Dog Rose

I know I've made a good purchase when I cannot wait to wear the item(s). That was definitely the case on Saturday, when I wore 3 of my black friday anthropologie finds! The Dog Rose pullover was a surprise. I didn't really pay much attention to it online, but I was intrigued when I saw it in the store. After I tried it on, I knew it needed to come home with me. It is warm, but not too hot, and the details are gorgeous. The jeans were a no-brainer, and I was delighted to find this set of bangles for only $5.00 (originally $48).

We have been working on our bathroom over the weekend. We now have a new tile floor in place - it is so pretty! I love it (and what a huge improvement over the laminate). The downside is that we had to take the toilet out to put the tiles down, and we can't put it back until everything dries. Ummmm, not convenient when you only have 1 bathroom!!!


















Top: Anthropologie Dog Rose Pullover
Tank: Anthropologie Seamless Reversible Tank
Jeans: AG Stevie Ankle Jeans via Anthropologie
Bracelets: Anthropologie
Shoes: Chie Mihara Teco

Black Friday

Although I am not a fan of the black Friday craziness, I could not resist my favorite store, Anthropologie. I woke up at 3:00am to place an online order, then Ben and I headed downtown to our local store at 5:40am.

When the doors opened, there were about 30 people waiting in line to get in. The selection was better than I expected - the sale room was full, there were lots of apparel racks outside the sale room, a few big tables full of home goods, and a couple of tables with jewelry/accessories. It was a little bit overwhelming, but I quickly made my rounds through the sale racks, then headed to the fitting room. I'm glad we got there early because as I was checking out, I noticed that there was a really long line for the fitting rooms and the store was starting to get very crowded.

Here are a few of the items I scored today:

AG Stevie Ankle jeans in green

Sateen Skinny Pants

Checked Crops

Camellia Blouse

Dog Rose Pullover

Accordion Should Bag

I also picked up a quilt, some curtains, and a few gifts. What about you? What did you score? How was your black Friday experience?

Now, I'm planning on being super lazy. I am going to watch movies, snuggle with the dogs, and nap all day!

Instagram: happy hour, pumpkins, and a vet visit

I am getting so excited about the Anthropologie sale this week (check out Effortless Anthropologie for more info)! I despise black friday shopping (can't stand the hype/craziness/crowds), but I am actually planning on making it to my local store first thing friday morning. I will be there when they open, hope that I find a few things to make it worthwhile, then quickly head back home to go back to bed!

Here are a few of my instagram photos from the past week or so. If you use instagram, follow me (kristin_fm)!!!

We decided to check out a new place in our neighborhood called The Old Gold. We went there for happy hour. The beer was good, but I wasn't super impressed overall.

On another evening, we decided to have happy hour at home! I found this book at anthropologie - we have discovered quite a few really great drinks, thanks to this book.

Not too long after these pictures were taken, we had some delicious pumpkin pie to devour:)

Sweet Zander hanging out at the vet's office. It was time for his annual exam and vaccinations. He looks pretty calm in this photo, but in reality, he was anything but calm. He gets SO anxious and worked up when he has to go to the vet. It was a rough day day for him (he was abused at his last home, and as a result, he is anxious and gets really bent out of shape over vet visits and such). He is lounging on the couch right now, dozing and snuggling with Ben, so I think he has fully recovered from his appointment:)

An OOTD from last week.

Ben and I spent a good part of the weekend painting. We are re-doing our bathroom. Next weekends project = new tile floor!

Optimistic

I wore this outfit last Sunday. Ben and I ran errands, went out to lunch, made a trip to the grocery store and then had friends over for dinner. Ben made a homemade pumpkin pie for dessert. It was delicious, from the homemade pie crust to the roasted pumpkin puree, although I think the freshly ground nutmeg was what really did the trick.

I have been really happy with my Sunday outfits recently. Sounds weird, I know. It just seems like on the past few Sundays I have had lots of time to get dressed and come up with new outfits. I also don't have a dress code to contend with (can you believe that "patterned tights" are prohibited at my office?). Do you tend to go more casual on the weekends, or do you take the opportunity to get a little more creative (and I'm jealous if you don't have a work week dress code to deal with:)?













Dress: Anthropologie Optimist Dress
Cardigan: J. Crew Jackie
Jacket: J. Crew
Belt: Anthropologie
Tights: Anthropologie
Shoes: Chie Mihara Loti

One more

Here we go with one more wedding post (see the dessert bar here and our outfits here)! This post is definitely a picture overload, but I can't help it! I want to show you guys everything:)

Drinking Jars (Mason jars, homemade name tags, straws via Etsy)

We had a cocktail hour before the ceremony so we had these lovely cheeses out for everyone to munch on (you can't really see any of them in this photo, but the plates are all vintage. Each one is different, but oh so pretty. Most of them came from an antique store near my house).

His and Hers cocktails
Ben and I each chose one of our favorite cocktails to share at the wedding/party. Mine was the French Martini (vodka, chambord, and pineapple juice). Ben chose the Sazerac. We served these cocktails (instead of a full bar), wine, and beer. The signature drinks were a huge hit (and if you haven't already, you need to try a French Martini)!

Beautiful flowers Ben's mom put together just before the wedding.

We found these gorgeous dried flowers at a farmer's market the day before the wedding. We used milk jars that belonged to Ben's grandfather instead of vases and put them on all of the tables.

Polaroid fun!

Gift/card table (vintage suitcase via Etsy)

We hung pictures of Ben and I above the fireplace (some of our engagement photos and a few baby pictures too:).

