Weird Science

Been on another blog hiatus...had a lovely journey to Atlanta and Birmingham to visit the fam.  It was heavenly and fun.  The wild invasive purple wisteria was blooming; we hit a million consignment and thrift shops; and dined at the restaurants belonging to my all-time favorite one, two Top Chefs.  Oh, and stayed up late, ate coconut waffles, ogled houses, and talked, talked, talked!

Meanwhile, the inner (ok, often outer!) geek in me has fallen in love with these science pillows.  Available from Heather Lin Home.  

March 4, 2011. Today, I...

• Finally understood why crazy, wonderful, kind Taguchi-Sensei that I met in Japan several years ago, always wore silly sock with toes (with Birkenstocks no less--no your typical Japanese fashion).  He was a tiny man that ran a gazillion miles every day.  I have these weird toes that step on each other when I run, so when I saw Mr. Taguchi's socks at the running store, I couldn't resist.  Wearing them around the house, I already love them.  I'll give a running report as soon as I get off the couch, in case there are other toe-freaks out there.  I promise not to start wearing Birkenstocks though.

• I got some fantastic photos from La Vie from a few events last summer.  Real Weddings coming next week! 

• Saw The Adjustment Bureau.  Better than Jason Bourne!
• Saw Dravus with the hiccups.  And a great Dane with hiccups is pretty funny!
• Received an email from Gayle that we try Book Bindery, a restaurant on Queen Anne.  Doesn't it look perfect?  And the menu lists "Caramelized Sea Scallops with winter citrus, sunchokes, and Marcona almonds".  I'm going to dream about those scallops tonight.

• Found this lovely tumblr site (though I still have NO idea what tumblr is...anyone?  Do I need to know this?) that is ADDICTING.  Things Organized Neatly.  I can't stop thinking about all of the things I have around here that I could organize and photograph.  I think I'll actually dream about rows and columns of sea scallops with almonds.

Maybe the neatest view of a rose ever.  Love Thomas Edison's laboratory, and did any other Anthros besides downtown Seattle do the pennies-but-with-toast a few months ago?  It was pretty awesome.

Thursday thoughts

I was super-excited in January to hear from my favorite guys that a wedding we did together last spring was featured that day on VERA WANG's blog!!!  And then I promptly forget to brag about it here, until reminded by my Gayle. 

Check out Sylvia and Matt's pretty, pretty day at Vera's. 

 In other news, hyacinths are available!  Well, hello there spring!  It's nice to see you again.

And I love this home and couple featured this week in the NYT Home & Garden section.  He describes their relationship as "I make stuff.  And she tries to explain it."  Their home is witty, eclectic, and original.  I love his G(love) project, and how he got bored one day and took a jigsaw to the Saarinen tulip table to carve some Godzilla sized-bites--so that he could excitedly tell his little boys when they returned home from school that his lunch had just been sitting there and a monster came up ate it.  They live by the directive:

"Do something.  Then do something to that.  Then do something to that."  --Jasper Johns

Wishing for spring....

Gorgeous hairpieces from adaptation's.

bookcases from Belle Maison, because I always love doors surrounded by bookcases.

Lovely and unusual ceremony decor...straight from a Parisian sidewalk. (And Photosmashing)

I'd love to have these upcycled herb markers from Monkeys Always Look via Design*Sponge.



A plummy cake via {ritzy bee}.

This incredible bouquet that Sarah over at Saipua did for an April wedding last year. It's loaded with dogwood, anemones, tulips, peonies, and TEXTURE. Did you know flowers can talk?  Because this is screaming SPRING! Photo by Karen Wise.

Foxy pop-ups

Pop-up everything seems so hot right now (restaurants, shops, markets...), but I'm especially loving the idea of a pop-up party.  Sometimes its totally necessary, but I love the look of over-the-top color, pleats, and crispy fluff.  I'm busy planning several events at a couple of Seattle's great blank slate, urban loft venues, for this coming summer.  These would look fantastic in that kind of space. 

Want to try it?  The trick is to go completely over the top...festoon every rafter, pole, wall as much as possible.  If your tissue paper swags are too scarce the look will end up more church-hall-with-white-tissue-paper-bells than the flirty-fun-foxy party look you're after.

Originally seen on MS of course, with a few great sources being partycheap.com, bulkpartysupplies.com, and lunabazaar.com.

Happy Friday!

Flowers by Fiore Blossoms.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you day is filled with love, flowers, friends, and pretty cards with sweet words!

Bouquet by Fiore Blossoms.

Totally perfect.

via Kiss the Groom...wish I knew who created this masterpiece though!

Some pressing news...

One of the best parts about being involved in the Seattle wedding industry is meeting other wedding peeps. I think that some of the most talented and nicest people anywhere are right here in Seattle.  And one of my very favorites is my friend Tara Bliven of Ephemera Press. 

Tara just REIMAGINED Ephemera, which included launching a fresh, gorgeous site and starting a line of ready-made cards.  She's set up now to make ordering her fantastic (and I mean FANTASTIC!) letterpress invitations and announcements super easy, yet the result is still totally personalized and unique.  And quite frankly, those wraparound address labels (shown in the "Connection" collection below) are totally precious.

For people who just love letterpress, sending pretty cards, or need to tell someone they're special (even a good friend...I love the new cards that say "I like you!"), Tara has ready made cards with a cute little waterfall of hearts, available in sets of four.  She also is taking 10% off of everything through the end of the month, so it's a great time to get invitations ordered and checked off the to-do list, or just treat yourself to a little pack of pretty cards.  Just enter code REIMAGINE at checkout. 

P.S.  If you're ordering invitations to get them crossed off the to-do list, Tara also offers calligraphy services to cross one more to-do off the list!  I've been keeping it a secret, but I've been taking a few classes and working on my own calligraphy skills because I really do like sending pretty letters.  Tara and I get together for chatting and writing a few times a month, and believe me!  You do want her to address those envelopes.  She does GORGEOUS stuff!

Not a creature was stirring...not even a mouse!

On a recent trip to Portland I fell in love with these little German mice tucked into little matchbox beds at Ink & Peat.  I saw them again this weekend at Lucca in Seattle and remembered how charming they are.  Each sweet little felt mouse is tucked into a pretty matchbox with its own little pillow and blankie.  I know some kids love anything in boxes or containers, and I think this is perfect.  Or perfect for an adult that just needs a little friend to brighten their day!  Available at Ink & Peat, and Lucca.