate each time I put them on, and ended up ripping out and resewing most snaps at least twice. I also used bias tape around the handles holes, which I have never done before. It ended up being a bit of a process, but it worked out in the end.

The final result was a success! Mike is happy with it, and he's gotten compliments from several male co-workers, so it passes the manly-enough test. The only thing that may be changed is the snap that keeps the top flap closed. Its not quite strong enough to hold the weight of the lunch, so I may replace it with a heavier duty one.

Next up, my 500 business cards and the sewing project that will hopefully help me give them away before my last name changes...

Kitchen Genius, Via Aunt Gina

2009-11-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

Mike and I really like fresh bagels from Wegmans. I try to avoid the prepackaged ones, because it just doesn't seem right that they're soft all the time. Plus, I fins the texture weird, too squishy. Real bagels get hard after a few days, which up til now has been a problem. We would only buy six at a time (missing the discount you get if you buy them by the dozen) and still couldn't eat them quite fast enough.

Luckily, we have been saved by Mike's Aunt Gina's genius.

She taught us this great idea to keep the bagels fresh. At first I thought that everyone knew this, but somehow Mike and I missed out on this day in school. I shared it with my mom, but she was amazed by it too! Aunt Gina lives in MD, so maybe this information hasn't spread this far north yet.

I have taken it upon myself to spread the word of bagel freshness!

Step 1: Buy a dozen bagels. Enjoy the discount!

Step 2: Slice bagels. Then stick them back together.

Step 3: Place sliced bagels in a gallon sized freezer bag.

Step 4: Toss joyously into the freezer, knowing you are going to have some amazing bagels next time you want them.

When ready to eat, simply remove one from the bag and put it in the toaster! It comes out like you just bought it and sliced it that day! Amazing!

Engagement pics.... Finally!

2009-10-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the big time slacking, but I have an excuse, I promise! My three jobs (yeah, I know, everyone else thinks I'm crazy too) are really starting to pick up, and on top of that Mike and I are moved! Its just a hop, skip and a jump away from where we w before, but its saving me about 20 minutes on my daily commute. It's been pretty crazy around here!

On with the good stuff!

Dylan and his assistant Robin from Onion Studios did a great job with the pictures, and the best part was it was free with our wedding photo package! Yay! We got a CD of all the digital negatives to do with what we please. So, without further ado here's a sampling of our favorites. One of these lovelies made its way onto the 250 Thank you notes that we won, thanks to Pamela! Thanks!

Engagement Session at Knox Farm State Park

2009-09-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

I was so excited today to find that our cd of enagement pictures arrived in the mail today! Here's a sneak peek... no fair showing all of you before Mike even gets to see them!

Mmm Cake! -or- How I sometimes succeed at baking

2009-09-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

After the picture of the delicious chocolate cake in my last post taunted me for a good week or so, I decided that for Mike's birthday, I was going to try making a chocolate layer cake with berries in the middle. Mike's not big on many berries besides strawberries, so thats what it was.

I have been failing a lot lately while trying to bake new things. B r ead- refused to rise. Cookies- sunk in the middle. Sweet potato cinnamon buns- refused to rise. I blame it on a combination of a damp basement door where I store my packets of yeast and lack of proper baking tools, like a sifter or mixer. I was nervous about the cake, but I figured I hadn't killed Mike with any of my concoctions yet, so what the hey. There's always Wegman's for back up.

I chose this recipe and got to work. I decided just to use the directions for the actual cake part. I wanted to make my own filling and Mike has chosen a can of chocolate cream cheese frosting while we were at the store. I followed the directions as best I could, and ended up with a batter that was light and creamy like mousse. Pop in to the oven and out came...
two pretty little cakes! So far so good!

Then I added whipped cream and sliced strawberries to the middle. I think in the future whipped cream won't be the choice because it quickly started melting after this picture was taken.
Oh, the layers even lined up without cutting or anything! Last step was to add the canned frosting. I think I got it figuring if the cake tasted bad, we could always eat the frosting out of the can with a spoon. I might just do this anyway...Ta da! Finished cake!

Or should I say, nearly finished?

Groom's cake? That's the big white one...

2009-08-25T17:21:00.001-07:00

What the man wants.

Even though it's not up there on our to-do list for now, Mike and I have been discussing cake. For me, the cake wasn't a big deal. There had been talk of Bridesmaid Jenny making it, so I was thinking of something somewhat simple so it wouldn't be too difficult for her. I was thinking something like this. (We already have some logs- but need to get them cut!)

Via Once Wed

I liked the rough edges of the buttercream and the idea of multiple cakes. Mike, however had different ideas. He wanted a wedding cake. As in multiple stacked layers, with a smooth white surface. Because, he said, when else in your life do you get to have a cake like that? Fair enough.

So far, this has been one of a few things that Mike has been very specific about, and I wasn't that attached to the other idea, so we'll go with the big white cake. I do like that one pictured at the top. I had no feelings of loss... until I saw this on the Wish Special Events website:
Drool.... So, I have decided. At this wedding, the "grooms cake" will be the big white one and the bride's cake will be chocolate and berries. Yum. So Bridesmaid Jenny, even if you can't take on the big white stacked one, do you think you could make this deliciousness for me?

Do you know what these are called?

2009-08-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Mike and I have been working on the design for our wedding decor. Lanterns are up there on the list of design elements. I haven't been able to find quite what I'm looking for yet, but I'm still searching. One of the types of lanterns I stumbled on today is pictured below. Its different than many others that I have seen and may have a place in our design... if I only knew what they are called so I can search out some more! Any ideas?

Will you marry....... us?

2009-07-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

Now that we have the location and photographer down, I'm working on checking other things off my list. Next up, officiant.

Neither Mike or I a very "churchy" people, so we neither have a priest that we know nor really want one. Our wedding will be meaningful and symbolic, but secular.

That leaves a professional wedding officiant or a justice of the peace.

A wedding officiant could be nice because we'd have some time to get to know them ahead of time and because they have had experience with designing meaningful, secular ceremony. Biggest downfall? Its not the cheapest option.

A justice of the peace is a much cheaper option, but that means a much simpler, less flexible ceremony. (I think? I admit, I haven't contacted any of them yet.) But, it still might not be the best option.

The last possibility is to have a friend or family member get an online certificate to be a wedding officiant. After several times reading the law about who is able to officiate, calling local officials and checking my wedding blog resources, its still unclear to me whether or not this is legal. I asked my mom to check around with the friendly neighborhood family lawyers and see what they say. In the mean time, the person who I originally had in mind is unable to do this for us, so its back to the drawing board on this idea too.

So, if anyone has had any experience with J.O.Ps in Livingston County, or is familiar with any of the professionals in the Rochester area, I'd more than welcome some recommendations!

Exactly 11 months to go...

2009-07-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

So far we have the location, photographer and... as of last week, the dress!! I purchased a store sample off E-bay of the exact Maggie Sottero dress I wanted, in my size, for less than half the price I would have paid if I had bought it new! Fabulous!

It arrived in the mail last Wednesday and I was thrilled. I ran right upstairs after camp to check it out. Mike was confused by the deceptively small box, but there it was in perfect shape! It will need a few alterations, but then it will be perfect!

Onions aren't just for salsa...

2009-06-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Finally, things are getting checked off the list!

Once we had a date and a location to work with, I was able to narrow the long list of photographers I had in a spreadsheet to just a few. From there, Mike and I checked out prices and websites and came to a decision- Onion Studios from Buffalo.

