Wedding Shower Recipe Book

This is something I've cherished and used for almost four years now, but pulled out this week to check a recipe and thought I'd post about.  In August of 2010, a month before my wedding, my bridesmaids threw me a beautiful shower at my mother in law's home.  There were all sorts of lovely details including a recipe book made with recipes from the guests:

From drinks to appetizers to dessert, the ladies at my shower filled out favorite recipes that I've used throughout my marriage.  It's a carefully curated bunch of recipes that my loved ones thought I'd love and they were spot on.

My friend Leah's pirogi recipe especially warms my heart.  The picture below only shows half of the recipe cards for the recipe.  I remember watching her spend about an hour writing it out (detailing the how-to as well as different fillings).  For the record, they're delicious.  

After the shower, my friend Jen gathered them up and stuck into a book along with photos she had taken during the day.  Whenever I need to reference my grandmother-in-law's deviled egg recipe or know how to make the delicious pasta my childhood friend's family always made, it's all in one place.  It's an awesome way to remember the day and it feels so special that friends & family selected and wrote out these recipes just for me.

Four years later, this book still gets frequent use.  Thanks, girls!

A Travel Themed Wedding: Favors & Table Decor

So I wasn't joking about blogging nonstop about my friend Ams' wedding.  It's not shocking that after amazing hotel gift bags, I knew to expect something special for the big day.  The wedding itself was at the Museum of History and Industry (the "MOHAI") on South Lake Union in Seattle.  The venue was AMAZING and I'm hoping that her photographer will let me use some of their professional photos because my point and shoot camera pictures do NOT do it justice. I didn't trust myself to bring my nice camera, given that there was cross country travel & nonstop cocktails involved.

So anyway, my friend Ams (aka Sarah) and her husband Bret are both incredible travelers.  It's kind of their thing and, of course, this spilled into the wedding.  Here's what the centerpieces looked like:

I was at Table 8, New York City.  The other tables were all of the other locations they'd visited together and underneath each table number was a stack of travel books.  At each table setting was a note from the happy couple, explaining that the guests were to take home a guide book from the centerpieces to help inspire our "next big adventure".  How cute is that?

 Each place setting also had a luggage tag with the Seattle skyline sketch seen all throughout their wedding ("We have a lot of branding," the bride said to one of our friends).  I think luggage tags are an especially cute AND functional wedding favor:

Tables also had a picture of the bride and groom at various locations they've visited together (the one I happened to photograph was of them in Washington State but there were framed photos from them around the world):

During the cake cutting, Bret announced they were going to Bali and Hong Kong on a two week honeymoon (a surprise to Ams up until that point, which I think is super cute).  At the end of the evening, the bride and groom headed off on a boat into South Lake Union through a line of sparkler-ed guests:

An amazing end to an awesome evening.  I'm obsessed with the travel theme of this wedding and hope to be sharing some photos soon that actually do justice to this incredible night.  Thanks again to Bret & Ams for giving me weeks worth of blog fodder!  Hope married life is treating you well.

The Bomb Hotel Gift Bag: Seattle Edition

So I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was in Seattle for my friend Ams' wedding.  I would have been happy just to be back in the beautiful Emerald City, but I was especially thrilled to be there celebrating the big day with one of my dearest college friends.  The wedding was so awesome that I could probably just start a blog ONLY about the evening of April 26, but I'll try to keep it to a few awesome elements.

This is my second time posting about a wedding hotel gift bag (here's the first time).  I was so impressed with all of the thought and effort Ams and her now-husband Bret put into every detail of the wedding and this is no exception.  After a long flight from Boston to Seattle, it was so nice to come into my room welcomed by this:

Or, more importantly, by this:

PERSONALIZED note!  How nice is that?  There's nothing like feeling welcomed after a long day of travel.  (Also, as seen here, my college friends call me "C-Star" thanks to my old AOL Instant Messenger name.  I pretend to hate it but I love it.)

Here are two people who love Seattle like crazy and were so excited to share the city with many out of town guests.  The gift bag started with a schedule for the weekend as well as some basic wedding details...

...and the bag included some awesome local suggestions.  Seriously have you ever seen a more comprehensive wedding welcome letter?  From directions on taking the Clipper to British Columbia to Seattle's best hot dog, the bride & groom had their guests covered:

Since I hadn't eaten anything since Logan Airport, I was also delighted to see all of the tasty snacks included in the bag.  The wedding basics (Advil & water, much appreciated on both Saturday and Sunday mornings), Seattle Chocolates, Boston Baked Beans for Ams' hometown, tea, cookies, granola bars, chips, and a Sleepless in Seattle "Do Not Disturb" sign.  Plus lots of Skittles ("beast mode").

