My Small DIY Wedding

 

 
     One month ago Bretty and I tied the knot. We had a very intimate, DIY wedding and we loved it! At first, I was a bit intimidated by wedding planning but when you've been thinking about your wedding for so long, it can make it a lot easier.
     When he proposed in July we decided to have an October wedding. We assumed it would be the following year but I had my hopes up to get married this year (Spoiler Alert: I got my wish!). We quickly realized that we could never afford to get married in the city. We wanted to spend as little money as possible, without it seeming cheap. The city is crazy expensive so we had to find an alternative.
     Suddenly, one day a light bulb came on. Candlewick Lake! The neighborhood that my parents live in has a club house. It's only a few years old, it's near both our parents and it's cheap. Bam, we could afford to have a wedding without waiting and saving for the next year. And who needs more than three months to plan a wedding?
     Blogs and such about DIY weddings made me a bit nervous. They all say things like, "... but it was worth it in the end." I was not excited about what came before the "but."  That being said, I do love crafts. Within a week or two of being engaged I had made my bouquet, before I even knew I was going to need it so soon.  I just did little projects every couple of days. I always had lists of what needed to be done along with my floor plan and menu/recipes on a clip board.
     I am super lucky to be one of those people who happens to know people. One of my oldest friends (thank you Steve!), happens to be a wedding DJ. And let me tell you, he is not just a DJ he is the life of the party. He does his job so well he was like a "day of" coordinator. He also officiated our wedding and it was awesome having a friend do that for us. He gave us an AMAZING deal. Our budget would of gone up significantly if we had paid full price but I really think having a DJ made the difference between our wedding being "nice" and being "AWESOME!" (which is what it was).

 
     Another friend was our photographer (thank you Marina!). She had never done a wedding before but I had complete faith in her and she did ridiculous. I love our photos and could not thank her enough. Brett is working on a painting for her as payment.
 

 
     The other big wedding expense is, of course, the food. I decided, long ago, that I would have a dessert wedding. No sit down dinner for us. We wanted it to be like a party. Have the ceremony, do the first dance, cut the cake, toasts and DANCING! I happen to make desserts for a living. So why not cater my own wedding? Plan ahead and keep it simple. I did and it worked.

 
     I knew what could be made ahead and frozen and what would keep and such so I just made a list and I paced myself. It really couldn't have gone any easier. A small cake for us to cut (which was in my freezer for a little over a week, whatever), simple cupcakes, brownies, cookies and tartlets were all that I made. A friend made opera cake to class up the table a bit and viola!

Bretty made our cake topper

 

     Like I said at the beginning, thinking about your wedding and planning it in your head can help. You have to be realistic though. I never had big dreams so it was easier, and definitely cheaper, to make my dreams come to life.
     I saw things I liked online and I stuck with it. I think when you have a lot more time to plan your wedding it's easier to get caught in the little things.  I saw chalkboards, I liked, I made. Brett bought two boards this size at the hardware store and cut the other one into three pieces. I wrote my favorite love quotes on the others. Do whatever grabs you, follow those impulses and your day will be all you.

 
     Centerpieces took me a little while to figure out. My sister sent me a link to a picture on pintrest that used coffee beans and I thought, finally! Yes! So simple. We had white tablecloths, burlap runners and votive candles in a glass bowl of coffee beans. So simple. Very us (we met working in a coffee shop).

    I wanted to keep flowers to a minimum. They are expensive and to me unnecessary. To each his own of course but I must say I don't regret it. We had one arrangement by the guestbook and three bridesmaids bouquets. That's all we needed.

Guest Count: 45ish

Venue:  $510
DJ:  $500
Decor: $612
Food/Bev: $300
Bride: $770
Groom:  $180
Flowers:  $108
Invitations:  $40

Total Cost: $3,020

What I Made:
Bouqet
Bracelet
Dessert
Signs (drinks, desserts, etc.)
Chalkboards
guestbook (of our engagement photos)
Brett Made:
Invitations
Cake Toppers

     My dress is from David's Bridal and I can not tell you how great that place is. Affordable dresses, quick alterations and great coupons I actually used. The bridal cost of $770 includes the dress, alterations, undergarments, shoes, hair clip and veil. I did my own hair and makeup with the help of my sisters.
     I'd also like to note that of the $300 food and beverage budget, only $77 of it went to the food portion. Super proud of that and we only ran out of one dessert, the delightful little sweet potato tartlets.
     And don't be afraid of the "multipurpose room." When you decorate your space it will feel completely different. Add some up lighting and suddenly nobody notices the giant American flag sitting in the corner.

