Inspiration Board Contest- VOTING TIME!

It's time to vote for your favorite Wedding inspiration board over at My Island Wedding. My entries are:

Number 6- Into the Woods


Number 7- Eggplant Lavender and Silver


Number 8- Fiesta Brunch


Your votes would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

After the storm...

I'm not sure why, but we have the craziest thunder storms here in NYC. Then we have the most beautiful orange and pink skies.

Tim Buton's Alice in Wonderland!

I am sooo looking forward to Tim Burton's upcoming film of Alice in Wonderland! It has always been one of my favorite stories and I have seen every film version of it. I hope that this one will be way up there on my list and the weirder the better! If anyone can do a strange creepy and beautiful version of this story, Tim Burton can! With a cast including Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena B. Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Alan Rickman as the Caterpiller, and Christopher Lee as the Jabberwock, I have a lot of hope. Don't expect the Disney-fied version here, y'all!





Currently due out in March.

My Daddy Dances

My Dad is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, Artistic Director, photographer, goof ball and awesome Papa!



I grew up watching him perform and teach and create.



On weekends we would "Jitter Bug" on the deck. In the summer we would do lifts in the pool!



It is from him I gained my ability to talk to anyone, my tendency to share maybe a bit to much information, my sense of humor, and my debilitating obsession with chocolate.



Thanks to his never ending love and support and limitless hugs and kisses, I know that I am special and deserved to be loved.



Thanks Doodee for being the best Dad ever! Thanks for camping trips, for always bringing too much to the beach, our European excursion and for putting my hair in curlers. Thanks for Nintendo championships, for the Jitter Bug, for watching me cheer and for not letting me pick up an upset friend late at night by myself. Thanks for loving me and Mom and Bryony. Thanks for loving dance and art and all things beautiful. XOXO. I LOVE YOU!

WEDDING SHOES!

I DID IT! I FOUND SHOES! I was browsing around Engageology when I spotted them.



Thus began my Internet scouring for these babies but every pair of this style left in stock seemed to be black or brown. :-( As a last resort I decided to search Ebay, but my hopes were low. But wait! What was that? A LONE pair for sale, in Ivory, size 8, for $35 bucks! It was destiny! I scooped 'em up immediately! Hurrah! Wedding shoes I love, and are 3" high, and look comfy(ish,) and didnt cost my first born child! I'll report back once I've put them on my feet. I hope they're not to good to be true!

Marie's Crisis

This place is to blame for my sore throat! Marie's Crisis is the West Village/ Gay/ Dive/ Musical Theater/ Piano bar to be in on a Friday night! Some of the old AG ladies gathered there last night to celebrate Kristin's birthday. I. LOVE. THIS. PLACE. Okay, okay, so it is tiny and crowded. Alright, alright, so I may have contracted an STD from the bathroom door handle, but the SHOW TUNES! THE SHOW TUNES!

Vintage Flower Hairclips on Etsy

Check out the new goodies I added to my Etsy shop Clairebelle's Closet! These hair-clips are made from 6 layers of delicate vintage handkerchiefs and are so dainty and feminine!

And another thing...

Why is this dress $45 dollars?



Is it, or is it not, a glorified version of the T'shirt dresses I wore in 4th grade? (no offense Mom, I loved those things!)



Well, this afternoon I whipped one up from an old tank top and a skirt I made a few years ago, but never wear.



Totally cute and totally free!

Finished! Lemon Drop Yummy Goodness!

I just couldnt wait to share! I. LOVE. IT.



Details: Simplicity's Cynthia Rowley pattern 2584.
Fabric: Yellow Linen and white embroidered lace.
Cost: about $20 bucks baby!

This pattern was so lovely and simple! I want to make more! Many, many more! First I think I'll try one of the other patterns, but which one?

A LIST

10 reasons why I cant wait to move to a 'burb and live in a house...



1.Bathrooms. Two of them. E and I always HAVE to use the bathroom at the same time or when the other person is in the shower.
2. Bath Tub. Our current bathtub is a mini. It is too short and too shallow to take a bath in. Very sad.
3. Laundry. Oh to have my own washer/ dryer! The idea literally makes me giddy inside.
4. Garden. I can't wait to grow my own veggies and fresh flowers.
5. Oven. Again, we currently have a mini. The oven is 15" wide. Please get out a ruler and process that for a minute. There is one rack and no broiler.
6. Central Heat. Radiators are spawn of the devil.
7. Neighbors. Ones whom I dont hear exercising or hacking up a lung.
8. Driveway. With a car. I could go to grocery store once, maybe twice a week!
9. Guestroom. No more "Oh, welcome to my house! Here's a couch to sleep on!"
10. Closets. We have one. ONE! ONE CLOSET!


