I recently attended the wedding of the first of my 3 college roommates to get married.

For those of you who don’t know, I lived with boys. And one of my long-time girlfriends. She informed me that I need to get on that engagement thing because my other male former-roommate is now engaged. Just us two single ladies left.

Anywho … FLASHBACK to 2005

[clockwise starting on the left: Danielle, me, Joe and Nick]

This was from Nick’s 22nd birthday party — the first party we had in our new apartment as roomies. He and Joe were at the ISU game earlier that day and Nick got SUPER burnt. I’d like to point out that I have pink hair in this photo. And I apologize for the mesh cutoff sleeve shirt I have on — I was in a band at that point and was seriously into finding my own “metal” style. AND I have no clue whot he girl behind Joe is but she seriously looks like Robin Scherbatsky.

…

Moving on

…

So this is 2007, the year we all graduated college. This is one of my favorite roomie pix! Thanks, Danielle for digging this up.

[Danielle, me, Nick and Joe]

Yeah. This was at the Bali Satay House, which, sadly, no longer exists. We used to go see our friends’ bands play there. And my boss informs me that they apparently had incredible food.

…

Fast forward 4.5 years: 2011

[photo by McClanahan Studio — from left to right — Joe, me, Nick and Danielle]

This was November and Nick got married. Joe was his best man. Danielle and I were the queens of the dance floor. I’m amazed at how much we’ve changed in four years.

Share on Facebook

Five years ago today I posted this photo on Facebook:

And two years ago today we went from close friends to being nearly inseparable. I’m going to be disgustingly sappy, but I’m so thankful I found everything I ever dreamed of and more all rolled into one amazing guy. And he’s mine.

Here’s a photo from the first night we went out in public as a couple. Steph and Nathan just got engaged so we went to The Lift and Fong’s to celebrate (where else?).

Here we are at Welch Ave. Station in Ames (again … where else?). One thing I love about Mark is that I’m not the only one geeking out over 80s tunes when he’s around. Full-on belting occurs when “Come on Eileen” or “Take on Me” is played.

February 2010 — Night of the Living Prom — this is our Billy Idol pose. Rock.

New Year’s 2011 (man I looked bad with RED red hair!). This is an ill-advised hair moment for both of us. Advised by who? Me. Of course. I kept dying my hair red while telling Mark he should grow his out again because it’s so cute … [thanks to Justin for the pic!]

Spring 2011 (I may have put this one in just because I love my hair and earrings combo here). For the record, I LOVE BEARDS. I didn’t like facial on men before I fell in love with Mark. Now I realize that fur on the face makes the man.

And at Steph and Nathan’s wedding in May of 2011 (yeah we came full circle here!). Thanks to Kelly for this pic. I included this because Mark looks awesome in a suit and I absolutely adored the flowers we got to carry.

July 2011. Last photo of us together … most likely because we haven’t gone out forever. Mark bought a car in August and I’ve been pretty much worked to the bone since July. We’ve been hitting up La Fuente like nobody’s business, but otherwise have pretty much spent our nights at home with Netflix and Buffy, Kevin Arnold and zombies.

Happy two years, babe. I hope we have many many more.

Share on Facebook

A belated happy birthday to me: Margarita time. I had my birthday party last night since I’ve been over-scheduled all month (and into next month too … ugh). What better way to celebrate than cheap [awesome] Mexican food and MARGARITAS.

I didn’t realize it was ISU’s homecoming yesterday until the game let out and everybody got stuck in traffic. Mark, Matt and Katie (front 3 in the photo below) got stuck holding a table for 10 at La Fuente — fending off mostly drunk or hungover college kids who didn’t believe they were SERIOUSLY using all 10 chairs (yes, we are sure we’re using them!).

[me and katie]

[mark and matt]

[coree (my sister) and her friend ayla]

[steph and nathan]

[kelly and danielle]

MARGARITAS! Matt doesn’t believe me that the regular margaritas have more booze in them. They’re kind of gross, but they’re full of tequila, which I guess is probably why they are kind of gross.

After La Fuente we all came back to our place and played Apples to Apples and had some awesome flourless chocolate chipotle cake (recipe coming soon!).

Share on Facebook

And by wedding, I actually mean baby shower this time.

I created these adorable invites for Adria. I’m probably going to retool them to become wedding invites because I like them so much.

PS I blurred her address out but if you know us and would like to send her something, e-mail me and I’ll shoot you her address.

Share on Facebook

… now that Summer has been officially over for a few days.

First up — early July.  Mark and I went up to Stillwater to celebrate Mark’s brother, Nick’s, birthday.  They were doing a downtown Stillwater bar hop.

First up, dinner at Nacho Mamas — an AMAZING Mexican restaurant and bar.  Mark and I split some street tacos and I ordered what apparently was the most disgusting drink I’ve ever had — a Sangarita — half sangria, half margarita: all a bad idea.

