Dots!

I am a bridesmaid in my best friends wedding next April.  I'm super excited and being a good bridesmaid I have been sending her idea after idea for her to ponder.  My latest obsession is POLKA DOTS.  Not sure she is 100% on board (or will ever get on board) but I had a good time pulling together some really fun polka dot inspiration

Sarah & Brian   Shannon & Nathan   Katie & Oliver   Christine & Jason   Kristen & Andrew

Time Flies

This weekend marks a year since I walked down the aisle.  I still can't believe its been a whole year?!?  To celebrate we are headed up to Maine for a little weekend getaway.  I'm crossing my fingers this nice weather holds out for us too!

Anyway, I didn't post too many wedding photos the first time around- so here is some wedding overload to celebrate my 1st anniversary

The amazing illustration that Patricia from PVE did for us made many appearances at our wedding.  From the hotel welcome boxes, welcome notes to the programs it was a very special detail for sure!

(PS if you are getting married she does amazing work, I HIGHLY recommend her!!)

When we were first planning our ceremony my husband and I knew that we wanted to make both our siblings a big part.  Along with my best friends Mom, my sister-in-law and my brother preformed our ceremony.  We chose meaningful vows as well as a wedding tradition from both of our cultures.  The cord above is from the handfasting tradition that my brother lead us through.

Our programs with Patricia's beautiful work

Our escort cards were made with little wood elephants from Sri Lanka.  My in-laws friends carried 200 of these little guys home on the plane with them from Sri Lanka.  To make them look like a decorated celebration elephant I added a flag with guest names and their table.

My Husband has a little obsession with Chinese food.  The take out boxes were kind of an inside joke to those who know him best. Inside were mini elephant sugar cookies and these were put out just in time for guests to take home.

I'm off Monday, since that's the actual day and all, so I'll be back Tuesday.  Have a good weekend everyone!

Bachelorette Party Survival Kits

I'm headed off to a bachelorette party this weekend and I am so excited for some much needed R&R, oh and D (the D is for drinking).  Since I am all about the details I decided to put together a little Bachelorette Party Survival Kit for everyone who is coming.  I got the idea from the Project: 10K blog and just thought it was so cute I had to make my own!

It was easier than I thought gathering up all the little necessities and I had so much fun coming up with a cute label for them too.

I actually had the take out boxes left over from my own wedding and I decided to put them to good use again.

 One of the first things I decided to include was candy. Because of the name alone I went with Red Hots. 

After a long night of partying nothing is more welcome than a large glass of water and some meds.  I already had these small envelopes on hand, so I just added cute little labels and put them to good use too

The rest of the items are just basic things, no cute labels.  So here is the whole Survival Kit ready to go

Ooops, one thing I forgot to include in this photo is the emergency card I made for each girl.  I printed out business size cards with the name, address and phone number of the hotel we are staying at- you know, just in case someone has a little too much fun and gets separated from the pack. 

Lastly, I printed up this list to put in the kit explaining all of the contents

1. Gum- every girl loves fresh breath

2. Antibacterial Wipes- bar bathrooms are dirty places

3. Nail File- every girl has those kinds of nights, fix yours with this

4. Hair Ties- Puke in your hair is just a no-no

5. Blow Pop- something to suck on

6. Red Hots- to keep the weekend RED HOT

7. Band Aid- because hot shoes aren't always comfortable

8. Starburst- for that extra burst of energy when you need it most

9. Hangover Helper- because hangovers put a damper on a fun weekend

10. Lip Gloss- to keep those lips shiny and smooth

The bride-to-be hasn't seen them yet, but hopefully she loves them!

Alright, I'm off to start my ladies weekend early.  Have a good one everyone! 

a stitch in time

Following up from my cross stitch post, I managed to whip out two easy and meaningful projects.  I'm still working on my coasters, since those require alot more attention to detail it will be awhile before I share those.

In the meantime here are my easy cross stitch projects

  wedding initials and date cross stitch minis

The one on right was a shower present for my friend- she is getting married so soon!  I'm a bridesmaid in her wedding so I wanted to make her something special that she could keep forever.