Nicely done, newlyweds!  Hope you had the most amazing honeymoon.  Let's do the wedding again this weekend?

Springtime Party Favors (& a First Birthday)

This past weekend we celebrated Will's first birthday!  Time flies!  I didn't go nuts with decor, but made up a few "W1LL" banners to match the general theme of the Paperless Post invite we sent out:

The party was Saturday so we spent most of Friday evening cleaning & grocery shopping.  It seemed like we were all set - plenty of food, a clean outfit for the baby, dog-fur-free living room, birthday banner hung.  Once Will had gone to bed and Jesse was watching March Madness, I began to worry that we needed party favors for our guests.  I started out thinking we needed favors just for the kids but then thought to myself that I should have something for the adults, too.  When it's 8:45 at night and you live in the woods, you have somewhat limited options but I headed out to the closet Home Depot, which was open until 10 and bought, on a whim, some flower bulbs.  At the Target next door, I got some paper Easter grass and rushed home to assemble them with some plastic bags and ribbon I already had.

Here's what I came up with - I was pretty pleased...

...except they're basically the least kid-friendly favor ever.  We had 4 kids there besides Will and I think they were hoping that these were chocolates.  Sorry, kids, just gladiolus bulbs.  Also in hindsight I wish I had gone with bulbs that can be planted inside since some of our guests were apartment dwellers.  I had just grabbed gladiolus bulbs because a) it was late and b) I think they're really pretty.  Lesson learned!

Happy Birthday, Baby Will, and Happy Spring, readers!

Non-Balloon Gender Reveal Ideas

A bunch of my very close friends are expecting babies between now and May and it seems like I'm seeing a Facebook pregnancy announcement every few days.  Though Jesse & I opted not to find out the sex of our baby before the birth, most people I know choose to find out in advance.  Just the other night, I got a photo from a pregnant friend, grinning ear-to-ear and wearing a pink pashmina (I assume the blue one, not needed, was just out of frame).

In this Pinterest age, "Gender Reveals" are becoming more and more of an event and there's one thing that really gets under my skin.  I HATE seeing gender reveals where people open a box and pink or blue balloons fly away.  I get so fired up when I see these on Facebook or other blogs (poor Jesse has heard this rant a million times).  Releasing balloons into the sky, no matter how nicely it photographs, is littering and terrible for the earth.  The sea turtles, you guys!!

So here are some sweet and turtle-friendly ideas for your gender reveal that don't involve balloons:

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How did you share the news?  A full on party?  Sharing via email or Facebook?  Phone calls to your closest family and friends?  Or did you wait, like us, and have your man head out to the waiting room with a simple "It's a boy!"?  Let us know!

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Jesse!

Today Jesse and I celebrate three years of marriage!  Since that day, we've traveled across four continents together.  We moved out of our cozy Brooklyn apartment and tackled country life together.  We've adopted two more pets.  We've welcomed our sweet son.  Those are the big things.  We've also eaten pizza, gone for walks down our street, and talked in funny voices more times than I can count.  We crack each other up every day.  We have exciting plans for the future.  Life is good.

Three years ago, all of our planning had finally paid off (with some surprise good weather) and we were in the midst of the best party of our lives

I love this shot our photographer took of my dress from the bottom.  I think it looks like a seashell or a flower.

Thanks to our parents for throwing us such an amazing wedding.  Thanks to our family and friends for trekking out to a little vineyard in the middle of nowhere for an evening of celebrating.

 Three years ago there was a lot of love and it's only grown.  Happy Anniversary, Jesse!

That's My Jam! (and a Beautiful Barn Wedding)

Our good friends Jon & Katie got married this weekend at a beautiful venue in upstate New York.  The Historic Barns of Nipmoose paired with the sweet & thought details Katie & Jon planned made for a wedding that truly looked right out of the pages of a magazine or Style Me Pretty.  It was pretty much "rustic elegance" perfected and I regret not taking better photos.  I tried, but I was somewhat flustered by a combination of leaving baby Will overnight for the first time and two & a half glasses of white wine.  I'm hoping Katie will let me share some of her photographer's pictures once they get them.  For now, here's what I took:

The wedding itself took place on the grass (Jesse performed the ceremony!), then we headed into that middle barn for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.  If you look closely, you can see the strings of round Christmas lights draped across the barn rafters.
  