And of course there was a birthday sombrero, which Nick sports here (yes, you can definitely tell Mark and Nick are related …)

[photo credit Justin Yunke]

Aaaaand there was a discovery that Naked MJ lives in my purse for opportune moments like this:

Then we headed over to a bar that used to be a pretty decent watering hole that turned into kind of a lame pub-themed bar.

Did I mention I was kind of exhausted? But this photo is one of my favorites of all time (thanks, Justin!)

[photo credit Justin Yunke]

At this bar we ran into the infamous (slash probably not famous at all) Johnny Rock (the dude with the hat).  He had a business card. With Johnny Rock on it.  Yeah.

[photo credit Justin Yunke]

And apparently I wasn’t having enough fun, so Nick made me dance with him. Which was awesome. Because I’m a horrible dancer.  And I’m super light-weight … so there was a few airborne moments (one below).

[photo credit Justin Yunke]

And I wish I had MY camera out for what came next: Stillwater’s version of Jersey Shore — The Freight House.

[photo credit Justin Yunke]

Take a moment to look at the website. Then imagine what the rest of the evening looked like.  Let’s just say there were 3 of us on the dance floor.  But there was intelligent analysis of pop music today going on out on the deck.

Share on Facebook

Yesterday was a fun day, filled with lots of exciting things.

First, we took Mark’s NEW CAR for a long drive to Eastern Iowa.

[brand new mazda 3 hatch in graphite]

He got a new car last week after his poor Rav4 blew a tire. It was on it’s last leg and he was pretty much ready to get a new car, so he went for it. And he is REALLY happy about it.

[it's a manual, of course]

Its got bluetooth, which is really cool because not only can he have handsfree phone convos, but we can hook up my iPod without physically plugging it into anything. This makes ME happy because my iPod Touch is having issues with the headphone jack, and the less i plug things into it, the better off it seems.

Our first stop was in Cedar Rapids to get my hair colored. I’m growing it back out (for now) and it’s starting to look entirely too much like my mom’s hair at this length with my natural color  … so time for an unnatural color.

It’s supposed to be the dark brown color that I had a couple years back, but we added a bit of red to it … and my hair sucked up ALL the red.  So it’s a dark red/brown.  I LOVE being a redhead, so I’m cool with it.

Next, we stopped at my Grandpa’s house in Anamosa. He sent us on our merry way with a BUNCH of tomatoes. I wish I took a photo of his bounty of tomatoes. It covered an entire dining room table. He said he was giving all his visitors a bag of tomatoes because he’s not going to eat them all.

Not sure what we’re going to do with the tomatoes … salsa? marinara? Either way, they are getting eaten!

We headed further north and went to the Shot Tower Inn in Dubuque and met my friend Seth (aka @nerdboner) for some late lunch/early dinner.  Got some amazing taco and BLT pizza (super naughty! But way delicious).  He had just gotten back from Wizard World in Chicago and apparently had picked me up some pretty sweet swag.  He totally underestimated my idea of “sweet swag”.

[all the doctors and the tardis — print by kurt wood]

[limited edition #1 of 25 print of Buffy by kurt wood]

… and the icing on the cake?  The heavy metal pixie <======== that’s me.

[check it out on kurt's blog with all the other superhero sketchies]

AND he got me the hardcover collection of the Metalocalypse comic … which will be my nightly read this week.

After a few hours of pure nerd bonding between Seth and Mark (Seth now swears they were separated at birth), we headed back to my hometown of Monticello to pick up Mr. Barnabus Stinson, II and bring him to his new (and hopefully final for a while) home.

And Mr. Barney acclimated quickly and is now enjoying spending every minute with his best friend Mark.

 
We were pretty exhausted after a long day of driving and our adventures in Eastern Iowa. All in all, a pretty good day!

Share on Facebook

it’s been a month and a handful of days, and my friend Steph and her beau are still happily married.

and my friend Kelly finally posted her amazing photos.

That means it’s finally time for a recap!

We started off the day before the wedding with a fabulous bridal tea thrown by Steph’s future sister and mother-in-law at their home. Here’s Steph with the teacup and saucer I made her for the occasion.

The bridal party

AMAZING sangria. I *need* this recipe.

After tea we went and got our nails did. Which was rather entertaining because I broke off half my thumbnail two days before (yes HALF of it) and I run (in case you forgot) so I told the lady to leave my calluses alone.  She was pretty put off by that request even AFTER I explained that if she shaved off my calluses that it would make my feet worse. And it would hurt my training. (ha. training!)

She managed to paint my thumb so it looked like there was a real nail on it.

We went and rehearsed and after rehearsal we went to 801 Chop House for the rehearsal dinner and our significant others joined us.

Mark looks dead sexy in a suit. Just sayin.

