PRETTY PAPER

Justin and I decided it would be a nice tradition to buy ourselves a joint present each year that follows Emily Post's old-school list of wedding anniversary gifts. First year--paper, second year--cotton; third year--wood...and so on.

For "paper" we decided to splurge and get this lovely tassel garland from Confetti System.

12 feet of bright, cheery, sparkly goodness. It think it's a perfect celebration of our first year together.

ONE YEAR

Today is our one year anniversary!

Yup...last September 12th we were at a summer camp in Hueguenot, NY having the time of our lives. Lakeside ceremony, dining hall dance party, all night campfire rage-a-thon. It was EPIC.

The whole thing was a real DIY family affair. I handmade all of the invitations, table numbers, seating cards, maps of the campgrounds, and boutonnieres for the boys. My dad made all of the signs and hand-built the chuppah out of branches from the backyard. My mom sewed the tablecloths and a zillion feet of pennant flag bunting. Both of our families got together to decorate the dining hall with all kinds of lights and lanterns and more tissue paper decorations than imaginable. My wedding dress (a stunning 1920's beaded beauty) was from my mom's best friend Susie. Our friends and bandmates played the ceremony music (Chapel of Love, Sea of Love, and Then he kissed me -- on marimba, ukulele, glockenspiel, guitar, drums, alto horn, and kazoos. SO BEST.) My friend Frankie (aka Kid America) deejayed. And Justin's friend Ryan took all the photos. Even the priest was a friend of Justin's family.

We have about a zillion photos from our wedding day (far too many to attempt to upload)...but we did put some on flickr. Here's a link to the slideshow.

And this was our wedding song:

"This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies

And if I do say so myself...I think it HAS been our year.

VOYAGE OF THE EAGLET

A couple weeks ago, Justin made the trip from New York City to Kingston BY SAILBOAT!

He sailed with our friend Randy on Randy's boat, the Eaglet. She's a 31-foot wooden boat from 1925.

The 100 mile journey took about 15 hours. They passed under 6 bridges (George Washington, Tappan Zee, Bear Mountain, Newburgh/Beacon, Mid-Hudson, and Walkway Over the Hudson), and went by West Point, the Indian Point nuclear power plant, and Bannerman's Island.

They got here at 1:00 am and docked the boat at the Rondout Creek in Kingston...just a couple blocks from our house. Then a day and a half later they turned around and sailed back to NYC.

Here are some photos from the trip...

Leaving New York City, early morning.



First Mate Nami (which means wave in Japanese).



The boys on their way back to NYC.

The Kingston lighthouse...where the Rondout Creek meets the Hudson River.

See that cabin? That was Randy's "apartment" for 4 years. Renting a slip in NYC is a lot cheaper than renting a studio. And I think living on a boat is pretty darn romantic.







Bright lights. Big city. The end.

BIRD’S ROOM DETAILS

So, here is a little bit more about the bird's room.

Above: Budge and his best friend. (Budgie doesn't seem to mind that he is made of plastic.)

This bird cage was supposed to be Budge's temporary home...until I found him a lovely and affordable antique cage. But he really seems to like it...and at this point I would feel bad switching it. So until I find something antique that is FAR superior I'm just going to live with this one. At least it's on a pretty vintage stand. ($25 from The Water Street Market in New Paltz.)

The window seats are storage boxes from Ikea that we had in our old apartment. They are a great place to stash all of my shoes that don't fit in the closet.

I covered the cushions with this vintage fabric I picked up at a garage sale years ago. I mean...a traditional toile hunting scene in a crazy pink and mustard color pallette?! What's not to love?

We picked up the folding screen at auction for $15. I hung some dainty lady things on it so that we could use it to cover up the tv. (Note: Our tv is NOT one of those flat-screen plasma jams. It's a big old BOXY jam. MAJOR eyesore).

And I found the antique wooden hangers at Boulevard Attic in Kingston. $1 each.

We got the big antique wardrobe for $90 from The Wayside Shop in NJ. It's perfect for hanging our nicer stuff and it has a great big mirror...which is great for getting dressed AND it makes the room look bigger.

AND you can lock the door with this skeleton key! (So if you were planning on stealing any of our evening wear...think again.)

The bed was a craigslist find. I think we paid $100 for the whole set -- frame and mattress.

