SoNg Designs

| What's to come |

2011-11-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Can I tell you how much I love our video monitor? Well, it's kinda made me more lazy. I lay in bed, hear him cry (when he should be sleeping), I glance over at the monitor to make sure he isn't dangling on the crib rails, or stuck his face in the corner.

This morning I see that he's somehow untied the bumper and then decided to cuddle with it. I double knotted those things!!

This little guy is going to keep our hands full :)

| Ethan Growth |

2011-11-22T10:31:00.001-05:00

Happy 8 months my son!

This has been your most active month, yet! At about 7.5 months, you finally decided it's time to roll. You first rolled at 4.5 months, but that came to a halt when you realized there wasn't much use since we could get you to wherever you wanted to go.

Rolling all over the place. We can't take our eyes off you. Or you'll end up exploring under the crib. This may or may not have happened.
Up on your hands and knees! Rocking back and forth, and scooching while you sit.
Two more teeth popped out up top. Total of 4 teeth! Which you're very interested in. You grind your teeth. It's a horrid sound. You test our your teeth on everything! (including me :/)
You were meant to eat. During your monthly photoshoot, you weren't giving many smiles, that is, until there was food in your mouth. Doesn't seem like we can feed you fast enough! You haven't disliked one single food since we started solids at 6.5 months. So I can't really list your favorites. Since you eat ev.er.y.thing.
We've been battling a cold the past couple of weeks. :( Runny noses aren't fun. Maybe teething related?
You get the giggles first thing in the morning and right before bedtime (still a 7pm-7am sleeper!) Melts my heart!
Dad and I are coming up with a plan for your hair. Daddy wants a mohawk. I want a clean cut trim. Your hair is in your eyes! Why don't they make hair pieces for boys? Your hair is SO beautiful!
Hide and seek is a new favorite. You call for us with a quick yell, and start clapping once we pop into view. I could play this all day :)

We love you more than anything, Ethan. You bring so so much joy to each day!

| Halloween |

2011-11-16T09:54:00.000-05:00

Good gosh. I realized I didn't post any Halloween pictures! We've been busy around here. We were in Texas for a couple of weeks for my cousin's wedding. Love love love my family!

We were in Houston for Halloween! It was good weather, minus the crazy jurassic mosquitos. Pumpkin carving seemed like a good idea...until the kids lost interest after 5 minutes.

Binh and my cousin Angel finished up the job :)

All the kiddos and hubs ready to trick or treat!

Our lil horse. Yes, the spots look like a cow, but look at the horse hair up top (it goes down his back, too!)

| My Pumpkin |

2011-11-09T14:03:00.002-05:00

the lil punkin'

We came across a great pumpkin patch and had to take some photos with the kiddo. I vividly remember thinking this time last year: I can't believe we'll have a baby at a pumpkin patch next year! Bam, here he is!

| Ethan Growth |

2011-10-19T15:00:00.003-04:00

I feel like I'm doing these every other day. 7 months already?! Pics show the difference between before and after a nap :) He's always soo happy after a good long nap!

7 Months

Welp, still not rolling around. I'm perfectly fine with this. You're content with sitting or laying on your stomach (or back) all day long. You're my paper weight for now. I put, you stay. :)
You've become quite vocal when you're playing in your own world. Love hearing you sing yourself to sleep!
Itsy bitsy spider can still calm you down in ANY situation.
Your hair is out of control. It doesn't mohawk anymore :( It's so beautiful, I don't want to cut it! If only we could use headbands and clips for baby boys. hehehehehe ....I might or might not have tried....
You loooove being outside. We watch Jordan puppy roll around in the grass outside. So cute seeing you run your fingers through the grass and your gorgeous hair blow in the wind!
Sleeping is your thing! Seriously, we're spoiled. We play hard, and you certainly sleep hard. 7pm-7am. With the occasional night feeding around 4am-ish. I don't mind at all though. It's our snuggle time :)
I see signs of crawling. The verrrryyyy early stages. You see a toy, you lurch forward for it. Then you're stuck because you won't roll. So cute!
We're doing solid foods pretty regularly. Once a day-ish. You haven't spit out an ounce of food. Let's hope this continues! So far, we've done avocado, steel cut oats, and green beans!

Another month down. Excited for what this month will bring :)

| Weekend breather |

2011-10-10T12:10:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, we drove due West to a town called Brooksville. I hadn't heard of it before, but was excited to be in the woods with some dear friends. Being out in the wilderness takes my breath away. So excited to see my son experience and explore places like this! The stars at night were unbelievable. As we sat around the camp fire sharing stories, I couldn't help but stare straight up in the sky looking for shooting stars! We got super lucky with the weather! Glad we took advantage of the first cool night- a whopping 60 degrees! You better believe I bundled up my lil guy and brought my jacket! I have thinnnnn blood. :)

Another highlight? Midnight ATV rides through the woods. Our friends have four 4 wheelers. Um, I think we need to get one stat. They are SO fun! The guys went out on a 'jungle tour'- I'm talking machete hacking, rolling over trees bc the woods were so dense. I opted for the more docile tour. My husband drove, and I hopped on the back- we went through acres of orange groves, a civil war cemetery, and called alligators in the dark. scaaarrrry. (so upset we didn't take pics!!!)

E's first mini-hike

E seeing cows for the first time. I told him it's like a big dog. He didn't seem interested.

| Must haves: baby |

2011-10-06T15:37:00.000-04:00

Wanted to share some of my son's (+mine) favorite things. We've got quite a routine down with naps, eating, and getting out the door. I'll say it a million times: we are so thankful to have a good baby on our hands. Laid back, loves to eat, loves to sleep, poos regularly. Ethan has a ton of toys (spoiled by gparents already!), but will be happy sitting in your lap, or jumping up and down until your shoulders can burn no longer.

1: Aden + Anais muslin blankets. We swaddled the little babe in these from day one. It's pretty toasty in the summers here in FL, so these breathable, lightweight, and huge blankets are perfect for my sweaty baby. You can throw one near him and he automatically has his thumb in his mouth and blanket rubbing on his face! *melt*

2: Soft leather baby shoes. Shoes on baby are cute. Practical? Not really. We did succumb and buy some 'real shoes' for Ethan when he was about one month old. I tried to squeeze his meatball feet into them. He screamed. I felt bad. I decided a one month old doesn't need a sole and laces. Ethan's wide feet (thanks to my side of the fam!) fit nicely and painlessly in these cuties. We only put them on him when we're out, so his chunky feet don't get all germy on the restaurant tables.

3: Fischer Price Space Saver. We started solids on his 6 month birthday (avocado + breastmilk, yum!). But feed him here and there since he'll be primarily nursing till he's one. I thought the bumbo would suffice. Nope, Ethan, being a boy, takes apart the attachable tray and can almost wiggle out of it. We got this high chair mainly to save space. I HATE clutter. Another large clunky item just won't cut it. I love that this chair straps to your chair and baby can join us at the dinner table. He's strapped in and the tray is secure. Love it!

4: Ergo baby carrier. My baby gets heavy. I put him in this carrier even around the house, so I can be hands free. It's SO comfortable! Great waist support and my back gets some relief! We went on a small hike with Ethan and he fell asleep :)

5: Bummi's fabulous wet bag. Never leave home without it. This small wet bag is easily portable and holds maybe 3-4 diapers when we're out and about. We cloth diaper our lil guy. You can read about it here.

