“Crusading for the Pure and Genuine”
Tutu Love
One of my favorite elements of the ballet world is the beautiful costumes in all kinds of shapes, colors, embellishments. As my students are gearing up to receive their recital costumes next week, I often find myself just watching the joy and excitement on their faces as they point out each little sparkle on their bodices while fluffing their tulle skirts.
I have to admit, part of my observations include a tinge of jealousy, as I’d love to have a costume from each class in MY size!
While there are endless possibilities of ballet costume design, I am infatuated with tutus. Many I’ve worn are romantic tutus, which are shaped like a bell and fall between the knee and the ankle. These wisps of tulle float around you in a grand jeté, and wrap around your legs in chaînés turns.
But the ones I adore the most are classical tutus, shaped like a pancake around the waist. These flat, netted tutus defy gravity, making a stunning statement.
Showing off the svelte legs of a dancer, classical tutus can be adorned with jewels, sequins, and fabric to make royal or ethereal designs, or to mimic shapes in nature like flowers.
Just like a pointe shoe, a tutu must fit the body like a glove, but still allow for full range of motion.
Just like a ballet dancer, a tutu must be strong, sturdy and durable, but at the same time strikingly
beautiful.
You don’t have to know about ballet to enjoy it. All you have to do is look at it.
- Edwin Denby
Read More
Catch Up
Aside from wedding planning, a lot’s been going on. Closing on our condo and beginning paint work and minor fixes… celebrations and time with friends and family… mantiquing… visiting the Amish… you know, the usual. A brief photo recap from my telephone…
Kate, Come in Kate!
I have been MIA. There I said it and I am sorry.
This weekend will mark the end of a very long journey. A journey that has had incredible highs and lows that I would prefer to not revisit again, but a journey no less.
In the spring of 2008, the huzz informed me that he no longer wanted to work countless hours as a computer programmer and wanted to pursue his longtime dream of a legal career. From the initial conversation during a dinner at Rippington’s where he shared his heart, right through this weekend when he will walk across the stage to receive his J.D. from Chapel Hill, it has all been an amazing adventure. We have moved close to ten different times. We have commuted anywhere from 90 to 180 minutes one way to work or school. We have had an angel given to us in Ian. We have made friends, learned how to budget, and taught ourselves how to maximize productivity while in a car.
Looking back is bittersweet. There are things that I wish we could have done better or differently. Times I wish that I had been more supportive and seen that our circumstances were for just a time. But in looking forward, the future looks pretty stinking bright. So maybe I wouldn’t change anything because we wouldn’t be right where we are if we did.
I cannot wait to update everyone on our weekend on Monday, but for now we will continue our preparations for our very first house guests and trying to finish Ian’s very own “big boy” room.
I promise I won’t try to go missing again anytime soon.
P.S. Don’t you think that Kassel could have used a more flattering photo of her MOH on her website? Not one where the MOH is on the verge of tossing her cookies while she is trying to entertain the future bride. Just a thought 
.
A Little Link
While much of my weekend was spent in our condo, taping and retaping (tape the ceiling, not the wall… tape the ceiling, not the wall… doh!), hitting up all the Lowe’s and Home Depots in Charlotte, and yard saling for interesting home additions, I did manage to scratch off one item on my wedding to-dos. Go check out our wedding website! Some of our pages are a little long-winded, but we just get so excited talking about our big day, our friends and family, and each other!
I hope your weekend was just as productive!
Read More
100 Days
The countdown to our wedding day is officially at 100 days! Being several months into our engagement, many people have said, “Oh, well you must be finished planning then!” Are you kidding me? I don’t think the planning will ever end until the wedding actually happens. Scratch that. The planning won’t end until after the Sunday Brunch my mom is hosting. No wait, it won’t end until we return rented items to their respected vendors. Actually, it’s when we finish sending out thank you letters.
See what I mean?!
For those interested, here’s what’s left leading up to the big day!
- Make a final decision on groom/groomsmen attire.
- Lighten my mom’s veil and put in a comb.
- Decide which jewelry to wear.
- Have one more fitting before bridal portraits.
- Take my bridal portraits.
- Have a trial run of my wedding day hair.
- Figure out day-of makeup, and hair for my girls.
- Plan a bridesmaid’s luncheon.