I met Dylan and his assistant at a Bridal show at the Pearl Street Brewery in Buffalo in February. I was impressed right away. His set up was clean, relaxed and informative. He was friendly, but didn't immediately jump down my throat like some of the other booths at the show. There were photos displayed around the table and a series of them scrolling on a computer monitor. The pictures were mostly in the photo journalistic style that I liked, but there was something different about them. I really liked the architectural elements and angles that he used. Standing there, watching the photos scroll across the screen, I saw a photo of my art teacher from high school. I mentioned it to Dylan. He said, "Oh yes, that's so-and-so. He got married to so-and-so at such-and-such a place so many years ago" I was impressed. That he would remember someone's wedding and their names gave me the impression that he really cared. Coupled with some obvious talent with the camera and a good amount of experience, that was the kind of person I was looking for to help capture my day.

Not to mention that his prices were very reasonable and he was very nice about negotiating. Saving money always helps :) Now, I definitely have some friends with great camera skills too. But I don't think that its fair to ask them to step outside of the enjoyment of the day to be the photographer. Still, we'll probably get a flickr page or something going to collect everyone else's photos too.. The more taken, the more likely we'll have ones we like!

So, photography... check. Next up: the dress, the officiant, the food (which may or may not include some salsa)

Fun website

2009-06-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

I forgot to give recognition in my last post for that little quote at the top. Its from a new addition to my Google reader, i can read.

The website is a ever growing collection of images and quotes. I'm such a sucker for things like that.

Here's a few to get you hooked too...
I think I'll have to put this in one of Mike's books.

As Mike and our high school friends know.

This last one goes out to all the bridesmaids... Rawr!

Our wedding has a home

2009-06-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to say that Mike and I have finally made a decision on where we will have our special day, Sweet Briar in Geneseo, NY! Both of us are really happy with the place and know it will be a beautiful backdrop for an intimate celebration with our closest family and friends! And it all happened because I missed a train....

Long story short, I miss read the time on my ticket by 20 minutes, missed the train and came up with the great idea of having Mike meet my mom, sister and I in Geneseo (about half way between where my two homes are) to check it out! I showed them around the place, because Will, the owner, was busy with a rehersal dinner, and they loved it as much as Bridesmaid Jamie and I did in May. So we grabbed Will and signed a contract, for exactly one year from the day! :)

Its so nice to have that decision done with, and with the place I kept coming back to every time I sat down to think about our wedding.

My last few post were only a small percentage of the locations that we looked for. Since I've graduated and summer camp hasn't started yet, I had time to do some serious searching. Bridesmaids Jenny, Jamie and Holly all got in on the act. It got pretty stressful there for a while. There may have even been a few tears. I wanted to make sure that we could find the best place for our money, which isn't a whole lot. So I searched and searched Buffalo, the finger lakes, Rochester and Syracuse. I wrote tons of e-mails. I made spreadsheets. But every place, I compared to Sweet Briar. As the days ticked away, I got more and more nervous we'd not find a better place and miss out on one that I knew I liked. As my mom says, everything happens for a reason. If I hadn't missed the train, Mike would have never seen the place, fallen in love with it too and agreed to make it our place. I'm happy its done and we have a beautiful location!

So, if there are any ladies out there that need some ideas in the Western/Central NY area. Let me know, because I know what its like to be stressing over that....

Happy things :)

2009-06-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing, the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming happily. So am I... more details to come!

Potential Wedding Location: The Sweet Briar Inn

2009-05-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

Because Mike is very consumed with the completion of his thesis, I'm really working hard to narrow down the list so we can have a place picked out by the end of June. (You wouldn't believe how fast places are being snapped up!) Since I was back out in the WNY area, I decided to spend some time checking out our selections out that way.

Bridesmaid Jamie and I took a trip last Friday out to The Sweet Briar Inn, which is just a hop, skip and a jump away from our alma mater, SUNY Geneseo and neither of us had a clue of its existence! One of my mom's co-worker's daughters is getting married there this summer and tipped me off. I'm so glad she did, because this is definately the place I'm most in love with so far! I have to say, I was a little reluctant posting this because I didn't want to give away my little secret. Like all the good places I've found so far, the number of days that they have available for next year is quite limited!

Like the Hillside Inn, this used to be a private estate. Its has the long driveway and in the middle of no where. This place steps it up a bit more though. The inside is all gleaming hardwood floors and earth tones and hundred year old murals on the walls! The place is also a spa. What more could you ask for the day before your wedding!?

The site has lots of wandering space, a nice white tent already on site, and a two beautiful sites to have the actually ceremony!

The first area is a little bluff overlooking the Genesee Valley. I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the stones on the ground are the foundation of a little old chapel that used to be on the grounds. How cute! To get to the bluff, the wedding party walks about 400m down a windy path of cedar trees. What an entrance! Plus, we wouldn't need too much in way of decor because of the natural beauty of the landscape!

Here's Jamie standing in as the bride, because as usual, she was dressed way cuter than me!

The second location is in the yard with the actual ceremony on the steps on the side patio of the house. Again it has a lot of natural/structural beauty and wouldn't need much decoration. See those pretty greens, that's Wisteria, which when in bloom, looks like a dripping purple grapevine and smells amazing!

Other amazing things about this place include the fact that you can get it for the whole weekend to yourself! I can see myself now, the day before the wedding, getting spa treatments and hanging out by the endless pool with my soon to be husband and my best friends. Sigh...

In other words, I need to get my butt in gear, check out some of the lingering possibilities on the list and get a deposit in somewhere, quick!

I heart NPR

2009-05-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

It was definitely my savior on my 45 minute drives to student teaching . If I were an NPR host, my name would be Jessicra Leenane.

I'm a winner! (again!)

2009-05-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

Wow. I really must be lucky... or maybe its just the enormous amount of blogs that I read that have contests I enter. I'm a little obsessed, but came you blame me? I keep winning! Now, I just need to win something for the wedding.

So, Thank Yous to:
VintageGlam Weddings and {sweeter than me} designs (a great Etsy seller!) for these two pairs of great earrings! I wore the ones on the left for my graduation. They both have the romantic vintage feel that I love! Thanks so much ladies!

My second round of thanks goes to Focus Organic and Niagra Conservation for this lovely little house...
filled with eco-goodies!It includes a whole bunch of things to help make our house more energy and water efficient. We definitely could have used these in our crazy old house this past winter! I think we're going to hold on to the stuff and install it in our next place, once we find out where that will be!

Thanks again for all the great giveaways fellow bloggers! Keep it up! :)

So, I've been a bit slacker....

2009-05-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

But really only in blogland, because recently:

* I had some crafty moments
* I won some cool things from other blogs
*I finished student teaching
* I graduated with my master's degree in Deaf Education
* I've been applying for teaching jobs like crazy...
* I got a kayak as a graduation gift from my parents (Thanks Mom and Dad!). A sweet Dagger Alchemy 140S in Flame color :)

I have a few weeks now before my summer job starts, so I'll really try to get back into the swing of posting! (Unless I spend all my free time out on the lake... but I can't really be blamed for that. Really, just look at that awesome kayak!)

Potential Wedding Location: The Hillside Inn

2009-05-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

Mike and I are slowly narrowing down our list of potential wedding locations. I'm not sure if its actually going to be possible, but I set a goal of having our location picked out by the end of June. Places are starting to be booked and filled for next year already and I'd really hate to miss out on a place we love because we were procrastinating. So, last weekend I decided to take advantage of some already planned trekking (btw.. this word is spelled stupidly, seriously... why do you need two ks!?) and stopped in Wyoming, NY to check out the Hillside Inn. Thanks to Pamela for the great suggestion!

