Status Update 2.15.13

This is quite possibly the best dessert recipe ever because it's A. yummy B. healthy and C. fast. Enjoy! #Iaddextracoconut

Taking and editing photos can definitely be a good distraction from waiting for babies to be born... until you realize you aren't that great at taking photos and need to retake photo 101. #Seantotherescue

I am officially banning my cats from my office at night. They like to sleep on my sewing and desk chairs and are not at all shy about sharing their hair with me- #theycallmefuzzbutt

Not going to lie... really excited to have a baby girl in the family if only to have an excuse to make girly stuff! That and I'm so very happy for the new parents #Ihaveaniece

My dermatologist has reconfirmed to me this week that she is one of my favorite people in this world. I haven't seen her in two years, but she always has an immediate solution to my issue, gives lots of free samples, and loves to chat. Plus she wears Toms, skinnies, and cute/geek glasses. #ifshewasntmydoctorwemightbefriends

Everybody loves a good sun puddle. I think seasonal affectiveness disorder might run in our family #soakinginsomevitaminD

Yes, I am aware that I talk about my pets a lot. You would too if you spent every minute of every day with them. #thesearemykiddos

Psst... there's a sale going on in the shop on fabric yards, calendars, and fat quarter stacks.... and I'm extending it through Sunday, so check it out!

It Gets Better With Age

Isn't that the truth about oh so many things? This anniversary shoot by Jesse Holland Photo found on Style Me Pretty reminds me of our engagement photos.

And though I can't imagine it getting much better than it already is, if it gets better with age, I think we've got it made.

Thank you

I'm floored at the response our save the date stop motion video has gotten on the web over the past few days. I'd like to say thank you to our wedding photographer Lisa for posting it on her blog, as well as Brit from Landlocked Bride. Though I'm no longer on Twitter, I also noticed Brit's feed when I was leaving a comment on the post, and it's evident that she's very good at spreading the word! Sean and I are elated that folks love the video as much as we do! Looks like stop motion would be a good subject for an upcoming monthly how-to...

Image found here

Shameless Self-Promotion

And mostly, promotion of how awesome my fiance is. We've been spending the past few months working on a save the date for our wedding... (which really involved a lot of work for Sean and his camera) and we finally sent it out this past weekend. I'm aware that many of you will not be attending our wedding, however, I can't help but share our hard work with all of you. Check it:


Save the Date! from Sean and Lauren on Vimeo.

Just FYI, we did decide to keep the wedding details on our website private, so you won't be able to access sandlgettingmarried.com unless you're one of our wedding guests. I'm just so proud of the final product that I had to share with all of my lovely blog readers!  I love that we managed to work so well together to make a perfect mesh of our interests in handmade, photography and of course, each other :) Wedding planning is fun! Only about 7 months to go...

TGIF

Now that I'm all caught up with the craziness that was the last month of 2010, it's time to move on! Thankfully, this month has been uneventful aside from catching up, so I've actually been able to catch up, you know? I honestly don't have a whole lot to share from the past three weeks, other than this:

I'm cold.

I'm finding it hard to get back into the swing of being some of the above (and more) after such a lengthy time away from my job.

I'm doing well with these goals. I need to get those up on the wall somewhere so I don't have to keep referring to my blog to remember!

I think I'm finally done redecorating our house. For now. At some point I'll just have to stop as we won't be living here a whole lot longer... fingers crossed. Check back next week for photos! (Just FYI, the above image is not a taste of what you will see, unfortunately. But it is something for me to dream about)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Images via here here here and here

A Winter Getaway, Part Six

The day after the wedding, the couple loaded us, their parents and other immediate family members, the family cooks and all of our stuff into a bunch of cars driven by the family drivers and we headed to the beach! (Family cooks and drivers are paid staff; in the Philippines families who can afford the help often hire as many as they possibly can, not always out of necessity, but because they know they are giving good people good jobs.)

We drove through Subic, where the US used to have a military base. Other than that, there were lots of tiny towns and lots of beautiful scenery.

Not that Jeepneys are so beautiful... but they were definitely part of the journey!

Rice paddies and mountains. Such a different view from being in Manila.

Leftover destruction from Mt. Pinatubo, which happened in 1991. This was the year that the US military left their nearby base, and never returned. You can read a really interesting story about the worldwide effect of the volcanic explosion here.

More mountains and lush jungle

And rice paddys... from what we were told (and saw) it's very common for workers to dry the rice on the side of the road as it's the only flat, dry place for them to do so.

 
And finally, after a five hour trip (which could have been much shorter if we didn't have to stop so much!) We arrived to see this:

and this: Our private little split level Nipa hut.

Actually, little is a bad description. It was actually quite big, with enough bed space for 11 people to sleep. But we had so many huts for the 20 people who traveled with us, that we got this one to ourselves. Below is the first floor, minus the private bathroom. I figured you know what a bathroom looks like.

The whole thing is made from bamboo and is covered with a thick grass roof. These things have lasted through hurricanes and typhoons over the past five years, and will continue to for quite some time.

This is upstairs, which is really just full of beds. And fans. Everything is wide open, so the hot air gets inside very easily. It's a bit like camping but with a little more comfort.

the rest of the property:

Haven indeed. We dumped our stuff in our assigned huts and headed for the water just in time for sunset. 

Justin says this next photo looks like I'm picking the people next to me up and throwing them in the ocean as if I'm a giant.

The South China Sea

Nice and warm, super salty and the perfect way to relax after a long day of travel. Oh, or to have a photo shoot with Sean :)

after the sun set, we went back to the hut that sits on top of the pond (go back a few photos before the beach, you'll see it) and someone thought it would be a good idea to tell embarrassing stories about Justin. 

Apparently he found them amusing enough to not protest, though. One more full day at the beach to go...

Oh, Friday

How I love you so.

This particular Friday is especially excellent for the following reasons:

1. We're having a holiday party at work, and I made rice krispy treats... green with red dark chocolate pieces for Christmas, and blue with white York peppermint patty pieces for Hanukkah. Gotta keep it PC in higher education... I must apologize though as I did not have any black dye or candies to go with some of the red and green to represent Kwanzaa. I'm not sure people would really want to eat black rice krispies anyway... maybe it's just me?  Regardless, I tested them, and they're fabulous.

2. Speaking of work, I don't have to come back for THREE WHOLE WEEKS. That's right. Today's my last day for the rest of 2010 and I am excited beyond belief.

3. Sean and I are featured on the Landlocked Bride's engagement Photo Friday! I know you've seen the pics already, but if you haven't been over to Brit's site you should check it out now... she shares a ton of useful wedding planning info, spreads the love for Midwest vendors and even features her own (gorgeous) wedding that recently took place. Thanks a bunch, Brit!

4. I have a super secret awesome surprise for you... so you'll definitely want to tune in on Monday to find out what's up!

Happy Friday, everyone

An Apple Pie Picnic

**fair warning, this is an image heavy post**

We got our engagement pictures back! We started out with Lisa in our kitchen, made pie, and packed it up to have a picnic in the park. I couldn't be more thrilled with how they turned out!

Lisa sent us almost 200 images, so this is just a taste of the whole story, but you get the idea. I made my hairpiece and skirt. All of the props are things we borrowed from Sean's parents, things we already owned, or were given to us by my parents. We wanted to give some subtle references to what is important to each of us, and to us as a couple- typography, photography, sewing, cooking.

I can't wait to get some of these printed!

Oh and by the way, the pie was delicious :)