other people's weddings are an excuse for pretty clothes

Dear Stefie,

You are awesome. You are one of my blog's biggest cheerleaders and for you, I blog again! You're a maid of honor in a wedding, so of course I have spent time procrastinating searching for a kick ass bridesmaid dress for you to (not so subtly) suggest to your bride-to-bride. (Well, not your bride-to-be, but your friend who's getting married. You know what I mean!) Since you haven't yet given me specifics (not that you asked for help, but let's gloss over that.) I took a quick shot over to ModCloth. Here you go:

First up is my favorite, the Romantic Incarnation dress ($90).

Next is the Standout and Deliver dress ($60).

Then comes the Dianthus Fields dress ($90).

Apparently I'm in a pinky purple kinda mood. Anyhow, wedding aside, I'm pretty sure you just need this one for nights on the town.

Love you,

Shayna

you're welcome

OK, so it's been 18 thousand years since my last post (again). This one is just a drive-by. But it's worth it, I swear. This is quite possibly the handiest thing I have seen in a long time: how to fold a fitted sheet.

count in the heezie

Why yes, this is the best thing I've seen all day. 

One, two, three, four, fizzle.

via

i remember

And you should too. See you at the polls.

tastes like autumn

Ok, I admit it. I am not Julia Child. Or Mario Batali. Cooking, it's not really my deal. But now that I'm the currently at home (aka momma needs a job!) half of the team, I decided that we couldn't have frozen dinners in a bag or ravliolis every single night for dinner. So last night Ari and I spent some serious time cooking. I wrangled a fresh butternut squash from a local farm (which is harder than it sounds) and we got to cooking. It was so good, we had it again for lunch! And the dog liked it! But you don't know about him yet, but he liked it like whoa! We even made our own recipe, and damn, it came out AWESOME. So, friends, for your gastronomical pleasure, bacon butternut squash soup!


Butternut Squash Soup

Plus, it was fun to try out our new food processor (thanks, Browns!). Try it and let me know how it turns out!

bring on the rain

So if you know me in real life, you know how much I love Australia. If you don't, the reason is that I spent six months there doing a semester abroad at the University of Melbourne and touring the east coast.

Seriously, Oz is the most amazing place. It's full of all these totally cool things and sayings and plants and places that are nothing like anything that exists on any other continent. One of the places I didn't get to go to but is on the top of my list for when I go back (and I will be going back, thank you very much!) is Uluru (formerly known as Ayer's Rock). Uluru is in the middle of the Outback in extreme desert conditions. So when I saw this post (via web-goddess), I knew I had to share. This week, Uluru got a rainstorm for the first time in over 20 years. This photos are pretty awesome and speak for themselves.

Photo credit: Peter Carroll

the return

Dear Gentle Readers*,

I have been a delinquent blogger. I got way-layed writing about the bachelorette and just lost my steam. Well kids, I am back by popular demand. I will be back soon with tales of broken bones, a new puppy and of course, the long awaited wedding recap. Once that's all sussed (and I'm not too worried, that's gonna take a while), we can get on to the business of figuring out what to write about now that it's not wedding central up in these parts anymore.

Much Love,

Shayna

*If you get this reference, I will love you forever. I will potentially also mail you chocolate products of some sort because you will have earned it.