Archive for June, 2011

« Older Entries  |  
June 28, 2011

Moment Junkie

Please tell me you’ve seen this site. Moment Junkie is the brainchild of Ryan Brenizer and Kyle Hepp. In their words:

Moment Junkie is a blog devoted to showcasing the best in contemporary wedding photojournalism, with a focus on moments between people that are timeless, heartbreaking, hilarious, or all of the above. We love gorgeous portraits and well-planned details, but so often we’ve found that the photos we hold most dear — the ones we would give anything to hold onto — are those that encapsulate a memorable moment or remind us of how we felt as much as they show us how we looked. So we’re here to tell those stories, with submissions from some of the best working photographers around today.

And seriously? It’s. The. Best.

Go. Enjoy. Sob a little. Laugh a little. Have a daily moment of peace. You’ll be hooked … I promise.

Source: Moment Junkie – Photo Courtesy of (and copyright) Nicole Welch Photography

See? What’d I tell you? This one just kills me.

Posted in People You'll Heart | 1 Comment »

June 27, 2011

Weekend Warrior

Ah, the weekend. A lovely time to relax, sleep in, not have to do anything ….

Um, right.

SO! This weekend I was determined to get to all the projects I pushed off last week when I hit my head (slammed it into the open freezer door).  Headaches and minor concussions do not mix well with a full schedule, so I was determined not to let the house slip TOO far.

But first, I had a little fun planned.

Originally, my friend Sharon and I were going to take her 3-year-old niece to a lavender farm to run through, and pick flowers. Turns out, the little one got sick, so we went by ourselves. Which was probably for the best when we got to the farm. It was supposed to look like this:

But ACTUALLY looked like this:

Yep. Bees. Little nasty honey bees, big fluffy bumblebees, carpenter bees, and the occasional wasp … EVERYWHERE. Oh, and contrary to what they were telling us, yes, the big fuzzy bumblebees DO sting if you annoy them … in fact, they can sting repeatedly.

Have I mentioned that I’m allergic to bees?

We managed to cut our lavender and escape unscathed, but that farm is going to go down in history as having “bushes of death”. I can still hear the buzzing. ::shudders::

Saturday night was spent at a psuedo-housewarming (they’d moved in 6 months ago, but are finally having people over). New friends (for me! Jon already knew them) were made. I fully intend on keeping them around. ::nods:: (YAAAAAAY!)

And then we had Sunday. Oh, Sunday. Sunday was my I’ma-kick-this-housework’s-ass day. My CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!* day. 

First thing in the morning I’m up and doing dishes and laundry SIMULTANEOUSLY. Fancy, I know. Then the bathroom. Then, I decided this would be the right time to re-paint the monstrosity that was the bathroom. You remember it, right?

RUBBER. DUCKY. YELLOW.**

Well, my friends, after many hours of turmoil, an entire roll of blue painter’s tape (the bane of my existence) and a fancy new painting toy***, what once was a little girl’s bedroom gone bad turned out to be a calming, almost GROWN UP**** space.

Observe:

SO. MUCH. BETTER.

Of course I kept my ducks. No one touches my ducks!

After that, there was a well deserved (if I do say so myself) beer and the beautiful oblivion of sleep. Only to be woken up by the shrieking alarm***** telling me it was time to get up for work.

Spoil-sport.

What did you all get up to this weekend? I got you flowers!

* For those of you unaware of the origins of this wonderful phrase … you’re welcome.

** I DID NOT pick out this color. I picked out a lovely über pale, almost ivory color. The idiot at the paint counter gave me the wrong color. It was light going up, but searing yellow when we woke up to dry walls the next day. And yes, I got my money back.

*** Seriously, everyone get this. I nearly wept for joy at how well it worked keeping things clean.

**** The HORROR!

***** 8 hours later, but STILL

Posted in I Do Stuff! | Leave a Comment »

June 24, 2011

The Dog Days

Well … not exactly. That starts a week and some from now (July 4th or 5th, depending on who you talk to), but close enough!

My favorite memories of summertime are actually from my junior high and high school years, not childhood. Every Memorial Day & Labor Day a bunch of us would get together and have a picnic. A huge picnic. With everyone we could think of (or in the younger days, everyone we weren’t being snobby about). Games were played, food was eaten, RIDICULOUS conversations were had, sunburns were rampant, and the occasional crush was developed. GOOD. TIMES.

I miss it, now. I miss being able to ask everyone what they’re doing with their day off so we can plan, and being given answers like “Oh, you know, catching up on housework.” Then again, that’s normally what’s going on in my house. It’s one of those little pieces of the past I wish I could resurrect, you know?

