so many projects...so little time

Today was my very last day of class...EVER!! Like, seriously, I am officially both a JD and an LLM! TWO graduates degrees under my belt...how did that happen!!?!

ok. well. not "officially." I still have to finish my thesis, submit one paper and take a final...but I'm oh-s0-close. Once I'm done with that I can FINALLY focus on the wedding.

Speaking of which, I am getting married in ONE MONTH!!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOO.

As a little celebration, today after class, I decided to stop by a great little antique store on my way home. Here's what I picked up:



As usual, I made a impulse vintage purchase and now I'm wonder, what should I do with them!?!?Originally, I was thinking I could use them under the centerpieces but I don't think I'll be able to get nearly enough. Then I was considering using them on the dessert table under the cake stands and such. Then, since I don't have enough on my plate (*note the sarcasm), I thought I should MAKE something! Of course, why not?

How great is this?

{Made it}
While cutting them in half would allow me to get more bang for my buck, I don't feel great about cutting apart vintage handmade doilies. The owner spent 20 minutes telling me about all the places her (recently deceased) mother bought each and every one of these doilies! I just wouldn't feel right cutting them in half.

So the search continued and I found this:

Emily O /Elizabeth Anne Designs}

According to the DIY tutorial, you just have to iron and starch the doilies a little to get them to hang without flopping all over the place. This certainly seems like a viable option. It's a simple DIY project that doesn't complete destroy the doilies.

Best of all, when I told the owner I needed a small one to try and make a ring pillow, she threw this one in for free! She said "for luck and a great marriage."


I was thinking I could just get some linen/burlap and make a little pillow and then stitch the doily onto the pillow. Then I found this:

{Soda Pop Design}

It's a DIY doily ring bowl! Granted the tutorial is in German but if you just stick the link into google translate its totally DO-ABLE! Unfortunately the doily I have isn't great for this but I thought the tutorial was so great that I just had to share. PLEASE someone make thisand tell me how it goes. Even if I can't make this for my own wedding, its a great present for future weddings and so adorable.

Does anyone have any great doily inspiration they can share?! I need something easy that I can do with only a handful of doilies.

A lovely lounge

I've been doing A LOT of vintage posts recently. From my love for vintage mismatched plates to my obsession with vintage hankies, I've been vintage crazy! Now as a change of pace I want to talk about my Cake & Champagne reception.

As you may recall, we will be having an early morning wedding. Originally, I wanted to get married at sunrise (it's been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember) but we decided to spare my guests the agony of waking up at 5am.... sooooo we are having the wedding at 9. (I know, I know... but the invites are out so it's happening at 9!) After getting married down on the beach, the guests will join us back at the villa for an amazing brunch!

One of the common complaints about brunch weddings is that people can't really "party" at 11am! After much thought, we decided to also host a Cake & Champagne reception in the evening. At first we were going to do it in the main living-room but the space seemed like it may be too large for our group and there is something so special about dancing under the stars, so we decided to take it upstairs! If you remember the rooftop terrace at the villa, we've decided to hire a dj and turn that area into a lovely dance/lounge space.

This is what the space looks like:

{Punto de Vista - Facebook}

We are going to rent a clear tent, rent some great white furniture and hang ribbon and candles in the space. We are also trying to get our wedding logo screen-printed on some throw pillows to add color to the space.

The great thing about the villa is that there are already lots of throw pillows and great white furniture at the house. So hopefully we'll be able to get away with renting just one or two pieces and just screen printing a dozen pillowcases or so. (Plus, I'll be able to take the pillowcases home!)

These three photos are the inspiration for the space:

{KT Merry via Style Me Pretty}
{Jasmine Star via Style Me Pretty}
{Mel Barlow + Allan Zepeda via i love swmag}
Later I'll talk about the great desserts and late-night snacks we have planned! After all, it wouldn't be a late-night lounge with out late-night bar foods, right!?!?

