Oh goodness, I just am obsessed...

I should have thought of that: Weddings

The top two photos found here.

So I realize that it is not a 'new thing' for people to use fruit in the flower arrangements. But, what I usually see is lemons, limes, and oranges. I think the idea of using berries, baby watermelon and pink grapes (?) in the flower arrangements is so pretty and organic (yup, I just said the word 'organic', how Boulder am I, really?).

xo.

Sneak Peek: Skyler & Kristin engaged!

We love, love this shoot. Check out more here.

The swagger wagon.

This video makes me kind of like mini-vans, good marketing move by Toyota... too bad the brakes won' t work.

: )

Emerson Made has a clothing line!

I was so excited to stumble upon Emerson Made's new clothing line yesterday. Remember when I posted about her other beautiful hand-dyed and handmade products here. Well she has just launched her newest creation in the form of fun skirts, tops and dresses. Her clothes are precious and so is she... does she not make you want to buy the clothes because she is just so darn cute in them herself?

Anyway, check out more here! xo.

Wildflowers from husband.

Sitting on our kitchen table right now are these beautiful wildflowers compliments of my husband. I always will choose flowers like these over any other because they last the longest. Daisies are my all time favorite with the white petals and the yellow inside, and I love poppies too :)

Anyway... thought I would share, have a lovely Tuesday (ooo, I just cannot wait for Chipotle Tuesday!).

'The Small Stakes' a book of music posters.

Stone gave me this book for my birthday and I have been meaning to write about it ever since. First of all because it is a great gift idea and also because I love creative posters and these are among the best I have ever seen. Unfortunately our generation has not really, really, experienced true album art (like record cases) and that is too bad because a small CD just does not transfer as well. Anyway, I am glad to see that the creativity and art was not lost when records became not as popular, this book has so many fun and smart posters. Check out some of them below. xo.

What to bring, what to bring...

The summertime is so fun because we are always getting together with friends for dinners and backyard BBQs. We always try not to go to dinners empty handed and usually bring a bottle of wine along. I ran across this idea of jarring your own herbs and jams. You could even get creative and use a paint pen to label the jars, or just buy these cute ones here. They would make the perfect hostess gift!

Also, using dressing up plain olive oil in a bottle with spices and herbs is a great gift too!

Weekend wrap up.

This weekend was just perfect. I was in Vail for my sister-in-laws bachelorette... we sat out by the pool, ate really good Mexican food, and just had girl time. I cannot believe her wedding is less than a month away now! So crazy exciting.

Husband spent the weekend taking and editing photos. He had an engagement shoot on Saturday that he said went great! They shot in this historic neighborhood in Boulder. Finally yesterday, Stone and I went to Crate&Barrel (real, exciting, right?) because we have been putting off getting him an office chair forever, and since we still have wedding gift cards there we decided to go get one... we chose this one. Not the most comfortable, but a huge upgrade from what he has been sitting in, and I like the look!

xo.

Have a blingin' weekend.

This weekend I am headed to Vail for my sister-in-law's bachelorette. Should be a great time :) Tomorrow we plan to lay out by the pool all day (fingers crossed that it does not rain!).

Stone is shooting an engagement session tomorrow as well without his lovely assistant (me, of course!). Sometimes I think it is fun when he shoots without me because then when I see the photos they are a complete surprise! Anyway, hope you have a wonderful two days off, enjoy being outside, and wear sunscreen.

xo.

Brooklyn knuckles.

If you are like me and have not been waking up at 7 or 8 to catch the World Cup games, you may want a recap of the top ten best moments of the Cup so far.

A french kitchen.

Happy day. First of all Christmas trailers are already beginning to pop up AND the Fockers are back!

This new 'Gourmet Live' makes me want an iPad!

An aquarium made of pebbles.

Gooooooaaaaaallllllll!

A fun tribute poster to the World Cup.

Travel: The Parker Hotel in Palm Springs

This is the second hotel that I have written about that is in Palm Springs. Maybe I need to go out there soon! Stone and I are always up for an adventure in California :)

Basically, I love a hotel with good and unique design, and The Parker definitely hits the mark. It surprisingly looks extremely lush as well, which is rare for Palm Springs. And with a bunch of fun outdoor seating areas I feel like I would never actually leave the hotel if I stayed there.

Oh and I failed to mention that the restaurant in the hotel makes homemade doughnuts every morning. How great is that?

Just a thought...

Whenever I am channel surfing at night, I will never, ever pass over an episode of Seinfeld.

