soon to be a duschletta

welcome to my wedding announcements! i made the announcement and each additional insert using Adobe Illustrator and i photographed us, as explained here, in our engagement photo. i wanted the announcement to be relaxed, simple, personalized, and sounding like the words came out of my mouth. it was a fun creation process and i would love to do announcements in the future. or maybe just my kids' party invites. i sure love jachen and canNOT wait to marry him.

I love how they looked shrink wrapped in stacks.

                      
the first bunch that went out. when i took those envelopes to the mail box i thought how official this was making my wedding. it was an interesting feeling.

chocolate+nighttime=

my niece clara, hopped up on a few mini

marshmallows and a couple pieces of chocolate.

agnes obel

you are sure going to want to listen to agnes's music. such dreamy piano, lovely voice and an intriguing sound. i liken her unto A Fine Frenzy. they share a similar way of story telling and feeling of being in a melodic dreamland. to me her music sounds like something you would hear in a modern elizabethan era movie with captivating cinematography. you know a modern cross between the newer Pride & Prejudice and Downton Abbey and Bright Star and Marie Antoinette. i can just see it now. THIS beautiful live performance of Riverside i especially could see used in a beautiful scene. her piano melodies get me every time. hear them HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

much needed

today i took a much needed break. i decided to take a "me" day. i have been really stressed about a lot for weeks, not to mention the week of emotional breakdowns i had(and i mean a week), and i just needed a day to escape and do whatever i wanted. when i decided to do this, i had no idea what to do. its been SOOO long since i have had a day, afternoon or time like this. jachen suggested i head to the beach and take photos. i thought that was a brilliant idea. so i did just that. i am so happy i did, it was so refreshing.

the head and the heart

i bought The Head and The Heart's self-titled album last week and it is grandtabulous. they are a seattle/alternative/folk/guitar/tambourine/piano/violin/shakers/feel good/amazing songs kind of band. every song on the album is my favorite and i have been listening to it ever since the purchase. i highly recommend this album if you like this type of music. watch/listen to the video below, and HERE you can watch a live performance of their song Down In the Valley.

this song should sell you.

a confetti shower

on saturday i celebrated with some of my friends and family the upcoming marriage of jachen and i. we celebrated confetti, brunch and craft style. the bridal shower was confetti themed after my love for throwing imaginary confetti for someone when they tell me good news...hand jesters and all with that imaginary confetti throwing. i think i was more nervous for my bridal shower, than i am for getting married and moving to switzerland. maybe it was the "being in the spotlight" or maybe the "i hope no one gives me anything embarrassing" or the "i hope people come" that made me nervous. like always once i do the thing im nervous for it all turns out lovely and i realize it's nothing to have been nervous about. it was a great time and i enjoyed spending time with women in my life. it was at my sister natalie's condo cabana where we have hosted many a parties. everyone wore a piece of confetti jewelry/accessories i made for the party. we ate delicious food, told everyone how jachen and i met, i received generous gifts and then enjoyed crafting with them. the whole time i couldn't believe i was at my own bridal shower.

for the brunch we had coffee cake that my friend kerianne made, individual mini quiches that my sister alicia made and a yogurt parfait. such yummy food. i only had a little and wish i was able to have more.

my mom with my nieces and nephew. glad those kiddos where a part of my party.

i doNOT like bridal shower games and so i knew that wasn't an option. i have sooo many little projects and big projects for my wedding and it seemed like such a great idea to have a craft bridal shower party. people ask me all the time if they can help me and i never know how they can because i am always working on random things and at random times. so it felt nice to finally be able to let people help. natalie and i planned these simple projects to get help for at the bridal shower.

the finished products!

so glad people i love came.

why are shoes so beautiful?

my shoe picks from LuLu's. LuLu's is a beautiful shop and the prices are pretty reasonable too. my top favorites are the floral saddle shoes and the first pair of boots with the amazing green shoe laces.

