Memories from Buffalo

Here are some photos from my trip to Buffalo for Erin and Matt's wedding during Memorial Day weekend!

Outer Harbor

Old roommates and friends

The bride

Bridesmaid-zilla?

Groomsmen tired of the van

Church part

There was dancing

You have no idea how excited I was to finally proudly dance to the song Single Ladies and then pull out the "he liked it and he put a ring on it" photo...

It's like she's the queen and we're the sorry people!

Ricky's in Canada

The Falls from Canada

Niagara Falls rainbow!

Back from Buffalo

Back from a whirlwind weekend in Buffalo for Erin's wedding.  I'll post more photos of it later, but for now... let's take a moment and take in the glory that was ALL THE TIM HORTONS I bought before hitting the road:

So let's break it down.  This is, from l-r, an iced coffee, ground coffee, a breakfast sandwich on a biscuit (so flaky and tasty, a million times better than Dunks) English Toffee Cappuccino mix , and two glazed sour creams.

And so you don't think my entire trip was spent eating doughnuts and drinking iced capps (other than the wedding itself) here's a hipstamatic photo Ricky took of our trip to the Falls.  How wonderful and creepy does that look??

MFT Day 24: Pinterest

I know I know...

Somehow my "I will be diligent and write every day!" mantra derailed last week.  For a weekend with not a lot going on in it other than The Oscars, it was pretty busy and lacked time and motivation to think of my favorite things I want to share with you.  But because I don't want this dragging along all summer (hello, favorite song meme?) I'm going to write something up today and probably tomorrow night.  Saturday is Jess' wedding, and I can guarantee that I will not have enough time to write something.  So this sadly stretches into March, but I'm okay with it.

Today I'm going to talk about Pinterest.  Many months ago my friend Kirsten mentioned that she had gotten an early invite to this new website where you pin your favorite things on boards you create.  I was intrigued, so she passed an invitation along to me.  I am now HOOKED.

I love that I can collect favorite ideas and images in one place and recall them visually.  I have a saved file on my browser for recipes, but I feel like they don't pop as much as when I can see the picture of the meal or dessert.  What's key is that Pinterest saves the link the photo came from, so when I click on the photo of the cake batter milkshake recipes, I automatically am there.  (PS, I will be trying this soon)  I've also been using it for the following uses:

--planning trips.  I used Pinterest last summer to plan my trip to Burlington, by pinning images of stores I wanted to go to and sites I wanted to see.  I'm also planning my return to the Hudson River Valley with Ricky and our trip to Buffalo for Erin's wedding.

--design ideas for future homes.  I've been getting ideas for paint samples and layouts for when Ricky and I eventually move.  I've also found several nice bureaus I want to get soon.

--gifts for people.  Ricky has his own board where if I see an idea for what to get him, I'll save it for a future event.  His 30th birthday is coming up, so right now there are several things on there that he'll probably get.

--pretty things to look at.  Hey, sometimes a girl just wants to look at a board filled completely with puppies and flowers.



Many of my friends are using Pinterest for helping them plan their weddings as well, which is brilliant.  You can see all the great ideas you have for dresses and flowers and decor, receive feedback, and have the original links to the source. 

So in short, I love Pinterest for how easy it is to sort, organize, and display ideas I have.

MFT Day 18: MGMT's Electric Feel

Last night was Jess' bachelorette party, which was a lot of fun.  Great to spend a night out in the city with a bunch of good friends, being silly and dancing.  I wish there were more opportunities to that in life that didn't revolve around someone getting married.

Anyways, I was in charge of making the mix for the room while we were getting ready.  One of the songs I put on there was MGMT's Electric Feel, which I love putting on dancey mixes for friends as a surprise.  It's a great song and fun to dance to, but no one ever thinks to put it on (I feel like Kids or Time to Pretend makes it on there more).  So here it is for you!

I'll be posting something later on tonight, so that I stay on schedule.

MFT Day 9: Navy blue nail polish

I promise that this won't devolve into me plugging products I like. 


Last night, after a long run, I decided that my poor sad wintery feet (read:  dry, cracked, and all around gross) needed some love.  I gave myself an impromptu pedicure while waiting for Ricky to come home from work.  I automatically went for my navy blue nail polish.  I felt better after pampering my poor feet.

