That's a wrap : Michelle and Ryan tie the knot.

Stone has posted the photos from the last wedding we shot in Santa Barbara... check out some of my favorites below and then go HERE to see more!

Stone wrote a brief little overview about this beautiful wedding...

Oh my goodness. Where do I even begin with this wedding? Shelby and I drove up the coast highway on a warm Friday morning en route to Rancho Dos Pueblos just outside of Santa Barbara, CA in a quaint town called Goleta. As the waves crashed outside our car window we talked about our hopes and expectations for Michelle and Ryan's wedding. No doubt they were high, after all we had scoped out Rancho Dos Pueblos online and found that it was a 2200 acre piece of heaven complete with 15 houses, a breathtaking barn, private beach AND currently on the real estate market for a cool $99,000,000. Don't believe us? Check out the listing.

To say that our expectations were exceeded would be a MASSIVE understatement. Our expectations were blown away. On what turned out to be a chilly, and VERY rainy Saturday Kelly Oshiro and so many other talented people (listed below) transformed a rustic ranch into a vision from some sort of movie (I kept thinking a classy Hope Floats). AND while the setting and decor were second to none, the really memorable aspects of the event came from Michelle, Ryan, and the rest of their amazing family and friends. With so much love in the air, the cool weather and rain held no chance of dampening spirits.

All in all, both Shelby and I feel so fortunate to have been a part of such an amazing day.

Tuesday tunes : Winter winds.

Stone picked this one out for you guys. It is both a beautiful song and a great video. I feel like I would enjoy hanging out with these guys... or maybe even just getting to go to a concert :) Enjoy!

Inspiration board : Finding your green thumb.

Good morning!

In the spirit of the season I thought it would be fun to gather some of my favorite outdoor/gardening items to find some inspiration from. Stone and I are always pretending we have a green thumb when really we are just good at killing our plants. I have secretly even tried talking to our plants... urging them to flourish... no such luck. So far this season we have only killed one of our potted plants and I blame it on the heavy rain we had the week after we planted. Secret to my green thumb? Always blame the dead plants on something or someone else :) On a positive note though, our herbs and succulents are thriving, hooray!

Hope you find some inspiration for your garden however small or big it may be. xo.

1 : Watering your plants. This is the key to keeping them alive! The trick is learning how to not to over water or under water. If you have any suggestions for this, I am all ears!

2 : It is never a bad thing to educate yourself on the best types of plants for your specific climate and how to care for them. So for best results, always read before planting!

3 : We usually just grab a pair of scissors from our desk drawer, but I am sure if you had some legit gardening shears like these your garden would be way more successful. It is all about the tools :)

4 : I am IN LOVE with this outdoor table and chair set. One of my favorite things is hosting dinner parties, and since we have been living in California those parties tend to be outside rather than in. This set would seat so many people and look beautiful doing it!

5 : You can never have too many herbs, fruits and, vegetables growing!

6 : Stone is constantly following me around the house sweeping up dirt from my shoes or hair that I always seem to be shedding. So without one of these, he would have his work cut out for him! I love the colors too!

7 : We still have our white twinkle lights out on our porch from Christmas. I like them, but wish I had some like these that are a little less holiday-looking and more aesthetic!

8 : If you are planning on planting herbs, fruits, and vegetables in your garden it is always a good idea to label which is which. Then you are aware of how to care for each individually!

9 : This vintage pushcart would be a beautiful display for pots and garden tools. If only we had a a big backyard to put it in.

Look of the Week : Rainy day.

Hello and happy Monday!

Sorry for the lack of 'Weekend Wrap Up' this week. All in all, we had a fantastic weekend eating here, drinking here and seeing this movie! I recommend all three :)

Because we are have found ourselves in the middle of April already (time is flying) I thought I would share a good rainy day look with you all. Also, I just love a classic Burberry trench (on my wardrobe bucket list) and wanted to find a way to make a look out of it! California has already had some torrential rains this season... nothing, of course, compared to the rains in Texas. When I was little I would beg my mom to take me to the mall whenever there was a tornado warning for our area. Partly because I was convinced that our mall was so sturdy that no tornado could carry it away, and partly because the mall will cheer anyone up on a gloomy day, right?

Hope you enjoy! xo.