florida wrap up

i am FINALLY finishing my post about Florida. you can see my first two posts HERE and HERE. I just canNOT leave a story or an event unfinished. to refresh everyones memory, christmas 2009 i was given by my brother and his wife Lisa a trip to visit them in florida. in september 2010 i went. i was lucky to be the first in my family to meet the newest member of the family, Alyssa who they adopted that summer. she is so funny and such a cutey. just look at her! it was a great trip and i enjoyed such sunny weather. i hadn't yet posted my photos and videos from the theme parks. i rode most rides with my brother, {except Space Mountain where Lisa rode with me cuz jacob is too chicken...i learned why. i will never ride that ride again. i thought i was going to die. i rode it when i was younger at disneyland and apparently forgot how crazy it is.} and park hopped with him. i was able to get into all the parks for free! a friend of theirs who works for the park let me use their friends pass. so great. so here is the end to the trip, of course much i did is left out of this wrap up.

she was for sure making up this story that she went on and on about. it was comical.

look! there she is! THE castle. when i was in germany, i went in the real castle that the disney castle was inspired by. so that was neat to see it after being a part of the real castle.

my first disneyworld ride, aladdin! that sneaky camel sprays water on you. then it was on to the jungle boat ride, pirates of the caribbean, big thunder mountain railroad(my favorite), haunted mansion...so on and so on.

jacob never knew there was the haunted mansion at disneyworld(he goes all the time to disneyworld!) till we were standing here and saw the mansion across the water. we for sure had to get on that ride. i remember that one vividly from disneyland when i was younger.

after we spent many hours at the disney park, we zipped on over to animal kingdom. jacob and i rode the   Mt. Everest. OH MY WORRDDD. i am not one to go on a scary rollercoaster, so this is def the biggest one i have gone on. jacob and i were put in the FRONT of the ride so we experienced it all first. oh man it was soooo crazy scary and awesome. a video of it below.

jacob and i on the Mt. Everest ride. the part were it gets dark at 1:27 we are basically hanging upside down. SO SCARY. it was a blast though. this video still makes me laugh.

im not one to meet or take photos with disney characters, but i sure feel happy inside when i see the characters.

we got to animal kingdom towards the end of the park hours, they were closing the parks early because of a halloween party there that night, so when we got on the safari ride we were this tour drivers last ride so he stopped and took his time around the ride. so that was pretty lucky. i guess usually they just drive on past all the animals.

then we rushed over to Epcot Center. this was my third park of the day! i was soooo warn out. but it was great. we didn't stay long, we tried the different sodas from around the world, pictured below, rode a boat over to "japan",  rode the boat back and left the park.

there were some nasty sodas and delicious ones. it was all you can drink, how cool.
well there you have it, florida.

miss clara

i love clara sooo much. tonight i was laying on my parents bed and she came in and joined me. she loves her mona {what she calls me} and i am really enjoying it. she loves to come see what im doing on my laptop. tonight we jammed to some tunes, had some snuggles, laughs, dancing...and crying. oops. turns out my particularly sensitive niece doesn't like my head missing...watch bottom video. she is seriously the sweetest little thing.

oh the poor girl. maybe i shouldn't make my niece cry. she is so sensitive which is often annoying but sure was cute here.

a year already

March 7th 2010, a year ago Jachen and i met! a whole year ago. what a glorious day that was. well really the day in itself wasn't especially glorious. we met that day in a casual and positive meeting which turned into a friendship which turned into dating which turned into us being engaged and presently on a small countdown to getting married. it has been a great year with jachen. we had some beautiful, but fast weeks together in switzerland before i left, a great month in the summer when he came to visit here in the US, a lovely two weeks in october when i flew to him when he proposed, a week surprise for christmas and all the many skype calls, gchats, texts and emails in between. when we met a year ago, my only thoughts were that he was cute, fun and that he would make a great swiss friend. little did either of us know what would follow. neither of us expected to marry a foreigner. it still is very surreal to be engaged. it feels very surreal that i have found the most amazing man and perfect match for me. he really is. i am more and more in love with him each day. when i went to switzerland in october we took our engagement pictures...and i really mean "we" took them. i set up a tripod and he stood in front of the camera while i set it up and focused the camera everytime and then i would push the timer and run into the shot. haha. it was tricky business. jachen was cold, we only had a little mound to stand on, i could only take horizontals and i was feeling opposite of my inspired self. but it turned out to be a pretty good success. below are some of our favorites. the top picture, our favorite, is what we sent out in our wedding announcements. we are so ready to not only be together again, but for being married.

