Etsy Update

So I'd like to give you kind folks an update on some of the Etsy sites from the previous post.

1. Kristen Minor's photography site is back up and running. So go look at them. Do it.

2. Ashley Carter has added some adorable aprons to "The Art of Domesticity". You are doing yourself a real disservice if you don't take the time to check them out.

3. Hue by Jenny Houston is no longer offering the free earrings, so I hope that you got em while they were hot... BUT! not to worry if you didn't, because she just added tons of new pieces and she still has the trusty $5 deals section!

Cheers!

Etsy goodness

I may be a bit behind the times in saying this, but nevertheless, it must be said that I have fallen in love with Etsy. I've known about it for a while... I have a few friends with Etsy sites, which I must warn you I am about to shamelessly promote, but I never explored it far beyond that. But one lazy Sunday, I found myself buried deep in all that this wonderful and useful site has to offer.

For those of you who may not be familiar, Etsy is a website for anyone and everyone who may have some sort of hand-made craft or vintage item that they want to sell and for those of us who want to buy them. And let me tell you, there are some amazingly talented people to be found there! I am a full supporter of the way Etsy allows so many talented people to start and grow their own little (and sometimes big) businesses. You could literally find almost anything you could ever want. Believe me when I say this, I have looked for some pretty odd things and have never been disappointed.

So I've decided to make a list of my favorite Etsy sites.... and without further ado! Here they are. (hint: click on the name to see the site)

K. Minor Photography - I decided to start with Kristen Minor's Etsy site because she is such a dear friend of mine, and I believe so whole-heartedly in her. This past year, she did all of our engagement, bridal and wedding photos, and to say she is talented hardly does her justice. Now... disclaimer.... she doesn't have anything up on her Etsy site right now because she just got through spending a few months roaming North America in a sidecar. (www.bugsonmyface.com) I am not making that up. But when she gets it up and running again, you can expect to be able to buy prints of her photos, greetings cards, etc. So keep checking back, because I promise they are worth it.

Nena Von - I am a big fan of throw pillows, and I haven't found anyone who does a better job than Nena Von. I love the patterns and simple colors she uses, and the only reason that I haven't bought any yet, is because I can't decide which I like best. True story.

The Bees Knees Designs - Not only would I buy almost everything on this site, The Bees Knees designs also wins my award for the best Etsy site name. It's just cute. But aside from that, anyone who knows me, knows that I am of the "less is more" school of thought. I like things simple. These wall hangings are cute, simple, one-of-a-kind and best of all! They're extremely inexpensive. I heart them... a lot.

The Art of Domesticity - My friend Ashley Carter started this site and her hand-made bags and wall hangings just ooze chicness and femininity, and once again, extremely affordable. I've got my eye on her for a few Christmas gifts. Mark my words... Anthropologie will be knocking on her door one day soon.

Erin Ruth Giftwrap - I love to wrap gifts. Let me say that again. I... love... wrapping gifts. I spend way too much time, money and effort on it, but I just can't get enough. I have given serious consideration to taking a part-time job as a gift wrapper at a department store. I heard once that Aaron Spelling's wife had a room in her gigantic home that was just for gift wrapping, and all of my dreams for life came full circle. I truly love it. And the only thing I love more than gift-wrapping, are the people who make a wonderfully wrapped gift possible. Erin Ruth is one of those people.

Hue by Jenny Houston - When it comes to hand-made jewelry on Etsy, it was truly hard for me to narrow it down to one. But since it always comes back to simplicity with me, it had to be this one. She has the most simple and elegant pieces and right now she's got some killer deals going on too. She has a fantastic $5 Deals section, and she's also running a promo right now where you get a free pair of bronze leaf earrings with any order of $10 or more. 10 measly bucks! What more could you want, I mean really.

Sparrow's Nest - I couldn't end this blog without including this site. These are more vintage and refurbished items, but they are must-haves. So sophisticated and unique. They are definitely more of a wallet-stretcher, but this is one of the Etsy sites that you need to always check back with, because they are constantly posting new items.