Umbrella - Echo

Trench - Burberry

Waterproof Mascera - Bare Escentuals

Waterproof Camera - Pentax

Bag - Orla Kiely

Boots - Hunter

It's Friday, Friday, Friday...

Okay, so by now there is no way you have not seen this video. Completely obnoxious, but it was stuck in my head for two days after I saw it. In fact, I don't even want to link to it because it is that bad. Jimmy Fallon and crew (including the hilarious Stephen Colbert) did a re-make that I think is pretty awesome!

I truly thought this day would never come! But, it always does.

So, do you have any magnificent plans for the weekend? Stone and I have a few dinner dates with friends, which we always love :) We also are planning on going to see this movie! I cannot wait, supposedly if it does well in box offices this weekend in California, then it will be able to open in more theaters nationwide. So, if you are here, go see it because I hear it is pretty incredible.

On Sunday, we have a photo shoot (praying for no rain!) and are celebrating my good friend Lacey's birthday! This is definitely one of those weekends, when my body really wants me to stay home and veg out, but alas we have filled it up with plans, which will undoubtedly be way more fun than staying at home :)

So happy Friday everyone, here are some links to love! xo.

JCrew Factory is online again this weekend... I already made a cart!

5 favorite french presses! Seriously, if you are still using a coffee maker you need to convert... today.

Kate Spade's first bike. Designed for tootling around town :)

Top ten buildings by female architects. My sister is an architect, and she will for sure be listed here one day!

Trip to Holland, anyone? How incredible are these tulip fields?!

PATTERN and POP!

Furnish your house with this PATTERNED bookshelf and add a POP of color with that collection of beautiful cookbooks (I am dying for these!)!

Feeling crafty : Chalkboard wall.

Okay so I know that this craft is nothing new to you. We have all seen it, done it ourselves, read about how other people are doing it and so on... But, I thought I would share anyway! This wall in our bedroom has become an ever changing art wall. First, we had the Polaroid heart (they all fell off eventually), then we had a poster and now the chalkboard. With such limited space in our home to decorate it is kind of fun to change things up every now and then.

This little craft went up a couple of days ago, and I have been documenting husband's notes, it seems he is enjoying it :) We used peel and stick chalkboard from a company called Wallies. They work like a charm, although they claim to allow you to take off and stick in various other places while keeping their stickiness and without leaving a mark. I have not tried that yet, but a month from now we will probably be changing this wall up again and I will let you know!

xo.

Inspiration board : Typography love.

Growing up with two graphic designers as parents and then marrying one myself I have learned of the importance of typography as an art. And now, this art is so accessible to the public through sites like dafont that allow you to download every imaginable letter design you could possibly think of. When Stone and I were getting married, we were lucky to know the right people in order to get beautiful letter pressed invitations. On top of that, I was able to go to the business and see first hand how it was being done by hand. The history of typography is pretty rich too, and it is interesting to see the juxtaposition of how our generation relies so heavily on the computer (or phone, or iPAD) to convey any and all messages.

Sorry to get all technical on you there. All this to say, it is fun to see how typography has evolved through the years and notice the many messages we receive throughout the day because of it. Hope you enjoy!

1 : Bang! Death by typography.

2 : I love this necklace, really I love this entire jewelry series by Kate Spade. It could be a constant reminder to yourself, or a message conveyed to those meeting you about who you are! A risk taker in this instance!

3 : You've got some font on your face. This art series was done as a homage to some of our favorite fonts. The models were photographed with a different font painted onto their face and as well as trying to express the typeface's sentiment.

4 : A classic bag with a classic type. I need to start stocking up on these, it is starting to get a little embarrassing being the only girl who still asks for paper in the checkout line at Trader Joe's... hmmmmph, go green.

5 : This typographic chair would add a pop to your room. It would be fun if you could specify the saying and then they would design the chair from that...

6 : Fontstache. Wear one today.

7 : If you want to learn more about typography, and how it influences us this would be your film. I am wanting to rent it soon, I suppose it needs the right mood though.

8 : Some LOVEly pillows to throw on your bed. How sweet!

Tuesday tunes : She stole my heart and made me sing.