6: Buriti Baby from The Body Shop. For myself, I'm not a huge fan of body butter. (I like the convenience of a pump) For the little prince, we use this lotion after baths. We massage his chunky self and he is all relaxed! The fragrance is delicious! Ethan had sensitive skin a few of months ago (think he's outgrown it now), and this lotion didn't cause him to break out, and kept his skin very moisturized.

What are your favorite baby products? Please share!

| Ethan Growth |

2011-09-26T18:21:00.002-04:00

::sigh:: my baby is half a year old.

We've been blessed with an incredibly happy baby boy.

Out of nowhere:

Three little toofers appeared. Hope the rest of teething goes this well!
He could sit all day if I let him!
Still no rolling....too much exercise? Why roll, when you can sit all day!
SO ticklish! A gentle brush across his upper arm will give you a giggle
Mo hawk is back in full force. This is all natural folks. We actually can't get his hair to do anything else. Good thing the faux hawk is in! ;) I will never cut my child's hair again. (this boy had his haircut at just over 4 months and his hair was never the same!)
Started solid food for the first time. First meal? Avocado mixed with bmilk. He devoured it. I'm scared. What will this child be like in his teens?...nevermind. I don't want to think that far ahead.
Sings himself to sleep. This kid continues his amazing sleep schedule. I nurse him at 6:45pm, he mumbles/sings with his thumb in his mouth, turns on his side, and HE.IS.OUT. For the night. Until 7am the next day.

We are spoiled parents. Totally makes me want to have another asap. I'm sure the second child will be the complete opposite.

Reminiscing... Just the other day I looked like this:

Five days later (and 2 weeks early!) we brought home this 6.5 pounder:

and now, I've got a boy so curious to explore the world around him...

I love you SO MUCH, Ethan!!

| Cloth Diapers |

2011-09-14T21:34:00.000-04:00

Baby gear can be very overwhelming for new mommies. Definitely was for me: I spent sooo many hours researching strollers, bottles, lotions, paci's, carriers, blankets, cribs, you name it. To the point where it was a a few weeks before baby was due, I was like "I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!" The internet is sometimes my nemesis. Too much info can be a bad thing!

Also, if you don't want to be overwhelmed, stay away from Babies R' Us. I loooathe that store.

Our parenting style is pretty laid back. Yes, I do my research. If it's too complicated? Baby doesn't need it. Turns out when you have a newborn, you really don't need much. I'm his food, he co-slept with us in bed for the first month, and we had diapers. Yep, we even did cloth diapers. Didn't start our lil guy until he was about a month old. I wanted him to get nice and chunky to fit the diapers better.

From the start I really wanted to use cloth diapers! I have a cousin that did it and I loved the idea. My husband was horrified the first time I mentioned it. (Poor guy gags when he picks up the poo poo from our animal child, Jordan.) He had never changed a diaper in his life. I was determined to prove him wrong!!

My fave cloth diaper site.

Why we cloth diaper?

hello $$ savings! (Spent a little over $200. This will take us through potty training!) Average disposable diaper family spends up to $3,000 a kid through potty training.
less rashes
supposedly, your kid will potty train earlier! (I'll keep you updated on this in a couple of years)
it's green! it's nice to help the earth :)
stinkin cute cloth diaper bottoms

The beautiful Florida sun dries the pre-folds and covers quite nicely. Drying the diapers in the sun also bleaches any stains! AND you don't have to spend money using your dryer!

I can be a dum dum when it comes to directions sometimes. What's the best way to wash these? I found tips and tricks from all over, and just came up with my own formula:

wash diapers once a week
pre-wash on cold with detergent
second wash on hot withOUT detergent
clean diapers!

My child is almost 6 months old and exclusively breastfed. His poo is nice and water soluble. I feel like it's too easy! We'll see when solids come in the picture. We're planning on purchasing a diaper sprayer in the near future.

and, um, can you resist this cutie in a cloth diaper??

| Grey, Purple, Yellow |

2011-08-30T07:30:00.000-04:00

I had the absolute pleasure of designing these invitations for my cousin's fiance, Vivian! She is a bride that knows what she wants :) We went through several designs before we looked back on this swirly detail and said, "Yup! That's the one!"

I'm so excited to be attending their wedding in late October.

Together, we created this custom wedding set that perfectly represents Vivian + Charlie:

| Ethan Growth |

2011-08-25T16:24:00.001-04:00

My baby boy!! 5 months old?! I've been a mom for 5 months already? I have a child??

Such a sweet thing. He's definitely a momma's boy. My husband thinks the Oedipus complex started early with Ethan.

Fun things at 5 months:

less poo's per day!

smiles every time he wakes up

itsy bitsy spider can bring a smile at any time of day

belly laughs

quite a thumb sucker

first haircut at 4.5months (SO sad)
sitting up by himself! (with some assistance)

loves reading! he actually pays attention and holds the book :)

clockwork with naptimes and 7pm- 7am sleep schedule

smiles all the time!!

| Celebrate |

2011-08-11T13:16:00.000-04:00

Happy 100 ~~Days~~ Years

My sweet family!

Traditionally, the Chinese culture celebrates a baby's 100th day of life. Yay to having a healthy, plump, little guy to call my own! We had family and friends in town, and pigged out! Lots of yummy traditional foods :) I was so worried Ethan would be cranky since he missed ALL of his naps- but we've got a social bug on our hands. I think he was passed around 100 times and just loved all the attention!

I was excited for the yummy cake we got from the same bakery that did our wedding cake! It was also my fil's birthday (whom we call Ba, in Vietnamese), so we combined the two on one cake. When my husband went to pick up the cake, I got a phone call:

"Babe, the writing isn't quite....right..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, instead of 'days' they put 'years', aaand instead of 'Ba', they put 'B.A.'.....

So we celebrated my 100 year old baby, and my B.A. father in law. :)

| Summer Nights |

2011-07-29T15:15:00.000-04:00

My sister and I decided to brave the humidity here in Florida and take the little guy to his first movie on a lawn. Now, I wish I could tell you it looked something like this~

::swoon::

Alas, it was something like this. There were so many things to look at, so of course, it took a few tries to steal his eyes away :)

We definitely had a great time. We laid out a huge comforter, and let Ethan enjoy the gorgeous view of oak trees above! I made some dinner and cut up fruit for dessert earlier, so we feasted and enjoyed some wine. It was pretty toasty and I was busy swatting away the mosquitos from my sweet boy's face. Then it was getting close to his bedtime, and we jetted. Maybe we'll try again when it's cooler out- perhaps November would be good ;)

| Ethan Growth |

2011-07-21T07:00:00.001-04:00

Oh my...

How is it that I'm a mother of a FOUR month old?? ...and I totally missed posting Ethan's 3 month pictures...

This little angel of mine brings so much joy to our lives! I wake up to his smiling, giggling self every morning. And this little chunk is sleeping the whole.night.through. Since about 10 weeks. This mommy has finally caught up on sleep!!

