Speechless

We have officially received our first (non-wedding shower) wedding gift. Our dear friends Kathy and Micky came over for dinner this weekend. Micky will be marrying David and I, and he wanted to discuss the certain things we would like him to include (and NOT include) in our ceremony. They took the evening to give us their wedding gift. To say the least - it left me speechless.

Kathy knit this herself - Micky helped by holding LOTS of yarn. The detail is incredible.

I still don't know what we've done to deserve two such incredible people in our lives, but we are beyond grateful!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend - I have a few exciting bits of news to share next week!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Dad!

{No this is not my Dad & I - I just like old B&W's}

To a Dad that can fix anything, listens to any and all hair-brained ideas, is kind, smart, and a great Dad!

{No this is not my Dad & I}

Guilty!

I'm feeling so guilty about abusing my blog! I have officially reached wedding overload! Somewhere along the line I thought it would be a WAY better idea (and that I would have PLENTY of time) to make my own invitations than to have them made. After numerous trips to the printers, about 17 printing attempts, and I don't know how much wasted paper - I'm really starting to re-think just how good of an idea it was. However, they are printed and cut (invitation assembly party is Tuesday) and I do have to say, that I love how they turned out. I'll take pictures Tuesday to share!

In the meantime - I had a blogging BLAST last Thursday!

I know we all know how crazy this blogging world is - but it still amazes me with the people it affords you to meet. Case in point: the incredibly talented, Catherine behind Rikshaw Design. After a long roll of comments from Alexis (Fern & Feather) and Grace (Grace Happens) regarding a photo shoot for Vogue in our hometown involving a certain hot surfer boy - Catherine was on her way to San Diego for a little R&R, and offered to do an impromptu trunk show. No one seemed to be able to host it, so I volunteered.

{Me, Grace, Catherine, & Alexis}

To say that night was "SO fun!" would not do it justice! Catherine is beyond talented (not to mention hilarious and down to earth!). She started her career as one of/the textiles buyers for Pottery Barn - HELLO!!!!! DREAM JOB!!!!!!!! Her job found her traveling to India researching fabrics (insert above statement here) and she fell in love with the country and the art of block printing. Through this love, Rikshaw was born.

Her textiles are beautiful and quirky rolled into one. (She has one design that are little monkeys)

A few other friends/local bloggers came for a whole evening of shopping, chatting, champagne-ing, and snacking. That's just about my perfect evening!

Sweet Grace (Grace Happens) came early and set up a full on spread! We had cheese & crackers, petite cupcakes and fresh strawberries. And of course a stunning bouquet of peonies (my hands down fav flower) in a vintage milk glass vase!

The best part was getting to meet everyone - seriously, blogging makes you (or me at least) feel like you really know the person. So, when you finally do meet them - it's like you've already met!

{me & Bianca of Bink & Boo}

I had so much fun re-meeting Bianca! We have actually met a couple of times prior at various local events, but we finally got to really meet. This. Woman. Is. Hilarious!

Everyone else was equally amazing and talented!

*From the left: Alexis(fern and feather), Alexandra (Rustic Rooster), Haydee (happenstance), Heather (La Feem), Kendall (Kendall K .), Bianca (Bink and Boo), Me!, Catherine (Rikshaw Design), Grace (Grace Happens) + two friends of Grace's that we were enthusiastically encouraging to join the crazy blog world!

Art

Art can be a tough detail to handle. It's hard to have a collection that feels cohesive and makes sense together. Another challenge - art is plain expensive! Luckily for me, in addition to some pieces of my own, I have a few hand-me-down pieces as well.

This first piece is of the "Cyclone Racer" in Long Beach. My family has a lot of history there and my grandparents purchased this at an auction years and years ago. I'm not crazy about the blue frame, but that's an easy change!

My eye tends to go to oil paintings with bright, bold colors - especially against our white walls!

This triptic painting is by an artists out of Laguna Beach named Donita Lloyd. I would go to the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival (a quaint artist's show) every summer with my family and have always loved Donita's work. She's the sweetest woman who has lived in Laguna Beach almost her entire life. My parents surprised me with a giclee when I graduated from college. I'm still working on where to hang it.

This next set of paintings is another hand-me-down, and is a little bit of a while card in my tiny art collection. I haven't decided where these guys will end up either (there's actually 3 all together) but I'm thinking they may end up in our upstairs bathroom.

Another all time favorite artist of mine is Kenton Nelson. He falls in that bright, bold oil painting category that I love. You may already be familiar with his work, since a couple of his pieces were featured in everyone's fav - Something's Gotta Give.

I love their simplicity - and of course the vintage feel!

This collection is probably my favorite of his. The bottom painting is the famous print from the movie.

Love this cover he did for the New Yorker.

Hopefully I didn't lose any readers on my art tour! : ) I'm also hoping to not leave you hanging for yet another week before my next post! I'm in full wedding mode right now - and things are starting to pile up! YIKES!