For years, I've liked nail polish on my toes but tend to never put it on my hands.  I find it distracting, I often end up chipping it an hour in, and I have short stubby fingers so it never looks good.  I think if I had longer fingers and nails, I'd be more apt to give myself manicures, but alas.

I have a lot of pinks and some crazy colors, but wanted to about a year ago try out a dark color, ideally navy blue.  I went to Sephora and got a great color of navy blue.  I can't remember the name of it, but if you go... it's the shiny navy blue polish.  I may need to get more soon because a year later I've used up about half of the bottle!  There are tons of blue polishes, and they let you try everything out at Sephora (thank God because that shit is not cheap) so definitely try a few colors to see what works best for you.

I may have a blue pedicure for Jess and Erin's wedding, as a secret fun way to tie in some "something blue" for both looks.

MFT Day 5: Old friends

It's like that old saying about make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold.

Today I helped several ladies throw Jess' bridal shower.  I'm a bridesmaid in the wedding, and it's exciting to think that her wedding day is arriving in less than a month.  I've meet a lot of nice friends and family of the couple since they got engaged, so I'm glad I'm becoming closer to Jess and Giacomo's friends and family.

The shower went off well.  It was a very classy and pretty affair in Beverly, perfectly pink with many a cupcake to partake in.  We opted for a Saturday tea with snacks, old family teacups, and lots of pink things.  We also had lots of sweets, since the Jess and Giacomo are high school sweethearts.

I've been friends with Jess since 1993, when we were two awkward 9-year-olds in 4th grade.  It's great that we've managed to remain good friends since those days.  There were many guests where I remember being in elementary and middle school with, and it's nice that we've remained friends through the years. 

Posting about something I almost never post about

Shoes.


Winter break seemed consumed with shoes for me, which is odd since I normally don't really care about or purchase shoes.  I seem to have a lot of pairs, but that's in part because I'm terrible about throwing away old shoes (there's still a season left in them!) and I go to a lot of weddings so I have a lot of dressy shoes.  In 2012, I am in two weddings, each with a different wardrobe and requirements.  For Jess' wedding, we need to wear pewter heels (I'm recycling a pair I wore to a different wedding last year), and for Erin, she didn't really care.  The lack of direction was almost harder, because I saw so many different routes to travel down.  And because I am in this wedding, I wanted nice shoes that would be comfortable and look nice when photographed.  Oh, and weren't too expensive.  (Lewis needs to be able to eat at the end of the spring)

I've been hunting for months, and hadn't found anything I truly liked until recently.  My friend Jess (not getting married Jess) and I were browsing shoes when I went to Modcloth.  I haven't purchased much there in the past, but I stumbled across a super adorable pair of shoes that were only $30.  I don't tend to gravitate towards pink, but I liked the soft color.  I also loved the detail on the toe of the shoe.  The bridesmaid dresses are blue, so I thought a deep blue and a light pink would look nice together. 

I got the shoes right before Christmas, and they were a dream.  Just as pretty in person, not too high of a heel, and were pretty comfortable.  Modcloth also threw in a complimentary headband!  So I am prepped and ready for that wedding.

On top of this shoe purchase, I received my Missoni heels from my friend Megin on Christmas Eve.  Even though someone (Ricky) thought they were too busy for a shoe (Ricky), I really wanted a pair of Missoni for Target heels.  I liked the toe detail and that the heel was so thick.  I could see them being more comfortable as a result.  Unfortunately, my Missoni shoe dreams were crushed in the north because it seems every girl with a size 7 1/2 foot in Massachusetts had the exact same dream.  And more disposable income and time to rush to a Target before me.  Shoe FAIL.

Over the summer, I was bemoaning my lack of Missoni shoes with Megin, as she was living in Massachusetts for the summer.  When she returned to Virginia in the fall, where she lives most of the year, she found out that the south did not feel the same way about Missoni heels that I did.  I got a text that her Target was overflowing with the heels.  She purchased a pair for herself and one for me, with the promise of bringing them up for Christmas.  Shoe WIN.

As promised, she brought them up and gave them to me on Christmas Eve.  They are just as great in person as they were grainy and pixelated on her phone.  Super comfortable as well.  I'm planning on wearing them to Jess' shower and/or rehearsal dinner.