16 lbs. | 25" tall

| Concert Invites |

2011-07-19T17:35:00.000-04:00

......One night only!

It has been a busy summer designing invitations! Spring and fall make for lovely wedding seasons since the summers here in Florida make for toasty ceremonies.

My sister-in-law has a concert/jazz theme for her upcoming August wedding. She and her fiance's first date was at a concert and wanted their wedding to reflect where they first fell in love! *swoon

I love the perforated RSVP card! I'll have pics posted of their beautiful wedding to come!

| Ethan Growth |

2011-05-19T11:38:00.000-04:00

'Enjoy every moment of now...'

'They grow up so fast...'

So these are the things everyone tells you when you talk about your newborn child. You nod, and smile and say, 'I can only imagine!'

BUT seriously?! Time is flying. My pumpkin head is 2 months old already!! He's outgrown all 0-3 month clothes. (I tried to squeeze him in his super cute Gator onesie and it looked like a muscle shirt, but with his baby chub!) I really am enjoying every second. He learns so much everyday and I love that he knows me now! I might still just be food to him, but hey, he looks and smiles at me and I MELT!

9 lb. 1oz. | 21-3/4 inches long

At two months, Ethan is a smiley, happy baby boy! His gorgeous brown eyes follow us around the room, and he reacts when he hears our voices. Last week he got his 8week vaccinations, which he was very brave about! I'm loving that he's waking for one night feeding and wakes up with smiles.

13 pounds | 23-1/4 inches long

Notice in both pictures, he's eyeing the momma monkey?? He knows where the food comes from! This little boy eats all day long!

| Ethan's Nursery |

2011-05-18T18:55:00.000-04:00

Well this is long overdue~ planning for the nursery was a lot of fun not knowing the gender of our sweet baby. A lot of people thought we were nuts by keeping the gender a surprise. I thought it was a ton of fun- hearing all the old wives' tales and people's predictions. A couple of homeless men even predicted we were having a boy!

Our design inspiration came from this lovely illustration from my friend, Arrolyn. She is SUPER talented and creates the most beautiful, whimsical pictures!

The colors in this piece drew our attention and we began to pull some colors for the nursery! We got the print canvas wrapped, and I love how it ties all the colors in the room together. Too bad Ethan hasn't slept in his own room yet- but when he does he will have a lot to look at!

Check out Arrolyn's illustrations on her website, or visit her super cute etsy shop! Who wouldn't love to receive one of her illustrations as a gift?!

| Ethan 6 weeks |

2011-04-28T18:39:00.001-04:00

I just love waking up to this sweet face every morning! Our son smiles all the time in
his sleep, especially after a feeding! Excited to see him smiling at us- hopefully soon!

| He is Risen |

2011-04-27T09:15:00.001-04:00

We were so excited to share Ethan with everyone at church for the first time. What better service to take him to than Easter? Too fun to dress him up in his Sunday's best :)

Happy Easter!

(I do have a complaint for the smaller selection of cute, dressy boy clothes compared to the rows and rows of adorable dresses!!) Anyone have any suggestions of online shops??

Romance and Elegance

2011-04-21T18:58:00.000-04:00

When Emily contacted me about her romantic wedding coming up this fall, I was excited to start on some designs! {I had a previous post for her 'Save the Date' design options}

Together, we came up with this elegant design that will give a great first impression to their wedding guests! I love the flowy script font and the personalized monogram for when they officially become Mr. & Mrs. McAlister!

Emily and Micah's custom wedding set included:

5"x7" Invitation, 3.5"x5" RSVP cards, 3.5"x5" folded Thank You cards complete with a matching set of envelopes.

Many blessings to you and your future husband! :)

| It's a BOY |

2011-04-13T17:34:00.000-04:00

March gave us quite a few surprises! My husband and I celebrated our birthdays (yup! we share the same birthday, only a year apart!) on March 13 and enjoyed a delicious meal with both of our families. A short 4 days later, I was in labor!! Our due date was April 1, so this was NOT expected at all.

We had our 38 week appt that morning, where we found out I was 4cm dilated and 70% effaced. I was in denial. Our doctor told me to go home and take it easy- and that my water might be breaking soon. I said I had a bunch of errands to run! I wanted our baby to stay put for a couple more weeks. My husband was a bit weary, so he told me to rent a movie, put up my feet, relax, and NO MORE ERRANDS. :) I felt great most of the day. I rented a movie, ordered some pizza, and waited for my husband to come home and relax with me. The first contraction hit around 8pm. I was still thinking ok, this is the start of it. We'll keep this baby in for a couple more weeks. The contractions were inconsistent, so I got ready for bed and wanted to sleep. I was exhausted!!

Around 10pm, the contractions started up again, this time a bit stronger, longer, and more consistent. We started the labor process: controlled deep breathing, warm baths, exercise ball, swaying back and forth in different positions. My husband was a champ! We were both so tired at the end of the day. He can sleep through anything- so while we were charting and timing the contractions, he'd fall asleep in between each one!! It wasn't too hard to wake him up when I'd scream, "ANOTHER ONE HAS STARTED!!!" {there is absolutely no way to describe the pain of a labor contraction. deep breathing, prayer (hello, phil 4:13), and my husband coaching me through was the only thing that got me through!!}

4am: contractions were just under 5 minutes apart, just over 1 minute long, and consistent for about 1 hour. (the 5-1-1 rule) We're about 30 minutes away from the hospital, and once I remembered that I was adamant we LEAVE NOW. I was dreading going through contractions in the car. Luckily, we had a lot of distractions (looking out for cop cars!) while my husband sped our way to the hospital and made it in record time. :) We went through triage pretty fast- I had progressed to 7cm and 100% effaced. Our baby was coming soon!

So my goal was to deliver naturally- no drugs, nada. It was my first thought when we found out we were pregnant, and I decided I'd put up a good, long fight before I even thought about getting an epidural. I'm not against drugs, I just wanted to experience all that was labor in the most natural way possible. Our bodies were created to do this, so why not?! {again, there is no way to describe labor contractions.} We labored some more and I progressed to 8cm, but my water had not broken. Our doctor had a couple of c-sections scheduled, so he'd check in on us in between surgeries. An hour passed, and there was no progress on my side. Still 8cm, water bag still in tact. I had been laboring about 10 hours at this point. I began to lose feeling in my arms and legs (pins & needles!) as each contraction was about 1.5 minutes long and some were back to back (NOT FUN). My husband and I fought for so long- and I had finally reached my breaking point. The doctor said I needed to relax my body in order to progress. Um, my body had been through a major, consistent workout for the past 10 hours. There was no way I could relax and not feel tempted to push that baby out!!

I broke down and asked for a light epidural. There was zero strength left in my body!! And if I needed to relax to progress, I wasn't going to be able to do it on my own. Yay, drugs! The second that epidural kicked in, I passed out- like deep sleep that my body longed for. Another hour passed, and I hit 9 cm, felt like I was ready to push, but my water was still in tact! Doctor had to break it himself, and only a little water came out. This baby was ready to go- I pushed for about 20 minutes, and out came our head full of hair, beautiful baby BOY! Through all this, I kind of forgot that we didn't know the sex of our precious child. Dr. let us know it was a boy and we were just thrilled.