I hope this gives all of you some insight as to why I think Etsy is so fantastic. I would definitely encourage anyone to spend some time digging around, because there are some true gems to be found.

No Apologies Necessary

I was about to apologize yet again for being such a bad blog-keeper-upper, but everyone is always making that apology and I've decided that I think that's just plain silly. The truth is... life gets busy... period. Sometimes the blog must simply take a back-seat to other more pressing matters. So you won't get any apologies from me and I won't expect any from any of you other fabulous bloggers in return. It'll get updated when it gets updated!

Cheers

a hodge podge of thoughts

While I wait for a more interesting blog to post, I thought it was about time for another brain dump.

* I'm still a little burned up about that Elizabeth Becton thing from the last post.

* I am working on putting together a blog for you nice folks that I think you're going to really like. It will probably be my next post, but I didn't really have the time or energy to put into it today.

* I have recently begun a love affair with a store called HomeGoods.

* I wouldn't exactly say I'm an accomplished chef yet, but I definitely feel that married life is allowing me the opportunity to become a much better cook than I was before.

* I secretly wish that I was a ballerina.

* If I could go back, I would have gotten into ballet as a kid and not cheerleading. All cheerleading ever got me was lots of bruises, bad wrists, and flexibility that I lost years ago.

*While letting my ipod play on shuffle the other day, a christmas song popped up, which now has me counting down the days until Christmas.

* 3/4 of my excitement over Christmas is the thought of getting to put up our own tree this year.

* The other 1/4 is excitement over getting to wrap presents, listen to Christmas music, sip hot chocolate and be with my husband and family on Christmas day.

* I am now a little depressed that it's still unbearably hot outside and Christmas is months away.

* It has been over 100 degrees in San Antonio for 51 days straight, and this one is looking to be number 52.

* The hotter it gets in Texas this summer, the more Maurice can get away with talking about schools in insanely cold cities. Right now, we are giving serious consideration to Denver, Chicago and Minneapolis. I'm not even making that up.

I think that's enough for today. Until next time!

A Word on Human Decency... an open letter to Elizabeth Becton

There are some pretty ridiculous stories in the news today.  (Insert obvious joke about how Obama's healthcare plan is the most ridiculous of them all)  But today, I read a story that gave me a particular disdain for people who lack common human decency.  

We live in an age of political correctness... of walking on eggshells so as not to offend any particular group who might take any particular offense to any particular thing that anyone might have said without knowing that any particular individual or group finds it particularly offensive.  It's exhausting.  And I understand that writing business emails can often be a tricky business, because there is a definite etiquette to follow.  I also understand that some people don't like to be addressed by nicknames.  

That being said... a woman named Elizabeth Becton, one of those people who you'd be ill-advised to refer to by a nickname, recently took it a step further and crossed the line from correcting someone's improper email etiquette right into a blatant and offensive  and unrelenting middle-school-drama-style attack on an unexpecting and misinformed executive assistant.  

You may have read this story already, but here is an article that will walk you through the email exchange between Elizabeth Becton and her unfortunate victim who mistakenly called her "Liz" in a simple business email.

Upon a basic internet investigation, I was unable to find any evidence of Elizabeth Becton being corrected by her employer for her behavior which clearly crossed the line, or of her being let go from her position as a result of her actions... nor have I found any evidence of Elizabeth Becton apologizing after this story was picked up by nearly every major media outlet in America.  I did, however, find a website that posted other scathing emails from Elizabeth Becton.

At what point, Ms. Becton, do we set aside our convictions about political correctness and proper etiquette and simply treat someone's honest mistake with kindness and forgiveness?

so long, hair

So around the time Maurice and I got engaged... I got the urge to cut my hair.  It had been really long for a really long time, but I didn't want to cut it before the wedding, because I wanted it to be long for the wedding, and everyone else wanted me to leave it long.  So I promised that I would wait until after the wedding to cut it.