Decorations - Poms via Etsy (here), mason jar lanterns homemade by Ben's sister

Close up of the lanterns. I love them! Once it got dark, they were so pretty hanging all around the tent and pavilion. Definitely one of my favorite things from the wedding.

The End

Put a bird on it

As I mentioned in my last post, I switched from IntenseDebate to Disqus recently. Hopefully, it will be less buggy. The transition was pretty easy, although all of the previous comments that were left via IntenseDebate are all jumbled up now. Basically, when I imported all of those comments, Disqus just sorted them based on the time they were left and didn't categorize my replies as replies. If you know how I can fix this, please let me know!

Ben and I spent the entire day cleaning our house. We are considering selling our house and our realtor came over this afternoon to take a look at our house and answer all of our questions. We are not super tidy/organized in general and our 3 dogs track in lots of dirt (not to mention all of the pet hair), so we had our work cut out for us. Cleaning all day wasn't the best way to spend a Saturday, but it is nice to have a super clean house! It feels so nice and cozy.

This is an older OOTD. I bought this top about a week before it went on sale, so I was lucky enough to get a PA. Although it wrinkles quite easily, I love it! One of my favorite color combos in navy and green, so this top makes a great addition to my closet.










Top: Anthropologie Loosened Shelby Blouse
Cardigan: J. Crew Jackie
Jeans: Pilcro via Anthropologie
Shoes: Anthropologie Bouquet of Roses Heels

Have a fantastic Sunday!

Instagram: dinner date, tuileries, and fall

UPDATE: After getting a few complaints that people were not able to comment on my posts, I have decided to switch over to Disqus (from IntenseDebate). Here's hoping the problem is fixed! If you have any advice/suggestions about this kind of thing (technical problems with commenting systems), please let me know. If you have problems commenting, please email me (lovelyapidea@gmail.com). Thanks!

Here are a few of my instagram photos from the past week or so:

Ben and I went out to Andina for dinner recently. They have the best cocktails! My favorite is the Sacsayhuman (habanero pepper vodka shaken with pureed passionfruit and cane sugar,
served up with a sugar rim and a cilantro leaf garnish). It is perfection!

We get the grilled octopus every time we visit Andina. It is delicious!

Since we were celebrating our 2-week anniversary, we had to get dessert:) This is the mousse de valle y selva.

Oh how I love fall.

I spent hours making this pull-apart pumpkin bread. Yep, it was worth it.

Shoes make me happy!

My OOTD from today. I saw this dress/cardi combo when the dress first came out (on Molly, I believe). I've had it in my head ever since. Today was the day to make it happen!

Happily Ever After

I FINALLY have some more wedding pictures to share!

Here we are, tying the knot! Our good friend, Graham, married us. Do you guys know just how easy it is to become ordained online? It seriously takes about 2 seconds. Crazy! I'm glad though - it was so nice to have someone we know and love marry us:)

Yes, I cried! I was absolutely not expecting to. However, once we were up there, it all became so real and beautiful. As soon as I saw Ben start to tear up, I pretty much lost it.

My dress from the back (and my lace sash, and SHOES!!!). I searched and searched and searched for my wedding shoes. I spent hours online looking for the perfect pair. I found this lovely pair of Chie Mihara shoes on an international site. Of course, they did not offer shipping to the US so, my search continued, but I kept coming back to THIS pair. I decided that maybe I would just go with another colorway of this same style. I was googling the style name to find out about sizing, and what do you know, I found THE shoes available from a small shop in Seattle. For whatever reason, google shopping (or any of the other shopping sites I use) did not show me this option. Had I not just stumbled onto this website while looking for sizing information, I never would have known. Anyways, here are my wedding shoes, the Chie Mihara Lara Heel, in the red colorway (it appears that they are no longer available at Sole Food, but they do have other styles available).

Graham's girlfriend, Jen, did my hair. Isn't it gorgeous? She did such a wonderful job:)

One of my best friends let me borrow her grandmother's pearls. They were just perfect with my dress and the vintage vibe I was going for. I was honored to wear them.

I mentioned in a previous post that I had a bit of a disaster with my veil just about a week or so before the wedding. Luckily, I found a wonderful boutique here in Portland that saved the day! Andrea with August Veils was WONDERFUL. She was so accommodating and creative. She made my hairpiece/veil and the flower that is pinned to my sash. She even incorporated my Honeybee Brooch from BHLDN into my flower (the one on my sash).

We did polaroids instead of a guest book. Here I am having fun with my parents and my brother and sister.

My mom and I

Hugging my new mother-in-law just after the ceremony

I am one happy, happy girl!

My wedding outfit details -

Dress: Anthropologie Longing for Yellow dress (HUGE thanks to Marcela and the EA Trade Market)
Cardigan: Ann Taylor
Shoes: Chie Mihara Lara Heels
Veil/Hairpiece and flower: August Veils
Necklace: borrowed from friend
Sash: vintage lace via Etsy (here)
Gloves: vintage via AlexSandra's
Pearl bracelet: gift from my mom
Although you can't see them very well in these shots, I also had these little bobby pins tucked in my hair and the BHLDN Honeybee Brooch in the flower on my sash.


Ben's wedding outfit details -
Suit: Banana Republic Mad Men collection
Shirt: Brooks Brothers (we discovered that this is the ONLY place that offers nice button ups in an extra slim fit)
Tie: Nordstrom
Shoes: Vintage


I do have a few other things I want to share from our wedding/party, so you can expect 1 or 2 more wedding posts. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!