Wedding love on a Friday: Ivory Sparrow and a Call to Action

I remember what it was like being a bride... the excitement, the anxiety, the stressing over decisions and details that, as it turns out, won't stop the world from spinning on its axis. Today I had to start with this little video via The Knot because I couldn't help myself:



A few of you probably saw the title of this post and thought, "Didn't you get married almost three years ago? Haven't we already been subjected to you talking about it and sharing it and reliving it over and over and over again?! Leave us alone, woman!"

But it's actually even more exciting than my wedding, friends (ok, maybe a little less exciting, but it's up there). Today's the big reveal for a project my mother-in-law and I have been working on for the last two years... Ivory Sparrow.

When I was getting married, I was a fiend about planning our trip down the aisle. The websites and blogs I frequented and the wedding magazines I purchased... overzealous may be the word for it. I never brought myself to tally up how much money was spent on those publications from April 2008 to June 2009, which was probably a good thing for me (and my husband's sanity). I bought a cute accordion folder and loaded it to the brim with fabric swatches and brochures and mostly, tear outs from magazines filled with wedding inspiration deemed awesome by me.

During a visit to my soon-to-be in-laws all those years ago, Kyle's mom, Cyndi, and I were looking through the pages when I showed her a tiny little photo of a bride and her bridesmaids getting ready in some cute terry cloth wraps. We thought it could make for a fab gift for my girls and also create a great "getting ready" photo opportunity on the big day, so we scoured the Internet for them. We discovered the options for bridal wraps were, well, less than pleasing to the eye. They were made with cheap fabric, ugly details and provided a less than flattering fit.

Cyndi thought she could do better... and boy, did she!

The fabric she crafted them out of is superb. We spent hours discussing buttons and fit and thread: if we were gonna do this, we wanted to do it right. She developed wraps for flower girls as well, totes and quality flip flops with Swarovski crystals to round out Ivory Sparrow's collection, and plan to include robes in the near future.

Since my own wedding, we've had the honor of working with a few other bridal parties while we toiled to get Ivory Sparrow off the ground. And now that we're ready and open for business, we know other brides will love them too.

The hours leading up to a girl's wedding are special and made even more so by the people with whom the future Mrs. chooses to surround herself. Our wraps make getting hair and makeup done a breeze, and add to the overall camaraderie of the day (because, let's be honest, there's nothing better than sitting back with your girlfriends, sipping champagne and getting pampered).

Soooo, since we're friends, and I'm hoping you'll wish us a fond "Bon Voyage" as we take off on our journey, I'm hoping you'll like us on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter. I'm sure there's some eye-rolling going on out there, but take into consideration a few things: (1) What can it hurt? and (2) I'd do the same for you! You have to click on the link for Facebook because until we have 25 followers, it won't come up when you search for it.

On our page and blog, we'll be sharing "Ivory Sparrow Weddings," decor inspiration, DIY tips and more! Also, for any engaged or soon to be engaged ladies, we'll be doing monthly giveaways of our wraps, totes or flip-flops.

If you're worried we're going to bombard your feed with posts and links (I'm looking at my guy friends here), you can still "like us" but hide our posts from your feed... it's a win-win for all!

To sum it up, help a sista out: like us on Facebook, check out our site and have an amazing weekend!

2012: New Year... the best yet?

Well, November and December breezed by and aside from some annoyingly awesome writing and photos about Africa (which can be read here, here and here), my posts were few and far between (and if we're being honest, paltry at best).

The problem with having an-almost hiatus on a blog like this is... it's hard to get going again! What do you write about when you've been sitting on your ass eating Bonbons for weeks at a time? (I'm lying here- November and December were actually craaaazy busy months and I don't even like Bonbons). After reading some of my favorite blogs after New Year's (this one being a favorite for almost a year now and having given me the idea), I'm recounting 2011 in all it's bittersweet glory and throwing out goodwill and hopes for 2012.

This time last year, I was working 55 to 60 hours a week in a job that was not only mentally and physically exhausting, but not fulfilling in the slightest. While I can't say enough good things about my former coworkers... ummm, maybe I'll just leave it at 'I can't say enough good things about my former coworkers.' They were fabulous (and a few were like characters out of a movie... you couldn't make up some of the shit that flew out of their mouths).

After quitting in June, I started this blog with a post affirming my hopes for my future. Admitting I didn't know what to do with the rest of my life was the first part of the battle; the second was actually figuring it out.

At the time, my husband had just graduated from USC and had yet to find a job. Within weeks, he was offered a position and we moved to San Diego... where we moved in with my in-laws because no one would rent to people with a pitbull. Do you know what it feels like to move in with your husband's parents at the not-so-young age of 27? I sure do and it's pretty awesome.

It's not pretty awesome, FYI, and I actually have awesome in-laws. [Side note: Adults out of college who live with their parents and like it: how and why do you do it?]

On the work front, I had the brilliant stroke of luck to be asked by a friend to help out with some social media accounts of hers and realized it was not only something that interested me; it was something I was good at (and could do from home!!!). I was able to help create the aesthetic design and content for an awesome boutique's website and continued to help my mother-in-law with a project that has been two years in the making and should launch in 2012.

In the blink of an eye, August and September had flown by. Before you could say African adventure of a lifetime, October was upon us. There is one thing I will say about the month of October, aside from our incredible trip: it was one of the most challenging and difficult times of my life. I realize I overshare to all you three readers quite a bit, so while I won't go into specifics, I will agree that the saying is true: what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger (in all aspects of your life).

I'll refer to November as "catch-up hell," which then luckily trickled into December, nearly killing all good holiday spirit and cheer that I normally have in abundance at that time of year. One stroke of luck was finding a small house with a landlord who would rent to us, even with our dog, and getting our own place calmed things down in our lives a ton.

So here we are... 2012. I can tell you there is already much in store for this leap year, including the launch of my business (SCARY and exciting, simultaneously), hopefully some decent and creative writing, as well as a special little project I have in the works...

How about you? What do the next twelve months in your life look like?

I'll be sitting on the couch covered in chocolate and ice cream awaiting your responses.

All three of them.

Happy New Year!

Tooting my Aris Horn

Yup, tooting my own horn to once again stall out my last Africa post. Over the summer, I had the pleasure of helping Trey Russell of Aris on The Coast redesign his website, and I have to say, it turned out fabulous!

 Austen and Ryan over at Unique Eye Marketing not only helped reconfigure the site, they also filmed this clean, artistic intro video which you can watch on the homepage as well.



If you live in south Orange County and haven't had a chance to pop in, do yourself (or the lady in your life) a favor this holiday season. For the woman who loves Alexandre Birman shoes, L'Agence clothing, Barton Perreira sunglasses, Simon Pearce crystal and Diptyque candles all in the same place, Aris is heaven on earth.

If heaven had a stylist, I suppose.

Hope you're having a simply fashionable Tuesday everyone, just like Edde, Aris' resident manager/pug extraordinaire.