Our Invitations

Brett happens to be a graphic designer... came in handy

Home

     I've been in the apartment for over a month now 

and I love it.  It's perfect. 

I worked about sixty hours the week that I moved... it was 

awesome timing but I managed to get everything done.  The 

commute to work is way better since I don't have to transfer 

or walk as far to the L.

Filbert and Oliver seem to like all the windows.  

I'm facing another building but there is a big enough 

gap for lots of natural light. 

I've gone to the beach a couple of times by myself after work. 

It is delightful.  I see the lake every day, the sun reflecting 

off of it in the morning is blinding in a most splendid way.

     This is how it looked the first couple of days. It was a bit sucky for a while there... and a little dangerous.  It gave me a whole new appreciation for hoarders.

Not too shabby for my first solo place.

Move Time!

This is the story of how I found my first solo apartment

     I've been looking at apartment listings online for about forever.  So when Brett was planning a visit he offered to go look with me.  I was a little worried about his response to seeing a studio, no matter what it looked like.  I don't think he's ever seen an apartment in the city let alone one I can afford.  

     As soon as we got off the el I knew I was in trouble. The area was super cute with children playing and people walking around everywhere, if the apartment sucked I was going to be very sad.  We walked the very manageable distance from the train to the building which is across the street from the lake.  Near the el and the lake and a Dominick's (that's a real grocery store!!).  Location, check.

     The maintenance guy was super nice and as soon as I walked into the apartment I was sold.  It had everything on my check list and my wish list. Nice.  I'm really happy and excited to move. Since I moved back into the parents house about three years ago some of my stuff has been in boxes.  I have things I haven't seen in years. Weird.  

     This will also be the first time I've ever lived alone.  

FREEDOM! 

     Also, Brett had to make a short video of himself (like a day in the life) for an internship application.  He decided to draw pictures for his video instead.  It's fantastic! 

A Day As Brett

Click It!

Oops

     Whoa! I didn't realize I hadn't written a blog in almost six months.  Well if anybody cares I'll give an update.  I still live with Jen and I'm working. Done.
    
Umm...

Walked to the blueline instead of taking the bus today.  I love Chicago.

     I'm going to move out soon.  It will be the first time that I'm 100% independent in my whole entire life. I'm pretty excited about that.  Also happy to think about it just being mine.  There was a short period of like a month when I lived alone before moving back to mom and dads and it was blissful.
     Brett and I are still happy.  He's getting closer to finishing school and then he'll come and live in the city too.  The long distance thing seems to be going just fine.
     I like my job... the people there are great. Super entertaining.  The work isn't hard but sometimes there seems to be a lot to get done.  Or just a little meticulous.  I think I'm doing okay there.
     I'm super pumped to go skydiving again this summer.  They just reopened for the year and I'm having a hard time not going right now.
     I think my drivers license just expired.

Did I mention Filbert has a little brother now? Oliver :)

Alejandra's birthday at Smart Bar.

Just Desserts

     If you don't already watch Top Chef you should start.  Particularly Top Chef Just Desserts which is on Bravo at 9c on Wednesdays.  This seasons finale is tomorrow and the guests on the show are the best of the best IN THE WHOLE WORLD and I just happen to know a couple of them.  They started my school, yeah that's right.

Click Me! 

It's a link to read a blurb about the episode and there is a link to the teaser trailer =)

First Week @ Work

     I've been working at the restaurant a week now and I'm sure some people are wondering what it is that I do.  Well here you go...
     There are three pastry cooks (including me) and the pastry chef.  The kitchen itself isn't very big but the pastry people have just as much room as the savory, which is unheard of.  The restaurant is huge and the main prep kitchen is upstairs. It's a steakhouse so the only savory foods being prepared in the kitchen are the sides and all of the meat is grilled in the dinning room.  There is a small kitchen behind what I would call the "grill bar" where they do all of the savory plating.  Pastry does plating in the dinning room in front of the "grill bar".  The restaurant is only open for dinner during the week and has brunch and dinner on the weekends. 
     This was my first week and I worked three mornings and one dinner service.  Mornings start at eight and it takes me about forty minutes on a train and a bus to get there, not bad (it's downtown in River North).  There are six plated desserts and five of them are served with ice cream and such.
     Everyday everything gets counted and you make sure there are enough desserts for dinner service.  The S'more Pie is a dessert that is pretty big and is meant to be shared, I'm going to use it as an example.  The pie itself has a graham cracker crust, chocolate ganache with marshmallow on top and it's served with peanut butter cookies and two flavors of ice cream.  These are not dainty desserts.  Anyway, everything is made in large quantities so if you need to make more pies you might already have graham cracker crust made but need to make more ganache and then build them and so on.  There are also a lot of large parties that book desserts ahead.  They'll order a variety of one bite desserts and we'll bake, cut and plate them, all ahead of time. 
     Saturday was my first dinner service and it wasn't too bad.  They have a cheat sheet with pictures of the finished plate though two of the desserts aren't on it.  The night started pretty slow and picked up at about 9ish and I was left alone for a short period of time.  I was glad it was a short time though, I got a little frazzled.  All in all it was a good experience, I think I'll pick it up pretty quick.  It's nice being out in the dinning room too.  The chef's walk around with all of the meat and fish and there are "harvest tables" with all of the sides.  Our pastry station is behind the harvest tables and in front of the grill bar where people can sit.  So during the slow times you can people watch but you're not really in a place where the customers are going to be talking to you. 
    From the questions some people ask I guess people don't really know what's involved in plating desserts.  Everything is already made and baked and you're just putting it together on the plate.  Some desserts are heated up in a little oven at our station.  Example: apple tart.  An apple tart gets heated just until it's warm.  The plate gets a flower of caramel drizzle with the warm tart, caramel ice cream scoop on top and an apple chip on top of the ice cream.  Ta Da!