And now I'm done talking about shoes for another year or so.

Would this be a good gift?

After going to a bajillion seven weddings this year, I've begun to think about creative gifts to give that aren't just cash or a gift from Crate and Barrel.  I have some good ideas for the weddings of 2012, but I saw this cool pattern on the Purl website for something called the Eleventh Hour Blanket.  It's inspired by their pattern for a scarf that takes less than a day to finish up.

It looks so cozy and wonderful!  What a great throw this would be for a bedroom or living room.  And I think it'd be cute to do it in something that refers to their wedding colors.  It calls for big needles and knitting double, so it'd be a quick knit.

The yarn it calls for is wonderful (Cascade Magnum) and all the supplies total of about $160-180.  So it's a pricey blanket, but I feel like something homemade could be more meaningful than a check.  And... I can knit, so I sometimes feel like for all these events it'd be great if I could my powers for good.  And I know from experience that when I made my friend Jaime a baby blanket for her baby shower, she really appreciated it and it gets a lot of good use. 

But is it cheesy to make a blanket for someone?  Do people getting married just want money or something more practical like wine glasses? 

Bridesmaids

My reprieve from attending or being involved in weddings has ended.  I just picked up the bridesmaid dress for Jess and Giacomo's wedding in March.  It's now sitting in my closet, where it will probably sit for another 2 months.  Then I'll hand it off to get altered for short ol' me.  Erin should be giving me the dress for her wedding soon. These weddings will be #4 and 5 for weddings I've been in.

While being in two weddings next year will prove to be a busy later winter/late spring for me, I have a strong feeling it'll feel like a cake walk compared to 2011.  Ricky and I attended seven weddings, spanning from Western Mass to CT and all over the North Shore.  Only three weddings, all of which are pretty spread out over 6 months, is a gift.  And one of those weddings will involve driving 9 hours!

 I think in a few years, I want to have a bar crawl or a birthday party where my friends and I don our old bridesmaid dresses and get a little boozy.  This is in no way a creative or new idea, but on this post about bridesmaids it popped into my head.

What I did on my summer vacation

I realize that other than telling people about songs I like sporadically over the summer, I haven't really blogged much in the past few months. It's not that I've been sitting around quietly twiddling my thumbs. I've been busy. BUSY. I think the summer of 2011 will go down as one of my busier times. I don't know why, but the stars aligned and things got quite busy and full and important. And so I thought I'd sum up my summer, elementary school report-style:

Weddings, Weddings, Weddings!
2011 is the year of people falling in love and getting married. Or rather, being in love, but deciding that 2011 was the year they felt financially comfortable enough to have a wedding. By the end of 2011, I will have attended seven weddings this year. Yes. SEVEN. I've been forcing myself to not think about the finances of it, or else I'll get too stressed. In July, we had a wedding every weekend for three weeks in a row. I'm very happy for all my friends, but I'll also be happy when I have many months off in a row to rest up for being in two weddings in 2012.

Reunions
This year marked my 5 year reunion from college. Ricky and I trekked to Worcester for a weekend back on the hill. It was nice, but also had bits of melancholy. I feel like sometimes reunions try to re-capture a moment in time from your life, but that it ultimately fails. We're not all college kids anymore on the same level. We all have jobs or in grad school, and our personal lives are also at different levels. It was a fun weekend, but parts of it rang sad and hallow.

Vermont!
Ricky and I took one of the few free weekends to escape to Vermont. (I did actually post photos from that! I blogged something this summer!) It was the best few days I've had in awhile, and a rewarding and relaxing vacation for sure. Driving the 4 hours with Ricky was nice to have some time just the two of us to talk and hang out, and then when we got there, we did a wide array of our favorite activities. My cousin lives up there, so it was nice to see her. We've since fantasized about a world where we could move full time to Vermont, but I don't think that'd happen for a few years. I highly recommend an escape to northern Vermont for everyone.

The Beach
Ricky and I have the luxury of growing up by the ocean. So in the summertime, since it's easier for us to get to a beach, we try to go as much as we can on weekends or days off. This year, I felt we were able to get several trips in, despite all the other business. We're definitely not beach bums, just people who enjoy the water and sitting outdoors.

