In my opinion, the way a person’s home smells says a lot about them. With home decor, the emphasis is placed on making the space aesthetically pleasing; easy on the eyes. Oft-overlooked, the scent of a home can elevate it from exceptional to extraordinary.
Scent has an extremely powerful memory association component, and it is the key to having your guests (and you!) remember the feeling of your home long after they leave. Growing up, my mom always had Yankee candles burning around the house, and it felt cozy and intimate. I can still remember in the chilly, fall evenings, a guttering candle in the darkened kitchen, long after the sun went down.
In our own home, I try to go beyond the cloying, one-note scents of cheapo candles and infuse every touchpoint with a sophisticated scent journey, consisting of an elaborate mixture of reed diffusers, candles, and aromatherapy diffusers.
I’m an independent woman and one of the things that I was set on DIY-ing for my wedding day was my own makeup. For the months leading up to the big day, I researched on Pinterest for keywords such as “natural dewy bridal makeup” and “light summer wedding makeup.” I pinned a few things, but nothing stood out to me as the look.
As chance would have it (or perhaps the sneaky Facebook algorithm), I saw a video on my timeline from the Charlotte Tilbury Facebook page featuring none other than the perfect summer bridal makeup. It didn’t take longer than a few moments of watching and I was already clicking “add to cart.”
My bridal makeup look consisted of about 90% Charlotte Tilbury products (featured in the handy Facebook video) and a few other standouts that I’ll get to in a min.
Since getting engaged in Thailand back in May, it’s been a whirlwind few months. The day we got engaged, we discussed getting married right away. We’ve been together for almost 11 years, so why wait?
We knew we wanted a small, intimate ceremony with just our parents and siblings and a party afterward with our closest friends and family. We also knew we wanted to get married back in Maine. It’s the place where our relationship began and holds such a special place in our hearts and memories. And so we did just that!
I still can’t stop smiling. Four months seems like an impossible timeline to pull off a wedding, but we did it. It all came together in no small part to my parents, who scouted locations, cake-tested, and met with caterers in Maine. My mom and I had a shared Pinterest board to organize our ideas and mood board, and Sawyer and I didn’t even see the venue until the day before the wedding!
I like to think that I was a pretty low-maintenance bride and was happy to forgo many of the “traditional” wedding rituals for an affair that was more our speed. We opted out of the bridal shower, the bachelor/bachelorette parties, and bridal party/groomsmen. To us, these felt like unnecessary expenditures and too rooted in tradition. We’ve always liked to do things our way, anyway!
My dress was custom (I designed it myself!) from a bridal boutique here in SF, Lace and Liberty. It’s actually a lace bodysuit and a skirt! I felt like this style suited my taste more than a classic wedding “gown.” The process was beyond easy and the fabulous ladies at L&L made it so fun.
The only two things I was particular about were the flowers and the photos. My mom and I actually got all the flowers for both my bouquet and the table arrangements at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s! She also saved some peonies from her garden to use in my bouquet (she clipped them as buds in MAY and preserved them in the fridge until our September wedding… unREAL). We assembled the bouquet together and it is a memory I will cherish forever.
I found our photographer, Mat, on IG and was smitten with the way he used natural light in his photos. I was looking for someone who could capture the casual-yet-elegant, whimsical-yet-retro vibes I pined for in our wedding photos. We wanted fun. We wanted enchanting. And we got it all with Mat. Maine brides – PLEASE book him for your wedding. His work will blow you a-WAY.
Sawyer’s brother, Andy, officiated our ceremony. He got ordained a few months before the wedding and we felt so honored to be married by a close family member instead of a total stranger.
We couldn’t have asked for a better day, surrounded by our closest friends and family, back in the place where it all began. I still feel like I’m floating on a cloud! ☁️ Can we do this every year?
Hey, remember me? Popping in to say hello and what a year it has been. In April, I had the privilege of participating in the second annual Femme Fair. One part community event, one part fancy garage sale, all parts female empowerment movement – Femme Fair was a sight to behold. From intellectual talks and panels, to immersive photo experiences, to shopping galore, Femme Fair brought over 200 Bay Area women together to connect and build relationships.
Check out the stunning photos that Jess Onesto captured during the day!
When I was 17, I failed my driver’s test. Twice. When I finally did pass, my parents bought my brother and me a green 2000 Ford Focus to share. My brother was in college living at home, and I was in my senior year of high school. Being the bratty little sister that I was, I insisted that I take the car to school during the week. I would drive it to school and leave it parked in the student parking lot. My brother had to take the city bus to the next town over to go to class (legit still feel bad about this – sorry Kyle!).
At the time, having a car meant the freedom to do whatever I wanted with my friends after school without needing to be picked up or dropped off by my parents. I certainly wasn’t thinking about heavy things like car insurance and deductibles.
I’ve alluded to this quite a few times on Instagram, so I thought it was high time I sat down and put together a proper post on the topic of my wardrobe. Over the summer, I noticed a shift in myself. I found that I mostly wore a handful of pieces while the rest of my wardrobe remained most untouched.
I’d heard the term “capsule wardrobe” floating around the internets for quite some time but honestly the concept didn’t appeal to me because of how restricting and narrow the capsule wardrobes seemed. How could someone who loves clothes and style as much as I do restrict themselves to only a few items of clothing?
