love burns brighter than sunshine

congratulations to ginger and duke, aka mr. and mrs. romaine!

ginger & duke married on august 28th, 2010

they were married on the evening of august 28th at pine lake beach, as the sun was setting. it was an absolutely beautiful ceremony and i think we all got a little choked up as kristins dad recited a quote from captain corelli's mandolin:

When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots are become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day. It is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every part of your body. No... don't blush. I am telling you some truths. For that is just being in love; which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away. Doesn't sound very exciting, does it? But it is.

it was a fairly small wedding– mostly close friends and family– and the reception was held indoors at the pine lake lodge. their theme was very adirondack-y, with lots of leaves and candles covering the tables and tiny bags of wildflower seeds given as favors.

the bridesmaids and groomsmen all received button bouquets and button boutonnieres, respectively, as a thank you from the bride and groom for sharing in their special day... they were super cute :) everything went pretty smoothly, other than the whole "bride sat in chocolate" incident, but that crisis was averted with a little help from a tide-to-go pen :) we sat down for a family style dinner, and then boogied the night away... our evening ended with a spontaneous game of flip cup in the middle of the dance floor, and a song tribute from the bride to her bridesmaids (soco amaretto lime <3). doesn't get much better than that.

i found out that we both like ginger ale

 ♪♫

pause 'my mixtape' in the right side panel and play this instead ;)

home is wherever i'm with you...

it's official – we are no longer in danger of being homeless :)

as of last night, we have an apartment in downtown albany... it's a small 1 bedroom near lark street, with an office and (*bonus) a mini deck off the back that overlooks a bevy of roof gardens. i cant wait to start my own!

we were lucky and found a really good deal about 2 weeks before our lease was up. the boyfriend and i have been living at our current apartment for the last two and half years, but we felt like we needed a change of scenery. i think we're both excited to make the move to downtown :) unfortunately, a lot of our stuff won't fit, so we are selling things on craigslist and amazon. then, hopefully we will have enough moolah to make a little road trip to the ikea in MA and buy some funky new pieces... fingers crossed!

i'll post pictures of the new apartment once we are all settled in next week... wish us luck!

i'll put a flower in your hair

the countdown to gingers wedding is on - less than 3 days left!!! - so i decided to do some last minute crafting :)

the wedding will take place on the beach this saturday, and luckily, it's going to be nice and sunny :) the bride-to-be chose a bright and cheery color scheme, with tangerine bridesmaid dresses, and sunflowers as our bouquets. then, a few weeks ago, our friend, megan, found a great deal on matching shoes via ebay, so we finally had our full ensemble.

fancy "floral, ruffle, peep toe, high heeled/platform" wedding shoes

everything looked great, but i still felt like something was missing... so i made a quick trip to micheals arts and crafts store, and i constructed these beauties for our hair:

orange & yellow sunflower hair clips

the orange sunflower hair clips match the bridesmaids tangerine dresses, and the yellow sunflower hair clip matches the maid of honors' yellow dress. i was pretty excited when i was all done and it ended up being a fairly simple project (took me about 2 hours, and $15 to make four of these).

you will need: 

a fake flower of your choice

gorilla glue (love this stuff)

and metal hair clips

*the inspiration for my DIY funky hair accessories came from this photo of zooey deschanel and – what my friend yajaira likes to call – her 'sparkly lobster clip'.

zooey deschanel

i dig this partly because it really jazzes up a boring hairdo (yup, i said jazzes), but mostly because i have a big girl-crush on her... and if you don't like her, well then i don't think we can be friends anymore...

i could have passed you on the sidewalk

this post is a tribute to our dear friend, myrtle. (not that this matters, but myrtle was a couch.) let me explain...

in the summer after college, i got a job waitressing on lark street, and i moved into an apartment on south main. at the time, i didn't have enough furniture to fill up the new space, so i would occasionally pick up pieces that people put out as trash and fix them up. i even found a really nice wine bar on my way to a job interview one morning (which i ended up being late for because it took so long for me to get it into my backseat). then there was the time my friend moni and i found a wicker sofa and carried it 6 blocks back to our place, only to throw it out a few days later when we realized that it was the source of the cat pee odor we had been catching a whiff of.

anywho, back to myrtle... the boyfriend and i were driving around albany one evening when we saw a guy moving a bunch of furniture out of his apartment. we slowed down as we spotted a big white couch on the sidewalk, so we pulled over and sat down on it. (that may sound strange, since we weren't even sure if it was for sale, but that's just how we roll :) so we were surprised when the guy came back outside and told us that it was brand new and we could take it if we wanted it. we named her myrtle (after the street we found her on), hoisted her on top of maxi (aka my super fly 1998 nissan maxima which was basically a tank) and drove back to the apartment, while boyfriend hung out the passenger side window to hold onto her. over the next few years, myrtle would live with both of us separately at different times, and then at our first apartment together. there were sharpie doodles, nail polish spills, and countless other semi-permanent markings that would cover the face of myrtle over that period of time - all illustrating another memory :)

last night we sold myrtle to a couple in ballston lake, via craigslist. (we are moving in a week and we wont have enough room at the new apartment...). we've been through a lot together over these last three years, but she was a comfy couch and i'm sure shes bringing happiness to her new owners...

myrtle, the couch

fix your dreams just right...

i have some wonderful news to share with the blogosphere-

[insert drum roll here]  

yajaira and pat are engaged! yay!

ooOoOoo- yajaira's shiny new engagement ring

he popped the question about a week and a half ago on top of a mountain while they were hiking (how cute is that?). they really are so sweet together and i am incredibly happy for them both. congratulations guys!!

p.s. i'll be sure to get a picture of these two lovebirds to post asap :)

she is love

the pup formerly known as Pinney :)

meet the newest addition to the guiffre family! she is an 18 month old lab/collie mix, fully grown at about 40 pounds. she's good with kids and her general demeanor is sweet and affectionate... basically, she's a lover, not a fighter :) my parents adopted her just last night, and i've been told that she's already found 'her spot', which is apparently in the middle of their bed. i cant wait to meet her this weekend!

in the meantime, we could use some help... while she was at the shelter, her name was pinney – which is kind of a strange name and it doesn't really fit her. we are trying to come up with a new name for her that is similar enough so that she doesnt get too confused... so far, i have winnie (as in, 'the wonder years') and minnie (as in, the mouse)...

got any suggestions?

UPDATE:
we are going to stick with the name pinney, because we've decided it sounds similar to 'pinstripes' which represents our beloved team, the yankees :) so no need to brainstorm everyone - i'd like to officially introduce you to our pinney <3

doesn't she look guilty? i wonder who chewed that hole in my quilt...

we spent the weekend with her, playing at the beach and giving her lots of biscuits. she is such a cuddler! we learned that she isn't quite comfortable with water, she is literally afraid of her own shadow, and she enjoys the taste of my childhood stuffed animals :)

whatever happened to my lunchbox

**breaking news**

yours truly is the winner of a super cool new lunch tote handmade by christine! if you want to be totally hip too, go check out her etsy site and order your own :)

lunch bag, cocoa jungle

orrrr, if you are more of a 'do-it-yourself-er', buy this book ---> lunch bags! – which includes christines pattern, and create your own custom version...

lunch bags! 25 handmade sacks & wraps to sew today

ohio is for lovers

congratulations to the newlyweds, matt & erika! 

we just got back from a four day road trip, where we celebrated the recent marriage of these two crazy kids :) they got hitched in spain about a month ago, so naturally a group of us rented a 'party van' and joined them for their reception in ohio. it was actually a pretty big operation, which i'm sure you can imagine. but if you are saying to yourself, 'no katie, i can't imagine, please explain...', well – here are some stats to help you better comprehend... 

1 large van

25+ travel hours

3 states

9 passengers

1 bottle of xanax

2 pillows

1 portable game of catchphrase 

the festivities were held in the brides hometown of bluffton – an area that reminded me of whitehall, new york, with it's abundance of antique stores and specialty shops :)

bluffton, ohio

the night we arrived, we joined the newlyweds and their families downtown for a little taste of bluffton nightlife. several hours and multiple cocktails later, this photo was taken – which i think describes our evening perfectly...

from left to right:
me on the floor, nicole clapping, christine dancing, and jake talking to the door

we spent the following day exploring the shoppes downtown and then relaxing in the hotel jacuzzi before getting ready for the reception later that night.

*side note - the reception was held in a cornfield - how sweet is that?

we played cornhole and volleyball, sat down for some pulled pork, snacked on gourmet popcorn, and watched a slide show of the bride & grooms recent traveling excursions. then came sunday morning – time to get back on the road and head home. but because there really is no way to describe our little adventure, i've created a visual summary below... enjoy :)

things can get a little crazy when you're in a party van :)

you're the nicest, nicest boy i've ever met...

my boyfriend thinks i'm cute :)

i love you oh so well...

i was able to spend some time with the girls and their little boys this past weekend, and i can't believe how big they are getting. megans son, landon, is 16 months old, but he's so smart! he said my name for the first time ever on sunday, and my heart just melted :)

and kristins son, leland, (aka- my beautiful little god-son) is 14 months old, and he does not stop moving for one minute! he used to be my cuddle partner, but now that he's figured out how to climb and run, there's no stopping him :) here's a picture of my little man before we put him to sleep the other night:

my godson, leland mason hayes <3

i love this kiddo :)

i've been up all night, and i might sleep all day

this past weekend was a doozy.

it all started when boyfriend and i drove up to lake george on friday night to camp out with his family. we stayed up late visiting with everyone, and then, after a little dance party and several pb s'mores (reeses peanut butter cups instead of hershey bars- yum!), we passed out...

