Weekend Wrap Up 3/21-3/24

March 26, 2013 | leftylex

Wedding recap! I’m going to include Thursday and Friday in this week’s weekend because I took those days off so it felt like the weekend to me. Although, neither of these two days were anything close to being leisurely!

Thursday: Rehearsal time! After deciding on wearing my adorable red Hello Betty Bow (which can be purchased here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/hellobettybow, yes I am plugging this shop hard!) Husband and I headed downtown, to Hotel Solamar, for some wedding practice. The hotel was lovely and the view from the rooftop deck, where the wedding took place, was phenomenal It was merely a few blocks from Petco Park (our baseball stadium) which seemed only appropriate as the groom (my brother-in-law) played baseball and is a giant fan.

That’s Micah, Husband’s littlest cousin. He made the cutest “ring bearer” I call him this only loosely because he was actually a sign carrier as he did not truly bear any rings. Micah was only 8 months old when Husband and I were married and every time I see him I am always amazed at how much he has grown! Due to the giant age gap between him and the other cousins, he’s really more like a nephew than a cousin and I have adored him since the day he was born.

The rehearsal went off without any visible snags and we headed over to the rehearsal dinner before calling it a night. Once home, I attempted some stitching before falling asleep on the couch.

I woke up bright and early the next morning but the day quickly became caught in a whirlwind. I finished the Bride and Groom hoops, went for a run, dropped Husband off with the rest of the groomsmen (they had a fun bowling trip planned to release pre-wedding jitters), had my hair done, had my make-up done, came back home to get dressed and quickly booked it to the hotel to precisely meet my 4PM arrival deadline.

Now, I truly could kick myself because I did not charge my camera the night before! Subsequently, I had no camera to take with me to the wedding! Luckily (I suppose) I always carry my iPad with me, so I was able to snap a few shots, but the lighting in the reception area was very dim, making it very difficult to get good shots without my Nikon. The wedding was divine; full of loads of yellow and grey and fun personalized touches.

Most importantly of all, however, we gained a new sister-in-law and my bro-in-law became a very happy man!

Saturday morning began with teaching my aerobics class very quickly followed by a post-wedding family brunch at Bub’s.

We ate, chatted, and said our goodbyes to all of the friends and family who were flying back to their respective States later that day. But we figured that since we had already paid $10 for parking, we might as well get our money’s worth. So we began strolling the streets downtown. Husband was in need of new Pumas, so it appeared that some shopping was in order too.

We ventured to World Market where Husband fell in love with this couch and I found my much desired Hawaiian salt! More on this later on in the week, but let me tell you that I am salivating just thinking about what this salt will be used for!

We continued galavanting downtown and stumbled upon the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum. We thought we’d give it a visit and just so happened to arrive at the exact same time that they were opening a new exhibit. It was a little more than we had originally bargained for because before we knew it, we were ushered into an hour long presentation on Medical Missions in China from 1927-1949. It was interesting, but not what we were expecting. Post presentation we were allowed to wander freely among the exhibits. Some of of the items that the (two part) museum holds are truly amazing.

Sunday was, as usual, fabulously lazy. It was of course Palm Sunday; so a small stitch was in order. And after church and a much needed trip to Target, we spent the remainder of the day unwinding from the wedding ongoings. Our unwinding included some iPad reading (I finished a book called Honor Thy Daughters, which I recommend), eating a yummy dinner, and watching Mulan.

It’s the 15th anniversary of Mulan’s release so Disney let it out of the vault. Of course, my primary interest was to see if Lea Salonga’s lovely face and voice would appear in any of the behind the scenes footage. Lea appeared and she did not disappoint! If you’re new to my blog, then you don’t know about my crazy girl crush/theatrical obsession with Lea Salonga; but a browse through other posts will quickly enlighten you!

That’s it fine folks! I hope your weekend was just as enjoyable (and even more restful!). Onto another week!

Bridal Decisions

March 20, 2013 | leftylex

In keeping with this week’s wedding theme, I thought that I’d propose (yes, pun intended) a hoop dilemma to you. I have a bride that I am currently designing an embroidery hoop for which will take the place of the traditional ring bearer’s pillow. The wedding colors are coral and ivory (which I love!) with a hint of mint. The bride had some samples of work that she fancied, but also gave me artistic liberty to some extent. These, of course, are the colors that I’m working with.

These are some doodles that I came up with and the corresponding instructions on how to interpret my doodles.

C&K Hoop Designs

The little black heart/X-like thing that appears in each design represents the ring ribbon (I do not claim to be a great artist!).

Hoop #1’s design is similar to this one:https://www.etsy.com/listing/123425543/hello-embroidery-hoop-in-yellow this design would feature both the 369 and 368 green colors and will feature either only the 352 coral color or will use a lighter coral shade for the flower buds around the perimeter.

Hoop #2 is plain and simple featuring coral 352 and green 368.

