Last week, Dave, Alice, and I went to Phoenix to stay for a week with my grandpa and his wife and take a little break.
We didn’t do a ton of sightseeing.
We didn’t do much shopping.
We did a lot of eating, visiting family, and relaxing.
(And we spent some time in traffic.)
Here are a few pictures from the plane and a few more from our stay in Phoenix.

We hope to go back to Phoenix next year and check out the vintage shops that I heard so much about. It was a beautiful trip and we loved the city.
See all photos on Daily Alice.

xo
meg

Click to Comment

I have shared many things made by Güler Usug, designer and owner of Smiling Knitting before here–I geuninely love her work and I own lots of her stuff! She lives and works (and is expecting her first daughter right now!) in Turkey and she not only makes beautiful handmade things, but is a smart businessperson which I admire a lot.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, Güler contacted me about offering a pair of her hand-knit fingerless gloves to my readers. If you type a lot at night, like me–especially during the winter–fingerless gloves need to be in your life. You other bloggers know what I am talking about!

These gloves are hand-knitted with a wool/acrylic blend and are available in any color. I have these lemongrass ones! Güler is offering a matching lime-y lemongrass-y pair of these fingerless gloves for one reader.

SmilingKnitting also sells dozens of other original products that get me really excited. How cute are these hats? Clever collar-like scarves? And of course her crocheted heart slippers that I wear ALL the time at work. They live under my desk!

Anyway, these are all great gift ideas for your sweetheart (there are some great offerings for guys on there too) for $35 and under. Skip the roses–get something (if only for yourself) that you can actually use and will make you smile every day.

This giveaway for the fingerless gloves is open to international residents and I will pick a winner on Monday at midnight, so you have a week to enter. Visit SmilingKnitting on Etsy, leave a comment, and good luck! And you boys better enter too. These would be a great Valentine’s Day gift for your mama.

xo
meg

p.s. use code smiling14 in the SmilingKnitting shop for a 14% discount on your valentine’s day orders!

Click to Comment

Amy is another customer who I feel has become a friend. She and I worked very closely together on her bouquet, which was a beautiful mix of handmade flowers, carefully embroidered leaves, and precious found objects (marbles? leather scraps? vintage millinery bees?). When Amy mailed all of the special goods to me, they came packed in a meticulously decorated package, covered in stickers by a girl she nannies. After all the work was done, approved, and shipped in a big white box to Amy, I soon found a lovingly wrapped loaf of cranberry walnut bread (with the recipe), and it was even vegan so I could share it with my husband.

Amy was kind enough to share some of her favorite details about her big day, as well as her professional pictures shot by Merrick Chase. Now, in Amy’s own words…

About the wedding location: Telluride, Colorado

We decided to get married at one of our very favorite places, Telluride, CO. We had been there a couple times before, and he proposed to me there on a trail overlooking the whole valley exactly one year prior to our wedding date, June 16th. Having a destination wedding in a remote town, on the opening day of a huge Bluegrasss festival made it logistically challenging, but we had a lot of fun with it. We knew that our guests would either be totally committed and pumped for the vacation, or not in at all, (which ultimately weeded out all the negative Nancys), and we ended up with an incredible group of close friends and family in an incredible valley in Colorado!!

About the dress: Something borrowed

My wedding dress was borrowed! I got so lucky, especially since I’m so short and petite. My friend, Nicole let me do whatever I wanted with it, and I will always be so thankful to her laid back attitude about a dress she wore only 3 years prior. We redesigned the whole back of the dress, and all in all it only cost me a few hundred bucks! I also wore a gorgeous turquoise necklace, and cowboy boots, complimented with simple makeup and a sweeping side French braid. I really love that I looked like myself on my wedding day, and didn’t go all crazy with hair and makeup!

About the ceremony:

The ceremony was tricky for us because without being religious we could really take it anywhere, and because our options were limitless it really almost stressed me out. Also by researching fun activities for our guests we came along the name of one of the oldest cowboys in town, Roudy Roudebusch. We loved his old-world approach and called him up to see if by chance he had ever preformed a wedding ceremony. To our delight he had! AND he was up for it, well, after he got to know us a little more personally. He had the right amount of sophistication, and humor, and had been married for over 50 years, and he looked awesome. However he did forgot to announce the part at the end where we kiss and I was like “Hey, aren’t we supposed to kiss?!” and everyone laughed and it made for some awesome pics, and our kiss was perfect! We were SO happy and it was just so natural. I absolutely love those pictures.

Reception decor: DIY driftwood place cards

We used small driftwood pieces that we gathered near our home in California as a twist on traditional place card holders. Dave cut a curved slice into each piece, and instead of using a name card, we collected old photos of each guest and put that into a piece of driftwood at their spot on the table. It was so cool for our friends/family members to be surprised with a picture of themselves. Some were totally wacky, like a ridiculous Halloween costume, others were 30 years old, like the photo we used for my mom on my parents wedding day, and still others were perhaps a unique photo that only the specific guest would be able to recognize, like a photo we used of our friend, Stacey, where you couldn’t see her face, but instead a view of Machu Picchu which was from a trip she took last summer. The photos were also an easy way way for each table to get the conversation flowing. Each guest also took their photo and driftwood piece home, which can be used again and again. We never wanted to do assigned seating in the first place, but it ended up being a necessity, and boy did we have fun with those pictures!

Advice for future brides

All I can suggest to an engaged couple is to have fun with it, and do it exactly the way you want to. After all its YOUR day, not your parents’, or your grandparents’, or anyone else’s, keeping things respectful of course. Ultimately, it should be a reflection of your love and commitment to each other, and there’s no wrong way to go about it! Shoot, we did it at a Bluegrass festival! The sky is the limit, and if you have friends that can help with the crafty side of stuff you can keep the costs relatively low. The most expensive part for us was lodging in Telluride. (because of the festival) Otherwise, we got creative and cut corners where we felt they could be cut.

More of my favorite details from Amy and Dave’s wedding:

♥ A New Orleans-style procession into the city for the wedding, with the band playing and all!
♥ Dave’s hand-drawn map of Telluride for people driving into the city
♥ Packages sent to each guest with a map, something to do in the car, CD’s for the drive, a magazine about Telluride, and custom SPF15 chap sticks.
♥ Forgoing the traditional wedding invitations for a wedding website designed by Dave

Thanks again Amy for the honor and privilege of being part of your wedding day, and congratulations to you and Dave on your continued journey together! Enjoy the ride.
xo
meg

All photos thanks to Merrick Chase Photography.

Click to Comment

1: Mama’s outfit and Alice’s outfits from our plane ride today. 2: On our way to the airport. Alice wears those glasses everywhere. Now we have two pairs. 3: Fancy shoes and Dave’s indie video games. 4: Nap. 5: Playing her new iPad game, Animal Alphabet. (She said “Yak” today!) 6: Notes passed back and forth between me and Dave on the plane. 7: Napping across our laps. She slept for over an hour this way.

Top: Left of Center; Jeans: Joe’s Jeans; Boots: Henry Ferrera; Bag: Kinies; Lipstick: Hazardous by The Elixery; Alice’s Bag: Skip Hop; Pullover: American Apparel; Polo: Circo; Pants: Carters; Shoes: Pediped

See more details about today’s outfit on my Polyvore page.

xo
meg

Click to Comment