Do you want the good news or the bad news first?  Bad?  Okay so the good news is……

I kid, I kid.  Bad news is that we won’t be posting any photos from our sister’s wedding for a few days.  We know, you all have murderous thoughts toward us right now – but sadly, I hardly took any photos this weekend because Stephanie and I were both too busy getting photos taken of us to do much ourselves.  We want to wait until the professional photos come in so we can show you some truly amazing ones – because, let’s be honest, the wedding was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  Seriously fantastic…so much fun and the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever been to.

I’ll give you one teaser – and if you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve probably already seen it so it won’t be that exciting to you.  Admit it though, you’re a cheap date – anything thrills you. {only joking, I love you!}

{Bridesmaid dresses}

Time spent with family was like a little mini vacation and we are so sad to see everyone go home.  We were able to spend Thanksgiving as well as the rest of the weekend with our friends, family and also our now-brother-in-law’s family who are also AMAZING.  We are trying very hard {but probably not succeeding} to convince them to move here from Florida.  We’ll let you know how that goes…

And now for the good news.  You finally get to see some of my house!

I have been so horrible with posting any photos of my house besides very small bits and pieces like my kitchen nook or the chimney.  You’ve also of course seen my closet because it is my pride and joy but because I haven’t felt like anything is “finished”, I haven’t wanted to post any photos.  Today, however, you get to see a bigger section…almost an entire room.  I say almost because I didn’t really take any wide angle shots of the whole thing and I think I missed a wall completely, but there’s not really anything on it so don’t be too disappointed.

My bedroom has been the last place in the house to get anything hung on the walls.  I’ve put more of my focus on the main rooms (even though those are not “finished” either).  With company coming into town and family that hadn’t seen my house yet, I made my room a priority and finally hung some art.  And I. Love. It.

This is “in progress” because I am planning to paint the walls and strip the dark stain off of the floors soon as well as other things, but it makes it so much  more enjoyable to be in my room now that I have some of my favorite pieces hung.  So without further ado, here is my bedroom:

I apologize that the bed is barely made – and to be quite honest, this is my least favorite photo because my coat rack that usually holds all 50 million of my scarves in the corner is missing due to being used for the wedding, which leaves a huge bare spot.  The purpose of this photo is just to show you where everything is in relation to my bed.  Please don’t judge me from this photo alone.  Thanks, I knew you’d understand.

This is my favorite part of the room by far – the view from my bed.  Closet on the right, bathroom on the left.

Don’t hate on the antlers, they make me oh-so-happy.

Like I’ve said before – I prefer to think of it as more of a collection as opposed to an obsession.

*sigh* I love this wall.

So there you go.  Now when you think of me, you will be able to picture where I am.  In a totally non-weird way…

As Stephanie May and I have mentioned, our sister is getting married this week – yay!

We have family coming into town starting tomorrow and things are well on their way to being the most beautiful wedding ever.

Here are some pretty posters I would like to own (hint hint)..I guess I’m liking simple black and white lately?

{All images from Therese Sennerholt}

Things have been a little ‘off’ lately.  Our sister is getting married(!) next week and life is busy.  It’s a good busy though.

Remember a few months ago when I was spending time re-evaluating my life and the things I am involved in?  Yeah…that’s still happening.  After that post, I realized that a huge part of what I was re-evaluating had to do with my freelance design work and whether that was something I really wanted to pursue on top of my day job and other avenues of work.

At this point in my life, it’s really not.  Don’t get me wrong, I love design work…it’s a great creative outlet for me and I am still doing it on a regular basis.  I don’t want to fully stop – but I do need a break.  I’m just not sure if it’s something I want to do to make a living from, and honestly – if I’m not making money from it, I don’t have the time.  As horrible as that sounds, my time is just too valuable to always be doing design work at the cost of other important things in my life..lately I am realizing I can’t keep up with that while still pouring as much as I want to into other things.

Anna Dorfman of Door Sixteen is pretty great.  I definitely have home envy and want my house to look like hers.  A couple of week ago she wrote a post entitled “Lessons learned.” where she shared about freelance design work and why she is taking a much needed break from it.  As I was reading her post, all of my concerns and questions and doubts finally made sense.  She put into words what I have been feeling and I think you just need to read her post to understand what I mean.

{photo from Door Sixteen}

So for now, I am saying no to freelance work.  I’m sure different projects will creep in here and there like they have been the past few months (I mean…you can’t say ‘no’ when your sister asks you to design her wedding invitations, right?!) but for the most part, I have to decline extra work in my life to focus on the things that are truly important to me.

I bought a house this year and I want to spend time decorating it and making it feel more like home and also be able to just be when I’m there and not constantly working.

I got a dog…and since she is a German Shepherd, she needs brushed constantly and I want time to take her for walks everyday.

One of my favorite things to do right now is work with students on music.  Really just working on music in general…I want to push myself.

I get to work with my sister, Stephanie, on our vintage Etsy shop and when I get too caught up in freelance work, there are just not enough hours in the day.

Thankfully, I live really close to my family who are all married and have children.  They are what is important to me and the people I want to spend the most time with.