The Hillside Inn is a cute Inn in the middle of nowhere, which is one of our criteria! It sits up on a hill and is surrounded by yard. The house itself is cute and the wedding party could stay there. The lady who walked me around was very nice. She explained that most weddings took place on the front lawn (pictured above). Then there's a little herb garden to the right of the house where cocktail hour takes place. As for the reception, we could either do a tent outdoors, or there is a little "party house" that can be used too. It is basically a big sided gazebo with a fireplace inside. Its a pretty blank slate in there so we could set it up the way we need.
As far as looks go, this place is staying on the list. The prices for food and such seem pretty decent too. Hillside Inn has offically become a green icon on my Google maps. Next week I'm going to be out in the Buffalo area for my graduation (!!) and I hope to check out one of the places that is, on paper, towards the top of the list: Becker Farms in Gasport, NY.

Oh so pretty!

2009-04-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Remember that post about anthropologie being a store I drool over, but can't really afford? Well... I found this great lady who can MAKE anthropology-like pretty things and, even better, recycles other clothes to make them!

Just look at this great shirt here! Even better, she's GIVING IT AWAY!

Oh, fingers crossed!

Dude, (I'd) look like a lady!

2009-04-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

I've been looking around a bridesmaid dresses (don't worry ladies, I'm still letting you pick... just getting ideas!) and it made me want to wear a pretty dress myself! Specifically, one that I can wear on some of the beautiful sunny days that are coming up!

I'm becoming obsessed with Anthropologie, even though their prices are a bit rich for my blood. I'm thinking for these ones, I may save up to get one for my rehearsal dinner!

Finely Furrowed D ress

Somewhere, Anywhere Dre ss

One Hundred Summits

Drool.....

Wedding Location Update

2009-04-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of our possible wedding locations map that unfortunately keeps getting more points instead of fewer!

Last update about the wedding location search we were just shy of twenty places, well spread out over the state. Since then, we've checked out a few more places and weeded some out. Thats good.... but we've also added some more to the list. This brings us to a total of 25 possible places! Ugh! I'd really like if we had this figured out by the end of the summer.

Ps. If you know of any good places that we're not considering yet, please let me know! What would one more place to consider really hurt...

Here's the current list:
BUFFALO-ISH
Knox Farm State Park: East Aurora, NY- OFF THE LIST, would need way too much rented to have the event there.
Kloc's Blossom Grove: West Seneca, NY
Avanti Mansion: Buffalo, NY
Bever Hallow: Java, NY- OFF THE LIST, a bit too pricey

ROCHESTER-ISH
Hurd Orchards: Holley, NY
Glendoveers: Rochester, NY
Bristol Harbor: Canadaguia, NY- OFF THE LIST, a bit too pricey
Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum: Canadaguia, NY
Crystal Barn: Pittsford, NY
Springdale Farm Bed and Breakfast: Victor, NY
Casa Larga: Fairport, NY
Hillside Inn, Wyoming, NY

SYRACUSE-ISH
The Lodge at Welch Allyn: Skaneateles Falls, NY (We checked this place out today and liked the budiling. We want to see what the grounds look like when there is some foliage living)
Skyline Lodge: Fabius, NY ( We checked this out one day last month, its in a county park and is pretty. We'll need to see what it looks like once things are growing again)
Arrowhead Lodge: Bridgeport, NY
Camp Brockway: Pompeii, NY (Demoted to a Maybe, because the area is nice, but the building needs some serious repairs)
The Wellington House: Fayetteville, NY- OFF THE LIST, we didn't really like the view of the McDonalds Drivethru.
Green Lakes State Park: Fayetteville, NY- OFF THE LIST, not private enough
Logan Ridge Estate: Hector, NY-
John Joseph Inn and Elizabeth Resturant: Groton, NY
Taughannock Farms Inn: Trumansburg, NY- OFF THE LIST, too small and not pretty enough
Six Mile Creek Vinevards: Ithica, NY
Lorenzo State Historic Site: Cazenovia, NY-Really pretty area and nice view. We'll have to check out later about using the buildings.
The Brewster Inn: Cazenovia NY- OFF THE LIST, not private enough
The Genny Lee: Lodi, NY- OFF THE LIST, required having more people than we're likely to have.
Ezperanza Mansion: Bluffpoint, NY
Chateau LaFayette Reneau: Hector, NY

Beautiful Bridal Brigade!

2009-03-24T17:47:00.001-07:00

Its official! All of my lovely ladies have said yes! I will be having four wonderful women standing next to me on such an important day of my life! I feel really lucky that I have a group of girls that all know each other well, as well as Mike and I as a couple very well. They all get along great too, so I know we'll have a blast! I've decided not to have a Maid of Honor because of each of these women have been very important to me at different stages of my life. Here's a quick run down of the Bridal Brigade!

Holly- a slightly older cousin who has known and loved me since before I was born. Its pretty easy to tell from the picture that we're related. We're known for being the "giggly girls" in the family. She's also planning a wedding for the same year as me and I'm her maid of honor! She's a graphic designer so I'm hoping she'll bring her design talent to the team!

Jenny- my best friend since late elementary school. She and I actually both started out liking Mike and I'm the lucky one that ended up with him! She's been there to support me for a long time and somehow hasn't run away yet! No matter how long its been since we have last talked, we always pick up just the same as we did in high school between periods. She has a lot of talents, one of which is lots of experience in a bakery. We may get brave and try to make a cake for the wedding together!
Corey- we were randomly assigned roommates freshman year of college and ended up living together for all four years! Corey was the one who supported me through the few months where Mike and I decided we should try not being together and saw how crazy that made me. She also was a big source of fashion advice, so I'm hoping she help make sure I look good in those pictures I will some day show my children! Corey's the one who lives the farthest away and is deep in the trenches of medical school, so I'm happy that she said yes to help me out!
Jamie- another beloved college roommate! I was actually friends with Jamie's now ex-boyfriend before I was friends with her. When we needed another person for our apartment Junior year, we thought Jamie would be a "safe" choice. If we only knew what we were in for! Jamie's another one with an eye for fashion and style and has such a sweet heart! I can't believe that I have known Jamie the shortest amount of time out of all four ladies- it feels like we're old high school friends! So that's my beautiful crew. I know we'll have lots of fun and they won't complain too much when I recruit them for all the crafty projects I'm planning! Most importantly, I know I can trust all four of these women with anything and I know that they all can get me through anything. They all have proven this time and time again. Not to mention the fact that each one of them can have me rolling on the floor in laughter in no time! So, Thanks girls! You make me so happy!

Your Friendly Neighboorhood Avon Lady!

2009-03-24T17:45:00.001-07:00

It all happened very fast and kind of by accident, but I'm selling Avon now! I don't have a personal site that you can order from quite yet, but if you see anything that you like, let me know!

I'm a winner!

2009-03-06T11:18:00.001-08:00

The luck of the Irish must be with me lately!

I've been having some good luck lately as far as giveways go. I've won 2 prizes from blogs and one from a bridal show! I enter tons all the time and I'm hoping that this good luck streak will land me with a prize for something for the wedding! Fingers crossed!

The first prize, from the bridal show, was courtesy of Pampered Chef. It is a great batter bowl with a lid. This will really help me out in my cooking endevors in the kitchen, including the possible attempts at wedding cake....?
Here's a picture of it, the "Classic Batter Bowl". Thanks again Pampered Chef! I'll definitely be looking into registering with you for the wedding!

Next, I got word that I won a giveaway from Wedding Chicks, another on the great wedding blogs that I read frequently. The prize was a 10 oz. bar of Cor complexion soap. If you know me, you'll know that I've been struggling with my skin for a long long time, and even under the care of a dermatologist I haven't made much headway. So I'm going to give this soap a try and hopefully it will do me some good! I'll let you know after I've used it long enough to make a determination. Either way, it would be one more thing to try, so thanks Wedding Chicks!

