1.31.2012

My Other Ring...

I want to talk about for a moment, my other ring. This ring was given to me by Patrick a mere three months after we began dating. At that point, I was determined to study a semester abroad in England, Patrick jokingly refered to it as a 'warning ring' to let everyone know that I was taken. It was so sweet, we were out walking and he took my hand and closed my fingers around it. It was a beautiful gift, and it made me feel very special and cared for.


Isn't she pretty?
It is a simple silver setting with blue topaz. I wore it every day since I got it (before the engagement ring of course!) on the right hand. So much so that the setting is warped flat, because of the delicate silver of the setting.
Peanut posing with my right-hand ring!
When Patrick proposed and presented me with the beautiful ring that is my e-ring, I began to wear less and less of my pretty right-hand ring. Maybe it's because of the warped setting, I'm not sure. But now, I want to do something with the topaz, because it is a gorgeous little stone and...it's BLUE!
Right-hand ring, meet Left-hand E-ring!

Snugs!
What should I do? Have it re-set? Make it into a necklace? It's a meaningful piece of jewelry, so I'd definitely like to re-purpose it.

Does anyone else have any right-hand rings?

Best,

Micah

1.29.2012

Engage-aversary!

Today is our one year anniversary of being an engaged couple. A year ago, Patrick sweetly cooked his parents and I a lovely breakfast and sent me off to get my nails done with his mother. I, completely oblivious, went along with it and in the evening we rushed off for our dinner reservation at the Coast Guard House near what would be our venue, the Towers!
Me, about 20 minutes before Patrick proposed!
During our lobster ravioli dinner!
After some loving words and a tasty dinner, we decided to take a walk on the beach that we knew so well. Little did I know, our friends were waiting there for us! Patrick took me on a quick walk, and then suggested we head back. As we did, he pointed to what I would find out to be a gorgeous bouquet of blue roses, and I turned and found him on his knee! He asked me to be his wife and I said YES!!!!




It was such a beautiful moment. One that I will never forget!

Today, a year later, we celebrated with a yummy brunch together! Followed by a tasting of cupcakes from one of the bakeries that might end up doing the cupcakes for our wedding! It was lovely. It's nice to take the time to reflect on our year, and what's to come. 

Hello love!
(I may have finished the entire mountain of food I had)



The flavors we tried were Chocolate-frosted Vanilla, Boston Creme, Tiramisu, Vanilla-frosted Vanilla, Red Velvet and Carrot Cake! They were from the Newport Sweet Shoppe in Rhode Island and they were SOOOO good! It's going to be super hard to pick flavors (but we still have got one more bakery to try). (More on that later, of course!)

Patrick,

I love you so much. I can't wait for our wedding. Your proposal was the best night of my life. I love you forever. *****

Best,

Micah

Bridesmaids: Lady Date

Yesterday, all seven bridesmaids and the moms and even baby Lily (Bridesmaid Amber's newborn!) came all the way up to visit for brunch and to try on dresses! Not only did we get to have yummy breakfast food, we were really able to finally sit down all together and chat about the exciting things about the wedding. I have said before, I am incredibly lucky to be supported by these women. And they all get along beautifully! 

I invited all seven to see if we could decide on a dress, or the dress for the girls on our day. I wanted everyone's honest opinions because, hey --- they're the ones wearing the dress and I wanted them happy, comfortable and feeling pretty!

Definitely something I really wanted to avoid.


So after filling our tummies with yummy brunch-goodness, and after cooing over baby Lily, and discussing some wedding deets, we caravaned to David's Bridal! Of course, I picked a Saturday to do this: one of the most busy days of the week. I'll admit that I did get a little stressed, but with encouragement and love from the 'maids and Patrick's and my moms, I calmed down and we got to work!

There were so many gorgeous dresses, and my bridesmaids are all beautiful (seriously though, they look good in everything --- it was hard to decide on one dress!). Our consultant pulled the sizes in the dresses I had wanted to see, but something new caught the corner of my eye. It must have been from the new round of dresses designed because I hadn't seen it before. It was this little number, I asked our consultant to pull some in the sizes. The girls were great, and tried everything on. Different satins and chiffons, and totally different necklines. Like these:
My sister, MOH in the "Horizon" Blue of our
dresses
BM Erica is the first to try on the 'new' dress!

Next, it's BM Abbie's turn!

BM Katie tries on a gorgeous
satin number...
                                 
