A song just perfect for the upcoming day of LUV! I actually met Kina Grannis at the Auto Club 500 NASCAR race in Fontana 2 years ago. She sang the National Anthem and we ran into each other in the restrooms near the box suites and she was sweet as can be. She said it was strange to be without her guitar on stage, but she did great! She had just won the Doritos Crash the Superbowl contest and was rarely known at the time. I know I’ve been posting videos lately, but her latest single is so darn stinkin cute. AND…you can download it for free right now from her website. I love free music…when the artists is freely giving it away that is. Check it out…cute artist, cute video, cute song…you get the point!
When I saw Google’s commercial aired during the Superbowl this weekend, my heart skipped a beat and I was completely in love. It was so simple, sweet and superb. The background music alone can make me cry…in case you missed it:
Hopping on a plane later today for a mini weekend trip to see Tara and Becca tonight in Sacramento. Becca’s coming in from Portland so if you take us, a kickball league, and mix it all up with a pub crawl equals a great weekend…even with the rain and all. I’ll be back in time to watch the superbowl with the hubs so I’m leaving him to take care of a new member of the family…everyone…MEET RAMBO!
Okay…so he’s technically a place holder until the real Rambo comes around, but he’s just as cute. He should keep the hubs occupied and protected from intruders while I’m gone. I picked him up at Ikea the other day and he’s too irresistable not to love. Oh who are we kidding…he’s a plushie…ahh…we need a dog ASAP! Happy Weekend Everyone!
Happy Tuesday All! Moving on to part II of the Big Blue Book…I tried frantically to find a photo for our front cover and there’s ton to choose from so I quickly just dropped this one in. It’ll probably change later, but for now you can get an idea of how it looks like:
Again…how does one manage to save these things? I suppose everything was thrown into boxes when we were there the day after to breakdown. Although many frames went missing, I’m glad this one stuck around…
When Jenny had submitted our wedding to Style Me Pretty…I was pretty much filled with shock, awe and excitement. I had to do something with that right?
The strips with all the photos show the general view of the blog feature and the pockets hold these extra large index card like prints so you can easily read what was written about our wedding and all the nice things Jenny said. I know, I know…I went a little bonkers…
All our vendors sent us sweet cards and such. I seriously don’t remember doing this, but apparently I collected business cards from everyone. Go figure! My biggest tip…save everything! Just throw it in a box and you’ll be surprised…and happy with everything you actually kept after it’s all over. And if it’s not that exciting, then you can just toss it.
What can I say about our feature on Utterly Engaged? It was an amazing spread and I couldn’t bear to leave that out either. Since it’s an e-zine and there’s no real hard copy available, I printed out the cover of the issue, the table of contents, our section and saddlestitched this baby to make a mini book. This also went into a pocket…can you tell I loved making pockets?
This was followed by pages of our RSVP’s and photo booth pictures:
That’s it for now folks. I’m kind of at a stopping point and you won’t see part III for a while, but hopefully not too long. If you missed Part I…you can find it here:
Ricardo and I somehow managed to wake up really early on Sunday and decided to go out for breakfast. I love breakfast and since it had been a while…we ventured out to San Pedro, a neighboring city. It was a beautiful day and I can’t believe we’ve lived so close for so long without visiting. After breakfast, we drove up to the hills for a beautiful view of the ocean. All the while, Ricardo kept saying something about a look out point that was filmed for The Usual Suspects in San Pedro…a favorite flick. I really had no idea what he was talking about until we looked up and saw the beautiful Korean Friendship Bell sitting high on the hilltop.
You were able to drive up to the bell we found out later after we took a mini hike from the bottom. I think it was meant to work out our breakfast and we both agreed it was well worth the hike.
Love, love, love the colors and tiles.
This was so not my idea:
Then we called it a morning!
I saw these amazing Good Stock accordion books in the blogosphere a looong time back…and knew I had to have them. Unfortunately…$175 for each book is out of my budget. I’m not sure what my budget is these days, but I just know I can’t afford these lovely treasures. In any case…Ricardo took one look at the accordion books and said, “You can totally do that hun.” Hmm…can I? He has so much faith in me…I’d like a set of five please…one each for:
- Bridal Shower
- Engagement
- Wedding
- Day After
- Honeymoon
And then store them in a cute handmade box!
Kim takes your favorite 15 photos and turns them into a beautiful piece of work. Do you know what’s even better? She color coordinates them with a fun back print and matching ribbon. I love IT!!! I’m not skilled enough to make them, but maybe I’ll attempt to do something similar this weekend. Especially with these fun graphic prints I found:
I was just going to blog about this and Karen beat me to the punch 
! She’s a huge Jane Austen fan and lover of books…so I knew I had to send her one of these beautiful clothbound penguin classics for the holidays now that she’s in New York City. I can already picture her sitting at a cute, funky cafe and a most handsome intellect looks over and comments on her book. They strike up a conversation and before you know it, he’s taking her to undiscovered hot spots in NYC, they fall madly in love, join book clubs, attend poetry readings and live jazz concerts in the park. They’ll thank me at their wedding for bringing them together, appoint me as the “cool aunt” to their children and live happily ever after. I know I’m a dreamer, but you can’t tell me that’s not what you’re picturing too?
