{Holidays 2012} Crafting for Our Heroes

To kick off the festive holiday season, I was really honored to spend the day crafting for a good cause with Jen, Emily & Louisa.  Jen kindly hosted us at her place where we gathered with mimosas, treats, & craft supplies galore to make holiday cards for Holiday Mail for Heroes, a great Red Cross program that distributes cards to veterans, military families & active duty service members around the world.  Crafting is always fun but crafting for a worthy cause is just plain wonderful. 

Not only did these ladies bring their amazing talent, they brought enough awesome craft supplies to make a well-stocked craft store blush.  You name the holiday-themed supply & we had it: stamps, punches, stickers, ribbons, embossers, etc, etc:

I have a real soft spot for snowflakes so all my cards featured snowflakes:

When the fun day of crafting came to a close, we made over 40+ beautiful cards for Holiday Mail for Heroes!  Here is a small sampling of the handmade holiday cheer that will be spread to our heroes:

A big thanks to Jen & the always adorable Humphrey & the too pretty Mila for hosting us in their beautifully holiday-decorated home.  As you can see, Humphrey & Mila are as cute as can be:

Last year, I sent one card to Holiday Mail for Heroes & I was so excited to send 40+ cards this year.  Big thanks to Jen, Emily & Louisa for making it happen!  If you would like to show your support & send holiday cheer to our military, it's so easy.  By Friday, December 7, simply send a signed card to:

Holiday Mail For Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capital Heights, MD 20791-5456

For more information & complete instructions (no glitter!), please visit Holiday Mail for Heroes.

Here's to hoping everyone's holiday season is merry & bright!

ever green

This weekend, we have big plans to put up our Christmas tree & decorate it until it sparkles & shines so I have evergreens on my mind.  Speaking of which . . .

Isn't the evergreen ring shot just perfect for the season?  I imagine a warm, snowy Christmas wedding held at cozy ski lodge going quite perfectly with this ring shot.  Or perhaps a casual, mountaintop wedding held at a woodsy camp site for an outdoorsy couple.  The ring shot is very natural, very pretty.      

Do you have the holidays on your mind today?

Photography: Kyle Hale Photographer via

heart marks the spot

Did you enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving?  Mine was just wonderful, blessed by good company & good food.  Now I officially plunged into holiday mode & started dreaming of Christmas . . .

I wouldn't mind finding a gorgeous, sparkly pair of Jimmy Choo heels under my Christmas tree!  But what I truly love here is the red felt heart.  Very simple.  Such a small, sweet detail for a Bride.  I can just imagine the Bride's excitement & anticipation for the wedding as she carefully applies the heart to her bridal shoes.  The heart may not be seen by many, may not even last long after hitting the pavement & perhaps that makes it even more personal & special.  After all, a heart marks the spot!   

Photography: Cly Creation via

{Holidays 2012} still thankful

2012 has been a difficult year as my husband & I have struggled to expand our baby family.  Now that Thanksgiving is near & I'm taking stock of the blessings in my life, I look back on the tough times with gratitude & hope.  I am so very grateful for family, old friends, new friends, blog friends & even complete strangers who reached out to give me support & prayers.  It means the world to me!

Most of all, I am thankful for my husband.  RZ is as heartbroken as me, yet he somehow manages to walk beside me, keep me strong & make me believe our dreams will come true.  Because I don't think I could possibly say it any better & the words ring true one year later, here is a rerun of my thankful 2011 post:  

Thankful.  Very, very thankful.

My husband RZ is at the tippy top of my gratitude list this Thanksgiving.  I dedicate this post to him.  

I am thankful to call you my husband.  I am thankful for the beautiful moment we clasped hands, looked into each other's eyes & pledged our vows in front of our nearest & dearest during our marriage ceremony.  I am thankful for the fun, rockstar party that followed.  I am thankful for our sunny, dreamy Hawaiian honeymoon.  I am thankful for the incredible, lovely newlywed times that came after our wedding & honeymoon.  & for the times that were not so happy or easy, I am thankful we weathered the storms together.  I am thankful for our sweet home we share with our sweet pup.  I am thankful that I look forward to the moment you walk through the door every night.  I am thankful for every big & small moment that we make special.  I am thankful for this amazing life that is ours. 

More than words. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!

Photography: Timothy Glenn Photographers

 

pretty

Just a pretty Autumn bouquet today because sometimes just a little pretty is enough.

Image Cluney Photo via

{Mrs. Monday} Holidays 2012

With Thanksgiving just days away & Christmas right around the corner, I have the holidays on my mind.  It's not all blissful thoughts of love, family & laughter with a nice amount of holiday cookies & cupcakes mixed in.  No, before we can get to the celebration of the holidays, we must face the nitty-gritty logistics of where we are celebrating the holidays. 

Every couple we know has a different approach.  Some host the holidays.  Some spend Thanksgiving with her family, Christmas with his family.  Some split each holiday between her family & his family.  Some spend the holidays with their friends.  There a million different scenarios & the magic trick is finding the one that works best for your baby family.

After years of experimenting, we may have found the perfect solution for us!  RZ & I are following the same formula as last year: Thanksgiving with his family, Christmas Eve with his family & Christmas with my family.  In reality, we consider both our family- I say my family & his family just to for explanation purposes.  This holiday formula worked last year with us spending quality time with all of our loved ones while keeping the travel & stress to a minimum.  Now once we have kids, I'm not so sure the current plan will work anymore but we will cross that bridge when we must.  We will enjoy it while we can!

How do you navigate the holidays? 

Photography: Bring to Light Photography via

Wedding Wheels, Dedicated to Fin

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic on the subject of cars today because very early this morning, we watched my husband's flood-damaged car being towed away for good.  I have to admit, I was a little sad to see it go.  I remember the first time my husband, obviously just a guy I was dating back then, picked me up in that car.  Even as I remind myself it's just a car and others lost much more from Hurricane Sandy, I can't shake the lingering touch of sadness.

So today's Wedding Wheels post is dedicated to Fin.  Yes, I name my cars- did you really expect anything less from someone who loves cars?!  While Wedding Wheels celebrates all unique and unusual wedding getaways including cars, boats, bicycles and more, today's post is all cool cars, in honor of Fin.   

I love me a good old yellow cab but I'm digging this retro white taxi:

You can never go wrong with a classic, cherry red Mercedes convertible:

Hello, you incredible Great Gatsby beauty:

 Ah, a hot rod getaway car has the same spunk & spirit as Fin:

An antique blue beauty that oozes 1950's style:

Just as these awesome wedding wheels took these couples to great places on their wedding day, our Fin took us to countless great places.  We'll miss you, Fin buddy!

Photo 1: via; Photo 2: via; Photo 3: via; Photo 4: via; Photo 5: via