Good morning to you. I have compiled some mellow music for you to listen to and relax a bit. My week already seems never ending and it is only Tuesday morning! Do you ever feel this way? If only we could take midday naps like when we were kids. Or maybe we should adopt Spain's tradition of an afternoon siesta. Why we do not do this I probably will never understand. Could you imagine Wall Street just shutting things down for an hour while all the Brooks Brother clad men make pallets and the women kick off their heels. That will be the day. Until then, listen to these three songs, and maybe find a quiet little nook in your office to tuck away for a bit. xo.

Look of the Week : Beach day.

Well it is starting to warm up in this part of the world... and not just in California... I know for a fact that people are pulling their bathing suits out from storage in many states :)

I have now become a beach-goer. Which, is new for me. I used to not like it because of the smell of seaweed, dirty seagulls trying to steal from me, and coming home with sand stuck to me... falling in my car and house. I know, I know... such a negative Nancy. But, I have changed! I now am so fully prepared when i go to the beach and I love it so much! There are definitely some essentials to have, so I thought I would share them with you just in case you ever want to come visit me out on the West Coast. Hope you enjoy!

Sun hat : JCrew

Cover up : Calypso

Swimsuit : Anthropologie

Bag : Nixon

Towel : Marc by Marc Jacobs

Sunscreen : Kiehl's

Beach game : Smashball

Weekend wrap up : New changes.

Hello and welcome to Monday! How was your weekend?

I hope you have noticed that changes are happening on this blog! We finally have ads up, this is something husband has been urging me to do for quite some time and I have resisted. I guess I felt a little small cheese to be trying to compete in this big blog world. Either way, I am giving it a go and I am super excited about it. Throughout the next few months I will be doing advertiser spotlights here and there so you can get to know more about all of these great people!

Now, if you would like more information about this little blog and how to advertise on it (or if you just want to chat) you can email me at : shelandstone@gmail.com

Stone and I also had a big new change this weekend, totally unrelated to the blog, that we are pretty pumped about. Stone is now the proud owner of a classic (meaning OLD) BMW convertible. We have been a one car family for almost a year now and he is so excited to have a new little project to tinker with and of course cruise around Encinitas in. I have to say, it is the perfect little California car... now I just need to figure out a way to ride in it without my hair becoming a tangly mess of dreads :)

I have told you about Stone's car "thing", haven't I? Perhaps I will save this for another time... or better yet, maybe I will have him post and tell you..!

xo.

Have a celebratory weekend!

Good morning and happy Friday!

This week marked my little blog's one year anniversary... Hooray! I have to say I cannot believe I have stuck with it this long. Originally my blog was just a creative outlet for me to focus on after work when husband was busy editing photos. Also, it has been a great way of keeping our family and friends updated on our lives and our traveling.

Mostly, I have become invested in this blog because I love it and it has been so fun for me to read comments and emails from you letting me know that you love it too. I hope you have noticed by now, but this is not a blog that is written to divulge the inner-workings of my soul... not at all... it is simply to enjoy, find inspiration (for your closet and home that is...) and maybe learn some new craft and cooking tricks here and there. I guess that has been my biggest battle with the blog is people reading it and not taking it for face value, but assuming that what I write about is all there is to me. I always tell Stone that I rarely will go to a movie or read a book that is not completely light-hearted, comical, and easy. My reasoning is that books and movies are supposed to be an escape, it should be purely enjoyment. And I hope that is what my blog has been for you... something you can go to and enjoy while leaving the stresses of your day behind.

All this to say, I am pumped to be marking my first year doing this and cannot wait for many more years to come.

In honor of my blogiversary I am going to start a couple of new things. FIRST I will be starting to take on advertisers. On Monday I am going to be putting up a few ads and giving more information to those who might be interested! SECOND (and way more exciting) this little blog is going to start doing giveaways! Three cheers! Who does not like a free little treat now and again? So please be on the lookout for those as well.

So, again, happy Friday! Thank you SO VERY much for reading and wanting to be a part of the happenings here at In A Nutshell. It means so much to both me and Stone! You all are the best... go get 'em today.

As always, here are some links to love. xo.

Some adorable twin babies discussing the recent escape of a cobra from the Bronx zoo!

Gwyn's ultimate closet necessities.

Our good friend is on the cover and inside of Rue magazine! Congratulations Billy!

Speaking to my heart... the perfect cheese plate.

Want it. Need it. Really would love to own it.

Kindergarten construction classes. Love it.