The Big Day: The Venue

For our 1 month anniversary of meeting in person (we met online), we went to dinner at Canoe to celebrate the grand occasion.  Our waiter knew we were celebrating an anniversary, and asked how long we had been married.  My darling future husband guy, beaming, says, "We're celebrating our 1 month anniversary of dating!" I loves him so.  This is the location where we were married.

Venue details: Canoe is an award-winning restaurant located in the Vinings neighborhood of Atlanta.  It is set on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, and is simply an experience.  If you live near Atlanta and have never been to Canoe, go there.  Go for your next birthday or anniversary or Valentine's Day.  I promise you will not be disappointed.  It is a little pricy, but it's worth it - they use crumb scrapers for Christ's sake!!*

*For our first Valentine's Day in Boston we went to a restaurant that ended up costing us almost $500.  Needless to say, we had VERY HIGH HOPES.  Not only was it only 'ok', but they didn't even use crumb scrapers! WTF?! F*ck that place. We will never return and spit upon it's name.

Anyway, while living in Atlanta, we went to Canoe often.  When it came to planning our wedding, we loved the idea of having our wedding there - a place that was so special to us.  However, their Saturday rate was outside my budget, so we started looking elsewhere.  After deciding on a date, Monday, April 23, 2012 - our 3 year anniversary of meeting in person, I decided to call them back up and see if it was any cheaper to have a wedding on a Monday than a Saturday.  Yup!  The site fees were significantly cheaper on weekdays so we went for it!  It also helped my budget that we had a small guest list - 37 souls.

The restaurant is actually located in a strip mall.  The inside of the restaurant is very lovely, but my wedding was held on the grounds behind the restaurant.  The back of the restaurant faces the river and is landscaped to perfection. 

Our wedding was at 5:00pm and the restaurant opens for dinner at 5:30pm.  Usually around dinnertime this back garden area is crawling with people taking a break from their meals or getting a drink from the stone bar by the river.  However, it was quite nippy this late April evening (surprisingly!), so we had this entire back area to ourselves. I guess none of the patrons inside the restaurant felt like braving the chilly evening air for a stroll, which was fine with me! None of their stupid faces in my pictures! (I'm terrible.)

The nearby Chattahoochie River flows right by the restaurant.  When I visited the restaurant with my parents a few weeks before the wedding a few egrets/cranes/herrings* were playing in the river.

*I don't know birds...

Our reception tent.  It was quite cold that day, so heat was blowing into the tent to warm things up. There is also another tent on the grounds that can be used for larger gatherings.

The wedding ceremony took place next to the river, with the guests facing the river. The awesome thing about this venue is that there is no need for decorations.  The location is beautiful all on its own (perhaps better seen in future photographs that I'll share), so the only decorations I brought in were for the tables at the reception.

Up Next: Getting Ready

Recapping The Big Day!

It has been exactly 2 months since our wedding, and I now have the precious disc of wedding day images in my possession! I wasn't exactly sure the format for which I would share the photos (one massive post, a million little posts, a bunch of posts in a row, a bunch of posts spread out over a few months, etc).  In the end I decided to follow in the style of WeddingBee, my wedding planning refuge for the 8 months leading up to my wedding.  I'm going to spend the next few days recapping in a few wedding posts (with each post highlighting a different aspect of The Day), and then be done with it!

Tomorrow I'll begin with our venue, and then move on from there:

-Getting Ready
-Bridal Party
-Ceremony
-Bride/Groom Portraits
-Reception


I think our amazing photographers need to be recognized for their achievement in this ordeal.  I have never thought myself a photogenic person.  I simply don't know how to pose/not look stupid for a picture, so our photographers seriously worked a miracle!   We hired [Once Like a Spark] to capture our wedding day photos, and I am so pleased with their work!  Here's a little preview so you understand the awesomeness to which I am referring.