Between Sense and Sensibility vs. Pride and Prejudice, I was torn because these books are so darn cute. BUT…it came down to Mr. Darcy who we’re both in love with in our dreams. I knew this was something she would love and appreciate! I would LOVE to have this entire collection in my library!
Speaking of fun gifts..this journal was PERFECT for my world traveling friend Melissa and all her wanderlusting ways! I snatched it up at a craft fair when I was in Portland a few months back and I couldn’t think of anything more perfect:
I still believe in the power of snail mail and how much joy that can bring my friends because frankly, no one sends mail anymore. Here’s a tip: Always carry stamps with you and you won’t have that excuse of never having any stamps. AND maybe make it a goal to send mail once a month to a close friend/family. Trust me…it’ll mean more to them than you think. Ahhh…the little things in life…
Here it is folks…the big blue book created with help from my Kolo Newport 12 x 12 album in Ocean. It weighs a ton and it’s not even all that complete yet, but I thought I’d start sharing it with you. It’s a compilation of everything from our wedding…and I mean that literally. Please excuse the not so good pictures. Taking photos of an album is pretty hard to do I learned…
The very first page:
Throughout our engagement, Katy consistently sent me sweet notes praying for our wedding planning and more importantly…our marriage. He unending support and love meant so much to me:
How I managed to keep all these table name swatches is beyond me:
More details and details:
Cards, photos, and mementos from the bridal shower…I kept them all:
I made tons of pockets to slide mementos through because they had info on both sides or were to cute to glue down. A pocket below from one of the games we played…cute Jas was the winner (she knows us so well!):
Pages and pages of our FUN wish tags! I still laugh out loud every time I read these:
And this might be one of my most favorite pages! A fabric swatch from the girls JCrew dresses in Graphite Chiffon, a blushing bride button that Katy gave me to wear on the wedding day, a gocco printed cocktail napkin, and a photo of us all…
I’m pooped. I wish today was Friday, but it’s only Wednesday. The last 24 hours have been a little exhausting to say the least. It felt non-stop and went a little something like this:
YESTERDAY
I woke up at 5:30 am and it’s carpool day so Ric and I both get ready to get into the office by 7 am. We carpool 3 days a week and he works 2 exits away from me so he drops me off and then continues on. By 4 pm, he picks me up and we head home to arrive around 4:40 pm. We quickly have dinner and then at 5:30 pm, he’s all packed up for his night class at 6 pm. I drop him off at school on my way to my pilates class. I get out at 7 pm and head home to rest. It’s 7:30 pm and I have to head upstairs to meet my neighbor Terry to pick up his keys so we can watch Juma (his cat) while he’s in Vegas for a few days. We chat until 8 pm or so and I head back to our apt. 10 minutes later I get a message from Ric that his class is out early since it’s the first day so I leave at 8:15 pm to pick him up from school since it’s raining and I don’t think taking the bus at night is a good idea…even if it is a short ride. We’re home by around 8:45 pm and since Entourage is now on Spike, we manage to stay up a bit, but called it quits at 9:50 pm. Whew…exhausted…I knock out until Ric remembers he needed to get work done and couldn’t sleep so he got up around 1 am as I tossed and turn because knowing that he’s up keeps me up too. Before you know it…it’s 5 am again. Uggghh….
TODAY
After I made us both some breakfast, I dropped Ric off at school for his 8 am class on my way to work and got into the office around 8:30 am. A little late and feeling sleep deprived, I still think today will be better than yesterday.
A lot of people ask us if we have one car, but we actually have two. Long Beach State charges $123/semester for a parking permit, but riding the bus is free and it’s only a ten minute ride so that’s primarily Ric’s transportation of choice. BUT…he usually takes a night class somewhere in there so I play chauffeur for the most part. Chit chatting with my friend Edmundo makes the time go by fast since Ric tends to get out at 9:45 pm on Tuesdays. I tell you…when this is all over, I might actually feel like we have normal lives.
Although…he does get to ride on this swanky hybrid bus:
May is fast approaching and he’ll be done before I know it. RELIEF! So we’ve been thinking about our next move and it’s scary yet exciting all in one. As much as I love Long Beach and Ricardo loves the Lakers, I think it’s time for a move back to the Bay Area by the end of the year. It’s been 10 years since I’ve last lived in the Bay Area…what if I hate it?
Hello Friends and Happy Monday!! It’s been a long few days with rain and cold weather so there was lots of stayin’ in this past weekend. It was also Ric’s last weekend before starting spring semester, and hopefully his last. He has to crash two classes today so we’re crossing our fingers. It’s been a long time coming and when he’s done…I’m thinking about throwing him a HUGE BBQ/Partay with a taco cart! Doesn’t that sound like so much fun?
