am i going to be in trouble for this?

so i just listed a few items in my etsy shop....

and i found the 'recently listed' feed.

then i put it on full screen.

and watched it fill up with handmade goodness.

rats.

i do not think i ever should have found that because really it is torture. torture torture.

i would like to have it all...ok?

the upside: it made me want to be wildly creative again [i've missed that].

guac

Guacamole champion of the world?

Count me in.

I just ordered this book because guac seriously is the best snack ever.

via

playing catch up around here these days.

it is so easy in the summer to just let the warm days and sun take you away from the less fun things that you should be doing.

like laundry

and organizing

this weekend though, totally worth it.

my love took part 1 of the cpa exam which we celebrated with chocolate cake

my sweet little sewing machine made her way back home running like a dream after some much needed tlc.

dancing and laughing and complete joy at the wedding of a dear friend [mr. lemon pie and i, we love a good excuse to get all dolled up].

the new edition of a wii fit [which so kindly informed me that i need to get my butt in gear]

today. today is back to the grind.

and some serious planning to get back on track.

two things

one: mr. lemonpie is taking part 1 of the massachusetts CPA test today. i am crossing fingers and toes and saying lots of prayers. he has worked so hard studying and i am so proud that he is so dedicated to the things he loves.

two: i woke up this morning to find that my car had been broken into. ew. all they got was my GPS [a birthday present from mr. lemonpie because i am certainly directionally challenged] and my make-up bag [which was horrifying because it had EVERYTHING in it...and it is not cheap to replace.

thankfully they are just things. replaceable things that don't mean anything in the grand scheme.

the big thing today: mr. lemonpie's first hurdle and what i am sure will be triumph and that my friends is something to celebrate.

invitations

so i had this fear that i would not be able to make my own invites. i mean i knew that with a lot of patience and some craftiness of mama lemonpie and i that we could totally get them done.

but i was still a little worried.

then today a co-worker brought in the invitations that she made for her daughters wedding and holy cow!

they are amazing.

and classy.

and beautiful.

so very very soon i am going to embark on this endeavor to be sure that i have enough time to fiddle.

what do you think diy invitations or not?

on doing it yourself

we have a teeny little thing called a wedding budget.

i know this means different things to different people but to us it means keeping the cost of this affair under $12,000.

i have decided that our smaller budget it actually a blessing in disguise.

why you ask?

well, instead of outsourcing to vendors we get to include those most important to us in planning and executing.

I really love that idea.

I love the idea that everyone will be working together and that we will get to spend a few extra moments that we may not have had with friends and family.

Our do it yourself list is a somewhat lengthy one:

Save the dates

Invitation suite

Calligraphy

Centerpieces

Escort cards

Favors

Guest book

Birdcage

Through all of this, the most important part of our wedding day is the connection we have with each other and the people who have supported us our entire lives.

We want our wedding day to not only be a celebration of the beginning of our lives together but also a thank you to all of those who have helped us reach this point in our lives.

What are your do it yourself projects? Are you planning on having your family and friends be a large part of your big day?

let's get rich and build our house on a mountain

mr. lemonpie and i – we are not living together before we get married.

we have discussed it to death over the past year – the pros the cons, how easy it would be, how much money we could save, how fun it would be, how it would make the married transition easier, how much more we’d get to see each other and on and on and on.

the other night after we had made appointments just to ‘see what was out there’ we had a light bulb moment.

we don’t want to shack up together…yet.

we have years and years of coming home to each other and saving for a house and on and on and on.

what about right now [and how hard it can be both living at home]?

right now we will enjoy the last year of looking forward to seeing each other after being apart for three days.

we will cherish those moments when mr. lemonpie drops me off on sunday night and we sit in the car [not wanting to leave each other] and talk about what a great weekend we had and how amazing it was to spend the whole day together.

i will still send little love notes via snail mail.

he will still send me flowers.

and we will squeeze our eyes shut tight and scream i miss you over the phone lines.

but most of all right now we will dream about the days when we don’t have to leave, or say i miss you and when we can wake up every morning next to our favorite person ever.

i know it doesn’t work for everyone but it works for us and for the first time well, ever, we are ok with it [and those who think we are nuts for waiting.]

did you wait to move in with your love? are you living with your love now? how does living together or not living together make your relationship happier?

inspired by:

pre wedding chop

i know there is a lot of talk about the famous ‘post wedding chop’ a.k.a pwc but what i have not come across yet is the ‘pre wedding chop.’

sound scary?

what got me thinking about this?

well, when mr. lemonpie and i got engaged i had visions of the lauren conrad side ponytail. i even brought my hairdresser a magazine picture of lauren’s hair and said ‘i want that’

source

4 months later here i am at the hairdresser for the usual ‘cut and color’ when i say ‘i really want to cut it all off but i am afraid that by next summer it won’t be long enough.’

my hairdresser then tells me not to cut it because i am not ready.

so i told her to cut it because heck! do not tell me i am not ready! not to mention it is hair and it will grow back and it is going to look awesome next summer because it will be all new and freshly grown out and i will have the side ponytail of my dreams.

30 minutes later i am staring at the sweetest most loveliest blonde bob that i have ever had my entire life and i am completely and totally head over heels in love with it.

and i cannot bear for a second to grow it out because – i am not lying when i tell you this – it does whatever i want it to do. last weekend mr. lemonpie and i went on a 15 mile bike ride [yes, i even wore a helmet], drove with the windows down and went for a swim, and my hair still looked good!

so my dream of a luxurious side ponytail on my wedding day has been replaced with dreams of pin curls and rockabillys and pretty waves.

did anyone else take the plunge and chop off their hair before their wedding?

may december romance

ashton kutcher & demi moore.

michael douglas & catherine zeta jones.

harrison ford & calista flockhart.

...to name a few...

then there is my fiance(22) and i(28).

the finace i met while working for the same management consulting firm. [i was the assistant to the CFO and he was the finance intern]

the finace who when mama lemon pie saw a picture of asked 'who is that and why aren't you dating him?!'

i said: 'he's too young! sister lemon pie is closer in age than we are!'

mama lemon pie's response was: 'he is NOT too young. period.'

i never in a million years thought that i would end up marrying 'the intern.'

and yes, there are times when i say how old he is and how old i am that i get a little sheepish.

and there are times when we look at eachother and we realize that sometimes we do have to work through a little bit of a 'gap.'

but at the end of the day in know that i am so truly lucky and blessed to have found 'my person.' the one who despite our six year age difference totally and completely and utterly understands every working mechanism of who i am.

we are a bonafide may-december romance and we completely love every single minute of it.

venue love

pictures are worth a thousand words.

check. check. and check.

about the wedding?

we are getting there.

venue = check

dj = check

flowers = check

concept = check

DIY hat = check

...more to come when i get the photos off the camera-ra-ra.

xo

copperplate

amidst all the rain.

and the thunder.

and instead of building an arc to make it through the 'flood' in these parts.

i will be tucking myself away to do some fancy writing.

the recipient?

i hope she'll be pleased.

[oh yes, those are the new tools i aquired. lovely lovely.]