- Finalize the guest list.
- Have rings resized.
- Finish up the wedding website.
- Purchase gifts for my ‘maids, parents, E’s parents, E’s men, etc.
- Get a groom’s gift!
- Buy a wedding band for my groom.
- Meet with our ceremony coordinator.
- Decide on readings and music for our ceremony.
- Book an organist and soloist for the ceremony.
- Address invitations.
- Mail invitations.
- Create a seating chart, escort cards and table numbers.
- Find some pretty white dresses for upcoming bridal events.
- Taste test our dinner and cake + decide on cake design.
- Meet with our Deacon a couple times to finalize our marriage prep.
- Decide on wedding day transportation for us plus wedding party.
- Design ceremony programs.
- Create goodie bags for out-of-town guests.
Now you see how much I have to do!! And I keep thinking of more things to add to the list! NEVER ENDING! At least for once my Type-A organizational/planning side has been extremely useful. I’m also very glad for the items NOT on this list, which have already been checked off. WHEW!
A Blank Canvas
When it comes to working with a blank canvas, I am no artiste. While I love the written word, I am much more excited to edit a piece of writing than create one from scratch. I adore contemplating how all the flowers will look at my wedding reception, but if I didn’t have an already gorgeous space to work with, I wouldn’t have a clue how to jazz it up. Although my Catholic ceremony will be quite long and involved, I’m relieved I just have to plug in the songs and readings I prefer for it to be complete. And so, our new humble condo with its sturdy hardwood floors and beautiful brick fireplace is begging to be painted and decorated as an inviting, comfortable home for newlyweds. Exciting as it may be, I have such a hard time visualizing paint on four walls based on a tiny printed sample. My mind can’t understand if the bathroom rug will match the walls and the walls will match the shower curtain and the curtain will match the rug. Don’t even get me started with granite counter tops. The endless options just explode my brain. What I can do is look at photos of home decor and say I like or dislike, but then from a photo, how do I recreate the look in a completely different space? The job of interior decorators completely boggles my mind. I wish I had that talent, but for now, I’m relying on friends and Dynamic Debbie (Kate’s name for my mom, who is a master of many things).
I like the look of warm tans and neutrals against whites, and very American crisp lines. But when it really comes down to it, I’m a French girl at heart, loving the romance and femininity of luxurious French style. Some photos I’m drawn to…
An ultra-French bedroom:
How gorgeous is this gold??
Plush bed that looks so cozy. I also love these drapes and the crown molding.
Beautiful arches and elegant furniture:
How ridiculous is this?? I just want to lounge in a silk robe, sip a cappuccino and read a magazine in here.
For a more American style… I love the ceiling and colors of this kitchen:
Great neutral colors divided by a chair rail. 
Pretty ceiling.
What a grand porch!
Check out these and more on our pinterest board, to nest!
Engagement Photos- Fourth Time’s a Charm!
After multiple reschedules of our engagement photo shoot, this past Saturday ended up being the perfect day for us to finally have our photos taken. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, or better photographers! We had so much fun and are looking forward to the bridal shoot and lots more photos on the big day! For now, here is a glimpse at our Saturday…
Martha Stewart is Trapped in My Head!
I am hoping that some of you can relate to this or at least smile while reading it to make me feel better. Have you ever had dreams and aspirations in your heart? Things that would make your friends swoon and ask, “Kate, how did you do it?” I do.
You see, in my head I have all of these ideas and plans that would rival those of Martha Stewart herself, but somehow they never quite come to life. I have visions of my house being filled with closets that have each shelf labeled and every pair of pants being neatly pressed and ready to wear at a moments notice. Brunch menus neatly written on my chalkboard with tables set with only the finest china. The house decorated perfectly so that you would never know that Jake and I shower there or Ian ever plays.
Enter my reality check…my closet is a mess. I am really bad at menu planning and getting all courses of a meal on the table at the same time. My house is extremely empty and uncoordinated with dreams of the Marsi touches to come. :-)
My friends know my heart. They know that when they stay at my house, they can expect snacks and fresh water in their rooms. They know that they can come over any time. They know that I will share my ideas that didn’t come to pass at the drop of a hat and giggle because usually they think my efforts are a little ridulous, but still appreciated.