:)

Joe's Jeans 'The Shirt'.

Joe's Jeans has perfected the plaid shirt. I just got mine in the mail (by the way... they are a little expensive, that's what is nice about being able to get clothing at cost :) go ahead and be jealous) and I am pretty sure that I will be living in it this summer. It is so comfortable and easy! I also really like their shirts for guys too.

Check out all the designs and colors here.

I should have thought of that: Weddings

Some of my favorite photos that Stone has ever shot was from a 'day after' shoot with a bride & groom last summer. On the day of your wedding everything is rushed. As much as people may plan for it not to be, it just always is. If you go out the next day, put your dress back on (which is fun because you actually get to wear it again!) and then you can pick different locations and spend 2 hours rather than 20 minutes for photos. When you take time for photos you end up with a product like the one above, I am literally obsessed with this photo, I always tell Stone I wish it was me and him so that I could blow it up and put it on our wall.

Two of our bride and groom couples this season have chosen to see each other prior to the ceremony and craziness of the day. I 100% wish that Stone and I did this. First of all, the moment you see each other is so cool when it is just the two of you and you don't have over 300 people staring at you. It is just really sweet and intimate. Then again, with photos, you can spend time before taking your portraits. The couple above really wanted to go to a modern art museum that had this really cool rooftop garden for their photos and it was a ways away from where their actual wedding was taking place, but we were able to do it because they chose to see each other before and meet there.

Just some ideas :)

xo.

Sneak Peek: Grayson

The best lookin' kid in the sandbox.

See more here!

Lonny mag.

I recently fell in love with this online magazine called Lonny. It is a design magazine with hundreds of pages of great articles. From the same people that brought the magazine Domino to the news stands. Also I just love the concept of reading magazines online, literally you turn each page, makes me think I need to be getting an iPad soon (FYI they launched a better version yesterday, I knew I was right to hold out!).

Read Lonny here.

Sneak Peek: Susan & Chris's Wedding

This wedding up in Estes Park was so beautiful!

Check out more here.

PUBLIC bikes.

Have you heard of PUBLIC bikes? They are kind of cruisers, but faster, lighter, and just all around better. Anyway, Rob Forbes, who started Design Within Reach, has recently begun a new venture in this company. He designed the bikes based on European city bikes, only they are more light weight.

Adding the light blue one to my wish list... :)

Happy summer!

Photo found here.

Yesterday was the first official day of Summer. I thought maybe to kick things off I would make a list of some of my favorite things to do in the summer... hope you enjoy!

1. Concerts outside. Whether it is listening to a local band at the arboretum in Dallas while enjoying a picnic, or heading to Red Rocks amphitheater and getting to go to one of the best concerts of your lifetime (aka Vampire Weekend in September :) ).

2. Swimming of course. I am still working on not having to hold my nose under water... I will get there one day, I just know it!

3. Farmers market. We have the best farmers market here. Stone and I like to get potstickers and fresh lemonade when we go and then buy some flowers for our home!

4. BBQs with friends. Last summer we spent every Thursday in my soon to be brother-in-laws backyard playing bocce ball and eating burgers. It is just the best!

5. Bike rides. Stone and I both have cruiser bikes and we try and ride them as much as we can in the summertime. It is the best because the sun does not even go down until about 9 so we have forever to be outside!

6. Outdoor movies. Check the city you live in, but there are about four different places near us that play movies outside once a week. A couple of them are on the sides of buildings, one is an actual drive in, and then there is 'Film on the Rocks', which is out at Red Rocks.

7. Kite flying. Yup, we love it.

8. Fruit! I could eat only fruit all summer, it is in season and delicious! Especially watermelon, which is not even really available year round. One summer in college my friends and I took a semester of summer school and stayed down in College Station. I remember it was basically two months of watching Lost and eating watermelon... one of my favorite memories from college!

9. Tank tops. My husband has made a pledge to wear a tank top every day of the summer, and so far he is going strong, but summer just officially started yesterday... so we will see :)

10. Vacations, of course! We get to go to Crested Butte twice this summer and I just cannot even wait. My family has gone to Crested Butte every summer since I was about 2 years old and I have loved it ever since. Alsp, my sister-in-law is getting married there in just about a month! Woohoo.

xo.

Oh goodness...

Have you heard of the fake BPGlobalPR twitter account? Since the big oil spill, they have been drawing attention to this issue with comedy, and have now gained a huge following on Twitter as well as throughout the web world. So much so, that the actual BP Global sent a letter to Twitter asking them to 'please cancel this account' and Twitter wrote back and said please stop the oil leak. Pretty funny.

