Creole Wisdom

arizona part three: the wedding

The reason for this whole trip was to watch the union of Conor and Karen. It was such a treat. I happened to be visiting Karen in Northern Ireland the weekend she met Conor, so it has been fun to watch them come full circle. What a great couple they are!

The nuptials and reception were held at a gorgeous country club in Anthem. This was the view from the reception area, just stunning:

The festivities started Thursday evening with a gathering of friends for games + laughs in the hot tub. Then Friday was the groom's dinner. Becky's boyfriend Alex took these great photos, we always have to have these poses :)

I love this guest book sign-in area. I took Conor and Karen's engagement photos a few summers ago. I love that they've got several printed out and framed, makes my heart happy.

Conor and Karen gave out these pretty and appropriate for an Arizona wedding favors: cacti candles in mini terra cotta pots! I love mine. I don't plan on burning it :)

What I absolutely adore about smaller weddings is that you can really spend a bit of time with the bride and groom. I even go to sit by Karen at the groom's dinner!

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was having Jacob on my arm. His Army Captain uniform is pretty amazing. So impressive! Guests wanted to have their photo taken with him. This is Jacob's smile, I call it a non-smile. I guess West Point makes you really serious.

{here's a better smile}

It was so fun to get to know a few new people, too, like Kelly who is a friend of Karen and her sister. We drove up from the airport together and had so much fun chatting we missed our exit :) And, I love when I get to see Alicia who doesn't live in MN anymore-- what a treat!

It was just lovely. A huge congratulations to Mr and Mrs McGrath. I loved every minute of celebrating their big day with them.

arizona part two: Beth

Beth and I have been reading each others blogs for a few years. She told me that if I was ever in AZ a visit with her was in order. Beth is my Arizona sister. 

She's amazing: wife, mom, artist and so very compassionate. We planned to grab some lunch at Cafe Rio on Friday and took a stroll around the Mesa LDS Temple. 

It's hard for me to describe our time-- it was like we were close friends already. She is such a peaceful, kind person. I was even able to meet her sweet mom, husband and darling children. Beth is someone I greatly admire. I sure wish we lived closer!

{Some of Beth's amazing artwork, check out more here.}

Beth has the cutest home I've ever seen. With five kids she has a really awesome (and pretty!) laundry system that she showed me. I can hardly do my own laundry without complaining, my hat goes off to Beth. She finds craigs list couches and transforms them to fit with her vintage style. Her kids play with darling, vintage toys from the 1950s and 60s.

As we were chatting after lunch, Reachel of Cardigan Empire walked in! I think she was surprised that a perfect stranger knew her name :) She is sweet as can be and gives great fashion advice if you ever need it. Mesa is a blogging meridian.

Sunday, Beth and Jared invited Jacob and I to brunch at their home. Did I mentioned that Jared is a chef? Their oldest daughter makes homemade biscuits, too. I was in heaven. There is something about breaking bread with friends, it is wonderful.

{Cute cactus planter that Beth made from salvaged wood//Jacob had to show off his Captain's hat. It was quite the hit with little Hudson.}

I really wish Mesa was closer. It is a darling, fun town and I bet full of fun places, hidden gems. It is so unusual for me to see houses without garages and I asked Beth if they have basements in AZ, they don't!

As Jacob and I got into the car to leave Ella and Violet ran out to give us some hugs-- what cuties!

I sure miss Beth, just wait until I show you the artwork she gave me-- so pretty!

arizona part one: the landscape

I just got back from Arizona for Karen and Conor's wedding. I had the time of my life. Arizona is just stunning and is calling me back. There is something magical about the desert. I love Minnesota, but I came home Sunday evening feeling homesick for Arizona. How is that even possible?

The first thing I noticed about Arizona was the gorgeous landscape:

See what I mean? There's just a rough beauty that the desert exudes. Also, the light, the light in Arizona is practically perfect. I've been reading many blogs written by Arizonans for years and wondered how they always have such pretty photos, it's in part due to the light.