Ethan | 6lbs 8oz | 20.5 inches
March 18, 2011
My family :)

Hard to believe our lil guy will be one month old this Friday! We just love staring at him and seeing how he changes from day to day. His little personality is starting to show, and he is one milk monster. At 3 weeks, he's up to 9 lbs. This momma needs to work out. I ventured out for the first time, just me and Ethan and I was pooped toting along the carrier. We are relishing every moment with him, knowing time is just going to fly. I love my little chunky cheeks!

Ethan: 2.5 weeks old

| It's a Boy or a Girl! |

2011-03-10T11:07:00.000-05:00

From the beginning of this pregnancy, I've really enjoyed not knowing the gender of our precious child. Some people think we're crazy, and others are completely dumbfounded how you decorate without knowing- pink or blue?!

Here's how we did it- Our gender neutral nursery:

My husband and I love how this turned out! We were worried about picking colors that would go together, but we surprised ourselves and think this is gonna work!! Both of us are architectural designers- so of course, we couldn't settle with straight lines, or pastels- it's just NOT us. This used to be a guest bedroom, so after my husband cleared the furniture out, he grabbed a pencil and just started drawing on the wall. [I freaked at first, and wondered how he was going to clean up and erase all this?!] He encouraged me to grab a pencil and draw along. I admit, it was pretty liberating :) We drew, danced, and talked about plans for our lil one growing up in this room! [He still has come erasing to do]

I'll update more photos soon! Our bedding set will hopefully be here by this weekend. Baby's room is almost complete! Our child will either think mom & dad are insane (the crib is on the opposite wall), or be reallllly smart :)

| Bigga Belly |

2011-02-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

Life has been SO busy lately! Lots of exciting adventures going on, but we've been pretty bad about documenting this pregnancy weekly- er, make that tri-weekly?? When my husband first started taking pictures, I didn't really show till 18 weeks and I didn't want him to document the 'kinda' baby belly-but-you-look-like-you-usually-do-after-a-great-Mexican-dinner. Best light in our house is when we first wake up- so excuse the sans make-up and I haven't brushed my hair look. At this point in the pregnancy, I am all about being comfortable, so clothes, make-up, and dressing up have fallen low on my priority list. :)

31 weeks

34 weeks

Can you tell a difference?? The little booger is growing and moving non-stop! Most recent update at 34-1/2 weeks: belly is measuring on schedule, weight gain is good and steady (1lb a week now!), baby is squirming around (and about 5lbs!), and the Dr. thinks he/she is already engaged head down! (which means baby kicks in the ribs occasionally, but it's all good!)

I do complain to my husband once in a while about some aches and pains, but I tell ya, we have been SO blessed with this pregnancy. I absolutely love it. This baby has treated me and my body really well, and I'm happy to say I'm still pretty darn comfortable halfway through the third trimester! (Thanks, baby N! Please continue to do so after you come out, too!)

| Warrior Dash |

2011-02-02T07:30:00.000-05:00

Sun and Mud : We had such a beautiful weekend! It was hard for me to only watch my husband, sister, sis-in-law, and good friends participate in the 'Warrior Dash' this past weekend! Me and baby N hung out on the sidelines dutifully taking pictures and cheering everyone on.

At least I got some sun :)

(and didn't have to shower a couple of times to scrub the mud from my ears like some people!)

I should mention there was a costume contest. (They don't usually dress like...that)

My hubs coming out of the barbed wire mud pit- last leg of the race!

The muddy warriors post race

I'll for sure be racing next year! Have you participated in a fun run??

| Wood Escort Cards |

2011-01-27T07:30:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite memories from wedding planning? All the fun materials we got to play with and choose from! My husband and I were stumped about how we wanted to create and display our escort cards for our guests. Wood as a material was an idea early on, but seemed expensive, and we didn't look more into it. After trying all sorts of cut outs, paint, calligraphy on paper, I wanted to research how we can make the wood work!

We purchased some wood planks (found a great deal!) and as fate would have it- a friend from architecture school mentioned how intricate a laser cutter machine could engrave! My original thought was to try burning, or branding the wood- and that would've taken forever.

Off we went to use the laser cutter machine! After getting the settings just perfect, we got all 210 of them made in a day. We even made some 'Thank you' cards for our vendors as a special treat.

These escort cards made us super happy. And it's a nice remembrance of the wedding for our guest! {At least we'd like to think each of them will treasure these forever! ;) }

Aren't they lovely? :)

| Romantic Save the Date |

2011-01-11T07:30:00.003-05:00

It's been an exciting January already! With the holidays over and decorations stored neatly in the attic (thanks, awesome husband!), there's a lot of planning to do for the next few months!

Same goes with many bride-to-be's out there. Wedding planning is in FULL swing. I'm so thrilled to be involved in four weddings of my very dear friends this year :)

I started a design recently for the lovely Emily and Micah. They will be having a traditional, romantic wedding this coming fall! I love her color palette of ivory, champagne, and apple green. I provided two different styles for her Save the Date, and I can't wait to see which one she chooses!

What are you busy planning??

| Merry Christmas!! |

2010-12-23T11:33:00.000-05:00

It was quite an accomplishment getting my husband, sister, and our doggy to sit and smile for our Christmas photos.

About 80 shots later, a ghetto 'book-stacked' tripod, a silly self-timer, and three locations around the house to find the best background:: I decided to compile our blooper shots to sum up the experience.

And here is our final product! I got tired of waiting for the perfect shot. Our dog, Jordan, wondered why we fed her so much cheese to sit still; and then constantly looked for cheese in our hands. Brilliant.

We're very excited to celebrate our first Christmas as husband and wife and super blessed to have our little bun baking away. :)

Merry Christmas to all you lovely friends!! <3

| Blog Meet Up |

2010-12-08T07:30:00.000-05:00

Had a lovely blogger meet up with these beautiful ladies:

Sandy from Sandyalamode, Casie from RebelBellePhotography, and Michelle from MichaBella!

We had such a great night catching up, eating delicious pizza, froyo for dessert, and many laughs! Love it when Sandy comes to town for work! :) Hope to keep these meet ups pretty frequent!!

| Nursery Planning |

2010-12-03T07:30:00.001-05:00

We're 23 weeks already! I think the second trimester is just fabulous. I feel great, baby's kicking away, I'm supposed to have a large belly, eat all I want, and we get to design the nursery :)

My husband and I are both designers, we're waiting till birth to find out the sex of our lil one, and we love bright colors and modern lines. We want to make a lot of the decor ourselves and looooove working with wood!

{I'll have to blog about the wooden place cards from our wedding}

We'd like to go with an animal theme. Instead of having pictures of animals, we want to incorporate something about the animal, enlarge the pattern, and have it laser cut into wood panels! The end result would look something like this:

Gorgeous wood panels

But with these patterns in mind:

And these are some random images I've collected over the months for nursery designs that caught my eye:

Can't wait to pick colors and watch my husband paint away! Furniture shopping is so fun for babies :) Stay tuned~ we'll get serious about the nursery after the Christmas madness.

What colors would you paint your nursery?

| Baby Announcement |

2010-11-17T13:56:00.001-05:00

So I mentioned a couple of posts ago about my trip to Cali to help my cousin while she was pregnant with her second set of twins. I've been honored to design the girls' baby announcement! The girls are growing so much and already look so different!

