Rain, overcast, space needle, first starbucks, pike place, seafood, ahhh seattle we meet again! I’m so excited to be in this beautiful city witnessing the wedding of C+J. I’d like to think I was a semi-match maker for them since I was already planning on going out with J + friends when I invited C + friends to come along to the bar we were going to as well (this was about 4 years ago)… and the rest is history. I’ve also had a ton of fun helping C with any wedding questions that come along during the planning process. Of course I’ll be taking photos with canon 50d. But for now, I leave you a collection of items from seattle based designers, photographers and basically things that remind me of seattle!

1 christian louboutin “bianca” owned by i am stylish, so pretty!
2 alchemy goods bag (from a local seattle designer) seen on broken saucer
3 luxe clutch by laura bee designs (made in seattle)
4 a warm seattle snuggler by counting stitches
5 adorable it’s a raining cupcakes print by lipeony
6 amazing wedding photo taken by seattle based photographer yvonne wong
7 gold fill hand-wrapped tear drop with prehnite briolette by dotted line jewels
8 parfait organic ice cream truck spotted on the soho
9 darjeeling knot ring made by elephantine
10 pink light design seen on print & pattern

And in case you haven’t heard, there’s a 5 day wedding photography workshop going on right now hosted by the amazing jasmine star! She has loads and loads of useful information about tips on being a great wedding photographer (and just great photography tips in general).  Today is day 3/5 of live streaming videos and she’s actually going to be shooting a REAL WEDDING IN SEATTLE today, so you can follow in her thought process and see all that it takes that goes into shooting a wedding. For more information on the timeline, click here. Don’t worry, if you can’t watch it live, her videos are available for purchase afterwards. Neat stuff!

What are your weekend plans?

This past week I kept seeing the book Eat, Pray, Love all over the front stands at airports since the movie just came out.  I read this book a few months ago and just loved it so I can’t wait to watch the movie!  There probably couldn’t be a more perfect person to play the lead role than Julia Roberts, I love her.  The part that stands out to me in the book is when she goes to Italy and eats at all of these delicious places, especially the gelato o ne, YUM!  So for this weeks flavors to follow, I’ve scoured the web for different ways to eat gelato!

1 eat gelato out of a cup like julia roberts does in eat, pray, love
2 enjoy unique flavors of gelato in a chocolate dipped cone at black dog gelato in chicago, il
3 have a sample of each flavor at gail silverton’s gelato bar in los angeles, ca
4 gelato filled to the brim in a brioche bun seen on ms. adventures of italy
5 one of my favorite chefs from food network, giada de laurentis brings us a delicious chocolate gelato baguettes recipe
6 a recipe for key lime with graham cracker gelato by the talented no so humble pie
7 queen of crafts and cooking martha stewart brings us an ice cream waffle sandwich

how do you like to eat your gelato?  what’s your favorite flavor?

I have dreams of learning new things at work, growing this blog with possible sponsorship, starting an etsy shop with accessories and sewn goodies, improving in my photography, learning new recipes each month, finishing our basement, trying to eat healthy and workout while traveling, being the best wife/friend/daughter/sister-in-law/co-worker/blogger/stranger I can be, starting a family (eventually), all of this and trying to get enough sleep each night.  Those dreams are somewhere… somewhere over the rainbow right? 

This week’s flavors to follow idea, as well as some of the links, were actually sent to me by sweet Erin from Slipcover Your Life.  If you love cross-stitch, you must check out her shop!  I’ve been so busy dreaming that I’ve been scrambling for ideas for this feature lately, so I was so happy when Erin sent me an email with this wonderful idea.  I hope this colorful collage brings happiness to your weekend! 

