Moving

is hard. We had to be out of our apartment by last Sunday- which means that ready or NOT- we had to move in to our home now. So we did. The drywall has not even been fully sanded or brushed or sealed, so not even close to getting painted. Our floors are not done. Our closets are not done. Our electrical is not done. Oy! I am trying very hard not to complain. But OY!

We have workmen in and out of the house from 8am until 4pm... Oy!

AND- it has been a bit of a stressor for the man and I. I know we will get through all of this. I just cant wait to have a semi-complete house and my loving smiling husband back. I think date night is in order. Only every night is booked with home shiiiiiiiiit and its not like I have a kitchen to cook him a meal in. I dont even have a washer or dryer so that I can fill up his drawers with clean socks and undies and polos. And I cant find where I packed my craft goodies so that I could make him a little card to put on his pillow.

This too shall pass.

The Evans Fam

Um, so like 15 minutes ago I mentioned allowing people to help you, and asking for it, and how one family in particular is becoming my favorites. Well, here, for example.

I asked if I could please maybe have a piece of wood for the cake stand. You know, figuring I would be so stoked if they just let me have a tiny little round... And here is what they send me.

I STILL have to pick my mouth off of the floor when I look at it. Even my hubby got all giddy when he saw it. I LOVE WOOD (thats what she said).

Oh, and if you are wondering if they added little cake toppers so I could get a feel. Yes, they did. They are the best! Thank you John and Kathy and Amy and Annie and Chris! We really love you guys so much! You are making our day SO SO special!

More of their awesomeness can be seen at: http://www.ndctimber.com/

AND amy has created a fab little boutique: check it out! bon lemon!

yes, i know that i am the only one who reads this blog, but maybe one day that will not be the case, and i get pay it forward to them!

Mazel Mazel

A lot has gone on in the last month or so... I have 3 very very wonderful friends who have gotten engaged in the last couple of weeks. AND we have one more coming very very soon :) We went in to escrow. We are getting married in one month. What else? Life is slow.

I am so so happy for my girls. I am elated to share the excitement of having friends who are engaged!! I am excited to watch their ideas turn in to realities and to hopefully be able to give good advice along the way. Either way, I am happy. AND I am obsessed with this stuff so it will give me an excuse to continue to talk about weddings long after ours is over...

I also cant wait to plan pretty little bridal showers for my pretty little brides. Inspirations below:

Image from oncewed.blogspot.com
image via erin
this one.

Mazel Mazel! Now hire me to plan your weddings! I dont want to go back to my crappy job!

More DIY

I dont know if I have mentioned this or not... but DIY is REALLY fun during the inception, REALLY fun the first two or so... and then pretty annoying when you have, say, 143 of the same thing to do, and do, and do...

Anywho, my beautiful Momma and I have begun work on the table runners. We only need 20- so this one should be a piece of cake. We went to JoAnn's and picked out a few different lacey fabrics, bought as many yards as they had of each. We then picked up some "sew and glue" (which is AMAZING), and have being "sewing" the 17.5" x 11' runners. They are so cute and are going to be such a nice little touch.

Here is a snippet of what they look like. Being held up by my gorgeous and very thoughtful Momma.

I am a little ticked off. I have tried to be a cool relaxed "Big Sur Bride" but I am not... I have asked five times for a certain budget from a certain vendor and I just feel like I am being very ignored. Big time. When you reply to a request with "Will do tonight" and it is already a month late... and then you do not "do tonight", what am I "to do"? Momma is going a little crazy.

I think I have been going a little crazy for the last three weeks. My future husband would agree, I am sure...

I have spent an insane amount of money in the last three weeks and I cannot stop. It is an actual problem with me that I cant seem to control. Wedding related or not, I do not need designer flags to stick in the marshmallows or these vintage inspired posters for our kitchen. I simply do not. Nope.

these rad posters are availble here.

96 days to go

... And I am for sure freaking out a little. Not about getting married to my favorite guy around, just EVERYTHING else. Our pictures. The band. The Food. The Parents. The flowers. The "fun factor". The "oh my god all of these little details that the bride worked on and put thought in to for a year are just the most incredible, cute, thoughtful little ideas" ideas. Basically just everything. On my to-do list- get some pics like this of us.


And feel as relaxed as these two lovebirds look...


Cutie Patootie Wedding via Once Wed

I also want our ceremony to be warm. Like this one, below. I am crossing my fingers that my yuppy family loosens up and lets us have a relaxed, loving day where their hatred for the outdoors, sunshine, and (gasp!) LAWN (!!!), can be put aside for four and a half hours.

I would loooooooooooooooooooove to get a moment like this with my new hubby! Pretty please Big Sur, Sunshine goddess, and McClure Pictures. Thank you. I want to make us a sign like this:
And I want hugs like this every day. Every second of every day. That looks like it feels good. Whataguy.