Then came the wedding day! The ceremony was outside at Sticks in Des Moines and the reception was inside the warehouse.

I was in love with the flowers — even though Steph said they were definitely NOT what she’d ordered.  They were gorgeous.

and so was the cake. also delicious for the record (kelly and I snagged 2 pieces)

the bridal party — ready to rock — glittered up!

After the wedding the bride and groom were showered with white rose petals and left to get some pix taken.

This photo is beyond gorgeous (Amanda does AMAAAAAZING work).

While they were out, we waited for our official photos. Somewhat impatiently …

for the record, the above two shots are probably 2 of my favorite photos of myself ever.

Mark held my flowers so I could take a pee break from the ridiculousness that was ensuing.

oh, and my other BFF Adria was there.  Holla!

And our friend Jen made it with her hubby and her month-old baby, Adoree.  She had to break Chinese tradition of 30 days of house arrest to attend (BY ONE WHOLE DAY). They are the cutest little family ever!

\

Dinner and drinks were served.  Cake was nommed.  Dancing ensued.

One thing I must note — the music, the food — everything — was so significant to the couple.  They spent hours and hours on the perfect playlist and even had their string quartet play “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure for the processional and they played “Today” by Smashing Pumpkins as the recessional.  I *loved* it.  And I know they were hoping that everybody loved the food and music because they put so much of themselves in the selection of both.

take one

take two

take three

WINNING

because we’re classy.

And yes, I had got drunk enough to show off the fact that I worked my butt off the previous week and a hafl to lose the last 5 pounds to fit in that dress.

Note: always get the bigger size if you’re between sizes.  I didn’t even THINK about the fact that my hips are hugetastic (11 inches larger than my waist) and that even if I weighed 10 pounds less the dress STILL would have been tight because my hips aren’t going to be any smaller. You can’t shrink bone people!

However, you just got a free pass to the gun show.  Enjoy.

all photos are from Kelly, Amanda or Candace unless otherwise noted. Photos without credits are mine.

Share on Facebook

I was out of the office a few days last week so I didn’t receive this lovely package from Amy Palanjian (the editor of ReadyMade magazine for those who aren’t familiar) until today.

Amy follows me on Pinterest and noticed that I had pinned this amazing book, “World of Geek Crafts” and promptly messaged me asking if I wanted her copy that was sitting on her desk.

Why, yes. Yes I do!

So she stuck it in snail mail, and I got it TODAY.

Guess what the first thing I’m going to make is? Betcha can’t guess …

It’s a Buffy portrait. Made from beads. Can’t decide if I want to anty up time or money — because this would make a GREAT x-stitch, but I feel that would take up too much time. But it would be awesome.

Also, I didn’t realize this until now, but I was featured on the Geek Craft blog a LONG time ago (2009) — when it first started. My lovely rubiks cube that I made for my then-BF, Kasey, was featured.

Share on Facebook

I just spent all of last week MOVING. Again. I know.

The house I was living in sold, so I was given 30 days to skedaddle. Moved in with my boyfriend and his roommate (who I was planning on moving in with ANYWAY come August) and now we have a pretty sweet setup.

I’m not going to post pictures of their place before. They would be forever ashamed. But here’s what we’ve got going now. Also I have to point out that we have like 11 game systems between the 3 of us. Yeah. It’s pathetic.

After combining pillows, we have ELEVEN pillows on our bed. There is no room for people. Or a dog. The good news is that since Mark’s bed is a full size, we can build the pillows up on the side to make it a queen. Kidding. But seriously. Also, we’re thinking of painting his red and blue furniture a more grown-up color … like a taupe, black or brown.

Girlie stuff + boy stuff. And I now have access to my all-in-one printer. It was on the tippy top of my desk before and I didn’t use it at ALL in my last place. My summer project (amongst many) is to scan in all of my photo albums and digitally archive them so I don’t have to cart them around with me for EVERY move. You know what that means? More installments of Time Warp Saturday.

Um. Our kitchen is awesome. Just saying. By some strange coincidence Mark and I had the same set of canisters, so now we’ve got tons of stuff all canistered-up. On the stove is this month’s batch of Mark’s marinara sauce.

And more kitchen. In the crock pot is a pot roast experiment. If successful, I will blog about it. On the wall: artwork by Kim Kullmer.

So that’s about it. For the next 4-5 months anyway. We are moving on July 31 to our new 3-bedroom and I get my doggie back. (BTW I did not mention that Barney is with my parents because we can’t have animals here)

Share on Facebook

My friend Doris is getting married and I offered to help pull together her invites.

She had some beautiful church architecture and wildflower inspired sketches and a desire for an e.e. cummings type treatment. So I waved my magic wand and put it together for her. She printed these on some pretty silver paper.

Here’s a photo of the invite, RSVP and Doris’s original sketch from her blog.

Her wedding is in less than 45 days. So exciting!

Share on Facebook