More Sweetness

Jenn of First Comes Love...Then Comes Marriage just left me this sweet present.



I am so blessed that you think I have a great attitude! This really is a fabulous compliament!

And Living for the Little Moments also passed along some love with the Friendship Award.



Thanks, Ladies! You gals are awesome!

Really, Target?

Really, Target? Seriously! The cute towels at Target are crap. The quality is horrible. Wash 'em once and they'll disinegrate.

Thank goodness Williams-Sonoma has finally got cute things!

My kitchen will be pink & green. (Sorry purple; you will always be my first love!)


WS Spring Contrast Towels


WS Spring Contrast Striped Towels


WS Contrast Striped Logo Towels

And let's not forget about pot holders and aprons!


WS Apron


WS Pot Holder

I'm in love!

Oh Target...

I think we all know my love affair with Target by now. However, I have been having some issues with them of late, as they do not carry purple kitchen accessories.

I LOVE PURPLE.

It's my favorite color. And I want my kitchen to boast of it's goodness. In my quest to register for the perfect purple kitchen, I have found:

The KitchenAid Mixer in Boysenberry.


This towel set (which I oddly sort of like in a retro kind of way)


And this online only expensive odd whisk


What's a domestic goddess to do?
She's not sure yet.

However, she did find this prep-a-licious set with purple in it...

Will Fiance let her run with it? if she promises to keep pink to a minimum? Maybe?

I present to you, Target's newest kitchen line: Home Garden Party.

Home Garden Party Kitchen Towels 4 pk. Multicolor


Garden Party Seersucker Stripe Tablecloth


Garden Party Waffle Stripe Kitchen Towels


Home Floral Pieced Kitchen Towels


Home Garden Party Damask Table Runner


Home Garden Party Pieced Oven Mitt


Garden Party Damask Toss Pillow


Home Garden Party Damask Placemat


What do you girls think? It IS a very pink collection, it may even be too much for me, but it could be very cute if I play up the teal, green, and PURPLE.

4 Months to Go!

120 days left! Oh my! May 23, 2009: here we come!

My goal in the wedding planning process was to ENJOY! and to be done planning with 2 months to spare. So, essentially, I have 60 days left. Can we feel the stress? Nah...

Let the serenity descend upon me:


Left to do:
1st night hotel room
BAND! OMG. Seriously, I thought this would be easy! Not if you're on a
budget...
Dress fittings (once it arrives at the beginning of February)
Undergarment/corset/bustier thingy: rent or buy?
Formal portrait
Finish designing invites. Print. Assemble. Mail.
Programs
Ask family and friends to do readings, solo, gift table, candle lighting, guest
book
Finish table runner project
Put sails on 100 miniature sailboats
Assist future in-laws with rehearsal dinner specifics, invites, etc
Procure rope and ribbon for cake and cake table
Ceremony music
Pre-marital counseling starts Feb 17
Setting check on my e-ring. Have band sized to match
Get J's ring engraved
Guest list/addresses for shower
Make veil
Meet with florist again
Meet with venue catering manager to finalize menu
Get marriage license (less than 60 days prior to)
Figure out wish/advice bowl
Order the men's Sperry Topsiders
Make 7 boutonniere's

120 days until bliss:


Thank you Jessica Johnston for the Gorgeous photos.

DIY: Card Cake

Back in August, I posted about card boxes and my dislike of the traditional birdcage or treasure chest. I'd seen card cakes online and decided to DIY one.

1) Gather boxes of the shapes, sizes, tiers, you desire. Be sure the bottom one is big enough to hold all of your anticipated cards.


2) cut holes in the boxes to allow the cards to slip through. I lined the holes with packing tape to smooth out rough edges.


3) Find some material you like at the fabric store. Ensure that it is thick enough to cover the original color of your box.
4) Cut the fabric into strips long enough to encircle each tier, and wide enough to be tucked into your cut holes on each side of the box.
5) Affix fabric with glue of choice (I used hot glue).




6) Snip the corners of the fabric so that you can fold it evenly into the hole in order to glue down. Essentially, pretend you are wrapping a gift.



(This is the very bottom of the card cake, so it's not as nice. Be sure to think about how you will remove your cards after the wedding...)


7) Glue the wrapped boxes together, working from the bottom upwards.
8) Add trim and decorations. I chose a ribbon trim with a pearl monogram.






9) Be sure to let your guests know that this is for cards. Sign made from Menu/table number pre-perforated cardstock by Brides from Michaels (currently on clearance for about $1.50). I just ran one through my home printer and glued it on!


10) Enjoy your finished product!


Time: about 3 hours
Costs:
boxes--free
ribbon--$3
letters-- $3
glue--$5
fabric--$5 (50% off with coupon)
sign--12 for $1.50

Future Nursery

I often stop by my favorite nursery/greenhouse/gift shop/home decor store
1) because "The Flower Pot Cafe" makes the BEST nonfat, 1/2 caramel, 1/2 vanilla lattes around, and 2) because I love to browse around and "dream decorate" my future house.

Last week, I made Fiance stop for my caffeine fix and we stumbled upon this display:








Ummmm...I want it all!? This display may have just instilled the "baby boy bug" in me! (Sorry, Honey!) I also often dislike boy's nursery sets as they are too cutesy and they grow out of them too quickly. I totally want to do a nursery similar to this in 5-10 years when I (hopefully!) have a little boy of my own!

First NICU IV start!

I did it! I started my first peripheral IV on a baby the about a month ago.

In my NICU this is a rite of passage as we use UAC/UVCs (IVs in the umbilical cord stump) and have a special PICC (IV) team. This means that many nurses do not have the opportunity to start PIVs, as we don't use many.

I got it on the 2nd poke! The baby is a former 25.3 weeker (now 27.6), who is vented on the high-frequency oscilating ventilator. This all means that she is tiny! and that her body was shaking while I was trying to start the IV.

My mentor was super-ecstatic for me. She, my Charge, and a bunch of others made me this sign and did a "hip-hip-hooray" chant for me!

My co-workers always make for a lively night!

Author's note: this all occurred about a month ago, I didn't post it earlier due computer issues. But we're good now, and I've since started about 4 more!

Award

Meg the Glacier-Eyed Girl gave me this award a while back, and I'm just now getting around to posting it. Sorry, Meg! I really do appreciate it!

His Ring

I thought shopping for his ring would be easy. Boy, was I ever wrong. Fiance and I have different taste in most things, why should I have thought this would be any different?

We both really like the look of square rings:
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This one is fairly traditional, but we found this design in square, which we liked.
Fiance also wondered if the center could be texturized or sand blasted. Like this one.

The concave look caught our fancy too. I really like the simple masculinity of this ring...

This one he tried on and is concave & sandblasted. I really didn't like the sandblasted look in person. But he LOVES it. Wonder if we can find it in square too?

We also liked one similar to this, which we found in a square shape. Although in retrospect, Fiance thinks it may be too shiny...



This one with a channel in the center was also favored. (I can't find a comp. online, sorry)


We have until late April to get a ring ordered, but I'm glad we started early. It's starting to look like we'll have to get his band custom made to incorporate the elements he likes...