2013 in Review

I know I've written about a good deal of things that happened this year, but let's cap it off.

New Things

• I learned to drive a stick shift.
• I went to the my husband's family's Thanksgiving in Florida and cooked stuffing for the first time.
• I've started brewing and drinking loose leaf tea.
• I found out I really enjoy pilates, and I'm pretty sure it helped me lose a little weight, which I gained back after my free classes stopped.
• I joined a young professionals Bible study where I made real friends!
• I'd say this year is the first I really started caring about politics and world events.  Caleb's huge into these things, and I've been trying to get involved with him, and the work has started to pay off!
• I learned that I like pistachios after a whole life of hating them!
• My blog post about products from the Korean cosmetic store Face Shop became my most popular post ever.  It's brought in over 6,000 views since it was published in May (which is a lot for me).  I'm still surprised as to why it took off like that.

Something I've Always Liked: Moroccan Lanterns

One day I'd like to visit Morocco.  I have this vision of such new colors and smells and an entirely different ambiance from everything I've seen before.  Maybe I watched Alladin too many times growing up, but I imagine Morocco to be such an enchanting and invigorating place.

I think having some of lanterns like these is one way to bring home the magic.

sold by MyCraftWork, LLC

Recommended, Plus a Real Life Recommendation

Just a few things I'd like to share, because one can't know about everything on the internet without some help.

Fascinating photos of endangered tribal peoples by Jimmy Nelson

A Buzzfeed article telling you about the YouTube musicians you should know about (including 3 of my favorites, Pentatonix, Eric Whitacre, and Lindsey Sterling!)

An album of foster foxes!

There's a new online company called PinchMe pulls together samples of new products for you to try for free!

And now for the first real life product I've ever recommended...

Where to Buy Christmas Gifts Online

First of all, I admit that I'm not the most involved with online shopping, but I have made some new discoveries this year I want to tell you about.  Maybe they'll be helpful for you like they've been to me, or maybe they'll just show you more pretty things to fancy!

I wrote about Scoutmob and their shop here before, but I want to make sure you know how awesome their shop is.  As their logo says, all their wares are made by independent crafters.  This means you can find literally unique things for your home (like these tables), carefully beaded jewelry (like these made by my friend Kelly), and all kinds of interesting and quirky things.  Me, I'd love to have this saddle blanket.  Isn't it perfect?

I've Been Away. Here's a quick update!

November ended up being much busier than I anticipated.  For one thing, when you're leaving work for a week, the preparation leading up to your vacation can be intense.  I hardly got to take any time for myself that week, but it was completely worth it when Caleb and I found ourselves on the island of Vieques for a week.

This was our house!

Technically, those are pictures of the back and front yard, but they do the trick.

Caleb and I rented a house called Casa dos Cuervos.  I'll write more about it later, but this is a quick update, so I need to keep moving.  For now, I can tell you it was amazing and you would love it.  I promise.

When we returned, Caleb and I had a week and a half of work before leaving again for his family's Thanksgiving in Florida.  The milder weather was very welcome, the folks were friendly and funny, and the food was just right.  I made my mom's dressing and it got great reviews, mostly because it includes bacon.

Now I've got Christmas on the brain, and I'm very glad to see myself excited about it.  Last year's season was very difficult and frustrating because I wasn't ready to be back in America and I felt like Christmas in general was just an ugly display of consumerism and superficiality.  2013 brings our first Christmas as a married couple, our first small tree, getting to pick which new traditions to start, and for-real branching out as a new family.  I'm excited, and, frankly, I'm glad I have Caleb as my husband this year.

Next on my docket:

Buying Christmas presents

Figuring out what to take for a party appetizer

A wintery date to include picking a tree and possibly a Snuggler

Seeing The Hobbit with my sister

Hosting a Christmas dinner for the young adults in our combined families

Figuring out what to have for Christmas Eve dinner

Christmas!!

What do you have going on these days?  Did you have a great November?

Learning Stick Shift

Last month I had to return my mom's van to my parents' house and Caleb and I were left with one car.  Caleb's thankfully been able to carpool with a co-worker, but that left me with the new VW Jetta.  Sounds cool, no worries, but the car is a stick shift, and I didn't know how to drive it.

Guys.  I was so scared.  The dreaded hill starts, people pulling up so close to me, stalling out on hectic Atlanta streets, it was a nightmare!  I literally came home crying one day because I felt like I couldn't take it.  That's when I put these signs up:

Recommended for the First Weekend in November

This puppy picture melted my heart.

Found a new website to gawk at.  One Kings Lane which tells you about all kinds of home thing sales from designers and such.  They've got some lovely things on their Pinterest.  I really like the pictures on their Camp Chic board.

“A gracefully executed quit is a beautiful thing, opening up more doors than it closes.”

— Kio Stark via Swiss Miss via Cup of Jo

 Karen Nyberg talks about life and motherhood in space away from her family.  Wow. via Cup of Jo

The Chinese government has issued advisory literature to its people about how to behave while traveling abroad so as not to offend the locals.  I find the articles pretty funny, but I kind of think America should distribute something similar to its own people so they don't talk loudly, don't stand on the left side of the escalator, and don't disturb the peace while touring.
(Did you know you're not supposed to do, like, anything on the French subways?  Sitting quietly is all but required.)

I found a new thing to add to my Christmas list last month:

I just can't decide which metal I want.  They're not very expensive, though, so maybe I should just collect all three.  :)  (J/k, all things in moderation.)
Adjustable Fox Ring for $10 on Etsy

And a photo set of a fox someone found in their yard!  So lovely and serene and enchanting.

Recommended for the Traveler

When I look at friends' travel pictures, I also hope they have shots of the markets.  I love those pictures.  The open air markets of other countries always seem so alive and dangerous.  They make me think of Agraba in Alladin and all of the places I want to visit.

People have made Pinterest boards for these pictures!!

Markets &Street Food

World Markets

Also, I recommend checking out the Pinterest profile of the new Little Market from Lauren Conrad.

What things do you like to see when you visit new places?  Besides the open air markets and kitsch shops, I definitely hunt down local food and some interactions with strangers.

Name Change Update

Well, it doesn't matter if I wanted to right away or not; I couldn't change my last name because the social security office was closed along with the stupid government shutdown for the last few weeks.  I didn't get the process started until yesterday morning.

Last month I wrote about how I've been upset by the whole process of changing my name.  The research I found on the options available for changing your name didn't make me feel better about the process.  Turns out there are 5 different ways to handle the issue in America, and none of them include having a second middle name, which is what I want.  They say it's a huge pain to try and have 2 middle names, and you kind of just end up having one middle name that's two words one.  Then you'd have to have that double word middle name on your Social Security card, Driver's License, etc., and it's a super drag because the American system isn't made to handle double last names.  Because of all this, I've been starting to think that it's time to bite the dust.

Thankfully, my maiden name McKissick will always be my maiden name.  It's not how I'll introduce myself, it's not what people will call me, but it will always be who I am.  Now, I will also be Sutton, and that will always be who I am, too.  The only thing being replaced is the final name on my documents.  My identity isn't changing.  I've found comfort in that, and I'm glad of it.

Onward and upward!

New Discovery: The 1975

Thanks again to NPR for the introduction!  I love you guys.

The first I heard of The 1975 was "Heart Out."  It reminded me of my very favorite part of the movie Drive (right after the kiss in the elevator).  That very favorite part was the song "A Real Hero" by College & Electric Youth.  I love that song.  I love it, and I want more of it.  Turns out, there are bands that really enjoy playing music that reminds me of the 80's I barely caught the tail end of.

So far I've listened to "Chocolate," "Girls," "You," and "Me."  It's not super often you listen to five random songs from a new artist and you like them all.  I think I can safely recommend these guys, at least to the people who are fans of 80's music, which I am.  Mm, I love it.  Bring it on!

New Discovery: Scoutmob

I first heart about Scoutmob while I was unsubscribing my boss from junk emails a few weeks ago.  It's kind of like a hipster conglomeration of yelp, Pinterest, and a community newspaper.  They have branches that tell you about fabulous restaurants in your city of choice.  They curate beautiful and interesting goods made from independent craftsmen.  They send out What To Do This Weekend email blasts telling you about the Victorian Street Festival in the cemetery and all the things your local NPR station doesn't have time to talk about.  Their app does have a feature that adds mustaches onto your phone's pictures, but for the sake of the content, I'll overlook the heavy hipster impression.  (It's what hipsters do these days: try to be offended by hipster culture.)

I've only been subscribed and following and reading Scoutmob for a week now, but I think I'm really going to like it.  I imaging the folks behind the scenes as young and interested in the same things I am, which makes me want to keep up with them even more.

One other thing I'm really excited about is getting to take advantage of their hand-picked experiences.  This section is kind of like Groupon, but some of the experiences available through Scoutmob aren't available anywhere else.  (Exclusive!)  The first experience I want to experience is the Mediterranean Date Night for Two at Couscous.  Caleb loves Mediterranean food, and I wish I could take him here for his birthday (November 29th!), and the deal from Scoutmob has the meal at 50% off!

Doesn't this look exotic and delicious?
Couscous via Scoutmob

My Government is Stupid but My Country is Golden

Foreign friends, this is just dumb.  My husband could rant on and on about the idiocy going on in all the branches of the government, but here's what you see on the surface.  National Parks are shut down.  Certain services run by the government are unavailable.   It's just a mess.

Things like this have happened:

As redditor andyrosenburg posted, "My friends were supposed to get married in Yosemite this weekend. Thanks to the Government shut down they had to reschedule last minute. They just posted this pic."Picture via Imgur

Wedding Details: The Staff

I know it's kind of a strange thing to write about, but the issue of the staff was a pretty big one for this wedding.  The venue for the ceremony and reception, The Historic Train Depot in Newnan, GA, doesn't have staff, so I had to conjure up a workforce to serve the food, take out the trash, and do all the other things that needed to be done.  If "handmade wedding" describes a wedding where your hands are in almost every aspect, this was a very handmade wedding, and I needed extra hands for the actual event part because my own would be busy putting a ring on Caleb's finger.

I had no idea what to do.  I wanted my friends and family to be able to enjoy the wedding and to not have to work.  Thankfully, my mother-in-law had a brilliant idea.  What if I used kids from the homeschool group Caleb's siblings graduated from?  They've helped in loads of events before, she said, and I could make a donation to the school.  They've done great work at their previous events, and my mother-in-law knew exactly who to talk to.

So, I hired 10 KONOS students from Fayetteville for $50 each and everything got done!  The kids had their own coordinator who gave them certain tasks to complete.  They picked up the food for dinner, moved chairs from the ceremony to the reception, served popcorn during the cocktail hour, set up the dessert table and served pies, made sure the serving tables were full and that trash got cleaned away, moved wedding gifts to my parents' van, directed people toward where they needed to be, prepared to-go boxes for Caleb and I, prepared the send off confetti, broke down and cleaned up everything when the reception was over, and who knows what else.

Wedding Details: The Ceremony Music

When Caleb and I first got engaged, his Uncle Bill said he wanted to provide a string quartet for our wedding.  Uncle Bill is a band and orchestra teacher in North Carolina public schools, and he has a lot of friends in music, so we knew he'd be able to get some great musicians for us.  Unfortunately, the week before the wedding, Uncle Bill's contact who was pulling everything together for him said he wasn't going to be able to make things work.  So, Uncle Bill called up friends from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and they played for our wedding!  Just wow.

I had put two songs in the ceremony program.  "Here is Love" was performed by one of my bridesmaid friends and one of Caleb's groomsmen friends as a duet.  (They both sang in chorales and have lovely voices, and their soprano and tenor registers fit together seamlessly.)  For the other, "How Deep the Father's Love for Us," my friend Monika led the congregation with the orchestra playing behind us.  You can see them practicing in the photo below.

Picture by Sarah Becker Photography

Wedding Details: The Altar

One of the most difficult parts of the decor was figuring out how to construct a beautiful altar at the train depot's white arch where we'd say our vows.  It was Caleb who came up with the swagging material idea, which I latched onto instantly, but even with the gathered points and flowers, I wasn't sure it would look okay.

It was the day before the wedding that my mom realized there was a hearth in the depot's storage room.  With that addition, everything immediately came together and looked "on purpose".

My favorite part is how so many people worked on it.  I hung up the fabric, but my sister Taylor, matron of honor Millie, and makeup artist Kelsey did all the flowers, and some groomsmen moved the hearth.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out!  For me, it was perfect.

Wedding Details: We Didn't Have Wedding Cake

I don't like cake very often. There are some cakes that are delicious, but I much prefer pies. The decision was made as soon as the question came up of what we would have at our wedding. Pies!

I asked my mom and my mother-in-law to be in charge of collecting the pies. Some were brought in from a caterer, some were brought in from Sunday School friends, and some were made by aunts in the kitchen the day of the wedding. (It was a great relief on my small wedding budget to have all of these desserts donated. Someone even thought to bring whipped cream!)

I only got to grab one bite of pie as I was passing by the table after the last dance, but some awesome lady also sent a homemade cherry pie home with us. We still have some of it in our fridge, and never have I ever imagined cherry pie could be this amazing. It's fresh cherry, and I must get the recipe.

My ultimate favorite dessert is cheesecake, and my mother-in-law was able to make my dream come true of having cheesecake for what Caleb and I would cut and feed each other. She had her famous baking friend ship us one from Charleston, SC. I like how she made it a heart, and I greatly appreciate like how she sent along a separate small cake for Caleb and I to save for our first anniversary. I also really, really like the golden fox cake toppers I made!

All photography by Sarah Becker Photography

Wedding pictures!

They're all here!  Well, not in this post.  I'll just show you my favorites, but I will also show you the entire albums I posted on Facebook, if you like. There's an album for Getting Ready & Wedding Party Portraits and one for Ceremony & Reception Pictures.

I'll be talking about some of the specifics of the wedding throughout the week.  I hope you like the pictures and stories!

The lovely photos are by my good friend Sarah at Sarah Becker Photography.  I can't wait to get them printed and displayed in our home!

The Dream Job List

I love to day dream about how wonderful it would be to be in this job or that job.  When I was younger, I wanted to be an artist when I grew up, then a veterinarian, then a marine biologist or oceanographer, missionary/translator/ESL teacher, then an administrative or personal assistant.  I'm very fortunate that I've been able to do a lot of the stuff I had on my list, and I truly am all for being content with where I am, but I'm also all for dreaming and reaching.

New Dream Jobs

Wedding Details: In Between the Ceremony and Reception

One of the parts of the wedding that I got the most compliments on was also the part that I put the least amount of effort into and the part that I was most worried about.

Cocktail Hour
 

While the wedding party goes off for pictures after the ceremony, in other weddings there's usually, I guess, cocktails.  There are snacks and mingling or sitting at your table looking at the chocolate kisses and restraining yourself from burning the silverware over the candles.  That's how the weddings I've been to have been like.  And it's usually a nice time when you can talk and make noise and not have to sit still and listen to a pastor for a while.

The venue for my wedding (a historic train depot) had limited space.  We were using the museum room for the ceremony, then the reception would be on a large lawn.  The only area left for a cocktail hour was a smaller lawn on the other side of the building.  A few brainstorm sessions birthed the ideas of board games and a popcorn machine.  I figured we could have some tables and chairs around, too, but that's about all I had when it came time for the wedding week crunch.

What panned out was, as the guests told me, perfect.  Even the DJ commented that it was a great idea.  "Most people think the reception is only dancing, but I like what you did there with the carnival theme."  I wasn't going for "carnival," I was going for "garden party," but whatever the interpretation was, I know the goal was met.  People had something to do, people had refreshments, and people had fun.

This is what it looked like!

 Two young girls in attendance said it was the most fun wedding they'd ever been to, and I suspect it was because of this part.  I know it's not the biggest deal, but that made me really happy.  I wanted people to enjoy the ceremony and the party afterward.  Mission accomplished.

 

Thankfully, the mission was accomplished without me having to go crazy.  We rented the popcorn machine, bought the kernels, oil, and seasonings.  We made blue cones for holding the popcorn, and I purchased white tablecloths in bulk, cups, and drink dispensers.  The tables and chairs were already at the depot available for us to use, and the rocking chairs came from my husband's mother and the corn hole sets came from his uncles.  The games came from my own house.   (We've gathered quite a collection over the years.)  I'd originally wanted to have music, too, but it became something I couldn't afford the effort or reasoning on, so that got cut 2 weeks before the wedding, and people were fine without it!  How awesome is that!  I'm so, so pleased, and I wasn't even there to see it much.

{ All photos property of Sarah Becker Photography }

Two Videos to Blow Your Mind

One cool thing about being married is that we don't have to email all our cool links to each other, we can just show them to each other as we sit on the same couch on a Saturday afternoon.

I want to share with you what Caleb and I shared with each other today.

First, the new WildCat robot from Boston Dynamics:

.

What in the world, right?!  I got the heebie jeebies during the slow-mo parts.  The articles about this beast talk about how it's faster than Usain Bolt and how it could kills us all.  That last part is probably false, but it sure does look fierce.

Second, this beautifully done video about workers in the Well of Death via Colossal



I appreciate the clips of the carnival surrounding the well.  India isn't an easy place for me to imagine, though I've read about it and heard many stories about it.  This video's perspective into India is different than Slumdog Millionaire's, that's for sure.  I like it.  And, you know, the Well of Death, too.  That's so wild!  I wish I could understand the physics of it all better.


And those are the things that stopped Caleb and I in our internet tracks this weekend.  What do you think of them?

Wedding Details: Making the Bouquets

What began as a necessity (florist bouquets weren't going to fit into the budget) became a pet project of mine. I really like nature, and I had visions of wild and free spilling over my hands at my wedding. Wild flowers, vines, and plenty of green.

After much research and a great recommendation from an event planner friend of mine, I chose FiftyFlowers.com to provide the blooms. I got the assorted farm mix for the snapdragons, solidago, and limonium and alstroemeria. I also picked Queen Anne's lace and asters because I really like them. The Queen Anne's lace didn't fit into the bouquets like I thought they would, but they were able to be used in the decor later one.

The day the flowers arrived, Mom and I went to our yard to snip about one hundred vines of honeysuckle for filling in the bouquets and for decoration in the venue. When all of the materials had been collected and 4 ladies arrived at my house to help with projects, I began on the bouquets. My mother-in-law and her friend started the boutonnieres and corsages. I love what they came up with, and I loved getting to experiment with my ideas and the flowers.

I'd been collecting inspiration and tutorials on a Pinterest board. Mine of course look different from the inspiration, but I love how they turned out!


{ All photos property of Sarah Becker Photography }