Little Wins

Today, I'm celebrating silly triumphs.

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Do you remember when I posted an image of this mystery flower?

Well, it's a mystery no more!  It's Allium Nectaroscordum or Mediterranean Bells.

You have no idea how excited this little discovery made me.  Yes I am a dork.

I had this epiphany (thanks in part to Google of course) last evening.  I was trying to clean up the garden a little and decided that the dead stalks that used to be the beautiful flower above needed to go.  Most stalks pulled out of the ground with much less effort than I expected.  One stalk, however resisted and came up with the bulb- it looked like an onion!  That clicked in my head.  Alliums like this one in my garden are part of the onion family.  Lo and behold, after a search online, I found that the once mystery flower was in fact a type of allium!  I heart alliums!

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The next triumph involves a lamp I plan to take home with me this weekend.

Last weekend, while feeding my addiction at HomeGoods I fell in love as usual.  Since I'm trying to be good and not buy too much house stuff (operative word here is trying), I took a picture and walked away from it.  (Not of course before making sure that it wasn't the only one, so that it would probably still be there when if I came back to adopt it).

Since my cell phone doesn't take the clearest pictures, let me tell you that the price tag reads $49.99.

Swoon.

I'd been obsessing thinking about the lamp all week when, yesterday, I came across an image on one of my other addictions Pinterest.

The Weston Table Lamp from ZGallerie for a mere $199.

Coincidence?  I think not.  This is the universe telling me that I need to go back to HomeGoods and take home my lamp, don't you think?

My Peonies need Prozac

I don't know if I'm the only one, but I don't understand peonies.  I have zero experience with them prior to this spring and I had no idea what these weird things growing in my garden were until my mother-in-law clued me in. I think I'm still missing something.

OK, I get that the flowers are beautiful.... but seemingly only when cut.  As you can see from the picture below- the flowers right now are pavement dusters thanks to the crazy/crappy weather of the past week or so.  I have been able to rescue a few bunches and bestowed them on my friends.  Even prior to the weather, though, the plants themselves just looked like angsty teenagers- slouching and a little depressed.

The largest of the more than half-dozen in my yard (most are pretty skinny, small and barren of flowers) has a proper cage/stake with 2 rings holding it up.  I swear it started drooping more the second I gave it supports, though.  It was just pulling the supports over with it!  The next step was to attach the supports to a trellis that I stuck in the ground behind the plant. That's almost been pulled over too.

I just don't get it!  How can I make my peony plants themselves look as lovely as the flowers look cut??  If I can't figure it out, I may start giving away some of my peony plants for next year.  I don't want to rid the yard of them completely, however for a yard this size, so many drooping peonies aren't giving off the best vibe! (Do you see the pathetic scrawny one to its side?)

If you have experience with peonies, PLEASE leave me comments telling me what I'm doing wrong and how I can make my garden happy next year!

Nuptial Nostalgia: Stationary

This is the last in the Nuptial Nostalgia series (for now).  If you missed the others, check them out here and here.

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I like to think that I'm a Jack Jane of all trades when it comes to design.  I may not have skills perfected (at all), but I like to dabble in everything.  When it comes to weddings, a few dormant sides of my personality get awakened.

First of all, there's the stylist/event planner.  I always forget about her, but she popped back up while with a friend on her first trip to try on wedding dresses.  I felt like I was one of the consultants on Say Yes to the Dress- "try this one, I know you wouldn't have grabbed it, but trust me." (p.s. I was mostly right)

Another side of my personality that resurfaces with weddings is the graphic/stationary designer.  It all started with my sister's wedding in '07 when I designed her invites.  Then, I may have gone a little stationary crazy for my own wedding on '09 (don't you say a word B!).  Despite my craziness, I am still SO proud of what I created for my old Hollywood/Theater themed wedding that I'm excited to share with you!

Save the Date Tickets:

Invitations:

Yeah, I know.  I'm not the photographer in the family.  I can barely figure out this camera most days.

Playbill Wedding Programs:

I don't think I would change a single thing about any of my creations, especially the Playbill.  I modeled it after an actual Playbill and I think I was able to make one that fit our personalities and wedding perfectly!  I was beyond thrilled with everything about them from my custom silhouette front to the 'cast' bios and the history of our wedding site (not shown).

AND in lieu of a favor, with their thank you notes, the guests received this CD of the live swing band at our wedding.  I tell myself at least a few of them actually listened to it at least once (hopefully).

What did I ever do before Photoshop and InDesign?!

If you want more info on how I created something specific, just ask.