Wedding Season

I was looking at my calendar late last night and realized that I'm now at an age where weddings take over my time. Not complaining, but just realizing that this is happening. People are getting married, having kids, and silly me, I still feel like I'm 21 and still waiting for 25 to hit me. Lots of involuntary adulting is going on right now. What is life?

My older sister just got married last month and now our family is planning a large reception for all of my parents' friends since many of them weren't invited to their small wedding. That being said, I wanted to share a few details since I'm still surprised that I'm being allowed to decorate and design events at all. This is probably the fourth event I've developed concepts and decorations for. How? I still have no idea.

The whole theme of this reception is based on Pantone's colors of the year, Rose Quartz and Serenity. JK. My mom actually got excited before I was able to even do any shopping or even before she asked me to decorate and bought tons of pink and light blue items, then she thrust them into my hands to "go wild" with. Personally, I would have preferred to think about decorations on my own, but since the situation is what it is, I'm just going with it. 

I started by breaking up the pink and blue with a navy blue and grey so that we don't end up with a baby shower looking event. That would be waaaay too much pressure on the couple to start popping babies out immediately and I think my mom was passively hinting at something. Next, I needed to figure out how to decorate a space for over 200 people and two separate rooms. I'm not trying to go too crazy, so I'll be decorating one room and just leaving the tables decorated in both rooms. The room with full on decorations will be dedicated to the area where the bride and groom will be so that the photos can be taken in one room. 

The decorations consist of paper, paper, and more paper since I'm thinking that this Korean Church reception will be filled with people who are there to mainly eat and great, then leave. Disposable is the way to go and that means no flowers since this is also a very last minute request. Imagine hanging pom poms, candles, and a touch of greenery. And well, that's all I can share at this point. Let's hope things develop a little more as this all goes on.

CAUGHT

it. Yesterday, I got to see two beautiful people get hitched! The groom is a friend from college and the bride is a gorgeous gal that he met on a mission trip. The two were simply inspiring. Do you ever have those moments in a wedding that just get you? Well, those moments definitely got me. I usually don't cry easily, I'm actually an angry crier, and for some reason, this wedding had me in tears for a majority of the time. The funny part? It was my first time meeting the bride yesterday!

I think a lot of people think of their wedding and all the fancy parts that come along with it thinking that these things substantiate a great wedding. Thinking about yesterday and some other weddings I've been to, I can guarantee it isn't. Beyond the flowers, makeup, food, cake, and DJ is the couple themselves. I'm by no means saying that this wedding wasn't beautiful, but truly, what really stood out was the pure love shared by the bride and groom.

Remember those moments I mentioned earlier? I thought I'd share some that just. Got. Me. There's always the father-daughter dance. I'm the middle of 3 girls and we are all daddy's girls so I think when I see this dance I immediately think of my dad and how he would let me stand on his feet while he held me up by the hands and danced around the room, and, well, tears just come. After this dance came the first dance with the couple. As if they didn't look amazing enough, the bride looked directly into the groom's eyes and sang the words of the song:

May the words of my mouth
And the thoughts of my heart
Bless Your name bless Your name Jesus

And the deeds of the day
And the truth and my ways
Speak of you speak of you Jesus

For this is what
I'm glad to do
It's time to live a life of love
That pleases You

And I will give
My all to You
Surrender everything I have
To follow You
I will follow You

What struck me most during this time was while she was singing to her husband, knowing my friend, I know that this song was also in His heart and he was praising along with his wife. You could feel the love they have for each other, but their overwhelming love for their God. Rather than choosing a cheesy love song, they chose a song to reflect the life they want to live as a couple to follow God's ways, to surrender, and to be pleasing to Him lifelong. Seriously, soooo inspiring.

We all couldn't help but feel the exceeding joy from this entire celebration that the following events were just off the charts fun! Dancing was a must. I was obviously so caught up in it that I forgot to post something...oh, and I caught the bouquet.

FAIL.