Hoop #3 is similar to #2 with the addition of loads of running stitches. It looks sort of cartoonish using paper and markers, but it is much more subtle using fabric and floss! The second attachment here shows what these running stitches would look like. It’s a fun extra pop of color. The running stitches would feature lighter shades of coral & green (still in the same families) so that the lettering in the center would not be overpowered.

Ivory colored fabric will be used regardless of which ever design is selected.

And then I gave her this teaser shot of some doodle stitching. So, if you were to assist her with selecting her final design, which way would you sway her to? Poor brides, we get stuck with all of the tough decisions!

RWL: Wedding Time!

March 19, 2013March 19, 2013 | leftylex

As I mentioned yesterday, my brother-in-law is getting married on Friday. I suppose that I’ll forgive them for barging in on our anniversary month (wink wink). M&T live in Chicago where it is currently freezing, so they were so smart to have the wedding here in San Diego where it is (almost) always sunny and lovely. And I figured that since this is a once and a lifetime event (hopefully!) I would dedicate this week’s Rainbow Wish List to the wedding and other lovey dovey mushy stuff. Enjoy folks!

Red: This darling little ring bearer’s pillow is original. It’s not white satin and lace with the expected silky ivory ribbon. Nay, this pillow makes a statement! It’s bright, bold, and red; the heart shape just adds to the fun.

Orange: I love table numbers, they truly are one of the unsung heroes of weddings. Just imagine the confusion that would arise at the beginning of a reception without table numbers! I remember how long my own took to make, yikes! My table indicators featured seashell names, not numbers… which is probably why they took so make. But who wouldn’t want to sit at the opihi table? Anyway, I like the fancy flare of the table number above, the imperfect, hanging hearts are right up my alley. Good design!

Yellow: These little peg people are cake toppers… and they are adorable! M&T’s wedding colors are yellow and grey so this actually fits their theme quite well. And what initially drew me to this topper is that it looks as though it was custom made for them. M has dark hair and tan skin (well, he did before he moved to Chicago) and T is a Nebraska-born blonde. This really should be gracing their cake!

Green: I am a giant fan of this boutonniere! Even though Husband wore a white rose boutonniere at our wedding, I now much prefer a groom’s boutonniere to be a bit more masculine. And this little greenie says formal, but not girly. It is perfection; masculine perfection.

Blue: If you search for “something blue” on Etsy one million items pop up! Literally, one million. I went back and forth on different blue finds but finally settled on this lovely hanger because it’s frickin’ awesome! I love the shade of blue that the actual hanger is and I am in awe of anyone who can bend wire like that. I always have a difficult enough time untwisting wire hangers when trying to make smores!

Indigo: Okay, I might have cheated a bit on the “indigo” this week, but I only did that because I really, really like this tank top set. I wish that my bridesmaids and I would have worn something like this on my big day. I like the designer’s use of lace alongside the cotton. Clever, clever.

Violet: The card holder! Um yah, I forgot to buy (or make) one of these for my wedding. This bird cage card holder is a vast improvement over the traditional gift wrapped shoe box! I adore the simplicity of the extras added to the cage; the designer definitely understands that less is more.

Just in case you wanted to know what M&T look like; this is them. I’m positive that you’ll be seeing much, much more of their wedding around here over the next few days. I’m gonna have my first blonde sister!

And I would venture to say that if I had let them select the items in the RWL, these two little gems would have most likely appeared. They are giant Norte Dame and Nebraska fans! And I am now wishing that I would have thought of buying these for them at an earlier date. Oh well!

RWL: Lucky Seven

March 6, 2013 | leftylex

In five short days Husband and I will have been married for SEVEN years! Seven! I can hardly believe it. And for some strange reason I am more excited for this anniversary than I have been for any other. I’m not exactly sure why, it’s not the big 10 year quite yet, but I’ve been anticipating it nonetheless. So with seven on my mind this week, I present you the seven inspired Rainbow Wish List. Enjoy!

By taking a quick look at this RWL you can tell that it’s a bit different than most. Most of the items are strictly number sevens so there isn’t much desiring of any of these items, but I would love, love, love to have the lovely yellow item: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers!

Have you seen this musical? It’s amazing! It’s a very sweet story, the choreography is awesome, and the costumes are bursting with color. I have yet to see this on stage, but one of the high schoolers at my church is going to be in a performance this spring so I’ll have the chance to see it then. I’m sure that she is going to knock it out of the park! Here’s a snippet if you’ve never seen it:

And my final plug for why seven is an awesome number… dialogue from The Seven episode from Seinfeld:

“I defy you to come up with a better name than Seven.”
“Seven Costanza… You’re serious?”
“Yeah. It’s a beautiful name for a boy or a girl. Especially a girl… Or a boy.”
“I don’t think so.”
“What, you don’t like the name?”
“It’s not a name. It’s a number.”
“I know. It’s Mickey Mantle’s number. So not only is it an all-around beautiful name, it is also a living tribute.”
– George and Susan, in “The Seven”

Happy Tuesday everyone!