Two key friends moved far away
This summer two of my friends up and moved. Both were for the best, but it was still bittersweet to see them go. The first was my friend Dave, who got a job in Vermont. He had been trying to find something he liked in his field that was full time for a long time, so I was very happy for him. And, as I mentioned, I (not so) secretly want to someday live in Vermont and eat only from farmer's markets all day long. Secondly was my friend Crystal. She and her husband moved back to England, where he is from. I know that this is something she's wanted for a long time, so I am beyond excited for them. AND they're expecting a baby, so it's great that she'll be closer to family. Crystal gave me her living room set (well, more like sold it to me for dirt cheap) so I always have a little bit of Crystal in my life. I wish them both.

One important concert
This summer, my mom, brothers, Ashley, Ricky and I went to see Big Audio Dynamite. This was huge in my book, since I grew up listening to them and loving them. And we got very close spots at the House of Blues. It was amazing being that close to Mick Jones. He's aged decently well, and he still had the energy to put on a great show. They played all the songs of my childhood, which was equally key.


So yeah! That's how I pretty much spent my summer. There were other things in there that kept me busy, but those were the big events or trends.

Cat tub

The other day, the house was very quiet. I assumed Lewis was asleep or getting into trouble. Turns out a little of both.

At Patti's wedding, our hotel room gift baskets came in bright Tupperware baskets, which are super durable and fun. We had ours on the floor and he dragged it over into the living room, and was curled up and sitting in it. He was just straight up chilling and being good. I tried to get him out of the basket, since it looked cramped, and he started to nip at me, so I let him be. He sit in it for AN HOUR.


Oh Lewis, you're so little and cute often!

Day 23 of the 30 Day Song Challenge

Today's day on the 30 Day Song Challenge is so appropriate!

Day 23: A Song that you want to play at your wedding

This summer, Ricky and I have SEVEN weddings to go to. SEVEN. I also realized that at this point, by the end of 2012, I will have gone to 19 weddings, and that's not even counting the ones I haven't been invited to!

I go to so many weddings, so I spend a lot of time thinking about what works and what doesn't. And I always think about the DJ and what he did right or not. So the songlist has played heavily on my mind.

I already know what I want my first song to be, but I won't be posting that, for fear of someone getting inspired and then making it their first song. If I'm at a wedding of a friend of mine, and they play said song, I'm pretty sure I'll cry on the inside. You can have the same style bridesmaid dress, or the same color schemes, or the same venue, but I feel like first song is so personal and unique.

So instead, I'm posting a song that Ricky and I have mentioned that we want to play a part, either on the dance floor or during introductions. It's also made an appearance on a mix for Ricky:

Day 22 of the 30 Day Song Challenge

I'm happy I have an AC unit today. This makes me think of when I lived in my first Salem apartment on the 3rd floor (which I'll always miss, since it was a dream and pretty much what I compare all other apartments to) in the summertime. So very hot and gross. We had ceiling fans, but after awhile, A ceiling fan just blows hot air around.

Keep cool, everybody, and just get to Monday when it's supposed to cool down and possibly rain.

Today, Ricky and I are attending a wedding in Boston, so we're hoping it won't be too gross in Boston (hint: it will be very hot and gross in Boston, so this is futile).

Day 22: A song that you listen to when you’re sad

Perhaps because today is my anniversary, I'm in a Ricky's Mix CDs frame of mind. This song was near the end of a mix Ricky made me when I went to the Hudson River Valley with my knitting group, and it was waiting for me when I came home. This also has my favorite cover art from a Ricky mix, since it was him, Alva the fish, and my stuffed sheep that I grew up with welcoming me home. (Lewis wasn't in our lives yet, just the fish)

This song also kind of makes me sad, mainly because it's so haunting and beautiful. So when I'm feeling sad, I'll listen to this song because it just brings that sadness to a different, beautiful level.

Why buy flowers...

Jacqui modeling her Harry Potter bouquet and her Harry Potter bracelet. Each bubble is a book of Harry Potter. The bracelet is from etsy. Awesome!


...when you can be amazingly creative like my friend Patti?

Patti and Bob got married last weekend, and Patti DIYed as much as humanly possibly. Down to the flowers. She made flowers out of paper. Not only was this cheaper, but it was more beautiful and heartfelt.

