Other Musings

It's February?

in

"I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once." -Jennifer Yane I received this in my email this morning and there couldn't be a more appropriate quote for this week. How is it already Thursday? Well I know one reason the days have slipped past- I caught a horrible sinus infection last Friday and was out of commission for about 5 days. Ugh. I don't normally get sick anymore, but when I do, I go all out :) Aches, fever, sore throat, coughing, you name it, I had it. So on Wednesday I finally crawled out of the bed and got to work catching up on the days I had missed. Surprisingly, I was able to get everything caught up and back on track and now, I am here with you all!

And guess what? It's February!! Meaning it's almost Valentines Day! Yay!!! And while I believe in showing people you love them everyday, not just February 14th, I do love the idea of having one day specifically set aside to remind us to really appreciate the love we have.

On that note, let me point out that I am not for the super materialistic side of this holiday. As wonderful as flowers (I don't say red roses here because I don't really like red roses) and chocolates are to receive, they are so cliche'. It takes no thought at all to head over to the grocery store and pick these up.

To me, Valentine's Day is all about the thought.

So over the next few days I'm going to share some of those thoughts :) Have a great night everyone!

It's Friday already?!

in ,

Where has this week gone?

Sorry to be so light on posts, but it's like the days have just flown by! Between switching printers, working on orders, talking with new clients, running errands etc. this week has been super busy. But a good busy.

And what is better way to end a busy week and kick off the weekend than with a birthday party?! Most of my friends were out of town last weekend on my actual birthday, so we decided to celebrate tonight and I can't wait! It's going to be a blast.

Speaking of birthdays (I have like 5 friends with birthdays this month), my best friend A turned 24 this Wednesday!! (Happy birthday!!) As you all know, I'm a big birthday person so I definitely waited until she went to work to go over to her place to drop off her presents and attack it with streamers. Nothing like coming home to a crepe paper chandelier and happy birthday signs!

Hooray for so many January babies and so much to celebrate!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!

Happy Birthday to me...

in , ,
via personal collection

Tomorrow is my birthday (!!) so today will be a 1/2 day of work and then the rest full of fun. J and I are going out with my sister and her boy to celebrate with dinner and drinks and then heading to visit my parents early the next morning. Not sure we'll be doing our normal Ben and Jerry's ice cream cake tradition, but if nothing else we'll have to stop by and have a cone after dinner. I love their chocolate therapy.

Something else I love? Birthday mail. It always makes me so happy to get things other than bills in our mailbox and to feel the love from my family and friends when I read the cards. Even anthropologie sent me a card (the one at the top.) Isn't it fun?! They are always so creative with their mailings. The candle on this one is actually a necklace to wear on your birthday. Can't wait to rock it.

And some non birthday related exciting news-

1) my new website is in the works and should be done very soon! (Huge thanks goes out my amazing friend Neil for helping me with this.) I am super stoked about this not only because it has a more streamlined look (which is what I want) but it also shows my new designs and way more examples of my wedding works. I can't wait to share it with everyone!

2) Meg is talking about me today over at A Practical Wedding! Head over to see what she has to say and if you are so inclined, leave a comment :)

3) my new business cards are in and look awesome. I love handing these out- the paper is so nice :)

Guess that's all for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and that your long weekend is filled with tons of fun and even more memories! See you Tuesday!

Checking out.

in

It's 3:22pm, I just finished painting the last 25 wedding invitations of one of the numerous orders I need to get finished and mailed out over the next month, and I realized that I haven't been outside all day. And it's BEAUTIFUL outside. *note I just took Bella out, so I guess that's not true anymore... Then I got to thinking about how the only "person" I had talked to (besides my husband) today was my black lab, and she doesn't really count because, well, she's a dog. not a person. and she doesn't "talk back" in a language I can understand. (And I'm pretty sure that her yawns/groans are not in agreement that I should take a break from work to watch "he's just not that into", but more so that she wants permission to curl up on the couch.)

So once I find my ipod, I'm heading to work out in the sunshine and cool air. And then I'll be putting on something cute and trendy (because despite my love for my alma mater, I am so not cool with being a walking advertisement for UGA right now- all the way down to my red ballet slippers.) and then calling my best friend to catch up.

Speaking of which, I am super thankful that I have such wonderful friends who will take the risk of being caught by their bosses to text/call/email me throughout the day to remind me there is a whole big world outside of the studio :)

I hope everyone is having an awesome Thursday- see you tomorrow!

wanting others to be happy

in ,
beautiful photo via peonies and polaroids

Meg wrote something in her post a few days ago that stuck with me because I think it is something EVERYONE experiences.

