Cake!

So my lovely coworker and friend had a birthday on Wednesday. I figured I'd practice my cake baking mojo in honor of her birthday. And hey, a girl's got to get all the practice she can before the big day, right?



Behold my strawberry confection! It has 4 layers, two white, two pink. The filling is strawberry buttercream. The tiers were stacked alternately, and then frosted with a stiff buttercream layer. I then covered it with a marshmallow fondant.



It was a tremendous amount of sugar. We were all buzzing around the bank like bees drenched in mead. I was really thrilled that it turned out okay- Jess seemed to really like it!

Hair!

I've been growing my hair out deliberately to please the husband-to-be. For some reason he seems to adore long locks. I needed a change. My hair was ridiculously long and gross, so I decided to do something about it.
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I love blond hair.. Sadly, the blond I love is a brilliant, bright blond. My natural color is a dark blond, and I was so tired of being an ash, almost gray blond. It's a discouraging color. There's enough gray from the weather in Seattle. I do not want to look in the mirror and be reminded of how drab the climate is here!





So I booked an appointment on Thursday after reviewing some lovely pictures of strawberry blond beauties. I saved some of the pictures to take to the stylist, but really didn't think my complexion could handle reddish hair.





To my surprise, the stylist (Judy from Salon Zeka) was very encouraging, and she custom formulated a hair color that would look decent with my skin tone. And Voila! I am no longer an ugly drab dishwater blond, and am now a vibrant strawberry blond.





Val is happy because I kept the length. I am happy because I'm no longer super frumpy. Yay for compromise! And I am so in love with the color. Will this be the color I will walk down the aisle in? I don't know if I can handle that kind of comb-ittment.

renewal!

I am sitting in the zeka salon getting my hair done. I have decided to go with a strawberry blonde color and I am so excited to see how it turns out!

When in Home Depot..

You know you're an obsessed bride-to-be when you go to Home Depot and find inspiration in the paint section. Maybe it was all the fumes, but I was able to pick out our theme colors in only 15 minutes flat.

More Friday Night Fun

I found the car of my dreams, for only $9.99. Granted, it's a 1:18 model. But it's adorable, and it's a replica of a VW Karmann Ghia, of course.




Naturally, I had to take pictures of it.










And of course, with my ring.




























Thank you, Ebay, for providing a lovely source of wedding inspiration. Ghia cake toppers anyone?

Friday Night Fun

Today was a fantastic day for us! Not only is it the first day of spring (hello Spring, I've missed you!!) but we finally feel like we are getting married. Yes, we (gasp) live together, and yes, I've got a ring on my hand... But today, we have proof. Solid, tangible, oh-my-goodness-it's-actually-really-happening proof.



Behold.







We have an embosser!



Of course, like the rational woman I am, I spent the majority of my evening embossing random things (Napkins? Check. Receipts? Check. Coupons? Check.) then photographing my embosser's lovely work. Once I got bored of that, I had to photograph my engagement ring and our new embossed initials. Ah, the joy of being a simply entertained woman!













Not only that, but someone called Val my husband for the first time yesterday. I was locking up our condo and on my way to the grocery store when the sweet neighbor lady commented "Hello there! I never see you, I always see your husband."





I didn't bother correcting her. It sounded too good to fix.

Invitations!

Our Venue

At one point Val and I were 99% sure that we found our venue shortly after our engagement. It was at a place called Thornewood Castle, a giant, regal manor that is nestled south of Tacoma. It is grand, and beautiful. But also very formal.



We sat on it for a while, then decided we'd check out the church that we drive by every time we visit my family. It's a tiny chapel, right on the road in Port Gamble. Port Gamble is an old mill town that dates back to 1853.



After researching it, we discovered that this church was built in 1879, that it's ideal for smaller weddings, and that it was within our budget for a venue. We didn't even sleep on it, we decided to book our date right then and there.







Valere wants a traditional wedding, and I think this church will be perfect for just that!

Wedding colors!

The hunt for our wedding colors wasn't exactly an easy one. I knew that I had to have dark blue incorporated somehow, as that's Val's most favorite color in the known world. I wanted to add a bit of a salmon orange to it, as my engagement ring is a lovely reddish-pinkish-orange sapphire.





When we put these colors together, it brought to mind a specific Florida football team. I was a bit frustrated, and uninspired. We needed a third color to tone down the event, to make it a bit more cheerful.





Along came robin's egg blue. With this color, our other two colors finally got along.

Our theme?

We've struggled early on with what we wanted for a theme. I've bounced back and forth from elegant, classic, demure, traditional, contemporary...




Now all I know is that the wedding we'll be having will be a fun, lighthearted, slightly vintage celebration with a twist of tradition. Sounds like your favorite kind of wine, doesn't it?






If I had to summarize our wedding in picture alone, this would be it:











I know you might be slightly confused as to why I'm showing you various images of the coolest car ever made.. but really. If I had to describe how I want my wedding to feel, I would want it the way I feel when I see a VW Karmann Ghia. It's like looking at sunshine.






It's not the fastest car in the world, but it will get you where you want to go. It's not a high end vehicle, but it exudes charm and warmth. It's classic, but adorable. Whenever I get lost along the way of wedding planning, I'll simply go back to the Ghia.

Our Venue!

Valere and I are getting married in Port Gamble, Washington. It's a small historic mill town that has a gorgeous old church.

We had originally planned to marry

Groomsmen!

So I am pleased to find out that Valere has asked my brother to be one of his groomsmen! We've been taking our time getting all of our attendants lined up, but we're getting there.



I can't believe we've already been engaged for a year! And it's already March- we only have eight more months to go. I still need to find a photographer, a caterer, musicians, and an officiant. And I still don't have a dress.



I can say yes to Valere with no problem, but making decisions about the details just doesn't interest me all that much. :) All I know that when I walk out of that church, I will be Mrs. V and that's all that matters.