Anyway, this blog, turned the witty tweets into billboards. Check out more here.

The weekend wrap up.

I spent the weekend making crepes... now that I know how, I just cant stop making them! I think anyone that came over this weekend did not leave without having at least two :) Now, I just need to know what else I can put in them other than fruit and nutella. Any suggestions? We also shot a sweet country wedding, complete with homemade pies, a bluegrass band, and cowboy hats (and the governor of Colorado was there too, no biggie!). I realized this weekend that my favorite thing about a cowboy is no matter how rough and tough they may be they can seriously dance. The dance floor was packed this weekend, it was so fun!

Of course, yesterday we celebrated our dad's. I got to talk to my dad in Texas for a while, where it was going to be over 100 degrees, ouch! Then we went to dinner with Stone's fam and celebrated my father-in-law, Scoot. We also were celebrating the accomplishment of both my brother-in-law, Zach, and mother-in-law, Wendy, who both ran and completed the 50 mile Lake City race, which is a huge feat seeing as they run through rivers and the trail climbs 14,000 feet over the course of the race. Whew! So impressive!

To our dads...

We love you so very much and are so thankful for you.

Happy father's day!

Have a fun weekend!

Sorry this 'weekend post' is a day late... we spent last night making crepes (again!) and watching Invictus (I fell asleep half way through, oops.). What are your plans for this weekend? We are headed to photograph a wedding today! The wedding is outside on a ranch outside of Fort Collins. I am very excited, they have asked guests to bring their favorite pie to add to the dessert table, which I think is such a fun idea! Then Sunday, we will be celebrating our dads of course :)

Here are some posts I enjoyed from the week! xo.

A printable bookmark for your summer reading.

Homemade poptarts would make the perfect Sunday breakfast!

My husband is loving this Jeep commercial, it makes me so proud to be an American (as cheesy as that may sound!).

Gwyneth Paltrow's gives her fashion tips.

An interesting article about Etsy shops that become overnight successes.

I am loving this song (I know, I know, my husband has totally transformed me into a country lover) and the music video is really pretty too.

CalGel nails.

Top photo found here. Bottom photo found here.

Have you heard of CalGel nails?

It is a type of gel paint that lasts for 3+ weeks and does not ruin your nails. Amazing, right? I love these fun, sparkly nails! This new CalGel is becoming pretty popular, working in a women's boutique, it is brought up in conversation at least once every other day :)

Too bad the closest place to me that offers this is about 45 minutes away...

Young house love.

Have you seen this blog?

A couple from Richmond, Virginia started a blog after they moved into a 54 year old house and began sprucing it up room by room. Some rooms have been overhauled more than others. But, this couple has an incredible taste and have been able to do some pretty drastic things to their house on a budget. They did all of the work themselves and have a link on their website explaining 'how to'.

Here are some before & after shots of a few of the rooms. Go here to see more photos of their cute home!

By the way...

... I made crepes tonight for the very first time (with fruit and nutella) and they turned out delicious! I used this recipe. No fancy Williams Sonoma crepe pan necessary, just a pan and spatula! Also, we had our friends Chris and Leanne over and played Chicken Foot (please excuse the most annoying website ever), if you don't know the game or have not played you should go here and order a set for yourself. The game is really fun, and also perfect if you want to be able to actually have conversation while playing. I highly recommend!

xo.

Lovely lighting.

Denver is getting an Ikea... two years too late, however! When Stone and I got married I thought I would just get our furniture from Ikea as soon as I moved up here. Come to find out there was not one here. So we found ourselves in the strangest furniture stores looking for good deals (including one called Amish furnishings!). Anyway, I am loving these hanging lights from Ikea, so whimsical. I would like to get three to stagger above our breakfast table.

Check them out here.

Done and done.

Yesterday was Stone's first day to not go in to work at his graphic design job at Calvary Bible Church. He has decided to take on his Stone Crandall Photography business full time and I am so excited to see what all he can do with it. We have been so blessed these past two years to have our friends and family supporting us and bringing clients our way. Something exciting to look for in the near future is more graphic design work from Stone, possibly in the form of an online print shop that will have custom invitations (more on this to come!).

