Wearing Handmade

The handmade bracelet I made this morning before work to go with this green, sheer skirt. Still working on my self portraits.

How We Planned a Mini-No-Pressure Wedding Night Dinner in Less Than a Week

In order to keep our wedding simple, no pressure and laid back has actually taken very, very little effort thanks to several people who love us very, very much and we could not be more grateful.  However, it is taking a little bit of leg work from yours truly so I thought I'd update on how that is going with some day by day mini wedding action and a budget breakdown.

Keep in mind that we are still planning our big reception to take place next year when all of Italy can attend as well as more friends and family.  This is intentionally going to be a very small affair that was originally supposed to be simply a "One Year in House" party.  It was also supposed to be kind of a secret, so naturally, everyone knows.

Anyhoo- here's how it went down after last week's legal prep- blood tests and applying for our license (total cost $69.00).

Saturday and Sunday:  As previously mentioned we napped, played our friend's house and enjoyed calling immediate family/friends to spread the good news (total cost: free).

Monday:  We called all the people who we already invited to our house party and told them we were getting married that day too.  So.  Be ready for that.  Picked up my borrowed cake stand from my boss and she threw in a silver ice bucket too.  Called my personal fashion assistant and told her to pack up her fancy Grove dresses and bring them with her when she comes Thursday night.  Then later that night I spent 30 minutes making some fabric and paper tassels for some easy and laid back decorations.  (total cost:  free).

Tuesday:  Let me stop right here and explain that I haven't been in Walmart in over a year and I was incredibly disappointed by their lack of eco options for entertaining.  We're expecting to feed 50 people so glass plates weren't really an option- plus glass plates for burgers seemed a little much.  So I spent 35 minutes carefully checking each disposable plate package and picked up some compostable paper plates and 7.5 yards of cotton muslin. The plates will be, well, composted and the muslin is going to be torn into 15" napkins here in a few hours when work slows down.  I have plans in my head to dye the napkins different colors later and maybe use them to make a quilt or something.  But we'll see how I feel about it later (cost: about $35).  I also stopped at Goodwill and lucked out by picking up two pairs of gold shoes (one heels and one flats), two white flat sheets we're going to call table clothes, a dress shirt option for Marco though he may not wear it and other not wedding related stuff because I can't help myself.  (cost for wedding stuffs:  roughly $25). 

So here we are.  Three days away and our total cost to date is: $129.00.  We still have to buy the food and drink but thanks to a local liquor store going out of business we actually already picked up some extra booze at a pretty good discount a couple of weekends ago. In list form:  here's another break down.

Dress:  Free (borrowed from a friend)
Shoes: $10 (two pairs to chose from included)
Makeup:  Free/already owned
Flowers:  Free from my boss's yard hopefully
Marco's Maybe Shirt: $5
Decorations:  Free/crafted from previously owned supplies or found around the house
Table Decorations:  $10 for 2 new bedsheets/free for previously owned fabric/table clothes
Plates/Napkins/Utensils: $35 (utensils borrowed from the library's stash)
Serving Platters: Free/already owned
Cake and Cake Stand: Gift and borrowed
My ring:  $50 resizing fee, but the ring was free- it was my Mommy's
Legal stuffs: $69 (2 blood tests and one licence application)

Total (including ring sizing): $179.00

Still to buy:  Food and drink and maybe a new tube of lipstick.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

Also, if you see something glaringly missing, keep it to yourself.  :)  Thanks.

Mia's Clubhouse

Marco and I have spent the last two weekend intentionally keeping our to do lists to a minimum.  This weekend he planted the last of our veggies in the garden and we cleaned a little house.  That's it.

So that's left plenty of time for naps on the couch and runs and playing in the creek with friends.  Working at the library has brought me so very close to the wonderful community we have here and I have the privilege of getting to meet some of the most incredible people.  One of the most special ones to me and Marco both is a little girl named Mia who today allowed us access to her club house and showed us how to properly slide down her waterfall.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The Decision to Get Married

After buying our house a year ago Marco and I started having serious discussions about the type of life we want to have in this house and any other future houses.  You know, things like, do we want kids or do we want a kitten (yes and yes)?  Should we join a church and how big do we want our garden (no and big)?  All kinds of things.  Until suddenly we realized we hadn't really talked about the big question- when are we getting married.

We both wanted to get married, we had mentioned it a few times and at once point Marco had looked at me and said "Of course I want to marry you!  We bought a house together!" So the question really wasn't if but when.  So like all big decisions (like buying a car or having children) this has become the most recent of our nightly discussions before and after we watch movies or while we lay in bed in the dark.

Until last Monday when the discussion turned to action and we decided that since we are already throwing a "One year in our house anniversary party" next Friday the 25th, why don't we just go down to the courthouse and get married that day too.  It's Memorial Day weekend and all.

So we are and so we shall.  I called my parents, he skyped his mom and I sent out a mass text invite to several close friends who are already coming to our party.  I told my boss (who quickly ordered us a cake and me a bouquet since I said that I hadn't planned on having either) and now we wait.  Our blood tests and application are in so now we just have to show up.

Or spend the day working on the garden, continuing to work on our lives together.

The First Thing

The first thing I did after getting home with the new phones was make everyone pose for a picture.

That's All Folks

Wish I had more pictures to share from our recent vacay to Orange Beach, but for three days all we did was sit on the balcony or sit on the sand and enjoy each others company.

And we went shell hunting too of course.

Glad That's Done and Over

It took a couple of days but Marco finally cleared out the two something-something elm trees that have been driving us crazy.  They've been killing the other trees, shading the garden area, and littering our lives/garden beds with their prolific offspring.  I did get to see Marco climb a tree like a bear, but was too busy praying that he wouldn't fall to take pictures.

House Guest Prep

We're back from our wonderful extended weekend at Orange Beach and let me tell you, I am ready to hit the ground running on a couple of projects that need doing.

On the way back from the beach I got a text from Co Worker B that she needs a place to crash for a while and would we mind if she stayed with us and would it be cool if she stayed until the end of June?  I had already assumed (weeks ago, when she first mentioned her dilemma) that she would not be able to resist the lure of our new guest bathroom so I knew this day was coming but I have not actually started preparing for it yet.  However, I have made a to-do list to go along with my last post which was also a to-do list.  Anyone catching on to the theme here?

So here it goes:  9 days to get'er done!
1.  Unearth bed out from under the pile of clothes that I removed from my closet/dresser in order to recycle
2.  Try to organize some of the ca-razy that is the guest room closet so she can actually hang up some of her clothes
3.a. Try to find the bedside table and cedar trunk under various "in progress" projects
3.b. Also try to complete some of those in progress projects.  Maybe by making a list of them as I dig them out- I do love a nice list.
4.  Add some nice homey touches like a lamp and a rug and dirty clothes basket.  Maybe coasters!  We'll see.