Surrounded By Leaves

Here's the latest of what I've been doing in pottery besides throwing:

Since we're having an October wedding, I decided to cut leaves out of clay and make magnets. A coworker made magnets for her friends wedding using marine animals so I borrowed the idea from her. Lucky for me, we're only having a 100 people. I think her friends wedding had around 250!!

Here are the leaves post bisque prior to glazing. We are using 4 different shapes although for some reason I've been slacking from using the maple leaf. I wonder how that happened! These leaves were textured using a piece of lace-y fabric crocheted by my great grandmother. The fabric was rolled onto the clay before the shapes were cut out. They came out really nice and I wish we had done this from the beginning!

Here are the leaves after glazing and the second firing in the kiln. I've made about 75 so far and have been trying multiple color combinations. The reddish/pinkish leaf with the yellow around the outside was a test leaf. I really like the way it turned out. I think the tech at the pottery studio hates me though because there's a never ending stream of leaves for him to fire! My favorite so far has been green with tinges of purples throughout sponged on. The color combination looks beautiful however unnatural the leaves may look.

Besides leaves, I've cut out butterflies (which are even smaller than the leaves) to make wind chimes for my bridesmaids and I added handles on 3 mugs last night and threw a tiny completely off center plate. I'm struggling with centering again which is really frustrating because I've been doing this for 2 years now. There's only 2 weeks left of pottery before class ends so I'm definitely going to the studio this weekend to get some more throwing in.

Another Project Started

I got alot done this weekend BUT it was nothing I really needed to do unfortunately. My homework for this week is still unfinished. I'm avoiding it because this week it will actually involve some effort to complete. The wedding to do list is growing with nothing being checked off. Our invitations are coming today so I'm super excited! I didn't make it to the farmer's market on Saturday. Oh and the house is a big ole mess....

So let's recap what I did this weekend instead. Friday FH went to "happy hour night" with a friend he hasn't seen in over 5 years. So I decided to check out JoAnn and impulsively purchased fabric and a pattern (I'm making the red & white style dress) for a new project. Not that I don't have enough of fabric & patterns at home already but this was new and exciting! FH and his friend came home to hang out so I couldn't start on my project right away.

Saturday was another Phil's game. We scored tickets from our boss (FH and I work together if I haven't mentioned it yet). Our seats were incredible and we took FH's mom and dad ~ see pictures below. The Phil's won although they did have a really bad inning ~ 9 runs against them. It was really hot and humid so I tried to fill in my farmer's tan and only got slightly burnt on my shoulders. The game was a sell out so we arrived at the stadium early to get good parking and go some of the overly crowded stores. I bought yet another Utley t-shirt, but this one is green with a cute clover on it!

Sunday started early with church and grocery shopping with my mom. Finally Sunday afternoon I was able to start my new project. All the fabric has been cut and assembly has started. I would have been sewing past 10 o'clock but I knew FH would have been mad! More pictures to follow of my progress!

Please don't poke me : (

Today I had my biannual work physical, which is odd because I've been with the company 3 years so technically I should have had it last year. I have an insane fear of needles so I pleaded my way out of the physical last year because I wasn't doing any field work. Well since I'm doing field work again and will probably continue to do so, I had to get my physical, including blood work (UGH!!!!).

I was really worked up before leaving in the morning, freaking out, making myself worry, crying, etc. FH didn't help either. He just randomly forgot about my fear of needles and thought it the perfect time to complain to me about his cleaning at the dentist scheduled for the same morning. A cleaning???? Really?!?!?! Come on!!! I'd rather get cavities filled than have my blood drawn!

