Holiday Gifts

After much hemming and hawing and discussion with The Husband, I decided to spend our remaining Williams-Sonoma wedding gift card on a KitchenAid Artisan Standing Mixer.

Americans have traditionally bought flowers only on special occasions, while Europeans have long known that beauty like flowers should be enjoyed regularly, not just when we have guests. Not only do flowers add color and aroma to a living room, kitchen, or dining room, they also lift our spirits and stimulate an emotional response. New schools of thought such as ‘flower therapy’ suggest various color combinations help stimulate memories and generally improve our moods. A study by Rutgers University confirms that flowers do in fact make people happier, even men!

■ Cabbage rolls stuffed with pork and seasonings. These were made for special occasions, christenings, communions etc.

Many have emailed in to ask if we have a wedding registry - and, at first, we didn’t have one. Our feeling on the whole wedding gift thing was.. we didn’t want any! Initially, we decided that since we’re having the wedding in New York - and every single one of our guests have to travel to get there.. so airfaire and lodging costs.. we decided that, alone, was the perfect gift. Just having them there to share our special day with us was gift enough for us.

my friend is getting married aug 6th and i cant make it to the wedding because i am going to a family reunion in hell-hole small-town prairie land where the evil step-monster just happens to live as well. anywho, she is having cupcakes made and the baker wants more for the flowers than the actual cupcakes, soooooooooooo being the carazay wild and whacky bitch that i am, i offered to do them for a wedding gift.

One of the days I dread the most is my father’s birthday - (my father turned 77 last Saturday). My father is the hardest person to buy for, ever. If he wants something he will just go out and buy it. I hate it when he does this the week before his birthday!

So right now, we’ve constructed the bookcases and put the books in, thereby clearing out about half the boxes. We unpacked a lot of the clothes. We started discussing where we want the “real” furniture when we get it (like a couch), possibly with the anticipated wedding gift money. And we’re thinking about paint and curtains and things of that sort.

Wow, this is one of the most ULTRA modern wedding invites I’ve seen! I wouldn’t get these, but if you’ve ever wanted to see what you’d look like as an anime character, these would be the people to get in touch with! Unique Wedding Invitations NY.com also has cute greeting cards and can create personalized artwork for you! (photos from Unique Wedding Invitations NY.com)

When I was a little girl I would wear my pearls for special occasions - a holiday meal, weekly Barclay classes, or a swimming/school banquet. The pearls made me feel grown up, lady-like, and dainty; two decades later I'm still just as in love.