berry cute

i had to treat myself after my first round of grad school finals and got this lauren merkin eve splashed leather clutch. best part was gilt group had a sample sale so the clutch was only $88! (versus a regular $180). who doesn't love a sample sale? if you want an invite to gilt group, let me know!

Inspiration from Luna Boston

it's a mystery

hi everyone! sorry i have been so MIA lately. as you might know, i am living in chicago and going to grad school. life has changed dramatically in the past few weeks. since the last post, i went on a trip to new zealand with some of my new grad school friends. the funnest part was that we didn't know where we were going until we got on the bus to the airport - talk about crazy! anyways, new zealand was amazingly beautiful and fun. i had a great time with the group. since returning, i have been in orientation madness for two weeks. i forgot what it was like to be a student.

the fun part is meeting other newly married or engaged folks and sharing ideas. i have seen some beautiful engagement rings (although i LOVE mine the best) as well. don't have much time to write, but here's a picture a friend took in new zealand when we were sailing on an america's cup boat. would new zealand be an amazing honeymoon destination or what?

inspiration from a travel buddy

my new ride

before the move from san francisco, i sold my cute little red toyota prius (sad!). good news is that because of fuel prices and the economy AND my california HOV sticker (allows solo drivers to drive in the carpool lane during commute hours), my car sold at a premium. i sold it for the same price that i bought it for in 2006. very cool and nice on the pocketbook, especially because i'm now a grad student.

it's been weird not having a car around, but so far so good. today we went to a local bike shop and found this cute little town cruiser so i can get to school a little quicker and to run errands. see how cute it is!! and the shop was having their end of the season sale, so i got 25% off. i love a good deal.

i learned a few fun facts about bike riding in the chicago area - helmets are not required (but I will always wear one!) and riding on the sideway is not allowed. strange but i guess they don't want bikers running into pedestrians. makes total sense.

anyways, here she is! what should I name her? (is it weird to name a bicycle?)

inspiration from bianchi

thoughts on party favors

we have brainstormed a little about whether to have favors and if we did, what we we'd like to give our guests. we love both chocolate and coffee. i think the key to a great favor is to make sure it's personal and meaningful to the couple. so we thought about our favorite things and came up with - chocolate and coffee :)

one idea is the give vosges chocolates. check out their adorable packaging for their truffles and caramel collections. my favorite is the naga chocolate (sweet Indian curry + coconut + deep milk chocolate, 41% cacao). we first found vosges in new york, but i see that there are two locations in chicago! they have all these exotic flavors with ginger, wasabi, green tea, and even bacon (i haven't tried that one yet).

inspiration from vosges chocolates

our second idea is to give our guests coffee beans from blue bottle coffee. they are small organic coffee bean roaster that has amazing coffee beans. they have a few locations in san francisco, but we subscribe to their bi-weekly coffee delivery. we could give our guests 1/4 or 1/3 pound of coffee beans in fun packaging such as small brown bags or perhaps a cute tin that is personalized.

inspiration from blue bottle coffee

and the last option is to opt for no favors. we just went to two weddings and both couples opted to give a donation to a charity in lieu of a favor. what a great idea. maybe we can donate money to a local animal shelter since we love dogs. i'd pick a pooch over chocolate or coffee anyday.

just for fun flats

just got these cute naughty monkey brand flats on my way to the gym. i love sparkley shoes! and i think metallic twinkley shoes can go with almost anything - jeans, skirts, shorts, and dresses. maybe anything except running shorts, which is what i was wearing while trying them on :)

inspiration from endless.com

homemade fizzy and eco-friendly

we got one of these yesterday in the mail - the soda club soda maker! you can make sparkling water or soda at home. we drink tons (and I mean tons) of sparkling water at home, but lug home bottles and bottles from the grocery store. not only is it heavy, but we were wasting a lot of packaging with all the plastic bottles. we got the value kit that comes with extra bottles and carbonators. right now they have a special for $129.99 and free shipping. i think the investment will pay off on no time. move over pellegrino :)

inspiration from soda club

more ocean views

here are a few more photos I took of the venue we are considering. the potential bogey is the weather in december but they have a gorgeous back-up fireside room (the very bottom picture). isn't the view breathtaking? i love all the flowers and green surrounding. we are going to visit again this december to scope it out a bit more.

