In one week from today, in just a few hours, I will be picking my mom up from the airport to start what I’m guessing will be a whirlwind week.

Slowly, everything is coming together. I pulled together most of the out-of-town guest bags last night, wrapped my bridesmaid gifts, a few days ago got my bustle fixed by a friend. I’m rethinking my rehearsal dinner spot and trying to sort out all of the vendors. Its a lot to deal with w/o a wedding planner, but hopefully with the aid of some post-its and directions, my friends will come to my rescue and get all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted.

Its weird that all this planning over the last 7 months…will be coming to a close in 10 days time.

Everyone has been so supportive, and offering up advice. I found a few posts that friends have sent over the past months.

• My advice to you is this: This day represents you and Mick. That’s it. What do the two of you want? What will make you happy as you’re walking down the aisle (toward him, and no one else)? What do you want to remember from this day? The idea of marriage may be a bit archaic these days, but I’m a hopeless romantic, and I love the idea of marriage. On this day, you are saying to each other, in front of your family and friends, that you want to be together forever. Even if everyone else goes away, this is the person that you want by your side for a long, long time.

• Also, remember to keep breathing – it’s the easiest thing to forget in the last couple of weeks. We are getting super excited for the trip up there; I’m sure it’s going to be great.: may i offer some advice on that?

• Have everything you can, even the delegating to friends if possible, set up BEFORE the day of the wedding. We had a planning meeting with a close group of responsible take charge friends the week before, and it was critical to letting it roll (we already did that). Because the day of the wedding is like a world record dominos setup…..tons of little pieces set up over MONTHs….and once it starts rolling, that’s it, there’s no changing it day of!! That’s exactly it. and lots of them won’t fall like you planned, and sometimes it will actually be cooler, sometimes not. What’s awesome is that we found that people totally had a better time when they had a duty, they felt more involved and part of it all.  Anyway, that’s my main advice. plan ahead, then roll with it when it comes, and make sure you ENJOY the day instead of worrying about details

I think that most of this advice could be directed at anyone. Its always nice to get it from people who have lived what I am going through, and I hope I can give similar advice when needed. What advice do YOU have for me and future brides?

So many of the items on Etsy aren’t handmade. Though thats where I sell my stuff, a lot of the really awesome stuff on Etsy can be found in the Vintage section of Etsy. My latest obsession with the vintage stuff started a little while back when I found these glasses, and had to have them. We were in the market for plastic cups…so I found some. Some of the other awesome cups I found are below, in addition to a few other items I may require. I’m feeling a bit lazy this Etsy Tag Monday, so if you want to know more about the item, just click thru!

Vintage Flower power sour Cream Glasses

Vintage World's Greatest Grandma Milk Glass Mug Paula

Set of 4 Vintage Floral Mugs

Vintage Picnic Set in a Ball

70s Patchwork Breakfast in Bed Trays

Mixed Up Alphabet No. 4

Vintage Owl Cookie Jar

After this past weekend, I know the path my life is taking is the right one, and I’ll tell you why.
Our bachelorette/bachelor weekends just came and went (I still don’t think its fair we only get one), and we met up Sunday night, exchanged stories, and I knew that I was making the right choice.

There is nothing wrong with guys going to strip clubs for their party. What is wrong is when the groom to be does some shady stuff, and makes questionable decisions. None of that was even an issue, as Mick’s friends (my friends) all rarely left their Lake Tahoe house, and just sat around with the group of dudes, rarely even SEEING a girl, let alone a naked one.

I’m sure I know many things about his weekend that I shouldn’t. But all of them are so ridiculous, that they just made me laugh, and not throw a fit. Thats just not the type of guy he is.

On my own bachelorette weekend in Calistoga, I had a conversation with a guy outside one of the bars we had visited. OK, so it wasn’t so much a conversation as it was me screaming at him and making sure he did NOT follow us back to hang out. He essentially asked me if I was tired of having guys come on to me and try to hook up while we were in Calistoga. Keep in mind I was wearing a bedazzled veil, and a sash that said Bachelorette. No questions as to the fact that I was getting married. I replied and said that hadn’t really happened, seeing as though I was a BRIDE. He proceeded to go on about that being a perfect excuse for a “One Last Hurrah”.

I just about lost it on him. How dare he even insinuate something like that. Who DOES that? I get that a strip club may be the way that men get around that notion. Check out some boobs that aren’t your fiance’s before you get married. But to actually hook up with someone because you are soon to be married? Because you will soon have a ball and chain? I dont get it. If I WANTED to cheat on my fiance, why would I wait till 3 weeks before we got married? Is that a sign that its a good idea that you are getting married? Does it show that you are ready? I don’t think so. If you even have the desire to cheat….DON’T GET MARRIED. The frustrating part was that this wasn’t the first I’d heard of something like this. I even know some guys/girls who have witnessed this actually happening, and let it go as a rite of passage.

What I do know, is that if anything like that had happened at his Bachelor party…and my friends there let him do it…I’d be down a lot more friends. However…that would NEVER happen, and thats why I’m marrying him, and thats why I call those guys friends.

A few photos from my weekend in Calistoga. I didn’t take a ton, but I still have to upload a few of my own. These were stolen from other people.