Then, after all this good news, I got another notice that I was a winner! This time it was from With This Ring, yet another GREAT wedding blog that I check out pretty much daily to help me get ideas. This was for a sound track for the movie "She's Just Not That into You". I liked the sound of it online, it made me think of the driving down the highway. I haven't received the CD yet, but I heard from the people the other day. They said that they were sending it out shortly and asked for my shirt size too! So thanks to you too, With This Ring!

Pups and Popular culture

2009-02-23T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well I made it back from NC, not thawed, but happy to have visited a lovely little blossoming family that I'm happy to be related to. Now that my computer and camera have gotten over whatever tiff they are having and start talking to each other again I can post some pictures of the cute couple and their dogs (one of which almost came home in my suitcase!).

Here's the cute couple on a not very warm beach. Wanna know something adorable? They always seem to be holding hands, especially in the car. Awwww, my little brother is in love :)

Here's the little guy I wanted to steal. His name is Deisel. He's part boxer. He's part pit bull. His feet are over sized. He's going to be enormous some day.

And here's the not so little guy, Torque, who is also lovable, but would probably eat me if I tried to take his Deisel away. As usual, he's making his "stupid face", lip over bottom teeth, tongue hanging out just a little bit.

They are really cute when they play together!

And now for something completely different....

Pop Culture Give-in #1
On the way back home from NC I gave in and bought a book (which I haven't done in a while, thanks to my obsession with Bookmooch.) That book was Twlight, by Stephanie Meyer.

I've heard a lot of women, young and old have fallen for this book and I just wasn't sure if I was going to be one of those people. Still, it was one of the cheaper books on the airport bookstore shelf and one of the only ones I had heard of, so I gave in. After the first chapter, I wasn't convinced. By the time I got halfway though, I had to finish it THAT DAY. It was good. A little romance doesn't hurt in a novel, but the way that the author captures the feeling of new romance was dead on. I remembered how I felt when Mike and I first started dating, when I felt like my nerve endings were on fire with the smallest brush of his hand. Sigh. When he picked me up at the airport, I gave him a great big kiss and it felt wonderful. I can't wait to read the next three!!

Pop Culture Give-in # 2

On Saturday, Mike and I decided to go see the movie Coraline in theaters. One of the major reasons I wanted to see it was because of all the hype that I had been hearing about its 3D that was supposed to be really good. When we went up to the counter to buy the tickets, but after Mike had forked over the money (thanks sugar daddy!), the cashier said "It's not in 3D, just so you know." Doh! Oh well, we went in and settled down just in time for the start of the movie. (Arriving 10 minutes late apparently means you're not subjected to advertisement-for future reference).

The movie itself was cute and creepy and similar in style to the Nightmare Before Christmas. There were some parts where Mike and I looked at eachother, laughing, thinking... did that just happen? I'd recommend it... but if you get a chance to watch in 3D, please let me know what you think. I might be a little jealous.

Hello, Goodbye!

2009-02-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

A quick note before I head out of town. I'm flying down to North Carolina to visit my brother and his wife and "the boys" (their two enormous Boxer puppies). (Isn't that a cute picture of them from their wedding last year!?) I'm hoping thaw out a little bit down there! Whoo upper 50s!

You may have noticed my blog has been spruced up a bit with a lovely little background, thanks to Simply Chic Blogs. Thanks to them for helping me make this place a little less boring, all for the wonderful price of..... free!

I'll be back Thursday night, pending good weather. It will be just in time to dive into my study materials for my certification test! Take care everyone!

Searching, Searching

2009-02-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

The wedding planning has officially begun! Mike and I have started looking into all the necessary things, photographers, dresses, locations, people to be involved... there's so much to think about! Location is at the forefront right now because that will help determine the types of decorations and dress, and will help us pick the vendors that we might need. We're looking everywhere in WNY and CNY since we have connections to both. We'd like to have our outdoor wedding and reception in the same place. We're looking for a location that is private, has a great outdoor space and a great indoor space, either for dinner or just incase the weather takes a turn for the worse. We also want something not too huge and that has some character. Neither are the type to appreciate a hotel ballroom.
So here's the list of places we're considering (including those that have been dropped). If you have any ideas, please feel free to contribute!

BUFFALO-ISH
Knox Farm State Park: East Aurora, NY
Kloc's Blossom Grove: West Seneca, NY
Avanti Mansion: Buffalo, NY
Bever Hallow: Java, NY- OFF THE LIST, a bit too pricey

ROCHESTER-ISH
Hurd Orchards: Holley, NY
Glendoveers: Rochester, NY
Bristol Harbor: Canadaguia, NY- OFF THE LIST, a bit too pricey
Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum: Canadaguia, NY
Crystal Barn: Pittsford, NY
Springdale Farm Bed and Breakfast: Victor, NY
Casa Larga: Fairport, NY

SYRACUSE-ISH
The Lodge at Welch Allyn: Skaneateles Falls, NY (We checked this place out today and liked the budiling. We want to see what the grounds look like when there is some foliage living)
Skyline Lodge: Fabius, NY ( We checked this out one day last month, its in a county park and is pretty. We'll need to see what it looks like once things are growing again)
Arrowhead Lodge: Bridgeport, NY
Camp Brockway: Pompeii, NY (We tried to check this place out, but the driveway was closed for the winter)
The Wellington House: Fayetteville, NY- OFF THE LIST, we didn't really like the view of the McDonalds Drivethru.
Green Lakes State Park: Fayetteville, NY
Logan Ridge Estate: Hector, NY
John Joseph Inn and Elizabeth Resturant: Groton, NY
Taughannock Farms Inn: Trumansburg, NY- OFF THE LIST, too small and not pretty enough
Six Mile Creek Vinevards: Ithica, NY
Lorenzo State Historic Site: Cazenovia, NY
The Brewster Inn: Cazenovia NY
The Genny Lee: Lodi, NY- OFF THE LIST, required having more people than we're likely to have.

Thats 19 locations, not counting the 5 that have already been dropped off the list, in case you weren't keeping track. I'm not opposed to adding some more to check out, so if you know of any place, please let me know!

*Image Via Rodney Smith

Morning Elegance.

2009-02-03T19:04:00.001-08:00

Wow! Posting three days in a row is an unheard of record for me... mostly because I am NOT studying for my upcoming teaching certification test- oops.

Now a days, I have quite a commute to school which means a really early wake up and trust me, there is no elegance in it. Just a lot of stumbling and groaning.

I found this beautiful song/music video called "Her Morning Elegance" on Black*Eiffel, which is another lovely little blog on my long list of daily reads. I think the song is beautiful and catchy and the video is so clever!

I really wonder what I would look like if I was videoed in my sleep. I'm sure it would be an interesting experience!

*I couldn't figure out how to embed the video, so here instead is a picture of the morning elegance that Mike captured coming over the mountains at Alta. :)

Happy February!

2009-02-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

Back in January, Mike and I took our "engagement honeymoon" to Utah. (I knew about the trip many months before I knew about the engagement part) Mike took way, way more great photos than I did. (Check them out here. ) It was a wonderful time and we both came home with all four limbs fully functioning, although there were a few close moments when there were white our conditions and thigh deep powder. But who am I to complain.... :)

The picture above is from the Alta ski resort outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. We spent days 1 and 3 of our skiing there and day 2 at Snowbird, pictured below.

At last, an update! Holiday Craftiness!

2009-02-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have totally been slacking on my posting, but I have a good excuse. After Mike and I returned from Utah, I started my first student teaching placement of my master's program at a great school for the Deaf. Hopefully, I'll get to posting about that later. For now, here are the as promised details of my holiday craftiness.

The first was a Secret Hollow Book that I made for Michael. I got the directions from the How to do Stuff blog and it was a pretty easy, though somewhat time consuming project.

I took a trip to the local used book store to pick out the book. I had a little trouble at first, because I wanted to get a book that was hard cover and large enough to hold something. It also had to be a book that would be expected to be in Mike's collection, but not one that he would be upset about not being able to actually read. I settled on a wine encyclopedia that was updated for 1980.

