A friend and I signed up for a two day cake pop class—the result is an abundance of sugary goodness that has to get out of my house.

I’m so thrilled by how well this turned out. Inside is a devils food with vanilla buttercream—and the chocolate fondant actually tastes pretty good! Success all around!

10. Celebrating studioSavvy's 5 year Anniversary and the 2nd Anniversary of my partnership with Hunter. (It was the paper anniversary...)

9. Cake decorating classes with Gina—enhanced by our instructor's lack of realization of her own innuendos.

8. Dancing it out with Cut Copy

7. Our 80s movies inspired engagement party awesomeness.

6. Introducing Matt to State College, PA.

5. Finally hearing Neighborhood #3 live.

4. Keeping Matt's wedding gift a secret for almost 7 months—and then finally getting to give it to him!

3. Adopting this little dude: Marco Polo Walters.

2. This day wasn't too shabby.

1. But spending our first two weeks as a married couple in Kauai was even better.

Plus one for good luck: Knowing that I get to spend every day from here on out with this guy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Bon Iver at The National, July 30th

I feel like this year might not have brought as many new albums into my life, but thankfully there have been some amazing ones.

1. Destroyer, Kaputt
2. Cut Copy, Zonoscope
3. Wye Oak, Civilian
4. The Horrors, Skying
5. Holy Ghost!, Holy Ghost!
6. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
7. St. Vincent, Strange Mercy
8. Washed Out, Within and Without
9. Junior Boys, It’s All True
10. M83, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
11. Tom Vek, Leisure Seizure

The Arcade Fire in Charlottesville, June 8th

Cut Copy at The National, July 5th

While we were driving out to the wedding I recalled the last time I had worn the dress—it was at Matt’s company Christmas Party last year. I remember it because I took a shady MySpace mirror shot of my outfit to get approval from the BFF. I flipped through my phone (because I’m a photo hoarder) and found the shot. I had remembered the dress being shorter and more snug—which makes sense, because last December I was a good 40 pounds heavier. 40 pounds sounds like a lot—and the funny thing is, at that time I had already lost 40 pounds… and while everyone keeps telling me how different I look, I rarely see it.

So when we got home from the wedding I decided to do an experiment. I posed myself in front of the same bathroom mirror and took another selfie so that I could compare the before and after. It’s not a fair comparison because last year I was too self conscious about my arms to not wear a sweater, but at any rate, I think there’s a pretty big difference. Sometimes a photo is really the best way to see yourself. And while I’ve never been the best at being happy with how I look, I’m pretty proud to say—damn, I look good!

December 4, 2010

October 29, 2011

We’ve decided we want to change things up in our living room and in order to do so, our beloved sectional couch has to go. It’s an awesome couch, and there isn’t anything wrong with it, we just don’t have room for it anymore. If you are interested we’re willing to give it away for free as long as you have the means to come and take it away.

Details: The couch was originally purchased from Storehouse in 2006. There have been many doggie and kitty naps on it (as indicated in the photos*), but overall nothing more than normal wear. The color is what I call a neutral orange with brown undertones. Cinnamon, if you will. It’s covered with a really rugged and durable tweed fabric. I can figure out dimensions if that would help—but it’s pretty much a full sofa, a loveseat, and a chaise all pieced together. They could be used separately if you wanted to get creative with it.

The early bird catches the worm on this one, so if you want it, holleratme!

*Dog not included.

After much debate, I’ve decided to sell one of my office desks in order to make room for our new furniture (and save me from cluttering up my entire house). I’m pretty sure a lot of you are already familiar with these since they’ve been well documented in terms of my obsessive-compulsiveness and organizational habits.

Details:

- Originally from Pottery Barn
- 59″ wide x 32″deep x 20″ high
- Off-white/white laquer finish with some wear on the edges
- Mack-daddy drawer that is the entire length/width of desk and compartmentalized for maximum storage

Asking: $200 or best offer. Plus you must have a way to pick up the desk from Short Pump.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. Between Pinterest, our business site, and the site that Matt and I have been updating, there hasn’t been much time (or need) for me to blog. I’m actually thinking of turning this space into something completely new soon. We’ll see if I can get my act together to start up that venture.

In the meantime, I’m dedicating today to finish working on our overdue Save The Dates. Here’s a sneak peak at the sticker sets that we’ll be mailing out. I’ve cut down the workload from some of the more elaborate ideas I’ve had for these so that I can get them out quicker. We’ll save the labor for our actual invitations!

Do not adjust your monitor—that is indeed the actual color of the juice I just drank for breakfast. Indeed. It is green. And yes, it tasted a bit grassy.

As those of you who truly know me know, I’ve struggled with my weight my entire life. I’ve lost and regained the same 20, 40, 60+ pounds about five different times. I’m tired of it. I hate constantly thinking about food, worrying about my weight, hating the way I look and feel in clothes… hate it.

About a year and half ago I met with a personal trainer and a nutritionist and set off on a plan to lose this weight in a way that I can actually manage long-term. It hasn’t been easy. I work out at least 5 days a week, and I’m trying my hardest to eat healthier foods and become less carb/caffeine dependent. Over the first few months I dropped 30 pounds in no time. Then things changed and I had other things to focus on. So, over the next year, the same 10 pounds went away and came back. Infuriating.

This brings me to 2011. Everything is going well. I’m happy, I’m in love, we’re getting married…

Oh crap. We’re getting married! That involves a wedding, right? The means I need to put on a dress that isn’t black and stand in front of everyone I know and care about while they look at me. And there will be photos.

So, yeah. I’m not panicking, but I’m sure as hell going to give it my best shot to look as good as I can on October 8, 2011, that’s for sure. And this brings me to the cleanse. I came across a company that provides a cleansing schedule/ preparation plan for brides and it sparked my curiosity. I looked into it, and sure enough—it sounded doable. While the cost of the complete program was enough to make me choke, I figured I’d start with a three-day cleanse to see how I felt and if I thought it would be worth it. Today is Day 1. I’m not looking for any miracles, but I truly believe this might be the kick in the pants my system needs to meet my goals.

You only get married once. (Well, I’m only getting married once.) So, here goes. Down with the kale!

Photo from www.maggieaustincake.com, via their facebook page.

A few months back I saw a photo of a cake that stopped me in my tracks. I mean, I LOVE cake, and most photos of confections make me glaze over for a few minutes, but these were beyond awesome. The cake designer extraordinaire is Maggie Austin, and lucky for me, she’s based out of DC. While I know this amount of artistic talent will come at a price, I’m hoping to use her for the wedding.

Here are some awesome details about what she does:

1) Current tasting flavors: Pear & Sour Cream Cake with Blackberries and White Chocolate Buttercream; Madagascar Vanilla Cake with Peach & Apricot Preserves and Milk Chocolate Earl Grey Buttercream; Vietnamese Cinnamon & Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Praliné and Cappuccino Buttercream. Ummm, hi. I love you.

2) She was just named the exclusive cake designer for the Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C. Posh, much?

3) She recently posted a cake she designed and captioned it with “Positively smitten with Carolina Herrera’s entire Spring 2011 collection. This design is unabashedly lifted from her resort line.” Drool. I almost justified buying a black & white embroidered ball gown out of Herrara’s Fall collection in hopes that I could work it into the wedding somehow.

How perfect of a match are we? Design, artistry, fashion, cake. I can’t wait until February 5th when I can meet her in person!