amazing.

i'm in love with this.

obsessed.

watch this a few times over the weekend, and it should be a good one. :)

flowers: simple spring lilac arrangement

last week, colin at hope street flower company sent me some gorgeous lilacs. before sending them, he asked what shade i'd like (lilacs come in a variety of colors, but are most commonly known for being purple). i asked for something in a soft, cool purple shade. the ones he sent were the perfect color, and they smelled amazing.

i think lilacs are the quintessential spring flower. they provoke a feeling of freshness, innocence, and romance.

lilacs are really beautiful on their own, so i wanted to use them in a really simple arrangement. what i came up with is about as easy as it gets.

i think these simple arrangements would be perfect for a spring wedding or party.

simple spring lilac arrangement:

*tip: if you can't use your flowers right away, fill clean buckets with at least 6 inches of water. keep the flowers in the clean water in a cool, dark place. i keep my flowers in my garage. it stays nice and cool out there and keeps them fresh until i have a chance to use them.

i found these little white tin buckets at target for $1 each.

i removed the white ribbons and used some leftover ribbon from my wedding to give each bucket a little black and white bow-tie.

all i did to create the bow-tie was pull the ribbon through the holes and tie two knots. i tied the first knot with the right side overlapping the left and the second knot with the left side overlapping the right. this ensures a straight bow-tie.

trim the ends until you get your bow-tie to the size you like.

and there you have it!

aren't they dapper?

next, fill the buckets with water, and trim the lilacs to fit the size of the buckets. i used about 8 flowering stems per bucket: 4- 6 to go around the outside and 2-3 in the middle to give the arrangement some height. play with the flowers until you get them looking the way you want.

and that's all there is to it!

thank you to hope street flower company for providing the beautiful lilacs!

mental illness

i loved the emma/ocd story line in this week's episode of glee.

it made me REALLY proud that i'm doing something to spread awareness about mental illness.

freely talking about my mood disorder on my blog and in my life has been really empowering for me. i don't have to feel ashamed of my illness. it doesn't make me a bad person. it really doesn't say anything about me. just like the doctor told emma - mental illness doesn't define you; it's not who you are; it limits you from being your true self.

i couldn't agree with this more. i feel so much closer to becoming the "true me" since i started therapy and medication. i tried medication on and off in my late teens and early twenties, but i had been misdiagnosed, so it didn't work for me. as a result, i spent years saying, "i will never take medication again. it doesn't work. i don't feel like ME when i'm on it. i don't need it. NO."

as soon as i finally accepted that i did need it, everything changed. i was able to find an incredible psychiatrist who correctly diagnosed and treated me. the very first medication that he put me on worked! i felt the change right away. seriously. i felt it within a half hour. and i have been SOOOO much happier ever since.

i still struggle. i still go visit the peaks and valleys, but the changes in my mood are no longer so drastic. i'm able to function more regularly. life is a little easier.

i'm still a work in progress and always will be, but finally admitting that i had a problem changed my life in so many amazing ways. i will never go back to a life without treatment. it's just not worth it.

passion and a new venture

sometimes i forget that people who read this blog don't already know everything there is to know about me. i know i've talked about flowers a little bit here and there, but i don't know if i've made it clear that flowers are one of my passions in life.

so let's just get that out of the way, shall we?

flowers are one of my biggest passions.

there.

so, with that in mind, i've decided to start incorporating flowers into my blog posts a bit more.

as you know, i did all the flowers for my wedding:

you can see the full post on that here.

our friend, colin, owns an online shop called hope street flower company. they sell flowers in bulk at wholesale prices and ship them directly from the LA flower market to your door. it's pretty cool because you have to have a wholesale permit in order to get top pick of the flowers and the best prices at the flower market. "regular" people can't even get in 'til much later in the day.

hope street flowers, very generously, provided all the flowers i used for the wedding.

i had a BLAST going to the flower market with colin and picking everything out. i was seriously in my element. i have NEVER been that energized at 4:00 in the morning.

sooooo, colin and i have decided to pair up again! on my blog!

i'm going to start doing little flower projects to feature here, and hope street flower company is going to provide the flowers i use.

i'm really excited about this new venture, and i hope you are too! honestly, i'm a little bit shy about this. yes, even the girl who posts ridiculous videos of herself childishly smashing a piñata to smithereens gets shy! i'm nervous to show my ideas because i'm not a professional, but i'm hoping that i can inspire you with my projects and that i can improve my abilities while i'm at it.

stay tuned for my first flower feature tomorrow!

i love my little family.

my family is so cute.

lily is always good for a cuddle.

gretel is always good for a laugh.

and levi is good for all of the above and everything in between.

there's no one else i'd rather share this little apartment with.

adios, piñata!

we were all feeling a little bit lazy in the days leading up to easter, so instead of an egg hunt, we opted for an easter piñata.

i got a littttttle bit hyper when piñata time came. i think i saw it as an opportunity to get out all the frustration that had been brewing inside me from being sick for more than 10 days?

whatever the reason, i went aggro on that thing:

and here's what happened when my mom knocked it down:

no, i didn't keep all the candy. i only took one piece. i can be mature too.

bring the outside in

my family was planning on having a picnic in the park on easter sunday like we did last year.

