Quote of the Week

I'm still in a blissful wedding daze and thus not quite ready to return to my regular postings about ordinary things.. so on this happy Friday, I leave you with an Irish wedding blessing I love that we included in our wedding program.

You are the star of each night,

You are the brightness of every morning,

You are the story of each guest,

You are the report of every land.

No evil shall befall you, on hill nor bank,

In field or valley, on mountain or in glen.

Neither above, nor below, neither in sea,

Nor on shore, in skies above,

Nor in the depths.

You are the kernel of my heart,

You are the face of my sun,

You are the harp of my music,

You are the crown of my company.

~ Irish Wedding Blessing

image/www.agirlandacameraphotography.com

via bloom

It's Official...

We're married!

(This picture isn't us, by the way...waiting for our photographer pics to come in before I debut)

Our wedding day was perfect. Seriously, perfect.

Everything I wanted it to be and more.

The sun peeked out of the clouds just in time for pictures,

all the little details came together seamlessly,

and I had a flurry of excited happiness throughout the entire ceremony and reception,

just as I had hoped for and imagined.

And of course the dance party that followed,

was pretty darn awesome as well!

But, you want to know the best part...

I'm now married to the love of my life, my best friend.

And I get to call him my husband, he's all mine!

More details to follow, stay tuned!

image credit unknown

Guest Post: Tales of Me & The Husband

It doesn't sound super romantic, does it? Choosing your love and loving your choice doesn't really leave room for serendipitous-love-at-first-sight moments. But, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's actually pretty romantic. Deciding to love whether or not you feel it, committing to making that choice when it's not rainbows and sunshine, when you might be really pissed, but weathering the storm despite the fact that you might want to hit the road... I think it is romantic. Cause, let's face it, rainbows and sunshine don't last forever (and these days so many people are hitting the road), but if you keep choosing love, your relationship has a good chance of lasting forever. And I think what's better than rainbows and sunshine is a long history together. One full of memories and laughter and joy... mixed with a few I-want-to-kill-you moments. That's romantic to me.

Congratulations Michelle! Enjoy your newest chapter!

I'm over at Tales of Me + the Husband if you'd like to stop by sometime.

Guest Post: Mo Pie Please

Hi everyone! This is Meagan from Mo Pie, Please, and I'm thrilled to be here today while Michelle is basking in the afterglow of her incredible wedding. Michelle asked me to put together a little something about what I learned from my own wedding to share with you all and I couldn't resist indulging :)

My wedding took place last August in a lovely Napa Valley town named Calistoga.

{we held a rehearsal/welcome dinner at Calistoga Inn for our guests who traveled so far to be with us on our big day. The restaurant took care of all the food, drinks and intimate decor. The ambience was perfect for the occasion and my heart swells just looking back on it}

50 of our closest friends and family members flew out to celebrate with us and every last bit of the entire trip was magical. We spent the week leading up to the big day galavanting around the San Francisco/Sausalito/Point Reyes/Napa Valley area, with a friends camping trip, a romantic rehearsal dinner at a local brewery and a morning-after-the-wedding brunch in a petrified forest. Honestly, I wouldn't have changed anything about those experiences for the world if I could. And I can't, so that's great, right?!

If I was forced to change some things about the wedding, here's what they'd be ::

• I love, love, loved my Lela Rose gown and am so thankful for my parents helping me out with it. It was a splurge and I will cherish it forever. But if I had to do it all over again, I think I might choose one of these inexpensive gowns instead ::

1 / 2

Not for any particular rhyme or reason, just that ever since I've been thinking about how much we spent on it and how much that money sounds really nice right about now. Also, I remember the night of the wedding, I nearly cried when I took my dress off. I knew I was never going to wear it again, at least for the purpose it served, and it made me incredibly sad.

• Our wedding venue was absolute perfection, but because we decided to take the Friday package, the wedding had to end earlier than everyone would have liked. I was ready for it to last many hours more and we were all sorely disappointed when they shut us down.

{some of my favorite shots of the beauty at Hans Fahden Vineyards}

• So much of the day was a blur for both of us. I don't think there's anything you can do to really prevent that from happening, but asking your photographer to capture things that you want to experience for years to come is a great idea. Ask for shots involving the two of you but also make sure they capture the moments you're not around to fully savor. When we took or photos in the vineyard, it was after we had served dinner but right when the dancing began. While we were away, we missed some memorable dance moves from my nephew and our best man. Plus, I have seen pictures of other guests dancing that I don't recall having seen, so that's nice to look back on and know they were having fun. Just be prepared for a confusing feeling when it's all said and done with :)

{our first dance was to Sam Cooke's I Love You for Sentimental Reasons}

• Two things I learned - if you are dead set on having a specific detail look a certain way, don't be afraid to quadruple check to make sure it's been done right. A friend's mother made me a cake stand out of a tree log and I was so excited about that little touch. The bakery put the cake on top of the tree log but didn't remove the sheet it was originally sitting on, which was bigger than the tree stand. I was very disappointed when I realized that. It's a good thing that cake was the best I'd ever had...

• Never expect the ceremony to start on time. Remain calm, have a glass of champagne to calm your nerves and just let the little things slide.

Moments before our ceremony began, the coordinator came to tell me that one of our ushers had left to hunt down some lost guests. Since there were only 50 guests, they decided to push the ceremony back until the lost guests arrived. I just let it slide, just went with the flow. Apparently she had been nervous to tell me about it but I didn't let it get me down. As they like to say, "don't sweat the small stuff."

• Most importantly, just be you and have a ball. Show gratitude to each and every one there with you, have your cake and eat it too, drink champagne, but also drink loads of water throughout the day. And maybe pass on the raw broccoli for lunch. I almost made that mistake.