Stone and I are also expanding our business beyond the Colorado state line. We have been able to travel some, taking photos for various things and we would love to do more of that (especially if it means going to Texas or California where we can visit our family and friends too!). Again, our entire business has been based upon word of mouth and we have been successful without much advertising. We so appreciate the continued support from all of our friends and family as we begin this new phase of our business.

Stone is currently working on a handful of different photo projects and will have new posts up soon.

You can check out our work here.

xo.

Fontstaches.

Thought this print was funny.

Told you that staches were back in. Remember?

Design inspiration: Texas style.

Austin is one of my favorite cities in Texas. In college I was fortunate enough to live about an hour away so we found every excuse to go visit. Not only does this city have the best live music (seriously... the best), but every where you go there is this colorful and eclectic vibe whether it is in a restaurant, store, or someone's home. Below are some photos I came across on a design blog that did a post about Austin's best designed spaces.

See more here.

Homemade spinach pesto.

(Again, i took these photos, not quite as nice as if my husband had taken them... sorry!)

3-4 handfuls of spinach

2 handfuls of walnuts

3/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon olive oil (we got this from Stonehouse Olive Oil)

1/2 table spoon minced garlic

Pinch of salt and pepper

A basil leaf or two

* Also, I have always wanted to throw in some sun dried tomato, so that could be a good addition to try.

Basically, just combine all ingredients into a cuisinart and blend. Also I add more oil, salt, or pepper to taste and texture.

We put this on sandwiches, pasta and toast. It is so very delicious!

Enjoy.

'I fly like paper get high like planes'.

An artist named Dawn turned this...

... into this. What a fun installation! See more here.

Celebrating dad.

Father's Day is right around the corner (this Sunday, for those of you who are not quite with it :) ). I always have a hard time buying for my dad. When I was little I would always make something for Father's Day... I remember I once made a huge award banner for him on poster board for being the 'World's Greatest Dad', and another time I used a chopstick and turned it into a fishing pole then hot glued it to a bear I already had and made him a 'Fisherman Bear'. Oh gosh... so special!

This year my sister and I put our heads together and we came up with something good (not pictured above... I would not want to spoil the surprise of course!) . I usually have luck at a couple 'go to' stores when shopping for my dad. I went on a search online and found some great ideas if you still don't have anything.

First Row: Cast Iron Griddle, Grilling Rub Collection, Pizza Grill Stone all from Williams Sonoma

Second Row: Keihls Men's Shave Set from Kheils

Third Row: Leather Organizer from Saddleback Leather Company and a French Press from Williams Sonoma

Fourth Row: 'Why Didn't I think of that', 'Rules for my Unborn Son', and 'Sh*t My Dad Says' from Amazon

Fifth Row: Bacon Peanut Brittle from The Redhead and Timex Military Watch from JCrew

Secret rose cutting mission.

For the shower this past weekend I told the girls I would bring some lavender in vases to decorate the tables. There is usually a substantial amount of lavender growing right by our house, but it just has not bloomed yet. Also, because of the rain I was not outside much to go hunting for some. Instead of buying some flowers at Whole Foods (which could get very expensive), Stone and I went on a secret mission at about midnight to cut some roses that grow on a huge bush right in front of our condos. We cut a good amount of them, but the rosebush is so big you could not even tell (we feel a smidge bad for it, but we figure since it is on our condo's property, we kind of pay for the rosebush too, at least thats how we rationalize it). I am usually not a big fan of roses bought from a store, but these are absolutely gorgeous. I don't know what the name for them is, but they are a little rough around the edges and smell oh so good.

Long story short... we stole roses, and now they are decorating our home and we love them.

: )

I'm a Mac.

Apple has announced that they are ending the 'Im A Mac' campaign. These ads were brilliant, and the actors were perfect in their roles as Mac and PC. Here is a little montage of all of the commercials that have aired since they first began running the ad.

I wonder what their ads will look like now? I am sure it will be amazing, everything Apple does seems to be so creative and innovative, I am excited to see what is next!

Happily ever after dishtowels.

Yesterday at Kels's shower one of the girls gave her these dishtowels.

Are they not the cutest gift idea for a wedding shower? And since it is the season, I thought I would share. My husband claims that if they were dishtowels from your great aunt hand embroidered for you then they would not be cool, but because Anthro sells them, all the girls love it. Haha, funny, but not true. I think they are too sweet. Definitely a special thing to have forever.

By the way, they say 'They Fell in Love', 'They Got Married', and 'They Lived Happily Ever After'. Each towel has cute little birds on them too.

The weekend wrap up.

How was your weekend?

Ours was crazy busy. We both had the day off on Saturday, which was amazing, but you know when you have the day off and then all you do is spend the entire day running errands that you have not had any time for? That is basically what we did (I could not remember the last time we had been to the grocery store!). Then Sunday was all about celebrations. First we went to a one-year-old birthday party complete with a mac & cheese station and music class! Then I hosted a shower with a couple other girls for my sister-in-law Kelsey. Unfortunately the rain this weekend (seriously... did NOT stop raining all weekend. Great for our plants, terrible for our party plans!) kept the shower from happening outside as planned, but we made it work! It ended up being so fun with all of Kels's close friends and fam there to celebrate her upcoming wedding (in just a little over a month! crazy.).

I made two recipes that I have never done before for Kels's shower and both turned out so good and were so easy to do! Here is a quick description of the both of them.

Jess's Crustless Spinach Quiche

(pictured above)

2 pkg. frozen chopped spinach drained

1 lb monteray jack cheese grated

1 cup flour

1 cuo milk

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt and pepper

2 tbs butter

3 eggs

Set oven to 375.

Melt butter in oven in 9x13x2 pan. Remove from oven. Mix eggs well with milk. Add flour and baking powder. Combine cheese and spinach then add to egg mixture. Pour in pan, add salt and pepper to top. Bake for 35 minutes.

Sangria, Sangria!

(I used a recipe and then kind of just added things here and there)

1 frozen can of lemonade concentrate

1 cup orange juice

2 bottles dry red wine

1 bottle white wine

1 lemon sliced

1 orange sliced

1 lime sliced

3/4 cup sugar

1 2 liter bottle of carbonated water

In a large pitcher combine everything and mix with spoon! Add carbonated water at the very end, right before serving. For best flavor, mix all ingredients a few hours before serving.

(by the way, I took all of these photos, that is why they are not as good as when my husband takes them!)

Have a rockin' weekend.

What are you up to this weekend? We have a fun weekend planned for sure... with a wedding shower, one-year-old birthday party, and a date night we are busy! Tomorrow will be all about cooking, I am trying a couple new recipes for Kelsey's wedding shower, so I will let you know how they turn out!

Enjoy a couple days off : )

xo.

You can find the posters pictured above at Yumalum.

A refreshing summer treat.

A solar system music box.

'This changes everything. Again.' (HD video on your phone blows my mind!).

Coolest toaster EVER. You would never burn toast ever again!

Friday night bowling.

Tonight we met up with the other Crandall kids (minus one... missed you brady & steph) and did something that neither Stone and I have done in way too long. We bowled. It was so fun and we for sure need to do it more often. We had a competition between Crandall kids and the spouses. Unfortunately, the Crandall kids won. However, we are convinced that there was some extra lube on their bowling lane, and a few of our pins were glued to the floor. BUT I did have one strike, enough to make me happy for the night!

xo.

Wrap it up.

I love pretty wrapping. In fact, this has been the source of a couple of arguments between my husband and I (not big ones of course!). But, the first year we were married he did not wrap my gifts, just had them all there. Then this past Valentine's he got me the perfect thing and then wrapped it in a Safeway Grocery Store paper bag with tape all around it. My birthday, however, they were beautifully wrapped (thanks husband!). It just took some time. But, my argument was that when you are receiving a present, it usually does not happen quite often, (maybe three or four times a year) so you want it to be a special thing.

I don't know maybe that sounds stupid now that I write it out, but, it must be a girl thing.

My friend turned me onto this website. Just another creative person doing what she loves, and what she loves is wrapping. She creates the most beautiful papers and carries imported ribbon. She even has some letter pressed cards for everyday use!

Check out Angela's shop here.

While we are on the topic. I want these. Big time.

My husband and I both do not like our handwriting (in fact that was a new years resolution... to change the way I write), so these would be perfect. Calligraphy stamps for return addresses, you can find them here. The least amount that I need to actually handwrite the better it is for everyone I think : )

A big day.

June tenth marks the day that Brady (my brother in law) was born 22 years ago AND the day that my sister became a MRS. to my brother in law, Preston, four years ago.

Happy day to you all.

Love.

Papervore coffee table.

Stone and I have stacks of mail that need to be shredded all around the house. We don't own a shredder, but maybe twice a year have taken our huge pile to work and spent a good bit of time disposing of it all.

So... this idea by Pigeontail is so great! Double use, coffee table and shredder. Also, as you shred the coffee table becomes more and more colorful and fun.

Love it. Check out the video here.