Without its dust cover on it was a simple white book with just a little bit of texture. I thought it would look nice on a shelf in the office. Then it was time to break out the decoupage and paint brushes which i had from a chair project I never finished several years previously...

After it was all glued together, I had the arduous process of cutting out the middle. This took several hours and made a lot of mess. But the finished project was worth it!

I filled it with several little gifts and wrapped it up. Mike seemed pretty happy about the finished project and hopefully will be used in our house for quite some time.

The next gift was another idea that I stumbled upon though some blogs I read. This one was from With this Ring, one of the many wedding inspiration blogs that I read. It was a really cute and really simple apron made from a tea towel. I decided this would be cute for Jenny as well as a good hostess gift for Cassandra who was going to be taking care of us while we were in Utah.

This is the one I made for Jenny, I bought some cute matching towels from Bed, Bath and Beyond so I could add a pocket to the original design and give her another towel to have that matched.

Here's the basic design.

The only sewing in the basic design was attaching the buttons. The ribbon is actually just tied around the buttons.

Here's the finished product with pockets. They were pretty simple to put on, but I think they add a lot to the design. I also gave Jen a bag of Wegman's loose leaf tea. Last year I gave her a reusable tea basket (which you use in place of tea bags). I like to try encourage good eco-friendly habits in my friends when I can- plus its handy and the tea tastes bettter!

I also decided to make Mike an apron. I didn't have a whole lot of time when I came up with this idea and I thought he'd like a full one, so I went with embelshing a pre-made one instead of making my own or another tea towel one.

I picked one up at my favorite store, Wegamans. I decided to embroider it, even though I've never done that in my life. My strategy was to print out a letter from Microsoft Word, copy it on to tissue paper. Then I pined it to the apron and use an embrodery needle I got with a set and some thread that I had leftover from my friendship bracelet days.

I think the finished product again came out really nicely!

I did a few other crafty things, but I think this is plenty of showing off for one day. :)
I'll try to be back soon with a little bit about our Utah trip and goings on in my life right now. Take care everyone!

Stuff

2008-12-30T19:24:00.000-08:00

I really should be working on finishing up projects or packing for the Utah trip (we're leaving in 32 hours! Ah!) but instead I'm surfing my way through google reading. Bad me. I found this neat list and thought I'd share.
I promise I'll get more of my crafty projects up soon, I just need to get on loading the photos on to the computer.
I'll be gone hopefully enjoying the snow out west and will be returning, hopefully with all limbs intact on the 7th.
Have a Happy New Year!

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland/world
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo- I was about 7 and it went horribly wrong.
11. bungee jumped
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch- if sewing, with a little help, counts
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of Liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the mona lisa in france
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing- only indoors. I'd like to go for real sometime soon.
40. seen michelangelo's david in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistene chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris
51. gone snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud-I miss the mud!
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies.
62. gone whale watching- we tried to once when I was a kid, but the weather was too rough. Then the door fell off our van...
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood- but I can't anymore because I keep passing out!
65. Gone skydiving
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a cheque
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in london
77. broken a bone- I'm pretty surprised about this one. Knock on wood. (doh... big ski trip coming up!)
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible- I tried to once for a class. I got bored.
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating- if a fish counts
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person.
96. swum in the great salt lake.
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

The engagement.... :)

2008-12-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

I have already had to tell this story a million times, but here it is once more so I can say to future questions, "please refer to my blog". :)

And to answer it before anyone else asks, nope, we don't have a date yet! Except for maybe February 29th. Hah. (I am totally loving all the questions though :) As my grandma said, I can be heard smiling over the phone line. )

It all started Christmas eve day. It began a little rough with a 6 am wake-up to ambulances and police at my house. My grandfather and grandmother from Florida were up visiting and my grandfather had fallen when he got up that morning. He was taken to the nearest hospital where he, my mom and grandmother spent the rest of the day. It turns out he had a small bleed in the brain/stroke called a ...(Corey, insert correct terminology here). Many of the Christmas day activities then passed to me, not to mention my last minute gift making and wrapping. I was a little stressed.

Mike and I had planned to spend a little time at my house that night then go to his mom's to have snacks, sit by the fire and open presents. When I talked to him that afternoon and told him the story, he was concerned about exchanging gifts. I told him it would cheer me up and be better to keep things the way they were.

Mike came over that evening and had a few snacks so I be there when we did the traditional Christmas eve open one gift time. We always get Pjs. Ali was getting some that would match the American girl doll that she would be getting the next morning. Then we made our way to the door to go to Mike's mom's house. I slipped on a pair of clogs, but Mike grabbed my boots and brought the along. (Hmmm..)

We got in the car and Mike told me that my gift required a scavenger hunt. This wasn't completely out of the ordinary, I had made him do such things in the past for a gift. (but still... hmmmm..) I guessed in two guesses that we'd be heading to the local park, a place that we had spent alot of time together.

We arrived and I booted up. We had a lot of snow from a storm earlier in the week, but it had been raining all day so it was a little flat and soggy, but still pretty. It was dark and the houses around the park were prettily lit. There was no one else around. We started tromping through the snow, Mike giving me seemingly random "hot" and "cold" directions. I kept looking at the ground for a gift of some sort, but there wasn't much to see except snow. Then he told me to stop and "Look over there" towards a house with a christmas tree lit up in front of it. I looked, and didn't see anything gift-like. He told me to look again. I looked, but only saw that christmas tree. Then I sensed movement behind me felt a tug on my jacket and turned around to Mike on his knee with ring box in hand!

He asked and I dropped to my knees too, kissed him and said yes! The ring is beautiful and I was never happier to have wet socks and wet knees.

Here it is :)

Now this gets to be a wedding planning blog too! Yay!

Tis the season to unleash my craftiness

2008-12-14T10:01:00.000-08:00

Firstly, I'd like to congratulate myself and my classmates for surviving our last semester of classes, ever! Only student teaching left and I'm work bound (hopefully)!

That said, it is now time to focus on the holiday season and for me that means lots of fun, crafty projects! I've never had a lot of money for gifts, and I really want to give gifts that will be meaningful to the recipient. So often my solution is so make things! This winter I already completed gifts for my classmates and teachers, lovely little bags of homemade truffles! I even made the gift tags (getting good at paper crafts is another goal of mine). Here are some pictures of the progress.

Each person was to receive three homemade truffles. Ali was a big help with some of them, so there were a couple that I *had* to eat because they were a bit misshapen. The three kinds were chocolate truffle dunked in coconut, mocha truffle covered in white chocolate and dusted with hot chocolate powder and chocolate truffle dunked in hot chocolate powder.

I found these fun paper supplies, stamps and twine as well as some cute little gift bags at Michaels... definitely things that I can use again for crafting or classroom use!

I created some hang tags for the little gift bags :) I wanted a bit og a rustic/homemade look and I think they came out nicely! You can't really see in the picture, but in the bottom corner of each one is a punched out hand print. I thought that was a great little symbol for all of us aspiring signers! I ended up handwriting a little note on the back of each one.

The finished project! 17 gift bags of truffles :)

I have a few other crafty projects in mind, including simple fabric dolls for my cousin's daughters, and a dress for another cousin. There are a couple more, but I don't want to mention them just in case the recipient is reading...

Giving Thanks

2008-11-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and was able to take some time away from the craziness of work or school to relax and enjoy life.
As is tradition in my family we spent thanksgiving in Syracuse with my Dad's side of the family. This is one of the few times a year when most of that family can be all together. It also was bitter sweet, the first holiday season without my grandpa. I also got to see my new baby cousin Molly. What a little cutie!

