Dear Santa....part 2

Dear Santa,

I'd like all these things from Urban Outfitters too!

The Vega watch by Nixon in white

The Where the Wild Things Are tree ornaments

and this pretty Welcome yellow coat hanger!

Dear Santa...part 1

I know I've been gone for almost a week but my meetings in Ferney (outside Geneva) were so draining that after they were done, all I could do was sleep or eat cheese. I'm back now and ready to post ahead.

So M asked me yesterday to make him a list of things I want for Christmas. I do this every year to help him think of ideas for presents. I usually get one or two little things off my list. I think it's just fun coming up with the list. Here's the first item on my list...

It's from domesticity. I'm in love with entry ways. I can't wait to design my own when we finally get our act together and start building our house. If they carried the hook in yellow instead of orange, I'd be in heaven!

fruity goodness

I got an email this morning saying I had a package to pick up at the front desk. I thought it was a book I had ordered for work but was delighted to find our Save the Dates instead. Looks like I'll be addressing postcards to pass time on the flight to London on Tuesday. I went to the USPS website to look up stamps and they currently have just one set of $0.27 stamps. I guess it is a good thing they are cute, colorful and that I love fruit:)

New things of the month

I forgot. I have some new things of the month.

1. Eat all my meals at the dinner table (which I broke last night while watching the election results)

2. Screen print something. If you saw my earlier post about that, then you know I haven't been having a lot of luck.

3. Go somewhere new. This one just fell into my lap. I'm headed to Ferney (outside Geneva) for some meetings next week.

4. A new Thanksgiving theme. Every year M and I have a Thanksgiving theme for our meal. The first year (our first year together) was a very traditional meal. The second year was Chesapeake inspired. Think Old Bay seasoned turkey, Onion tart and Oyster stuffing. Last year was Hawaiian inspired. The Hawaiian one was the best and the easiest to make. We had Kalua Turkey, Spam fried rice and a tofu in soy sauce "salad" that is super yummy. There were other dishes that escape me now. This year our theme in New Orleans inspired. We're thinking Blackened Turkey, Andouille and shrimp stuffing, fried okra, some kind of salad, and beignets in place of pie. Yum!

And now the dress!

I've showed you the shoes and the hairpiece and now all that's left of the outfit is the dress. Actually, I still need jewelry which is another thing entirely! I knew I wanted something short and something made for me. I also knew that I wanted something that was modern yet feminine.

I was at home working one day and decided to take a break to see what was new on Etsy...and there it was. I didn't hesitate. I contacted Liza and asked her if the material of the dress was dressy enough for a wedding gown and as soon as she said yes, I was sold. The material is a cotton sateen that is a really pale grey.

I was a little worried about having a custom dress made for me in August 2008 when the wedding wasn't for another year. Liza said that once payment was made, she'd cut and put the material aside and that in Feb/March I could contact her with my measurements or come down to Portland for a fitting. Done! I paid for the dress right then and there. Liza even sent me a sample of the material so I could match accessories to it.

Hair is done and paid for!

Ok, after a lot of back and forth, I finally decided on a hairpiece for the wedding, custom ordered it and paid for it. I'm so excited. I might just have to wear it around the house! It was only $45. This is a picture of what the hairpiece is based on and this is the description of the custom made piece from House of Telsa who's making it for me.

"I think the style of the speckled green fascinator would really complement your dress quite nicely. The rosette lends that feminine touch and the lines created by the tulle would mimic the structured lines of your dress. The rosette part of the piece measures approximately 3.5" x 3.5", which is not too large and since the tulle is translucent, it creates a soft subtle effect that does not overpower. I know I will find the perfect pale gray dupioni and I already have the gray tulle I'd like to use. The look would be subtle and the swarovski crystals (not black, but a color called "crystal") added to the tulle would be the perfect touch. Also, vintage rhinestones in the middle of the flower instead of swarovski crystals would add a much nicer touch given the special occassion. I'm loving all the tone on tone contrasting that will make up this piece and I think you will too!"

Searching in a field of yellow

So I've been searching for the perfect yellow shoe to go with my dress. Unfortunately, nothing in my price range comes in my size or is something I can walk in. All the cute shoes in yellow have 4 inch heels. I tried walking in them, and it's just not possible. 3 inches is as high as i can go. I had just about given up when I found these saviors from J.Crew. The yellow is soooo perfect!



I know the wedding isn't for 9 months, but I tend to lose a lot of time because of work. I just found out today that I need to be on a plane to Geneva in 6 days. In all, I'll probably lose 3 weeks because of the trip. I have to buy what I can when I can, and I'm so happy I found these shoes!

Rain rain go away...

...papayadog wants to screen print today! So as I mentioned before, we're (which really means me) making the invitations ourselves. I've designed it already and got all the necessary supplies (paper, screen, ink) for a fun day of screen printing. I'm using the photo emulsion technique where I coat the screen with the emulsion, let it dry in a dark place, and then place my negative (the image on a transparency) on the dry screen and expose it to the sun. I've tried it twice and both times didn't go so well. The first time I put too much emulsion on an it didn't dry evenly. When I placed my image on the screen, part of it was still wet so the whole image didn't catch. I tried it again yesterday and I think a) I didn't put enough emulsion on and b) it was too cloudy to work. Unfortunately this being Seattle in the fall/winter, I probably won't see any good sunlight for a long time. I decided last night to invest in a 150 watt light bulb to "burn" the image onto the screen. I tried picking up a bulb last night at target but they only came in 3 packs. I only need 1. I'm hoping a trip to Home Depot or Lowe's will be more fruitful. If all else fails, I do have someone who will print our poster invitation (yes, 11x17 posters) for reasonably cheap. I really do want to do these myself though. I've always wanted to learn to screen print. Hopefully I'll have a more positive entry about screen printing in the next week. Etsy has a great DIY screen printing video for anyone interested.