Jam-Packed Weekend

This weekend Jack and I celebrated our anniversary; the munchkins went to his sister's and he surprised me with a hotel suite. It was a wonderful night with some yummy food, a little wine, and a very loud hot tub. On Sunday we got the kids and stopped by the Stone Arch Festival before heading to Jack's parent's place for Father's Day.

It was a great weekend filled with food, art, and family. How was your weekend?

I Totally Made That! -- Pillowcase Dress

I have a confession to make... I can't sew.

Okay, so it's not a huge confession, or really even an interesting one, but I swear sometimes I think I'm the only one!

Throughout the years I've gone back and forth between really really wanting to learn how to sew and not caring all that much that I didn't.

I believe I have only sewn two things before; one was in junior high home ec. class when we made a foot pillow (that's a pillow in the shape of a foot, not a pillow for your feet). It was purple plaid, it was pretty awesome. The next time was about nine years ago when I was pregnant with Riley. I had cross stitched a Winne the Pooh blanket and sewed on some padding and a backing. It worked, it's still together, and that's really all I could have hoped for.

Lately though I've been reading all these amazing creative blogs and spending way too much time on Etsy and Pintrest, and those old "I wish I could do that" feelings have been resurfacing.

So, when I came across this post from Smile and Wave about pillowcase dresses I decided to give it a try (I mean really, 3 sides of the dress are already done for you!). So, I dug out my sewing machine from  a dark corner in the basement, (yeah I actually have a sewing machine - I begged my husband for one years ago for Christmas - I think I might have threaded it once -  and then never used it.) and got to work.

The fact that I was actually able to make the dress shows you how easy it is.

I'm actually really happy with how it came out. It's not perfect; there definitely won't be any close-ups of the stitching, but I still think it's pretty darn cute.

And it feels nice to have made something for my little munchkin. I feel a little silly saying it, but I'm kinda proud of myself.

The sewing machine is still sitting on the dining room table. I don't have anywhere else to put it, but I fear if it goes back to the basement it could be years before I pull it out again. So, for now it's a daily reminder that I should make something.

What I'm Digging Right Now --Weddings!

Some of my favorite features on other blogs have always been their regular "Things I Love" (or similarly titled) posts. I have found out about so many cool things from those posts, and I've felt inspired to do my own.

Jack and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary last week, and of course it's wedding season (and I think I might have heard something about a royal wedding recently), so weddings have been on my mind lately. I loved planning our wedding (even if it was a little stressful at times) and would do it again every year if I could. So, my first "What I'm Digging Right Now" post is all about weddings! If we got married today, (and we had no budget) this would be our wedding:

 1. This dress is Amazing! It's Monique Lhuillier  I found it on Once Wed. I'd never heard of this site before but you can buy (or sell) used wedding dresses. Not all are used, some are new but the couple eloped, or the bride picked another dress etc., and some are sample dresses from stores, but the majority are used.

I still haven't decided what I think of this. You can find some crazy good deals, this one was originally $8,700 and on the site one woman was selling it for $2,500 and another was renting it for $950. So obviously its a great way to be able to get a dress you might not otherwise be able to afford, but it still seems a little weird. What do you think?

2. You can design your own ring at Blue Nile, so much fun, and apparently my dream ring only costs about $18,000. I'm sure Jack's going to surprise me with it any day now.

3. Love this cake, especially against the pink.

4. This gorgeous black lace dress would look amazing on bridesmaids.

5. Gerbera daisies are my absolute favorite flowers, so darn pretty.

6. These invitations are perfect; the pink, the damask, the black ribbon, love it! Found these on Etsy.

7. Doesn't this look so pretty and inviting? I love all the colors; the lanterns and lights just look magical. (These are from Luna Bazaar.)

I'm Back... and at the Zoo

Hey everyone, I'm back! I haven't disappeared or abandoned my little blog, I've just been sick for the past couple of weeks. And I don't know about you, but when I'm sick I don't really feel like doing much of anything. But, I think I'm all better now and I'm excited to be back.

Last weekend, even though I still felt horrible, I decided we all needed to get out of the house for awhile (Riley, who's now on summer vacation and has been bored out of his mind being couped up with a sick momma, heartily agreed). So, we headed over to Como Zoo and walked around for awhile. the animals weren't overly exciting, they all looked pretty similar to those lions up there, but it was the first time we've been to the zoo where Ava really seemed to be aware of the animals so it was a lot of fun seeing her reactions.

It was a gorgeous day to be outside. There were a few different weddings going on and the day just kinda had a magical feel to it. Right before we left we came across this beautiful carousel. I'm not sure how we've never noticed it before, but somehow we haven't. We found it right before closing, so we didn't get a chance to ride it, but it's definitely on the to do list for the next time we come.

I felt so much better by the time we headed home, it really is amazing what a little sunshine and fresh air will do for you.