Thursday, October 18, 2007

Yay for Ebay!

I'm all about ebay for my wedding. I bought my dress there, I bought my vintage rhinestone jewelry there, and I just won an auction for my shoes! I originally wanted to go with pink or green shoes to match the wedding colors, and thought it'd be oh-so-fun to dye my crinoline pink or green too (I'm kinda funky, what can I say?). But then the pink shoes I REALLY REALLY wanted, when I finally went to buy them online, were... um... not there anymore. I tried and tried to find them at other places, but they were gone.

*sniff*

So, off to ebay I went. And then I found them.














Absolutely gorgeous, totally my style, and they're even from J Crew. The best part? REALLY INEXPENSIVE. I seriously think that when all is said and done, I'll have spent less than $500 total on everything I'll be wearing for the wedding. Not bad, huh? :)

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Best Cupcakes in America!

I logged onto my AOL account this morning, and wouldn't you know it? One of the healine stories was about the Best Cupcakes in America. Now, if you've read some of my previous posts, you know what a cupcake fiend I am, and how much I absolutely love Trophy cupcakes in Seattle.

Well. Guess who made the list of the best cupcakes in America?

That's right, Trophy cupcakes and their Hummingbird cupcake (trust me, it's amazing). Another Seattle cupcakery (Cupcake Royale) also made the list, which makes me really, really happy. For an addict like me, I have access to two of the top places. Yippie! For those of you in other cities, here's the list (article by Dulcy Israel):

Red Velvet Cupcake
Magnolia Bakery
401 Bleecker St. New York, NY 10014-2452
(212) 462-2572
(made famous by Sex in the City)

Vanilla Cupcake
Sprinkles
Plaza at Preston Center
4020 Villanova Drive Dallas, Texas 75225
214-369-0004
(one of Oprah's favorite cupcakeries!)

Peppermint Party Cupcake
Cupcake Royale
2052 Market St. Seattle, Wash. 98107
206-782-9557
(one of the first cupcake places in Seattle)

Hummingbird Cupcake
Trophy Cupcakes
1815 N. 45th St. Suite 209 Seattle, Wash. 98103
206-632-7235
(the Hummingbird is a pineapple, banana, coconut piece of heaven with cream cheese frosting)

Chocolate and Vanilla Old Fashioned Cupcakes
Back in the Day Bakery
2403 Bull Street Savannah, Ga. 3140
912-495-9292
(Paula Dean loves this place)

Good Morning Cupcake
The Cupcakery
9680 S. Eastern Ave. Suite 100 Las Vegas, NV 89123
(702) 207-2253
(This confection is made of yellow cake with a cinnamon swirl- yum!)

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake
Babycakes NYC
248 Broome St. New York, N.Y.
212-677-5047
(instead of wheat, gluten, dairy and sugar, this place manages to make a fabulous cupcake with fun ingredients like coconut oil and agave nectar)

Milk Chocolate Ganache Cupcake
Franklin Street Bakery
1020 East Franklin Ave. Minneapolis, Minn. 55404
612-879-5730
(with a chocolate ganache center, you can't go wrong with this one)

Spice Cupcake
Society Bakery
3426 B Greenville Ave. Dallas, Texas 75206
214-827-1411
(fun fact: 10% of all profits go to charities like the Red Cross and the SPCA)

Bittersweet Symphony
Sticky Fingers
811 NE 79th St. Miami, FL 33138
(for many musically inspired cupcakes, this is your place)

Corn-based Cupcake
Cupcakes
613 W. Briar Place Chicago, Ill. 60657
(866) 525-0817
(This one has a roasted vegetable cream cheese frosting. Sounds weird, but apparently it's great.)

The Fleur De Sel Cupcake
Kara's Cupcakes
249 Scott St. San Francisco, CA 94123
Phone: (415) 563-2253
(yummy organic cupcakes with unexpected toppings)

The Rocky Road Cupcake
Cupcake
433 King Street Charleston, SC
Phone: (843) 853-8181
(this cupcake is touted as "the sweetest taste in Charleston")

Carmel Apple Cupcake
Lilly Jane's Cupcakes
664 S. River Shore Suite 164 Eagle, Idaho
Phone: 208-938-3408
(fun fact: this place was named after the owner's grandmothers, Lilly and Jane)

The MSC Mojito Cupcake
Main Street Cupcakes
238 North Main Street Hudson, Ohio
Phone: 330-342-0833
(you can eat a dozen and still drive home. Can't say that about the real thing!)

