Have you Heard?

We're married!!

Just typing those two words brings me such joy. The weekend was a fairy tale filled with so much love I don't think I'm ready to process it into words yet.

We got back from Tahoe on Monday afternoon and Mike went back to work today signaling the start of our new normal. I knew I'd need a little time to float back from Cloud 9 and am easing myself back into daily life today slowly starting with my inbox (!).

I will definitely be sharing more details of the event when we get our pictures back but for now I just wanted to stop in and say hi. I can't wait to re-focus my attention on our home & am so in love with my new (official) family.

Friday Favorites

Mike's birthday is Monday so this weekend is full of friends and fun (and rain)! Also, my wedding dress is finally in so I get to try it on for the first time on Sunday. I have a feeling this bagel will be the last one I eat for the next five months...

READ: Feeling lost and a need for self discovery was an overwhelming theme for me in January so when I stumbled on this interview on Design*Sponge, it really resonated.

MAKE: This healthy peanut butter dip. I haven't tried it yet but if it can satisfy my pb cravings without all the calories, I'm in.

ORGANIZE: I'm a huge believer in making lists to get things done. This online tool & app is a straight-forward approach to organizing your to-do's. I especially love its sharing capabilities which comes in handy when planning a wedding.

TRY: This spray-on sanitizing spray is all natural, convenient, and smells great! Our good friend actually works for this company and I recently re-discovered the sample she gave me -- just in time for flu season.

DIY: Don't forget Valentine's day is this Friday. With a shoe-string budget, I was searching for a few cute projects to do this weekend. This watercolor and gold-leaf geometric heart is on my list of things to make.

Image: Ali Harper

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Wedding Planning

Mike and I are about six-months out from our wedding and I'm starting to feel the stress. We were sitting pretty after we got a bunch of stuff accomplished in October but the holidays flew by and we are up against deadlines again. My sister jokingly asked the other day if I would be mad if she eloped and I told her I hoped she did!

Okay... half kidding - but as fun as it is to pick the venue, dress, and stationary there are just as many frustrating aspects of getting the big day to come together. For any of you who just got engaged, I thought I'd share.

1// Vendors Not Getting Back to You - or even more frustrating, not getting back to you with information you requested. A lot of websites don't have their prices explicitly stated on their website but rather ask you to email them for more info. I assumed most vendors have a packet they send you upon request with options and pricing but was surprised to get responses like "the price depends on what you want."

My take on this is if they are too busy/disorganized to get back to you within a week or with a response that doesn't directly addresses your questions then you probably won't get the attention and quality you want for your big day anyway. The vendors that have won our business were all quick to respond, upfront, and interested in helping us figure out what we wanted for our wedding.

2// Finding Hotel Accommodations - this one is on me. I should have started asking around about blocking out rooms in hotels a few months ago but didn't realize it would be this difficult. July is high season in Tahoe (especially around the lake) and hotels are either unwilling to reserve rooms or limit the number of reservations to one wedding a weekend. Since our venue doesn't have parking, it means we are most likely going to have to pay for a fleet of vans to pick people up instead of just doing one large bus from a central location.

Other situations to be aware of are hotels that ask you to put down a deposit on the rooms and/or charge you a percentage of any rooms not reserved which could end up costing you money in the end. Most large chains don't do this but instead you make an agreement to release the unreserved rooms at a given date before the wedding which is much more reasonable.

3// Guests Not Looking at the Wedding Website - We're not at this point yet but was a recent complaint of a friend getting married in a few months who put a lot of time into making their website only to have people call to ask for details or miss the deadline for booking rooms because they failed to look at the website.

I understand not all people are internet savvy but with so much on your plate already, answering the who/what/when/why of Aunts and Uncles is not easy. Some good advice I recently heard is to designate a bridesmaid or a friend you trust to be the 'go-to' person -- especially for questions the week of the wedding.


How about any of you married readers? Have any other tips for things to watch out for while planning a wedding and how to deal with them? I promise if Mike and I don't throw in the towel and sneak off to the courthouse that all my wedding posts from now on will be things I am excited about!

Invitations (not my actual ones) by Wednesday Custom Designs & 

Retro Phone picture by AC Photography

Three Things

one//two//three

Ah caramel leather... so soft, creamy, and classy. 