Here is a grainy photo to show you the finished hanging project

I just used an Ikea Ribba frame with a custom cut mat (love custom mats, they make inexpensive frames look awesome).  I didnt want it to be too country love, and with the modern Ribba frame I think its simple and sweet.

I have to take a better photo of mine (that I JUST hung, better late than never) and I'll be sure to post that too.

Happy Tuesday!



Ceylon: Part 2

Following up from yesterdays post here are more photos from my amazing trip to Sri Lanka...

this is how people along the coast fish!  It's not done as much today as it once was, but imagine sitting up there all day just catching fish? woah!

Buddha statues everywhere 

entrance to the Yala National Park where we went on a safari 

Yala National Park

If you look really close you can see that this tree is full of monkeys

Temple of the Tooth- Kandy, Sri Lanka

another three wheeler

policeman

schoolgirls near the Galle Fort

Galle, Sri Lanka.

This Buddha statue was given by the Japanese government following the 2004 tsunami that devastated the area.

Tsunami Memorial for the Queen of the Sea rail disaster

This memorial was built on what is believed to be a mass grave of tsunami victims.  It is also a memorial for the more than 1,700 people who lost their lives when a crowded passenger train was hit by a wave over 18 feet on December 26, 2004

While in Sri Lanka the hubby and I had the chance to visit a special girls orphanage.  The orphanage is home to over 70 girls ranging in age from 2 to 18.  Many of the girls living at this orphanage are there because they lost one or both parents in the 2004 tsunami.  The photo above are just some of the girls we met that day.

We stopped at this Hindu temple on the side of the road and it was filled with monkeys!  I had a lollipop in my pocket and decided that it would be a good idea to share it with my new monkey friend (no idea why I thought this would be a good idea as I'm pretty sure you're not suppose to feed wild animals, oops).

So stinkin' cute!

All in all we had an amazing time,  the two and a half weeks went by in a flash and I can't wait to return!   Although the flight was LONG and I'm still recovering from jet lag I'm excited that my husband has family there and it wont be the last time we get to travel to such an amazing country.

Ceylon: Part 1

For the last two and a half weeks the hubby and I were off traveling around Sri Lanka!  (CLP had it right!)  It just happens to be where the hubs family is from and where we had our second wedding.  Actually, it was more of a reception as there was very little "ceremony" part to it.

I wont go on and on about it in words, as photos are much prettier to look at and speak for themselves.

We arrived at the Galleface Hotel and it was even prettier in person.  It was built in 1864 by the British and it's one of the oldest hotels in Sri Lanka.  Since we already had an American wedding we chose this hotel for its one of a kind charm and because it was classic "Sri Lanka"

See that gray tower in the middle of the photo?  Well it was just on the other side of the hotel wall and on top of it were 2 men armed with large machine guns. Scary! The war in Sri Lanka may be over, but the heavy army presence is still felt.  

The big day (x's 2).  Three wheelers are a major mode of transportation in Sri Lanka and of course a wedding photo shoot would not have been complete without a few shots in one.

Always a lady, right?  After the record 2 hour photo shoot (WTF is right) I let off some steam by riding one of the wooden elephants in the hotel.

Quick story, I had two wedding dresses for my US wedding.  I bought one, decided I hated it (in typical bridezilla fashion), and then bought the dress you see above.  Long story short, I ended up changing my mind about the original dress and wore that one back in March.  Which left me with the above dress altered and unworn.  So I packed it up and wore it for the reception in Sri Lanka.  Everything worked out perfectly in the end.

Following the wedding my parents, brother, in-laws, sister-in-law, the hubs

best friend, the hubs and myself piled into a van for a week long trip touring Sri Lanka.  Drugs anyone?

We saw so many amazing things!

bath time at the elephant orphanage

So many elephants, they were beyond cute!

fresh king coconut is just about the best drink ever

a policeman on guard

In one of the hotels we stayed at monkeys are regular visitors.  This little guy was on our hotel porch one morning and was so cute I wanted to take him home. But I'm pretty sure bringing monkeys into the US from foreign countries is frowned upon,  so the monkey stayed.  Sad face.

I'm still working through all of my photos, so be sure to come back tomorrow for part 2!