Supper

Sunday suppers will be the death of me. If I ever get to visit New York and they are still hosting classes, I would totally plan my trip around it. Check out this awesome rustic italian inspired dinner.

Dark wood surface, white dishes and tasty food:

"Pasta Frittata
Warm Robiola Cheese
Herbed Flatbreads
Asparagus with Frankie’s Olive Oil
Meatballs + fresh tomato sauce
Boozy fruit
Affogatos
Sandwich cookies
And of course martinis"

I would like to add just about all of this to our wedding menu. Can I make asparagus an appetizer food? It looks so darn pretty with those lemon wedges.

I LOVE the idea of cooking together. If you were having a super small wedding, or a rehearsal dinner at home it would be so lovely to cook the meal together.

And check out that olive branch arrangement. I love this look and there are actually olive trees and tuscan inspired landscaping in the town where Fiance's parents live. I love some olive branch inspiration.

Also can I steal some of these ladies' dresses? Especially the one on the right. It would be just lovely for some engagement photos :).

brought to you by the letter eff

(via yes please)

Last night, along my fellow group members, I presented my senior design project. We spent the past 2 quarters (since january) designing a 3 story commercial/residential structure with the help of a consulting engineer at a private firm. One of the things I learned: despite 4 years in college we knew surprisingly little about how to actually design a building. that's what you get from a research based university. Also because of our lack of experience and limited time, decisions had to be made on what we would actually do. We started out ambitious but the last month or so was a scramble. "wait don't we need to consider this?" "we really have to do calculations for ALL of that??" and our engineer (who is awesome and I feel like I learned more from than most of my classes) said "learn the concept, do one calc/drawing to show that you thought of it and move on". 

As we prepared for the presentation it became a time of "eff it". "crap we forgot this" "what if they ask a question about that" . It was about prioritizing the important foundation and basic structure (puns...unavoidable?) of the project and all the tiny little details that were unnecessary fell by the wayside. We got our point across. We showed drawings for a three story structure. One girl and I designed a foundation in under 2 weeks (aka I put in about 18 hour days at school for the past 2 weeks, hence my hiatus and those hair posts were scheduled). But in the end we had something we were all really proud of and the presentation was perfect.

I'm kind of hoping this level of prioritizing and letting things go has trained me a little for wedding planning. In the end it's about the marriage. Just like this project was about a safe structure that met the requirements. Maybe we didn't calc out the balcony or draw up the mechanical units but we thought the foundation plans were a bit more important. So for the wedding if we don't have programs or meticulously drawn chalkboard signs it will be because we decided to allocate more time to the actual getting married part, because it took priority.

paper battle

I can't help but feel like assembling graduation announcements is practice for wedding invites. It scares me a little. There's half a page of instructions on how to put this craziness together. inner envelopes, outer envelopes, sealing stickers, tissue to cover the text inside the announcement, addressing styles, folding directions. I kind of feel like emily post or martha stewart will jump out from behind my door if I screw up.

So this makes me want to take the easy route invite wise. ONE envelope. Possibly print address labels (GASP, blasphemy I know. What can I say? Sometimes I can be a rebel.) There's no way I can convince Fiance to spend a week putting together invites. Well, he'd probably do it if I asked because he like loves me and all that, but I'd end up being the whiney one...

hair part 4

So now my hair conclusion after presenting those options. I would like to introduce you to one of our many friendors (coined by the lovely & witty lady over at hitchdied) that we have been blessed with. One of my dear bridesmaids runs a business making custom veils, and doing hair and makeup styling. Miss Shawnie. She went to fashion school, worked at a bridal salon for years and is all sorts of fabulous. If you live in/are getting married in Orange County, contact her, she's awesome. Also she does beautiful hand drawn and watercolor illustrations of the bride in dress and veil, etc. She blows my mind with her talent. When she offered to help me out after I asked to stand at the altar with me, I couldn't say no!

She's going to help me with my hair, so I've been collecting photos for ideas so we can have some hair play days. Genius that she is, she suggested a combination of the two styles I love. She can tease the top, put it into a low bun/chignon for the ceremony. Then after the ceremony, she will remove a couple pins to let the bottom half down and voila! two styles in one! She will also be helping restore my headpiece and veil. Yay!

hair part 3

Hair piece options:
First I would like to briefly discuss the following awesomeness. That vine/claw thing in her hair is pure brilliance.

via oncewed

But since I've already got something and I probably can't afford something like that, here's a more realistic option. My grandmother/mother's headpiece is crown shaped, layered with starched lace, iridescent sequins and tiny pearl and gold beads. My grandmother wore it flat on her head like a head band while my mom wore it tipped up, like a crown. I definitely want to wear it flat. I have a fingertip length veil with blusher for the ceremony, but I want to change it up for the reception. Maybe switch out the veil for a little bit of netting with my beaded headband like these lovely ladies:

via green wedding shoes

via ruffled

via ruffled

via oncewed

via classic bride

kind of like this gorgeous vintage headpiece I found on etsy:

via etsy

umm and then I had to find a way to stick zooey in here somewhere. we have the same hair and blue eyes!

hair part 2

Option #2: the updo
there's the messy, poufy updo:

(elizabeth dye via a desert fete)

 (via apartment 34)

The sleek but simple updo:

(keira knightley)

(scarlett johanssen in french elle)

And I really love fresh gardenias, especially in dark haired updos:

(via apartment 34)

Which leads into tomorrow's topic: the headpiece/veil options...

hair part 1

Alright, I hereby declare this to be hairstyle week. I'm incredibly indecisive when it comes to my hair. At the moment it is long, dark brown, with layers and fringe, with a bit of a natural wave. My hair grows super fast so I've experimented a lot in the past. I've had (in the past 6 years) highlights, no fringe, fringe, side bangs, hair down past my waist, chin length a line cut, dark black brown, a bleach blonde streak and everything in between. I plan to keep the same cut that I have right now. I like a slightly less than perfect look when it comes to hairstyles, I usually just air dry my hair and use some defrizz/shine spray.

Option #1: the half up/half down, with volume/pouf, and messy waves/curls
a la Brigette Bardot

(google images)

Or Anna Karina

(via adore vintage)

Or these beautiful brides:

(via memory tree photography)

(via green wedding shoes)

(via green wedding shoes)