Curious Bird

there's a first time for everything

After a few days of hunched shoulders (binding can be a little tedious), I finally completed my first quilt. It's really special for several reasons, primarily because it's created from fabric left over from our big day back in September.

As with any first time project, there was a learning curve and some uncertainty at times. This book and this tutorial were both very helpful when it came time to do the binding. There is definitely a bit of wonkiness here and there, but I actually really love those parts.  The best part though is completing a project I've been thinking about since last Fall -- that and knowing we now have a comfy quilt that will always remind us of our wedding day.

More soon,
leya

tea time

Hello and Happy Friday to you,

Today has been full and it's only the early afternoon.
I'm a big fan of days like today -- lots to do and lots being accomplished. A nice way to end the week if you ask me. Oh, before I forget, all Built By Wendy patterns (actually all Simplicity patterns) here are 99 cents. Yep, 99 pennies. *do call before you head out the door because I can't promise every store is running the same sale, I mean, heck, I go to one in Jersey, it could be doing its own thing, who knows?*

On a different subject entirely, I can't resist posting a photo of our new tea set that arrived yesterday -- a lovely handmade wedding gift from our talented friend, Ariel. We love it. The little tea cups are so perfect, I'm positive they will be put to almost daily use.

Hope you have a great weekend.
I'm going to sew and drink tea and make a big salad with pesto toast on the side.
At least those are a few things I hope to do.

Be Well,
Leya

Happy Monday, ya'll

My grandmother made us a wonderful owl quilt. Yep, an owl quilt that's warm and cozy and covered in hand painted owls. Good grief, we feel lucky. 

sweetness of friends

Happy Tuesday,

In an effort to keep moving this morning, I'm just going to say that Dustin and I REALLY scored in the friend department. The drawing above is just a part of our wedding gift from one of our lovely friends who happens to be amazing and so talented, I could gush about her for hours. If you live in Portland, Maine look out for Monique (she sometimes wears blue moccasins), she's someone you want to know. Thanks again, Monique. We love it.

Off I go.
Have a good day, friends
l.

round two

Hello,

We just returned from a lovely weekend away celebrating our getting hitched. This time we whooped it up with all of our family and friends who couldn't travel to our wedding in New York in September. Dustin's parents graciously hosted this sweet little shindig in their backyard, complete with our favorite kind of cake: carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Happen to recognize the design? 

Lots of travel delays later, I'm finally home and ready to get back to regular blogging. Wish me luck.

More very soon,
Leya

makes me smile

Hi there, 

I can't resist, I have to show off a recent wedding gift made for us by two very creative and thoughtful friends.  This handmade book (formerly a golden book) is full of drawings and collage telling our story from past to present. Each page is so wonderful I can't even begin to explain how overjoyed we are about it.

Hope you're having a good week.

Be well,
Leya

and then we did exactly what we wanted to

Hello,

As you know from my last post, I had loads of fun at the wedding, but I have to say the days following weren't too shabby either. Dustin and I are both huge fans of getting away. We love to travel and explore together and if we could, we would plan getaways just about every other day.  We always enjoy the city with it's great food and never ending excitement, but as much (or maybe more) we love being in the country.  For our honeymoon we choose to rent a little house on a sheep farm in the Berkshire Mountains.  It was so lovely.
We enjoyed the foggy view from our porch, the fresh eggs and homemade scones left for us, the lovely hikes nearby, slowly cooked meals eaten outside and most of all being together pretending we lived in a quaint little house in the mountains for a whole week. Maybe someday...

Thanks so much for all the sweet words about our wedding. In a perfect world I would get back to each and every one of you, but being the busy bee I am, I don't think that's possible. So thanks. Your kindness and congratulations mean the world to us.

More soon, friends
l.

more fun than I could have ever imagined

Wow, what an adventure...I never knew getting married could be such a thrill. It was definitely a take-my-breath-away kind of excitement, and it turned out just the way we hoped it would -- in the country with our favorite people together in one place having what appeared to be quite a bit of fun.  It was certainly a day  we will be talking about and thinking about for a long, long time. We can't quit talking about it, actually -- little tidbits about the people who attended...the perfect way it rained an hour before the ceremony cooling everything down...the wedding blanket arriving the morning of the wedding after being lost in the mail...the super tasty cake created by our friend Ellen...one of Dustin's oldest friends playing the banjo as I walked down the aisle...and the dance party to end all dance parties.

One thing I find very enchanting about the whole experience is the fact that I never realized just how amazing it would be to plan and plan and hope and plan and call people and make lists and watch the weather like a hawk and then land on the day and let everything else melt away so that I could follow all that collected excitement and anticipation up the aisle to my favorite guy.  What a moment.

Now that we've returned from the wedding and a really sweet honeymoon (more on that later), people have asked, "how was it?",  and all I can say is, "it was so much fun".
And it's true, it was more fun than I could have ever imagined.

-leya

two weeks from today...

I certainly won't be playing footsie {at least I don't think so}, I will be in the final stages of setting up and preparing for our wedding. It's all happening so fast -- there is still a ton to do, but I'm starting to realize that it will all fall into place and I'm actually doing a nice job of planning, remembering to breathe and delegating to the kind people who have offered to help out.
I look at it this way, we're about to throw one big party in the Hudson River Valley with all of our closest loved ones traveling there by every mode of transportation possible. One. Big. Amazing. Celebration. I'm over the moon just thinking about it.
So... I guess it's pretty safe to say I won't be posting for a while. I'll be back mid-September with stories to tell and photos to show.

Until then, be well and hope for a dry summer evening come September 8th.
Leya

mail goodness

It's been a great mail week for me. First, we received our very first wedding gift, a George Nelson "Omar the Owl" clock, which we love. And if that wasn't enough, I received my part of a swap I did with the super talented Dawn from Look What I Can Do. I absolutely love my creatures, Dawn. Thanks so much for agreeing to a trade.

More soon,
Leya