{On to Baby}

I’m kinda obsessed with this blog: ontobaby.com.  Whether they are featuring a baby’s nursery, a maternity photo shoot or a themed party, I am left inspired and more recently wanting to plan a baby shower!  Here are some pretty details of some of the themes I’m loving:

"A baby is brewing"

"Cute as a button"

After studying these photos, I’ve decided I need to invest in some striped/spotted straws, lots of ribbon, cute serving dishes and cake holders, some old antique books, clocks and tea cups!  Are you feeling inspired yet?

{Cooking Blues}

Today I am feeling totally uninspired and an unavoidable trip to the grocery store (because there is nothing to eat at the house) is further leaving  me _________.  I love to cook, but sometimes I’m at a loss of what to make.  For some inspiration, I decided to see the latest recipes posted by Pioneer Woman.  I love how she posts step-by-step pictures, and after looking at a few recipes, I’m wanting to try:

Beef Noodle Salad Bowls

and...

Barbeque Chicken

Where do you go when you are in need of some cooking ideas/inspiration?

{Stepping Stones}

A few weeks ago, for our 3^rd wedding anniversary, my husband completely surprised me and got me Photoshop!  Although it has been slightly intimidating and overwhelming, I'm ready to dive in and I am so excited to buy some actions from ‘Paint the Moon Photography’ to assist me with my photo editing.  The owner, Annie, actually creates and sells professional actions and textures specifically for Photoshop and Elements.  You can check out her work on her Facebook page or at paintthemoon.net.  I’ve been waiting some time for this purchase and am hoping this will be a step in making my dream a reality.

{NYC Forecast}

The forbidden, not-allowed-to-happen realization is sinking in.  Tomorrow may not be the debut of my (ordered-specifically-for-this-NYC-trip) dress.  The weather forecast is predicting a 40-60% chance of rain and a high of a dreery 72 degrees.  Not very ideal for a day planned solely for sightseeing.  So, plan B: skinny jeans, find a cute jacket asap and embellish it with a flower pin? Oh, and find my umbrella.

But regardless of the threatening predictions of rain, the one thing on the agenda that excites me most is going to see the Brooklyn Bridge.  You could maybe say I have a slight fascination with them.  Come tomorrow, I’ll be happy to have added it to my list, in my opinion- the world’s most beautiful bridges that I’ve had the opportunity of seeing in person:

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy

Rialto Bridge, Venice, Italy

The many bridges in Pittsburgh, PA

Karls Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic



Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA

London Tower Bridge, London, England

Do you share in my love of bridges?

{All Things Domesticated}

I am loving these aprons from anthropologie.com, aren’t they the cutest?
 

Oh, I already feel inspired to cook.  If the thought of wearing one of these doesn’t inspire you to grab a spatula and flip through a cookbook, I don’t know what will.  I can already imagine myself, swirling around the kitchen, whipping up something incredible. 

I first started searching  for an apron last fall, when I decided to host my first Thanksgiving.  It was the first major holiday since my husband and I bought our first house, and I wanted to go all out.  And of course, pictures would be taken, so I needed to look the part and cute.

Not only did I need to look the part, but the table as well.  So, I searched to find the perfect centerpiece...and the instant I saw this on BHG.com, I knew this was the one.  Simple, but elegant and very affordable.

One difficulty, though, was finding an acorn tree nearby, so I used bittersweet instead.

Alas, time got away from me and I didn’t order my dream apron (it’s still on my wish list--but it’s going to be painfully hard to choose just one).  Thankfully, my mom brought me this one to wear.

The day went perfectly, that is, after my dad came to the rescue (and just in time) and helped me remove the neck from the turkey, as I was trying to pull something, apparently not the neck, off the poor turkey.  Despite that minor mishap, it turned out delicious and my grandmom and husband said it was some of the best turkey they had ever had.  That is saying a lot, as my grandmom is a wonderful cook herself, and I know my husband comes from a long line of outstanding cooks as well. 

{Arriving Packages}

Don’t you love receiving packages in the mail? (Despite the fact that it is items you bought for yourself? And the arrival is not an out-of-the-blue surprise?)  It is always very exciting for me to drive up and spot the box sitting patiently outside my front door, waiting anxiously to be opened.  I recently ordered these two pieces of jewelry from dorothyperkins.com. 

And cannot wait to pair them with a new dress that I’m going to wear on Saturday for a planned family day-trip to NYC.  What do you think of the feather earrings?  They seem to be one of the latest trends, and the whimsicalness of them draws me.  What are the latest trends drawing you?

The mounting anticipation of their arrival is building with each passing day.  Needless to say, I will be very disappointed if they don't arrive by Friday.  Here's to hoping the box will be sitting outside my front door today :)

Starting Point

This is my first blog entry.  I’ve been contemplating creating my own for some time now, and I’ve finally decided to take the ‘plunge.’  My fascinations with blogs started back when my cousin emailed me a list of wedding bloggers found by her DailyCandy subscription.  She thought these would be right up my alley as I am an aspiring party planner (not to mention, an aspiring photographer, decorator, Martha Stewart-wanna-be, haha not really), and was she right, needless to say my love of blogs was birthed.  Information on one blog would lead to another and soon I had a long list of my favorite blogs.  I would be ecstatic when I found a new blog to obsess over, and I would spend hours looking over the archived entries.  And so, I’m inspired to start my own.

Naturally, I’m one to procrastinate, but when I thought of the perfect name for a blog (while driving home from work last night)—I was compelled not to delay any longer, I had to have this name before anyone else takes it (that is, of course, optimistically believing it hadn’t been taken already).  The name had to be cute and clever, something along the lines of ‘cupcakes and cashmere’, ‘blue shoes’ and ‘peas and crayons’ (some of my favorite bloggers names).  I don’t know if mine lives up to those, but I think it fits me perfectly and the idea behind my blog.  I want it to be a place where I document the details of my life, post things that inspire me--things that are prettiest to me, my photography and my party decorating.  And, hopefully in doing so, I can be an inspiration to others.