Wednesday, July 4, 2007

oliviamoon: happy fourth!

Black Cat Fireworks July 4th Pendant
black cat fireworks july fourth pendant

rowr! remember, as a kid, lighting these off and running for your life, squeeeeling?

no?

your parents didn't buy and encourage you to light strings of explosives? huh... must've been a texas thing.

a perfect little item for your favorite firecracker, or for the bride with a short fuse. ok, maybe not the latter, on second thought. this and literally hundreds more vintage-y/retro pendants at oliviamoon.etsy.com

tears of joy

sandalwood fans
So you're at your friend's wedding. You're in your folding chair. You've got your program (it's rolled into a telescope). Your eye makeup looks pretty. Your under-eye circles have been masterfully camouflaged. You're enjoying the show... then the vows. You get choked up before they even start. The tearing reaches situation critical very quickly. You're dabbing repeatedly at your eyes with a wadded up kleenex so that you don't get mascara streaks down your face. But dabbing never works. No, never. Always with the streaking.
You know what does work? Evaporation. The fanning works. Fanning, not streaking. I swear.
You know what else fans are great for? Cooling hot wedding guests at outdoor ceremonies. Pretty sandalwood fans work well. They're great as functional favors, just distribute before the ceremony rather than after.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

sugarcubedesign: notecards

Awning Stripe Notecard and Envelope Set (Set of 6)
awning stripe notecards -- set of six

ooooh. pretty candy colors. these are only one of multiple delicious card sets, gift tags, and paper treats available, and sugarcube will personalize them (well, she says she can put your etsy store on there, so i don't see why she wouldn't go for a little "thank you" or "david and julie" or "bridal shower" action). sweeeeet. more at sugarcubedesigns.etsy.com

honeymoon!

virginia johnsons caftans
Honeymoon alert! Virginia Johnson makes these gorgeous cover-ups and caftans, perfect for days on the beach with the new hubs. Just add pants and a camisole for an evening out. Virginia also makes adorable aprons (perfect for shower gifts), scarves and totes.

Monday, July 2, 2007

pinkmilk: alterations brooch

got the measure of you brooch
got the measure of you brooch

today's post is in honor of that time-honored tradition: the dress fitting. that is to say, the ridiculous traumas we put ourselves through for a one-time event.

lest i sound bitter, let me divulge to the blog-reading world -- today, i bought boobs at nordstrom's. that's right: i took the subway to the hated, dreaded, ridiculously crowded mall, made my way to the women's lingerie department, and plunked down thirty-eight american dollars so the strapless satin ballgown my sister has selected will not *slide* off my body in front of a chapel full of family and family-in-law, who, as everyone knows, are strangers who feel entitled to make bizarrely direct personal remarks.

not to mention that on the way into said mall i ran into a couple i hadn't seen in a while and (since i'm constitutionally unable to refrain from telling morbidly self-embarrassing stories) immediately told them: i'm here to buy boobs!

dear lord, can't i just make up something cool, like, just here to queue for the iPhone? for the love.

if you're wondering, dear reader, as i'm getting the dress altered anyway, why i've gone and purchased falsies, here's an instructive exchange from my first round of trials at the Bridal-Store-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named:

- helpful fitting room attendant: "the dress will fit better once you're
wearing a strapless push-up bra."

- forlorn bridesmaid: "i AM wearing a strapless push-up bra."

i called my sister and swore in vengeance that i would go out and purchase world-class olympic pam-anderson double-D cutlets to eliminate the twin air-pockets in the sequined (did i mention?) chest of my new ruched satin ballgown. she calmly noted i should be sure and have them *sewn in*, as one of my duties as maid of honor is to *bend over* and straighten Her Majesty's train once she's arrived at the altar. god forbid two flesh-colored jello-crescents fall out of my dress in front of the minister. or worse: one but not the other. eep! O, shame! david's bridal #F11165 is your name.

then -- salvation! my friend delanie called from san francisco in a lather about seeing a friend at a party who looked like she'd gotten implants, but no! store-bought, from nordstroms, highly recommended and very natural (we'll see!). they're also clear, so when they fall out they will be stealthily cloaked on any surface and completely invisible. right.

ah, but there's more. now that i own these boobs i must venture out tomorrow -- again on the subway, like the blue-state, latte-sipping, hybrid-flexcar-sharing liberal i am -- with ginormous red satin beast, a whole-body pushup bra/al-Qaeda-torture contraption, and the cutlets in tow, to a place called "fashion dreams." yes, fashion dreams, i'm told, truly good at alterations in spite of sounding like a bad eighties movie. you can hear the theme song from the climactic dance-off: "fashion dreeeeeeems... she dreeeeeemed her dreeeeem of fashion...."

and i'm kinda scared of going and getting cinched in and poked at, and definitely afraid how much this enterprise will cost (didn't mention, the dress is 3 inches too short so it also requires another layer of fabric sewn in to cover my ankles). and that, friends, brings me back around to...

...this post! which i've given short shrift. the brooch is adorable, as are the other cotton-candy-fun, breezy finds at pinkmilk. from paris and athens too, ooh la la!

maybe if i use it to bribe my seamstress, she can keep me from my nightmare du jour: walking down the aisle, i step accidentally on the front hem of the dress, which is *ripped* down to my waist and i end up covering my naked girls with a hand over one and the bouquet over the other while my mom scrambles over my stepfather shrieking "just a minute! just a minute!". thousands of dollars in therapy, averted so easily with one well-placed etsy purchase...
more truly wonderful non-cutlet-related items at pinkmilk.etsy.com

p.s.: psst! brides and ladies of the small of chest! you'll see several different types
of cutlets commercially available, and i feel compelled to note that while takeouts
and cleavage cupcakes appear identical to nordstrom's intimate enhancers (yes,
they're *really* called that), nordstrom's are $5-$20 less expensive than online/
boutique prices. at this amazon link, there are some other less-expensive choices --
in flesh-tone, or "chicken cutlet" as delanie might say. i almost bought some "as seen
on TV" cutlets around the corner one dark winter night, but couldn't bear the idea
of having to return my boobs to CVS if they didn't fit.
as you were!

ambientdesignjewels: deer to me card

You are so deer to me. Card in Mango
you are so deer to me card in mango

tonight, friends, a long-distance dedication to my sweet redhead toiling away over the puns at the boston herald online. remember: if you leaf me now, you take away the biggest part of trees... ooooooooooh no, baby please don't go!

hoo, it's late. adorable cards (including the above in other colors), alice-in-wonderland-inspired gocco prints, and some wicked cute jewels too -- plus she's in boston! i miss you, boston. i miss you, redhead! more at ambientdesignjewels.etsy.com

Sunday, July 1, 2007

flowers in bulk

bulkflowers
If you're looking to save money on flowers you might want to check out Grower's Box. Loads of different floral varieties are available in bulk, all waiting to be shipped to your doorstep, all you have to do is arrange them. Granted, not all of us have the time or inclination to create our own flower arrangements. Even if you are hiring a florist, consider supplementing with a box of 10,000 rose petals.