Colorful Dreams on a Rainy Day

Today it has not. Stopped. Raining. Usually, these kind of days makes me want to do one of three things:

1. Put on a happy face (and maybe some red shoes) and make the best of it, despite my surroundings that excude sheer crankiness.

2. Curl up in a ball, eat, and watch six movies in a row. Which I did over this Thanksgiving break. Mind you, that's six movies, not six hours of movies. Yes, I sat on the couch from approximately 10 am until 7:30 pm and enjoyed all that the world of television had to offer, the good and the bad.

3. Dream of sweet and colorful wedding days, and relish in the fact that I am getting married. In 8 months. WOAH.



As the large details start to come together, with the little details still in the dreaming stage and yet to fall into place, I am slowly starting to realize that this is me planning a wedding. This is me and Ian. This is for US!

We booked our honeymoon, and as we were looking at our resort's website, I still could not believe that we're actually going THERE! On a HONEYMOON!

I walked into my bedroom at home, which has been transformed into a wedding wonderland of bridesmaid dresses and decorations and knick knacks, to show my grandmother my dress on Thanksgiving. As I pulled it out of the bag, it really hit me that in July, I will be finally get to wear it (and Ian will finally get to see it!)

Most importantly, I am going to begin a new life with my best friend. As the days fly by more and more quickly, it's impossible to fathom how much our lives are going to change. But I am so excited to tackle it together.

But until July just hurries up and gets here, I will keep up the colorful daydreaming. And doodling in my notebooks.

Chocolate Chai and Cookie Buffets

Today I am in an excellent mood, not only because I had a fantastic evening with my sister last night, and that today I wore a t-shirt and shorts to the gym in the middle of November, but also because I have finally perfected the art of making drinkable, delectable, chai tea.

My recipe for success: heat 1/2 mug of water for 3 minutes. Drop in Celestial Seasonings Chocolate Caramel Enchantment Chai, and while letting it steep, heat half a mug (my measurements so very technical) of milk. Remove teabag and add two tablespoons of sugar and a squeeze of honey before pouring milk in, letting the frothy goodness swirl to perfection.

Quite a far cry from my first attempt at concocting chai in my freshman dorm, which turned into a grey, watered down milky mess.

In other news, I just became obsessed with this blog:

http://www.fancypantsweddings.com/

Such a cute idea for favors:

I'm having a blast connecting with other DIY brides and gals. Thank you so much for reading!

A more substantial post will be coming soon. But now, it's back to school things--almost as fun as blog stalking, right?

-Bren

An Unexpected Holiday

Here's what I expected for this lovely Tuesday in Happy Valley: a long day of work, class, and meetings.

Here's what I didn't expect on this lovely Tuesday, November 9th 2010:

...because today just so happens to mark 1) our monthly anniversary--2 years and 9 months to be exact-- and 2) exactly 8 months until we tie the knot.

And as quickly as he came to deliver this little token, he was off to retrieve his illegally parked car, leaving me in smiles and wondering how did I get so darn lucky.

It's 8 months till Bren And Ian Get Married Day. It's a national holiday, dontcha know.

Funky Junkie Wedding Inspirations

For your visual pleasure (depending on who you are, I suppose), some of my latest wedding inspirations...

Love these twinkling lights. I'm thinking it might look neat with old fashioned Christmas bulb lights.

I guess if I never find the antique topper there is always the crafty route!

We've got dozens of these lying around our house...

I know I haven't had a good wedding update recently, but everything is moving along just swimmingly. After the initial frenzy to get the church and reception booked, the rest has been falling into place-- and I am loving every second of it.

The bridesmaid dresses are bought. The only thing I'll tell you is that they were cheap ($55 dollars from Macy's, baby!), and are purple and funky--and my gals all look INCREDIBLY adorable in them.

Ian and I enlisted my dad to take some engagement photos, which turned out fantastic.

Also, my dress has arrived and is currently residing in my former bedroom at my parents house. A lot of people were surprised to hear that I bought it so soon after the engagement--how did I know it was the one? Didn't I want to look anywhere else? What if I found something that I liked better?

