Face time

At first, when I considered all the vain things I’d spend my money on in the name of being a bride (hair, Spanx, facials, makeup, all that good stuff), I figured I’d probably get my makeup done the day of the wedding because those sorts of things are best left in the hands of professionals.

Then I had my makeup done twice in one month and really wasn’t a fan either time. Thinking back on it, I should have realized that might happen, as I’ve never really liked when someone else has done my makeup for me– colorguard, theater, or even messing around at sleepovers. I’ve done my own makeup for all the proms and balls I’ve ever been to, so why not do it for the wedding?

This is when people generally step in and say “Oh, Leah… your wedding day is totally different from a prom or ball. You should really have someone else do it.”

To that I reply: “Wellllp, that’s just too bad because I don’t trust anyone else to do my makeup at this point, mmkay? I’d rather do it myself and know I’ll like it.”

So that’s what I’m doing– to save my sanity and a little money, I’m doing my own makeup. With that knowledge, I headed out to Sephora, one of my favorite stores. The staff was super-helpful in pointing out things like makeup with SPF gives people a weird sheen in pictures and BareEscentuals might be great for everyday wear, but they refract the light really weird in pictures and also give a weird sheen– two things I didn’t know, the second being kind of crucial, since that’s what I was thinking about wearing. Whew!

Anyway, on my first excursion, I picked up a handful of things:

• Benefit Big Beautiful Eyes kit- $32
• Sephora Stain & Shine in Coral & Gold- $15
• Benefit BadGal Waterproof Mascara- $19

I played around with it a bit today to see how it all looks together, and I really like it! The kit is everything you need for, like it says, bit beautiful eyes, and you can really amp up the smokiness (what I tend to do for formal events) to your preference. The stain & shine is just the right color for my lips– pinky and perky without being too bold, but I might swap out the gloss for something else. The one included is a bit sticky. I don’t have enough good things to say about the mascara… I’m a huge fan of the BadGal line, and have used the regular black and plum versions, which make my eyes really pop. The waterproof version lasted through a 7.5-hour bakery shift on a 95+-degree day, a nap, a shower, and my 30 Day Shred workout. I think I’m in good shape for the wedding.

I’m also planning to use NARS’s The Multiple ($38) and Powder Blush ($26), both in Orgasm. Layered up, the color is fresh and fun, and it won’t go anywhere. I already have both of them, so I’m glad I don’t have to plunk down the money again.

Now, all I have to do is find my face base makeup– primer, foundation, and powder. Anyone have any suggestions?

She’s crafty

That’s a Beastie Boys reference, for anyone keeping track:

And I totally meant “crafty” in the sense of “DIY-ing random stuff because I can’t focus” and not the “adept in the use of of subtlety and cunning” sense.

The FMILs gave me a gift card to Joann for my birthday, so I decided to make use of that and start the pomanders I’d planned for the flower girls. I also got some half-baked idea to make a few to mark reserved pews during the ceremony. Here’s what I picked up:

Two two-packs of 4″ styrofoam balls, two 6″ green styrofoam balls, 3″ round punch, gold satin ribbon, and gold organza ribbon.

I’ll be cutting the 4″ balls in half to make the pew markers. The punch comes into play for those, too– I’ll go over the details in another post. Someone remind me, pleaseandthanks.

I went to the Dollar Tree next door in search of tissue paper for the pew markers, but found these babies instead:

Hello, gorgeouses. Naturally, I could only find two, which is just my luck. But they cost me a whopping dollar each, for 7 blooms on each. Yahtzee!

I started to methodically make a whole through the middle of the ball to thread the ribbon through, using the gold satin for this project. By methodically, I mean I started with a 4″ screwdriver, realized it wouldn’t make it all the way through (math was never my strong suit, friends), then wound up just shoving the stems through until I made a big enough hole. I threaded the ribbon through and tied a knot at the bottom so that it looked like this:

Then I cut all the blooms off the carnation bushes with a pair of wire cutters/needlenose pliers, leaving a bit of stem on there– maybe like an inch or so? Estimation was never really my thing, either. I stuck all the flowers in so that they covered most of the surface of the ball underneath, and voila!

The top makes it quite obvious that I need more flowers, but you can get a better feel for what it would look like finished from the bottom image.