With our wedding being in the city of Atlanta there was a sh*t ton quite a few photographers to choose from.  In then end I decided upon [Once Like a Spark] for a few reasons:

-I loved their shooting and editing style.  Less formal poses and more natural, photo journalistic style shots. 
-We get the rights to the photos and can do with them as we please.
-The price was the best that I could in Atlanta find for the quality/type of images being produced.

I would totally recommend them to anyone needing a photographer.  Also, they have photographers all over the US, so that's pretty convenient.


To recap the recap: I'll start wedding posts tomorrow, which will continue until the whole freaking day has been shared. Yaaayyy!! If you don't give a crap about strangers' weddings, check back in a week for new posts on custom leather luggage tags and key chains and evil catties.

Found: A Tote for NYC

I leave this afternoon for New York City.  Husband Guy is going, too, to attend the annual OrigamiUSA convention.  I'm going for the gays and such as - it's pride weekend in NYC and I want show my support! :)  I will also be embarking on typical touristy adventures with a friend who is joining us.

Because I knew that my tiny everyday purse wouldn't cut it for the things we have planned, a month ago I was looking for a bag big enough to hold all my supplies (water bottle, guide book, etc.) for this trip.  I did purchase a bag that was on my list.  Well, kind of.  I found an exact copy of the vintage leather bag I had on my list, except it was 1/3 the price! Yay!  I did have to clean it up, but I think it will work out just fine.

I will return Monday evening, and will be back to work on Tuesday morning, answering messages and working on tags. :)

Mappin' It Up!

Remembering or celebrating an assortment of special places through custom luggage accoutrements. 

Just a reminder: custom tag orders will resume at the beginning of the month. :)

 Just the essentials.

 Honeymoon details!

 A friendly reminder.

 Celebrating a special day!

 Being there when it counts.

An adorable declaration.

Mini Booklet Father's Day Card Thing

After my Dad's latest birthday, he informed me that he always looks forward to receiving my cards. (I usually hand make cards for my closet relative's birthdays and other occasions.)  Ever since learning of this, I have been a little anxious, like, I have to produce now!  I can't just fold a piece of card stock in half, scribble a note inside, and then mail it out.  I have to make something that demonstrates thought and creativity...

Luckily,  I was able to pull inspiration from my wedding programs that I had just made a few months ago.

A hardcover booklet with pages sewn in with DMC floss.  Here is the original tutorial, filled with super helpful directions.

Anyway! Since I had all the supplies in stock, I thought I'd turn this lil' book into some cards for Father's Day (and a few upcoming birthdays).

I incorporated stamped leather pieces onto the front of 2 cards.  All of the cards have little stamped leather tag/charm things hanging from the spine.

For the Father's Day card, I cut a window out of the cover so the leather could recess into the card and lay flush with the outside.

With my wedding only a little more than a month ago, I'm a little spent when it comes to super sentimental card fodder for my Dad.  I've already said every mushy thing that I have ever wanted to say to him, so I thought I'd approach this Father's Day card with a little humor.

Empty book awaiting the pages to be sewn in.  As this was technically a greeting card, I only sewed in a few pages.  A hardcover 'book' is probably a little overkill for a simple greeting card, but regardless, it was in my little heart to do so!

I used E-6000 to glue the leather panel into the book.  I had to stamp this numerous times, because I kept cutting the little rectangle so that it was too small and there were air gaps around the edge. I couldn't cut it first, and then stamp it, because the leather shape could have changed a little as I stamped it. Oh well. It's done! :)

After I sewed in the pages, I attached a little leather tag with the year stamp onto it.  The other cards I made also include a tag with a heart on it, but I didn't think Dad would care for that.

Finished product!  Needless to say, this thick "card" can't be mailed in a regular envelope.  Bubble mailer it is!

 The next page has a little message and my personal note.

After I started the Father's Day card, I realized, "Wow. This is going to be a pretty time consuming, involved project.  I might as well make a few cards since I have everything out."  So I made 3 birthday cards in addition to the Father's Day card: for Mom (Mimmy), Stepmom, and Grandad.

