taking on a new project...

... that involves a little yellow seersucker...

...and a cute Donna Karan dress pattern!

Stay tuned!  Happy Friday!

(And if you're checking my blog during the Royal Wedding, I'm a) flattered, and b) probably at the bottom of my second mimosa.  Mazeltov!)

hat shopping!

On Tuesday night, Molly and I went shopping for a big event we're going to this weekend, and we may or may not have gotten a little distracted by the summer hats...

Don't worry, they didn't take up residence in our closets.  But to be fair, that black hat has a little bit of a special place in my heart.  I might have to go back for it.  :)

easter in raleigh!

I had such a fabulous Easter!  The weather in Raleigh was absolutely gorgeous last weekend, so we were even able to take the boat out on Falls Lake for the first time this year.  The water was still too cold for swimming, but Bekah and I definitely stuck our feet in and got our tan on.  (Did I mention I got to see my BFF Bekah?  I heart her.)

Mama and Dot Dot!

We took this picture about a billion times... it's just really hard to look glamorous when you're sweaty and wearing a t-shirt.

PHOTOBOMB DOT COM.

(I basically gave Bekah her own photo shoot.)

"Oh you being all selective 'cause you got a ponytail..."

And THEN.  We went to the happiest place on Earth.  Sweet Spoons.  And I ate EVERY TOPPING.

This was Bekah's... super healthy!

This was Mom's... extra classic and not too sweet...

...and Leanna's was the prettiest!

They also had Saran wrap stretched over the tables, so we got to draw on them...

And I hung this little cutie on the wall!

Leanna and I also played some softball, watched movies, and took our parents to school in Scattergories.  (Not really.  Mom always cheats by picking words that theoretically work but are practically impossible.)  Church was fantastic as usual, and Mom made sure we each had a chocolate bunny at the table on Easter morning!

And then, as I was passing through Richmond on the way back to DC, this happened...

A state trooper cut me off while I was driving in the left lane, and at first I thought he was trying to pull that large truck full of orange cones over, because he kept flashing his lights and then turning them off.  But then, he started zig-zagging through all of the lanes to keep anyone from passing him, so I just stayed behind him until he basically turned 90 degrees and totally cut me off in the middle of my lane.  Then, he got out of the car, pointed at me sharply, and mouthed, "YOU.  WATCH ME."  Ummmm, ok?  God, can I ask you a question real fast?  Why did I have to be the person right behind this state trooper?  Why did I leave the house at the exact second that made me responsible for making sure all these people behind me don't move?  Did I really need to pull over and get gas when I did?  Because then I would already be past this mess.  WHYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?  Then, I realized that this was not, in fact, a drug bust or a police chase, but just a road crew filling potholes on I-95 in the middle of the day.  Alright, cool.  I'll just let all these people behind me depend on me to know when we can move again.

Also, I will take my driving record into my own hands by taking pictures on my cell phone ten feet behind a state trooper.  I am brilliant.

So, then that was over and I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a certificate redeemable for one free speeding ticket for being such a model citizen.  I also saw a plane fall out of the sky before realizing it was an enormous toy plane that couldn't kill anyone.

You know, you try to be safe and drive back in the middle of the day instead of at night, and God just goes., "HAHA!  Watch this.  You're gonna love it."

And on the fourth day, Jesus arrived in Heaven and punk'd the fool out of Lauren.

#376,248 on the list of things I love...

... is frozen yogurt on Capitol Hill!  Last night, Sarah and I went to the batting cages to get our softball nerd on, and it was such a beautiful night that we had to go eat some sugar afterward.  So, we headed over to Sweetgreen and got to sit outside and people-watch (also a favorite thing to do).  Sweetgreen actually just freezes plain Stonyfield yogurt, so it's pretty healthy!  (Picture warning:  these were taken on my point-and-shoot and with a flash, so there will be no artistic value to them whatsoever.)