For 15 minutes and 10-ish bucks (once finished), I’m pretty pleased! What do you think? And hey pictures! Thought you might like to see what I see

Raining on the DIY parade

Let me first say this: all you ladies who were blessed with the crafty gene have my utmost respect. Really, you do.

But napkins? Cocktail flags? Table runners? Seat signs? Are these things really necessary? Will anyone really notice the bands you’ve wrapped around the sparklers for your grand exit, or the hand-sewn vellum envelopes for the lavender buds they’re throwing instead? Will they really take the time to admire the Gocco’d, ribbon-wrapped custom magnets for your save-the-dates? Or will all that time, energy, and frustration be in vain?

I love the little details of weddings– truly, I do. I’ve been reading wedding blogs for a good long time, and know what sort of triumphs and tribulations brides go through planning their special days. Therein lies the problem, though: it’s mostly the brides doing all the insane crafting. Lately, on Weddingbee, I’ve noticed an uptick in creative designer-type grooms helping with the invitation design or not-so-creative grooms busting out the spray paint for the centerpieces. I’m all for that.

But ladies, let’s re-evaluate. Why are you DIY-ing yourselves to death? Is it to save some money? Is it to put your own personal stamp on the day? Is it because you know you’ll always remember the flags on the toothpicks for your Cheeses of the World station? Or is it because you feel like you have something to prove? And I don’t mean to be offensive here, truly I don’t. I’m honestly curious.

As for me, I plan to DIT (do-it-together) the flowers, the centerpieces, and the invitations. That will pretty much entail wrapping the bouquets and bouts the day or two before the whole shebang (likely with some of the ladies, as the FI doesn’t have much of an eye for flower design, I’ll admit it), spray painting lanterns for the centerpieces, and cutting/folding/stamping/addressing the invitations together. The FI has made it very clear that he wants to help with the invitations.

But he has (thankfully) given up the notion of singing sherpas on bicycles delivering them.

Brewing beer

That’s right, folks, I finally started my first batch of home-brewed beer. As you might recall, the BF got me a starter kit for Christmas, which included everything I needed except a brew kettle. I picked that up last week, and got started Saturday night! If all goes according to plan, I’ll have 5 gallons of Continental Light-style beer, similar to Heineken. I prefer a good hefeweizen or stout myself, but you have to start somewhere, right? And I do like Heineken, so we’re good to go.

Some pictures!

1.5 gallons of water on to boil

Continental Light-style ingredients kit

Malt, hops, sugar bubbling away.

Just added the yeast for fermenting

Shiny new toys!

Almost sounds like the band called Shiny Toy Guns. Listen to “Le Disko” if you feel like strutting down a futuristic runway. That’s what I do.

Anyway, I am the new owner of three cool new things. One is not shiny but somewhat toy-like, another is very shiny and not toy-like at all, and the third is none of the above.

That’s right, if you hadn’t guessed already (and I’m fairly certain you didn’t), I am the new owner of a Garmin nuvi 260 GPS device, a 20-quart brew kettle, and a new-to-me/us cupboard! Be excited!

I got the Nuvi for my recent birthday, and have been playing with the voices and settings ever since. I don’t go places that require navigation on a too-regular basis, mostly since I don’t drive very often, but I’m excited. After a lot of discussion, I’ve decided on the British English female voice to guide me on my journeys. Her name is Serena according to the program, but the BF and I are calling her Victoria. Like Beckham and the Queen (not the current one, obvi). Sweeeeet!

Next up: the brew kettle. This means I can finally start brewing my beer with the kit the BF got me for Christmas! We’ve been saving all our bottles, and tonight will probably be the maiden night of brewing at our household. Let me know if you want to try a bottle when it’s done!

Lastly, my Mum gave the BF and I an old particleboard/laminate cupboard she had collecting dust and other assorted nastiness in the basement. The washer and dryer are finally out of our kitchen and in our shiny new bathroom (OMG YAAAAAY!! SO MUCH SPACE!!) so we decided to build some shelves to hold our food. We have  no cabinets, so storage has been a challenge until now. Mum came through and offered up the cabinet, which we will paint cool colors (yellow, teal, orange, and green) to match a sweeeet chip/dip set friends of ours gave us for housewarming (note: it’s WAY cuter in person than it is on the site. Ours has royal blue, not purple). Watch for pictures!