Patti picked a book for each member of her bridal party that made her think of them. Christine was an art book, Jacqui was Harry Potter, etc. And then, because the colors of her wedding were yellow and purple, she painted each flower purple. Enough that it was clearly purple, but not so much so that you couldn't tell it was originally a book.

Jacqui modeled for me above, because I was so impressed by it. How cool and creative is Patti? How much better is this than spending hundreds on arranged flowers?

Day 20 of the 30 Day Song Challenge

It's so hot outside this week! We've been tending to Lewis a lot, as he lives in a fur coat and is a little thing. We've been keeping the AC on all day for him (I dread to think what my electric bill will be next month) and have been giving him ice cubes. He's more interested in playing with the ice cubes, though. I tried to take a video of it, since it was very cute.

Also, my friend Patti got married last weekend, and I may be posting some photos of all the amazing crafts she did. It was proof that weddings don't have to be cookie cutter and boring. To people getting married: THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND BE CREATIVE.

Now I need to get on this. Only ten more posts! I've said this before, but I'm going to try and bang some of them out.

Day 20: A song that you listen to when you’re angry

This one was kind of hard to think of, which may be why it took so long for me to post it. It's not like I'm angry and think "time to queue up Ace of Base!" It kind of just depends on what happens to be on.

I decided that some Polyphonic Spree might be my "angry" music, so I chose Mental Cabaret, since I like the beat and dance-iness of it.



I apologize that this is a half-ass post.

Day 19 of the 30 Day Song Challenge

Where is July going?! It's already almost Bastille Day, which for me marks the middle of Summer. Also, the month of July is pretty much over for me and Ricky, since it'll just be a big blur. The next three weekends Ricky and I are attending weddings (sweet Jesus, people) so I know it'll be a crazy few weeks. I wanted to take a moment to continue on this meme, so it wouldn't languish as long as it has been.

Side note, I bought myself new black patent flats which I am loving, but they smell. Silly patent!

Day 19: A Song From Your Favorite Album

This was so hard, because I'm not sure what would be considered my favorite Album. Do I go classic (Rubber Soul)? Do I go newer (Funeral)? Do I go to an old standby (Innervisions)? Radiohead (The Bends or OK Computer)?

I think or this, I'll go all-time classic, with The Beatles' Rubber Soul. When you read the songs that are on this album, so many awesome songs are there. I think for this, I'll go with my favorite from side one, You Won't See Me. I think it's a catchy, pithy little song.



Or, if you're feeling more George-ish right now, here's my favorite from side two:

Day 9 of the 30 Day Song Challenge

It's pretty intense out, and I think we'll be getting some bad thunderstorms. Lewis is worried that the house is going to go up in the air, we'll land over the rainbow, and all of a sudden I'll start wearing more colors. I told him no matter what happens, Mum will always wear earth tones.

Day 9: A Song You Can Dance To

Ricky and I have spent a lot of time talking about songs you can dance to this week. A friend of mine is having an iPod wedding, and a few years ago I was on TBTL discussing iPod weddings. Ricky and I would have one ourselves, and then made a list of songs we wanted to dance to. One that we both agreed had to be there was Don't Stop Til You Get Enough by MJ. Obvs.




And if you want to see the full list from my iPod wedding playlist, click here. Really, you could dance to any of those songs.

Day 7 of the 30 Day Song Challenge

Dance, postcards, dance!

It's Sunday morning. Ricky's watching The Killing On Demand and Lewis is running around everywhere, trying to get into things. Little does he know he's going to the groomer in a few hours to get his nails clipped and to visit the shelter where we adopted him from. They haven't seen him since he was a wee bit of a thing, and now he's almost 6 months. Little guy's getting so big!

Day 7: A Song That Reminds You Of A Certain Event

I think maybe because of my upcoming college reunion, and even a little bit of yesterday's post, but I've been thinking a bit more about college this weekend. I think for my Event, I will choose a song from my first full-length directing piece, The Wedding On The Eiffel Tower. To this day, it's my proudest accomplishment when it comes to theatre.

I made a really unique piece, while a lot of it was my work and ideas, another big part of it was a huge collaboration. Pete had inspired a lot of the music choices, and Erin and Danielle (both castmembers) had suggested pieces that made the cut. This great girl named Jen choreographed the whole thing. And while a lot of it was structured, I gave a lot of room for my actors to improv and create on their own. It was a lot of building up for me, but also a lot of letting go to make the performances what they could be. A huge lesson for myself.