Well now the wedding has come and gone, we went on our honeymoon, and the week we came back, I had myself an appointment with my favorite hair lady, and off the hair came.  I cut almost 10 inches off my hair, and donated it to a good cause.  I absolutely love it, and I hope you do too!

hello my long lost friends

So I know that I've been a terrible blog updater lately... in the sense that I haven't been a blog updater at all.  My excuse is that we've been pretty busy getting married, honeymooning, and getting settled into married life.  I've been meaning to post honeymoon pictures for a long time, but for whatever reason, this thing has just been taking forever to download pictures, so I've decided to take one of life's little shortcuts and just re-direct you to them.  If you missed that... go back, it was a link to a whole album of pictures on Facebook :)  

We had the MOST amazing honeymoon!  And I like to think that it was partly thanks to the swine flu.  While there was a time that I thought it might ruin our honeymooning plans, it actually turned out to be the best thing that could have happened.  When we arrived at the beautiful resort where we were staying, they were so happy that we had kept our reservations, that they spent the entire week giving us free stuff.  We felt intensely spoiled for the duration of our stay, and there were probably only 20 or so other couples staying there at the time, so that made for a great week of peace and quiet, lots of sun, lots of great food and lots of champagne.

We did have sort of a hell-ish ordeal coming home.  It's a very long story, but it ends with us getting to extend our honeymoon one night and stay at a great hotel in Miami for free :)  

The week we got back, I chopped my hair off, so one day soon, I will download the pictures of that to show you all.  

At long last

Maurice and I had such a wonderful time at the wedding, and for those of you who were there, we hope you did too.  There are too many wedding pictures to possibly show them all, but here are some of the highlights.  Enjoy!

honeymoon pictures coming soon...

And the winner is...

San Antonio.

That's right, after much thought, prayer and consideration, Maurice and I decided that spending another year in San Antonio and getting on our feet was the best option.  The decision not to go to Philadelphia was a tremendously difficult one for both of us.  It was hard for Maurice especially, to close the door on such a wonderful opportunity.  We really loved it there, and I still get a little sad when I think about not moving there... but at the end of the day, we are still totally confident that we made the right decision.  We both have great jobs here and we just got a fantastic first apartment, which Maurice will be moving into in a few days.  And! the wedding is just a WEEK away!  I truthfully have no idea where the time has gone, I felt like I blinked my eyes and it was here.  

There have been a few disappointments in our lives lately, that we didn't expect, but that is life.  We are SO excited that the wedding is almost here, we are counting down the days to our honeymoon, we're ready and anxious to start our life together, and we have not lost sight of the fact that God has blessed us beyond what we deserve.  

Since this next week will be so wild, I will likely not be back to blogging until after the wedding/honeymoon.  For those of you who are coming to the wedding, we can't wait to see you very soon! and for those of you who can't, there will of course be pictures up soon of the wedding and honeymoon... all that good stuff.  

Hope you all have a lovely week!

no... we still do not know

OK folks... so as some of you know by now, the last few weeks have been extremely stressful for maurice and myself.  Not only is the wedding less than a month away now, but we STILL do not know where we're going to be living.  A few weeks ago, our options seemed to be Philadelphia and Houston (you may remember them as option #1 and option #2).  Well for reasons beyond our control, I am sad to inform you supporters of the latter that Houston is no longer on the table o' consideration.  

That left Philadelphia.  As soon as we found out that Houston was out of the running, we booked the next 2 flights out to Philadelphia, because there was much work to be done.  To give you a little background, here is the dilemma:  Maurice was accepted into the Master of Architecture program at the University of Pennsylvania. The catch is... they want him in their 3 year program. But UPenn is an ivy league school, and those ivy leaguers sure are proud of their schools, and they do charge accordingly.  Translation: UPenn is ungodly amounts of expensive.  As honored as Maurice was to be accepted, and as wonderful an opportunity as it would be for him... the loans for 3 years of grad school would be a tremendous burden for us... and we aren't sure that we want our first official act as a married couple to be taking out school loans in an amount that would buy us a reasonably nice home in many areas.  

