Save-the-dates for a Book Themed Wedding

So, as I began the wedding planning process, I had some crazy idea in my head that I could save a bunch of money if I did a lot of DIY. In retrospect, that wasn't really the case. Prime example: I spent as much on custom paper to make the invitations as I would have spent to just buy invitations themselves. I did, however, enjoy crafting throughout the months. My first project was to make save-the-dates. I knew I wanted to incorporate old books and a typewriter into the wedding decor, and I'm a librarian, so naturally bookmark save-the-dates seemed like a good idea. I used this template found over at mmmcrafts to create our bookmarks. It required a lot of cutting, folding (I did buy a bone folder), and spray adhesive. Rather than using fabric scraps in the heart window, I used book sheets from an old German book that I picked up at a used bookstore. (Mike is originally from Germany; this was a nice nod to his heritage.) I didn't really have time or desire to learn calligraphy, so it's just  my lackluster handwriting. We included our wedding website on the back for more information.

Wedding Hygge

I've taken almost a year's absence from posting here, but we've been a bit busy. Mike and I got married in October, and now that the wedding is behind us, I feel like I can slow down again and finally share all the fun, crafty things I did for our wedding. But first, just a few photos of our big day!

We chose Marian Hills Farm for both our ceremony and reception location. It was rustic and beautiful and charming. 

My favorite photo of just me. Photographer Annah Brown got some great shots. 

All our girlsies. My daughter, Mike's daughters, and my daughter's older sisters. 

We had lawn games out for guests for that time period between ceremony and reception while we were taking photos. Here's one of the bridal party holding the parachute over us. 

Easiest Green Smoothie

I read the suggestion somewhere that if you're trying to change your eating habits, rather than focusing on elimination and deprivation, you should simply try to add in more of the good stuff. That made *a lot* of sense to me. So in an effort to be healthier and get more fruits and veggies into my diet (because I'd just eat grains all day without a conscious effort), I decided to start drinking a green smoothie every morning for breakfast. It is so quick, so easy, and I swear I FEEL healthier when I stick to this regimen.

My partner also bought me a good blender a while back. Can't recommend the Ninja highly enough. You can pick one of these up for right around $100. 

Easiest Green Smoothie Recipe

1 cup fresh baby spinach

1 cup water

1 banana

1 cup frozen fruit of choice

Blend the spinach and water til finely blended. Add in one banana and one cup frozen fruit. Blend til smooth. 

THAT IS IT. 

Tips: 

If you want a creamier texture, use frozen, sliced banana. When my bananas seem to be ending the end of their usability, I slice them up and put them into sandwich bags and throw them in the freezer for later use. 

Any frozen fruit will do. Although I love berries, I don't personally care for them with this recipe. Great if you're making a yogurt smoothie; not so much with spinach in my opinion. My personal favorite is a tropical fruit blend.

Et voila:

A Puzzling Hobby

It's mid-February, and we've been dealing with subzero temps once again this year. Lots of school delays and slick streets and sidewalks are enough reason to want to curl up at home and burrow in for the winter once again. While we eagerly await warmer temps and the opportunity to leave the house without hauling bags full of snow pants, boots, and other winter accessories, it's the perfect season to indulge one of our favorite hobbies: doing puzzles!

We find doing puzzles to be so calming ... well, except for the associated aches and pains that come with hunching your body over in a weird position for hours on end. Take lots of stretching breaks, change your position often, and enjoy.

Our goal is to do lots of puzzles with educational value, glue them together, and hang them in the basement playroom to stimulate interest and exploration in our kiddos. We've also agreed to make a holiday tradition of doing a Christmas or winter-themed puzzle each year and then gifting it to one of our friends the following year (since no one really wants to do the same puzzle twice) so that they can enjoy puzzle fun at the holidays as well.

Hygge Season

It's been a very. long. time. since I last posted, but with winter upon us, I'm fully back in hygge mode. I want nothing but knitting and warm blankets and hot tea and to shut our family in away from the cold and cuddle up for the cold season. SO. More to come.

Kitty Cat Hygge

We added a new member to our family this weekend. Meet Professor Higgins Moriarty Conyers-Worrell, henceforth known as Mo. The girls had all been asking for a kitty for quite some time, and as a year has gone by since our last cat, Alice, passed, we decided we were ready. He's a super talkative cuddler, and he's fitting right in. He even loves our dog, who thankfully hasn't attempted to eat him yet.

Recipe for a Gemütlich Valentine's Day

For the first time maybe ever I was *really* looking forward to Valentine's Day this year because I finally have a relationship worth celebrating. :) So I told Mike to block off Wednesday night for just us and took him on a surprise jaunt around town. But first it started with me getting out of the shower and walking into the kitchen to find these:

Awwwww! I can't even remember the last time I got flowers. I LOVE flowers! (Everyone loves receiving flowers; I don't care WHAT they say.) One fell off the orchid and Mike suggested I put it in my hair. So we headed out to dinner with adornment. 

I had planned to take Mike to the sweet little German restaurant downtown - the same place we ate on July 19 when, at the end of dinner, he said, "Let's go back to my place and discuss the nature of our relationship." <3 But when we arrived, for whatever reason it was closed despite posted hours (I had checked! I had this whole PLAN!) until 10 pm. So we quickly decided on Tucano's Brazilian Grill as a backup. (Tucano's is a churrascaria, and having spent time in Brazil I am a big fan of churrascarias. Just load up my plate with pao de queijo and wonderfully prepared beef, and it turns out I'm a happy girl.) Mike had never been, and despite being initially bummed that my plan hadn't worked out, it was quickly revealed to be a blessing. Because Mike was THRILLED with everything about it. Hooray!

While at dinner I gave him my little handmade present: bottle cap magnets that I had made from photos of our friends and family. Here are a few:

And because 9 magnets are really hard to package without them winding up in a big jumbled mess, I put them in an old DVD case that I decorated with hearts and love quotes from Rumi, Neruda, Gibran, Hafiz, Dickinson, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

After that delicious dinner I drove him to surprise destination # 2 and the part of the evening I was most excited about: Hyde Brothers, Booksellers! Hyde Brothers is a Fort Wayne gem that is everything a bookstore should be. Labyrinthine floor to ceiling stacks of used books waiting to be found and loved. Somehow Mike had never actually been there before, and I am grateful to have a connection via an old high school friend that allowed us to meander around Hyde Brothers after hours with the whole place to ourselves. 

It was absolutely wonderful, and we came home with a haul of stuff to add to our collection.

Absolutely the most perfect, gemütlich, hygge Valentine's Day EVER. <3 <3 <3