all images are from the author

coastline beauty

Sorry about being MIA. We just moved to Chicago in the past week and things have been busy! Here is a small snippet of a potential venue we found in Carmel. Isn't it breathtaking?

cute snowman cookies

i found the perfect winter wedding gifts! these are SO cute.

inspiration from the knot

winter wedding thoughts

inspiration from the knot

so we are thinking december 2009 and want a cozy rustic wedding. after seeing a lot of places this past weekend, i realize that winter weddings get tricky since everything must be planned indoors and not a lot of venues have two indoor spaces.

i don't think we want to use one space for both the ceremony and reception because it's nice to have it separate and offer the guest to flow around to different places. but we not sure if we want our guest to have to drive and park twice, especially cause SF has terrible (very!!) parking. plus that also means two venue fees! (these weddings really do add up)

but we still love the idea of winter... maybe serve hot apple cider during cocktails. we also want a place that has a (or multiple) fireplaces so people can stay toasty. maybe a mistletoe in the entrance. or hang the guest table assignments on a xmas tree.

still alive

i am still alive! have been busy quitting my job and starting to plan the move to chicago. this past weekend, my mom was in town and we drove all around town to look at venues for the big days. right now we are thinking next winter.

key buzz words for our "wedding vision" - cozy, rustic, winter, cute, simple, elegant but casual, lots of pink, comfort foods, hot cider, mistletoe, cocoa, coffee...

we must have seen at least 10 venues and my head is spinning. there are so many things to consider. ceremony and reception in one place? who has tables? BYO alcohol? how is parking? is the space too big? is the space too small? can we light candles? how much time? eek! more thoughts later. :)

sparkley wedges

these are the shoes that we wore at the wedding in sayulita. they are very comfortable and the gold really pops. the wedding was out on the grass so we could only wear wedges. do you like? they are only $35 on amazon right now. maybe i should get another color :)

inspiration from amazon.com

san pancho travels

we are back from a week in sayulita and san pancho mexico. my best friend from college was married on july 3rd! a gorgeous wedding. hopefully i will have images of the wedding soon. here is an image from a house we stayed in san pancho. beautiful!

mexico travels

we are off to mexico for my best friend's wedding. i am ready for the sunshine and beaches!

simple ring

here is the simple silver band we got from tiffanys, has a pink gemstone to give it a little glitz. i'm wearing on my right hand and when i travel i can wear on my left, if i want to leave my e-ring at home.
this weekend is also the san anselmo art and wine festival. a few girlfriends went yesterday and found unique local jewelry. let's see if i can motivate to get out of the house :)

traveling with my ring

do you leave your engagement ring at home when traveling afar? in a few months i am headed to grad school (!!!) and head on a week-long service trip with some of my new classmates. the destination of my trip is a mystery, we don't find out where we go until we get to the airport. should be an amazing experience.

last night we were talking and j.p. recommended that i not wear my engagement ring during the trip, especially because we don't know the destination.

i still want to wear a ring, but maybe something simple and not too expensive. i found this twist ring on the tiffany's website. only $250 in sterling silver.

inspiration from tiffany & co

handgrown pottery

leesa brinkley is a fabulous etsy seller who sells adorable handcrafted gifts. i got this one for us. these would make great shower or wedding gifts.

inspiration from leesa brinkley

colorado beauty

here are some images from our colorado trip. what an amazing place!

bike vacation

we are off to colorado for a 7 -day bike ride :)
be back in a few days...

i heart ruby red

i got these red beauties (these are the same nine west jojus in this posting) on ebay for only $24.99!