Arizona: beauty + light.

my quilt

My neighbor Katie and I are kindred spirits. Not only are we Katherines, but we also share the same last initial. Surely a divine appointment that she moved into the same building. In early February she asked if I wanted to take a beginning quilting class with her at Crafty Planet.

{Shots from my first class.}

Of course I answered "yes!" I don't really scrapbook anymore, and quilting is something I've always been curious about.

Prior to the class I knew next to nothing about quilting. I had no idea what squaring off, batting and quilt pins were. I could barely use a rotary cutter.

I spent an hour the first day choosing fabric: Amy Butler and Heather Bailey mostly. I wanted to make my first quilt for me, a sham for the end of my bed. I love prints, pink and florals so I chose several that I couldn't live without.

We met four times and did everything from the cutting and measuring to sewing strips together. I ended up with this rail fence "baby" quilt [it's a generous enough size for a throw, though!]

I did everything my machine. I kind of wish I had hand sewn by binding, but there's always next time.

{I shot this photo on my last day of class. Crafty Planet has the prettiest fabrics.}

I love it so much! I think it works really well in my room and I'm so pleased with the way it turned out. I'm not a huge sewer and can barely do fifth grade math so it's a bit of a sewing miracle that I made this. You better believe I am proud of myself!

not your average baking class

Katie was super generous and purchased a baking class for us as a belated birthday gift. How sweet! This wasn't your average cupcake class, though. I'll let the title speak for itself:

Cocktail Cupcakes

How fun is that!? We learned how to infuse flavors and qualities of a few popular drinks into baked goods. The entire class divided into groups, ours perfectly named "Team Butter."

{all our ingredients came out on giant baking trays in labeled containers, my ocd heart sang//top of the line baking hardware and some wine glasses, too//team butter in full force; we all became fast friends.}

The class consisted of a few demonstrations and then we got working, creating in total five cupcakes and their corresponding frostings. I'd have to say my favorite one was the little lemon drop minis :) Oh, and the Irish car bomb cakes weren't awful, either!

{Yum!}

I had such a wonderful time, thank you to Katie-- it was fun to do something birthday related not in December. And wouldn't you know, it snowed, which is perfectly appropriate for celebrating my birthday!

Alice was here

You may have noticed a new button in my sidebar.

It's a button I wish I wouldn't have to put up, for a reason that is very tragic. A few days ago my friends Sam and her husband Jason lost their daughter. Baby Alice was born still, just a few weeks shy of her due date. 

Hopefully you can only imagine that kind of pain. There are few circumstances were there are no words and this is one of them. What can you say or do for someone in a situation like this? How can a community support a family that is grieving such a terrible loss?

Some friends and I have gathered and created a website in honor of Baby Alice. We're hoping to raise funds to help Jason and Sam pay for medical bills, funeral costs and the unexpected expenses that come with losing a baby.

I've got to say I'm pretty moved by the wonderful items, all donated in-kind, that are available for sale. Such cute stuff like this print by Yellow Heart Art, a springy infiniti scarf from Moriah Makes and this pretty headband from Gussy Sews. Everything from sea salt caramels to cooking classes are there-- something for everyone!

Join me in supporting and loving the Piettes through their grief. You can click on the button above or in my sidebar to visit the website. 

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." -Psalm 139: 13

Funds that exceed Jason and Sam's needs will be donated to the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep organization, a wonderful company that is dear to my heart.

my fridge

I will preface this my saying two things: 1-my fridge has never been so clean. I left some kale in my produce drawer and forgot about it, you can imagine the result-- so a good scrub down was much needed. 2- start to finish this entire project took me almost two years.

That all being said I was long ago inspired by this pin. I wanted to create a really organized and pretty fridge and freezer, call me crazy.

 

 

It's certainly not perfect, but I like how it all came together :) I have a standard, un-sexy fridge. It is the boring white fridge that comes with every apartment.

Here are my sources:

Freezer bins: Target clearance section. I think these two are part of their home organization system, they aren't magazine holders. They are excellent for storing frozen stuff.

Fridge bins: The Container Store.