 Now, to get thinking about Father's Day 2013!  ><

The Saddest Cake Balls

One of my favorite treats is a birthday-cake cake pop from Starbucks.  They are so effing good.  However, when one is searching for a sweet snack, who wants only 1 freaking cake pop? No one.  You need at least 5 or 6 for it to be a completely satisfying experience.

Unfortunately for me, buying 5 or 6 cakes pops in one sitting just to satisfy my sweet tooth is not a justifiable expense.  So, for about a year or so, I have been making my own cake pops.  Well, initially they were pops (I stick cake balls on the end of a stick), but I have since grown lazy (and cheap), so I now just make cake balls.

Cake Balls Recipe, my simple version

Cook a cake from a box mix. I like funfetti.
While still scalding hot*, crumble cake into a bowl.
Plop in a dollop of tub icing. I like vanilla.
Mix together and form lil' balls.
Dip balls in melted chocolate. I like white chocolate.
Stick in fridge to create an impenetrable, tooth cracking, chocolate shell around the cakey middle.

*My method, but not required if you like your skin to not hurt.


For some reason, my last batch turned out pretty ugly.  They tasted fine, but I was having some major issues getting the chocolate to evenly and smoothly cover the cake balls.  Also, I used my fingers to dip the cake balls into the chocolate, which probably doesn't help things. Now I see the point of the stick! :)

Towards the end, when I knew the cake balls weren't going to be getting any prettier, I just made some log shaped cake things and drizzled chocolate over it.  I needed to end things - and fast.

This is the second batch, so that's why there isn't that many.  One box of cake mix yields about 30 little cake balls. For $10 for 30 cake ugly cake pops, it's still a better deal than Starbucks.  Plus, you can stick them in a bag and munch on them for a week. :)



I found some photos of some cake pops I made about 7 months ago, when I semi-cared about their appearance.

 I think I just used long kebab skewers I had on hand and cut them into smaller pieces.  I used icing to secure the stick into the cake ball (though I doubt the icing helped at all).

While not super smooth, I think these cake pops turned out a lot better than those of the recent Cake Ball Debacle.  Please note, chocolate cake balls are NOT better than funfetti cake balls.

To Adventure

As a wannabe avid traveler, I  enjoy coming across coming new travel quotes.  They inspire me to get out there and see new things! :)

The following quote was brought to my attention by a customer, and I enjoyed the sentiment so much that I made an extra tag and added it to the shop.

Impulse Buys of the Week

Even though I bought groceries at Whole Foods this week, I tried not to go overboard.  I've been reading Mr. Money Mustache's blog a lot lately, and so have really put forth an effort to curb my impulse grocery store spending.

I only bought the linguine because it was cheaper at Whole Foods than at my regular grocery store (shocking!) and I knew we'd use it.  I think trying out new "hippie" beverages (like the 2 shown above on the right) is a relatively cheap way to have some fun and try something new (am I that lame?), so I bought the cheapest drinks I could find.  I usually have no budget when it comes to trying new single serving drinks. The drinks were both just lovely, by the way.

The chocolate truffle brownie mix was on sale, and was delicious.  I've been laying off cow milk for a while, so I bought almond milk to go with my brownies.  I read somewhere that the hormones/chemicals that are added to milk can aggravate acne, so I started avoiding milk a few months before our wedding.  While I LOVE me a glass of ice cold milk, it has been nice having relatively less crappy skin, so I'm continuing to not drink cow milk - even though I am not positive that avoiding cow milk has been the reason for clearer skin...

I would say that overall, this week's impulse buys weren't too terrible. They made me happy and all together, the items above totaled around $12 - not too bad for impulse shopping at Whole Foods, I think. :)

Quotes by the Best

With my growing up in the hills of North Georgia, country music nestled itself deep within my heart - no matter how much heavy metal music I tried to force down my throat as a teenager.  With that being said Dolly Parton and John Denver top the list of my favorite country singers (only 2nd and 3rd to Hank Williams, of course!).

