Weddings on Wednesday: Asking my girls!

Let's be honest, almost as soon as the future husband proposed to me I started considering how I would ask my girls to be my bridesmaids and stand by my side. I knew exactly who I would ask and so I just needed an idea of how to do it. Remember how my sister asked me to be her Maid of Honor? And when Sarah asked me to be hers? I decided on a DIY project that was simple, sweet, and was guaranteed to be enjoyed by my future bridesmaids.

I started with a set a small wooden crates, a set of champagne flutes, some metallic spray paint, and, of course, champagne! I sanded and painted all of the wooden crates with two coats of the metallic silver spray paint. Caution: DO NOT SPRAY PAINT WHILE WINDY. I left them to dry upside down while I prepared the rest of the stuff. Here is a quick photo of the drying stage.

I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. The silver is so shiny in the light but also understated enough that it's not overwhelming. They are also a lot smaller than the photo above makes them seem. Here's a photo with my hand for perspective of size.

I purchased some Armor Etch glass etching paint and stencils to add a personalized touch to the champagne flutes. I was really pleased with how easy it was to use. All I needed to do was align the stencils with what I wanted to write (the bridesmaids' names) and then layer on the etching cream. Note: You have to apply the paint really thick to ensure it etches smoothly and uniformly. Then I waited 3-5 minutes (although the instructions said 1-2 minutes was sufficient) and washed off under running water. Obviously I wore gloves to protect my hands from the etching cream since it would burn your skin if it came in contact with it! Here is my setup:

 And then I added a few finishing touches, including a personalized card and a mini bottle of champagne to each one. I arranged each in one of the wooden crates and called it a day.

For my sister's I added additional goodies because she is my Maid of Honor. I added macaron erasers and a cupcake-in-a-jar (also DIYed). How cute did they end up??

Needless to say, they each said yes!

Welcome to My Second Car

As you know, I recently replaced My First Car (Sylvia) with My Second Car. So this post is all about my new whip! Who doesn't love a good new car, eh? Please welcome to the blog my new car! have officially joined the Honda CRV club.

She's a 2016 Honda CRV in modern steel metallic, which I honestly want as a nail polish ASAP because it's so pretty.  She is much taller than my old car so driving her is super interesting...BUT she has a lot of really cool features! For example, I have joined the realms of hand-less phone capabilities. She also has the ever popular multi-angle dynamic back up camera (which I didn't think I would like but seriously.....this feature is amazing!). She also has a "right mirror camera" which eliminates every blindspot when you need to make a right turn or lane change.

She had all of 4 miles when I drove her off the lot!

And here is a photo of my babies side by side. The short, sleek, old Sylvia, and the new, large, and in charge...uh, I don't have a name for her yet!

Any suggestions for a name??

An Ode to...my First Car.

You might be thinking "oh my goodness, she's finally lost it" when you read the title to this post...and well, you might be right, but I'm still going to continue anyway because it means a lot to me. You may not know that one of my proudest accomplishments in my 20some years on this planet was that I saved up my hard earned cash monies from my five year gig as a late-night waitress at a local diner and purchased my First Car. You may remember the first time she appeared on this blog when I called her "my mitsubishi baby" and painted some mitsubishi logo nails. Here she is in all her glory:

Doesn't she look great?! I had saved up $4900, bought her in cash in 2010, and I LOVED her. Everyone knew I was obsessed with my car and my friends and family would even refer to her by name (I had named her Sylvia). She was a 2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT with a nice 87000 miles on her odometer (she had a long life before she met me). Whoever bought her originally had her filled to the brim with extra features, including a cassette tape player (LOL) AND four CD changer, Infinity premium sound system, leather interior and steering wheel, premium Alloy wheels, tinted windows, and a sunroof. She was all mine. 

Let me just say, she was the best car ever and I thank her for that. Sure, she had a headlight electrical issue in 2010, she had the great flood of 2011, she needed not one but TWO $1100 strut replacements, when she failed to start on the day of my first law school final, my friends and family had to save me when she decided to not start after my last law school final...or at the Christiana mall...or Target in the dead of winter, or any of the countless replacements and tune ups she needed over time. But she also took me to and from my parents house when I was in college, to and from visits to my future to-be husband at his college in Philadelphia, to and from law school from my first apartment, to and from the train station when I worked in the city during law school, and to and from my first job. She did her job and although I could probably build a second car with the replaced parts off of her I still will always remember her as a great car. (I'll leave it to other people to remind me!) 

When I got my first full time attorney position I started to save up for my "big girl car" because Sylvia started to be less and less reliable. Finally, in September I decided I saved enough and the time had come to say goodbye to Sylvia (it was not without tears). So, we started to get her ready for her final drive.

It was a sad day when I drove her to the dealership to trade her in for what would become My Second Car but it was all worth it. Rest easy girl. May the road rise up to meet you!

So what did I replace her with you might be wondering?? Well, here's a hint:

More to come! Stay tuned!