1 spotted by slipcover your life, a delicious and freaking gorgeous M&M covered double rainbow malt cake by raspberri cupcakes
2 spotted by slipcover your life, a beautiful ceramic stripey mug all the way from the UK, seen on design*sponge
3 store your documents and pictures in style with this uber cute friends with you USB flash drive
4 lovely scrabble pieces spell i can see a rainbow in this vintage style print by lola’s room
5 polaroid land camera rainbow flare spotted on 74 lime lane
6 spotted by slipcover your life, an adorable butterfly wedding cake by martha stewart seen on the ritzy bee blog
7 spotted by slipcover your life, a community painting project in rio de janeiro spotted on oh joy!
8 lovely cabachon flower rainbow necklace by nest pretty things kids
9 celebrate a carnival themed birthday party with this beautiful bunting banner made by blue moon studios
10 these irregular choice chica shoes would match any outfit, yea?
11 seen on green wedding shoes, how perfect that a rainbow showed up for a beautiful backyard wedding, photographed by kamp photography

If you guys have any ideas of things you’d love to see in this friday feature, please don’t hesitate to let me know through comments, email, twitter, whatever!  It could be anything from puppies to the color turquoise to lace to stars!

Have a wonderful weekend lovelies!  See you next week from Canada, eh?

In light of all of the traveling I’ve been doing for business and personal trips lately (and there’s many more to come), I figured it would make sense to do a Flavors to Follow on things related to Travel!  And you’ve guessed it, I’ll be off to New York/New Jersey this weekend for another wedding.    I’m most excited about reuniting with some of my closest college friends, our group known as P.Crew.  I wish I knew earlier that BlogHer Conference was also in NY this weekend, totally would love to attend a blog conference sometime!  Super excited that I’ll be meeting up with Janie from Janie Hearts though!

1 since i got married in the henry ford museum where i was surrounded by planes, trains, and cars… i love seeing other wedding pictures that include those props as well.  this beautiful photo was taken by yvonne wong
2 i’m sure hello kitty fans would do anything to get a ride on this train
3 set your luggage apart from others with these adorable owl luggage tags
4 carry your passport in style with this beautiful keykalou passport holder
5 first seen on a diary of lovely, wouldn’t you LOVE to travel with this whimsical bag
6 send a letter across the country with this beautiful bicycle letterpress stationery begin given away by janie hearts
7 add a seafaring touch to a summer dress with this five oceans pendant
8 win this map garland or other map inspired items on oh, hello friend
9 drive away in this tow mater car,  bakerella, i think he is a bit too cute to eat!

What are your upcoming travel plans?  Going anywhere exciting?

When we first moved into our house, my husband and I had toyed with the idea of turning our fridge into a chalkboard fridge.  What could be cooler than writing up your to-do list, drawing random pictures, and leaving each other sweet messages on one of the more frequently used appliances, yes we like to eat.  But because of our basement renovation, anything fun like that had to be put to the backburner.  Well guess what??  Our basement is DONE as of this week, so those things that used to be at the bottom of our list can make their way on up, woohoo!   And what perfect timing that Emily from Sassy Smolak just had a post this week about her DIY chalkboard fridge, which by the way, looks TOTALLY cool!  So I decided to search high and low on the web for some more chalkboard inspirations, and this, my friends is what I found… Enjoy!

{1} brought to you by the amazing sassy smolak, learn how to make your own chalkboard fridge
{2} seen on 74 lime lane, draw your own interpretation of the world with this chalkboard globe
{3} seen on isabella & max rooms, light up a room with a chalkboard lamp
{4} thanks melissabxoxo for sharing this chalkboard calendar, perfect for the type A’s!
{5} label bins, tins, and buckets with chalkboard paint, great idea not your average ordinary!
{6} seen on in honor of design, decorate your office space with some chalkboard wall decals
{7} seen on creature comforts, dress up your packaging with chalkboard gift tags
{8} seen on apothecary fox, record your grocery to-do list on this chalkboard tote!
{9} seen on poppytalk, decorate your room full of chalkboard
{10} seen on happiness is… chalkboards are a perfect prop for engagement photos

P.S.  Sorry if I haven’t checked out your blogs lately, it’s been a long week and an especially long yesterday…  Long story short, flight was delayed going from Detroit to Chicago, now staying overnight and blogging from my hotel room (that’s how much I love you), and finally heading back home tomorrow!  So excited for the weekend, all I’m going to be doing is RELAXING.  Then it’s off to Orlando on Monday I go… can’t wait to meet up with Sonja from SoNgDesigns!

P.P.S. Today is the last day to get 20% off of anything in Carol Hannah’s etsy shop!  Yes, she’s the designer from last season’s Project Runway.  Just mention “Sandy a la Mode” and this blog post in the “Message to Seller”.  I really hope that someone can take advantage of this awesome discount, her dresses are AMAZING!

