Monday, March 29, 2010

Blogging about not Blogging

Wow! This last week has been crazy busy for me! Lots of changes and reasons for celebration! The "surprise" I had been talking about was that I received an offer for a new job! I will be working for the University of Chicago at the Booth Business School in the Alumni Affairs department on the events team! Say that five times fast.  It has been quite a process to get the job, but I am so happy to share that I will be starting on April the 12th!
Jonathan bought me a cupcake and coffee for the good news!

On the home front, even though this job will mean extra income for us, we have decided to stay in our little cozy apartment for at least another year. To keep our sanity, we decided to update the kitchen a little to save space. We have already gotten some fantastic gifts to use for cooking, but no room! 
We took a little trip to Ikea on Saturday morning and by that evening we we all set up with this:
What is really great about this set up is that we didn't have to drill into the walls, it is a free standing shelving unit! We had a round table in there previously, which we never sat at because it usually had too much stuff on it. There is also a shelf underneath the desk, so it has even more room for storage on the ground level.
I am thinking of buying a brass chandelier on craigslist to put in the kitchen, as well. I figure if we are staying here, we might as well make it our own. 
Another great thing about taking on renovating the apartment is that it will act as a buffer for when the wedding is over and my DIYing energy will need to be directed somewhere else!

Speaking of, on the wedding front, I am happy to announce that we have booked all transportation and hotels for the honeymoon! We decided to stay in the same guest house that we stayed at when Jonathan and I first visited. Also, we booked the flight from Barcelona to Mallorca.
I'm not sure if I ever talked about this, but one of our registries is actually helping us fund our trip! The website is called Traveler's Joy and it works as a registry page for event or products to ask for, like any other registry. We have already had a few of our friends and family gift us with some really fun stuff that we are looking forward to!
Check out our website to see what I am talking about! I would suggest it to any couples getting hitched, as it gives friends and family a unique alternative to the average rice cooker!

One of the really interesting things that Jonathan and I are about to do is separate for a month before the wedding. Some people might say, "Who are they kidding?" Yeah, we know, we live together already, but it will be a great time to really separate life now from married life. A month just seems like a long time! We will still see each other during the day, but he will be out of the house at night. The funny thing is that the last night we will be with each other before the wedding is actually my birthday! Oh, did I mention it is my birthday on Wednesday!
I will be the tender age of 24! I still feel like I am 16, but I guess that is what the calendar says! I have already told Jonathan that all I want is chocolate cake, sparkling wine, and cable for the house. I think he is going to make it happen!

Well, I think that about wraps it up for now! The next time I blog it will be less than a month before the wedding! Get ready for crazy Heather mode!


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Centerpiece Inspirations

It has been a busy week, yet again, but will hopefully have a surprise to share by the beginning of this next week! It has been a lazy day in Chicago, considering Mother Nature is giving us one more "F You" with snow flurries today. Never mind that it was 60 degrees yesterday!
Even though I have been loafing around the house, I managed to remember that the resale shop that only opens up every other week was having a sale today. I had thirty minutes left by the time I got there and had no idea what I was looking for, I just knew that I was looking for more to fill centerpieces. That is when I can across these little beauties:


They were all from a private collection someone had just dropped off this week. They are all little wick lamps that I thought went perfectly with the romantic antique setting that our venue provides. I love the last little ones that look like fireplaces! I think they will perfectly compliment the terrariums sitting next to them. The woman selling them to me had said the owner brought them over from England.


I also found this interesting piece that caught my eye with the funky shape and color.
I was told that it is a white wine holder that you put the ice in the side vessel so that you can keep it chilled without watering it down. For this and 11 of the candles I paid $36!

My idea  for all of these is to get a single rose or a small bunch to have coming out of them. I could probably try to light them (some need new wicks), but I really like the idea of using them more for decoration. 

Another great thing that happened was that I finally got my shoes in the mail and since I gave in and showed them to Jonathan, I thought I would post them here, too:



They are very comfortable and my something blue! I got to test them out because I went to have my dress bustled and it took the woman nearly an hour and a half to shorten and pin it! Much patience needed for that. 
However, I am very happy with the finished product and I should be going back in for a second fitting sometime next week.

I will try to get back to blogging more in the next week. My mind in always working with the wedding in one way or another and it helps to get it all out! 




Monday, March 8, 2010

Unexpected Find!

Wow, things have gotten busy in the last few weeks! I have a top secret side project I have been working on, which I will hopefully be able to reveal in the next few weeks, that has taken up a lot of my thoughts and time.
We also took a climbing trip to Red River Gorge in Kentucky, which was such a beautiful and relaxing time.
This is Jonathan climbing, he is a little ridiculous!
Yes, he is upside down.


The rock was super featured, but pretty coarse.


And, this is me in my usual form, after a long day of climbing.
The major point of this trip being relevant to my blog is what I came across on our hike to the walls:




Moss! Glorious Moss!


It was everywhere, so I decided to pack some of it up and bring it home to grow for the terrarium centerpieces.
I called a woman at a nursery today to get a better idea of how to best keep the moss for the next 2 months. For one, she was thrilled about the centerpiece idea and had some great suggestions on how to maintain it. Also, she worked at a landscaping company, so she quoted me how much it would be for a role of sod to put down on each table for the base of the centerpieces. She told me for all of it, the cost would be no more than $20, total!
I went to home depot to grab the supplies to grow the moss and my total bill for the container, soil and water bottle came to a whopping $10.22.



I had previously investigated the cost of moss, but was disappointed to find that even a little bag to fill one terrarium was close to $10, and that moss would have been dormant, meaning I would have had to nurture it up to the status of regular growing moss.
I really lucked out with bringing the moss back, as long as I can keep it alive!
After researching the care of it, this will be a dedicated process everyday, so I am interested to see how I do. I'm afraid at the end of this process that if I succeed that I will grow too attached to the moss to see it go!

As a reminder, my centerpiece idea is putting a piece of sod down, then placing a terrarium of various sizes on each table with a few tea lights to go along with it. 
I am now on to the next step of figuring out what else to put in the terrariums. Moss is a big part, but I want to give them character. Any ideas?