Quinn & Saraia @ 1 month

The announcement design:

*Note: photo on the announcement is a place holder until we get the professional ones in! :) Can't wait to see how their photo shoot turns out!!

| Busy year ahead! |

2010-11-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

This past month has been so busy! (eeek! explains my lack of posts) I've got my hands in a couple of exciting adventures, and being busy is good!

Life is happening so fast. 2011 is already proving to be quite a year. My sis-in-law got engaged to a great guy! Excited to see the family grow. Pictured below, us 'kids' celebrating with delicious steak and lobster!

Congrats An + Mike!

In baby news, our lil one continues to grow! We had our 20 week appt and baby is looking good! I can't believe we're already at the halfway point. We've decided to keep the gender a surprise!!! Everyone at the Dr. office was surprised. They said it's so rare these days to not find out! We think it's more fun this way. I've never really been a pastel color (pink or blue) kinda gal. We just want to have a fun, unique baby room with bright colors :) So far, we've been calling the baby, Taylor. It's a good boy and girl name for the time being- until we really look into names.

Me and Taylor at 20 weeks!

| New Office! |

2010-10-25T11:24:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you had a fabulous weekend because I sure did. My husband and I usually overbook ourselves, so it was nice to have a quiet, relaxing weekend to ourselves at HOME. We even got around to getting some baby things :D

I think the 'nesting stage' is starting to settle in for me...so we decided to rearrange our house. Well, I watched my husband and his sister's bf move all the heavy furniture. I handled the dusting and cookie making :) (ahh, joys of being preggers!)

My new office!

We've had the front room of the house try to be all sorts of things: the roll around room (before furniture), music room, an extra extra-guest bedroom, and then it had an identity crisis and we called it the everything room. We finally moved some things around, and it has unofficially become my new office space! (I used to be in the corner of the living room!) I now have the storage, space, and upgraded next to a large window!) :)

It's been a great Monday so far! So thankful :)

| Home Sweet Home |

2010-10-11T13:57:00.000-04:00

I recently returned from a 3 week hiatus to help out my cousin and her family in California! She had her second set of twins (girls this time!) last week, and they couldn't be more beautiful! It was a SUPER busy few weeks- watching her 3.5 yr old toddlers and keeping up with their schedules had me beat! I learned so much though- kind of like a mommy boot camp! Great time catching up with the family :)

Proud big bro, Zayn, and big sis, Annalise; holding Quinn & Saraia

Cousin Sage came out to visit, too! So much fun with all the toddlers

My husband came out for a few days to help as well! We were so thankful that

we were able to take a lil 'Baby Moon' vacation getaway :)

I'll have more pics to come! Happy to be back, but I miss the kids and my cousins! Excited to get back to designing and planning for our little one :)

| and then there were....three... |

2010-09-14T15:16:00.002-04:00

Today was a pretty momentous day for us....

Meet our lil baby! See the peanut waving hello?! So far, so good! Our blessing is measuring as it should at 11.5 weeks. And I've actually felt pretty fantastic the first trimester. Nothing a nap can't fix :)

We haven't decided if we're going to find out the sex of the baby in a couple of months. I think it would be fun to be surprised :) What do you think??

| Happy 90th |

2010-09-13T09:11:00.000-04:00

Happy 90th Birthday to my grandmother!! What an incredible milestone :) Doesn't she look great!?

The family out for a birthday lunch celebration! My grandfather (turning 92 in November!)

is always right by her side. :)

I just adore my grandparents. They've had such a blessed life! Married for 67 years, healthy, great memories, and they both still have a great sense of humor :) Here's to many more!

| Football Foods |

2010-09-08T17:31:00.001-04:00

Football season is one of my favorite times of the year. I just love having the games on all weekend- we'll be making a few trips to see our teams: the Gators (our beloved college team), Jags (where I grew up), and Bucs (where my husband grew up). Football always meant family time (minus the college years), ridiculously great food, and aaaah the weekend :)

To kick off this season, my husband and I whipped up some buffalo wings and I was craving some roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

Ingredients you'll need:

Buffalo wings:

20 piece chicken wings (you'll cut these in two, so we made a total of 40)
1 bottle Frank's hot sauce
1-1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 cup of butter

Halve the chicken wings, rinse, and pat dry with a paper towel. To prep the wing sauce: add 1/2 cup of butter and the whole bottle of Frank's hot sauce over medium heat. Stir occasionally and let simmer.

To prep the flour mixture: add the 1-1/2 cups of flour, paprika, ground cayenne pepper, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add a few piece of chicken at a time. Mix, and coat all sides of the wings. Set the flour covered wings in the fridge for 25-30 minutes to cool.

Frying time! (We wish we had a lil fryer; hot vegetable or we used canola oil in a big pot works just fine!) Be super careful with hot oil! Ours started to smoke up a little bit so we turned the heat down. Fry around 10-12 pieces at a time for approximately 10 min or golden brown. Let the fried wings cool for a few minutes before tossing.

Add the wings to a large bowl and add some sauce- toss away!

These were SO delicious- perfectly golden brown, and spicy! And perfect with a Blue Moon :)

{I know this is a strange combination, but I wanted mashed potatoes, so we made some!}

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

Bag of potatoes
1/2 cup of butter
1 cup of milk
1 bunch of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Peel potatoes, chop in small piece, and boil until soft. To prep the roasted garlic: Take a whole bunch of garlic, and slice just the top of the heads off. Wrap in aluminum foil, and coat well with olive oil. Cover the top and bake at 325 for 25-30 minutes, or until soft and slightly browned.

In a small sauce pan, add butter and milk and let simmer.

We used our awesome mashing tool to get the potatoes just right! Add the butter and milk mixture and keep on mashing.

Check out the delicious roasted garlic just out of the oven. Mix all together and yum! So creamy with the perfect amount of garlic flavor (I use garlic in just about everything I cook.)

We're so excited to cook the wings again- especially for tailgates and football parties.

We also love using the grill: hot dogs, hamburgers, jalepeno's stuffed with cream cheese wrapped with bacon, chicken...What's your favorite football food?

| Summer |

2010-09-03T11:04:00.001-04:00

Image from flikr

I was perusing around searching for images, came across the above, and immediately felt summer coming to an end. {Funny, the long grass also reminded me of our yard; I told my husband the other day I can't wait until the grass starts growing slower and becomes less maintenance. Here in Florida, you get a jungle just about every week.}

Labor Day always reminded me of wrapping up summer. BBQ. playing barefoot in the grass. football season beginning. family. lots of love and family. celebrating my gma's bday (she's 90 this year!!). summer turning to fall.

This summer has been a great one for me :) You sure were a toasty one. I think I'm ready for this fall. Bring on the cooler weather!!

Hope everyone has a great looooong weekend! Indulge in all things summer :)

| Engagement Anniversary |

2010-08-31T12:03:00.001-04:00

This past weekend, my husband and I celebrated our one year proposal-versary!! It really is amazing how fast the time flies- we had a quick engagement and have been married for almost 5 months now! I just love this man!!