So long story short, we are weighing our options right now with Philadelphia.  The chair of the architecture department is also reviewing Maurice's portfolio, to see if he can be admitted into the 2 year program.  We are hoping to hear something very very soon.  If we do not go to Philadelphia, we have decided to stay in San Antonio for another year, before we decide where would be best for us.  

We DID get the opportunity to visit Philadelphia, and we absolutely fell in love with it.  I think we'd both heard mixed reviews on the city and weren't entirely sure what to expect, but we were both pleasantly surprised.  It's such a beautiful city, it's extremely rich in history, it seems like they have the most beautiful parks every few blocks, and the UPenn campus is indescribable.  We packed a lot of sight-seeing, campus-visiting, and apartment-hunting into our few days there, and we had a great time.  

So until we have some news about where we are or are not moving, here are some pictures from our trip to hold you over!

This is us in the park behind independence hall, on a very chilly afternoon.

Independence Hall... the birthplace of America.

Oh look, another beautiful park.  Rittenhouse square.

the UPenn campus

And of course.... Anthropologie.

Lots of showery goodness

So believe it or not, the wedding is just a little over a month away now, and Maurice and I are so excited for it to be here.  And of course, this also means that shower season has been in full swing. We've had wedding showers the last two weekends, had a wonderful time, and now I'm here to share pictures with you!

The first shower was last weekend.  My mom and my best friend from college, Tiffany, threw me a lovely shower at our house with a lot of family.  Tiffany lives in Dallas and is married with two little boys, and so we don't get to see eachother nearly as often as we'd like.  It was such a great weekend having her in town, we got to do a little shopping, go out for drinks, and spend some great quality time together.

And she and my mom did such a great job putting the shower together.

Me with my sisters (my matron of honor and maid of honor) at the shower

Then this past weekend, it was on to Gruene for a couple's shower at Tavern in the Gruene with a lot of Maurice's family and friends.

Maurice's sister Ashlie (on the far left) was the mastermind and planner extraordinaire behind the whole shower, she was so fantastic and generous to do this for us.  But of course, she had a lot of great help from some family, like Maurice's Aunt Peggy and his cousin Kelly, who worked hard all afternoon helping to put everything together.

Lauren came!  How appropriate to have the person there who introduced us.  She is such a neat person, and I was so glad that she was there.

And once the shower wrapped up, we all headed down the road to Gruene Hall and listened to live music and had a great time!  

Both of the showers were so much fun, and we really appreciate all the people who so generously put them together for us, and to everyone who came.  The only down side, is that I know have so many gifts and boxes stacked up in my room, I'm running out of places to put them all!

and for those of you who are still wondering the results of my last post... we still do not know for sure where we are going to be moving... the options have narrowed down a little more, but they've also changed a little :)  We should know something very very soon, and we will definitely update you when we do.

A little hint at things to come...

Well as most of you know... Maurice and I have been anxiously waiting to figure out where we will be moving as soon as we get married, and while we still don't know for sure yet, the options have been significantly narrowed down.  There are two major considerations at this point, and a few minor backup considerations, so I decided that in asking all of you to continue to pray for us as we make a very big decision, that I would also give you folks a little hint as to what the final two options are looking like at this point.  And here are your hints:

"It's always sunny in option #1."

and

"Option #2, we have a problem."

Laurie and Justin Engagement Photos

So these are a little old now, but a few months back, I had the privilege of taking engagement photos for my sweet friend Laurie and her fiance Justin.  One would have hoped for a sunnier (and warmer!) day for taking pictures, but I thought they came out really cute.  And now I'm sharing a few of my favorites with you nice folks.  enjoy!

25 questions... the relationship version

well I suppose that in my book, answering 25 questions is better than trying to come up with 25 things about us on my own, so here you have it... the anti-"25 things".  