For a while there, Mike had a ton of back-to-back weekend trips where he didn't want to lug his suitcase around but also couldn't fit everything in his backpack while also carrying his computer. The solution? A weekend bag. 

These. drawer. pulls. Need I say more? 

Lastly, I'm kind of sad that Mike works at a job where flip flops are considered appropriate because I'm a little obsessed with these shoes. Good thing weddings are the perfect excuse to buy something expensive that you will only wear once + I love how they look with a grey suit.

Black & White Stripes

Black and white is my 'neutral' of choice and when combined with a timeless pattern, it's always a win-win in my book. That runner would be a great swap for a more traditional linen or burlap one and already has me thinking about how to incorporate more eclectic pieces as part of the wedding decor.

Putting our Wedding First

Now that our wedding is less than nine months away, there has been a very big shift in our home. Our list of house 'to-dos' has not just stopped in its tracks, but it turned around and ran the other way. Mike and I knew that buying a house and getting married in the same year was kind of a crazy idea. One I really don't recommend but we knew we wanted to get our foot in the door as housing prices, interest rates, and our rent was skyrocketing. So we made the decision to go for it knowing that we can live frugally if needed and that we are lucky enough to have families that always have our backs.

As much as I love design and interiors, weddings are a whole different ball game. I feel like they get lumped into the same pile sometimes as they both require planning & a good eye but, for me at least, they are vastly different. The interior of your home is always a work in progress which means you don't have to get it 'right' every time. Weddings are a one-day, seriously important and expensive event that will be forever memorialized. Hence, the difference in stress level.

I definitely am excited to have our friends and family there to celebrate our special day and admittedly have gotten more into the planning aspect as things have fallen into place but having a new house and no budget to do anything to it at the moment has been a little crushing for me. I actually sat down and made a comprehensive spread sheet the other day that encompassed all our vendors, contracts, who is paying for what and when, and compared it to our income. Including what we feel comfortable pulling from our savings and the generosity of our parents, we have about $600 to spend every month after mandatory expenses (mortgage, HOA, utilities, student loan, etc.). For two people, it's doable but it's going to be crazy tight.

I feel like I'm complaining but please know I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I met the love of my life who is going to be my husband and have a wonderful home in my favorite neighborhood. Our home will still be there next year and no one is going to judge us for not making it perfect right off the bat.

Anyone else putting plans on hold to save money for the Big Day? Want to join me at Costco as I stock up on a 9 month supply of Top Ramen?

Quick Trip to Tahoe

As a break from the house and all the things that have been stressing us out lately, last weekend we stepped away and headed up to Tahoe with my dad. I had never been to Tahoe during the fall but absolutely loved it. You wouldn't even notice all the Aspen's in the summer but their beautiful yellow leaves were hard to miss! The smooth waters, fresh air, and lack of people had Mike and I almost giddy.

We both worked from home Friday morning and got on the road around 1:00 - just in time to hit Sacramento traffic around 3:30 - but once we got past Auburn there was almost no one heading up the mountain. We stopped in and grabbed groceries to make dinner for us and my dad on our way through Tahoe City and finally made it into Chinquapin just as it was getting dark.

Chinquapin is small community on the Lake a few miles North of Tahoe City made up of .... townhomes! I didn't get a proper picture of our family's unit, but there are a few different models ranging from 1-5 bedrooms. I've been coming here for a week almost every summer since I can remember and have some of my best memories of staying up late with all my cousins or just spending time out on the lake with my parents and sister.

It's also the future sight of our wedding!

The small cottage behind us is the Dollar House (named for Dollar Point) and was built in the 1920s. The house itself has been redone over the years to include a modern kitchen and has an amazing flagstone patio and private dock where our ceremony and reception will be held. I wanted to get married someplace where we visit often so we can stand in the very spot we said 'I Do' and remember the wonderful day we had.

Other highlights of the trip included meeting our caterers (and deciding they were the one!), strolling along the Lake with my dad, and checking out possible restaurants for our rehearsal dinner. I haven't quite gotten in the habit of taking pictures often, but here are a few other good ones from the trip.

It surprises me how all it takes is a day away from my everyday life to 'reset' my mood and outlook on life. Anyone else been able to sneak away lately?