August 29, 2009

My love gave me the dream proposal any girl could only wish for!! We had a zipline date planned for a couple of months, and I was really excited about it.

Little did I know that he had a top secret undercover plan that involved 33 family members and friends that flew in from all over to celebrate us!!

Behind the scenes: everyone arriving, setting up Gator-themed balloons, and heading out to meet us for the grand finale!

Practicing the 'buddy system'. It was dark outside and they wanted to make sure everyone was in the right spot!

As I flew in on the last platform, my fiance to be was waiting on his knee with a ring in his hand. I was laughing, crying, screaming (I had noticed some familiar faces waiting off to the side), and overwhelmed with love for this man!

Still in utter shock!

What I saw as I was zipping in: "Will You Marry Me, Sonja?"

The safari ride back to the hall was so much fun. I had NO idea anything was going on behind the scenes! We told so many stories where they almost slipped, and why Binh was 'working late nights', or 'stuck in traffic' all those times- he was planning our engagement!! I'm so gullible.

Back at the main hall of the zipline safari center. Binh had rented out the entire place for continued celebrations with everyone :)

With our sisters :)

Engaged to be married! I couldn't stop smiling!!

God has truly blessed me with you in my life. So excited for all the wonderful things to come and all the memories that we get to share everyday of forever! Love you, bubs!!

| Atlanta: part II |

2010-08-24T16:21:00.007-04:00

Our next stop was Atlanta's Fulton Library- designed by architect Marcel Breuer We heard it was a pretty cool design, so we decided to check it out!
(Also an excuse to step inside to some AC- it was HOT walking around!)

Pretty cool building. Reminded us of a massing project that we did in school!

The stairs were really beautiful- loved all the details and natural light from above.

More shots of the exterior.

Since we're used to driving everywhere in Orlando, we just loved taking the Marta around town. Minus the super steep escalators. (My husband did not like that I was turned around backwards taking pics of him) :)

Walking by the High Museum of Art in midtown. Architects Richard Meier and the addition by Renzo Piano. I LOVE this museum! Last year, we saw the Terra Cotta warrior exhibit here, so decided to skip out on Salvadore Dali.

I wandered through Piedmont Park by myself while my husband had to head to the office. (sorry, babes!) It was SO beautiful!! I wish Orlando had a huge park to play in.

I found myself a spot under the tree and plopped down to read a book :)

We love visiting Atlanta! Can't wait to go back!
Great shopping, and tons of great restaurants to try :)

| Around Atlanta |

2010-08-24T14:37:00.008-04:00

My husband has been traveling to Atlanta for almost every week since March for work. Since his project is wrapping up, we decided to make a lil vacation out of his last visit!

First stop? The aquarium! What a beautiful place! We haven't been to this one before, and apparently, it holds the largest tank in the world. There were 2 whale sharks inside!

The jellyfish display was so ethereal

Seahorses are so cute! The funny fish with them swim vertically!

It was so hot outside, we crossed the lawn to the World of Coke. Surprisingly refreshing!

We then wandered around town searching for some eye catching architecture.

Part II (architecture of Atl) coming soon!

| Chef wannabe |

2010-08-24T13:31:00.004-04:00

Do you cook? Now I'm not usually known for my cooking skills. I'm really good at cleaning- which kills my timing for cooking because I just can't stand a mess! I'll be chopping garlic, then a couple bits fall on the floor, then I'm down on the floor cleaning, and since I'm down there, might as well wipe the baseboards clean.....

Not this time! I'm pretty darn proud of this super easy, and healthy dish! I was craving some salmon and some panko crumbs (yum!), so I looked up some recipes. I combined 4 different recipes, and then I headed to the store. What you'll need:

- 1.5 lbs of salmon
- fresh parsley and dill
- 2/3 cup Panko crumbs
- 2 limes
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- salt & pepper
- I cheated and added 1/4 cup of Italian bread crumbs for more flavor, and plus I already had some in my pantry!

Prehead oven to 400 degrees.
Mix lime juice and mustard in a separate bowl. Cut the salmon into ~6oz pieces, and let them soak in the lime juice mixture.
Mix dry goods: panko crumbs, Italian bread crumbs, chopped parsley, chopped dill, salt, pepper, and add in about 2 tbsp of olive oil. Mix well!
Grease the pan, and slightly coat it with salt and pepper.
Lay out each salmon piece on the baking pan
Scoop generous portions on top of each salmon piece- distribute evenly
Bake for 12 minutes, or until the panko crumbs are golden brown, and the salmon is flaky.
Eat! :)

The dinner display! (trust me, this is not how I do it everyday)

I accompanied the meal with a delicious spinach salad with fresh carrots
and tomatoes with our favorite ginger dressing.

And for the vegetable side, I just sauteed some fresh
green beans with garlic, salt, and pepper!

| Funky Fruit |

2010-08-13T12:43:00.005-04:00

Happy Friday friends! I'm curious to see how many people know about Jack Fruit. It's a very popular fruit in Southeast Asian countries. These babies can grow up to 80lbs per fruit!

image from flikr

My in-laws were in town over the weekend and brought some by. Looks can be deceiving- these are spiny, heavy fruits- and the smell is atrocious. My mom has a saying in Chinese- "the worse it smells, the better the taste." Not a motto to live by, but it's true with this fruit! We had the fruit in my husband's car for a couple of hours before we got home. A friend of ours was riding around with us and he wondered why you would even try to eat something that smelled that bad. Here's what they look like inside:

See how we're peeling outside?? So the smell won't penetrate our house :) Peeling the fruit is quite the messy job as well. The fruits are these small pods surrounded by little 'hair-like' pieces that you have to peel away.
Then you remove the large seed inside each pod, and they're ready to eat!
My mother-in-law makes a ridiculously delicious dessert with this fruit all cut up. In Vietnamese, it's called "Che". She adds milk, coconut milk, jack fruit, fresh coconut, palm seeds, & red beans. It's served cold, over ice, and is SO perfect for these hot summer days!

| Modern Orchid |

2010-08-10T23:37:00.011-04:00

I'm excited to post the final design for Lili's modern, orchid themed wedding. She was such a great client to work with, and the end result turned out beautiful! (pics to come!)

The purple color is to match the 'Sangria' bridesmaid dresses!
I can't wait to see pictures of their gorgeous wedding in Dallas :)

Lili's custom wedding package included the invitations, RSVP cards, Thank you cards, and matching envelopes.

| Sandy does Orlando |

2010-08-06T13:12:00.013-04:00

Earlier this week, I had the lovely pleasure of meeting up with Sandy of Sandyalamode! We actually have quite a history together- we met in Taiwan at a summer camp in 2002! Through social media, we've kept in touch, but finally got the chance to catch up in person! Here we are with my husband at a delicious restaurant, White Wolf, in downtown Orlando.

Walking around the beautiful Lake Eola in downtown Orlando

Sandy loves jumping photos! Here's our ridiculous series of getting-the-timing-right-to-jump, while my husband took the photos! (thanks, babe!)

Night two! We got not only one, but two nights to catch up and eat great food! This time we took her to one of my favorites, The Ravenous Pig Gastro Pub. It was DELISH! Sandy got great pics of the food! Started with gruyere biscuits with smoked sea salt butter, then we all shared some pork belly, foie gras, spaghetti with octopus, lobster tacos, and pork loin! YUM!
We did not leave hungry!