All of the above via the website that could get me fired if the IT department looked at how much time I spent on it.

maps and DIY madness

i was at an affordable housing conference for the last two days and i "created" the maps that we will either include on our invitation suite, or in the gift bags. i am going to make a bet now that they end up in the gift bags as the two mothers involved in this wedding will find a hand drawn map SOOOOO TACKY. but still... i think they are so cute. i think i did my fufure husbands hair much justice in this little drawing. that is what i am most proud of.

now i just need to find a sweet and cheap printer. and:

order the out of towners bags

decide what to fill em up with. thoughts so far: barefoot contessas granola (which means i need to find cute little plastic bags, ties, and stickers to put on them), waters, postcard from big sur with stamp on it- so people can send it while they are staying the weekend saying how my fun they are having at MY wedding, tide pens or wipes, alka seltzer, emergen-c, deck of cards, big sure newsletter (free), the map (above) with little blurbs on what to do, the intinerary, some fruit, maybe a chocolate bar, maybe some of that "starbucks to go" stuff, hmm... what else???

AND- here is the logo i want to go on the bags. cutie.

yes, it is the same logo that we wanted to "brand" the chargers with. but that is going to cost THOUSANDS of dollars (wtf???) so we scratched that genius idea. on to the next.

all images via me me me

namaste...

There is too much to do. I am officially overwhelmed. I have my *first* bridal shower this weekend, so I have to be “on” and it is all hitting me. Maybe it is because we only have 107 days (!!!!AHHHHHH!!!) to go. Fuck.
Here is my list:

1. Vows- we have to start thinking of this a tad bit more… this one is going to be impossible.
2. Order or make custom party flags for the dessert area ( I have contacted a few artists but I think I will end up just doing it myself). Sayings that I want the flags to say... i dont officially have any yet... return to this.
3. Find a custom made iron branding tool (as well as the tool that heats it) so that I can brand each of the wood chargers that will be at each place setting. I have designed the “logo” to be either this redwood tree, and then the date or two poppies and the date. Below. I have asked my future husband to help with this- and he has yet to follow up with me… hmmm…

4. Come up with a recipe for something our guest can make (that we both think is delicious) on the cedar chargers that will be branded. I am thinking a delicious salmon somethingorother and a baked brie type of app. (side note- my mother mentioned to maybe have the recipe card double as the place card. Cute number on the front, and cute recipe on back. I like. That’s why its on the list!).
5. Find linens to go over the plane jane white linens we are ordering… maybe something opaque and in an earth tone? I would like to have a few different so that not every table looks the same… my mother says it is too busy, but I don’t care about her opinions on this one.
6. Invitations! They need to go out by July 15th. I have been working with a friend to design them and they invites we “created” got nixed by the future mother in law. She had one word in response to them: NO. so, redo. And then we need to find paper (linen or seed paper- how cute would seed paper be if it had California poppy seeds in it?), a printer, envelopes, stamps. This is so stupid and trivial yet I am going to spend hours on this nonsense.
7. Cake- we are meeting with the Patisserie next month to lock that shit down.
8. Grooms cake- ???
9. programs- and then I guess they have to match the invitation “suite” so I guess we need to get that worked out first. I want to include a few lines about everyone in the wedding party. My parents, his parents, our grandparesnts, the bridal party, little anecdotes or intros so that the people who have not met them know a little something about them.
10. Groomsmen- I am thinking khaki pants, white collared shirt with sleeved rolled to the elbows, madras ties (I am thinking I am going to need to order them for the boys- they cannot be trusted), boat shoes (if I am not going to make them buy a suit, can I make them but boat shoes?) or brown shoes, cute colorful printed socks. Cute cute cute!
11. Groomsmen gifts- this is a tuffy. The boys are going camping/ white water rafting for the bachelor party- so maybe a cool Swiss army knife? Or canteen? Flask has been done. hmmm…
12. My maids- what in the world am I going to do here?? Clutches? Cool hair pieces? I want them to be the coolest presents ever. Oy!
13. Hair and Makeup- I think I am going to be on my own for hair. I will probably have to drive up to Carmel or Monterey and find a Clinique counter somewhere and have them make us look smokin hot. My maids are babes, though, so I aint worried man.
14. The band! We need to nail down the music we want. We have the band booked. But that is it. Lots to do. Lots to do.
15. Get the lounge furniture ordered
16. Get the rehearsal dinner rentals ordered.
17. get the preliminary budget for the flowers
18. get the menu locked down for the wedding
19. get the room for the rabbi and his wife
20. order the ketubah
21. Get the booz order for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. breathe… I think that is all for now.
22. Wedding gift for my man. WTF!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!? I cannot even begin to start thinking of this impossible task... nope. Not today. Howevere, here is what I want from him. His gift to me for being the nicest wife who worked so hard to plan the nicest wedding that will represent our amazing future. Art Room please, Mr. Lippy. Thanks.

my future craft space via here and here

To Do:

We are headed to Big Sur this weekend! Woo hoo! My goal for this weekend: Get Shit Done. in the past, we have gone up, made a decision, maybe two, and then we eat, drink, and play the rest of the time. I love to do those things, but this is a serious weekend.