When I recently got the chance to stamp a quote from each of these fine souls on some tags, I was absolutely delighted!

I actually really liked the layout of these tags, too.  Usually I stamp tags in this layout instead with an address where the quote is on the tags above.  I think this is a pretty cool alternative (though my opinion may be a little biased as I so enjoy the content of the quotes).

D-Day + 24,837

I've always had a deep appreciation for the World War II event.  I find the logistics and strategy and sheer bravery that were necessary to bring victory for the Allies simply fascinating.

Today marks the 68th anniversary of the Allied Invasion of Normandy.  Arriving first by air, then by sea, the scale of this operation was monumental!

A statue of Major Richard Winters will be unveiled today in Normandy, which makes me even more excited to plan a tour of the route of the Allied invasion, subsequent battlefields, and other related points of interest.  Eagles Nest, here I come!

Wedding Card Album

I finally made something I discovered on Pinterest! While still in the planning stages of our wedding, I came across Something Turquoise's Card Album.  I thought it was an adorable and simple way to keep wedding cards together, and I was so excited to make one for us after the wedding.

Before our wedding we only received 2 wedding-related cards.  Because I was planning to make this card album after the wedding, I was a little worried that I wouldn't have any cards to put in it!  We didn't register anywhere, so I really didn't expect to get any gifts, and I couldn't request that people get us a greeting card just so I could put it in an album.  :)  Luckily, we got the perfect amount of cards on our wedding day, so the 'card album' is holding more than 2 cards.

The supplies I needed to buy for this card album project were minimal - the only things I didn't have in stock were the metal book ring, the 3D letters for the cover, and the brads to keep the ribbon attached to the book.

After creating my card album, I still have a whole pack of book rings, a pack of swirly glitter brads, a mostly-complete pack of metallic silver letters, and a spool of thick light blue satin ribbon.  If anyone has a need for these items I listed (even just the small quantity required to make the card album) let me know and I can help you out for the cost of shipping.  This stuff is just taking up space in my apartment. ><

I would say the card album I made is a simplified version of original card album made by Something Turquoise.  The only decoration I added on the cover besides the single color of paper is a few thick stickers that I glued on with E-6000 (the stickers didn't seem very sticky, so I glued them).  I used a glue stick (instead of glue dots) to cover the tag board (originally the back of a pad of drawing paper) with scrapbooking paper.

Since I didn't have any cute wedding or love-related charms to attach to the book ring, I made a few of my own out of leather.  One leather tag/charm thing is stamped with our monogram, while the other is stamped with our wedding date.

The tag board that I used for the front and back cover was too thick for me to punch a hole with my lil' paper hole puncher.  I had to use my hammer and a small leather hole punch to get through the covers. I glued a spare wedding invitation to the inside front cover to provide more info to the album (for future generations to enjoy, of course!).

To make the holes for the brads to go through the thick tag board, I had to return to the hammer + leather-hole-punch method.

Maybe I'll make one of these for all the cards we receive in a year.  The only cards we'll be getting for the rest of our lives will be a few birthday and Christmas cards, so a year's worth should fit in one album just fine...or maybe make an album for only the cards that hold more than just a person's signed name, like a handwritten message or note...I need to think on this one some more.  :)

Making It Your Own

One of the more popular items in my shop is the tag shown above.  Every once in a while, I get the request to change it up a little and make it a little more personal.  Spot the changes to the original. :)

Also, don't forget that a new version of this tag has been added to the shop - just waiting for a little personalization. :)

It's Good to Be the Hand

Like all the cool people, I have been thoroughly enjoying season 2 of Game of Thrones.  I'm also pleased to announce that I am finally nearing completion of A Dance with Dragons!

In trying to stay current with Games of Thrones news, I came across an interesting NPR interview with Peter Dinklage: