How Inviting

They're done!!! Finally! We finished our wedding invitations this past weekend and popped them into the mail. Poor Geoff looked like I was torturing him as I was making him tie yards and yards of hemp twine. He kept telling me that these were "uselessly complicated." Boys so don't get wedding design.

I am so pleased with the way they came out-It was so much fun to be my own client for once. Its hard to see in photos, but we had the main invitation letterpressed & blind embossed, which gives the paper a paisely pattern texture. I also had a custom rubber stamp made with our monogram, and used it to stamp the muslin bags that hold the Map and RSVP cards and the tags that adorned the hemp twine. To go along with the green theme and venue, all of the pieces are eco-friendly. The envelopes are recycled kraft paper, the main invitations are letterpresssed with soy ink on Crane Lettra recycled stock, the muslin bags are stamped with soy ink, and the twine is recycled hemp. The invites were printed by Kseniya at Thomas Printers- not only are they super affordable for letterpress, but Kseniya was super helpful and they did an amazing job!! 

We are only 2 months away from the wedding and I'm getting more excited every day. We are headed to Austin in the morning for our tasting party at Barr Mansion- I can't wait to sample all of the yummy food and CAKE! Have a lovely weekend all!

XO
-L 

All images & designs are copyright Lauren Price, 2010.
Please contact me before reposting, and please link back to my blog if you choose to share.
Thank you! 

Wear it Now & Later: Striped Knit Dress

Good Morning all! 
Like a lot of you guys out there, I am over summer. All it took was one glimpse of new fall boots to send me over the edge. I find myself daydreaming about yummy leather boots tucked into my dark skinnies and my other new fall obsession: the furry vest. Must. Have. I can picture it winterizing a lot of my flowy summer dresses, or warming up a basic jeans, t-shirt, flats ensemble. But, unfortunately, the heat in Texas can last well into October, so I have a ways to go before I can bust out my cold weather gear. In the meantime, I figure I can find ways to wear pieces for both seasons. Enter this adorable striped knit dress from Alloy. Its the perfect comfy staple for any season. I'll be pairing it with nude accessories for summer errands and cookouts (including the gorgeous Miu Miu replica platforms from Steve Madden, a cool snake cuff, and a gorgeous tan cross body bag.) For winter, I'll style it as a tunic with with dark skinnies tucked into Steve Madden's cult fave Intyce boots (want these so bad), the must-have fur vest, an adorable sparkly owl ring, and my newest bag craving, the Marc Jacobs Hillier Hobo in black. Hurry up fall!!!

XO
-L

Stripe Knit Dress: Now & Later by OliveandBleu featuring Nine West bags

MACKENZIE STRIPED KNIT DRESS, $37
Fossil Emma Faux Fur Vest, $88
Gap Petite Always Skinny Mid Rise Jeans (Saturated Dark Wash), $70
Steve Madden - Women's New Styles, $110
Nine West Melanie Large Convertible Shopper, $99
MARC BY MARC JACOBS 'Classic Q - Hillier' Hobo, $398
Forever21.com - New Arrivals - 1076572088, $5.80
ASOS Wraparound Snake Metal Arm Cuff, $14
Brown Striped Margo Sunglasses, 12 GBP
STEVEN by Steve Madden Intyce Riding Boot - Free Overnight Shipping on...

Catalog Living: A Lesson in Hilarity

Good Monday Morning lovelies,

How was everyone's weekend? Ours was CRAZY! Only 2 months till the wedding people, and I have to say, I was a little stressed out over the weekend. Maybe it was the 8 hours spent putting together wedding invitations to mail? Ugh. I guess that's what I get for being a picky-pants, Type-A designer.

Anywho, I also checked our registry this weekend, and spent some time clicking around Pottery Barn & Crate and Barrel. Love these sites! But I will never look at them quite the same way since my friend Laine (hi Lainie!!! Miss you!!) turned me on to the Catalog Living Blog. Um, holy hilarity! If you are having a rough day and need some good old fashioned yuppie comedy, head on over and check out their commentary on the ridiculousness that is Home Catalog Staging. Seriously- how many apples does one need on their coffee table? And why so many fans Pottery Barn? This site makes me cry with laughter every time. Here are some of my fave posts...Join me, won't you?

XO
-L 

"Gary’s eyesight has gotten so bad he can’t even read an atlas with binoculars anymore."

"Gary, I just can’t believe that after months of research that’s the chair you chose."

"Leaving my basket of secondary shells under the table allows me to rotate in new shells at a moment’s notice!"

"Elaine wasn’t about to let some hot flashes get in the way of balancing the checkbook with the abacus."

"Elaine should have known better than to interrupt Gary during “apple time.”

(Images and Captions from Catalog Living)

Sometimes

Sometimes you have these moments in life where you can't smile big enough, because you feel so loved. All my best girls made me feel this way this past weekend at my bachelorette party. We had so much fun and laughed so much that I swear my face still hurts. I am so so so blessed.

Geoff makes me feel that same overwhelming love every single day. I can't wait to be his wife.

And sometimes you hear a story about something awful and unimaginable happening far away in another country, and it makes you realize that, even though you are knee-deep in a crappy RFP and sometimes your job feels like working at a mental institution, you are actually amazingly lucky to have a job in a clean, air-conditioned office, with laws that protect you and food on your table, a roof over your head, and people that love you and will always take care of you. Its hard to complain when you realize so many suffer everyday.

I don't want to be a debbie-downer, but sometimes you just realize how damn lucky you are and you feel like saying it out loud.

So, today, I am so grateful for (in no particular order...) my family, friends, and loved ones, my relationship with God, getting to have a beautiful wedding, getting to marry the love of my life, my pets, coffee, my audio book club (without which I would have severe road rage), mix CDs, pineapple Chobani yogurt, spin class, t-shirt sheets, and curry ribs waiting at home for me in the crock pot.

XO
-L

Invitation Sneak Peek

Hello lovelies! I hope everyone had a great weekend! We did- we went to my hometown for my bridal shower- it was so much fun! We had such yummy food, lots of mimosas and plenty of good girl time. My sweet friend Grace even flew up to surprise me at the shower & brought her precious baby Ian-I really have the most amazing friends and family in the whole world! I am so flattered that Ian's first plane trip was to come to the shower :) Thank you to everyone who made it so wonderful!

On the same wedding note (I'll be stuck on this note for a while people...sorry!) I am getting close to getting the invitations out. Let me tell you, for a graphic designer, doing your own wedding invitations is like the World Cup of design-so much pressure! I am so glad that I finally picked a theme (after doing about 20 different versions) and it should be coming from the letterpress printers any day now. And it wouldn't be me if the whole invitation package wasn't a little complicated and had lots of pieces, so we are also using a muslin bag as part of the packet. I will be sure to post pics of the complete invite package, but until then, here's a little taste- the muslin bags I hand-stamped with a custom rubber stamp I designed with our monogram. I love them! I can't wait to see al the pieces put together and check these babies off the list.

Wish me luck!
XO
-L