{ Tis' the Season. }

Tis' the season for weddings, and, so many of them this year! Hard to imagine a year ago, Cal and I were rushing around Minnetonka and Minneapolis to finalize final details with our vendors. Even though it was so much work, it was such an exciting time for the both of us. {I was fortunate to have a helpful fiancé.}It was very seldom when planning became stressful; needless to say, I was extremely organized and to the point of being so organized, I surprised our florist {at our first meeting} by pushing away her book of samples of bouquets and saying "I won’t be needing that."

For future Twin Cities' brides out there might find some of these vendors helpful: Our wedding website.

Their prices were affordable and customer service was top notch!

{Our Vendors}

We had the best photographer, too!

{Erica Loeks Photography}

The first time I had ever been frugal {I do mean ever!}, was when we were planning our wedding. Cal and I had an elegant Minneapolis wedding for less than 15K. It is possible!

{ Giada's Style, Loves! }

My new favorite DVR recording is Giada at Home. It's basically a sneak peak into the Everyday Italian star, {Giada de Laurentiis'}, world! Just like Ina Garten, Giada has tasteful style and recipes. {Which I adore!!} For those of you who have seen Giada's show, you have more than likely have seen the very cute stoneware egg crate, in which she holds all of her cage-free, organic eggs. Too cute and fun! It always catches my eye and every show I watch of hers, I say to myself, "Where can I find me one of those?"

{Amanda's Lucky Fates:}
I normally browse {Anthropologie's} site to look at darling tops, dresses, and home textiles. Today, while looking at Anthro's kitchen page, I came across the exact same stoneware egg crate that Giada uses on her show. Way too cool. I swear I am the only one who gets excited over chic cook wear.

Anthro calls it, Farmer's Egg Crate; stores a dozen eggs and comes in colors, sky and white. And, not to mention only 14 buckaroos! What a heavenly deal!

I ordered the white, {Shouldn't be such a shock to you folks.} but the sky color is just as adorable.

This is a must buy!

{ Housewife Confessions of the Wannabe Chef: Pillsbury's Funfetti Cake. }

Although an abundance of my cooking is gourmet and made from scratch, about 90% of the time. Sometimes a girl just needs a sweet, little break. Even gourmet housewives, a matter of fact!

A childhood favorite: Pillsbury's Funfetti Cake!

{ Gourmet Tip. }

A great way to add scrumptious flavor is by zesting a large lemon. Trust me a little bit of lemon equals a whole lota heaven!!

{ Getting Started!! }

I hope everyone had a wonderful week by adjusting to day lights savings. My internal clock kicked in and didn't want to lose my extra hour of sleep. To me, that's a lot to take away. My husband still laughs at me when there's 2 minutes before I have to get up and I will take advantage of every second of those 2 minutes.

Last Sunday, {heaven forbid my lack of sleep}; my Dad and Suzanne came over to help me paint our guest bedroom down stairs. {Same color as our master bedroom.} It was fun to learn how to paint the 'right way'. Some talent my Father neglected to pass genetically to me, along with his patience. I swear the man can do it all.

After painting, I was explaining my decorating ideas to my Dad and my thoughts of hiring help to paint the majority what's left of the house. Why not paint it myself? I have high vaulted ceilings and I'm a poor painter. I might be a fantastic cook; however, I am woman enough to admit when I suck incredibly at something.

Getting to the main point, my Dad offered that he would paint for me! I would pay for his time {a fraction of what a profesional painter would charge}and labor. What a deal!

I'm still looking for colors, fortunately, I have found some favorites. In the time being, I do have some colors I would like to do for a certain spot in the house. I have selected colors from {Pottery Barn.} 

I LOVE all the color palettes in this fan deck!

While looking at different colors and such, I began looking at the {Pottery Barn Catalog}and found some chic chandeliers.

Amanda's Note of Honesty: {I'll probably end up purchasing them, I do love them that much!}

Camilla 6-Arm Chandelier.

Perfect for our dining area.

And yes, I did say chandeliers...meaning...yes, buying 2 chandeliers.

Wine Bottle Chandelier.

I know, I know, pretty dang sweet.

Cal and I are planning putting a bar area in our basement.

This under a mahogany card table, cocktails and good friends, can't get any better than that.

Not to mention I love wine!

Let me know what you think!

{ Photo Credit. }

{ MegPie. }

My second love in my life.
Miss Meggie Mae Smith.

Aka: Miss Piggy, Droopy Eyes and MegPie.

 

  

 

 

She's a lot like Marley in Marley & Me, but we love her oodles!

{ V-Day. }

I hope everybody had a blissful Valentine's Day! Cal and I sure did! We don't go all out on V-Day, it really isn't a major holiday for us. However, this year was a little bit more special than the others. This year we are MARRIED and it was wonderful for myself to pick out a gushy 'Husband' Valentine card. Nevertheless, I had a ball going through tons of cards with the word 'Husband' on it!

What I received: My husband gave me a tear-jerker card, roses and a stuff animal. He knows how to get me!

Nothing says love quite like red roses in crystal.