Bound for Beauty Summer List

Years ago, in a session with my awesome counselor, she told me to rip up my new year's resolution lists.  I had been keeping them for years.  I would start my year by making a long (really long) list of things I wanted to do/become.  Well, this lady is smart.  Perfectionists don't need lists, they need to LOWER expectations.  After years of lowering expectations and being more gentle with myself, I've decided to make a list of things that will reveal or create beauty to fight the perfectionism.  My regimine of blogging every day will bring more light into my fight against false beauty.  I'm ready to dig in: why is beauty so important to me?  What's the big deal?  Well, through my ONE BEAUTY BLOG A DAY list, I'll show you.
Here it is!  I'm a teacher, and there are exactly 68 days of summer break left.  Will it work out that I do one each day?  (Nope.)  I hope so!

1.       Visit shops in uptown Naperville

2.        Walk the Naperville Riverwalk

3.        Walk the Naperville Prairie Trail {where does it start?!}

4.        Exercise every other day

5.        Meet Evangeline Cadia

6.        Create my craft closet

7.        Re-design/Re-focus blog

8.        Help Sue design her wedding

9.        Buy plants for gardening

10.   Go to West Side Story

11.    Plant flower boxes

12.    Hang curtains in family room and guest bedroom

13.    Create an original turkey burger recipe

14.    Have Makayla over

15.   Bring treats to the neighbors

16.    Bake and ice a layer cake

17.   Have a Fourth of July Freedom Party

18.    Fix antique leaf desk and laquer it to put it outside

19.    Collect old wood chairs at garage sales and ad to al fresco dining area outside

20.    Go to Door County

21.    Have an al fresco soiree

22.    Write a poem

23.    Write a song with Trev

24.    Write a story

25.    Create frame montage in stairwell

26.    Create a chalkboard wall

27.    Visit Grandma Elaine

28.    Clean the porch windows

29.    Make collaborative list of recommended books

30.    Go to Sweet Maple Café

31.    Read A Thousand Splendid Suns out loud with husby

32.    Go to the beach

33.    Get a sassy haircut

34.   Make homemade birthday and anniversary cards

35.   Go to 7 Eleven on 7/11 for our anniversary

36.    Get training to become a better journalism teacher

37.    Create a substantial ipod list of songs I actually like

38.    Get a facial

39.    Go for a bike ride

40.   Plant a hydrangea bush

41.    Get a crazy good salad from Whole Foods

42.    Go to Ravinia

43.    Go to a taping of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me

44.   Go to Nadeau Furniture

45.   Learn to play the guitar

46.    Take a picnic

47.    Style Trevor’s Office

48.    Hang the huge sample Crate and Barrel print

49.    Enjoy our church’s Flame of Love conference

50.    Work a shift at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC)

51 through 68.  Teach Summer School (this counts for 18 days!)

I'm bound for beauty!  Happy Summer!

Adding to the Beauty: Li'l Sis and Lemon Yellow, S+K

It's official, my sister is engaged!  [so so SO happy for the new family of V to be].  And she's already chosen a color scheme.  All of my blog-perusing and magazine reading have had a yellow/gray filter in preparation for the styling of her big day!  Her new initials will be SV [cool].  I knew I wanted to style the little lunch their parents had for them when they returned from their trip to the west coast, but I didn't know QUITE how it was going to come together.  Here's the BEFORE shot (disorganized, a plethora of gray/yellow+yellow/gray possibilities).

The details really came together, inspired by the cute summery flag-topped drink stirrers I made from trimmed kabob skewers (bamboo) and assorted card stock grade paper in grays and yellows that were on sale at Michael's (there's no shame in a sale!  My momma taught me right!).  I added a stirrer to each water glass, and then added extras to the mini-centerpieces I created.  I went big on fresh/natural/fun because that is my sister's style.  Her style is a bit more contemporary and geometric than my own, so it was good practice.  The triangle shape of the flags and the color scheme balance nicely.  I used all different V's on my acrylic stamp set and yellow and gray ink to create some nice monagrams.  I really love her new last name.  I used stick-on gold-hued gem stones and mini letter stamps to create the S+K.  I couldn't help but add a little of my feminine style by tying a bit of yellow tulle around the sticks.

I added fresh REAL lemons to a small pot glazed in a pretty gray and poked in some fresh sunshine-colored mums [event note: wait until you get to your location to add water to flowers if possible].  I put a little mum plant in a smaller bright yellow planter.  I mixed up the texture by nesting both with some silvery metalic tissue paper from Target.

My best "find" was this adorable reversable accordian ribbon picture holder.  It's meant to use as a display for pictures (you would just tuck in loose photos).  But I used it to create a little congratulations montage in the middle of the table.

I knew I wanted to make them a little lemon yellow scrappy photo album where they can add pictures as they walk through their engagement together [planning tends to take over the normal every day excitement of living in general, as opposed to being wedding-nazis who forget the point-- been there, done that].  So, I completed that with a sense of accomplishment because I really want them to feel loved by little touches.  Here are some of my favorite details from the photo album:

{styling tip: choose a few elements but repeat in a whimsical way.  Use a few stamps but alternate the parts of the stamp you use so it looks familiar but new on every page.  And don't be afraid to create more consistency by using the same papers but in new creative unexpected ways (no need to use high grade Archiver's paper for every page!).  The target paper napkins I used to make an easy table runner is the same stuff I used to crumple and pin here and there in the photo album.  (Oh yes, I did...)  I did the same with the silvery tissue paper.  I used it in the plants and as backgrounds to pages in the book.  I used the same font of stamps throughout, and I added the same little yellow gems throughout.  Now when they look at the book, they'll remember the little flag stirrers and centerpieces for years to come.}

It's always an honor to style a little surprising celebration, but it's even MORE joyful when it's for your sister, who you love, and want happiness for so so much.  Congratulations, S+K!