If you are in a similar spot with balancing time, let me just say – it is most definitely okay to say no.

It doesn’t hurt for people to still ask (because I know you will…you know who you are:) and I may just make an exception)…but don’t be offended if I say, “No, please.”

I want this….bad.

{Photo Source}

Roland Tiangco, you are a genius.

I have been at my current job for 7.5 years now.  Some days it feels like it’s been much less than that but then others I feel every.single.day.  While I haven’t spent much time decorating the dark cubicle where I spend most of my time, I occasionally put some words of inspiration or just things I find funny on it’s gray walls.

This is the “art” of my cube:

Alternate book cover for Return of the Dapper Men

Excerpt from Look Both Ways – GREAT design book if you’re in the market

Totally behind the mission of this organization – Love 146

It’s kind of true.

Also pretty darn true.

Sort of an inside joke with some co-workers but it’s more about the quantity of better work than the incorrect grammar.

This is my space – where I spend 8 hours a day, Monday through Friday.  It’s not much – but it is possible to find inspiration and still have fun…on any given day.  I kind of like the people I work with – feeling grateful for them today.

Happy Friday!

I hope you are ready for another huge-giant-photo-loaded-post!  On Tuesday we showed you photos of the food and drink at our sister’s Bride’s Party, and today (as promised) you will get to see the decorations.  Three things you need to know before I start this:  1.  The theme of the shower was white, white, white!  2.  Our family can’t do anything on a small scale.  3. We are really really excited for our sister to get married.   Ok ready?  Let’s go!

I got the inspiration to a have a white-themed party, and we went all out for it!  Our parent’s were kind enough to let us use their house for the event, and we went about decorating every nook and cranny.

On the front porch we had shimmery fabric draped with “cup-lights” made by Stormie (they are little white plastic drinking cups!).  And of course, a white floral wreath on the front door – a must.

I asked my sister Tara to be in charge of the gift-table, and it turned out so cute!  She decorated it to look like a vintage desk, and filled it with a typewriter, globe, birdcage (for cards), and a white lamp.  She also made a sweet doily garland to hang above it, and streamer decor for the front window!

“You give me the kind of feeling people write novels about.”

The next big element was flowers.  Tons and tons of them.  Our mom really went to town making these out of paper, and she did a beautiful job of draping them over the bannister.  Seriously, it was GORGEOUS!  We did however have to gently force her to stop making them.  Once she got going, she couldn’t stop! :)

The hosts!  Tara (oldest sister), Jovan (married to our brother), mom, me & Stormie Dae

Stormie made an adorable paper heart garland that we strung across the back door.  Jovan made some white on white art – so cute!  She also made a white floral mobile, but sadly, I couldn’t find a photo of it!  It was breathtaking.

Tredessa (the bride) had requested that no games be played at the party (hooray!), but we did have photos of her and her fiance that people could write advice, congratualtions, ect… on the back.

This part of the decor was my labor of love/hate.  I came up with an idea (in my head) to have a white “ruffled” paper ceiling that was back-lit by Christmas lights.  Even though I LOVED how it turned out, I will never attempt it on such a large scale again.  440 sheets of legal size copy paper, a hole punch, and yarn.  The whole thing only cost me $1.50 to make, but it took about 6 hours to create it.  Whew.

The guest of honor!  Every bride needs a flower wall to stand in front of…don’t ya think?  She looks gorgeous!

Mom, thank you so much for all of your hard work!  You made 90% of the food, cleaned, made paper flowers like there was no tomorrow, and infused your great style into so much of what the party turned out to be.

Tara, thank you for heading up the gift table at the last minute and for being so willing to help with/try so many of the decorations!  I loved how the gift table turned out!

Jovan, your decorations were beautiful!  Thank you for jumping in to lend a hand to me at any given moment!

Stormie, I really can’t imagine doing an event without you!  You were a photographer, decorations creator, bread maker, coffee bar designer, food label artist, and videographer.  Is there anything that you can’t do?  :)

And of course, Tredessa, thanks for finding Ryan and falling in love so that we could throw this amazing party for you!  I hope that you know how much we all love you and wanted it to be a night that you would never forget.

*There are 2 more people who need to be mentioned because they helped so much and weren’t even invited:

Thanks Dad for all of your help with the ceiling, lights, cleaning, climbing ladders, and searching for our supplies!  You are always such a great help to us all!

And thank you to my husband Tristan – you saw that I was going to have a stress-induced meltdown when the ceiling was taking longer than expected, and you volunteered yourself to help me get it done.  Thank you SO much – I literally could not have done it without you!

I love you all!

And that concludes my longest post ever.  Hope you liked it:)

Guess where I want to be this weekend??  The Renegade Craft Fair is happening on Saturday and Sunday in Chicago!  Have you ever been to one?  I have yet to attend one of these fabulous events, and that makes me sad…I’m thinking  that us MayDae girls would fit right in…don’t you?  They really need to start having them in Denver every year and ASAP.  Pretty please with a cherry on top?