Yay Me!

     A little over a week ago I got an e-mail asking me to come in for a stage at a restaurant called ZED451 and set it up for last thursday.  I had sent them my resume just the night before and was excited to hear back from them so quickly.  In the e-mails the pastry chef sent me, she seemed very nice and answered all my usual questions in one very informative and appreciated e-mail.
     So I was hoping she was awesome when I ended up being a little late (though I don't think she even noticed).  I'm always super paranoid about getting lost and I don't have a fancy smart phone so I have to do my research before I leave the house.  There is one thing you can't always be prepared for and that's stupidity, my own stupidity.  I took the blueline + a bus to get there and I've taken the blueline countless times yet I still got off one stop too early.  And it was rush hour on the el.  I had to wait for three packed trains to go by before I could cram my little body on one.

     Anyway, when I got there they were all super cool.  I basically spent my day cutting and assembling what I like to call teeny tiny tasties or petit fours.  They didn't make me feel tense or uncomfortable or anything, the mood was really relaxed.  Other people said hi and such, it's always nice when people who don't have to still acknowledge you. So when they offered me a job I said "Yes please!" not literally though, I was cool about it.
     My day ended with plating the petit fours.  They make those for large parties who order desserts ahead of time.  So those are totally ready to go and they rotate who works plating at dinner service.  The pastry chef said some people can be a little overwhelmed doing all the plating and such on their first day but I did great.  And I felt great, not flustered at all.

     So needless to say I'm super pumped.  I'm excited to start working and to get over the "I'm super new and don't have a clue" phase.  I'm also excited to think about moving out of the sisters place.  This is somewhere to be proud of, they really take pride in the quality of ingredients.  And look at this place, it's awesome!  Look at me all grown up (tear).
www.zed451.com

My First Cubs Game

     I grew up about an hour from Chicago.  Some people find it really annoying when other people say they're from the city when they actually live in or beyond the suburbs of the city.  I am one of those annoyed people.  I now live in the city and I don't know where to say I'm from.  I lived in one city from about the time I was two until I was a sophomore in high school.  I grew up there but I don't feel like that's where I'm from; it's where I was raised?  We moved to a tiny town an hour further from the city and that's where I had my first apartment.  That's where I lived when I became an adult.  The boyfriend lives there but still, I don't feel like that's where I'm from.

Hillary, Rachie, Jen and Me

     Yesterday I went to my first Cubs game.  It was actually pretty fun, went with the sisters and a friend.  I 'm not much of a sports person but when I think about it baseball is probably my favorite of the sports.  It's the only sport that I've actually watched my entire life and it's easy to understand.  Baseball is relaxing and yes, at times a bit boring but what sport isn't?  And the Cubs won(!) 5-2 against the Brewers.

We went to celebrate Jen's birthday this weekend!

     Also, I feel like it's something I can finally check off of my Chicago list.  I don't actually have a list but a lot of times I feel like a city "poser".  I don't know my way around at all but I think that's just part of who I am; I'm perpetually lost.  Maybe someday I'll live here long enough that I can say I'm from Chicago.  Even if it's not where I'm from, I think it might be where I belong.

And in other news...

     I love Etsy.  It's a website that people use to sell handmade and vintage stuff, pretty much anything you can think of.  So, I have a nook (e-reader) but I haven't been using it lately because I bought some books at a thrift store.  Anyway, I just got it out again and I remembered that I still needed to get a case for it.  I have one of those silicon covers but it does nothing to protect the screen.  Unreasonably long story short, I found adorable e-reader, ipad (whatever thingamajig you have), cover/case things.

