LOVE IT: The Bride & Bloom Magazine

One of my favorite places to hang out is the bookstore. I even have an authentic Barnes & Noble Bookstore chair which was given to me when the B&N I used to work for received a new set of chairs for their store. I try to get to the bookstore at least once a month to see what's new in books & magazines- particularly art, photography, business, and weddings. The Bride & Bloom is a fairly new publication to the wedding scene, so when I checked it out for the first time I wasn't sure what to expect, but after thumbing through the pages and seeing tons of great content, I fell in love and had to buy it!!!


If you haven't seen this magazine - go check it out!! It's not like all of the other bridal magazines, chocked full of page after page of dress designer ads that simply bury any content worth reading. It's dedicated to design and style ideas... TONS of design and style ideas. Because it's dedicated to design, it goes beyond weddings and can be used for party planning ideas as well! That's not to say that there aren't any wedding dresses, but they are all included with a design concept in mind. I was also happy to see some of my favorite wedding photographers featured throughout the magazine, which tells you that a lot of the images featured are from real weddings. (Who knows, maybe I'll appear in the mag some day too!!)


Photography by Ira Lippke.

The magazine and website are still very young, which means they will continue to grow. If they can maintain the quality and depth of their quarterly publication as they grow, I will remain a dedicated and loyal fan!

Live. Love. Green. Tote Bag Winner!!

A special thank you to everyone who participated in my Live. Love. Green. Tote Bag Contest!! There were some great ideas about small and easy changes we can make to help out the environment! Here are a few ideas that were mentioned:

"FREECYCLE!! If Freecycle is available in your area (you can find out at www.freecycle.org), by all means join! It has its roots in both environmentalism and anti-consumerism. There is also the added benefit of joining a local e-community like-minded others. I have both given and recieved some great items on Freecycle, and it feels gratifying to keep perfectily good items out of the landfill." - Sharyn

" I teach elementary art. It occured to me that buying new scissors every year is crazy. So, I bought a scissor sharpener. That way, I can re-sharpen blades and keep from putting 30 pair of kid scissors in the landfill every year." - Kristin

"Unplug that microwave, toaster, coffee maker, cell phone charger! That's just a bunch of energy going to waste." - Marlena

"Best Buy has a recycle area for ink cartridges, batteries... even cell phones! That's such an easy thing to add into your day. I stock pile my used Epson cartridges and then take them with us when we go shopping to get rid of them right. We have one of those IKEA bag holders for under the sink and use "old" grocery bags for lots of things - lunch-carriers, kitty litter disposal, etc. Oh, and I rarely wash my jeans too. And when I do, I do it on cold to save a little energy." - Megan

The winner was chosen at random using the tried & true system of names written on paper and drawing them from a bowl. ;) Finally, the winner is..... MARLENA!!!! Congratuations Marlena!!!! I'll be in contact with you shortly about where to deliver your Live. Love. Green. Tote Bag!

Keep your eye open for more contests in the future (they aren't always obvious or easy to find)!!! I love giving stuff away!!! ;)

My Birthday

This year my birthday fell on Easter Sunday, which I normally get to spend with my family, but since I was just in Detroit and Alex had to leave for England today, we decided to stay in Indiana. Even though I wasn't born on an Easter Sunday, my parents gave me a very Easter-like name, as Anne Renee means Grace Reborn.

When it comes to birthdays, I'm pretty simple and don't really need much. Even though I love giving gifts, I'd much rather have a new experience or spend time doing something I love with the people I love. So yesterday was pretty much a day to indulge in the things that I usually don't get to do, with my husband. I spent the morning on a texture hunt with my 1979 OM10 (born the same year I was) and some saturated UC film for a future personal project...


Then we had Thai for lunch.... Chicken Pad See-ew is my favorite! Yummmay!


With a little hot tea, thai roll, and plumb sauce..


Then we met up with our friend Dan for dessert and drinks at Friday's followed by a relaxed evening at home watching movies. We also went to see Blades of Glory on Saturday, which was quite hilarious!! Interestingly, the Hottie Birthday ballooon left over as a joke from Alex's birthday (March 14th) stayed inflated all the way until it was my birthday too!! These guys really know how to hang in there for a girl! HA! ;-)