Yum yum!  p.s. I promise I'm going to post about my Easter weekend... I just need to find some time to pull all my pictures together!

on being and becoming a seasoned wedding guest

Guys.  What have you all been drinking?  I'm actually starting to lose track of all the wedding dates and the color schemes and the honeymoon destinations and the caterers and the guestbook options.  I suppose at 23, I'm at that stage where having several weddings on the docket for the next twelve months is absolutely normal (and, I'll admit, I kinda love it), but WOW.  This stuff takes some practice.  You all have different tastes, and you all register for different stuff (I seriously had no idea there were that many types of ladles out there.  Snaps for you).  I love you all dearly, and a band of cracked-out horses couldn't keep me from attending each of your special days.  But this post is kinda for you and it's kinda for your friends.

I'm loving and loathing quite a bit in the wedding world right now, so let's talk about it, ok?

I know all of you are capable of getting sick nasty with your florist.  And I mean that in the best possible way.  Please be creative!  Bouquets are getting so unique these days, and my favorites recently have been the ones that include big, blousy flowers and succulents.  It's like someone ran through a garden while being chased by Scotland Yard and just threw together whatever she could find.  And I'm eating it right up.

I know the dress is pretty much the most important part, and I'm not really prepared to make a sweeping commentary on what you pick.  You're all gorgeous.  But here's my favorite dress that I've ever, ever seen in my life (photographed by Millie Holloman Photography).  And that's all I'm gonna say about that.



I also hear this a lot:  "I don't really know if I want strapless or straps or one shoulder or sleeves because it's gonna be cold/hot and I adore/despise my arms but I also don't want to yank at my dress all night and I don't want to look stuffy/matronly/crusty so I want to be regal/soft/elegant/classy/hot but also not make anyone hot under the collar."  Great!  That should be easy.  No but actually, it might be.  Little gems like this bolero from Embee Style at Etsy should do the trick!  These little numbers are everywhere these days, and they can transform a dress in an instant.  They basically go, "Oh hey, what's up, Dress?  You lookin' good and all, but I'm about to make you the bomb dot com and also maybe a little schizophrenic.  Don't fight it."

Ok, awesome.  Let's move on to your bridesmaids.  They don't want to hate you.  They're your friends, or at the very least, acquaintances capable of pulling off that straight jacket of a dress you've had your eye on.  So, maybe don't torture them.  Maybe pick a dress they can wear to horse races and cocktails and (GASP!) other weddings.  They'll want to hug you, and more than that, if your guests are anything like me, they'll cheer extra loudly when you enter your reception because you didn't send your maids to battle against their gowns.  Now they can drop it like it's hot and Cupid Shuffle the way I'm gonna need them to in order to appear cooler than I actually am.

Hello, J. Crew.  You are the epitome of practical and rewearable.  I'm also loving dresses in colors that are close to white, but not quite white.  They just feel fresh and unfussy.

Ok, for those of you who are really, really like me and get invited as a guest to lots of weddings, let's break free from the registry for a hot second.  (If you're a bride who spent hours dragging her fiance through BB&B finding the perfect meat pulverizer, you may want to go ahead and click that friendly little red "X" in the upper right corner, because I'm about to rock your world.)  You actually can get kind of creative and avoid spending a fortune on presents the couple already knew they would get.  Remember my best friend Amanda's wedding?  Well, by the time her wedding rolled around, she had gotten so many things from her registry that I decided enough was enough, and I did this:

I framed the date!  There is actually a company called Frame the Date that will find/take pictures of numbers out in the wild and frame them for you, but they'll do it for close to $100, and that is insane.  I just searched for high-quality pictures of the right numbers (12, 18, and 10) on Flickr, ordered prints of them from Snapfish for about $3, and put them in a $15 frame from Michaels.  Ta-da!  I kid you not, it was her favorite gift, and even the least creative person on earth can do it.  I pinky toe promise.