Dont get me wrong, I LOVE our apartment. It is big (for NYC) and reasonably priced (for NYC) and we have lovely landlords. I do have a dishwasher, which is a big deal (for NYC) and in two years I have yet to see a mouse. Its just, well, Im over it! I've lived in very confined spaces for 8 years now and Im sick of justifying everything with the phrase "for NYC"! Sure, it probably doesnt help that Im unemployed right now and am spending waaay too much time inside these four walls. I should make a point to get out and do more things. Anyone up for a picnic in the park?

Cynthina Rowley #1- Mock up.

Here is the mock- up of the first Cynthia Rowley pattern Im making.



Im leaving it sleeveless so I reshaped the armcye. I also took it in a smidge on each side to make it a bit more fitted. I was thinking about making it out of an eyelet with a scalloped edge for the hem? Still undecided- that may be too Lilly Pulitzer. I'll probably go fabric shopping tomorrow. It also looks super cute with a belt!



I'm kind of digging the green, too. Hmm, lots to think about.

Wedding Shoe Blues

Basically I HATE every shoe with the word "BRIDAL" stuck in front of it. Yes, yes, Ive searched for non-bridal shoes that may work too, but I still can find no shoe that rings my bell. I guess I am being pretty picky, but it my WEDDING for goodness sake! Even though almost no-one will see them I still would prefer them NOT to look like this:



These are the white satin version of the shoes I wore to the eight grade dance with a "baby doll" t'shirt from 5-7-9. Wedding worthy? I think not.

What I DO want is an ivory satin, peep toe, 3" heel with no bling. They have to be somewhat supportive, nothing too strappy (I got the bunion, people!) that I can be in for at least 5 hrs and not scream bloody murder! Oh, and they MUST be under $100. I refuse to pay more than that for shoes I will most likely never wear again. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so. Right now Im leaning towards these bad boys.



I dont LOVE them but they are on sale for $40 from $195, however the sale means no returns! Whats a girl to do?! How will I ever find the perfect shoe in under 4 months! Impossible! It will never happen! I will walk down the isle in eigth grade, chunky heel, platform shoes from hell! AHHHHHH!

Ok, ok! I guess I still have time to work a miracle. But if anyone sees a shoe thats impossibly cute and fits my rigid requirements, please let me know! Thanks. Now I think I'll watch Harry Potter and calm the f*%#k down.

More pics from NC!

So as soon as I got home I jumped into the chaos with both feet! The morning after I arrived my baby sis graduated from high school! As most of you know, its the same high school my parents were the first graduating class of back in 1969, and its no ordinary high school! She has worked so very, very unbelievably hard to be the absolutely gorgeous dancer that she is! Im SO proud of her and I wish her every ounce of happiness next year as she pursues her dream with Richmond Ballet.






That same night Jimmy and I traveled to Charlotte for my friend Lindsay's wedding! My dress was a big hit! Even some of my friend's mom's knew about it from this blog! (Hi ladies!) Well, we just danced the night away and had a great time!

Fabulous Fiesta!

I cant say enough about my fabulous Fiesta Bridal Shower today! It was a beautiful day and the girls did a great job decorating! Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped make me feel so special! I love you all!


My "little" sister and I.


My oldest and dearest friends!


Beautiful Mommy!


My bridal party!


Aside from the flowers I made, Bry and I also painted Margarita glasses for everyone!


We enjoy!

A week of Wedding Meetings!

Well I must admit that I had some anxiety about this week and what seemed like an overwhelming amount of meetings! But now I feel soooo much more excited and confident about everything! Each vendor I met with made me feel more and more sure that I had made all the right choices! What really put me over the edge of excitement was when I found out Carolyn (my dress maker) had whipped together a muslin of my dress for me to try on! Most brides buy their dress almost instantly, so for me to finally see my idea starting to take shape over a year after we've been engaged was such a relief! Its going to be gorgeous! We bought the fabric yesterday- silk satin, silk chiffon, and a beautiful beaded lace. Sorry, no pictures till the end! Today is all about prepping the house and the food for my Fiesta Bridal Shower tomorrow! I cant wait to chat and laugh and smile with my girls! I'll be back in NY on Monday and then you will be bombarded with pictures of this week's events!

Saturday Night Wedding Faux Pas

I had an awesome time a Lindsay's wedding Saturday night! Here's the lovely bride and groom...




They had a photo booth from Shutter Booth that everyone had a lot of fun in!




But before the party was the wedding... that we almost missed... because we went to the wrong church! We were running late and so we just RAN into the church and we had to sneak in the side because the procession was already starting. We didn't get programs because we had to sneak in, but once we sat down we started looking around and shortly realized that we knew no one! I had to peak over the pew and try to read the program of guy in front of me- and sure enough- WRONG WEDDING! We had to run out right before the bride entered. I was mortified. Now we were really really late to the wedding! We had to haul ass across the street to the rightt church and somehow slipped in JUST before Lindsay entered! Needless to say our faux pas was the talk of the evening- other than how gorgeous the bride was, of course!

(Photographer)

Congrats you guys and thank you! I had so much fun!