This weekend I coined the term, “Embrace the Chaos.” When you pick up dinner that ultimately causes your husband to spend the night hugging the toilet and miss his first exam, embrace the chaos. When you are running late because Ian refuses to let his feet of gold touch the floor, embrace the chaos. All of these things happen to me, and in my head they happen to other people. I can either beat myself up over what didn’t happen or I can choose to embrace the day and learn how to handle similar situations better the next time.
I am a work in progress with my heart in all the right places. Life is short and there is so much to do and learn. So I choose to embrace the chaos.
O Happy Day!
As I was laying in bed last night thinking about what I would write today, I couldn’t help but smile when I thought about this subject. I hope it makes you do the same.
Picture it: It is about five thirty in the afternoon and you are making the final turn into your neighborhood. All you can think about is getting home and slipping into your amazing chill clothes to settle in for dinner and maybe a little T.V. Out of the corner of your eye, you see something. It is a three and a half foot 19 month old with crazy hair, smiling and waving his little arm like you were the President of the United States. If your heart is not skipping a beat and a smile is not beginning to emerge on your face from seeing this, then you may not be human. You wave back and then it gets really good…he sees you waving back and the gleam in his eye shines and he waves all the more.
This scenario with Ian happens almost every evening in our neighborhood and I personnally believe that you are blessed if you live near us. He has also turned Target parking lots into parade routes as he literally stops traffic trying to wave at each individual car. I don’t know what has prompted him to do this, but it is only a glimmer of the amazing light that I see inside of him. He wants to greet those people and he wants to make them smile.
What would happen if we all tried to greet the people we came in contact with that way? Like they were the only person in the world that mattered in that instant. Not all of us are as cute or as innocent as my sweet boy, or your little one for that matter, but could something as small as a wave break people from their chains of monotony and to really live life again.
If you see a 19 month old boy with his 30 year old mom out waving like crazy people, I hope you smile. We are smiling, living and enjoying life, and cannot wait for you to join us.
So…
It is Wednesday afternoon, my day to do a post, and quite frankly I have no clue what to write.
I could tell you about how my unpacking efforts have taken a great dive on the whole productivity scale and I feel overwhelmed because there is so much to do. Or I could tell you about Jake’s theory that I have a problem finishing things. He usually only references this theory when I leave three bites on my plate and cannot fathom how I can’t fit those last three bites. In reality though, he has a very valid point.
I could tell you how last night was not a good “mommy” night. I could tell you about Ian getting popped twice and how his tears break my heart. I could tell you about how hard I giggled when he stood in the corner. Mug takes standing in the corner seriously….the nose is literally touching the corner. I could tell you how Jake and I are struggling to define our rules and how to enforce them with Ian; how we really wrestle with all of this, when he can’t communicate back to us. I could also tell you how it ended with a Mommy/Ian bubble bath, complete with bath markers and dumping water on each other. A special way that we show each other that we know we are both trying to spread our wings; him as a toddler and me as a mom. Even when we hit bumps in the road, we both love each other and in the end, that is all that matters.
I could tell you how much it breaks my heart to be told that my kid isn’t quite on track for development. I could tell you how the doctor’s want to proceed and I can tell you what my heart says to do, but sometimes I just look at him and know that if nothing were to every change and that if something is truly wrong, he is a HAPPY little boy. And in all honesty, that is all I ever asked God for. And there is nothing like hearing him call for Mi mi!
I could tell you about the other night as I was putting Ian to bed, well my bed. I was laying on my pillow looking at him and he was laying on my pillow looking at me and when that sweet sweet boy reached over and touched my cheek, I thought my heart was going to hit the moon. Yes, we are co-sleepers. To watch as those little eyes get heavier and heavier as he drifts off to his dreams is truly a blessing in my life. Sleeping beside him somehow makes me feel closer to him and I can rationalize all the time I spend away from him at work.
I could tell you how horrible I am at keeping secrets and right now it seems like I have a gazillion of them. Between trying to plan a bachelorette party, Jake’s graduation, and my brother moving, there is just too much information in my head. I don’t think I could ever maintain a big lie because I could never keep it all straight!
I could tell you how as much as there is going on and how little there is done in our house, that I am at peace. Our little roots are slowly seeping down into the soil and we are ready to embrace this next phase in our life.
Life is good!
Catch us out and about!