Then it was back home to have dinner with my brother, my sister in law, my family and Mike. That was really nice too. My brother and sister in law live down in NC, at least for now while he finishes training for the Marines. I definitely wish they were closer because I'd like to see their little family developing (Them, Toque the big goofy boxer, and two Chamelions, Chomper and Ducky... I can wait a few more years for nieces and/or nephews!).

Thanksgiving is about being thankful, so I wanted to briefly post a few things that I'm thankful for right now (not an all inclusive list or in any particular order)

1. It being almost the end of the last semester of college classes ever- Whee!
2. Having a family in which there is never a dull moment.
3. Getting the creative juices flowing- especially on designing stuff for Holly's wedding!
4. Having an amazing boyfriend out there in Syracuse who is working in a great real person job, taking care of a rented house that was damaged by years of old lady trying to fix things and working on his thesis at the same time! (if you're reading this- Get back to work!)
5. Having an amazing boyfriend who doesn't get too mad at me about bugging him to work on his thesis....
6. Google reader- informative and wonderful procrastination tool all at the same time! Plus great for helping me out with #3! (did i mention that I'm a teensy bit of a hypocrite when it comes to procrastination?)
7. One of the little kiddos I'm working with remembering the order of the alphabet all the way to N for two days in a row! Woo! Simple pleasures of being a teacher!
8. The count down to my Utah trip is down to less than a month! (more about this later!)

What are you thankful for?

Nostalgia

2008-11-24T16:34:00.000-08:00

I'm nostalgic for the 30s and 40s..... a romanticized version of course. Recently, I watched Kit Kitterage, an American girl movie with my mom and sister. I wasn't sure I would be interested at first, but it ended up being a really good movie. It takes place during the depression. There were many heart wrenching moments showing the struggles people had during the depression and I was moved by those, but I have to say I was most interested in the life style. Firstly, I love the clothing that was worn. Women's clothes were very femine and flowy, yet practical. Then men were tailored and classic. The young girls clothes were pretty, but could stand playing outside. There were even some very stylish clothes made from chicken feed bags! I could totaly see myself wearing alot of the clothing that was worn, and I see my wardrobe moving in that direction. Not to mention my new love of vintage jewelery!
Here are some examples:

From the movie, aren't these girls outfits adorable! I would even wear them.

This is Kit and her Mom. I love the dresses!

Aside from the clothing, there were lots of other great things from this time period that I would love to incorporate into my life in the future: having a kitchen garden, doing lots of cooking, and sewing and crafty things inexpensively, and having genuine connections with neighbors, community and family that can be drawn upon in times of need.
Now I understand that there were a lot of awful things that happened during this time period, and this Thanksgiving I intend to ask my grandmother, who lived during the depression, to tell me about what it was really like. At this time though, I think I can say that this is my favorite American time period. What's yours?

These are a few of my favorite things....

2008-11-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

There are a lot a great websites out there for me to stare at when I don't want to do work and don't want to go to bed yet. One favorite is Etsy. I don't remember how I first found it, probably another blog about pretty things, but there certainly is a lot there for me to drool over and be distracted by.
Etsy is a website that is all about things that are handmade. Sure, there are the expected things like art, knitted things, knick nacks, but there are some other amazing things that you wouldn't expect! For now, i've just been favortiting all the things I love, and some day, when I have the money maybe I can get some of these pretty things:)
Here are a few examples of the great stuff I've found!
Beautiful Vintage Jewelery from Sweet Vintage

Cool Vinyl decals for putting everywhere from Tasty Suite

Beautiful, PLANTABLE cards from Grace Graphics (I actually bought some of these :) )

Fun and funky pins from Button Empire (though I can't quite buy these ones yet...)

There is tons more great stuff on the website, and everything is continually changing. They also have this great feature called Alchemy where you can request something be custom made for you. You include the details and a suggested price and sellers can bid on making it for you. With such a huge community of creative and truely skilled people you can end up with something really great for a cheaper price than you might find else where. I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard of it being used for all sorts of things, from wedding dresses to toys.
Now that I've gotten the idea of putting images into my blog (yay!) I'll try to occasionally post some of the cool stuff I'm finding in my internet wanderings. Maybe I can get someone hooked on these things like others have done to me!

Yay!

2008-10-31T11:15:00.001-07:00

I have a new baby cousin! Welcome Molly Erin Stedman, October 23 2008 :)

There's something breathing in my bathroom....

2008-10-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

It sounds like a funny children's book or comic, like the Calvin and Hobbes book my parent's have "Something Under the Bed is Drooling...", but I kept hearing this noise every time I went into the bathroom. At first I thought it was my bathroom-mate Kelly, sleeping. It was a soft sighing/hissing noise every 3 -5 seconds sounding like the relaxed exhalations of a dreamer. Sure, I heard it at weird times, but I thought Kelly was just getting in her beauty rest. Then, I heard it when she was at class- after I watched her walk out the door. Now, the walls in this bulding are pretty thin. Given the right circumstances I can hear that conversation is taking place 2 doors down, but a sleeper's breathing isn't something that exactly carries well. Seeing as it is Halloween time and I live in an ancient hogwarts like bulding, the thought of long dead nuns or deaf kids slumbering away in my bathroom closet did cross my mind. Tonight, though, mostly because I didn't want to do homework and Eli Stone wasn't on yet, I decided to investigate. I put my ear up to many surfaces in that room, until at last I found the culprate. After one nearly scaled ear later, I found out that it was our lovely old radiator, releasing steam in its pipes every few seconds. And.. Ah ha! A dial! Can I walk away without experimenting? No! Even though its almost red hot? No! So I turned it all the way one way and it made some noise, and I turned it all the way the other way and back and forth a few times- now my curiosity is satisfied, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to fiind out if my feet will freeze off or burn off when I go to take my shower.

Light the Night

2008-09-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

I went to Jacquie's wake and funeral. They were both very moving. Both times I had to wait in quite a long line to get in. A testament to how many people were touched by her life and her struggle with Leukemia. In my last post, I talked about how I had wanted to go give platelets. Well, I haven't yet because of time and I've been a bit sick. Now I'm not sure if I'm even going to go at all. I never used to be bothered by giving blood, but since I keep passing out (4 out of the 5 times I've given) I'm starting to develop a fear. Actually, right now even thinking about going to do it is starting to make me feel light headed. So, I've decided that if I can't bring myself to go give blood, I've got to do something else. I'm heading a team for the Light the Night for Leukemia and Lymphoma walk coming up in October. This means I'll be raising money and walking with a group of people in memory of Jacquie. If you'd like to join me in the walk or would like to donate some money, let me know and I'll send you the link. I know I won't be able to raise thousands of dollars like some big teams can, but I hope that my little contribution will help.
There are so many organizations I'd like to support, but being a poor college student (and soon, a poor teacher) there isn't much money for me to give. So I'm going to do my best with donating my time. One such organization is NPR. I listen to NPR almost every time I'm in my car. I subscribe to several of their podcasts as well, because I just can't get enough of their great shows like Cartalk, Wait, Wait.. Don't tell me!, Science Friday, Prairie Home Companion, This American Life and others. As a public radio station they depend on donations to keep their programming going. Everytime they have a funraising campagin I debate about giving to them. But in the end my money goes to my gas tank instead. So, this year I've started thinking about volunteering to be a phone operator for them. I contacted the person about this today, so we'll see if its a viable option. If I could go and answer phones for them for an hour or two, I'd feel better about not being able to contibute.

Goodbye Tink.

