a little inspiration

I was going through some of our previous projects that Avocado Kiss has made and I came across this one that we did for my daughter's 2nd birthday. It reminded me that sometimes soft and simple can be so pretty...the look of something so feminine just makes me think of bunches of dainty roses, little cupcakes with pink frosting and strands of white satin ribbon. It would be such a great look for a shower!

a worthy cause!

It's an amazing what a community of bloggers can do.  Everyone reaching out to help someone many of us have never met, but somehow we've come to know through this wonderful world of blogging.  Please read this post "Love For Nie" and see how you can offer your support and do some shopping at the same time!  You can check out the list of auctions on Design Mom. 

Etsy treasures!

It's been a while since we have done a post on one of our favorite things...Etsy.  

The first treasure is this sweet shop, For The Love Of All Things Creative.  These beautiful glass creations are definitely something I have not seen before...and she also does custom work if you are looking for something special.

Next up is Kelly Vivar.  Her line is called Inu Jewelry.  It's beautiful, delicate, hammered silver and brass.  I love this set of five rings, but there is so may different things to choose from.  Again, this artist will make custom pieces, perfect for your wedding party.

Finally, Paloma's Nest.  We have posted about them before, and they always have such unique treasures.  These monogram bowls would be perfect for your bridesmaids....a great way to store their earrings, rings and other jewelry.

a little spa treatment

I was looking for some small, inexpensive gifts for some girlfriends who were coming over for a girls night and I thought I would share what I came up with. Using the clear tube, labels and baker's twine from Garnish and a loofah cloth from the local dollar store I made mini "spa treatments." I filled them with some bath salts, massage oil and cleansing gel and gave instructions on filling the tubes with hot water, shaking them and adding them to a hot bath or foot soak. They look fantastic if I do say so myself (and I do). Each gift cost me about $3.00 and for a night at the spa, how awesome is that?

a good laugh for the day...

I bought the new edition of Real Simple, and one of the first things I read was a little blurb they had on Daily Candy. Daily Candy is a website that you can subscribe to for free daily email on fashion, food and other sorts of things. So, they wrote in the mag about a book by Daily Candy on "Words that Don't Exist but Should" and this made me laugh all morning. These were some of them...

crappuccino - A poorly made coffee beverage that costs upwards of 4$.

mapquestionable - (C and I can totally relate to this) Word describing directions provided by MapQuest that somehow cause you to drive in an enormous figure eight.

yellular - The loudness adopted in response to a bad connection in the misguided hope that talking louder will improve it (Ok...this totally cracked me up because the husband yells when he uses his cell phone - he just assumes the other person can't hear him...too funny).

cause you know you'll never wear it again!

So you want to have the most amazing designer wedding gown, but you can't quite afford the price? Well have I got the place for you! Encore Bridal, New and Nearly New Couture. They have the most gorgeous selection of new, sample and nearly new dresses. And seriously, if it's nearly new, you know it's only been worn once! They have all the top designers, Vera Wang, Monique Lhuillier, Reem Acra, Judd Waddell, Amsale and so many more. And you can save a lot, just take a look at some of the selection...

Marissa 737 - size 6 $1198(save $302)...n.b. this is a NEW dress, probably a sample

Pronovias Bangkok - size 14 $1150 (save $850)

Vera Wang Couture - size 2-4 $1970 (save $2030)

This in an online store, and I know some of you are thinking that you could never buy your dress from somewhere online...how will you know it will fit? No worries, Encore has extensive measurements on some of the dresses, and a detailed size chart as well.

There are also lots of accessories to choose from...veils, jewelry and even shoes! Like this Russian Birdcage veil, new at $90.


So don't worry about trying to rework that budget, because you can afford the dress of your dreams!

more than the mall of america!

I just got back from a long weekend in Minneapolis with my sister in law, P. The great thing about travelling with P, is she does a lot of the legwork, finds the cool things to do, and the best places to eat! Usually a trip to Minneapolis is either about the Husband's soccer team or shopping at the Mall of America. This time our trip was an amazing adventure!

The Walker Art Centre...photo from here

Spoonbridge and Cherry...photo from here

First stop was the Walker Art Center. On Thursday nights, admission is free (thanks to Target!). This museum is contemporary art, some of it was a little hard to understand, but still, very enjoyable. We started our tour with the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (always free!), and saw the famous, Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.


After our tour of the museum, it was off to dinner at 20*21, a Wolfgang Puck restaurant located in the Walker Art Center. It's kind of Asian fusion, and I had some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten!! If you go, I highly recommend sharing a couple different plates, we had the pork pot stickers, shrimp and scallop spring rolls and the beef. Can I just tell you it was the best beef I have EVER eaten....melt in your mouth YUM!

Hell's Kitchen...photo from here

The next day, we had breakfast at Hell's Kitchen. I highly recommend the Huevos Rancheros, it was sooooo good! Then, of course, we shopped till we dropped along Nicolette Mall. It was a beautiful day, and was so much better than dealing with crowds and the air conditioning at the Mall of America! Did you know there is a two story Target downtown, you can even put your carts up the escalator!! It was pretty cool.

112 Eatery...photo from here

Dinner was at 112 Eatery. This place was very nice! It was in the Warehouse District, and had maybe 35 tables (reservations recommended). Though we had an amazing meal, I still wore jeans, so no stuffiness at this place! Again, P and I shared our meal...we had the cauliflower fritters, pan fried gnocchi (I almost died, it was so good), french fries and we each had a cheese burger. It was so good, P and I barely talked to each other during dinner. All topped off with my Kir Royale, it was pretty near perfect! Our waiter was amazing, and made some very good recommendations!

Cathedral of Saint Paul...picture from here

Saturday afternoon, we took a drive along Summit Avenue in Saint Paul. Close to the Saint Paul Cathedral, this avenue has all the stately homes of the gilded age. There is the James J. Hill House which is open for tours, and you can even take a historic walking tour of the neighbourhood. We topped off our visit with a coffee at a sidewalk cafe on Grand Avenue.

Guthrie Theatre

Saturday night we headed over to the Guthrie Theatre for a performance of Little House on the Prairie..it was a musical! If you're going to be in the Twin Cities, you should go and see it, it was really good! The Guthrie houses two stages, and our theatre was very intimate, every seat was a good seat. The Guthrie is a marvel of architecture, and take a drive across 3rd street to truly appreciate the Endless Bridge.

Foshay Tower...picture from here

All that was left was a yummy breakfast at Key's Cafe in the famous Foshay building (which now has the W Minneapolis, very cool, and will definitely have to have a drink there next time!) It was a great trip, I will never stay at the Mall of America again, downtown is where it's at! Thanks P for the great food, laughs and good times. Where are we going next year?