"... here is the key thing I learned: when people tell you they want you to do XXX, what they really mean is that they want XXX to make you happy, or they want you to be happy doing XXX. If you agree to do it, because you don't want trouble, fully knowing that XXX will make you miserable... nobody wins."

Isn't that the honest truth.

Whether we mean to our not, normally when we say things like "I just want you to be happy" when giving advice, it actually means "I want you to be happy taking my advice."

Haven't you heard this before? And I am not trying to say that it's ever meant maliciously, it's just the simple truth. People want others to listen to them and do what they think is right. Whether it's heard in wedding planning, party planning, buying a home, raising a family, dating, traveling- anything- the "I just want you to be happy/ whatever makes you happy" is just a passive way of saying "and you will be happy if you do exactly what I tell you to do." And what's worse is that no one wins with this type of statement.

If you do what you want to do, the advice giver is hurt. If you do what the advice give wants, it's normally not what you want and then you are unhappy. It's a lose/lose. So here is my take on it. Be a grown up and live a life that makes you truly happy.

Whether you are trying to decide on what flowers (or if any flowers) at your wedding, whether or not to take the plunge and actually follow your dreams to a new job/city/love, or simply deciding on what to do this weekend, listen to your heart, follow it, and then accept any consequences that come your way. (and in listening to your heart, you really have to listen. you can't just be stubborn and refuse to ever compromise simply to have your way.)

Because the truth is, you can NEVER make everyone happy all the time, but you always have the choice to make yourself happy.

*and remember next time you want to say "I just want you to be happy," take a second to think about what you are really saying. Do you mean it? Do you really just want your friend to be happy and you will be happy for her no matter what she does as long as it makes her happy? If you find yourself realizing that's not really what you mean, then do you best not to say that statement :) More often than not people just want support, not advice. And even more likely, when someone asks you a question, they already know the answer they are searching for.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic Wednesday!!

Perspective

in

The holidays were amazing this year, and I kind of expected to have the normal "I can't believe they are already over" pains as previous years, but for some reason I don't. I have so many goals (both big and small) and because of them I am so excited about the new year! What about y'all? Any big plans? What about little ones? Do they resolve around working on you or do they revolve more on outside goals? Hopefully a mix of all of that. Now not to get really sad on everyone, but something that happened yesterday has really stuck with me and I wanted to share it.

The hubbie and I were driving back from lunch to have my emissions done and stop by the post office to mail out some orders (pictures soon, I promise.) when my check engine light came on. Now, this happens a lot to me and I have yet to find a mechanic who knows how to fix it/ what is wrong. Oh and please remember- we were driving to have my emissions done. so I can get my new tag. by next Friday. (yea yea I'm great at procrastination, I know.) But if any of you have to have emissions done you know you will not pass if any lights are on in your car. So automatically I got into a not so wonderful mood trying to figure out when and how to get this done, as well as how much it was going to cost, etc. etc. Imagine that running through your head as you are balancing boxes of invitations, keeping custom forms (for international orders) from blowing away and trying to open the door to the post office.

Then when you open the door you are greeted by a REALLY long line and only ONE person working at the post office.

Am I painting a good enough picture? Main point, I wasn't thrilled or in the best of spirits.

So after a nice long wait (lucikly our mechanic's garage isn't far from the post office so J parked there "just in case the car wouldn't start") I finally make it up to the front and we begin the whole process.

"Yes. I need insurance."

"Yep, tracking too."

"What is it? Hand painted invitations."

"Yep! I hand paint each one."

"Thank you, I like what I do too!"

"That's like our state in Australia." (my post office doesn't do many international orders so I always have to explain what everything means)

"No, take your time. I'm not in a rush."

By this time I am finally calming down and not so worried about the car, but can't help but notice that my post man is having a really hard time. The contact paper won't come off the back of the form so it can stick to the box, the computer is glitching... everything is a battle for him. Given that I felt like I was having a similar day, I figured I could try to cheer him up with conversation.

"Year starting off well?"

"It's been a little shaky. pretty rough actually." (not what I expected to hear)

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. Good thing you have 12 months to smooth it out!"

"yea, except that everything things start to get normal, the holidays and new year come right back around."

Now, I know some people don't like the holidays much, but I'm having a really hard time keeping up a cheerful persona when he is really not happy about the beginning of the year, so I just try to wrap up the conversation by saying that "I really hope it gets better, etc."