2008-09-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

I was planning to update my blog this weekend about the small goings on of a new semester and my new home #3 at St. Mary's, but after the news I got tonight none of that seems important enough. Tonight, one of my Geneseo classmates, sorority and pledge sister, and friend has passed away. For more than a year now Jacquie, whose friends and family knew her as Tink (far right in the picture), has been battling a form of juvenile Leukemia called A.L.L. She had so much support, from family, friends, sisters and even strangers as far away as England. Her blog, which her parents kept running for her (www.jacquieforall.com) was constantly being filled with words of enouragement. Still she had to go through chemo and a transplant, not once, but twice. I just can't believe that such a beautiful young woman, with so much left to do is gone now. She was going to be a teacher, but got sick in the middle of her student teaching. Its comforting that she is no longer in pain, but still difficult to bear. I had been planning on going up to Roswell to donate platelets to her and was still working up the courage. I tend to pass out after giving blood, and the last time I was on the couch for a whole day afterwards. I'm bothered that I wasn't brave enough to go through that, when upstairs in Roswell she was fighting for her life. Now, I'm determined to go, if not for Jacquie, then in her memory, so that maybe someone else will have a chance to live. If you're in the area, I urge you to look into it too. There is also going to be a bone marrow drive on the 16th of this month at Roswell. Its a quick and painless cheek swab to get into the donor list, and then you will be contacted if you're a match. A little more in the future is the Ride for Roswell in June. I'll be there. Jacquie will be missed by many people, but her stuggle has taught us all a lot. She will not be forgotten.

End of the summer

2008-08-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

So clearly, I'm still bad at this posting frequently thing. I can't guarantee it will improve either, because summer is over and my last year of schooling is about to begin. This summer was an interesting one, but it did not go out with a bang. Camp just sort of faded away and summer with it. My summer in Syracuse ended with me whimpering in the driveway saying good bye to seeing my best friend every day. Hello to twice a month and adding lots of miles to my odometer.
Now I'm back at home, trying to reorganize myself. It was so much easier in Syracuse when I didn't have much stuff. Sleeping in my own bed again is nice, possibly it has stopped my talking/ searching for kids and crab spiders in my sleep, but then again no one is in the room to witness it now.
At the very end of camp one of my 10 year old campers commented on how fast the summer had gone by for her. "It only gets faster, each year you get older. Faster and faster," I told her. If anyone has read "My Pretty Pony Time" by Steven King, you'll know what I mean when I say I really miss my pretty pony times. Sometimes I want time to slow way down so I can enjoy my youth and the fun times, like our table camping trip or going to the State Fair for the first time. It won't though.

Responsibility

2008-07-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't been so responsible about posting very frequently. Sorry about that, esp. since I've recently found out that I do have more than one reader. I'll try, really.
I've been thinking a lot about responsibility lately because there are a lot of things changing in my life that are requiring more of it from me and others close to me. One major thing that has happened recently was the marriage of my brother and his now wife Courtney. The nice, informal wedding took place on a very sunny 5th of July. Its still not sunk in yet, partly because my brother is so far away, training for the Marines in Pensacola, FL. and partly because I don't feel old enough to have a married brother yet. Weird.
Living in a house has been more responsibility for me as well. Living in an apartment in college for two years was a big help preparing me for all the cleaning, dishes, laundry, furnature arranging, etc, but having a yard and many more rooms that needed some help has added on. Mike and I have managed to clean up quite a bit, ripping up rugs, doily and other old lady paraphernalia removal and even painting in one room. This past weekend we spent some time working on the outside of the house, "the jungle" as the neighbors call it. There's still a lot to do, but we're making progress. In a way, its good practice having to do this stuff. It will prepare us for when we actually own a house, but without having to worry too much about the major issues. (IE- if the roof needs work here, thats the landlord's responsibility).
My job this summer has also been a big step up in the level of responsibility I have. I'm working at a summer camp (which shall remain unnamed- I signed a contract saying I woundn't) as the director in charge of the 10-12 yrd old program. This has been way different than any camp job that I've worked in the past. Instead of being in charge of 30 or so campers and spending the day with them, I'm spending snippets of a day amongst 8 groups of about 11 campers, with a mixture of meetings, paperwork, feilding phone calls from parents, and other miscillanious errands mixed in. For the first two weeks at least, I felt like I was student teaching again. I get to work about 20 min early, work 7 hours, then 2 hours extra for kids who need to stay later at camp, and then I would come home to do 2 more hours of paper work! This session has proved to be a little less intensive, mostly because I'm just reusing alot of what I did last time and just changing the names and numbers. Don't get me wrong, I do really enjoy being there and I know its going to help me grow professionally and look great on my resume. I think it has pretty much secured in my mind that I don't want to be an administrator later in life, I'd miss the interaction with the kids too much. Not to mention that kids are much easier to discipline than staff. I think that I'll be able to increase the time I spend with the kids as the summer goes on and I get better at oraganizing and deligating paper work and errands. Just as long as I don't have any more nights like last night- I woke Mike up at least once or twice "looking for the kids".

Things that I should be doing presently...

2008-05-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

But am not..

Watching video blogs in ASL to improve my receptive language skills
Meditating daily
Exercising daily
Making phone calls to friends to meet up (it would be so much easier on me if you called)
Writing in my blog weekly (I'm getting there on this one)
Posting the pictures I take
Saving money
Making real plans for a big trip
Making real plans for a small trip (namely a camping trip with the table crew in August. Sorry guys, I'm a little slow on the uptake)

Maybe this week will be different.... or not.

Whats your word?

2008-05-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been enjoying reading " Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I've been reading it for about a week and I'm nearly done. This is one of those books where I keep thinking of people that I want to share it with. The list has gotten very long!
In the first section of the book, in Italy, the author and another character are talking about how every city, and every person, has a word to describe it. The author thinks about what word could possibly describe herself and her life at that time and struggles to do it. I was thinking myself of what my word could be. Its difficult, because I feel like this part of my life is all about transitions. I'm looking forward to a lot of changes in the near future, but I'm still close to the past. I haven't crossed the threshold yet. I'm not really sure what my word would be. Maybe "foundations" because where I am right now is trying to get every thing set so I can build my dreams once school is done. The other word I was thinking was "hungry". Besides being physically hungry for food.. which I always am... I am hungry for learning and experience. I want to travel all over the world, meet people I would never meet here, try new challenges and enjoy all of it. I hope that my future holds all of this.
Another thing that brought out this sentiment is the arrival of the EMS catalog. Some women drool over purses and shoes, but this is my weakness. Looking through the summer gear guide I see on every page something that I wish I was doing this summer. Rock climbing, yoga, slack-lining, cliff-diving, kayaking, camping... okay, maybe not the page with the guy skateboarding... but he does have a cool t-shirt on! I don't have the gear or the money to do most of those things now, but I hope that when I do, I will have the time and ability to do so. I have a great life, I know, and lots of time left to do these things I want to do. ( I am going sky diving in June... one thing to cross off the list!) But every so once and while I feel like emulating the author of "Eat, Pray, Love", leaving everything behind and traveling around the world.