Where has my time gone? Its been a while since I’ve done an Etsy Tag Monday, and I’m guessing its part in fact to my busy planning schedule with a wedding coming up in less than 20 days!! So in typical “this is the season where everyone should be celebrating ME” fashion, my bachelorette party was this past weekend, and I had the best time. We did a quick one night stay in Calistoga, CA., where we sunbathed, took in a mud bath, went dancing, and just generally acted like a ridiculous bunch of girls. So much fun. With that, even though I know its after the fact, I decided to dedicate todays Etsy Tag Monday to last weekend…and it is Bachelorette.

Check it under the cut! (more…)

Check it out. Super last minute a few days ago, I saw Tinna had participated in an Alphabet Walk, with the letter K, and I wanted to see if I could be a part of it. This Alphabet Walk is the brainchild of One Sydney Road. Basically, everyone has a letter, and they get to take photos of stuff using that letter as inspiration. How cool to participate in a group blog thingy, and get to use my camera skills in the process. Only problem was that I didn’t have a ton of preparation time, and my camera only came out with me today. So I took advantage of a Walk that I needed to take for work today.

I went through the streets of downtown San Francisco, on the way to a conference, and this is what I found. How convienent that I was assigned the letter ‘W’ and I happened to walk by the hotel bearing that very name!!

The 'W' Hotel

The 'W' Parking Garage

the sign directing me West

found it

Make sure you check out all of the other participants in the Alphabet Walk!

Can I have it?? Pretty please?? Fingers crossed for me that I win this giveaway. Out of the thousands of comments…I hope she randomly selects mine!!

What are you talking about Lauren??? THE SILHOUETTE! Little Birdie Secrets is hosting a giveaway for one, and I can’t tell you how much I want one for my very own. (Please don’t enter the giveaway…it will lessen my chances. ) How amazing would this have been for preparing for my wedding? The DIY would have become DIY with the help of a fancy cutting machine.

I could help the timing and accuracy of my Wunzees and speed up the process. I could create amazing personalized cards. I could decorate our walls with vinyl decals…the possibilities are endless!!!

You should browse their blog to see some ways they use the machine. Don’t take my word for it…I’ve never even used the thing! Oh….but if I win…no doubt I will use it. I would set up a little crafting area on my already crowded art space. I would attach it to my laptop and get creative!  They even give you access to thousands of Digital Designs available through the Silhouette Online Store. With an unlimited subscription to the Store, you can download individual Designs 24/7. Without a subscription, Designs cost only 99¢ each.

This machine actually sounds a lot like the Cricut machine that I have lusted after in the past…They give you a comparison site demonstrating the “cooler” factor of the Silhouette. Sold. Good thing I don’t own it yet.

Just add this to the Things I Covet.

I wanted to give a thank-you for the mention on The Budget Savvy Bride blog. You remember how I had my whirlwind trip to NY with Jessica Bishop, the Budget Savvy Bride? Remember how we went and she talked about how to plan a wedding on a budget and RetailMeNot.com? Remember that? Well, she talked about her trip and the experience on her blog here. She even gave me and The Little Goat a shout out!!

My favorite feature of hers is one that she does called Frugal Fashion. If only I had dedicated more time to the budget blogs when planning my own wedding. This color combo is so great! If you go and check the feature out on her blog, you can see that all this cost only $198.94!!

image by Jessica Bishop

Thanks again Jessica! It was a blast, and I’ll definitely look you up if I ever make it out to Nashville.

For a hot minute I got pretty into my “numbers” on my blog. I was trying to be active everywhere I could be. I became a part of SITS, an active lady blogger community that has definitely brought me some readers. I was checking my analytics on a daily basis to see what posts brought the most readers, and who liked what. I mean…I’m not an all-star blogger. I think that on a good week, an average of 100 people visiting was awesome. Normally I’m somewhere in the 50-75 range, and thats when I write a few times a week. I definitely notice that when I don’t write, no one visits…and thats understandable.

I was feeling the pressure though. I was writing blogs that didnt mean anything. Entries just to write. Space holders. Sure, most of my entries are fluffy anyway…but thats what my blog is about, nothing. I guess they were fluffier for a while? Anyway, I’ve decided to stop caring. I don’t want to feel pressure to write. I love being an active part of a blogger community, but I don’t want to feel obligated to keep up with people. I want to do it on my own terms, and on my own time…and if my numbers start reflecting that…I’m OK with it. My Google Analytics has even been inactive for over a week, and I haven’t made any quick effort to fix it.

If I don’t write for a week…I’m not going to feel bad about it. If I write 3 a day, and don’t space them out through the week…I’m fine with that too. Getting things I need to get done…living my life without sharing every detail…thats what I want. Do you ever wish for the stone age? An age where technology didn’t rule, and people didn’t feel the need to share EVERYTHING? I feel lucky as a 30 something woman to have actually experienced life without the internet, blogs, cell phones, and that constant connection at all times. Do you think its weird that todays generations won’t ever experience that? There wasn’t a filter on what I could and couldn’t see at the library. People couldn’t reach me at all times. My life wasn’t out there for all to see. I didn’t even have a pager in high school like many of my friends did.

And yet I find it weird that people I know are un-searchable on the internet. I know people without facebook pages, and no Google search results. At times I wish I could go back to that. Just delete my presence offline. But then I’d feel so out of the loop that I’d just want to get back into it…because thats what is normal now. It’s what’s expected. Kind of wish it wasn’t.

Tangential as it may be….this post makes sense to me.

I’ll say it again… I love seeing my Wunzees in action. Babies are cute…so why wouldn’t babies in something I’ve made be even cuter??
With that….introducing Baby Raymond and Liam.