Cupcake Dreams

There's a few things we know about our wedding. One of them, is that we want CUPCAKES (yummmm) instead of a traditional cake. I (with much assistance from Danielle no doubt) will be trying out some homemade versions trying to find my personal favorite, we know Wes' (Double chocolate with cream cheese frosting...) and some other delights to expand people's choices!!! Here's what we're thinking :: Lavender and vanilla bean, clementine, coconut, lemon and of course chocolate. I'm not saying we'll have 'that' many options...but I want to try them to find maybe 3 or 4 that we can't possibly live with out!! If you have a favorite cupcake recipe please post it here...I would love to know!!

:: peace and love ::

School's Out for Summer!!!

{Kelly + Chris' wedding in Palm Springs, photos by Erin Hearts Court}

and you 'best believe' that I will be copying MANY.....MANY details of this amazing wedding!!! Wish I could have gone...looks like they had a blast : )
I first viewed these pics when my good friend Mara (and my part time wedding coordinator!!) sent them to me via email for inspiration. I was feeling as though I needed more color variations so that everything comes together as apposed to having specific 'colors'....as well as I needed some help (still do) with pulling together a cohesive vision for everything from start to finish. I have been loving me some Craspedia (Billy Buttons...the yellow ball flowers you see above) and can say that I had already wanted to use them prior to these photos...but now with out a doubt they will be taking a fairly central roll. I mean really......how amazing are these little delights!? As well as already wanting to use succulents for the centerpieces but unsure of what containers I wanted and how I would present the end product!!!! LOVE LOVE....now I'm being repetative...this wedding.....check out the full story here, and rock out.

:: peace and love ::

* OF COURSE it's in Palm Springs....man, it's a dream come true.

!!

This week is the start of finals for me (ugh...to think of the years more that I'll have to utter those words....) never the less....please excuse the minimal blogging that has been occurring and will probably continue to occur until this 'delightful' extravaganza is over!!
I'll be back and blogging away soon! : )

:: peace and love ::

*happy almost summer!!!

Jonathan Adler....you rock my socks

**Weekend recap--so far, aside from studying for finals and doing my final projects in art...Wes and I had a beautiful date 'afternoon' today. We went and had some delicious drinks (pineapple mojito and flatliner martini for me--beer for Wes) at the Dolphin Bay Resort, followed with a movie and onto sushi for dinner at Yanagi's. It was fantastic...and so fab to spend some quality time with my sweets.
If you aren't aware of who Jonathan Adler is....com on out from under your rock...and experience the amazing'ness' that are his ceramics (really everything on his site...but lets not get carried away!). I am 100% obsessed with his Ojai collection....I am thinking that I NEED some of his mugs in yellow and orange with the yellow centered bowls (since we have a couple bright yellow bowls already) it will be a coordinated mixture!! Ahh....more and more I'm realizing the signs...you know you're getting older when ceramics make your day!!!! Who can blame me though...really!?!?!

:: peace and love ::

Paper Details

I LOVE a beautiful bouquet of flowers...but I also know that having an abundance of fresh blooms can make a price tag skyrocket (right on out of our budget....), not to mention the amount of natural resources used to supply all the weddings in the world with flowers (let alone the flowers themselves). Soooo, rather than deplete the environment....my remedy for this is doing a lot of beautiful and intricate details in recycled paper!!!! I found the image at top just a bit ago (and silly me forgot to save the name and location when I saved the image...argh!!). The artist who makes them uses different shades of papers to create the most beautiful flower garlands (or individuals) and the result is magic. The middle two pictures are from Martha Stewart (ohh Martha...) and I instantly fell in love with the folded paper rosettes that hang in bunches around the entire fete!! Not to mention the paper cranes (*sigh*), shown above in one of my favorite weddings on Once Wed; They are amazing and will no doubt show up tied to as many Oak branches as I can get them on. I am for sure 'stealing' these amazing ideas to use for myself...and I can't wait to try my hand at these crafts. Nothing a night of wine, cheese and my girls can't handle!! Do you have any other environmentally friendly decor ideas to share!!

:: peace and love ::

Brunch Dreams

Some prefer dinner as their favorite meal...I have always preferred breakfast or lunch....I especially have a fondness for brunch, and every time I see a beautiful (and amazingly delicious looking) setup, I get the desire to have my own. Yes, yes, I DID just have a brunch and it was lovely...but I'm thinking maybe my friends and I should have a monthly brunch, simply for the sake of celebrating fun of the meal. Here is one I found on Design Sponge from the lovely ladies of The Jewels of New York, and ummm, well, this will be cooking up at my place very soon, if I have my way. Crab Souffle, Spring Salad with Lemon Tarragon Dressing, Classic Beignets, and Pink Grapefruit Cocktails....honestly what could be better?

:: peace and love ::

Mini Zen Gardens

How sweet are these little mini 'gardens'??? Perfect for a desk or bedside table (especially perfect for my cave of an apartment!!). Check the rest of the DIY step by step here.

:: peace and love ::

Engagement Party Pretty!

{pictures by Garrett Loughran}

The engagement party was Saturday, and it was beautiful!!! My mom had lovingly made 8 (!!) different variations of quiche, creme brulee french toast and a strawberry spinach salad with mimosas and coffee (if you would choose coffee over a mimosa...). The flowers looked amazing in their ribbon tied mason jars with pretty mint colored table runners and fun pics from over the 7 years Wes and I have spent together scattered on the tables.
We were so touched to have the people we care about celebrate such an exciting time in our lives with us...and extremely touched at the help we received from a very generous few ;-)
Thank you to my parents who are the MOST generous, warm, loving and selfless people we know...and to the friends and family that traveled to see us, or merely planned their day to spend with us, we really do appreciate your love!

:: peace and love ::

On the Hunt for a Blood Orange Tree!

We went out on the search for a dwarf citrus tree the other day...and I documented a little bit of the adventure! We didn't purchase a lovely little tree just yet, but found some fun goodies along the way. Wes had never tried a kumquat before...(um hello!?!) but I don't think we'll be getting a kumquat tree after I made him...he wasn't extremely fond of them...preferring a more 'practical and useful' tree like a Meyer lemon, or orange tree. I want something a little bit exciting, so we are leaning towards a blood orange, their new stock came in this Wednesday...which means we need to get packin' over there to pick up our new little green buddy!!! I'm thinking that a beautiful bright pot like lemon yellow, tangerine orange or maybe lime green!?! Fun, fun : )

:: peace and love ::

Karla's Got One Heck of a Closet!!!

These are just some of my favorite 'looks' from Karla....our styles are not entirely the same...to put it lightly she has a lot more fashion balls than I do currently (and it seems more resources...in way of what must amount to the most fantastic closet!!!) but fairly often she pulls something together that I HAVE to save...for fashion inspiration.
In these pics I'm totally head over heals in love with the ruffle detail shown in the first and second picture...in the last I'm just loving white flowy* cotton dresses for summer...and wish I had about 80....but alas I do not even have one (yet). Thanks for the inspiration and fantastic pictures Karla!!

:: peace and love ::