WedWed - Wedding Wednesday {5}

They say that once the wedding dress is found, you're free and clear. I tend to think that's an overstatement, but I will say that once the dress is chosen, the design and overall styling of the event becomes clearer. In my experience (albeit quite limited), the dress serves as a checks and balances for everything else I choose to include and/or incorporate into the style of the wedding.

The morning my mother, Nona, and I spent at the bridal boutique is actually a bit of a blur. I don't recall having any jitters or being overly emotional about the appointment. I do, however, remember walking into the boutique and being delighted by the amount of charmeuse, chiffon, taffeta, and lace and noting that I felt quite at home. Comfortable. Happy. The first dress I tried on ended up being the dress and, well, that was that. 

Hopefully it's not a let down that I didn't start bawling the moment I put on the dress only to get mascara all over myself in the midst of weeping. I was too fascinated with the experience to cry.

The dress itself didn't become real until I visited friend, and maid of honor, Cara in San Francisco. Amy Kuschel, the designer of the dress, is based in San Fran so Cara and I thought that we would pop by and see her store while we were downtown. It was the most incredible retail experience I have had to date. The small elevator opens directly into her 5th floor showroom where large windows allow warm California sun into the space. The showroom lined with impressive white and ivory gowns gets an added sense of drama from mirrored furniture pieces. The mirrors not only bounce the light around the room, but also light up the crystals on the bridal hair pieces, jewelry, and other accessories sparkling on top of, in, or around the furniture. When we found the dress among the others on the rack, I remember thinking that it couldn't be more perfect.

Here are portions of the dress and the features I enjoy:

image via Amy Kuschel.

The next time I put it on, I think I'll be more emotional.

new adventures just beyond the horizon

Ah, February.

I enjoy February. It's the Humpday month of winter. December and January are behind us, March and the beginning of April just beyond our reach. 

To add to your February enjoyment, I'm thrilled to announce that Lavender Honey is getting a new website! Wohoo!

Over the weekend, when we weren't running errands or finally getting around to taking down our Christmas lights, I was working on a list of goals and forming a plan for this fresh-faced Lavender Honey. 

I have zero experience building websites but what does that matter, right? I would normally turn to Chris for such a tech-savvy venture - he could build a website whilst sleeping, ill, and/or drunk - but he's slammed at work so I'm on my own. 

For what it's worth, I did have to code once for an architecture course. 

The assignment was to code swarming behavior. You know, like bees or ants. I chose moths and now that I think about it, I'm not positive that moths swarm at all. All I know is that those ugly, brown, beady-eyed bugs swarming around lights at night was the first thing I thought of that day.

I decided that I would call my final project "Like Moth to a Flame" and I would somehow code moth behavior in a program called Processing. Based on my observation of general moth behavior, there would need to be three different kinds of moths:

1. Busy Moth: This  moth is, well, just busy. He flies from light to light acting as a normal moth should.

2. Lazy Moth: This moth is one of those moths that just sits on the light and does nothing. He may fly from one light to another, but he comes to a halt. 

3. Crazy Moth: You know this moth. He's the one that doesn't slow down. Instead, he flies around and around and around, making you dizzy just watching him. I thought about calling him Yeyo Moth, but Crazy Moth is more professor-friendly. 

Check it out, they don't bite.

Here are the key codes to play:

Click on the lights and drag them around.
Right click to toggle the lights on and off. The moths are only attracted to lights that are on.
Press the space bar to invert the lights.

Press the 'd' key to kill some moths.
Press the 'b' key to add a busy moth.
Press the 'l' key to add a lazy moth.
Press the 'c' key to add a crazy moth.
Press the 'x' key to add a red busy moth. This contrasting moth will allow you to see the individual movements of the busy moth more clearly.  

Stick around, this new website thing could get interesting!

Click here to try out the moths, or just watch this video of them in action:

Like a Moth to a Flame from Erin Bolton on Vimeo.

image{s} of the week

Berry Spoon

camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi

behind the lens: me

Happy Friday everyone!

WedWed - Wedding Wednesday {4}

Reader and friend, Tanya Wetzel, sent me this collage that she made using our save-the-date and color palette! How cool is that?!?

images: dresses via Jovani, necklaces via Real Weddings, sea foam flower via Gracieluv, coral flower via Jamie Clouser, and earrings via adornyou  

The pom-pom necklaces are delightful - and how about those vintage earrings? The girly-girl in me is emerging and by the time the wedding planning is finished, I will have bookmarked, screen-shot, and browsed thousands of shoes, accessories, make-up techniques, and hair styles. I'm not sorry either.

The impetus for Tanya's collage was this image of a beaded dress worn by Ashley Olson:

I never considered beading for my dress but Ashley's dress along with the two pictured in Tanya's collage have my attention. If I hadn't already found my dress, I'd want to give one of those a try. Wait, did that just slip? I'm horrible about keeping these kinds of things to myself!

I did indeed find the dress! In fact, it was the first dress I tried on and we bought it right then and there. More on the dress next week.

Thanks again, Tanya!

image{s} of the week

smiling eyes

camera: iPhone 4
setting: HDR enabled
behind the lens: Chris

I keep this photo of the Gataface Killah on my desk should I start to take myself too seriously.