How can you go without dessert? Orlando's famous Jeremiah's gelati! :)

Glad we got a chance to hang out, Sandy! We had a lot of catching up to do since '02! Can't wait to take you to more yummy restaurants when you're back next month! Yay for work trips! Sandy was even so kind to make me some beautiful hairpins! Hope to see your Etsy shop up soon! :)

| DMB |

2010-08-02T12:02:00.006-04:00

Every summer we trek down to West Palm Beach for a fun weekend of beach, friends, &

Dave Matthews! I look forward to this trip every summer

(partly bc we get tickets many months beforehand!).

Started off by soaking in some rays at Juno beach :)

Check out the gorgeous sky as we headed in the concert!

Group shot!
Girls shot :)

The set list was incredible. 'Cortez the Killer' was amazing by guest guitarist, Warren Hayes. Apparently the song hasn't been played since 2005 in Central Park! Check out the song recorded by our friends on Studio222Photography

The fun walk back to the car.
Sad DMB won't be touring next year. We had a blast this weekend!

| Wall Decal |

2010-07-29T15:52:00.013-04:00

After our tile project, I've gotten the 'want-to-redo-redecorate-the-entire-house' bug! I realllly want to remove the huge mirrors in all the bathrooms and get them framed with a thick, beautiful, dark wood- but I think that'll take some time & saving. :)

I came across a less expensive, faster decorating idea: wall decals! I love that they are not permanent, but a nice way to dress up your wall without having to paint the entire thing. What do you think?

Images from modern mom, decorpad, & of course, etsy

Which ones are your favorite? :)

| Save The Date |

2010-07-28T10:56:00.006-04:00

One of my best friends, Sarah is getting married in May of next year! :) [We've been best of friends since the 4th grade] I was thrilled when she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids- as she was one in my wedding!

She's been a busy bee planning her wedding (it's almost all done!) and came to me for help with her 'Save the Date'. She asked if I liked what she created- in paint. (gasp!! I'm a brat, ...but seriously..) I had no idea 'paint' was still around. I said no no no, we've got to dress it up to match your beautiful wedding!

Some photos of me and the lovely bride-to-be!

Below is the to-be-Showers' Save the Date we came up with! I love Sarah's color choices: dark coral and navy. Our bmaid dresses are in a beautiful marine, dark blue color. So elegant! Must be a popular color choice- I have two brides with the same color theme!

Btw. Sarah and I abbreviate everything. Until we worked on her [S]ave [t]he [D]ate. Doesn't sound so nice when the subject of our emails are: 'Hope you like your.....', and 'thanks for the......', and 'Did you get the .....'. hahaha. Some words are best left as is!

| d.i.y. glass tile | part I

2010-07-26T15:08:00.013-04:00

I've always wanted to learn to tile! My parents raised my sister and I like lil tomboys- we learned to install fans, replace kitchen sinks, and built tool sheds together! I just like knowing how things work and how they're assembled.

We acquired some beautiful crimson red, glass tiles that I've been wanting to put up in the house! Wedding chaos kinda put that project on hold, so it patiently collected dust in our garage. We finally made time this past weekend! Our good friend (& best man!), Scott, came up for the weekend to show us how it's done.

Here's part I of II. Enjoy the process! It's a bit more tedious than I anticipated. (I originally thought I could do it myself and knock it out in a day!) Why not? see below :)

Our kitchen below the day it all started- the naked drywall. We get a great morning sun! :)

Supplies and lots of little tiles!

Maybe we shouldn't have started super late...on a work night. My poor husband cutting glass tile at midnight on the back patio.....

The boys did the measuring. Luckily there wasn't too much cutting- Just under the window sill, and around all 984 outlets.

Since the tiles were so small (& cute! Like jolly ranchers!) I thought it would be appropriate to spread the thin-set like I do my ghetto fabulous cake piping! Bet this was a first to tiling :)

I got so excited (& careless) and I scraped my ring against the wet wall and got a nice chunk of gunk in it :/. I got demoted, so I played games with the spacers.

The boys continued to work hard and work their way around the kitchen while I supervised!

I was allowed back on the job and we completed half a wall! Weird thing with this kind of tile- the paper backing is actually the front of the tile. The back sides of the tile had lil beveled dimples to reinforce sticking to the wall! Kind of a pain- you couldn't see much once you stuck it up there.

The next morning, Scott and I knocked out the other wall pretty fast! I like to think of myself as a professional 'mudder'. My left hand worked like a machine!

Then it was time to remove the paper backing. I just took a wet sponge and continued to dab and soak the paper until the glue un-stuck. The paper would peel right off!

This was the messiest and most tedious part: grout. We got a Mapei brand grout (from Lowe's) and you had to manually mix it until it was the perfect consistency. Then you were on a time line- to get all the grout filled (without pockets!) before it dried. So we did section by section. The beautiful tile revealed! Then all dirtied up on the right while grouting.

Some tight spaces in the corner, and we had to work fast! I'd go in and wet the grout a little bit to smooth out some rough patches and make sure all spaces were filled.

Finished product! Well at least half the wall! The left side is ungrouted and the right side still needs a couple of rub downs to get some chunks of grout off the tile surface.

I can't wait to get undercounter lights to really make the tile glow! :)

| Invitations |

2010-07-22T23:42:00.011-04:00

It's been a busy week designing invitations for sweet friends! [We're also putting up glass tiles in the kitchen- fun post to come!] Here's a first round just getting some ideas gathered and variations shown. I don't like to get a lot of details at first- just the colors, theme, and technical stuff. I sketch, create, then we collaborate :)

Molly is planning her quaint wedding for this coming November here in Orlando!

These three schemes are a combo of the following:

Colors: salmon, yellow, deep blues

Theme: 'Vintage Picnic' (how cute?!)

Lili and her fiance are planning a modern wedding, also this coming November, in Dallas, Texas. Her requirements are much like her wedding: sweet and simple.

The bride's requests?
orchids, purple, clean lines, and the Chinese double happiness symbol (traditional in Chinese weddings!)

These two invitations are very similar, yet opposites in some instances. I try to use a variety of color, font, arrangement, size, formal/casual wording. This way, you know exactly what you like or care to change. Working with two extremes help us meet in the middle with the perfect invitation.

What are your favorite wedding color combos this season?

| Summer Dog Days |

2010-07-21T12:45:00.007-04:00

It's one of those hi-energy days! Ready to take on the world (or design a few invitations)! I looove finding new music to listen to while I'm working {Thanks to my friend Dianna for showing me!}.

To combine the two? My sister and I just jumped and clapped around the house to rid some energy so I can FOCUS!

Check out this video. Really strange; but I love this chick's voice and it just puts me in a happy mood!

Florence + the Machine Dog Days Are Over

What do you think? :)

| Eye Spy |

2010-07-19T11:44:00.005-04:00

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend :) My husband and I had a great time with my parents who came down to visit for a couple of days. Sunday, after church, we dropped by one of our favorite arts 'n crafts shops downtown. I just love perusing the store for inspiration!