Clips: Russell + Hazel

Labels: I just created them in word, printed them out, cut them with pinking shears and covered them in packing tape (trick I learned from my preschool teaching days).

What I love most about my fridge bins are that when they get dirty I can just throw them in the dishwasher, so easy! All in all, easy to do, don't know what took me so long :)

Bread & Wine Party

When one of my favorite authors, Shauna Niequist, asked bloggers to read, review and celebrate her new book, Bread and Wine, I was excited! Shauna writes the way I wish I could; her books have been lent out to friends with many dog-eared pages.

My goal for this gathering was springy, uplifting and light. Despite the snowy weather I think I conveyed spring! For favors I gifted letter pressed prints of my motto adding a favorite book quote on vellum to each place setting. For table decor I kept it simple:

kraft paper with hand drawn quotation marks for a table cloth :)

tea lights wrapped in washi tape

favorite quotes from Bread & Wine on each plate

a chalkboard centerpiece

wine cork place settings

My favorite piece was this simple instagram garland, so easy to put together!

{loved the cork place settings//dinner by candle light is my favorite way to eat//Shauna's sea salt toffee was so easy to make and delicious!//we moved to the couch after a while//more bunting}

In sum, here's what I love about Bread & Wine: It shares beauty and snippets from an authentic life with delicious recipes thrown in. There's a paragraph where Shauna talks about how eating makes us human, we have to come to the table-- in our day and age where we can escape much of what it means to be men and women the table still brings us back...

The best part of the evening was gathering with a group of wonderful, beautiful, authentic women. People who can talk, laugh and cry together. We took some time and shared a few beauty-from-ashes stories in our lives. I'm so honored to call these women friends.

~

instafriday: is it january or april edition?

We've had snow this week. Yes, it's been one of those Minnesota winters hence the title of my post. I don't love when people complain about the weather, so I'll just leave it at that.

Recently I've loved using pic tap go to take and edit my iphone photos before I upload them to instagram. Today I'm linking up with Life Rearranged. My instagram feed is here.

My new print from The Black Apple//This pretty home I noticed while walking to join Maggie for breakfast at French Meadow Monday morning.

I've managed to use up all my quilt scraps, but  not finish the quilt. Hmmm// Seemed like every "I'll get to that project" got tackled last Saturday. My aprons don't drag on the floor anymore.

Cousin Patrick was my buddy all Tuesday afternoon. He joined me on a trip to my post-op appointment where he was confused for my son (so sweet), Home Depot then Panera for dinner. Ouf I love him!

Sunday was perfect. Robyn and I went to Substance, loved learning more about the Holy Spirit, then on to Glam Doll Donuts for a treat. Oh I love Glam Doll, so good!//Then I spent a few moments reading some favorite pubs. I sure wish Domino would come back!

lately in 365 | 2013

Good morning!

Usually I am partial to January light, but March and April's hasn't been too bad either. I am really eyeing some new lenses. I think the 50mm 1.4 is going to be my next purchase, that should be exciting :)

1. Photoshop time at dad's with some green tea and sunshine

2. Pretty flowers at Hello Pizza. Check it out if you're local.

3. More green tea. Yum!

4. My friend Johnny Michaels and his cool "cookbook." Some of the best, most genuine people I know make their living with alcohol. Go figure ;) Minnesota is know as the "northstar" state.

5. Retail therapy. I am working hard at finding better summer pieces here or there.

Authenticity: I want to give up on this project. I am feeling so uninspired, bored and like my images are all the same. It's cold, I'm not taking tons of outdoor photos. I can only photograph my cup of tea so many times before it bores me to death. As my dad would say, "that's tired." I sometimes think that people who have children are way better at project 365 because they have someone cute to photograph everyday if they choose. I don't like uploading to flickr or keeping track of it all amidst my regular shooting. I forget and then feel like I am failing because I don't take a photo everyday. I could do prompts, but they stump me. There are just so many projects, and while this is year four for me, why do I feel so convicted to stick with it and then also feel like I do way too much anyway? I am really on the fence about keeping this up//rant over.