Wedding Details

My cousin just got engaged this weekend, and I'm so excited for her. I loved planning my wedding with my mom. We took a lot of care to incorporate special details, and in honor of my cousin's engagement (and, frankly, to relive some of the fun!), I'll be sharing some of my favorite wedding elements with you over the coming days.

First up: Paper!

Invitations are a natural place to start when it comes to paper because, after all, the invitation sets the tone for the day. Even though I spoke this very line many a time when I worked in a stationery store, I started with the cocktail napkins.

Many consider this to be a very minor aspect, and in fact, I can't tell you how many frantic calls that were placed by customers wondering if they still had time to order them. I started with cocktails napkins because they are the way I chose to honor my uncle Tom, who passed away shortly after Gregory and I got engaged. Lots of wedding blogs and websites suggest honoring loved ones with a rose on an empty seat, or a candle. These are lovely ways to honor someone, but so serious-- the very opposite of my life-of-the-party uncle. I decided the most personal way to honor my uncle would be with a nod to what was bound to be his favorite part of the wedding: the open bar.

Thus, the cocktail napkin suggesting that as guests raised their glasses to toast the happy couple, they "take a sip for Thomas," my dear uncle.

I loved being able to make something special out of what could be such bland elements of the day, and I know there was no better (or appropriate!) way to honor my uncle.

I love you, Uncle Tom!

*photos by Todd Pellowe

Two Gifts I'm Loving

Today I've been enjoying two of my favorite Christmas gifts, the Eddie Bauer Ruffled Chiffon Henley and my Kindle.

My mom picked the top out for me, and I'm so glad she did. I'm a bit on the "busty" side, which I thought meant I couldn't wear ruffles. These ruffles are light and airy and don't add any unwanted volume. The shirt is so comfortable that I have it in three colors now! It's also currently on sale (though I believe it is about $5 less in the store than it is online).

I can't walk you through the process of choosing between the Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook (honestly, all those tech-y specifications don't mean a lot to me), but I'm very happy with my Kindle. The design is awesome, it's super lightweight, and I felt really cool reading it on the airplane on my way back to Washington. I've already read The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (for $9.60!) and Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (loved both), and I've even put some academic journal articles (in PDF format) on it, too. The only bad thing: you can't take it in the bathtub with you. : )

Back to the Books

Today I'm going to make a real effort to get back to my schoolwork.

Starting up again after a break has always been difficult for me, but it's become even more so since getting married, moving west, and experiencing home ownership. Actually, it has more to do with the latter than the former. Small Town, Washington, is much different than the Greater Cincinnati area where I grew up, and this change- leaving family, friends, and everything else familiar- has brought about some semi-serious depression and some very serious pouting. This fall when I got tired enough of sitting at home, alone, either trying to do schoolwork or avoiding it with too much CSI, I started inventing errands for myself. Being out and about was much more fun than sitting alone in my house, and it helped me get involved in my life again. I started decorating my home, cooking, and baking; these activities, not my schoolwork, got me through each day.

Now I have a deadline looming. I need to start producing scholarship, not snickerdoodles, and stat! This will certainly help my waistline, but my gosh... how unfun. Except it's not! I somehow made huge strides in my schoolwork in the short burst of activity I managed before Christmas, and my idea for my dissertation is really coming together. I'm impressed with myself and really happy with my project for the first time, like, ever. It feels good to produce good work, and when I'm in the groove I'm really in it... except when I'm not.

My quandry is this: if snickerdoodles = fun and scholarship = fun, how do I make snickerdoodles = scholarship? (Besides enrolling at the CIA, that is...) Cookies in the a.m. and writing in the p.m.? Maybe. But when would the dishes get washed?

Today I'm going to start with coffee and a lemon poppyseed muffin, yet to be purchased at Safeway. Then I'll read your blogs and play seventeen games of spider solitaire per usual while I work up the courage to start. Something.

*image from marthastewart.com

First Married Christmas Tree

One major tradition marked the Thanksgivings of my youth: the readying of the house for Christmas! By the time my sister and I awoke, my mother would have completely wiped the decor of every day from the house and begun spreading the Christmas cheer; we "helped" her while watching the Macy's parade. It was always a busy, yet fanciful morning's work. Fast forward to the teenage years when it was all about sleeping late (late enough to miss out on this childhood tradition).

This year, far from home, I couldn't wait to decorate my own home for Christmas. After much hand-wringing, I picked out a tree (on sale! multi-colored lights!) that's just the right size for our cozy back room. Trimming this tree was downright jolly, due much to the sizable collection of familiar ornaments my mother had gathered for me through the years.

Near the bottom of the tree you'll see Strawberry Shortcake holding a candy cane and at the top of the tree are a round "Baby's First Christmas" ornament (you'll have to guess the year yourself) and a Precious Moments ballerina.

Here are some pictures of my newer ornaments, many of which I received at a couples shower last year where the attendees brought ornaments in addition to goodies from Pottery Barn.

This one marks our family trip to Disney World in 2008...

Here, a special Snoopy hides among the boughs...



I was so moved by the personal touch on this one.

And last but not least... the one representing the reason I have my first married Christmas tree at all. : )

What are your special Christmas tree traditions?

From His Favorite Aunt

I don't think I've mentioned yet that I'm going to be an aunt! And it's happening soon, as in today or tomorrow! (I have no powers of prediction... the little fellow's almost a week late, so my sister's going to be induced).

When my sister told us the news, my mom and I immediately started talking about all the "basics" the baby would need...