P.P.P.S. Don’t forget to enter the We Heart Paper custom letterpress GIVEAWAYS (yes two) on here and Janie Hearts!  You have until Monday!   Hope your weekend is FABULOUS!

My favorite thing about summer is the fact that I can wear dresses every day without being cold!  Well, I don’t have THAT many dresses (I wish) but at least the possibility is there.  I just love wearing a nice flowy dress, paired with fun sandals, and a cabachon hairpin or headband in my hair.  Since we are pretty much in the middle of the hot hot heat, I decided to scour the web for some perfect summer dresses + why I like them!  Oh how I wish I could have them all…

1 posy print contrast dress | forever 21 | $22.80
(i’m a huge fan of contrast dresses)

2 vintage 80s purple white polka dot slouch top mini dress | twitch vintage | auction
(love the vintage style of this dress)

3 all for the love of you daisy dress | shopruche | $46.99
(it’s yellow and grey… need i say more??)

4 save the date party dress | one crafty fox | $130.00
(LOVE the print and colors of this one)

5 cream and sugar dress | spotted moth | $46.99
(so very sweet and romantic)

6 take a bow satin amelia dress | kate spade | $395
(perfect date night dress)

7 bring and braai dress | modcloth | $49.99
(the print, the bow, the colors, so lovely!)

8 gadsden street dress | carol hannah | $235
(yes, she’s the one from project runway and she totally has a BEAUTIFUL wedding collection as well)

9 floral tie waist maxi dress | asos | $60.64
(maxi dresses are just pure awesome)

We’ll I’ll be heading out to Chicago for the weekend where I’ll be going wedding dress shopping with my friend Ning-Ju and having lunch with Ilene from Much Love Illy!  (By the way, she just did a post on dresses with pockets, LOVE!)  It’ll be my third blogger meet-up ever, so excited!    Then it’s back to Ohio for business once again next week.  Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

And as a special offer to my readers, Carol Hannah is offering 20% off her shop (not valid on wedding collection) through July 30, 2010!  Just mention Sandy a la Mode in the “Message to Seller” at checkout!  Thanks so much Carol Hannah, loved you on Project Runway!!

What’s your favorite thing to wear in the summer?

Hello from Philadelphia!  Yup, you’ve guessed it, it’s another wedding weekend, this time it’s my friend Roanna’s wedding.  We met through work (well actually at a club, but we worked at the same place) a few years ago in Kansas City!  We’ve had sooo many fun times together throughout the years and although she has moved back to Philly, we still keep in touch.  I’ll actually be standing in her beautiful yellow + red wedding on Saturday at a beautiful Mansion! 

Well, before Roanna left Kansas City, the last thing she gave me was a little light grey stuffed animal elephant that I’ve named FeFe (yes, all my stuffed animals have names)!  So for this week, I bring to you a collection of super adorable elephants from around the blogosphere!

entertain: elephant in the room seen on la bella bungalow
play: ella the elephant plush made by pixies and bears
pour: elephant teapot set styled by heather cameron seen on creamylife
accessorize: lucky jeweled elephant sold by envisage
package: cute green forest tape sold by little red snapper
inspire: elephant friends seen on happiness is…
wear: toulous the elephant hat made by wattlebird
cross-stitch: polka dot elephant sold by andwabisabi
write: elephant love blank letterpress card made by janie hearts (P.S. she just might be having a letterpress GIVEAWAY up on her blog RIGHT NOW!)
clutch: elephant clutch made by lori marie

And as if the above weren’t already a dose of cute overload… here’s an old picture (taken by Youkeun Oh) of my nephew at his 1st birthday party, which was 6 months ago.  If you can’t tell, it was an elephant (and other baby safari animals) themed party!

 He came to visit us this past weekend for Marv’s 30th birthday and for his 18 month birthday and we miss him already, *sigh*, oh yea, and I totally taught him how to “raise the roof”, ohhh how we love him so.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a beautiful Olive Juice Photography print!

Well, I hope you all have a fantabulous weekend!  What are your plans?

Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody’s heart. – Anthony J. D’Angelo

***

This quote… well it just makes me smile!    Hope you all had a fantastic short week this week… for some reason, it still felt kind of long and I think next week will feel even longer. Since my recent trip to City Market where I visited the Steamboat Arabia museum, I have been absolutely smitten with KEYS.  My favorite part is a key is the uniqueness of the top part, there’s so many different designs out there!  I really so super badly want a key necklace, but I’d be happy with any of the following items!

heart: key to my heart necklace made by janie liu jewelry
giveaway: lock and key necklace giveaway on wattlebird
sew: skeleton key clutch made by pocket carnival
cover: hello safari key caps seen on modcloth
hook: key hook rack sold by anthropologie, first spotted on the next arrow
watch: once upon a time sweet pocket watch made by oh, hello friend
open: bottle opener seen on urban outfitters
frame: vintage frames made by jordan james

Don’t forget to check back Monday for my Alphabet Walk Blog Hop post as well as the many other blogs that are participating in it!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

YAY it’s finally the beginning of the weekend, but not just any old weekend, it’s another fabulous holiday 3-day weekend, AND I get to wear jeans to work on Friday!  What are my plans for the weekend?? A whole bunch of relaxation, a little bit of cleaning (actually my house requires a lot), insanity workouts, a BBQ with friends, watching Toy Story 3 and sewing sewing sewing!  Well I’ve done it again, I’ve scoured the web for some of my favorite things that remind me red, white, blue, stars, stripes, and fireworks – enjoy!

pin: pinwheel brooch seen on one pretty thing
celebrate: fireworks seen on we heart it
print: paper sack printable on skip to my lou
decorate: martha steward garland seen on honey suckle chic
design: colorful doors seen on creamy life
inspire: pretty blue stars from we heart it tagged from mixed plate
walk: go jane heels seen on paper n stitch
eat: patriotic cupcakes made by i am baker
wear: nautical adventures poppy garland made by much love, illy
jiggle: patriotic jello (yum!) made by my mom and picture taken by me (like the flag in the background haha?)

Today some of my childhood pictures are being featured over on Wild and Precious in her fun Be Young series.  Make sure to head on over there and check it out!

What are your plans for the long weekend?  I hope it’s fantastic!

Hello Summer!  And by hello, I really mean geez it’s HOT out, but I LOVE it!    This past week has brought on hot, humid, 90 degree weather out here in Kansas City, has it been the same for you?  Well, this weekend I will be off again to another wedding, this time to…

The City of Love – San Francisco

I couldn’t be more excited to be attending my dear friend Eafong’s wedding this weekend.  The story of how she met her fiance really proves that great things can happen when you least expect it… basically she had just gotten back from a three month business trip in Australia and was pretty exhausted.  But my other friend was throwing a vampire party and I felt the need to drag her along.  When I called her the night of the party to come out, she used the fact that she didn’t know what to wear to try to get out of coming with me.  I just told her to throw on some black clothes and that I’d pick her up at 8PM, which she finally agreed to.    Few hours into the party and I kept seeing her with this guy and I wasn’t sure if she wanted to be with him or not.  As we left the party, I asked her “Are you okay???“  because I wasn’t sure if he was a creepster or a nice guy.  Little did I know that they had already exchanged numbers and planned to have brunch the next day…. and really, the rest is history!  I’m sad that she’ll be moving away from Kansas City though, because these past five years wouldn’t have been the same without her, but I am really happy that she found her true love and gets to be with him.    Congrats Eafong + Matt!

So in honor of their upcoming navy and peach wedding – I’ve gathered together a summery peach board for you all!

(1) entertain – porch inspiration seen on postcards and pretties
(2) dress – dropwaist button dress seen on wolf and willow
(3) DIY – ruffle necklace on ruffles and stuff
(4) pin – carnival des fleurs vintage hairpin set made by fleur avenue
(5) invite – hindu wedding stationery seen on oh so beautiful paper
(6) donate – peachtree birds donated to help the gulf seen on sfgirlbybay
(7) carry – coin purse made by downtown girl designs
(8) wear – tiered sunshine hoop earrings made by cherry and violet
(9) wrap – fabric fringe scarf made by beautiful bridget

What are your weekend plans??