BM Amber looks great!

BM Claire trying out the dress!

Looking sweet, ladies!

If you couldn't tell, this is the dress!
So like I said, we ended up choosing this lovely number in Horizon Blue from David's Bridal! I am so excited, they are such beautiful dresses and the ladies look amazing! I actually kind of want a dress to have as my own! We also got to see my mom try on a dress she liked:

Isn't she gorg???
It was such a wonderfully fun day! I am so glad I was able to hang out with all my best girls and the moms. Oooh! One more thing: BM Amber, besides being a new RN (she got the news at DB!!!) and a mother of three, she makes A.MAZ.ING cupcakes. She brought these as a surprise!

Turtle Cupcakes!
Needless to say, I was a happy happy Bride!

Best,

Micah


1.25.2012

Lessons in Stress, from Ryan Gosling

You've probably seen the tumblr accounts showing up with the "Hey Girl" Ryan Gosling pictures. These are all quite funny, and I have had outbursts of laughter due to them, but when BM Abbie sent me this account, I laughed and also couldn't help but to realize that there is something to be taken into consideration with these pictures and sayings.
I won't lie, there has been a lot of stress in planning our wedding. The guest list, hotel rooms, details, details, and more details, but every now and then a funny reminder like this is very helpful. It makes me refocus on the absolute joy that I am feeling. We're getting married. Whatever happens, it will be wonderful.

And now, a word (or a few) from Practical Ryan Gosling:













All pictures are from Tumblr account: http://practicalryangosling.tumblr.com/

Best,

Micah


1.23.2012

Save the Dates, Part Three! ...The Epic Conclusion.

After months of working on the design, ordering samples, testing out stamps and ink pads, and gathering addresses, tonight was the night. Our Save-the-Dates have finally been sent out into the world to find our guests! From Patrick's design, to the print out, to some stamp tests and swirly designs, to assembling all the cards together, it's been such a fun process!!!

Return address=Stamped!

Testing out stamp pressure for maximum clarity in design.
Yup. I'm a nerd.
Almost ready!
Swirly design on back.
The reason for the swirls on the back is none other than this; I felt it looked plain just having the blank white envelope. Being too impatient to wait for custom stickers to arrive by mail like I mentioned before, I decided to get artsy and draw pretty things. And that happened.

Here are the pretty stamps we got. 
Assembling Micah and Patrick's Save-the-Dates!
Sealed with love!
Our custom return address stamp!
After hand addressing each envelope, double, triple and quadruple checking each address and name spelling (it was actually necessary since I found a mistake on the quadruple check on one!!!), they were finally completed.

Glorious Save-the-Date tower.
"Wedding Rose" postage stamp.
Looking good.
(Pay no attention to the pink cupcake notebook.
Um. That's not mine...?)
Patrick and I walked to the nearest post box and let them fly. It occurred to me as we were walking home: this is the first real insight to our wedding that our guests will receive. The first little glimpse. And it's that much more real!
Happily sending them off!
Yay!

Project Save-the-Date may now be done, but here we go --- it's becoming more real! Did you do Save-the-Dates? Did it turn out to be a giant project, and how relieved were you when it was done?

Best,

Micah

P.S. Guests of the M & P wedding -- get ready!

Peacock Guestbook

Speaking of peacock-themes, (Friday Finds segue) when I was trolling etsy, like I do, I found this awesomeness!

printable guestbook  fingerprint peacock

I had never seen anything done like it before. It's a guestbook that becomes art! (Not to say that other guest books can't be artful). I decided that we had to have one. Not only that, but it would have to become another DIY project! So I took a trip to Michael's Craft Store (my favorite place) and gathered the supplies: Poster board and markers. Using a picture of a peacock and real peacock feathers to find the colors, I created this:

The guests fill in the rest of the feathers
by placing their thumbprints
along the feather lines!
Here's the bird.

Detail shot of the tip of the feather. 


I plan on grabbing a few blue ink pads for the guests to stick their thumbs on to make their prints with. Instead of using as our guestbook at the wedding however, I have been thinking: if we asked our guests to participate in the thumb print guest book at the wedding, I think they would be likely to decline, since they are probably going to be all dressed up, they wouldn't want to get ink on their fancy clothes. SO! We are going to employ this little DIY craftie I made at the rehearsal dinner! Win! Next mission; to find a nice frame to fit it in.

Best,

Micah