   They're made from old books!  Maybe this is something people have seen before but I had not and now love them.  I wish I had more gadgets and therefore a need to purchase more covers!

   This particular cover came from a store called Retrograndma.  They have tons of them and you just have to measure your device and make sure the book measurements are right.  They range from $22-$40, depending on the cover.  I think it's a good deal ($22!) for the super funness.  Shop Retrograndma

   

Coffee Peanut Butter

     I ordered an ice cream maker last week and I was super pumped when it was delivered yesterday!  I ran to the store and bought some cream and such and today I whipped up a fresh batch of ice cream.  I don't have some of the fancy ingredients we used at school so I just made a super simple recipe that came with the machine.  It only took 20 minutes in the machine and it's pretty smooth and tasty.  Why didn't I get one of these things years ago?

     I used their peanut butter ice cream base, added coffee and there are chocolate chunks in there.  I don't know if coffee and peanut butter together sounds weird to people but I love coffee and I love me some peanut butter.
     Also, I'm a fan of the show Design Star and on an episode recently they had to decorate a tiny house.  I looked them up and found a website for Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.  They make adorable little houses about a hundred square feet (plus a loft just big enough for a bed).  They also build some on a trailer!  Those range from 65-130 sq ft and are the home of my dreams!

Tumble Weed Houses - click this link and behold adorableness! 

Skydiving

skydiving |ˈskīˌdīvi ng |

noun

the sport of jumping from a perfectly functional aircraft and performing acrobatic maneuvers in the air during free fall before landing by parachute.

Mom's Skydiving Video 

Mom bought her video and you get to see me jump in it too!

Chicago Skydiving Center

The people at this place were great, I'll definitely be going back =) 

On Wednesday I woke up and Mom said, "Do you know what today is!?" and I said, "...?" 

"We're going skydiving!" 

     I really loved it.  They said once you're up in the plane things start to get real and you'll feel the nerves kick in.  Mom and I were still fine.  They said when you have to go put your legs out of the door of the plane, point your toes and arch your back that people have a hard time.  We did not.  I think that was my favorite part.  I'm hanging out the door of a plane! Awesome!

There I go!  Best feeling ever. 

Honestly I don't think there was a thought in my head... 

just WEEEE!

That's my Mama!

I got to pull the cord.

The parachute opening was a bit jarring =)

After the parachute opens it's super quiet and peaceful.  

We chitchatted and he let me steer for awhile, I loved it. 

 People may think I'm crazy for thinking skydiving was relaxing 

but it's true!  You don't know until you've done it.

We had a very smooth landing (no rolling as Derek pictured it) 

and I landed on my feet.  Mom's wasn't quite so smooth 

as you can see in the video.

Mom and I both had a blast.  I already plan on going back 

next summer and Brett said he'd go with me! 

I don't know if I can wait that long...

Filbert!

     Went to visit the boyfriend at work and long story short, 

Jen and I have a new roomie.

    
     His name is Filbert and he is an adorable baby guinea pig.  So small I can hold him in just one hand.  We've been bonding these last couple of days; he's even peed on me already.

Internship??

     Staged at a cake shop today.  They do wedding cakes and dessert tables (also celebration/sculpted cakes to fill in the gaps).  They are looking for two people to intern there; they have one full time and one part time position open.  She said I was the first person who came in and wanted the full time.  There are four more people coming in before I'll find out next week if I got it.
     I feel pretty good about today, even if I don't get the internship.  She seemed nice and actually let me do stuff.  I didn't even screw anything up.  The internship is three months and I feel like it would be really low in the stress department.  Then I can just relax and stage around, see what Rosie likes.

     The sister and I noticed recently that neighbors across the ally from us put in a chicken coop.  I found that alone entertaining.  Little did I know that just two(?) nights ago I would be sitting out on the deck with the before mentioned sister and witness an escape.  First I noticed that there were three chickens sitting on the fence.  Moments later they hoped down and made themselves comfortable in the empty parking spot behind our building.  The owners were alerted and promptly shooed them into his garage.
     The boyfriend and I are going camping this weekend.  Last weekend I took him out to a nice fancy dinner in the burbs (I had been given a generous gift card from one of my biggest "fans").  We got all dressed up and went out on the town.  Sometimes I like to be fancy.

Here is a picture from when we went camping last year:

Mmm... Hotdog. 

And 

here is a picture of what happens when I have no internet or 

cable for a couple days because of a stupid storm: