Lookin' good

Is this post what evil people would refer to as "a jinx"?  Please say no.  It's so perfect.

It has been a pleasure

(Sunshine and rainbows for graduation day!)

This afternoon, Peter's first crop of students are graduating.  He was their teacher during an exhausting and intense year, and he grew a lot along side his students.  I wasn't prepared for how hard that first year would be.

As the partner of a new teacher, it's hard to relate the struggles.  When Peter and I both worked in offices, the pace of our days, the frustrations and the victories were all very similar.  "I got a new desktop!"  "The senior VP wrote me a congratulatory email!"

But I don't have a sense of the nonstop pace of his day, the constant "on" feeling he has when teaching, followed by lots of paper work, and then creating an exciting lesson plan for the next day.  Not to mention what it's like to spend six hours a day with teenagers (nor can I imagine how this is fun, but he swears it is).

Anyways, I thought this post was going to be a very sweet letter Garrison Keillor wrote to a student headed to Chicago for college.  And how one of Peter's favorite former students is headed to the University of Chicago in August.  But really this is a little graduation note to him, and how proud I am.  Congratulations, my dear.  It has been a pleasure to watch you become such a wonderful teacher.

Only briefly

It's hot out, no?  I think you would enjoy this for dinner.  I did.

It's an almost nicoise salad (no tomatoes -- they are deadly).  I boiled a few potatoes and poured a simple Dijon vinaigrette on top, steamed some green beans, sliced up a cucumber and threw in some olives.  Peter expertly grilled the tuna steaks.  Yes, you have to turn on your stove.  But only briefly!  Only briefly, guys.  It's worth it.

Plus, no plates!  Eat it out of a giant bowl.  It's really fun to fight over the last bite of tuna, potato and green bean (the three components of a perfect bite).

P.S. I obviously gave Peter the last bite, because I'm very nice.  Oh, love...sometimes that's what it comes down to, right?

Swamp of wedding gunk

Welcome bags, bathroom baskets, gift bags, table seating charts, table numbers...my brain is a giant swamp of wedding gunk.  We got so much done this weekend!

Here's  a little peak at the table numbers.

Yippee!  I love crossing things off of my to-do list.  So much.

Katie and Kate

Do you ever read the adorable website THXTHXTHX?  It's pretty great.

I saw this post today, and had to share here, too, since I feel exactly the same way about Katie and Kate people.  I have so many wonderful ones in my life, it really does feel like a special moment when I meet a new one. 

Hi to all my Katie and Kate people!  I like all you gals so much.

Cape May, I like you

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you going to Cape May with your girlfriends?  I really think you should.  While you're there:

• Grab coffee at Love the Cook
• Paint your nails neon colors
• Drink too many gin buckets after the beach
• Sing "Party in the USA" with the chef and owner in the back room of Copper Fish
• Eat super fluffy blueberry pancakes at Mad Batter

Did you pack your Lilly cover-up yet?  I'm ready to go again.

Girls get-away by the sea

I'm in Cape May this weekend for a fun bachelorette with some lovely ladies!

As a little thank you for coming, I put together these goodie bags.  Each one is a bit different, but they have some combination candy, mints, sunscreen, advil, and a beach towel.

I made the logo in InDesign, and then used by favorite new gadget to turn it into a sticker! 
Here's to a fabulous weekend with some of my favorite people.  Happy Friday to you!

The epic wine tasting of 2010

Sunday was epic!  We tried and tried and then re-tried twelve different wines.  I know this is going to sound insane, but it was hard work!  Here are the winners:

• Sparkling (pair with hors douvres): El Vin Prosecco Extra Dry
• White (pair with salad): Apaltagua Chardonnay
• Pinot Noir (pair with salmon): Primarius (my favorite!)
• Red (pair with lamb): Chateau Segondignac Medoc

I also learned some fun things from Pete, like Brut is the driest sparkling, not extra dry (confusing wine people!).  I can't wait for everyone to try them in a few short weeks!  I hope they love them all as much as we did.

Busy little bees

Peter and I were busy little bees this weekend, crossing our wine tasting (more on that later), cocktail party invitations, and Hawaii tickets off of our to-do list!

For our plane tickets, we tried Priceline "name our your price" for the first time. I've done this a bunch of times for hotels and car rentals, but have always been put off by the lack of control with flight times.  But, this is a long trip, and we have lots of flexibility, so it felt like a good time to try it out.

The initial (super-lowball) bid was rejected, but just like hotel bids, they came back to us with different options that they would accept for a bit more money.  We ended up booking a trip that left one day later than we initially bid for, and saved about $300 in airfare based on currently published prices.  Pretty good, right? 

We also finalized a reservation for a week in Pau Hana Coffee Plantation guest house.  A real live coffee plantation!  All the photos are from them.  I can't wait!

Pepto Bismol pink

My lovely sister from the previous cheap decorating post has now moved into her second college apartment. 

It was a challenging one, you guys.  Pepto Bismol pink walls, lots of crazy wall paper.  But she and her roommates did a great job!  Here are a few before and afters.  See more over on her own blog (so proud!). 

(BEFORE)

(AFTER!)

(BEFORE)

(AFTER!)

Pretty good, right?  I was really impressed, given what they had to work with.

Really interesting TO ME

It's been a little quiet around here, but that's because my days have consisted of things like shopping for out of town bag goodies, emailing a bunch of vendors, and putting my awesome sticker machine to good use.  Umm...and working very hard at my job.  Obviously!

These are boring topics to the outside public, and yet, they keep spilling out of my mouth.  Like so:

"Let me tell you 1,000 awesome things about my personal sticker maker!"

"Look at these calligraphy pens from Michaels!  Ahh aren't they fun!?"

"Should we rent a convertable in Hawaii?!  I love convertibles!  Should we rent one, or no?!?" 

So yeah. Barrels of fun!!!  I won't be offended if you just want to come back in August when I share fun things about the honeymoon.  Until then, expect some deep, deep thoughts about personalized M&Ms and the Lilly Pulitzer warehouse sale!