1. What are your middle names?

Nicole and Edward

2. How long have you been together?

since April/May-ish of 2007

3. How long did you know eachother before you started dating?

around 4 months

4. Who asked whom out?

maurice asked me out... he had it bad for me

5. Whose siblings do you see the most?

probably mine, because they live closest. but we still see Ashlie quite a bit.

6. Do you have any children together?

nope... one day

7. What about pets?

nope... one day

8. What is hardest on you as a couple?

definitely waiting to see what our next move is gonna be... literally

9. Are you from the same town?

yes... the general san antonio area, at least

10. Did you go to any of the same schools?

no

11. Who is the most sensitive?

definitely me

12. Where do you eat out most as a couple?

we love trying new places, but whataburger usually wins if we can't think of anyplace else.

13. Where is the farthest you've traveled together?

new york! and pretty soon.. riviera maya, mexico

14. Who has the craziest exes?

HA... I shouldn't answer this, but I'm going to.  him.

15. Who has the worst temper?

maurice... but only in traffic

16. Who does the cooking?

we both like to cook

17. Who is more social?

that kind of depends, but generally me, I think

18. Who is the neat-freak?

MAURICE

19. Who is more stubborn?

that could be both of us... but probably me :)

20. Who hogs the bed?

no comment

21. Who wakes up earlier?

Maurice, but I'm getting better

22. Where was your first date?

Stonewerks, I believe

23. Who has the bigger family?

probably Maurice

24. Do you get flowers often?

often enough 

25. How long did it take to get serious?

not very long!

raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

I may not be Maria from the Sound of Music, but in much the same way, I would like to share with you some of my very favorite things in the world... or at least on the internet.  

So while brown paper packages tied up with strings are all well and good, here are a few of my favorite things:

- Lemon Tree Paperie.  One of my absolute favorites.  It may not be quite as marvelous as Kate's Paperie in New York, but you'll find lots of quirky little necessities that you won't find at Kate's.  Take the time to check out the personalized notepads with clipboards, cause they're just so darn cute, and they make great gifts!

- DSW. Because shoes are the best.  What I love about DSW is the sheer affordability of their shoes, as well as the pitter patter you feel in your heart when you walk into one of their stores and behold rows upon rows of cheap designer shoes.  I personally think their logo should read: "DSW... because every girl should have a fantastic pair of yellow shoes."

- The SuzyJack 2009 Calendar.  Because it's really cute.

- Cool laptop sleeves.  Because laptops are expensive and scratches suck.  

- Great cookbooks.  Every girl should have a cookbook that, in the event of one of those inevitable bad days, has pages and pages of recipes to get you through it.

my grievances with the wedding industry

let me just say this.  i know that weddings are expensive.  i was prepared for that.  it is the AMOUNT of expensive-ness for which i was unprepared.  i have, on several occasions, had to refrain from laughing in people's faces when we came to the portion of the appointment when they tell you how much they plan to charge you for providing their services.

now let me also say... there are certain wedding services in which i understand the necessity for a higher price.  one would expect to pay a lot for food, for instance.  food costs money.  and anyone who has been to the grocery store or eaten at a restaurant knows that you should be prepared to pay a little more for food.  wedding dresses, are another fine example.  they're awesome, and should be priced according to the amount of their awesomeness.  i had no problem with the price of my wedding dress, as it is the most awesome wedding dress ever.  you'll see.

that being said... there are certain wedding services in which those providing them, obviously have some sort of plan to force the general public to begin taking out 30 year fixed-rate mortgages in order to pay for them.  allow me to highlight a few which i found to be the most obnoxiously over-priced.  

flowers.  they LITERALLY grow right out of the ground.  the only portion of the flower industry which i might understand charging for, would be the time it takes to grab a pair of flower scissors, or whatever it is they use, and snip them off the ground.  if you really plan on charging me so much for them, why don't you just give ME a pair of scissors and point me in the direction of the nearest field of peonies and i'll do it myself.  survey says? overpriced.