Condesending? Once

2008-05-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

I have a big fear of being thought of as condescending. I think someone told me once that I was, and though I don't remember who it was, or when or what it was regarding, it is something that has been bothering me for quite sometime. Its something that I have been trying to consciously change, and there are times when I feel that I have been condescending that I just feel awful about. One of the ways this appears in my daily life, especially at school, is regarding knowledge. I really get excited about things I know and I want to share that knowledge with other people. I'm sure thats why I am going to be a teacher, and probably (hopefully) will make me be a good one. Here's the scenario that I really struggle with. In classes a professor will be lecturing and will either pause, waiting for someone to finish the sentence with information we're supposed to know, or asks a direct question. Sometimes the information is right there in my head and I want to fill in the blank or answer the question right away. And sometimes I do. After this happens several times in a class, I realize, guiltily that I have been answering most of the questions. So I have to make a conscious effort NOT to answer, even if I know it, and even if no one else is saying anything for a minute or so. This is a big effort for me. I know that other people in my class know the answer and its not fair for me to just jump in all the time. Wait time, its called. Its a skill that teachers have to practice when questioning students, so maybe its good that I'm having to practice it now. Other times, I want to offer constructive criticism, like on the structure of powerpoints presentations, my pet peeve thanks to a great professor at SUNY Geneseo. Today told one of the girls in my class that her power point was excellent, and had a lot of great information, but that many of the pages had too much text and it was a little overwhelming to a viewer. I worry now that I hurt her feelings, when I just meant to help. Also, I want to add my 2 cents to topics that I know about, because I want other people to know the cool things I've found out. Today, a professor was giving a presentation on something that I had just done extensive research on for a paper. I had to practically bite my lips in order not to add something. I wasn't always this way actually. I remember teachers in late middle school and early high school telling me that I couldn't get an A unless I raised my hand more in class. I had to make a big effort to do that then. I remember keeping a tally of how many times I raised my hand in French class to make sure I was participating enough. Then, I think, as I became more confident with myself, I was able to raise my hand more. Its funny now that the same thing is having the opposite effect on how I feel about myself. I guess I'll just keep trying though.
So I left school feeling pretty rotten, with all the stuff mentioned above, as well as the stress of the end of the semester work load and exhaustion from a long day. I turned on NPR as I pulled out of the parking lot, as usual. Fresh Air, which is a arts show was on. They were talking about an indie film called "Once" that had won some Grammies, but that I had never heard of. But when they played a song from the movie in the introduction, called "Falling Slowly", my attention was immediately caught! I had heard this song before, as well as several others they played later in the show. It turns out that film is directed by a former member of the Irish band, The Frames, and the main male character is a singer for the band as well. This is a band that I was introduced to during my time in Ireland, and who I really enjoy, but don't hear about much here at home. I'm really excited now about seeing this movie, and watching the clips from the movie make me want to watch it more. That picked my spirits up a bit, and I will listen to The Frames for the rest of the night whilst I try to wade my way through the last remaining projects of the semester.

Fat and weathy or healthy and broke?

2008-04-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

Recently I bought some crystal light to-go, fiber and probiotic drink mixes. I thought that they would be cheaper than buying the delicious Naked juice I like so much, but offer some health benefits and encourage me to drink more water and its low in calories. So I tried the things and they were pretty good. But then I started to get headaches. I finally figured out that they came after I drank the mix stuff. So i checked the label and it contains aspartame, which causes headaches in many people. Needless to say, I won't be drinking those things anymore. Back to drinking just water so I can save money for school, a moped, and a trip to colorado (more about those in another post).
If I wanted to save money, but still drink things besides water, I could probably get a case of soda for the same amount as a couple bottles of the Naked juice. Clearly that would not be the healthier choice, but it would be healthier for my bank account. I'm miffed that it seems to be that way for healthy foods in general. I remember being a poor undergraduate student buying my own food and often would resort to the wegman's boxes of mac and cheese, 3 for $1, instead of making something with lean meat and veggies that would have served me better, but been much more expensive. I hope that as consumers in the US continue to demand healthier (for both people and the environment) alternatives, prices on these types of items will become more reasonable.

Sorry, not an artist.

2008-03-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wish i was more artistically talented. There have been so many times in my life when I get what I think is a great artistic idea in my head. I can picture it, down to the smallest details. Sometimes these artistic ideas are photographs I want to take, or paintings, and sometimes they are sculptures. I had one of those moments today. I was listening to NPR's "All Things Considered" about a guy who does sculptures made of nails. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87808787). I was listening to the descriptions of his art and all the different ways he used nails and my brain started going off on its own tangent. (which probably isn't good because I was driving, but I'll save that for another post.) I imagined a nail about half way hammered into a piece of hardwood (oak?) with a nice grain. The view would be from the side, so the nail could be seen penetrating the wood. Underneath the wood, where the tip of the nail would usually be seen, would be "roots". I'm not sure exactly what these would be made of, either small nails welded together, or wire, or more solid and realistic looking roots, but made of the same material as the nail. I visualized the sculpture pretty large, with the "nail" with a head about the size of a bar stool and the piece of wood similar to a small table. When I pictured it, it was in a art gallery with spot lighting, similar to the exhibits I have seen at Rochester's Memorial Art Gallery.
I would love to attempt a sculpture like this. Besides not having the time to spend on it or the money for materials, my general lack of artistic ability holds me back. In the past, I usually attempted my sculpture/photo/painting ideas, but so infrequently have they even approximated what I imagined, I've pretty much given up. I don't even have the drawing talent to sketch it out and have someone else make it for me! All I have now is my new digital camera, which will make attempts at any artistic photographs a little less painful, if I can figure out all the buttons.

That's not white paint... its me!

2008-02-07T18:08:00.000-08:00

I got a sunburn today. Not a bad one, just enough to make it look like I'm wearing blush when I'm not. It actually looks somewhat nice, but I know it's not good for my skin. Still, I typically don't expect to get any color in February!
I realize that I have fair skin. When I was in high school someone with all seriousness asked me if I had spilled some white paint on my blue track leggings. It turned out to be a few holes in the leggings revealing my skin... Okay, maybe I'm also on a medication that makes me a little more sensitive to light and maybe I didn't put my sunscreen on after I washed my face this morning, but considering the circumstances I didn't think I had to. Its February, its cold and has been mostly blah outside. I'm also cold all the time (which my 6 year old sister constantly reminds me of) and therefore, try to cover as much skin and possible to conserve precious heat. The sunburn occurred after a 30 minute drive to school, and although there was a nice bit of sun, the windows were all shut and I even had the little sun flap thing (what is that called anyway?) down!
So, today's unraveling of me? My face is daydreaming of summer time.

Responsible

2008-02-01T17:26:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been trying to be a responsible consumer, or at least thinking about what a responsible consumer is. I've been trying thinking about who I buy from, what materials the product is made from and if I should buy things at all. I'm trying.
One way of being a responsible consumer is really thinking about the personal worth of what you're buying. There's this book I've heard of and would like to read about someone who went a little more to the extreme than I think I ever could. Its called "Not buying it: My year without shopping." by: Judith Levine. I doubt I'll ever be brave enough to try an experiment like that, but there are plenty of ways
I've also been looking for companies/products that are socially/environmentally beneficial... or at least better for the environment than their alternatives. I really like the Bert's Bees products, for example. Besides just being nice products, they are not tested on animals, use recycled/recyclable packaging and part of the proceeds goes towards buying land for conservation. I've also started using Preserve razors lately too. I've read about them in the past and finally found them at Wegman's so I decided to give them a try. These are razors that the handle is made from recycled plastic (something like 60% comes from Stony Field Farm yogurt containers). On top of that, once you use them (they're disposable) you can get free packaging to send the handles back to Preserve where they make them into plastic lumber that picnic tables are made of! I don't know where these picnic tables go or are sold. Maybe I'd be helping them make double profits by giving them their materials back, but I guess thats okay because its keeping them out of the landfills.
Speaking of giving back materials, there are some neat recycling things I have found out about lately too. There are these paper recycling dumpsters at several locations around town, usually schools and churches. Depending on how much paper that place collects, the recycling company donates money to them! What a neat fund raiser :) I've found that I go through a lot of paper and typically take a paper bag over twice a month. Another great recycling thing I've found lately is a website called Book Mooch. Basically its a trading site for people to get rid of books they're finished with and "mooch" books that they want to read from other people... free! The more books that are shared, the less that are printed... which is bad for publishers, but good for the environment. And for my wallet... which most eco-friendly/organic things are not....
Maybe I'm just jumping on the environmentalism bandwagon that is so popular now. But is that really a bad thing?