I found a whole drawer full of photos divided by letters. Each photo was interpreted to represent each letter of the alphabet! Thought it was a great idea! They were pretty pricey, so I didn't end up buying any. I've had such a fun time following the Alphabet Walk Blog Hop and it inspired me to take my own interpretation~

Here are my initials: S M N

*photos from Flikr

What photos have you taken that can be interpreted as something else??

| Evolution of an Invitation |

2010-07-15T16:09:00.026-04:00

process, process, process!

While organizing my files, I came across some preliminary designs of our wedding invitations. Since we were doing them on our own, I just had to have them perfect. Thus, the evolution of our wedding invitations!

I first wanted to get the fonts selected, wording, and formatting the way we wanted. I played with some concepts of imagery location and backgrounds.

We played around with a few images and decided to take on a whole new concept. My husband and I are both architectural designers by trade and turned this into a project!! We had a friend model the traditional Chinese 'double happiness' symbol for marriage. So we formed a 3d model, tweaked it in photoshop, and formatted it into a dandelion- (idea from the first series). Can you see the happiness symbols forming the dandelion, then fluttering around??

We loved the concept and idea behind the dandelion, and sent it out to our wedding party for feedback (remember to utilize them!). Not many people really got it. (ha!) I found myself having to explain the story a few times and realized our guests would be experiencing the same questions! My mother asked why we chose a weed for our invitations. :/ It wasn't quite right. You just know!!

Round Three: my husband (then fiance) and I were trying to come up with more ideas. He came across an old vintage photo of a flower we'd never seen before. He drew it up in illustrator and viola! We had something new. It was simple and elegant. And just like that we knew we hit jackpot! (We might have had a deadline coming up to get them printed, and sent out!!)

We had the lovely (now Mrs!) Janie of WeHeartPaper create the final product.

We were ecstatic with the final product. I'm pretty sure I squealed when I received the package in the mail with our actual wedding invitations!

*final photos courteous of WeHeartPaper

Be patient for some collaboration projects with the two of us soon! :)

SoNg Designs

2010-07-14T14:40:00.000-04:00

I'm back! It's been a busy couple of days. I met with a few print shops and paper supply companies. Let me tell you how much I love paper! The textures, translucency, colors, patterns, the possibilities!! :) I can't wait to start experimenting printing on all of them.

I've also been working on some designs! I was conflicted where to start- Something trendy? Traditional? Retro? I decided to tackle a few styles with my own personal touch. Here's a little taste of what I do:

I'm eager to hear your thoughts and suggestions :)

Bridesmaids

2010-07-09T09:41:00.000-04:00

My lovely ladies

So according to dictionary.com, the definition of bridesmaid:

woman who attends the bride at a wedding

Yes, you chose your sister, relatives, and best girlfriends because of all sorts of reasons. They've known you the longest, they were the shoulder you've cried on, they're always there for you, love you, and you want them there by your side on the most important day of your life!

Just don't be like Tess on 27 dresses and choose girls because you want a 'pretty' wedding party. Yikes.

I was thrilled to have all 8 of my girls a part of our wedding. Throughout planning, I'd get overwhelmed, and being a perfectionist, wanted to do EVERYTHING myself. It's because I've got the best girlfriends out there, they were constantly asking for how they can help! At first, I felt bad. Everyone has busy, hectic schedules, and I didn't want to be a nagging bride giving chores left and right. And then I realized they WANTED to help! haha, EARN your right as a bridesmaid! ;)

Most of my bridesmaids lived in different cities, so I delegated tasks like phone calls that I really didn't need to make myself (i.e. hotel reservations!). My sister, Maid of Honor, really stepped it up! Any free moment, she helped out, knowing I needed to be wedding planning, and not getting my car's oil changed, or taking clothes to the dry cleaners. She even planned a surprise, super fantastic bachelorette weekend getaway! Every task that my bridesmaids took on gave me a huge sigh of relief! Even if it's just responding to my 273 emails on which veil I should choose. :)

So choose wisely ladies. Again, this THE most important day of your life. Put your wedding party to work! Don't forget to ask the groomsmen for help too. We had them help set up our ceremony decor, do a few pick-ups around town, and they even hand delivered lunch to us while all the girls were primping and priming!

It's great to get everyone involved! Remember, they WANT to help!! And how rewarding is it to finally see on your wedding day all the love, sweat, and sometimes tears that went into it!

Home Decor | DIY

2010-07-08T16:30:00.000-04:00

My sister and I purchased a brand new home 2.5 years ago. Brand new as in nothing really to update or fix- just decorate- were my sister's requests. (It was like pulling teeth getting her to help paint even!)

Since my husband moved in, we've wanted to do something to the house. Our first real project together: glass tiles for the kitchen backsplash! I've always wanted to learn how to tile, so one of our best friends (also best man in our wedding!) is going to show us how!

Searching around, there's a million and a half options out there. Our kitchen isn't super modern, but I've always loved glass tiles. I think the contrast to the dark walnut cabinets will look so elegant! (It also worked out perfect that these tiles were given to us as a gift by my husband's cousins!)

Here's some fun finds:

Offset, horizontal glass tiles are so sleek!

Porcelain subway tiles are simple and modern

If I had an ultra modern kitchen, I think it would look like this!

Thought the chalkboard idea was cute, but my OCD would never allow smeared chalk

I like the use of mixed, tiny travertine tiles

And the DalTile sample of the actual tile we'll be installing in the next couple of weeks!
1"x1" tile in Crimson red

I'll have a future post about our progress!

Images found on: flikr, modwalls, styleathome, hgtv, squaredfw

| Celebrate |

2010-07-07T16:41:00.000-04:00

This past weekend (Happy 4th!) my husband {swoon} and I celebrated 3 whole months of marriage! Woo hoo!! It's been a lot of fun, and I think we're off to a great start to the rest of our lives! I can't wait to share with you all what an amazing man I've been blessed with! From our first meeting (he wasn't so nice), to the proposal I thought only existed in fairytales (he got a LOT nicer!)- he's ALL mine!!

My husband is also the reason I'm able to be blogging today. Binh has encouraged and pushed me to pursue my passion- design. Three weeks ago, I quit my 9-5 (more like 9-7) job and started up So.Ng designs. I just love the wedding industry and can't wait to be a part of it very, very soon! I also love designing- period- and will be providing all custom design paper services. Please follow along and you'll soon see my designs for all occasions!

Hello World!

2010-06-22T15:01:00.000-04:00

Welp, here I am. A newlywed still obsessed with weddings. I was so excited when one of my bridesmaids asked me to be in her wedding next year- so that verified keeping all things wedding around :)

For my husband and I, planning 2 weddings (we're nuts, and have lots of family and friends) in 7 months seemed pretty crazy. Yes, there was drama. Yes, there were minor hiccups, but it really wasn't that bad! I'm totally Type-A: organized, and I just love to-do lists (my poor husband and wedding party got their share!). So, planning our wedding(s) were right down my alley.

Now that we've been married for almost 3 months, what's next? I'm very proud and excited to take on a new role: entrprenuership! I'm taking all the valuable lessons learned from my wedding planning experience, me just being practical, and my passion to design beautiful, simple, lovely things.

Stay tuned, So.Ng Designs headed your way!