The bedding came from the Saugerties Antique Center. It's hand embroidered silk and I don't think it was ever even used. The set came with a coverlet, 2 pillowcases (a large one and a small decorative one), and a slew of matching dresser scarves.

I love this lamp shade! I'm crazy about the pattern and colors and the way it's perfectly faded. I got a set of 5 for $25 at the Water Street Market in New Paltz. (The rest of them are on the sconces in the dining room.)

I also got this wall lamp there. It's some crazy homemade looking metal thing. I think it was intended for two small candelabra bulbs and no shades...but I wanted our guests to be able to use it as a reading lamp, which requires much brighter bulbs, so I threw these shades on. I'm not crazy about them. I think they are a little too white...and maybe I want a slightly different shape? I'm not sure.

The last bit of lighting I have to contend with is the ceiling fixture. I picked this chandelier up at garage sale in NJ years ago ($25!) and have been storing it in my parents' basement ever since. (See dad! I told you my junk collecting would come in handy at some point). I think it will look lovely the bird's room. Right?

THE BIRD’S ROOM

Finally. Photos from the other guest room in all its girly glory.

This room was a little bit more challenging than the other guest room because I had to accomodate the majority of our clothing. There is a SERIOUS lack of closet space in our house. (And by "lack of" I mean basically NO closet space.) We have one tiny coat closet downstairs...and two dressers and an armoire in our bedroom...but that's about it. So I had to devote one whole wall to clothing storage...which takes up a significant portion of the room.

We installed one of those heavy-duty adjustable closet systems from home depot because we wanted something sturdy and affordable. (The hanging racks the previous owners installed were NOT sturdy...and when we started hanging our stuff on them they fell on us and took half the wall with them. NOT FUN) For shoes and foldables we used some of the wooden ikea shelving from our old apartment.

Originally I planned on hanging a curtain in front of the closet. I pictured something floor length that stretched from the armoire to the wall to cover up all of the craziness...but then I realized that the clothes on the hanging racks stick out further than the armoire. Rats! So now I have to come up with something else. Or maybe just leave it open?

BOY’S ROOM DETAILS

Here's the low down on some of the stuff in the boy's room.

I got the lead soldiers at a yard sale for a dollar and the those are my mom's old Audubon Nature Encyclopedias.

The antique mission style desk was a craigslist find. We had to drive out to Westchester to pick it up...but it was only $70! It is made out of the most beautiful old wood with a striking grain pattern. I'm not sure what it is. Maybe tiger maple?

It has bookshelves on both sides. Perfect for storing little old leather bound books.

We picked up the old desk lamp at Barneche Design...a teeny tiny shop on Route 214 in Chichester.

And the wooden folding chair came from an estate sale in New Jersey ($5!)...

...which is also where we found this trunk....

...and the one at the foot of the bed. We paid $20 for each.

I plan on putting plants under the glass cloches and making little terrariums. I want them to look like old timey horticultural experiments!

We got the barrister bookcases at auction for $60. Usually they go for a lot more...but this set of three was all middle pieces with no real top or bottom...so we were able to snag it on the cheap.

I have all of our vintage Penguin paperbacks inside and some of our Heritage Club Collection books on top. (We got a slew of these at a yard sale in New Jersey. They all have beautiful cloth covers and each comes in its own slipcase. Fancy!)

In front of the bookcase is Justin's Harvard chair....

...and a vintage camping stool turned footrest.

The blanket and the pillows are from a yard sale in Dallas. The woman selling them got them years ago in Peru and they are made from the softest alpaca wool. We were about to buy them...but it turned out that she was friends with Justin's mom and she insisted on giving us the set as a wedding present. So sweet!

The navajo rug is a hand-me-down from my dad.

The bedside table is actually an antique smoking stand. It has a hole in the top for an ashtray which is covered by the lamp, and smaller holes on both sides for storing pipes. I got it for $16 at The Wayside Antiques Shop in Pompton Plains, NJ. I'm a sucker for anything with a skeleton key.

I also got the lamp at the Wayside Shop. $20 for a set of two. The fiberglass shade is something I had kicking around. And the headboard was another craigslist find. Justin and I drove to pick it up, fully prepared to pay the $30 asking price, but when we got there the husband said we could just give him $15. You could tell that he thought we were CRAZY for for paying ANYTHING for a rusty headboard.