Vegan Cupcakes
Knit Knight Cupcakes
Everywhere, U.S.A.
(some of the most creatively decorated cupcakes you'll ever see. Plus, they're vegan!)

Friday, October 5, 2007

The Today Show Wedding

Yesterday, the Today Show had their annual wedding, only this time it was planned by Martha Stewart! I haven't kept up with all the choices because this year has been such a busy time for me, but I couldn't resist taping the wedding episode. Let's face it, many brides, including myself, become addicted to anything and everything wedding-related.

I thought the choices for the Today Show wedding were amazing- I love the BM dresses, the grey suits for the GM, the green swags across Rockefeller Square, the floral bouquets.... but clearly, the most stunning choice by FAR was Jessica's (the bride) Reem Acra dress. It's gorgeous, and it looks gorgeous on her!

I'm sure you brides out there would differ as to whether you would want a wedding paid for by the Today show, and of course there are pros (free wedding! Planning by Martha Stewart! Getting to meet Matt Lauer!) and cons (viewers choose everything- what if you don't like the choices?, less personal, limited guest list). I've gotta say, though, that if someone offered to pay for my wedding, I'd definitely say yes, even if it meant letting go of some of my own planning. After all, the choices presented to the Today Show viewers are exquisite (I don't think I could ever afford a designer dress, for example).

In any case, time for the video!

Here's the video of Jessica walking down the aisle (she looks so happy!):
(Click to view)
Jessica and Cody say ‘I do!’
Jessica and Cody say ‘I do!’

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Crossword Proposal

I recently read about this proposal and thought to myself, "awwwwwwwwwwww". Even though I thought my own proposal was perfect in its own way, I have to admit I think this one is pretty cool too:

BOSTON -- Forget about candlelight, champagne and a bended knee. Don't think about a public proposal at Fenway Park while the Red Sox play.

They are both romantic in their own way, but not nearly as inventive as the proposal concocted by a love-struck man and a local newspaper.

The clue in a Boston Globe Sunday crossword puzzle turned out to be part of a clever and very original marriage proposal.

The clue for 111 across was “Generic Proposal.” The answer: “Will you marry me?”

For Aric Egmont, of Cambridge, Mass., the answer was also the marriage proposal to his girlfriend and puzzle devotee, Jennie Bass.

The Globe said that Egmont, 29, contacted the magazine this summer to ask if the puzzle writers would be willing to write one especially for him.

“On our fourth date, I knew I had found the kind of dork I could love,” Egmont wrote in a note to the magazine. “We just went to the local coffee shop and did the crossword. That date was the first moment when we stopped relying on some kind of event to set the agenda, and instead we took that first tiny step towards normalcy, spending time together doing the same things we would regularly do on our own.”

For Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, the married puzzle-writing team, the challenge was more than including a single clue. They wanted to create an entire puzzle based on the theme “popping the question.” Each clue that followed the theme had to work. For example, “Macrame artist’s proposal” was “Let’s tie the knot.”

Cox and Rathvon then went beyond a generic clue for Egmont's proposal. "Generic Proposal" actually was a phonetic play on words of the couple's first names: Jen and Aric.

Egmont told the newspaper that Saturday night was a restless one. The happy ending came Sunday.

“Finally, Sunday morning, I was like, ‘Do you want to do the crossword?’ I grab the paper and we start doing it. There are clues that have personal significance, my last name, her best friend’s name. She’s not suspicious at all. Her sister’s name is in there. She’s like, ‘This is so bizarre.’ She just thinks it’s an amazing coincidence.”

Until they got to 111 across.

“We get to the ‘Will you marry me?’ clue, and I said, ‘Will you marry me, Jenny?’ I got up, got the ring, and got down on one knee and she screamed, and hugged me. It took her a minute to say yes.”

Note: Here's a link to the actual crossword puzzle.