Because, I say, I walked out of the dressing room that night and saw my mom, aunt, sister, and bridesmaid erupt in smiles. I looked at myself in the mirror and just knew--I knew that the dress could not fit me better (both physically AND style-wise!) and that I didn't want to look any farther. I had found it. Come on--this was my face when I knew it was the one:

Speaking of weddings and things I love, the fiance should be arriving soon for our weekly Monday night dinner date. On tonight's menu: pasta with broccoli and a side of mashed sweet potatoes. Yes, he is practically marrying Julia Child.

-Bren

Antique Escapes

What do you get when you combine the constant smell of a basement, searching through thousands of cheesy grandma knick-knacks for the perfect wedding cake topper, and chocolate cream pie?

A successful day of antiquing and a very happy Bren, that's what.

It was a cold Football Saturday in Happy Valley, so naturally, I fled town. I had told my dad weeks ago that I wanted to go flea marketing together on a Saturday, and today was finally the day that worked out. Even though my first unofficial rule of thrift searching is to have an open mind (which means not going in looking for any one particular thing, because it often leads to frustration), I knew I was searching for wedding decor inspiration today. But of course my mind was open to other impulses that might arise. Like jewelry.

Our first stop was Street of Shops in Lewistown, PA.

Inside: miles and miles and aisles and aisles of junk. Obviously I was in heaven.

As I got lost in the labyrinth, I was thinking about how something so simple brings me so much joy. For some reason, I see a thrill in buying things that aren't fresh off the factory. I love knowing that I am probably the second, third, tenth owner of a necklace that someone might have worn for their prom or wedding in the 50's. Not only are older things much better quality, since they have stood the test of time, they also have a certain character that the plastic consumer items of today do not-- I can't image we'll be seeing aisles of outdated iphones and computers in 30 years.

Don't get me wrong though--there is certainly a fair share of utter crap for sale in some of these places. Among my favorites today: a Sony walkman and racks of cassettes, a life-size PSU basketball player poster, a light up Jesus lawn ornament, and a styrofoam Coca Cola McDonalds cup. Yes, some things should just be thrown away.

Anyway, after a lovely grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch at the cafe, we moved on to our next stop.

I didn't buy anything here, but loved exploring the three floors of this barn-turned-antique mall.

We finished off the day with some dinner and pie at the Lewisburg Country Cupboard (a swell place, if you'd like to check out the chronicles of the smorgasboard in my other blog).

I'm sure you're dying to know what I bought, right? Did she find her perfect cake topper?

Unfortunately, I did not--not one I loved, anyway. I did, however, find plenty of newlywed Precious Moments and teddy bears and creepy porcelain doll-esque figures that once stood on someone's cake. Oh well--there will be more antique trips. :-)

However, without giving too much away, I found a fantastic decoration that will definitely make a statement at our reception. I'm not going to tell you what it is, but I will tell you that I found it here:

And for another little decoration sneak preview:

You'll just have to stay tuned!

I also found a beautiful 1970's dress that you'll get to see after some alterations. It fit almost perfectly, and had a fantastic pattern. With some shortening and taking in, it'll be real neat.

I would say today was a great success. Thanks to Dad for going with me!

Stay warm! I'm hearing rumors of snow....

-Bren

A Nifty Thrifty Halloween

I was drawn to the idea of being a 1950's pin-up girl for Halloween this year. Why? I wanted to be something sorta sexy, but not of the sexy policewoman/ladybug/doctor persuasion. I figured, why not do something cute and vintage?

I scored a red collar tank top and high waisted black shorts from Goodwill, back seam fishnets from Rag and Bone, wore my thrifted red heels, and topped it off with vintage flower clip on earrings and bright red lipstick. The whole thing cost about 8 bucks.

And Ian, the crafty fiance that he is, swiped some fabric from his mom and whipped up some stripes to pin to a WalMart khaki shirt (which he saved the packaging from and returned the next day) to go as a 1940's soldier.

Hey-- if employment falls through, at least we can make crafts. And look good while doin' it.