What do you think? Do you think my guests will love it or think its a little self-indulgent to invite them BACK for more festivities?

To love and to cherish: vintage hankies

{Melissa Musgrove via Marry You Me}
First of all, I want to apologize for my absence the last few days. That being said my wedding is NEXT MONTH!!

In the last month, I have been in Spain, France, Belgium, and Germany. Along the way I've collected a number of great little trinkets to include in our big day. I'll blog about all the great stuff I've picked up but today I just want to talk about vintage hankies!

Much like the rest of the blogosphere, I am head over heels in love with vintage handkerchiefs.
I've been picking up handkerchiefs at flea markets across Europe at around $0.25-$0.50 a piece!

Here are some of my favs!

{Personal Photo}
Last weekend, I also picked up three handmade lace embroidered hankies in Brugge, the lace capital of the world.

{Personal Photo}
This one is for my bridal bouquet. Since it's all white I'll probably use some twine or pink ribbon to add some texture and color.

{Personal Photo}
I picked these up for mama Pancakes and my FMIL . I am considering getting them embroidered with our wedding date but they are so sweet already, that I may just leave them alone!

Now that I have all these lovely floral hankies, I have to decide what to do with them. I originally thought I would take the traditional route and put them in a basket for my guests, much like our very own Mrs. Cheeseburger.

{Mrs. Cheeseburger/Photographer: Jessica Ames}

But then I began to have second thoughts. This may sound a little selfish but hear me out. One of the reasons I am reconsidering the hankies in a basket option is because I am not sure that many people will appreciate having a vintage hankie. On the other hand, I would LOVE to own 30 vintage hankies. I would use them all the time! The less selfish version: I really want to give my guests favors/gifts that they will not just appreciate but enjoy and cherish. So I am thinking perhaps I should use the hankies for something else.

Here's a great way to present these hankies as gift to your bridesmaids. Lauren's blog has a complete tutorial on how to put together these sweet little gifts.

{Lauren Elise Crafted}

Now if you've been on the wedding blog circuit from awhile you will recognize this next picture. I mean, who doesn't love Dani, from Oh hello Friend! Not to mention the gorgeousness that is Simply Bloom (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, you should probably head over and check out both their blogs. After you finish reading this blogpost, of course. :D)

{Simply Bloom via 100 Layer Cake}

Point is, a vintage handkerchief banner could be soooo perfect. Imagine it hanging over a dessert table with a gorgeous cake and lots of baked goodies piled high on perfect little vintage cake stands!

I think I prefer the triangle look but the squares with the clothespins also has a certain rustic sweetness to it. I image this option would photograph really well at an outdoor wedding with a slight breeze. Doesn't that sound to die for?

{Jill Thomas via Style Me Pretty}

Then there are these less traditional uses which I don't love as much but I thought I'd share!

{Once Wed via Fill Your Well}

{For a DIY tutorial check out: Skip to my Lou}

Last but not least, here are some great things I could do with the hankies after the wedding.

Wouldn't a vintage hankie quilt make the best wedding memento?

{Etsy: Mary McCulty's Design Shop}

{Poppytalk}

What do you think? How would you put these vintage lovelies to use? What other options did I miss?

L.A. Times

A few months ago, my FMIL mentioned that she had found "the perfect" MOTG dress, but with a price tag of $3800, it was way outside her budget. I also vaguely remember her mentioning something about writing a letter to a "fashion expert" to ask for advice.

Yet, no one was more surprised than I was to see this letter featured in the L.A. Times Image Section:

Dear Ms. Magsaysay,
My beloved son is getting married in May, and my taste in dresses exceeds my bank account.

I have attached a photo of two dresses I really like. They are similar in many ways. The photo on the left has more than one dress -- I am interested in the one in the middle, which I have marked in the photo, but those dresses cost upward of $3,000.