Ricardo said something last night about a “triple threat” that’s coming up soon. He so eloquently explained the events of mid-February when he saw my confused face:
- February 14th: Valentine’s Day
- February 15th: 6 month anniversary…we don’t celebrate “monthly” anniversaries, but it’s kind of fun to think about every 15th and sometimes you just can’t help it…especially your first year married. Plus…how awesome is it that our 1/2 year mark is the day after Valentines Day? AND…I can’t even believe he’s remembered.
- February 16th: Ric’s Birthday
I didn’t realize how much fun Februaries will be from now on. I get spoiled, then we celebrate, then he get’s spoiled. Joy! I suppose it might be a little much, but still lots of fun.
I’m also very excited because I managed to sell all three of his texbooks last week for around $350 online! This will definitely help with his big birthday gift which he’s been hounding me about for the past few days..:) He told me his birthday wish was to find out what his birthday gift is before his birthday. That makes absolutely no sense to me so everyday I give him a Blues Clue, but this only frustrates him even more because he doesn’t like surprises. I tell him, “It’s not a surprise, it’s your birthday gift,” but I still don’t think he gets it because the idea of not knowing is driving him wild.
I think he’s hoping it’s a custom Waterfield Cargo Mambo Combo bag from SFbags.com that he’s been eyeing:
It’s not the most attractive bag so I’m not completely smitten with it. Actually…I’ve been trying to get him to think of more chic bags, but this man is more practical than fashionable. Maybe something like this:
I’d choose something more like this, but he’s not really a “color” kind of guy:
Ahhhh…unfortunately…this is not what he’s getting for his birthday…but maybe for a graduation gift?
Woopsy Daisy…I forgot to post my poll last Friday! After seeing 500 Days of Summer recently…I thought the character’s job in the movie was so wonderful…a greeting card writer! BUT he was born an architect and greeting card writing wouldn’t be something he always wanted to do so it got me thinking. Ricardo and I feel truly blessed to both have jobs right now. Although…ahem…one of us may be slightly unhappy, we’re not sure if it’s a smart time to think about jumping ship. This is an honest poll…and if you already LOVE what you DO, then you’re quite possibly one of the lucky ones….so this is for the people who daydream about doing something completely different! I know realistically we couldn’t get by if I did something else, but isn’t that what happens when you buy a house or have children? You just have to make it work, right? And doesn’t it always work out anyway? I guess its just a question of how brave you are to take the risk and if you’re willing to compromise for happiness…and honestly…shouldn’t we all be happy?
This is one of my most favorite holidays! I know some people think it’s a “Hallmark” holiday, but a holiday devoted to nothing but love is so almost ridiculously romantic. Even when I was single I loved Valentine’s day…pink hearts and chocolates galore, it beautiful! I know its still a month away, but it’s going to be here before you know it!!
When I saw this neat gift idea come across my google reader (must click on link); I knew it would be the most PERFECT Valentine’s Day gift for Ricardo. I love ROOT BEER, but he just loves BEER so I tweaked the idea a teensy bit and I’m hoping he really loves it. Life is all about sweet surprises and I want to be surprised every day for the rest of my life and I hope that I’ll be able to keep Ric on his toes every once in awhile too.
But first things first…I needed an old bottle crate. I found a few online for $50 with shipping…umm..no thanks! On a lazy Saturday morning…I dragged myself to the antique market and guess what I found? ONE vintage soda crate that was perfect for Ric’s new collection of beers. I especially liked it’s individual cubbie for each beer bottle and since it was a little worn out…I got it for $10 bucks out the door. What a STEAL! It looks very similar to the one below…just a little bit shabbier:
He’s actually been a quite obsessed with beers since I’ve known him…even better if they’re a little foreign & exotic. To prevent him from going into excitement overload…I made him a color coordinated bottle cap brew chart indicating where each bottle was brewed…I know, I know…what are the creme soda and NuGrape bottles doing there? Just more favorites to include in case he’s feeling non-alcoholic some nights…(click on image to see all the brews). This idea was so darn stinkin cute…I am so especially grateful for the sweet and super creative wifey who came up with this idea!!
After all is said and done…guzzle, guzzle, guzzle…..burp.
Until next month, they’ll be hanging out in a nice cool spot…underneath my cube . Hope this inspires you to come up with something sweet for your Valentine this year!
Hello! My name is Angelique and I'm so excited you've stopped by. I can't draw, but I love to craft. I enjoy trying new recipes, a good book, flying kites on a windy day, vintage finds, home decor, anything pretty, and I look forward to one day having a dog of my own to walk...even better if we're living in a foreign country. I recently married the love of my life and often daydream about us doing it all over again, but this time, we would be guests at our own wedding. A good date night would include a romantic comedy, cuddling up on the couch with my honey, some Mexican hot chocolate, and a wild thunderstorm. I hope you enjoy my adventures in travel, food, crafting, treasure hunting, and anything else I become completely smitten with. Please feel free to drop me a note to say hello!
