noritake unique wedding favors unique wedding favors
Learn the 4 C's of diamonds at Abazias.

tiny treasures

sweetsaucy
Who says a gorgeous cake has to be big? These are some of my all-time favorites and they are itty-bitty! All from Sweet and Saucy Shop in Long Beach, CA.

day one

icing101
It's just any other Monday for everyone else, but for me, it's like the first day of work at a new job. While the actual work I'm doing is the same, I have this little, squirmy bundled person to take with me (luckily, I work from home). What if he cries when the phone rings? What if I can't get my work finished? What if his diaper explodes while I'm on the phone with Martha Stewart? (ha. I wish I was on the phone with Martha Stewart) I am loaded with questions at this point, none of which I will know the answers to until I've jumped in and just DONE it. I am 10 days into mommyhood but in almost every way it still feels like the first day. I'm learning this new job on the fly, no training wheels!
Let's get the party started, shall we? I started my morning, as usual, with a little visit to Etsy. The lovely stylings of Icing 101 caught my eye, especially that gorgeous sash. What amazing way to accentuate a tiny waist! Sigh.... a tiny waist.

for a delicate do

birdybobby
Things, as you can imagine, have been pretty crazy around here since last weekend. We are home from the hospital now, and Niko is doing very, very well. I'm pooped most of the time, but so happy to have him home and so lucky to have a bunch of my family members around to help. I'm slowly getting back to my work, a little piece at a time and it feels good to blog again!
I went on my first trip out without the baby this afternoon, and my sister and I saw the cutest little hair pins at this shop called Frog and Toad in Providence that I'm totally addicted to. When I got home, I was inspired to find more adorable hair pins to dress up my otherwise very plain hair-do. These delicateporcelain doves were my favorites of the search, from a little shop called Revisions. I just might get myself some as a little present, and if I'm going to have the hair pin, I might as well also have the necklace, no?

he's here, he's here!

Niko
Niko Dell Sala was born on Friday, the 18th of September at 9:40 in the morning. He weighed 6.5 lbs, and was 19.5 inches long. He is healthy, and so am I. We are so happy!

orange and gold

orangeshoes
Alison emailed me the other day asking about orange shoes, and I immediately thought of J. Crew's selection of colorful pumps. I thought someone else might be interested in these for fall, they'd be perfect under an ivory gown!

feeling crafty?

embroidery
Still no baby! Now, please excuse me while I try and go about my day as if I weren't 6 days past due.
These beautiful antique monograms caught my eye, and I thought they'd make a really nice addition to a bouquet or a bridal hanky. If you were feeling crafty, that is...

totally off topic, I know.

I know this is a wedding blog. For wedding stuff. I know. But just for my own fun, I wanted to share a tour of our little nursery before the baby makes his entrance. I've worked on this space for so long and I just had to share it with you, you who are such a great, big part of my day. I couldn't resist! I promise, it's back to wedding stuff on Monday!

Nursery2
My Grandmother (Mem) helped with the curtains, and let us paint her awesome rocking chair. My husband and I made a lot of the artwork, with the exception of some Frank Stella paintings, a "Correlated History of Earth" poster from AMNH, three awesome birds by Mincing Mockingbird, and a few other odds and ends. I made the mobile from scraps of paper left over from Kenzie Kate. It doesn't really move as well as I'd like, but the baby's eye view is very colorful and I hope it can hold his attention for a few minutes at least!

Nursery1
My Mom made the baby's bedding, a heroic feat considering all she had to go by was a blurry picture and the skirt has to be adjustable to account for the adjustable crib. My sister made the quilt, another amazing feat. She spent so much time picking out the fabrics and it shows because the finished product just BELONGS in here.

Nursery3
During the hottest days of the summer I abandoned my TV and stayed cool by parking in front of the AC, making stuffed toys. Auggie the Owl, Fritz the Sock Monkey, Ginny the Cat, Rue the Kangaroo and Bob the Ann-Wood-Inspired Oriel are all made by yours truly... I had so much fun making these toys!
If anyone is curious about any of the other stuff, I'm happy to provide sources (chances are, if it's not from Ikea, I made it or I found it second hand). Thanks for indulging me, and have an awesome weekend!

love!

minirhino
How cute are these? What a cute idea for an anniversary gift or a wedding present! From Miniature Rhino, via Made by Girl.

old soul, new heart

oldsoul
I hope everyone had a great weekend! We have no baby yet, although today is our official due date. I'm on pins and needles! We spent the weekend painting Dell's office a dapper shade of navy and I baked a batch of Pear Vanilla cupcakes (so good!). If you are interested in the recipe, I amalgamated parts of a few recipes from this awesome website (Vanilla Cupcakes, Pear filling, and Vanilla Buttercream with Candied Pear for decoration), but everything I have tried from this blog has turned out fantastic. I have plans for a DIY manicure this afternoon and an idea for a new invitation I want to work on. In an effort to distract myself from being preoccupied with labor, I am getting a surprising amount of stuff done around here!

In the mean time, check out this amazing headband from Old Soul, New Heart (love the name). For a very reasonable price, one can acquire one of many, many adorable hair accessories. I would also like to point out that this model is a dead ringer for Christina Applegate. Just saying...

sweet pleats

graceybags
I love the pleated shape of these bags! They'd be adorable as bridesmaid's gifts for an informal, outdoor affair. From Gracey.

white dresser

whitedresser
Love the ethereal beauty of these headbands from White Dresser. So sweet!

bands that march to a different drummer

johanjewelry
Always a treat to find unique wedding bands. The top one has a solid inlay of meteorite (!), and would have been a huge hit with the hubs... The color on the bottom one comes from mixing copper and silver together, so pretty! Both from Johan.

Mackenzie's Sketchbook