Vintage Wedding Dress -- Bailee

My darling friend Bailee got married a couple months ago, and lucky me -- I got to make her dress! Bai's got the cutest vintage style and wanted her dress to reflect that. I think her '50s-inspired, silk tea-length gown did just that.

Isn't she lovely? Makes me want to quit cleaning teeth and instead sew dresses for a living. :)

 

 (all photos courtesy of clarissastaggphotoblog.com)

Catching Up

I realized the other day that I've never posted about our wedding. I guess I'd assumed that everyone who reads my blog has already seen all the pictures on Facebook, but maybe not.

Scott and I got married on January 28th. We wanted to keep things simple and fun -- no standing in line, no poufy dress, no fancy decorations. Instead, we had a party at our church building the night before, with tons of food, music, balloons, and confetti -- we even had a pinata and a photo booth with crazy dress-up costumes!

 

 

 

 

I'd say it was a smashing success. :)

Our wedding day was freezing but perfect. Our families and a couple of our closest friends were with us for our sealing in the Provo Temple, then we had a lovely little luncheon afterwards.

My friend Scotty came down from Kaysville to take our pictures, and he did a fantastic job. Here are a few of my favorites:

We have a huge print of this one hanging above our piano. :)

 

 

  

   

I've been wanting to post a picture of my ring, too. I knew I wanted a vintage-looking ring, but the ones at the major jewelers around here all seemed too generic. We totally lucked out when we found mine at an antique store in Salt Lake -- it couldn't be more perfect for me!!

Anyway, it's so crazy to me to think that next month is our halfaversary -- it seems like we've always been together! I seriously had no idea that I could ever be this happy, and I feel so lucky.

What do you think?

I feel bad for Scott. On Monday I handed him a sock and he exclaimed, "I'm free!" only to find out that I meant for him to help me with the laundry. And with cleaning up the backyard, the garage, and the balcony. And ripping down and replacing a caving-in bedroom ceiling. And hauling tons of stuff to the dump.

He's probably starting to feel like Voldemort's house elf...if Voldemort were to have a house elf.

Anyway, it's been a crazy week. Luckily for me, the impending collapse of the aforementioned ceiling coincided perfectly with my dentist being out of town for a week, so I've had plenty of time to stay at home and slave away. And to lessen the drudgery of the never-ending pile of household chores and remodeling projects that threatens to suffocate me, I took some time to do what I want to do.

Like finishing my accessory organizer. I've been searching for a neat, attractive way to display all of my jewelry, watches, and eyeglasses (yes, I really own 9 pairs), using one of my old windows. Inspired by ideas I found on Etsy and Pinterest, this is what I came up with:

I wanted to remove all of the glass panes and just use the window frame, but I couldn't get the glass to budge so I left it. I painted the chicken wire with an iron coating and then an oxidizing agent (to make it a little rusty), then used a staple gun to attach it to the frame. A painted wooden dowel and the leftover curtain rod hangers from my kitchen curtain project serve as a removable holder for my bracelets and watches, and 9 little cup hooks screwed into the bottom hold all of my necklaces. Fun, huh?

Curtain Love!

I've been obsessed with Pinterest lately. So many awesome things and rad ideas in one place -- I could waste a whole lotta time just browsing. One of my favorite finds lately is this shelf/curtain rod idea, originally from Martha Stewart:

As soon as I saw it, I just had to have one for my kitchen! So, here is my take (please excuse the screws.....I just got impatient and wanted to show you my handiwork before it was actually done -- haha):

Perfect for holding my great-grandma's cookie jar.

I also made the curtains. We recently painted our kitchen light yellow and put in new counter tops, sink, and lighting. It looks so fresh and happy in here now, but with bare windows we had no privacy from our neighbors or even passers-by on the street. Now we can walk around the house in our underwear without causing a scandal. :)

Because I can't survive without the crazy.

Apparently, simplicity is not my thing. I shouldn't be surprised, though -- why else would I go out of my way to make things I could just buy, take on multiple home reno projects at once, and spend a bazillion hours every day trying to squeeze in every last errand/workout/snuggle? I guess it's time to embrace the madness. And January looks to be just the month for that.


I'm sure glad Scott has a great mind for conciseness and simplicity -- and that he loves me enough to put up with me! I know I sometimes drive him nuts with my compulsive need to complicate things, but he is so patient. I sure hope his patience is eternal, because after January 28th he'll be stuck forever. We are getting married!


(cute picture taken by my sis)

I feel so lucky to have Scott. He is sweet, gentle, and smart. He loves his kids and is a good daddy to them. He works hard and loves to take care of people. And he is super-determined to make this relationship last forever. So, while the prospect of getting remarried is sometimes overhwhelming (especially w/ stepkids!), I am really excited and optimistic. I think we'll make a great team.


And, just to make things even more interesting....I'll be making another huge change in January --namely, quitting my job at the credit union and going to work as a full-time dental hygienist (FINALLY)!! I am SOOOO nervous, but am really excited at the same time! My job at AFCU has been great to fall back on and keep the bills paid, but it's also been a crutch. Changing things up scares me, and since I've had a decent job I haven't pushed myself as hard as I should've to find the one I really want. I think this will be really good for me, despite my anxiety.


So you see, I just can't keep things simple. I think my mind would explode without some degree of madness in my life -- and since I can't have that, I'll just have to embrace it whole-heartedly!

Empty

That is what my apartment is right now. Totally empty. All that's left to do is scrub the bathtub and the kitchen floor and leave my keys with the neighbors, and then I'm out of here for good.

It's so weird and echo-y in here without all of my stuff. I've lived here for four years and had everything decorated and organized just exactly how I wanted; packing everything up and hauling it away has been strange and jarring for me. My emotions are starting to surface, and admittedly I am procrastinating just a bit. Endings can be hard, and change isn't always easy.

But this will be a good change. I'm moving on to a whole new, awesome stage in my life. Well, for now I'm moving into Andrea B's basement.

But then I'm moving on to this guy:



And on to these guys:



And on to a dogged determination to get it right this time around.

My apartment may be empty, but my heart is full. <3

Today I Felt Like Super Mom...

...even though I'm not even a mom. :)

Scott brought his girls over this morning so he could go to a meeting, and Aimree (9) was stressed because she couldn't find her shirt for church! I was working on a lesson for Relief Society, but since church doesn't start until 1 p.m. I knew I had time to come to the rescue.

It's times like these when I'm especially grateful for my excessively large fabric stash.

I used the t-shirt Aimree wore yesterday as a pattern and whipped up this cute tee (cutie?):







She loved it, and it went great with the skirt she and I made a few weeks ago.

The best part? It only took about 30 minutes. I had to ask the girls to do their own hair, but I was able to finish my lesson and get to church on time -- makeup on and everything. :)