...but it rained.

this actually worked out really well because my mom turned her living room into the perfect picnic spot.

we had a picnic blanket, pillows, plants, stone birds, a park bench, and even a ceramic turtle!

she even had a compilation of nature sounds playing!

we feasted on salad, sandwiches, chips, and strawberry shortcake.

(ivy was sad because she just had her wisdom teeth pulled and couldn't really chew.)

after lunch, we decorated brown paper bags to use for the easter piñata.

ivy's bag is missing from the lineup... it had a mysterious encounter with the trash can...

isn't levi's bag creepy?? he drew frank from donnie darko. we decided that his bunny and my bunny (bruce) were a couple.

a pretty funny video from the easter piñata is to come!

the violet

have you had a chance to read the premiere issue of the violet yet?

if you haven't, you should check it out! it's an online magazine by bloggers, for bloggers.

i thought the first issue was beautiful, inspiring, and practical. the pictures were gorgeous. the layout was clean. and the writing was fantastic.

it's the best online magazine i've ever seen, and i was truly blown away by it. i can't believe that this group of girls has never done this before!

take a look, and enjoy.

coffee shop love

what do we do to celebrate a nice tax refund?

go out to coffee, of course!

good things happen at target

i completely forgot about this video of my sister on her birthday.

we were at target, goofing around, killing time 'til i got to go pick up levi from the airport (he was in north carolina for work).

that should be a nice sendoff to the weekend for you.

you're welcome.

things

things i want right now:

1. the magical disappearance of 15 pounds from my body... overnight

2. the magical disappearance of all my student loan debt... overnight

3. another toasted crumpet with butter and apricot preserves

4. a baby

things i'm looking forward to:

1. friday's launch of the violet magazine

i got a sneak peek, and it is amazing. i'm not just saying this because camilla is my friend. it's gorgeous. be excited.

2. getting my Paragard IUD switched to a Mirena and living a life sans horrendous cramping every single day

3. accompanying levi on a small work trip to san luis obispo in may

4. the fair this summer

things i dislike at the moment:

1. being ill

2. my crazy neighbors and disrespectful apartment manager

3. my dirty kitchen and bedroom and living room and bathroom. my dirty house.

4. the fact that stacey and camilla don't live nearby

things i love always:

1. God

2. my husband

3. my family & kitties

4. flowers & coffee

how 'bout you?

annnnnd he cooks!

the following will probably come across as bragging... because that's exactly what it is.

not only is my husband the hottest man who has ever walked the face of the earth, not only is he a talented artist and an incredible dresser, not only does he do my hair and get me treats and take care of me when i'm sick and, pretty much, spoil me rotten all the time...

he's also an excellent cook!

we recently got a barbeque with some of our wedding money, and levi is making great use of it.

so far, he has made:

steak, shrimp, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, and zucchini

and

teriyaki chicken with spicy pineapple, rice, and zucchini

the pineapple is one of the best things. ever. he spiced it with cholula. YUM.

so basically, i am the luckiest woman in all time and history because i'm married to the best man who has ever lived... besides jesus. jesus definitely ranks higher than levi.

fever mode

this is what my life has looked like lately:

i've been sick since wednesday night, and i'm still sick today. it sucks. being sick always makes me feel really bad about myself. i feel fat, unproductive, and disgusting. i feel guilty for not taking care of things, but i also feel like falling over every time i get off the couch. i guess i just have to let my body heal and stop being so hard on myself.

bonus to being sick: levi makes me really good dinners, watches romantic comedies with me, buys me books, and brings me coke slurpees and happy hippos.

p.s. did anyone catch my tiny wings reference in the title of this post?? being sick also means playing tiny wings... and cursing at that little bird for not moving fast enough.

grams

i know this is the zillionth time i've mentioned instagram since joining like two seconds ago, but i really really love it.

here are some that i've taken recently:

all photos were taken by me on my iPhone 3GS, except for the two of me and the one of levi. those were taken by my sister on her iPhone 4. her username is ivyhunter.