the Prairie Fair: March 2012

March 30, 2012

a Friday funny.....

I'm a HUGE fan of Downton Abbey! This video is pretty spot on & hilarious :) Happy Weekend!

March 28, 2012

My dear friend Michelle has been featuring things she is grateful for every week on her blog....such an awesome idea! I'm having a little trouble coming up with blog ideas so I thought I'd copy her & share a few things I am thankful for right now.....

walks around the park with Bella & Lulu // love this weather!
the soapy smell of lilacs // remind me of spring at my grandparent's farm
grilled chicken gyros w/homemade tzatziki = YUM!
cinnamon toast & earl gray tea
Six Feet Under // phenomenal TV show I revisited & just finished
my sister getting time off to come home for Memorial Day! :)
being invited to take exams for 2 jobs at the state university!
celebrating my dad's good health 1 year after his cancer diagnosis!

March 27, 2012

wedding details...

Here are a few of my favorite details from our wedding. Etsy was my favorite wedding planning resource; I got to support artists & small business owners while at the same time getting some really unique keepsakes from the big day. We got a custom cake topper (with clouds & stars background) from Milk Tea. I bought the glass dome with base from Hobby Lobby to display & protect it. We had the most amazing cupcakes and mini pies from Sugar Art. The cake stands are from All Custom Gifts. We had either wine or soda at each place setting with custom maple leaf & acorn tags from Roberto Sand. The ring pillow was a DIY that I threw together using burlap, felt and peacock feathers from the craft store. The card box/birdhouse was from Clegg Farm Creations and the centerpieces were a simple DIY. I gave my mother and father both custom embroidered handkerchiefs from Inspired Stitches.

March 24, 2012

laugh...

Last night Cory and I went out with my sister and her friend for dinner at Kelleher's Irish Pub and then we saw Jim Gaffigan....so much fun! I had the Guiness beef sandwich and Cory had the shepherd's pie. My beef was a little dry but was still pretty good; Cory absolutely adored his shepherd's pie :) The show was excellent...he even did some of his Hot Pocket bit in the encore!

March 21, 2012

Project Life update...

Here are a few more pages from my Project Life album. I tried using my inkjet printer on a journaling card (on the last page above) just using MS Word and sticking the journaling card on regular paper with tape. I love it! I can fit so much information on that card now! Once I get my hands on Photoshop Elements I will probably use that, but in the mean time I have downloaded lots of fun free fonts I can use with Word. I also found my old corner rounder (from my high school scrapbooking days). I'm just pretty happy to be documenting anything right now. I've heard a few Project Lifers say now that this project helps them see the good in their own life & focus on what they can be thankful for...I totally agree :)

March 20, 2012

early spring...

An early spring means more time outside, walking in the woods behind my parent's house, and making peanut butter bird feeders with the ladies in my family (thanks to Pinterest and Ally - my brother's sweet girlfriend!). We celebrated my grandpa's 78th birthday with chocolate cake, Neopolitan ice cream and a few basketball games on TV :)

March 19, 2012

the reality of bad days...

my kitty mister sunning his belly

I've been pretty radio-silent over here...last week was a bad one. I let things out of my control get the better of me and then suffered for it. I had grand plans that included making Bailey's cookies, mini shepherd's pies, and wearing lots of green (my favorite color). I didn't get to anything on my list. I had an excruciating headache that lasted for days & days. Despite the very sunny & warm weather, I was under a cloud all week long. It is amazing how quickly things go downhill when you let them.
Lucky for me, I have an understanding husband who was there to help me pick up the pieces of my crappy week....who made me breakfast for dinner, comforted me when I was feeling broken and was patient when I couldn't just snap out of it. I know it's so hard for him to see me when I'm down and in pain.
Sometimes social media makes me feel like I'm the only person having bad days...even though I know that isn't true. I love reading my favorite blogs but I often find myself wondering where I've gone so wrong....my un-clean house, the projects I haven't gotten to, my imperfect relationships. No one wants to read a blog filled with negativity, but it is really refreshing to me when people reveal their true selves instead of trying to win some kind of perfect-life pissing contest on Facebook or their blog. Curating that perfect online existence doesn't really interest me...I know that there will always be good days and bad ones. The trick is to let the bad ones slip away and to keep the good ones close to your heart.

March 16, 2012

minka...

Minka from Birdling Films on Vimeo.

March 11, 2012

yum...

Saturday Waffles from Coco|Roost on Vimeo.

Just wanted to share this sweet little video I saw on Meredith's blog...now I have to add a waffle iron to my wish list! :) Happy Sunday!

March 9, 2012

Project Life...

I only discovered Project Life last month (apparently I had been living under a rock). I made a lot of mini-books a few years ago but last year I did absolutely no memory-keeping. Sad face. When I first saw the Project Life concept (over at Elise's blog), I was very curious & excited! Unfortunately I (like many, many others) had to wait until mid-February to get my hands on photo pocket pages. I got a pretty late start but I decided to go from the beginning of the year anyway. I chose to start my album off with a G page since I didn't have many photos or much to document. I used a few engagement photos and the wedding photo of our feet for the title page. I am pulling inspiration from everywhere & am trying not to be too hard on myself (which I find stops me dead in my tracks). Right now, I don't have any kind of schedule or plan + I'm just playing around with styles & techniques. Things sort of fall into place and I'm sure I'll steadily discover what works best for me. I'm mostly using supplies I already have to keep costs down (I took apart a bunch of unused mini-books for the amazing papers inside) but I did get this fun date stamp. I'm also using vintage calendar tags from Elle's Studio. I really love this project! One of the first things I bought was the cobalt core kit...but now that I've done a few pages I can honestly say I don't really need it (though it is nice to have all those journaling cards). I love how easy it is to rearrange & move things around + it is crazy fun & gratifying to put stuff in those little pockets! My favorite thing about Project Life so far? It is whatever you want it to be! It is really easy to use & completely customizable. I am already starting to feel more motivated to document the everyday, which really is beautiful & quite often overlooked! Though the album will certainly end up being more Sarah-centric, Cory has agreed to make contributions & do some journaling. ♥