A silver cup...


Bunnykins china...




Trumpette socks...


High-quality, handmade German toys...

My sister is relentlessly practical, so I know she'll have all those other "basics" (diapers, formula, etc.) covered, which is fine by me. No one ever became a Favorite Aunt by buying baby wipes, right?

Just for Fun: The Two of US

Two of my favorite bloggers (Diary of a Southern Belle and Tales of a Short Southern Mama) have recently filled out this little survey, and I'm jumping on the bandwagon!

1. What are your middle names? Danielle and Man Kai

2. How long have you been together? We met through eHarmony. We were matched on June 28, 2006.

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? We were serious about each other right away, so perhaps the best way to answer this question is to say we met in person about four months after being "matched."

4. Who asked who out? He initiated contact.

5. How old are each of you? I'm 28, and my husband is 35.

6. Did you go to the same school? Nope. He grew up in Hong Kong and moved to Canada when he was 14. I was born and raised in Kentucky.

7. Are you from the same hometown? See above.

8. Who is the smartest? I would say we're equally matched. He takes care of math and science and I cover the humanities.

9. Who majored in what? My husband was trained as a pharmacist and then studied biophysics. I've always studied English.

10. Who is the most sensitive? I'd say we're equally matched here, too, though I am the more visibly emotional one.

11. Where is the farthest you two have traveled together as a couple? We drove across the country from Kentucky to Washington a few days after our wedding.

12. Who has the worst temper? Neither of us has a terrible temper, but I show mine more frequently.

13. How many children do you want? One or two.

14. Who does the cooking? We both do, but he cooks with more ease and confidence.

15. Who is more social? He is.

16. Who is the neat freak? We both have neat freak moments, but they're just that... moments.

17. Who is the most stubborn? I'd say we're equal here, too, but I will actually admit that I'm stubborn. We both lived on our own without roommates, so we're each used to doing things our own way.

18. Who wakes up earlier? I don't sleep well, so I do. Once he's awake, though, he'll stay awake all day. I'm a napper.

19. Where was your first date? Let's see... sometime in mid-October of 2006.

20. Who has the bigger family? We both have one sibling. My extended family is larger, though.

21. Do you get flowers often? If I buy them for myself!

22. How do you spend the holidays? This will be our first married holiday season! We're staying home for Thanksgiving, going to my parents' for Christmas, and then making short trip to see his sister and her family in Canada before the New Year.

23. Who is more jealous? Me.

24. How long did it take to get serious? We were always serious. Neither of us wanted to play games.

25. Who eats more? He eats more at meals, but I like to snack. He also eats a much greater variety of foods than I do.

26. What do you do for a living? I'm a Ph.D. student and he's a professor (He was never my professor, though. That would be creepy.)

27. Who does the laundry? We both do.

28. Who's better with the computer? He's great at technical things, but I'm better at finding things on the internet.

29. Who drives when you are together? We're a one car family and I take him to work and pick him up everyday. When we're going places together, though, he drives.

30. What is your song? This Will Be (An Everlasting Love). It's the eHarmony song. Get it? : )

*photo by Todd Pellowe.

Fall Decorations

We've had a busy fall here at Chez Charmville. I had to take my Ph.D. qualifying exam in September, then I went home to Kentucky for two baby showers, and now my husband and I are getting ready to head to Baltimore for a conference he's presenting at. Plus, I'm still unpacking and organizing things from our move this summer, if you can believe it! I didn't have time for holiday-specific decorations (plus I thought I lost the box most of them were in-- luckily, I just hadn't opened it yet!), but I'm very pleased with what I managed to pull together.

On our table I've used fall colored linens we already had (all wedding gifts... my mom thought ahead and bought me these at Williams-Sonoma when they went on sale last year!), plus the hurricane glass that was also a wedding present. I bought the rattan "charger" on clearance at Walmart for $3, and filled it with pinto beans and a candle (non-scented). I was initially going to go with some kind of fall vase filler, but the nice ones are crazy expensive! I wanted some of Pottery Barn's acorn vase filler, but it was like $20 for what would amount to two handfuls! For a container of this size, I would have needed quite a bit, and I wasn't ready to spend that much money. Instead, I bought 4 lbs. of pinto beans for $3.42 and have a lovely, natural looking centerpiece. (I also considered going with coffee beans, but they were more expensive.)

Here's a close-up:

I spent a lot of time looking for a nice, durable inexpensive wreath. I bought one I thought would work at Walmart, but it ended up falling apart before I even got it out of the bag! Finally, I decided to make one. The idea for the design, I'm sure, I saw floating around some time in Martha Stewart Living.

I started with a 16 inch styrofoam wreath I bought at Michael's and then wrapped dark brown satin ribbon around it. I think I used 3 rolls that had 4 yards each. To keep it from slipping, I just stuck straight pins in periodically (on the back). My bow is made from copper wired ribbon, and I just stuck that on with straight pins, too.

Here's a tip for all you crafters out there: it may be easy to pick up all your supplies in one place like Michaels, and they even have good coupons. Watch out, though, for the prices on things you don't have coupons for! At first I bought all my supplies at Michaels, but when I went next door to Joann's, I noticed they had all the same things for a lot less, so I bought them again and returned the things from Michaels Then I went to Walmart and got my ribbon for $2 less a roll than Michael's was selling it! Ha! Walmart doesn't have everything when it comes to crafts, but what they do have is much less expensive.

Hope you like my decorations!