little fashionistas

these lovely outfits on my nieces are from target. sure love target. sure love these two girls. leah is sure rockin' that pose and clara rockin' those flowered jeans.

breaks my heart

yesterday my mom and i went to taco time for dinner. she had heard from my sister taco time now has a few gluten free items on the menu. my mom was eager to check them out. i of course stuck to my favorite crisp bean burrito dipped in their 30 sent ranch sauce. really taco time, i have to pay for your dipping sauce? as we were walking out we heard the cashier tell a man "sir, we noticed you have been in here before and there is a 30 minute limit in our eating area. we are going to need you to leave after that." UGH. it killed me. this poor homeless old man{who had a few bags with him tucked in a corner seat where he wouldn't take up space}, who was a paying customer even if he could only spend 99 cents needed somewhere to stay for a bit. i was soooo annoyed with the workers. i almost went back in and said something. since when does a restaurant/fast food place have a 30min limit on how long someone can be in there? the place wasn't hopping, he wasn't taking up others space. if i was there for an hour, would someone have come and told me to leave? i wanted to ask them to show me where it is written they have a limit. poor man. i wish i was more brave.

breaks my heart.

gals&hair | keren ann

keren ann, not to be mistaken for my bff kerianne, is an artist i have been loving these days. i love both her english and french songs. in an interview from American Songwriter she says the below about writing songs in english vs. french. when translating and talking about french songs in french classes, i have always found the lyrics so deep and unclear so it was interesting when i found this thought of mine confirmed.

Keren Ann writes in both English and French, a decision influenced not only by geography but by the story she’s telling. “Writing in French,” she explains, “it’s a language that permits you to be more dramatic and old, but sometimes I get fed up with it and go back to English, where it has to be just as it is-straight, raw…you can’t disguise things as much.”

i love her voice and her music is beautiful and interesting. she is also another example to me that i need my bangs again.

a french song of hers i love below. don't mind the random video, just listen to the song. another of her french songs i love. Seule.


below an english song of hers i love.


i LOVE this one.

all things lovely...

i love this scarf and it would be beautiful next to golden tan summer skin. {also would look beautiful next to not so tan skin} i am so ready for summer. beautiful ombre scarf from Fredflare. 

i love these lovely Madewell boots. get on my feet!

i love this folded airplane necklace from Fredflare. lovely.

do i want a hat called 'ocean breeze fedora'? yes, stick me on the beach with this hat please.

i love this airplane bird necklace from Erica Weiner. she has beautiful jewelry, check more out here.

i love this two toned boyfriend watch from ASOS.  more watches i love from ASOS, here.

i love these shiny elastic band maryjanes from Marais. they come in some really great colors.

i want Bon Iver's vinyl to be part of my collection. i bet it sounds amazing vinyl. can be found here.

another great traveling bag. thanks urban yet again.

Hoakon + Helga

i saw the top bag on this post, and LOVED it. remember my hunt for a great traveling bag? i followed the link and found this other great bag along with it. i love leather bags and i love how huge these are. the colors of the muted brown and grey is so great too. so beautiful.

gals&hair | jenn

sure love Wye Oak, a duo named after the state tree of Maryland their home state. i love jenn's rich and smooth voice. their first two albums are great and their upcoming album coming out in march is what i am most looking forward too. you can hear their title track below for that upcoming album. i love her muted blond hair and bangs as well. she has a great and simple look. if i went blond, i think i would go blond like her hair on the left. don't worry i don't plan on blond.



if you like what you heard above check out HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. click HERE for more great hair and great music.