The past couple weekends in our house have been major project weekends.  Nearly two years ago we purchased our first home, a classic “fixer upper” with unending projects (in stark contrast to our bank account).  I spent hours on Saturday and Sunday sanding, painting, and repainting 3 new interior doors for our downstairs living area. [...]

One of my favorite chick flicks is “You’ve Got Mail” and one of my favorite quotes from that movie is when Joe Fox is emailing Kathleen about Fall in New York and says, “Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of [...]

Let me preface this with saying, I loved my wedding. It was personal, intimate, a reflection of our personalities and just a great day to celebrate our marriage with family and friends. However, I totally wish I knew then what I know now about all of the wonderful hand made, eco-friendly, custom, and affordable options [...]

Candy bars (think buffet not Snickers) have been all the rage at weddings the past couple of years. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten mad chocolate cravings while putting together little signs for M&M’s or Reese’s Pieces. And while trends come and go, they seem to stick around a bit longer in [...]

When I was ring shopping for my husband, he had two requests.  The first was that it was inexpensive because he was afraid he would inevitably damage or lose it.  (Which he did with in our first year, to the bottom of a lake while fishing.) The second request was that it wasn’t too “fancy”. [...]

I heard on NPR this week that, in Baghdad, it regularly gets up to 130 degrees ferenheit in the summer.  And an antiquated electricity grid makes air conditioning as fleeting as a desert oasis.  When I heard this I thought, “I will never complain about 110 in Phoenix again.”  But who am a I kidding, [...]

Lately I’ve been looking to incorporate more art and beauty into our daily lives. Why drink coffee out of boring mugs when you can drink out of hand made master pieces? Why not have all of the little functional items we use every day not also add to the beauty and enjoyment of our day? [...]

Here in Phoenix, we are currently enjoying beautiful weather, until the evil heat of Summer triumphs over our will, and rears it’s ugly head.  For 6 months.  Of 100+ degree heat.  Basically, we’re the exact opposite of the rest of the country weather wise.  We play out doors all winter long, and hunker down in [...]

Emily Murphy is the brilliant owner and creator behind Manette Gracie Events. She stumbled upon some of my wedding invitations via Etsy and we’ve become quick interweb friends. We both have a love for all things wedding, hand made and eco-concious and realized we’d be a great fit to guests post on each other’s blogs! [...]

It’s Cyber Monday and I see you over there browsing from your work desk. :)  So here are a few amazing, eco-friendly gifts that are most definitely worth your precious Cyber Monday browsing time and your holiday gift giving budget. 1. One Green Poppy – Wool BYOB Bag A fabulous gift for the wine enthusiast [...]