I'm missing New York...

Photo: Ana Santos

A Perfect Saturday Morning...

How was your weekend? Mine was very relaxing. I spent time with family and caught up on my ever growing pile of magazines...

Photo: Candice

Ebay Junkie

I've turned into an ebay junkie. Like most junkies, I don't claim responsibility for my actions. It's the wedding's fault...it's turned me into a deranged lunatic who has thrown all logical thinking out the window at any attempt for something that will make my wedding day more beautiful.

I decided late last week that it would be a much better idea to look for vintage linens and silverware for the reception rather than pay to rent some tacky polyester linens and flatware that wouldn't really mesh well with the whole "vintage garden party" theme I'm going for.

Thus commenced a weekend of staying up until 2 am, trying to win countless ebay bids and spending an entire day glued to my laptop checking my watched items over and over until I wore the print right off of my keyboard.

I know, I know, i could have used e-snipe, but there is something about the thrill of victory when you are right there in the last seconds of an auction, fighting it out, probably with some old grandma who has been trying for years to complete her collection of silverplated 1934 Rogers flatware. Some kind of competitiveness you didn't know you had shows up, and it leads you to pay more than you ever intended for some rusty silverware as you silently curse the old grandma who's last dying wish is to complete her flatware collection. Like most addictions, it brings out the worst in you.

But I'm happy to say that I am now the proud owner of 90+ pieces of flatware and several beautiful vintage embroidered linen napkins.

Photo: Flickr

Our seedlings

Here's the first round of seedlings. We started two varieties of tomatoes, chives, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and basil. There are more seeds on the way: onions, winter squash, carrots, lavender, and leeks.

We went to talk to a neighbor the other day about keeping backyard chickens. I'm not quite sure if I'm ready for the responsibility that comes with keeping fowl in our yard, but it's definitely peeked my interest. The chickens were very cute and surprisingly quiet. For now though, I think we're going to stick with our raised garden bed although, there have been some discussions about backyard beekeeping...stay tuned!

Photo: Candice

Gardening

Sorry it's been quiet around here for the past few weeks...we've been busy getting our new garden ready!  In Florida the Fall season is the best time to grow.  According to a book we bought specific to Florida gardening, you can grow year round here but we decided to try our hand at it during the easiest growing season.  

I'm finally starting to understand how to use Photoshop so I got kind of fancy when putting together this photo collection and added text to the photos!  Not bad, huh?

Photos: Candice

Our Labor of Love...

This is the result of weeks worth of work, and headaches (and I'm not going to lie, many arguments), but the invitations are finally finished!  We dropped them off at the post office this afternoon.  

I was a little reluctant to let them go, they looked so pretty in a big pile with all the vintage stamps so delicately affixed to the corner of each invitation.  I am so happy we decided to go with the vintage stamps.  It ended up being an easy and fun addition and they really stand out against the chocolate brown envelopes.  We chose stamps that were relevant to our life and the theme of the wedding.  

In that last photo you can see the front card in the invitation set, it's a monogram we designed. I'm so happy with the way they turned out.  In retrospect, I don't know if I would ever take on the task of designing the invites again, but we got through it and the end result is perfect!

Photos: Candice

Delicious Pancake Treats

Is it weird that I want to register for this?  For some reason I have always thought these were the coolest thing and have wanted to try making them, but of course never had the pan.  Then I read an article about them in one of my magazines which really peaked my interest.  Oh what the hell, I'm registering for it!

Photo: Williams-Sonoma

In over my head?

What was I thinking taking all this stuff on so close to my wedding?  I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  I want so badly to focus on my shop and preparing it for the impending holiday rush (please, oh please, recession, let there be one!)  but I also have to prepare for the craft fair in November and all the little wedding details that still need to come together and did I mention that there seems to be something on our calendar every weekend leading up to our wedding!  My new soap molds arrived today which means now there are no more excuses for putting that off (darn!).  I'll let you all know how the liner free molds work, I am excited to use them!