I've been thinking about Eiffel Tower a lot more recently, too, when Erin got engaged in Paris. Originally it was supposed to be by the Eiffel Tower, but apparently it's too many people there to safely propose.

Of all the songs, I think I'll do the big dance number, which was Frank Zappa's Peaches En Regalia. All the postcards danced during this, and it was very funky and cool. I think Erin even still remembers parts of the dance.

Yep, I was one of those people who got up early to watch The Royal Wedding

Friday morning I set my alarm for 5:30am so I could shower, get cozy, and watch the Royal Wedding. Lewis watched with me, too. Ricky preferred sleeping.

I'm not reinventing the wheel when I say that I really enjoyed watching, it seemed grand and understated, Kate and William seem like a good team and couple, and that Kate definitely channeled deep into that "Grace Kelly marrying Prince Ranier" aesthetic. Which is probably smart, because far wiser to steer the conversation from "Diana 2.0" to "The Modern Day Grace".

Ever since I was a wee little thing, I've loved a good TV wedding. When I was a kid, my friend Emma and I dressed up, had sandwiches, and watched Maria and Luis get married on Sesame Street. I enjoyed watching all the Friends weddings. I voted on every Today Throws a Wedding every summer. Seeing bitches duking it out on Four Weddings is equally as enjoyable to mentally critiquing their weddings myself. I like ceremony and pretty things on tv.

Once I found out when The Royal Wedding was, I planned my morning. I'd get up early, drink tea and eat the Dunkin Donuts Royal Wedding doughnut, and wear a fun headband. Not a bad way to start a Friday, right?

The doughnut was... well, I had hoped for better. While it was a heart and had a formal effect to it, the jelly inside was only in the center... come on, Dunks! A little more jelly would have been much appreciated to cut the cakiness down.

The tea didn't happen, because Lewis was playing a lot, and I was worried about boiling up some tea with him running around. I did have some Earl Gray later on at work, though. (part of this was to continue with the spirit of the day, the other was for the needed caffeine after getting up at 5:30am)

I wore a headband I had with flowers on one side, since it was as close as I could get to a fastener. I almost wore it to work, but glasses and headband always feels like too much going on on my head. The Royals probably would have poo-pooed my headgear, but it worked for my apartment viewing party. (me and my cat)

It was neat being part of a cultural moment live as it was happening, and knowing that millions of people were doing the same thing as me. Like The Olympics and The Tour and The World Cup. It's also interesting to think that we've seen William grow up and now take this big step, and to think that we'll watching this couple grow through the years and eventually become King and Queen of England. The argument can be made that this is a waste of tax money and the relevancy of The Royals in a modern age, but at that moment it was nice to see two people in love take this step.

I wish them both well and hope that theirs is one of love and happiness.

2010's best pics: #1 (it's a tie! Part 2)

Aaaand here's the other #1. See? It's hard to pick a favorite, since one compositionally turned out nicely, but the other is a big event and perhaps my most favorite moment and memory from 2010.

#1 part 2: Amanda's Wedding. Rockport, MA.
2010 brought a lot of people getting engaged and getting married. A lot. I went to two weddings, and at least eight friends getting engaged (there could be more... but I'm having a hard time counting in my head). Lots of huge life changes in my circle of friends.

But the wedding that is the most meaningful of 2010 was that my best friend Amanda, who I have known since preschool (PRESCHOOL) got married to her college sweetheart, Dan. I was in the wedding, and it was a great day. I spent basically a weekend with one of my closest and dearest friends and her wonderful family, and then for the reception was there with my parents and all of my best high school buds dancing and partying well into the night.

While there are a lot of nice reception and ceremony photos, this is my favorite. I feel it sums up Amanda's wedding best. Jess and Amanda are dancing together, and clearly fully committing to it. I love their hair in it, and joked that it was like a shampoo commercial, since it was so glossy and flowy. I love that they're both pretty flushed from so much dancing, that they're so into dancing and having a good time. I also like that no one's looking at me, they're that into dancing.

It's great not technically (like the apple picture) but more for the moment and memory.



And that's it! All my favorite pictures from 2010. This was a nice way to remember the year and gear up for more photos and more events in the year to come.