As mother of the groom I am told not to wear white or off-white, and not to wear the color of the mother of the bride which is, I think, kind of a soft purple, maybe called mauve. The bridesmaids are wearing a pink, soft. I hate pink so that is out. I kind of want some shade of mauve. Too bad for the rules I guess. Since we are having a destination wedding (Costa Rica) and I am a teacher, the lower the better for cost...less than 300. Is there hope? My hope is for a dress with a vintage '20s look.

Click here to read more.

Let's dish about mistmatched vintage dishes

{Source: Etsy -$108}

Mr. and I are soon-to-be homeless. Right now, we live in an adorable one-bedroom in the center of Amsterdam, overlooking a lovely canal filled with swans and ducks, but come May 2nd we are HOMELESS! The reason I am telling you all this is because I LOVE vintage plates. I am head over heels obsessed with vintage plates. BUT, since we don't have a home, we really aren't in a position to accept a lot of traditional gifts. We literally have no idea where we'll be from May - October but chances are that we'll be living out of suitcases and a storage unit. That being said, we have to be careful about what we buy and what we register for.

One of the most amazing things about living in Amsterdam is the proliferation of antique stores! I spend at least 4 hours a week just wondering through all these trinket-filled stores, running my hands over everything.

So here's what I've decided. I would love a set of small mismatched vintage plates of my very own. I know other Bees have blogged about this in the past, but I can't help it. Is it just me? Is this just a passing fad?

{Source}

{Source}

{Source}
{Source}

There are really two issues at play here. One, I want mismatched vintage plates at my wedding. and two, I want vintage plates of my very own.

1. For the Wedding

I did a little research and it looks like there are dozens of UK based companies that rent vintage plates, and only a handful based in the U.S., and NONE that ship internationally (understandably).

• Idyllic Days (UK)
  
• Vintage Teas and RSVPs (UK)
• Table Graces (NY)
  
• Rent my Dust (DFW, TX)
• Anyone for Tea (LA, CA)

This means there is virtually no way I'll be having vintage plates at my wedding. :(

2. For me

Although I'm strongly considering collecting my own vintage plates over the next few weeks and shipping them back to the U.S. myself. I recently stumbled across Antiquaria, an amazing online vintage home goods store. I immediately added half of their plates, cake stands and tea cups to my registry. For instance, how amazing is this 5 piece china place setting?!?

{Source}

So even though my wedding may have to be "vintage plate-less," perhaps my home won't!

Do you still love mismatched vintage plates? What about other places to register for vintage China?

Planning a mini-moon

{Source}
As everyone knows, one of the best things about having a destination wedding is getting to have wedding and honeymoon at the same time. Unfortunately, Mr. and I will not be able to enjoy Costa Rica or the post-wedding glow the way we had hoped. As it is, my graduation from law school is the Monday before the wedding and I start bar review classes 3 days after the wedding. So, we decided that we'll do our honeymoon after I take the Bar at the end of July. At that point we'll be able to take 2-3 weeks to travel to some exotic location like Bali, South Africa or the Maldives.

However, that doesn't mean we can't take a mini-moon! With all the stress of moving back to NYC from Amsterdam, getting ready for the wedding, graduating from law school and getting married, we figure we'll need a few days before we get back on another plane. It would be just 3 days/2 nights to reconnect as husband and wife, and enjoy the post-wedding glow.

I know a lot of ladies have honeymooned in Costa Rica so I thought I should share and get some feedback!

These are my top three choices:

1. Hanging in the Tree Haus at Rancho Pacifico

{Rancho Pacifico}
Perched on a platform 20 feet above the ground and amongst the treetops, the treehaus hideaways offer seclusion, tranquility and an up and close experience with our extensive and pristine tropical rainforest environment.
Why we love this place? A great place to unwind after the big weekend and prepare to dive back into life in NYC.
Price: $450/night


2.Glamping it up at Rafiki Safari Lodge

{Rafiki Safari Lodge}
Rafiki is a wilderness luxury tent camp and conservation project focusing on adventurous sustainable tourism. The spacious luxury tents were imported from South Africa. The lodge is nestled on 842 acres of pristine jungle along the Savegre River, 30 km south of Quepos and Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica.