Here is what needs to get done (I mean it this time!!):

1. Meet with Cheri (caterer and Point 16 master) and Kate (florist) to discuss preliminary budgets, design, feeling, etc.
2. Start to discuss menu with Cheri (!!!!)
3. Further discuss the chuppah (redwood branches and peach-ish flowers)
4. Get referrals for child care during the wedding (it does not get any more BS than this- but my mother is making me do it): When did it become a crime to watch your own kid? When my sister got married certain family members were livid that she was not having children at the wedding (certain family members DID NOT come to the wedding because they could not bring their nuggets). But now I am expected to hire a sitter to watch the kids that you insist on bringing… this is nuts. I will do it, but I am quietly judging said parents).
5. Hair and make-up: this one is annoying. I don’t mean to be high maintenance but it is going to be really annoying to find a make up girl who I can trust, to come down and make me and my girls look pretty. This is one of the times I wish we were getting married in LA so I could just run over to the MAC or Stila counter.
6. Cake- we haven’t even thought about this one
7. Caterer for Rehearsal Dinner- we are meeting with them Saturday at 1pm (yes, I planned it around lunchtime) to decide on the menu and preliminary rentals. Ugh. This has gotten so out of hand.
8. Take pics! Of the site! I have been there a few times- but it is always a blur. It has that effect on people.
9. Decide on the site for the morning after brunch. Barf. I hate that we have to have this- but we do, and we need to decide where it is going to be…

So, considering we have two days- I think we may be busy. Although, I am sure we will find time for cards, pinot grigio, and Nepenthe. We always seem to. I am realistically shooting for checking off 6 out of the 9 items on this list. That’s fair. Maybe 5. it depends how long the wait at Nepenthe is.
Image via us, the last time we were at Point 16... heaven.

Dear Diary

I was having lunch on the grass with one of my best girlfriends yesterday and we somehow got to talking about blogs… she had mentioned that at one point she had attempted a blog of her own VanNuysHousewife. She said she ultimately stopped the blogging because she was tired of trying to be witty on the internet when she was the only person reading it. I was chuckling to myself thinking- no one knows that I started this silly little project, and unless I tell friends, no one will ever read it.

This is fine. I started this little blog, which is actually only a journal (since no one will ever read it), as a way to gather my thoughts. I have twice lost my email group that I sent to myself with all of my genius ideas and pictures. I am also incredibly bored and unsatisfied with my job- so it is a great way to kill and hour, or eight, a day. Is that bad? Well, since I am the only one reading this- thus the only person who can answer this- hell no it isn’t bad- your job freaking blows.

I really did start this as a way to stay organized for the wedding though… for example- here is what I would like to do to my hair for the rehearsal dinner. I think it is fabulous and ridiculous and I also think the only time in my life that I will be able to do something like this. BAM! Who's the bride now?
from ruffled.

I think this is so soft and earthy and just oozes pretty summer bride. I am going to be very simple on my wedding day so this will be my "statement" that will set me apart from all the others at the rehearsal (or at least you will be able to see the top of my head through the swarm of people we are going to be surrounded by the whole time- this makes me very uneasy). AND- I have one batshit crazy friend who will probably show up in a bridal gown so this wil help people tell who is who from afar.

Here We Go Again...

I am getting married! Woo freaking hoo! My future husband is the best! He is my best friend. He is my lover. He is my future. He tickles my back even when he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t judge me when I cry at commercials, and he makes me laugh multiple times a day. He also happens to be a great son, brother, friend, is super ambitious and kind, and is also absurdly hot! Oh yeah, I am one lucky gal!

We are gettin hitched in Big Sur (!!!!) this August. Theknot.com reminded me today that we are 164 days away! We got engaged last April on our rooftop in Venice. Since then, we have had a blast being engaged- celebrating, traveling, working, moving, learning, and planning. We have the site (ridiculous), the caterer (badass lady and delish), and ideas… so… now that it is 164 days out… GAME ON!

I will not lie, we have had a few shouting matches over this day- ones that always end in embarrassment and shame at how lost we got… I keep thinking about the last few months and how in synch we have been- giving us pats on the back for such loving behavior- and then I remember that we haven’t made a decision about the wedding in months...and I pull back on the reigns of applause. So now, as I mentioned, it is game time. No more sending him and my sister and my friends pics of pretty bouquets or funky invitations with subject lines “you likey?” It is decision making time!! Which also means it may be fight time. Unfortunately, it’s on!