So … who’s up for a picnic on Labor Day? ::smiles::

And so, as we head into the first official weekend of summer (even though it’s FELT like summer for the past month!): What are your favorite summertime memories? Anyone have summer traditions? 

And who has great plans for THIS weekend? I know a couple of you do! Happy Weddings, ladies!!

Posted in Sweet Sweet Memories | 3 Comments »

June 23, 2011

All You Need is Love … Right?

I have a dear, dear friend. Said friend is a hopeless romantic. Over the many years of our friendship, I’ve watched him fall for many a girl. I’ve watched many a girl stomp on his heart. I’ve been there to pick up the pieces, help him put himself back together, and sent him out for the cycle to start all over.

It must be said, there has never been anything romantic between us. At one point, for lack of anything better to do (don’t judge, we were 17 and stupid), we decided to make out. About a minute later we both realized this wasn’t working/felt slightly wrong (much like kissing a sibling would feel), and proceeded to choose a movie to watch instead. We STILL joke about this.

In a little over a week’s time, this lovely friend is getting married. As is true for most of us, this wedding has not come around without struggles. Relationship struggles, family struggles, work and money struggles. This week, while having one of our trademark 1.5 hour conversations (the boy lives 1,300 miles away … sadness), he told me he’d lost his job. Knowing how much the wedding was costing them, his fiancée’s family offered to postpone the wedding until they could figure out the job situation. After much thought, and knowing full well that this new situation was going to cause them to need to scrape and really test their baby family, this offer was declined. We talked for quite a while about what this will mean, and if his fiancée (who is … delicate, and used to being taken care of … to put it nicely) would be able to handle the time it would take for them to get back on their feet, out of wedding debt, and living as they’d hoped to live.

Then he said something extremely profound … and in my opinion, extremely sad:

“I truly believe that if we really love each other, it will work out. I know you’ve heard me say that before and then watched me get destroyed, but that doesn’t make me believe it any less.“

Um … wow.

Does it make me a complete cynic that my first reaction was to feel heartbroken for him? I mean, I just don’t know if I can bring myself to really and truly agree. I’ve seen far too many examples of people loving each other but being completely unhealthy for each other, and far too many examples of relationships falling apart due to circumstances beyond either partner’s control to thing that just loving each other is enough.

It feels an awful lot like saying “don’t worry, God will take care of it.” In many situations, emotional ones for example, that can totally be true. But it irks me every time someone says it regarding a job situation. Yes, God can and will help you through the situation. But He’s not going to cause someone to randomly offer you a job when you’re just home sitting on your couch, not having applied anywhere. Those that believe this drive me up the wall with their sheer naivety.

I’m not sure I like what that says about me. Does it make me realistic? Or just cold?  Does it make my friend hopeful? Or delusional? Am I WAY over thinking this?

How do you guys stand on it?

Posted in Serious Biz-ness | 4 Comments »

June 20, 2011

Style Help: Wedding Guest

Hey everyone, I need a bit of help. I’m heading to the wedding of one of my very best friends in a little over a week. (WHEE!) The invitation showed up with a requested attire of “Black Tie Optional” (I knooooooow) … and the wedding is in Houston.

Houston, Texas. In July.*

In an effort to not die from heat exhaustion, I’ve decided to wear this sassy little number:

 

Nice, right?

So here’s where I need help … I’ve got the dress, NOW WHAT? Seriously, jewelry, shoes, hair … pretty much everything.  Do I dark stocking it, or go bare-legged? And do I need a shawl to cover the open back (it’s lower than it looks on the model) for the ceremony (being held in a chapel)?

Gah! Decisions decisions!

Any and all help is appreciated, guys. I’m totally open. A couple of things to keep in mind, though:

          1. My hair, in humidity, goes CRAZY. Oh frizz, how I loathe you.

          2. I’m staying with the groom/groomsmen (My “roommates” from college!) the night before the
              wedding, so my get-ready plan needs to be quick, as there will be one bathroom for the 5 of us.
              (Oh, so you mean JUST LIKE COLLEGE?)

          3. Because I’m hoping on a plane in 10 days, Etsy ordering is pretty much out of the question. I  
              KNOW, right?! It gives me the sads.

And that’s about it. So, lovelies … any ideas? How would you rock this at an event where you’ll be with people you haven’t seen in 6 years?** Photos and big thanks to come. =)

 

* How the EFF is it nearly July?

** And an ex. Who I’m on good terms with, but haven’t actually seen in 2 years. Is it childish of me to say I MUST. LOOK. GOOD?

Posted in Dilemma! | 17 Comments »

« Older Entries  |