the next morning we all hopped into the car and headed over to the best place on earth- tubby tubes, co.- for an early morning tubing adventure :) there were 9 of us altogether, and we floated down the river for 3 hours with our stash of coronas, trail mix and spiked fruit salad :)

unfortunately, after tubing i had to say farewell - i had bridesmaid duties to tend to! so i packed up my car and drove back home to loopies pub, where the girls and i were throwing ginger a lovely bridal shower :) she loves nature (hence the wedding invites i designed for her) and her favorite color is green, so that was my inspiration for these 'leafy' cupcakes:

*chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting

after we finished cleaning up, we went home to get ready for the bachelorette party that was scheduled for later that evening. a few of us met up ahead of time at kristins to take pictures:

kristin, the maid of honor, and the bridesmaids: me, mar & megan <3

everyone looked so nice :)  the limo picked us up around 9, and then it was off to saratoga for the night! first stop, the racino – and as you can see, ginger was excited to gamble :)

soon to be, mrs. romaine

after we lost most of our money, we wandered around caroline street, hopping from bar to bar and celebrating one of her last nights of 'single-ness' :) there were tequila shots and beer pong tournaments, champagne toasts and bottles of wine.... needless to say, when the limo came back around to pick us up at 3 am, we were ready to go home – or pass out at somebody else's home, which is exactly what i did (thanks kris!).

after a couple hours of some much needed sleep, i met up with boyfriend, his sister and her boy, and we got ready for another trip down to saratoga. we took them to the sushi thai garden for dinner, bettie's cupcakes for dessert, and then plum dandy for some post-dessert frozen treats :) finally, we were ready for the main event- john mayer at spac! the place was packed, but the show was amazing... the set list consisted mainly of his more well known songs like gravity, why georgia, waiting on the world to change, perfectly lonely, etc... but he also squeezed in a few covers of clapton, zeppelin, and prince.

overall, this whole weekend was seriously exhausting and i'm going to need a few days to recover... but i loved every minute of it :)

it's the kind of thing you only see in scented glossy magazines

i was super bored and grumpy at work yesterday, so i purchased this little diddy online to cheer myself up. actually, i've been wanting a necklace like this since i saw it on some celebrity in one of my trashy magazines, but when i looked it up online, the cost was over $300. no thank you.

brushed silver, sideways cross necklace

so i did what i always do, and i looked to etsy.com to find something similar but handmade and therefore – even better :) i came across a shoppe called classic designs, created by a woman named theresa mink. she makes a lot of really creative jewelry at completely affordable prices, so i was able to order this at a fraction of the original cost.

you should probably check out her designs....while i anxiously await the arrival of my new necklace :)

every time music plays, i smile and i cant feel anything

sully and i went to the concert last night and, as always, adam duritz & co. put on an amazing show. the skies stayed clear, so we moved back and forth between our indoor seats and a blanket on the lawn :) they started out the night with a tribute to van morisson, covering caravan (nah nah nahnah) and they continued to play a great set list throughout the night, jumping from oldies like anna begins, to some of my favorites like holiday in spain. they even slipped in a few bob dylan and beatles covers towards the end, during verses of rain king... they really mixed it up, coming back slowly after intermission with a long december, but picking it up when they were joined on stage by augustana and about a dozen other random people (i'm pretty sure adam duritz girlfriend- actress Emmy Rossum- was there, too) for a unique collaboration of hangin' around.

counting crows at SPAC, August 2, 2010

and it was actually a relatively small crowd (maybe because it was a monday night?) so we were able to meet up with amanda & kristin, which has become sort of a tradition for the three of us. i think we've seen 4 or 5 of their concerts together :) i dont get to see them often, so it was nice to spend time with them and their family, listen to some sweet music and dance like hippies with one another :) overall, one of the best concerts i've ever been to- thank you sully!!

me & sully enjoying the concert from the lawn

adam duritz, performing holiday in spain

"everytime music plays, i smile and i cant feel anything.

and i all i want to say is everything's alright and i'm ok..."

♪♫ a. duritz

for more info, check out this article

i wanna be where your heart is home

...the official start of our new apartment search began this weekend...

on sunday, we met with the landlord of a cozy two bedroom on hollywood ave which is right around the corner from where we live now. a few perks about this particular place are the dishwasher and brand new fridge, it's second floor location, a driveway just for our use, a backyard (tiki torches included), and the option to have a pet (or two). however, it is pretty small- probably about the same size as our current apartment, but somehow the space is divided up into two bedrooms...

then we drove around aimlessly in downtown albany, looking for hidden treasures like a two bedroom apartment in our price range that would include heat and hot water :) we ended up with a decent list of addresses to check out and phone numbers to call this week, so hopefully we will find something soon.

keep you posted :)

i need a big love. i need a raincoat.

countdown to counting crows concert: nine hours!

sully surprised me with tickets a few weeks ago because she is a super awesome friend :) for the last five years, i've gone to every one of their shows at spac. typically i buy lawn seats and share a jumbo blanket with friends (aka amanda and kristin), but sully got us indoor seats this year which is great because it's supposed to rain! (i would have stood in the rain to listen to them anyways, but this way is better...)

so i've added some of my favorites to my mixtape and today's playlist is dedicated to the counting crows.

xoxo