It was scheduled for 10am, which is kinda late considering you have to fast for the blood work and I didn't get out until 12:00 or so. I definitely almost passed out during the blood work from not eating. They were really nice though and gave me coffee loaded up with sugar when I was done. Oh and my vision, hearing, breathing, and heart are OK and I can wear a respirator if I need to!

wedding sickness

So Monday I called out sick from work. I woke up around 3:30 am and felt really nauseous. Like you know how you feel when you have a stomach virus? Kinda like that. I didn't get back to sleep until 5:30 or so. I felt like I had a fever so I figure better safe than sorry, so I stayed home. I still went to pottery Monday night although I still didn't feel good. In addition to the wedding favors, I'm now working on making some more coffee mugs and wind chimes (using butterfly cookie cutters) for my bridesmaids. I couldn't not go! Tuesday I woke with a really bad earache. Seriously!! I've had it since so I think it's about time to call the doctor.

Tuesday night was our tasting at the caterer's. It was de-lish! FH's parents came, my parents, and of course me and FH. We had salmon, Chilean sea bass, mahi mahi, filet mignon, and 2 different chicken entrees. They gave us huge portions plus dessert (yum). After talking to the guy, I'm starting to freak out about everything I still need to do. I made yet another to do list and it's crazy long. One more thing to cross off is....I got my wedding ring (finally). It's perfect!

My e-ring and wedding band.

Our wedding rings.

Weekend Ramblings

This week I wrote all but 5 thank you notes for all of the beautiful shower presents we received, so yesterday I unpacked everything. It took me a few hours to take everything out of the boxes, clean it, and then find a home for it. Our old kitchen appliances were boxed up and put in the basement for our future yard sale. Our new coffeemaker rocks! It automatically turns off after its done brewing which is a lifesaver because FH and I argue in the morning about if he or I remembered to turn off the coffee pot. I made coffee this morning at 8am and it was still hot at 3pm. This thing is amazing!

I watched a total of 3 movies so far this weekend: Jumper, The Other Boelyn Girl, and The Kingom. Jumper was so-so. I saw The Other Boelyn Girl previously in the theater so it's pretty obvious that I liked it. The Kingdom was excellent. I didn't think that I would like it but the plot and acting were excellent.

Today the heat is especially brutal. I really don't want to leave my bedroom since it's the only room in the house with AC. Today, mom and I went to the pottery studio to work on my wedding favors. I'll have to post pics after this latest round are fired. We made about 45 more today, so I think we're in good shape.

Bridal Shower Surprise!!!

So instead of my parent's anniversary brunch, Sunday was my surprise bridal shower. I must admit, I had my suspicions but I wasn't positive. My entire family, including my grandmom and FH, have been lying for months about it!! I guess you could say I knew, but wasn't positive. What gave it away was my brother offered to pick us up (he never drives) and FH's family kept calling all morning, including his Nan who never calls. I was really surprised that all of my bridesmaids were there as Em lives in California! We got really cool gifts like a programmable coffee maker, a grill, pots and pans, a rug shampooer, toaster oven, crock pot, and gift cards. I'm going to my mom's tonight to open my gift from my parents since I didn't want FH to see it as the mother of the bride traditionally buys what the bride wears her wedding night.

The shower theme was 'baking' which the girls picked - i loved it! I now have tons of cookie cutters since they hung them as decorations around the room and lots of recipes since the girls sent out recipe cards with the invitations. FH's dad made us a recipe box for the shower (it's beautiful) with a really old piece of cherry wood he had been saving. It's like 25 years old or something! I love baking/cooking so I was really excited about the theme. I received a rolling pin and all sorts of baking pans, now I just need to get in the kitchen!

After the shower, FH's family and mine came over to the house since alot of them still haven't seen it. Thankfully, FH knew about the shower so he picked up around the house! I'm fairly traditional so I thought my mom would keep the stuff from the shower at her house until after the wedding. She wasn't too keen on that since there was so much stuff so everything came back to our house. FH and I debated what to do with the goodies and decided storing them in our attic (too hot) or our basement (too wet and musty) until after the wedding is crazy. So as I write out my thank you cards I'll be unpacking our new fun stuff :)

Happy Anniversary (Brunch)!!

