Wedding Toppers from The Small Object

My friends and I went to IndieWed today. My favorite discovery of the event was the custom wedding toppers from The Small Object.

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better together: chillaxing

Hi, remember me? And my wedding? Well, I finally kick my recaps off! So here we go!

Spending the night before the wedding with my two favorite ladies in a hotel was, for sure, one of the best wedding related decisions we made. It felt great to spend some time just laughing and hanging out with the girls... I almost forget that I was getting married the next day! It really helped me stay calm and relaxed.

The girls and I went to bed around midnight. I fell asleep immediately and slept until the alarm rang in the morning. After having a delicious breakfast, we were ready for the transformation from "It’s Morning Already?" to "Hellooooo, Bride!"

picture by schwarzbild

Next up: putting on some make-up

Hammerpress Notecard Books

I stumbled upon these Hammerpress notecard books at Francesca's on Sunday. They're so cute! The patterns are great and even the envelopes are nice. This would be a great collection to have on hand for sending impromptu greetings.

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Even though I have more stationery than I know what to do with (and recently bought more), I still seem to never have the right card with me at the right time.

Pantone Markers

I love the packaging on these pantone markers. They look so cool all lined up -- like medical records in a doctor's office or something much more scientific than a marker.

The thin tip would be great for guest books:

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Secrets of Staying (Happily) Married for 50 Years

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Did anyone else catch this article in this month's Real Simple? The magazine interviewed couples who have been married for 50+ years. Their stories are witty and charming. I think that Andy would want me to follow this advice from Ben Sonnenschein, shown in the photo above:

“Don’t get angry over more than one thing at a time.
People jump around from one issue to another,” says Ben.

When I get the mean reds and he's talking me down from the ledge, he'll tell me that I'm "escalating" and force me to "pick an issue." Sometimes Andy is smarter than me.

One couple says that they disco dance every morning at 6:30! I can barely get out the door in the morning.

Modern Baby Shower Invites

My sister-in-law has a bun in the oven. Her shower is in a few weeks and the invitations are out, but Minted has so many wonderful options for cool, easy-on-the-baby-overdose baby shower invitations. Any of these would have been a great Plan B.

These last two are my favorites:

Wait until you see the invitations that I made for my SIL's shower. I'm almost disappointed in myself. They're that "cute."

Custom Wine Labels

My friends are planning a June wedding and are seriously considering Volo Restaurant and Wine Bar in Roscoe Village. I found etsy seller DUVAL INVITES while poking around for inspiration for my friend. Pretty cute designs, no?

{All images, Duvall Invites}

I also like this poster-inspired label from April Ink.

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Pretty Things + Good Deeds

Did you all see this incredible offer from Smock that Brooklyn Bride posted? All Smock proceeds from Wednesday and Thursday sales go to Doctors Without Borders. How wonderfully generous of them.

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Stationery makes a great bridesmaid gift. (Wink, Wink)

Spring Catalogs

I am loving all of the brightly colored spring treats popping up in the catalogs that are filling my mailbox*** these past few weeks.

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{West Elm}

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I think that we're actually buying this. Fingers crossed.

{West Elm}

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{Room & Board}

***Even though I've contacted each of the vendors a million times asking them to take me off of their distribution lists.

Water, Water Everywhere, Yet Nothing to Drink

I've had a $50 gift certificate from Anthropologie burning a hole in my pocket since my birthday. I finally had brunch plans yesterday that put me right next to an Anthropologie. I excitedly picked out my "free" gift only to arrive at the counter and realize that I had left my gift card at home! Fate was telling me to lay off the bling and save my free pennies for fun summer clothes.

I was buying this necklace:

But there was so much temptation! I'm glad that my local store didn't have any of these, as I would have been in a quandary for sure.

{All imaged from Anthropologie.}

I Am So Ready for Spring.

And I would love to welcome it wearing this:

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Things that Blow: THIEVES!

Andy and I happened upon a very unhappy discovery when we were carrying our Christmas tree down to the chipper on January 3, 2010:

Our Bikes Were Stolen!

:(

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Andy had seen them the day before, so it happened over night. And, even worse, I was pulling an all-nighter that night while I fought with our busted printer, (Another Thing that Blows: HP) so I was up while evil thieves lurked three floors below taking my stuff. And, of course, my bike was practically brand new! It had only been ridden maybe two dozen times.

Thievery angers me to no end. But the people that purchase the hot loot chap my hide even more. You are evil, evil people that encourage bad behavior. And I hope that you fall off of my bike or maybe get clothes-lined by some douche bag getting out of his car while talking on his cell phone. As for the thief:

I say we kill him!
Yeah!
I say we hang him, then we kill him!
Yeah!
I say we stomp him!
Yeah!
Then we tattoo him!
Yeah!
Then we hang him!
YEAH!
And THEN we kill him!

P.S. I hope that my new bike has a basket (and even more hopefully, this one! I kind of want it to buy it "just in case" so it will be ready for my new bike.).

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If Double-Chins In Your Holiday Photos...

...aren't enough motivation to lose weight, go for a demonstration of a Sleep Number Bed. Seriously, how big does my stuff look under the scrutiny of their PressureMap Technology? I'm never eating again.

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BTW, I must find away to afford this bed. Stat! Just laying on it during the demo made me feel more relaxed than all of the sleep that I've had in the last 10 years combined. I just completed a survey for Conde Nast publications in which the first place prize was a $3,000 AmEx gift certificate. Luck be a Lady! My fingers and toes are crossed. I'd cross my legs, but, as you can see, my hips are a mess!

I Asked Andy to Re-Marry Me Yesterday...

...and he never responded. But it could be because** my reasoning was "I want to have these invitations at the new wedding."

I stumbled upon these Bella Figura invitations created by my new paper crush, Erin Jang of The Indigo Bunting, while looking at her flickr page at photos of what are possibly the BEST INVITATIONS AND WEDDING SUITE DESIGN EVER (which I found via ESB).

These invitations make me want to cry.

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The top two might have usurped (or at least challenged) these Linda & Harriett invitations as my Wedding Re-do invites:

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**Either way, he's mean to leave a girl hanging like that.