inspiration from nine west

i think i know where these ruby may debut. my high school best friend is getting married in november, and has these banana republic dresses for the bridesmaids. she wants us to wear dark red heals and hasn't decided whether she'll let us pick our own shoes or if we have to get the same pair. either way i heart red satin.

inspiration from banana republic

matchy matchy

although i love the green satin shoes, i want to stick with my wedding colors. those lovely greenies no longer need to be mine. thank goodness for endless.com's free shipping and returns!

i was inspired by with this photo. i love (time infinity) the bright matching red shoes of the bride and her bridesmaids. the shoes really pop! since my bridesmaids' dresses are a dark espresso brown, bright shoes would be fabulous. thanks to whitebox weddings for the gorgeous photography and with this ring, for the fabulous find.

inspiration from whitebox via with this ring

so i got these bright pink shoes for me! they were only $43 on endless.com and (almost) instant gratification with overnight shipping. i even tried them on during my dress fitting today and they are perfect. good bye green shoes, hello pink!

i still need to check with the ladies to see if they like this shoe. i hope they say yes. pretty please.

inspiration from nine west

cupcake toppers?

we are considering getting a cake topper, but my girlfriend is baking us cupcakes. is there such a thing as a cupcake topper? maybe it's best to find a teeny tiny little cake topper?

looking around etsy has some beautiful handmade cake toppers. here is an adorable bird cake topper from lauren alene.

And she even makes my favorite - owls! perhaps we need an owl cupcake topper in brown and pink.

inspiration from lauren alene

Hmm, my next step is to investigate what our cake stand will look like and measure the diameter of a cupcake. then it would be wise to enjoy the cupcake and not let it go to waste :)

i heart green satin shoes

i think these might be the perfect pair. eek! i just ordered them online in a size 6 and 6.5. endless.com is great cause they have free overnight shipping and free returns. i know my colors are pink and brown, but these are just TOO fabulous. i know not everyone will see my shoes on wedding day, but i'll feel fabulous in these. plus all the wedding photos will required the presence of amazing shoes. (and only $124!!)

inspiration from vince camuto

put on your dancing shoes

i never been much of a shoe girl. i'm a jeans girl and a sports equipment girl, but this wedding planning thing has gotten me intrigued by shoes. check out these bright beauties!

inspiration from: kate spade, j renee, and sigerson morrison

new obsession

i have a new obsession with fresh's soy face cleanser. it is natural, gentle, scented-lightly, and makes my skin feel clean.

fresh also has these beautifully packaged soaps, in yummy scents such as freesia, mangosteen, sugar, and waterlily. perhaps a perfect bridesmaids gift?

inspiration from fresh

berries and lime

i have this new fascination with dark purple and lime green. this would be a cute rehersal dinner outfit. the only problem is the price of the derek lam dress (eek!). a girl can imagine. i may however get the nine west shoes in a dark purple for my wedding shoes. fabulous no?

dress - derek lam bow tie kimono dress from net-a-porter
shoes - nine west jojus from amazon

unusual but fabulous registries

we have already registered at some of the usual suspects - williams sonoma, crate & barrel, macys, and rei. but check out these gorgeous handcrafted pieces from whitney smith and dovetail shop and studio. i saw that both have "registries" on etsy, and whitney smith has one on her website. is 6 registries too many? :-)

Whitney Smith Pottery

inspiration from whitney smith pottery

whitney smith etsy shop

Dovetail Shop & Studio

inspiration from dovetail shop and studio

dovetail etsy shop

memorial day images

here are some photos from our weekend in healdsburg. hope you enjoy!

daisy shoes

we were walking around polk street in sf this evening and fell upon these lovely shoes in lavande spa. they are cindy says and i had to get them. need and want are synonomous here. i think they are too casual for my wedding dress, but perhaps for rehersal dinner or the shower. it is silly to find a dress that matches with the shoes? is that backwards?

inspired by cindy says

i heart farmerjulie

i was inspired by perfect bound's posting of farmerjulie's pottery. her work is simple, rustic, and gorgeous. now all i need is a garden...

inspired by farmerjulie