I can't believe it's Saturday night alright. Sundays are generally depressing for me because all I can think about is work on Monday morning. But, I got alot accomplished this weekend. I submitted my homework that was due Tuesday (ooops) and even submitted my homework that's due this week. FH and I went to a Phillies game this afternoon. I am highly disappointed! This is the second game in a row that my favorite player, Chase Utley, was not in the line up. As soon as they started announcing the line up I knew it and I wanted to leave in protest. I hate sports but for some reason I love baseball because of this guy. He's hot! Utley is the best 2nd baseman in baseball right now. The other team got 8 runs in the 5th or so inning so at that point the game was over.

Tomorrow is my parent's anniversary brunch. They've been married for 30 years this August. My mom was 17 and my dad was 18 when they got married. They worked hard and although we didn't have a lot when I was younger we had what we needed. With my wedding and my brother's 30th birthday this October we couldn't do anything big. I feel bad but I'm too broke to throw them a surprise party. Tomorrow should be nice though. My whole (small) family will be there ~ 25 people and it's at a nice restaurant right up the street. So Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

4th of July BBQ

FH and I were more or less volunteered to host a BBQ at our house for 4th of July. Most likely because my brother doesn't really have a yard for such a party. It started small but has grown to about 15 people not including FH's family if they decide to come. I really want to go see the fireworks in town or at the river but I'm not sure I'll be able to kick people out if they choose not to come. My friend Roxy is bringing her puppy and to be sure our dogs would get along they had a meet and greet yesterday. It went well so my dog will have a friend at the party too! I'll be sure to post pics from the get together. There's alot of last minute planning, shopping and cleaning happening right now. At lunch today I'll go to the store to get burgers, dogs, and buns. I'm paranoid that if I wait until tomorrow there won't be any left! FH has a softball game tonight which would be perfect since we don't have work tomorrow but now I have all of this mess to take care of. Needless to say it is going to be a long 2 days to get ready for this :)

Nature at its best

There is a huge rhododendron along our fence line. It bloomed earlier in the spring and was beautiful. Now that the flowers have fallen, I've noticed a nest in it. There has been a bird, maybe a robin, sitting in it constantly for the past few weeks. Well a few days ago the bird disappeared and FH found an egg on the ground below the nest. I felt horrible for this bird that's been sitting in the nest for weeks only to have something, most likely a crazy squirrel, come along and destroy the nest. Well last night when I was watering the plants, I saw three tiny beaks sticking out the top of the nest. Momma bird must have been off gathering food because these babies were hungry. The babies weren't more than a few days old. I took this picture from afar as to not scare the babies or the mom from coming back. Better pictures to come; I don't want to get too close.

Wedding Updates

My mom found this wedding store near our house that has EVERYTHING! I needed to get my brother's girlfriend's daughter Micky a birthday gift so my mom agreed to go with me if I went with her to this store. I think we were in this bridal store for 2 hours! I found a headpiece which I was avoiding as everything I looked at was over $300...craziness. The first headpiece the lady put on me was perfect and get this; it was less than $100. I also got my shoes. They're hott! Two more things to check off of my list. I will definitely be going back to get other wedding stuff like toasting flutes, unity candle, etc.


Oh, and I ended up getting Micky barbies at the toy store :) She loves them and so did I when I was a little girl!

Other wedding fun: there was no response from the vendor I picked for the invitations. I should have had the proof last week and still hadn't heard anything. I think it was a big mixup with my phone number. I finally talked to them today and I have to go in to look at the font colors to make sure they're right. So much for doing it online! It's ok because they are only 10 minutes from my house. We're just about at the 3 month mark and I'm starting to PAAAANIC!


Sidenote: FH got his ring (they sized it wrong the first time) and his passport came in the mail last week. His passport is different than mine. I hope they let me leave the country for the honeymoon but more importantly that they let me back in!