Fairy Tale Wedding

Creating a wedding to represent John and me has been on my mind for a year now. It's been so much fun to find ways to share our love story along the way.

Speaking of love stories, I couldn't help but get swept up in these fairy tale wedding photos from the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer III of Monaco. How glamorous! The most striking thing is Grace's earnestness; it's just gorgeous.  

I love that  photos from the end of their lives are included, too. See the entire post and photo credits here. 

Weekend Things

I visited The Grove Park Inn with my lovely aunt this weekend. We had delicious food and looked at the National Gingerbread House display. These houses were incredible - intricate detail and entirely edible! My inner baker was amazed.

The Grove Park Inn has the biggest stone fireplace I've ever seen. It's so cozy.


But Aunt Lyn shared more than just Creme Brulee with me this weekend - old family photos, some gorgeous vintage clothing she wore in college that happens to fit me perfectly, and my grandparents' sweetheart charms. I have "Trudy and Leonard" pendants in time to include them in my wedding. They're very special.








And John's incredibly sweet.

xo,

Lauren

Right Now

What I need to drink right now;

How I need to pour right now;

What I need to taste right now.

Amazing packaging.

I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to open them - a favor I usually reserve for fancy soaps.

Happy Weekend!

Really Good People in a Really Good Town

Hello, sweet friends.

So not having a job this week is really fun. Like I said, I've been visiting my favorite vintage and thrift shops in Cleveland "one last time," and seeing my few - this is a case of quality over quantity - good friends in town before leaving. This includes the coach of our football team Shawn, who led my trip to Cairo in 2004, and Donna, my very dear friend and mother of my good buddy Lauren.

Donna and I had lunch at Umami, meaning "delicious" in Japanese and seriously living up to its name. I had a seared Tuna and Ginger and Edamame Salad that was incredible, while looking longingly at several other things on the menu. Afterwards, we hung out at a little design studio with a very New York feel, featuring a neverending, eclectic collection of inspiring pieces. Never before have I felt a greater need for a cool loft apartment to decorate. This place is fantastic.

The reasons to re-visit Cleveland in the future are coming together in one really irresistible little pile!

three.home

Donna and I did a little style consignment style scouting - she was made for this - and then I stopped by Anne van H. to pick up moving boxes. It was such a pleasure to share the week's stories with Anne, Marilyn, Erica, and Marina that I realized I've been pretty lucky - I ended up with a job that I didn't think I wanted - but that I still want to visit when I'm done. Funny how that works, isn't it?

I'm excited about Vermont. I really am. 

But I really feel blessed to have had my life touched by Cleveland -- and people like Donna and Lauren.

Things I Love Today

Trader Joe's sells this at $2.99 for a six pack. Seriously. It could be a case of packaging over product, but...it tastes pretty good. Great for cooking because of the price (put it in your Chili - trust me). And most importantly, it recalls the infamous Beer Light Days of Baltimore Pride.

via Shelterrific

Fun Vintage shops in Cleveland.

I've been putting off packing by looking at things from the past - under the pretense of wedding shopping, of course.

Weekend in Review

This weekend was great.

John and I celebrated being engaged for one whole week. Although I had to work Saturday, we had plenty of fun on Friday (yoga and dancing) and Saturday (Turkish food) nights and of course our favorite day, Sunday.

This is exciting: I made my first wedding purchase yesterday! I recently found a fantastic vintage store in Chagrin Falls, where I bought a gorgeous white silk wrap dress from the 40's. I went back today with John for a few little wedding must-haves that I wanted to pick up before someone else did. I would love to post pictures of them here, but I think that would ruin the surprise, no? 

As if that didn't excite me enough, there was a light pink lace gown at this shop that I tried on for fun. Somehow it fit perfectly, length and all. It's from the late 20's or early 30's (pre-zippers!!!) --- with a lot of delicate handwork. So pretty. I told the owner that I was going to have to wait on the dress, and she just gave it to me! She said that it fit me, I appreciated it, would actually wear it, and that was good enough for her. How sweet! It's in amazing condition. Hopefully eventually I will picture it here.

This shop I keep mentioning is well worth visiting, and I'm going to miss it if I leave Cleveland. (More news to come!) The vintage clothing collection is beautiful. Usually I have to sort through a bunch of uglies and just look to enjoy the old styles, but these are so carefully selected...I had an armload of things to try on that were actually wearable.

Vintage + Beach

Maybe I've said this before, but just put me on a beach in a bathing suit, and I'll be happy. I love these 40's and 50's styles, especially the mysterious beauty in the hat.

The good news is that now you can put something like this on, call it a Romper, and go about your day!

get the memo

 borrowed

There's a blog you should know about...

...and it has a post that I'll dedicate to John.

It's really fun. Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves. Check it out on your Sunday afternoon?

Double Decker Dress Shop!

I've never been to Portland. But if I ever go, I'll be certain to explore Lodekka, a double decker dress shop. Yes...really! How fun.

I'll take a vintage thrift shop any day, but inside a bus from Liverpool? Yes, please!

Also, three cheers for Erin Sutherland for re-creating herself after losing her job. Read a great article here.

Vintage Thrifting

I found the good places in Baltimore just as I was leaving.

So here's a little list to explore.

And maybe a fun weekend project?