The back of the barns looked out onto beautiful wildflowers (which, of course, matched the beautiful wedding bouquets, boutonnières, and table centerpieces).  It was so perfect.

And, per the title of this post, there was jam.

It turns out that jam wedding favors are, in fact, my jam.  The ultimate in useful favors for a toast lover like me!

The bride's mom (Maggie) MADE ALL OF THESE JAM FAVORS for the guests and they were used as place cards (you can see my name peeking out over the top in this picture).  I LOVE this idea.
 
In the picture below, you get a sense for the long tables, beautiful barn, jam favors, and the views through the doors.  It was stunning.

We dined under more string lights in the big barn before heading back into the other barn for dancing & cake (& an awesome dessert table).

Hopefully more photos to come!  Congrats, Jon & Katie, on your beautiful day!

Baby Shower Love & Advice Letters

Here's a great baby shower "game" or idea for a new mom.  When my mother sent out invites to my baby shower back in February, she asked guests to bring a note for me that would be sent after the baby was born.  Many of my sweet guests brought letters to the shower and there was also extra stationery there for some last-minute notes.  My mom stamped and addressed the letters and, in the months following baby Will's birth, popped them in the mail periodically so I was receiving consistent letters of love, advice, and encouragement.

There was a period after Will was born where "leaving the house" meant "walking to the mailbox" and excitedly opening the wonderful letters that came every week or so.  Because new motherhood feels isolating to begin with (long nights, odd hours, crazy hormones) and my house in the sticks made me feel even more isolated, it was so great to open up handwritten words of encouragement that came via snail mail.

Words of advice and anecdotes from experienced moms, memories and jokes from old friends, and even a poem filled up my mailbox until a few weeks ago when I received one last handwritten note from my mom letting me know that we had reached the end.  I've saved all of the sweet notes and can't get over how much of a difference it made to read these kind words during one of the most hectic, tiring, and wonderful times of my life.

Thanks, Mom, for coordinating this and thanks, ladies, for all of your letters!

Wedding Dessert Bar

Friends.  Weddings.  Dessert.  Maine.  Just a few of my favorite things and they all happen to come together in this sweet post.  My friend Lottie got married on Chebeague Island in Maine last August and seeing a Facebook post about their anniversary reminded that I had been meaning to do a writeup on the beautiful dessert bar at their wedding reception.

First up, obviously, is the wedding cake itself.  A lemon cake with a strawberry and lemon curd filling & buttercream frosting.  I'm obsessed with the spiral of flowers coming from the top.  The hydrangeas are perfect and so summery.

Once you had your fill of cake, Lottie & Marc had to-go bags and boxes for the rest of the treats.  They said "Love is Sweet".  See what they did there?  I'm obsessed.

Since it was a Maine wedding, it wouldn't be complete without blueberry pie.  How cute are these mini blueberry pie pops?

Speaking of Maine, the dessert table also featured maple cookies with maple frosting.  Chewy & delicious, these were a favorite of the bride.

Next up are these cute little strawberry rhubarb pies...

...and for the chocolate lovers, a platter of fudge brownies.  Yum.

Isn't a dessert bar such a fun way to go?  Lottie did it right with beautiful presentation, gorgeous flowers, and, of course, tasty treats.  Love is sweet, indeed!

For those wondering, the cake & desserts were baked by Nothing Bakes like a Parrott and the flowers were done by Heather Caron Floral.  All of these beautiful photos were taken by Melissa Mullen Photography, care of Charlotte.

Congrats & happy anniversary Lotters & Marc!  Stay hungry!

Pelton & Dorit: Gorgeous Philly Wedding

In August, we went to the most stunning wedding in Philadelphia.  Our friends Dorit and Pelton (my spellcheck is going nuts over here) finally got hitched after meeting at the University of Michigan when we were in college.  I mentioned their awesome hotel room gift bags and then promised to follow up with more pictures of the actual wedding, but the photos I took on my camera didn't do the event justice, so I waited until the wedding photographers had shared their pictures.  Now, I'm sharing some of my favorites with you!  Many thanks to Love Shack Photo for capturing these awesome shots and letting me use them here.

I've been friends with Pelton since we were about thirteen and could tell pretty early on after meeting Dorit after they started dating that they were meant to be.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one who kept asking him when he was going to finally propose.  Their wonderful wedding was well worth the wait, however.  Look at these two lovebirds...