Or, did your friend get married in a really fancy city?  Or one with a lot of history?  Dude, buy a map...

...and frame that sucker.  If you got married in New York City, wouldn't you want that in your house?!?  I would.

So, there you go.  All the thoughts that have been swirling in my head about weddings for the last three months spilled (or vom-ed, you pick) into one post.  My friends may have no idea what the heck they're in for.

dc at sunrise

Just in case you ever wondered what the Washington Monument looks like before you even wake up in the morning...

Remember when I mentioned that I was taking engagement pictures for my friends, Lauren and John?  Well, I can't share them with you until they send out their save the dates (I. can't. wait.  Those two are drop dead gorgeous.), but I took these pictures at the Lincoln Memorial right before they showed up that morning.

Kinda makes you want to always be a morning person, huh?  Happy Easter!

"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22-23

how to make a state pillow

So, my mom got pretty close when she guessed that I made Megan a pillow of her home state, but it wasn't Ohio.  It was...


Michigan!  First, I found a picture online and pasted it into Microsoft Paint.  Then, (and this is going to sound really dorky), I used a tape measure to calculate the proportions of the state in the picture and translate them to the felt.  For example, I measured how far up the state that notch in the right side was in the picture, then put it over the picture length of the entire state.  Then, I put "x" over the length of my felt and did some cross multiplying to see where on the felt that notch should fall.  Yeah, ok, I'm a big dork.  But I'm impatient, and I get mad if I have to draw things more than once.

I usually draw the state backwards on the felt so that my pencil/pen marks will be on the back instead of the front.  The "flip horizontal" command in Paint makes that easier.  Once I cut out the state, I put it on folded white felt and cut around it, leaving me with two white felt pieces that border the state about an inch and a half on every side.

Next, I use fabric glue to attach the state to one piece of white felt.  Even though I always sew the state on later, states like Michigan have little fingers and peninsulas here and there that are difficult to sew down, so glue works better.

Then, I sew the state down to one piece of white felt.  I use a sewing machine now, but I have hand sewn it before.  It doesn't take too long to do it that way, so if you don't have a sewing machine, no biggie!

After that, I put the front of each white felt piece together and sew almost all the way around the edges.  I leave about a four inch opening so I can stuff the batting in after turning the pillow right side out.

Finally, I stuff the batting, close up the hole by hand sewing, cut out a felt heart, and glue it on wherever my friend happens to be from.

That's it!  I promise the hardest part is getting the state to look right... after that, it's smooth sailing.  Michigan is weird because it has a little growth up there in the northwest, but that's cool.  Extra pillow.

I know some of you have requested pillows of your own, so don't worry!  They're coming!

Yay sewing!

megan's birthday!

Yesterday was a super fun day in our office, because as I mentioned, it was Megan's birthday!  Homegirl racked up on cards and flowers and presents... it's clear that she is loved!  We made sure we had a group lunch in the breakroom, and after that, we surprised her in the conference room with cake and...

Justin Bieber videos!  You'll remember that Megan and I saw the Bieber movie twice.  In two days.  We are committed.

Max and Lisa...

Laura and Lauren chillin' in the corner...

Megan cutting her cinnamon swirl cake, which was DELICIOUS.  And it was from Corner Bakery, so spirit fingers for them!

Megan and Schinnell's daughter, Micah, who made me Justin Bieber art.  We're going to be friends.

Some of my favorite girls!

Reading her sweet card from her team...

aaaaaand then we watched the Stephen Colbert/Jimmy Fallon "Friday" video.  Experience the magic here.

After work, a bunch of us had dinner at Clyde's of Gallery Place and drinks at Rocket Bar, where I owned a few people (but not the birthday girl) at skee-ball.  I guess those afternoons of childhood bliss and animatronics at Chuck E. Cheese finally paid off.

OH, and if you're wondering what I gave her, well, that's tomorrow's post.  But here's a hint!