"My 2 year old grandson died 2 days after Christmas last year. I was just getting to know him and then just like that he was gone."

I felt like my heart was ripped out right then. Everyone still waiting in line was grumbling, complaining at how long it was taking, but I just couldn't leave him like that. I can't even imagine how hard the holidays would be after a death like that. So I stood there and talked with him. Talked about his grandson, talked about how everyone was, talked about my experiences with death and his, and then tried to encourage him as much as I could before I caused a riot in the post office for holding up the line. I knew I had to, but I really didn't want to leave him there.

So talk about putting things into perspective. There I was upset about my car (something many people don't even have) and there he was, having to work and deal with really angry, impatient people right after the anniversary of losing his grandson. Just made me realize what's really important and how I should just let life's little annoyances go and focus on what's truly important.

Sorry to share such a sad story, but sometimes I think everyone needs to be reminded of what's really important in life. The new year brings all kinds of fresh starts and new opportunities, so try not to focus on the bad and instead focus on all that you do have. All the happiness that's around you. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday and I promise tomorrow won't be as heavy.

Christmas Recap

in
the amazing painting my parents gave us of our reception site.

I have to say- I think this Christmas was my favorite ever (and that includes the one where I got my first bike so that is saying a lot!) My parents and sister came over to our place Christmas morning to have breakfast and open gifts and it was such a wonderful time!

the beautiful necklace my sister gave me

Thanks to smitten kitchen for the amazing recipes (everyone. go get the recipes for dreamy creamy scones, baked french toast, and winter fruit salad. Add some bacon on the side and it's a little piece of heaven for breakfast.)

We received a lot of cooking stuff (including 3 skimmers. apparently I was very persistent on how much I wanted one so everyone in the family got me one. and I thought no one was listening :) ) and these knives that my parents gave us are amazing. Cuts everything like it was butter.

It was so nice having everyone together- laughing, telling stories, and trying to catch the place on fire (my bad. whoops. Thanks to my sister and J for being quick on their feet!)

J surprised me with a photo book he created of our wedding photos. I almost started to cry the moment I saw what he'd done! It's so beautiful and special and heartfelt.

After breakfast my parents, J, and I headed to J's parents house for lunch and more present opening. I love how much our families get along. I know not everyone is that lucky, but seriously our parents mesh so well. Our dad's have the same corny sense of humor and our mom's can talk all day to each other! It was so relaxing and made J and I so happy to see how well "combining the families" went.

the family heirloom my in laws gave me!

After stuffing our bellies full of green bean casserole, ham, etc we said our goodbyes and thank you's and left for my aunt and uncle's house for dinner and desert. I won't go into too much detail here, but there was homemade chocolate mousse and coconut cupcakes filled with little pillows of vanilla pudding. My aunt rocks. (and kudos to my mom as well so injecting and icing said cupcakes. I've eaten an extra 2 already :))

my gift from my other awesome aunt. yay! I can sew now!

So there's the "short" recap. Overall it was a wonderful holiday! I hope everyone had a great day as well and have been enjoying some time off with your friends and/or family (or both!) We have a concert to go to tonight and I think we are hosting a small party tomorrow for NYE. Can you believe it's almost the new year?? wow. and what do we call this year? ten? Sounds weird.

*we were incredibly touched and lucky to have received so many amazing and thoughtful presents from our families. These don't even scrap the surface at how giving everyone was, but I just thought I would share a few things as opposed to everything :) And once again, to all of our family, thank you so much!! We were blown away by y'all!

So this is Christmas...

in

I've spent all day today getting last minute loose ends tied up before Christmas. I've baked batches upon batches of cookies, made dozens of chocolate truffles, tied ribbon, wrapped packages, decided (finally) what to serve for breakfast Christmas morning, cleaned the apartment and almost everything else I could think of that had to be done these last few days, and you know what? Even with all of the stress of getting stuff finished I am still so so excited for Christmas. Last year J and I were celebrating the holiday laying by a pool in Costa Rica so this is our first married Christmas at our home, with our families. It's really exciting to mesh together our families traditions and begin our own. I was setting our table and was actually excited about polishing the silver. Not because of finally seeing them turn beautiful and shiny (though the instant gratification is rewarding) but because J and I are hosting Christmas morning at our home. We have a home. Together. And that in itself makes me smile.

So...now that everything is squared away I can finally relax and get some work done. Or go watch "The Graduate" with the hubbie while acting like I am getting some work done :)

Hope everyone is having a lovely week and that you all are starting to relax as well. Have a great night!