Congratulations, Michelle! I'm so happy for you, your husband (eeps!) and your new life together. And to all of you reading, thanks for having me! Hop on over to my corner of the web - I'd love to have you!

Guest Post: Beaktweets

Hi! I'm Claire. You can usually find me writing about my husband and daughter over at Beaktweets. I was so excited when Michelle asked me to guest post on her blog with something wedding related. I am hoping Michelle is off having a wonderful wedding weekend. In the meantime, I have a quick bit of advice from one bride to another.

I have been married for almost five years and the thing that I held onto throughout our engagement and have encouraged other brides to remember is this: No matter what, at the end of the day, you will be married.

What I mean by this is that all the little things like decorations, weather forecasts, seating charts and who wears what doesn't affect the outcome of the day. A sunshiney day might make things easier. A perfectly executed wedding theme might get a few oooohs and aaaahs out of wedding guests. But really? Those aren't the things that matter.

What matters is that you are marrying the man of your dreams. At the end of the ceremony you will kiss your groom and embark on the most exciting adventure as partners in life.

With so many wedding blogs, magazines and websites I think it is so hard to remember what is really important about our wedding day. So my advice to you would be: remember. Remember that even if things don't go quite as you had planned, at the end of the day you will have yourself a husband. And really? What could be better?!

Guest Post: The Soho

Thanks to my blog friends who are helping me out with some guest posts while I get myself ready to get married!

First up, thanks to Natalie of one of my daily reads The SoHo...

If I had one piece of advice for a bride on her wedding day, it would be, "Let go."

You've worked and planned and obsessed for months and months, focusing on fun, dreamy aspects like a wedding gown and flowers and tedious tasks like RSVPs and seating charts. But when the day comes, there's nothing left to do but enjoy it.

Appreciate the biggest celebration you'll ever have, bask in the love of your family and friends, and take in every moment with your groom. Something will inevitably go wrong, but it doesn't matter.

Trust me. You're the only one who will notice, and you'll be too happy to care.

Congrats, Michelle! Happy Wedding and Happy Marriage!

photo/kelliekano

Fall Recipe List

With less than 1 week to go, I've been trying to eat healthier and avoid all of those tempting (but fattening) comfort foods of fall. Isn't it funny how all these kinds of foods seem to be popping up all over the blogosphere right at the same moment I'm resisting and reaching for a blah green salad for dinner.

So I've compiled a list of fall recipes to try:

1. scalloped hasselback potatoes

2. apple pie cookies

3. pumpkin risotto with seared scallops

4. pancetta and porcini potato gratin

5. apple cinnamon coffee cake

6. perfect pumpkin bread

7. pumpkin cinnamon rolls

What are your favorite fall recipes?

image/pioneerwoman

Engagement Photos: Part 2

Love.

Sunshine Song

Since I'm exuding positive energy and praying for sun this week in excited anticipation of my wedding this weekend, I thought I'd share a new favorite song that always brightens my day. Whenever I listen to this song, I literally feel lighter, happier, and usually find myself subconsciously tapping along to the lively beat. It's my sunshine song.

Do you have a sunshine, mood boosting, put-you-in-a-good-mood favorite song?

video/youtube

Engagement Photos: Part 1

Some of my favorites...

Stay tuned...more to come!

Pumpkin Spice Alternative

I'm happy to report I've found an affordable alternative to the pricy $4.00+ pumpkin spice latte, Trader Joe's Pumpkin spice coffee. While it's not quite the barista, it does have a aromatic, spicy fall flavor and it's only $8 for 14 ounces. Sweet!

myphotos

True Blood Nights

Are you a True Blood fan? I jumped on the vampire bandwagon back when the Twilight books debuted. So when this risqué HBO show came along, I was totally game. However, since I don't actually have HBO, I've had to make other arrangements.

Two of my sorority sisters and I have thus begun "True Blood nights," entailing gourmet take-out pizza, red wine, and a few episodes of True Blood. Its becoming a great little tradition. Recently, we discovered that our fave pizza place, Zaw, offers deluxe chocolate chip cookies, which we now giggle and call "Sookie cookies," after the main character of True Blood. Yeah, we are that cool.

Occasionally to splurge, we mix it up. On one of our "True Blood Nights," we hit up a new Cajun restaurant in Ballard - Le Bon Ton Roule (new restaurant #15 for me) for some spicy po'boys and oysters. Quite a fitting pre-show eatery, since True Blood takes place in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Do you watch your fave shows with friends? It's one of my fave traditions, and a great excuse to hang out and see your favorite people.

image/hbo

image/lebontonroule

M.I.A.

Hey guys, sorry for being MIA this week. With 2 weeks left til we take the plunge, it's been crazytown around here, trying to get everything finalized and pitch perfect for the big day (in addition to working everyday!). Be back next week to share some of our engagement photos!

Have a fab weekend!

image/bbb

I Could Go For a Beer...

For some reason, this sounds delicious to me right about now, a Guinness Cream Soda. Maybe it's my almost two-week-long cocktail of cough syrup, Vitamin C, fruit juice that's driven me to crave vanilla-y beer, but either way, sounds pretty good. While an ordinary cream soda usually contains club soda, cream, and vanilla syrup, the "boozy version uses vanilla and ginger liqueurs instead of syrup. The creamy froth of the Guinness stout instead of cream to take this drink from soda fountain to bar top."

image/chow

Ill

I'm still sick...

Despite my resting, eating plenty of spicy pho, drinking tea like it's my J.O.B...I must take my scratchy throat and scary cough to school, and spend my energy reserves teaching 24 second graders today.

Bah, humbug.

Think healthy thoughts...

image/justagirlinthecity