BIG FAT FAIL. FAIL-A-THON. FAIL MAIL. FAIL EXTRAVAGANZA. FAIL OF 2016. FAIL WITH A CHERRY ON TOP, ACTUALLY, LET'S MAKE THAT  BLUEBERRY.

via GIPHY

Last night, my boyfriend and I went to an event, Art Mix, at the Crocker Art Museum where they featured the highlighted exhibit of the season, Andy Warhol. The night was full of interactive art, food, music, an intimate and up-close tour of Warhol's portraits, and drinking. LOTS of drinking. Now, I'm not a drinker and that being said, I get tipsy very easily so I stuck to my couple glasses of wine and lots of water in between. I just didn't want to view the exhibit when I couldn't give it my full attention.

The event was amazing and I danced in public for the first time, didn't care who was watching, and just got caught up in the music! Day 1 of following my bliss seemed like a hit. THEN, I get home and as I mentioned, still a little tipsy, decided to bake a cheesecake for my roommate and her family since they were visiting this weekend. It seemed like a sweet gesture and doubled as a thank you for all the times she's fed the cat I'm supposed to be cat sitting full-time.

I don't consider myself a pro baker at all. BUT I do enjoy it and have gotten pretty good at it. I've also made quite a few cheesecakes and thought nothing of this time....if things went smoothly.

First, I didn't have spring form pan so I decided to use cake tins, since it was late and all and I didn't want to go hunting in other grocery stores to find one. Second, I didn't have a hand mixer and wasn't around my very trusty and efficient Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Did I also mention that it was already close to midnight? For those of you who don't know, cheesecakes are incredibly thick and difficult to whisk by hand and baking time is technically up to 2 hours. The first hour is spent actually baking in the oven, then the second hour is spent tempering in the oven with the heat off. It doesn't end here. To maintain creamy goodness, the cheesecake has to cool down to room temp to be refrigerated OVERNIGHT. Yea, I don't know what I was thinking either. I actually kind of realized what I was doing about two o'clock in the morning when I was falling asleep.

Since I was in a state that no one should bake in, I left the oven on for both hours instead of one, and well, we now have a cheesecake in the consistency of tofu. At least it smells good.

After my realization, I cried to my boyfriend about how I ruined the cheesecake. Actually crying. In his slumber, he consoles me to the best of his ability and I go back to finish cleaning and went to sleep. I woke up and looked at my cheesecake. For the purpose of not having to constantly write "cheesecake" let's call it Bob. Bob is a cracked, brown, and sunken in. EVERYTHING YOU DON'T WANT BOB TO BE.

I don't know if I'm still riding high on summer bliss or if I cried everything out last night, but I felt oddly calm. Normally, I'd trash the thing and poor Bob would be in the garbage can and I'd be starting allll over again. Well, not this time. Bob has taught me a few things.
1. Fail happens.
2. Failure is an honest snapshot of that moment in time.
3. Failure doesn't reflect who you are. (I'm actually a great baker. Photos to follow as proof.)
4. Failure shows who your true and trusted few are.
5. Failure can be funny.

Now, as I sit here with a slice of Bob, I can't help but laugh about it and Bob tastes great! I can't really rag on myself with cream cheesey goodness in my mouth anyway. To many more failures and many more successes! Cheers!

Baking photos as promised.

Let's begin.

Finals. Check.
Papers. Check.
Work. Check.

I'm now in full summer mode and after a year of health problems, moving, and all-around adulting, I've decided to spend this summer doing things that make me happy. This means a summer full of writing and reading for pleasure, changing up my routine to stay inspired, and to stop putting off things I've wanted to achieve.

First things first, I'm just going to put it out there. I'm going to write everyday whether a post is about my struggle to learn how to sew, a book I'm reading, or an outfit. I feel like just by putting this out in the cyber world, I have no choice but to be held accountable. Find what inspires you and uncover the meaning behind it. I want to share things that inspire me or are creating inspiration especially when it's translated into a look. Hence, THIS GET-UP is born. This is a place to share the thoughtfulness, whether it's intentional or not, behind the fabric of your day-to-day lives. SO, be on the lookout and enjoy!


**OUTFIT DETAILS: Top-Collective Concepts, jeans-A Gold E, rings and earrings-World Market. Clothing from Stitch Fix