Why we love this place? This place has amazing reviews. We would be able to go white water rafting come back to a unique location and enjoy the natural beauty of Costa Rica.
Price: $282 for 2 person tent/$4oo for honeymoon suite

Since our flight leaves early in the morning on the 24th we are planning on doing our last night in San Jose.

{Finca Rosa Blanca}
We are looking at Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation and Inn, which is is an organic shade grown coffee plantation right outside of San Jose. At the Inn, guests are encouraged to participate in the picking, processing and roasting of Finca Rosa Blanca coffee. What could be more amazing than enjoying fresh organic homegrown coffee IN Costa Rica?
Price: 250/night

The truth is, there are LOTS of cheaper options at equally gorgeous boutique hotels. The thing about us Pancakes, is that we love adventures. It wouldn't be a honeymoon without a little Costa Rican adventure thrown in. It just doesn't seem right to stay at a Marriott or a Hilton when we could stay at a family-owned (luxury) coffee plantation instead!

So, what do you think? How did you decide where to 'moon? What were you looking for romance? adventure? relaxation?

Day of Silence

Like many of you, I am heartbroken by the situation in Japan. Tomorrow will be a day of silence on the blogosphere in respect for the devastation in Japan. Take the time to reflect for those who have lost loved ones, who have lost their home and pray for them.

Blogger’s join me in silence and all the other blogs tomorrow for Japan with Love.

You are cordially invited...

First of all, I have to say that I have the BEST bridesmaid in the world. (you may remember her from my save the dates.) So before I moved to Amsterdam in January, I went to her house in Stamford, Connecticut and dropped off my HUGE box of wedding crap.

Since then she's been working like a busy busy bee to get my invitations out on time and they finally went out last week. Let's just take a moment to appreciate how amazing my bridesmaid truly is... this is what her coffee table drawer looked like for weeks:



If you remember, I was inspired to do boxed invitations. The first thing we did was finish the invitations. Then we had to order boxes. I looked at a number of places but finally settled on Uline because they were they only place that had the dimensions I wanted (9 x 7.5 x 3). Since we got kraft boxes instead of fancy colored boxes, they were only $0.60 a box.

Without further ado, here are my invitations:

Now piece by piece. We decided to go with three pieces. First, the map. I hand drew the map and L scanned it into her computer (did some magic fancy desiger things). We decided to print the maps on vellum and finished it off with a little twine.

We also included handmade luggage tags. I bought the linen and ironed on the "stamp." My sisters added the grommets, my mom sewed the corners into angles for me, I added the strings, Mr. P cute all the little plastic squares and L used her machine to sew the squares on. (If I have time, I'll put together a proper DIY post!)

For our RSVP cards, I ordered these great pre-cut cards from Envelopper Inc. Best thing about Enveloper is that they have free shipping for all orders over $50. So I also ordered the pink tissue paper and label paper from them! Since we are living in Amsterdam, we decided to do our RSVPs online. It was just too expensive to include postage to Amsterdam, and was seemed like a bad plan to have the RSVPs sent to anyone else.



We sealed the pink tissue paper with a little pink vintage label. I got the template from iDIY and added the words "Pura Vida" across the top. Our wedding date along the middle and our names along the bottom.


The last thing we did was order this great return label stamp. I designed the stamp myself and then L had it made up at a place across the street from her apartment. It cost around $10.


So that's it. Ta-da... Our wedding invitations! It was sooooo much more work than I could have ever anticipated but it was definitely worth it. One of the things about having a wedding planner is I feel like I don't get to DO that much. It's a lot of decision making via email or skype. Plus I've gotten a lot of great feedback which doesn't hurt! :D

How much "work" were your invitations? Was it worth it??

