Crafting fun!

So Pat and I recently just experimented with chalk paint! We went to the local thrift store and picked up a picture frame with the glass included. We had heard that this paint can basically go on any surface, so we thought we would try glass. We took out the glass insert and brushed on the black paint. We let it dry and then tested its ability with a stick of white chalk. To our surprise, it actually worked-- really well actually, and the chalk stays on and wipes off really easily. We are super happy with it and plan on making a couple more of these!

This is a picture of the chalk board in the frame... Voila!

...We love this frame so much--it has a piece of twine running throughout the wood frame.

Happy fourth of July--I hope you all have a safe and fun-filled day!

Closer and closer...

 So Pat and I are getting married in thirty-nine days! That is so crazy and we are getting more and more excited as the days go by! We have been hitting the crafting world pretty hard. Pat has been such a huge help and I am so happy that he is back down in town. We have been making our table numbers,  hanging decorations, wrapped bottles, etc. Pat and his family have wrapped so many wine bottles--they literally have a small factory going on in their home! Our table numbers are small chalkboards that we found at a craft store. We just covered the wood edges in moss and will draw in the numbers in a fun way for the day of. We originally wanted to get wood numbers and cover them in moss, but we couldn't find simple, affordable numbers anywhere. We found some--but they were elaborately carved and ridiculous in price. So after walking around the store, Pat came up with the chalkboard idea--and we have already made a bunch of them. The paper rosettes are decor that we plan on hanging above the dance floor. They are super easy to make and add so much color!

This is only half of the bottles that Pat and his family wrapped in a two day period of time. They will be incorporated into the centerpieces.

 

These are the paper fans that will be hanging along with one of the table numbers. The rosettes are super easy to make and we have started making some in patterned paper as well. The tutorial for them can be found on the Paper Source website.

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More in wedding world...we scheduled and booked our rehearsal and dinner--We found and ordered our wedding bands--We had our first marriage counseling appointment and discussed the ceremony with Brad (our officiant)! We also started looking at apartments to move into after the wedding. We are focusing more on the downtown Fullerton/Chapman area. We are looking for a place that is close to stores, coffee houses, etc., that we can walk to. Overall, we are still on the move and are crafting/organizing up a storm. I am so thankful for all of the outside help and support from our families and friends.

Such a great weekend.

This weekend, one of my dear friends became a graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo! Early Saturday afternoon, a couple of us took a road trip up to see Nicole Stanton. We unfortunately missed her ceremony, but got to spend the rest of the weekend with her. We had her put on her cap and gown and took some pictures together in her adorable little home. I am so proud of her and am so happy that we were able to join her in the celebration.

On our way home, we were able to stop in Santa Barbara to try the beer that a friend is brewing for our wedding. There is a "His" and "Hers" option and they both are coming along quite nicely! We are so excited for these and are so very thankful for the time and effort that Garret is putting into it.

This past week,  Pat and I got to work finishing our invitations, booking our wedding night hotel, etc. It was a succes and we stuffed the envelopes, wrote the addressess, stamped them all, and sent them out! We are really happy with the way that they turned out--as we did everything on our own! I will put up a picture a bit later of the whole invitation including the envelope--but for now here is an image of the invitation itself. They were individually designed and silk-screened by ourselves and a hand full of our friends.

(front)

I don't have an image of the back--but it has a cute little hand-drawn map of the directions to the venue as well as where the ceremony cocktail hour, reception, etc will be held. Our friend Lorien drew this for us and it turned out to be quite darling.

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In terms of the hotel for the wedding night--we found one! We had to jump on it pretty quickly, as with a summer wedding, the rooms fill up quickly. We found a couple that we really liked, but then came to find out that they were booked or required a two night stay (which we can't do because we leave the next day for our honeymoon). Anyways, we decided on The US Grant in the Gaslamp district of San Diego. It is about 30-35 minutes away from our venue...but we figured that it would provide a nice amount of time for us to talk about the wedding together--and it is also a place that we would enjoy celebrating anniversaries at. Here are some pictures of the historic, modern hotel.

We are so excited for our marriage and we only have about fifty days to go!

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Have a fabulous week!

The dress!

Today, I went to the bridal boutique and picked up my wedding dress! It is so comfortable and it fits like a glove! I just have a few changes to make--but I am so excited and so happy with it. 

I can't wait to wear it for my dreamboat!

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Earlier this week, Pat picked up some old windows for our wedding decor. We plan on using them for our guest seating assignments. They have so much character and we hope to use them as decor after the wedding.

Have a happy Memorial Day!

I'm back...

Wow--I have definitely been neglecting this thing. I have been so busy these past couple of weeks with graduations, starting school, starting a new job, etc. I have been pretty stressed, but I always find it so helpful to make to-do lists. They get everything out on paper so you don't have to worry about forgetting anything.
So last weekend, my baby graduated! I flew up to Berkeley Thursday night for the Friday morning graduation. It was such an intimate graduation with sixty-eight undergraduates and about eight PhD students. I am so proud of Pat-- he has worked so hard and graduates with honors! Here are a couple images from the graduation. Congrats to Doug for graduating as well!!

Also congratulations to Jessica, Renee, and Caressa for graduating as well! You girls are studs and I am so proud. Nickilou--you are up next in June!

I also started a new job. I got hired and oriented as a senior hospital assistant at UCI medical center. It is a paid student position--so I am hoping to learn a lot. It's pretty funny because both Pat and I are now employed by UCI. He just got hired as the hockey coach for this coming year. My brother is on that team--so Devon will have his soon to be brother in law as his coach. Pat is so excited and I can't wait to see him pull the team together.

These next couple of weeks are going to be a little hectic. With about seventy days left until our wedding--there is still SO much to do. With Pat moving home in a couple of days, we will have our hands full with wedding planning and craft making. I will update pictures of finished projects as we go. Hope you have a great three day weekend!