for my next example, i'd like to talk about cakes.  if i were running the cake industry, here's how i would determine how much a wedding cake should cost.  i would drive to my local grocery store, buy 3 or 4, maybe 5 of those $15 cakes, and then go home, take them out of their boxes, and stack them on top of each other. voila... a wedding cake.   so according to the standard set by the grocery stores of america, a wedding cake should cost... at the most... 75 bucks.  for those of you who are right now wondering to yourselves "how much more expensive than that are they?"... here is the answer. a lot.

so if three or so months from now, you find yourself sitting at our wedding reception... i hope to God that you are thinking to yourself "this is the best (censored) wedding cake i've ever had".  it certainly ought to be.

The inner-workings of my brain

My dear friend Ashley, whom I love and respect not only as a person, but as a blogger... has taught me the art of "brain-dumping".  As I understand it, it is quite simply the process of spilling the things that happen to be on my mind.  This could prove to be a little scary, because my a.d.d. brain jumps from thought to thought at an impressive rate, but nevertheless I am going to give it a try.  And here they are:

* I am excited to be writing this blog on my newly-acquired mac laptop.

* Maurice will tell you that this isn't my laptop yet, (he is giving it to me, to replace my ailing laptop, because he is getting a new one), but it has been and will here-to-for remain in my possession, which by definition, makes it as good as mine.  

* I am trying not to think about the fact that the wedding is in less than 4 months now, because the wedding planning freaks me out.

* I am NOT freaked out, however, to marry Maurice.  On the contrary... I cannot wait for married life.

* Equally as freak-out worthy is the fact that I don't know yet where we'll be living after we get married.  I don't mean that I don't know which area of town we'll be going apartment hunting in... I mean I don't know which time-zone we'll be apartment hunting in.

* To clarify... the two time-zones up for consideration are eastern, and good ol central standard.

* I am way more into "The Bachelor" than I care to admit.  

* I secretly get really irritated when people suggest that I have a chocolate fountain at our wedding reception.  I am not a fan.

* Lunch from Central Market is the newest love in my life.

* Many people have recommended that I see "Marley and Me", which I fully intend to do, but I want to wait and see it on DVD so that I can cry in the privacy of my own home vs. making a sobbing spectacle of myself in a public movie theater.

* I should definitely be asleep by now, and I'll probably be pretty grumpy tomorrow.

* I've been really disciplined about not spending money on frivolous things, but my mom was given a $20 Starbucks card, and she doesn't drink coffee so it was consequently given to me... and I am really looking forward to stopping in the morning to get the coffee I have missed oh-so-much.

That's enough for now.  Hope that you all have a wonderful week!

Coming up with blog titles is hard

But that's not what this post is about.

I hope that everyone had a great new year's. Maurice and I went to Houston for new year's to visit his sister Ashlie, and we had a really great time. We spent some time with our friends and family there, and even learned how to make tamales from scratch! I was better at it than Maurice was, though he will tell you otherwise :) At any rate, they were scrumptious. We also got to go and visit Rice University, which is one of the schools Maurice has applied to do his masters degree at, and frankly, one that we are both really hoping for, or it's at least near the top of the list. But I digress... we visited the area and checked out the campus and some of the obscenely unaffordable housing in the area, and made a mental note of some places we liked, in the event that we move there in a few months.

We ALSO got to do a few wedding registries while we were there. We registered at Crate & Barrel, since San Antonio STILL doesn't have one, and we also found the mother of all Pottery Barn's and registered there. You can find said registries here and here, by entering one of our names.

And while I'm sending you all on a wild internet goose chase... Maurice has finished re-doing his portfolio website and I recommend that you all check it out and get ready to be impressed! There is alot of his architecture work on there, as well as art and photography and other fun stuff that he's done. You can find it by clicking on this pretty blue word.

Hope that your 2009 is off to a great start!