lady evelyn

Jade Rose sent me this gorgeous necklace from her new shop, Lady Evelyn.

I love it! I've been transitioning into more delicate jewelry lately and this is a perfect addition.

I can't wait to style it up!

Jade Rose and I met a few years ago through the Portland Blogger meet ups and I feel like we are kindred spirits. It was so fun to catch up every time we would see each other, usually at Portland fashion events, like Portland Fashion Week, or while I was wedding dress shopping, or collaborating on photo shoots, and blogger meet ups. She got married this summer and she and her husband jumped the pond and now live in Leeds, England! Ever since I studied abroad in London five years ago {how has it already been five years?!}, I've been obsessed with everything English. I love following her adventures in England and she even sent me a sweet treat with this gorgeous necklace. A Bueno Bar!! If you know me and my London travels, you know the Bueno Bar is my absolute FAVE!

wedding talk: invitations

cuff c/o and tusk ring c/o, ban.do bow

We didn't get a good photo of the invites on the day of the wedding, so many things going on! 

So I figured I could share them here. 

We ordered our save the date cards from Minted but it took me longer to figure out what I wanted for the wedding invites. Even though there are a ton of options out there {and I didn't want to design our own} I just didn't see anything I liked for a long time. Until I found this one from Wedding Paper Divas.  We chose these and made our own {with the help of a friend!} RSVP/directions/registry info cards to be more budget friendly. My sister wrote most of the addresses because she has gorgeous handwriting! I bought some vintage stamps from on Etsy and used those ones on the bridal party/family invites and used the cute seed packet stamps on the rest. 

Is it weird I want to frame one of the invites because I love them so much?

black, and white, and gold bridal shower part 3

My beautiful supportive loving friends!

My bridesmaids! Meg, Liz, Kate, Abby, missing Becca

Justine and me

 Bridal shower hosts: Liz, Jaime, Abby

Liz, Matron of Honor and Kate, Maid of Honor

I'll be putting up a few more photos on my facebook page, check it out for more!

black, white, and gold bridal shower part 2

 

All photos by Justine. 

I feel like these photos speak for themselves. They say I have amazing, talented and loving best friends who truly made this bridal shower a labor of love. The food was fantastic, and I love every detail. The black and white photos of me and Jeff, balloons, the handmade garland {made by Liz!}, the gold touches, Nutella, mini quiches, all so well thought out. It went so fast and I was left wishing I could do it all over again immediately! Thank you doesn't even cover it, but thank you so much everyone. 

ps. my blog formatting is driving me crazy, help me! my photos are centered in the post but after being published they are all pushed to the left. sos. 

black, white and gold bridal shower part 1

Dress from Bridal Gallery in Salem, J.Crew Etta Pumps, Necklace borrowed from Abby, 

Fascinator from small store in Ashland, Oregon

This weekend I was treated to such a black and white and gold bridal shower! My Matron of Honor, Liz, bridesmaid Abby, and close friend/mentor Jaime, hosted in Portland and it was such a labor of love and I felt so special and loved and honored! My sweet friend, Justine, took these photos {isn't she talented??} and I'm going to share even more over the next few days! I don't even know how to describe how amazing it was and I felt a little overwhelmed by all the love, but what a good feeling! Thanks to everyone involved, everyone who texted me happy wishes even though they couldn't be there, just thank you.

It's the season

all new items from TJ Maxx {I went hard at TJ Maxx recently}

This is such a great season because everyone wants to hang out and have parties and celebrate. 

I love people and catching up and giving and those things are what I'll be focusing on the next few weeks {and hopefully all year of course!} because I am so grateful for my life and the people in it. 

To quote some guy: "I'm not lucky, I'm blessed" 

Ok I feel pretty lucky too.

the gift of gift wrap

I'm sharing my personal love for gift wrapping!

I think it is so fun to get creative with wrapping because that can be a part of the gift!

I also think it can be cheap and easy, especially if you go for the mis-matching look. 

Also, I didn't want to overwhelm my instagram feed with all these presents so I figured I'd share here. 

Some essentials:

Roll of craft paper {The Dollar Tree sells rolls} or paper bags work just as good.

Ribbon, twine, and/or string

Tape, I prefer washi tape {gold from my lovely BFF Abby} I know Target has great colors too.

Tags or letters so you remember which gift you wrapped

Confetti and champagne optional but encouraged.

Washi tape, Target lucite tape dispenser, vintage ribbon, tags from Michael's. 

I don't know about you but my mom and I have a ribbon collecting habit, and those ribbons can be great for wrapping non Christmas packages, whether it's Hanukkah, Birthday or something else. 

I found this gold mine at TJ Maxx. Michael's and Craft Warehouse also carry glitter ribbon.

I added a card onto one package and a gold letter onto the second. 

Sparkly letters can be found at Michael's.

Baker's twine {stripey string}can be found on Amazon or at Michael's.

Gift tag from Fawn & Flora {A great site for gift wrapping!}

The baker's twine is also from Fawn & Flora!

{Both via a giveaway at the PNW Blogger Meet Up}

I fell in love with these poofs immediately. Both from Target, they are Spritz, which I love all the Spritz party supplies at Target, truly a gem. Find more Spritz supplies here. 

I added a little extra with the paper straws {Found at Target, TJ Maxx, local boutiques, Amazon, Etsy} and a Spritz wand. This is for a white elephant gift exchange so the person who chooses this will probably choose it based on the wrapping, right?

lots of different ribbon.

ribbon is often on sale the day after holidays, so load up for next year!

a little hot glue and some patience and you can make that bow too

{photo from last year}

A few from last year, more coordinated

My sister's birthday is at the end of November so I wanted to make sure she knew it was not a holiday present so I went with teal, hot pink, and silver. 

It's another Spritz pouf, letters from Michael's, and Target ribbon.

Like I said the confetti, cute napkins, and champagne is optional but it's fun to have a mini gift wrapping party with yourself! or whoever else is around. 

{The L is from a bridal shower for my best friend Liz, but now since I might be changing my last name, I'm keeping a few napkins around}

How do you gift wrap?

Do you love it or hope someone else will offer?

Do you wrap all the presents exactly the same?

all photos via iphone, forgive the inconsistencies and lighting