We arrived at the Please Touch Museum which would have seemed like an unlikely spot for a wedding if Dorit hadn't already shown me pictures of the gorgeous interior and the CAROUSEL they were getting married in front of.  I practically skipped inside, excited to show Jesse.

The wedding ceremony was sweet and funny and personalized (everything a wedding should be, if you ask me), officiated by their favorite professor from the University of Michigan and lit from behind by the carousel.  I don't think I have ever seen a wedding ceremony like it before.

After the ceremony we headed into cocktail hour while the happy couple headed deeper into the museum to take pictures.  This venue had to have the most varied, interesting places for a ton of stunning wedding portraits:

As Dorit and Pelton smiled for the cameras, everybody else got their drink on.  At about 10 weeks pregnant, I headed to the cheese table while my friends headed to the bar.  And this was not a cheese table that disappointed...

Dorit and Pelton had also set up a "Mad Libs" table which included pre-printed cards with plenty of room for adding nouns, adjectives, and verbs.  I thought it was a really sweet touch and kept people entertained while they sipped their cocktails and ate many of the passed appetizers, rolls from the sushi bar (!!), and of course, forty varieties of cheese.

After cocktails, we headed into the museum's main hall for dinner and dancing.  Though there were 200+ guests there, it managed to feel very cozy and intimate.  I was obsessed with the stars on the ceiling.

The tables were gorgeous and had flower arrangements that were coordinated from table to table but varied and not too matchy-matchy.

The band played late into the night and hit on classic wedding favorites for everyone to enjoy, but did their own renditions of "Party in the USA" and "Call Me Maybe".  I went about as nuts as a sober wedding guest could go at midnight.  Also imagine me leaping out of my chair with glee at the start of the Horah and grabbing the hands of strangers to dance in a circle.

All in all, it was an amazing wedding.  Thanks again to Love Shack Photos for the images (way, way better than mine) and so many gorgeous shots to choose from.  Congrats, Pelton and Dorit - your wedding was just amazing and I know you have already started on your wonderful life together.  Go Blue!

Wedding Bathroom Baskets

How many times have you been to a wedding and you say, oh snap, I just spilled my red wine on my summer dress at like 4pm and now it looks like a) I'm an alcoholic because I've been drinking since 4pm and b) now everyone knows I'm a mess.  Oh that's just me?

Gosh.  You're so judgmental.



Anyway, that exact scenario might not happen to you, but maybe you've needed some gum, a spritz of hair spray, or maybe it looks like you've been dancing in a Tsunami and your once voluminous hair is now shellacked to your forehead and the only thing that could help you is 4 hair elastics and an army of bobby pins.

Either way, having a toiletry basket for the ladies and men's rooms are a nice touch for your guests and pretty effortless to put together.  The above picture is courtesy of It Weddings Florida.  I'm a sucker for wicker.

Here are some suggested items for the restrooms.  All of the items below can be found in a convenient travel size at Target.  To incorporate the wedding colors, I've used gift tissue paper to line the bottom of the baskets.  It also helps give the items a little height.

1. Pain Reliever
2. Antacid (I'm a fan of Zantac)
3. Benadryl
4. Gas-X 
5. First Aid Kid 
6. Spray Neosporin
7. Contact solution
8. Visine
9. Deodorant (spray would be ideal, but if you can't find it, get the regular.  If someone is desperate they won't care.)
10. Hand and/or Body Lotion
11. Colgate Wisps 
12. Floss
13. Mouthwash
14. Toothpicks
15. Hair spray
16. Body Spray (Axe spray for guys, Dove Body Mist for girls)
17. Blot Strips (guys and girls both love these)
18. Lingerie Tape
19. Tampons
20. Sewing kit
21. Nail File
22. Brush
23. Hair elastics
24. Bobby pins
25. Safety pins
26. Tide To Go pen
27. Mints
28. Gum 
29. Lint brush
30. Kleenex 

I like the idea of including a little sign or poem. Here's a good one that It Florida Weddings posted:

So happy you’re here to share in our special day, but should something happen to go astray, please help yourself to the contents within, Kleenex, hand lotion, and even aspirin. Use only what you need and leave the rest, it may also be useful to another guest. So repair the damage that may have been done, then hurry on back and join in the fun! Whether your skin feels dry or your hair out of place, you’re not feeling so fresh, or whatever the case. We've put together a basket to help you along. Now hurry back out before you miss the next song!

I made these for a wedding last weekend and I overheard several people mentioning how many of the items they used.  Score.  Ok Caitlin, I know this isn't really a "homey" post but this is about as crafty as I get.  So here it goes - stay homey!