Yesterday was Tristan’s b-day!  It was a good day with lots of time, and LOTS of eating out (and consquently, lots of calories).  I sure do love that guy – he’s pretty cool:)

I took this photo of us at lunch – he’s cute:)

Got anything fun planned for this weekend?  *and if you tell me that you are going to Renegade, I might just throw a hissy fit!

Love,

Stephanie May*

I am a little bit of a book person – I know, you’re shocked.  I have 20 library books at my house right now – and yes, I am reading them all.  They are not all novels though at the moment.  There are a few of those in there, but it is also books on interior design, Parisian style and graphic novels.  Yes – I am one of those too.

Last night I grew obsessed looking through the interior design books and gathering ideas for my house.  And my mind EXPLODED with plans for every room.  One of the books that I saw while browsing at the library was “Modern Vintage Style“.  To be honest, I felt like it was going to be pretty stereotypical as far as design goes and I didn’t expect to truly like much of what I saw.  I am admitting it here, and this may be the last time….sometimes, I am wrong.

I mean, seriously… how can you resist this?!  I am getting some crazy ideas people…like – painting the floors, tearing out walls crazy.  Eeeeeeep!

Happy weekend!  Hopefully I don’t do too much damage to the house this weekend…I guess I should probably finish my chimney project first, huh?

Love love,

Stormie Dae

Missoni is coming to Target!!  I’m sure you’ve heard that already, but I completely forgot about this little tidbit of goodness until I saw another ad for it in my Vogue magazine last night.  I can’t wait!  There are so many incredible patterns to choose from on items ranging from clothing to office supplies and storage. {Sorry for the photo quality, it’s pretty crappy}.

I will definitely be getting a new make-up bag, LOVE these!

These curtains make me salivate…especially since I want to paint some of the walls in my kitchen with this exact pattern.

The absolutle BEST part of the collection and if I didn’t already have a pretty pretty cruiser bike – you better believe I would be sporting one of these!

{Photo Source}

The line will launch at Target on September 13…I am crossing my fingers that our Target will be carrying it!

Love,

Stormie Dae

Okay, before you get completely confused – I know we are 8 months into 2011.  However, I was just thinking the other day about my plans for this year.  My Non-New Year’s Resolution Resolutions that I wrote about back in December.  I am curious to see how I’ve held up with my list of hopes for this year, and I have to say – I’m slightly disappointed.  I think I’ve followed through with a lot less than I anticipated.  So as a reminder, these are the things that I didn’t place deadlines on but are my decisions about my life in 2011 and a look at where I’m at with them:

1. I decided that working on music is fun and not a chore

I have spent this year working closely with students and building a youth worship team at my church.  This has definitely been some of the most fun I’ve had and it’s also given me a chance to start singing, which is not something I’ve done for most of my life – at least, not in front of people.  It’s been a really good learning experience for me but I feel like I need to push myself more and step out of my comfort zone – not only with singing, but also with playing bass.

Honestly..I miss my bass.  I think I’ve neglected it a bit and put it on the back burner, relying on what I know about it from the past to get me through.  I want to spend more time with it and learn new things – I want to push myself musically which has been lacking in my life lately.

2. Sewing will be something that I work at and enjoy

This one has been a major fail for me.  Confession time here…my sewing machine is still at my parents house – it’s been there since I moved 5 months ago.  I haven’t sewed a stitch in months(pun completely intended).

3. I will no longer insist on working on something every second of every day

This one has been better for me…I’m learning to say ‘no’ to things and take more time for myself, which has been really good.

4. I will replenish my wardrobe with vintage and handmade pieces

I have been buying vintage dresses and skirts lately – but most of my vintage replenishing has been accessories and shoes…Hey – that counts!  Handmade?…see above – no sewing machine:)

5. I will learn more about photography, printmaking and graphic design

Photography I have definitely messed with a bit more than normal lately but that is still something I’m striving for as much as possible.  Haven’t touched printmaking – and I’ve actually been taking a little break from graphic design with the music festival taking over my life the past few months- but this is one of my latest undertakings…a book cover for my dad. 

6. Naps and rest will be my friends

My room is very good for this – although I’m still working on liking the naps.  I took one today actually and we didn’t really get along…I felt worse after waking up – but I guess it just is what it is…I’m trying.

7. This year I will buy a house and make it into a gorgeous hideaway

Done.  And working on it.  I did buy a house back in March – yay!  And I am constantly in the process of making it into my gorgeous hideaway…I absolutely adore my house – it’s my favorite place in the world – as it should be.

8. I have decided that this year will be a good year

It is.  It most definitely is.

It’s a work in progress.  I still have 4-ish months to accomplish all of these goals – I think I can do it, at least in part.  Now that I’ve written it out, I’m not as disappointed with my progress as I was at the start of this post…so that’s something I guess:)

Did you make any goals at the beginning of the year?  Where are you at with them?  I have so many new ideas running through my head right now – but I think I should table those for a few months…I’m discovering that contrary to my thoughts sometimes, I can’t do everything all at once.  Shocker, right?

Love!

Stormie Dae