Ringbearer Book

As usual, my daily blog run-through has got my wheels turning. While I know I don't need any additional projects on my plate, I saw this precious Ringbearer book for sale on Ruffled and it got me thinking.


{Source}
I thought it was such a precious idea and both Mr. and I LOVE to read. He's a huge sci-fi, fantasy nerd... a la Ender's Game, The Golden Compass,and don't forget comic books!! I, on the other hand, am a huge romantic, and have a soft spot for the classics...Jane Eyre, and Little Women. We tend to pass books back and forth a lot but there is one book in particular that has really touched our hearts, "You Shall Know Our Velocity." First of all, how AWESOME is the name of the book. I think it pretty much sums up our life motto! The 2002 Dave Egger novel is about two wayward friends who go on a journey around the world with the intention of just blowing through $80,000 by arbitrarily giving to people they decide are most deserving... on the way they do things like battle bears and practice jumping from tree to tree while 20 feet in the air. THIS IS SO OUR LIFE!

Plus look at how awesome the cover of the book is. The book actually starts on the front cover:

{Source}

So I'm figuring we could DIY some sort of vow book, which would serve as the vehicle for transporting our vows safely from the US to Costa Rica and down the aisle. We could wrap it up all pretty in lace and ribbon.

While I was writing this post, I saw a post about Ruby Lane:


{Source}

Ruby Lane is an e-commerce website that is designed to bring buyers and sellers of vintage everything together, online. They have quite a selection of vintage books but they don't all come cheap. (They also have a great selection of vintage jewelry, if your looking!)

{Source} If you can't find the perfect book, you can always just make it! This couple put together this adorable book cover for their e-session but I'm sure with a little brainstorming it could be a cute book cover for other occasions.

I know people have done a lot of cool stuff with books. I really really love this book so I don't want to cut it up or take out pages but I would love to incorporate this lovely book into our big day.

Anyone else love this book? Anyone use an important book on your big day?

Happy Valentine's Day

{Source}
In honor of Valentine's day I thought I would get a little sappy. After all there is nothing better than celebrating valentine's day when you actually have someone you love to celebrate with.

To the man I love and my very bestest friend, I dedicate a poem.

i carry your heart with me
(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it
(anywhere i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear no fate
(for you are my fate,my sweet)
i want no world
(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart
(i carry it in my heart)
-E.E.Cummings

I heart you and I can't wait to marry you!

Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovebirds out there!

I miss summer

{Etsy via Lovely Cluster}

I miss summer. OMG... I miss summer. Let's be honest, at this point, I just miss the sun! Turns out she doesn't make much of appearance here in Amsterdam during the winter months.

This is really the longest I've ever gone without tropical weather. Last winter, Mr. and I went to Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic and the year before we went to Miami and Mexico. This year we didn't go anywhere because we are saving for the wedding and the we had the big move...Let's just say I am in desperate need of my Vitamin D, but since I can't afford to fly to the tropics I've decided to spend my days shopping for the perfect wedding weekend swimwear.

In order to avoid bridal bikini lines, I've decided that a strapless bikini would be the best option. I'm totally obsessed with Vix and love everything I've bought from them but it's always super on sale. There is something about Brazilian swimwear designers that really speaks to me. I also adore Californian swimwear. I don't know that much about flowers, dresses, make-up or shoes but when it comes to swimwear... I am totally in the know.

1. Something Bridal a.k.a.white - I love white swimwear but always worry about transparency.

{Vix- $99}

2. Something tropical - I love mix and matched swim wear. I love bright colors and I LOOOOVE prints.

{Vix -Top $49;Bottom $50}

Here are some more budget friendly options:

{ASOS- Top $27.58; Bottom $20.69}

{Victoria's Secret- $38}

Don't forget an adorable cover-up!! How cute is this ?

{Vix-$99}

Anyone else missing the summer sun?? What are some other great budget swimwear stores I should consider?