A Postcard from Home: Big Times!

All sorts of wonderful happenings, ladies, since last I wrote!

Our Wyatt has arrived--we're just madly in love. The little guy was born August 4th in the middle of a big summer lightning storm. We've spent the last month with him in our arms and, I can tell you, nothing compares. It's a very sweet time, indeed. In this photo, he's 13 days old--our sweet friend and wedding photog Allison Garrett dropped by to snap some pics of him. He's lying on the quilt we received as a wedding gift. We tease about what he's listening for here...ocean waves, the wind, some sweet song...!

Also, exciting: Clover & Bee has officially launched! We're having a blast with all things wedding and home in the Midwest. Real weddings, engagements, flowers, handmade details, sweet finds. Our first giveaway began this week--a chance to win a copy of Amy Butler's excellent book Midwest Modern--love! I would be so honored if you would stop by, friends!

Miss you all and can't wait to catch up soon--hope you'll drop me a note with what you've been up to, too! ox!

Sneak Preview: Clover & Bee Weddings!

After many months of secret keeping, I'm so excited to say we have a little sneak preview of my new site up and live: Clover & Bee Weddings!

With all the fun I had designing our wedding and writing here on Oh-So RB, we decided to take the leap and expand: a wedding guide and blog devoted to all the remarkable professionals and artists here in the Midwest. The process of creating the site has been so joyful--I can't wait to show you the rest! And, I promise, despite all the big things in the works (baby included!), I plan on keeping up here. Oh-So RB is without a doubt my original labor of love--from the first posts I wrote just for myself (can you tell? I didn't think anyone would be reading my little reflections!) to the latest connections I've been so lucky to make.

Thanks for all your support and generosity these past couple years (hard to believe we've been here this long!). I can't say enough about the happiness being a part of the blogging community has brought me and I'm so looking forward to what the future holds for all of us. Cheers all around!

Great Wedding Blog: So You're Engayged

The absolutely gorgeous New England wedding of my friends Emily and Erica is on So You're Engayged today and I'm so excited for them! Our weddings were a week apart and it was a blast to talk plans. Aren't their dresses so elegant? Not to mention, if you haven't yet checked out Kelly & Natalie's beautiful new site you certainly should--it's the next big thing, I just know it! (Oh, and, no, that's not a rice toss in the shot above but tiny marshmallows--mmhmm, that's right!)

Sweet Find: Basic French

Thanks to everyone for the sweet, kind and ever-so generous messages about our little baby news! Your support means so much. I can't help but feel inspired and a little sentimental these days about the lovely design popping up all over for kids. Aren't these simple Basic French baby announcements darling? I'm such a fan of this boutique--for little people and big.

A Little Valentine's Day Announcement

Happiest of Valentine's Days, friends! With all this love going around, I thought today might be a good day to tell you our exciting little news: I'm four months pregnant! We are so, so thrilled--I feel like my heart's got wings! Thank you for all your support these past few months--oxoxox!

(Red booties from here and love birds from here.)

A Vision for the Event: Love Light Shining

We've had a couple surprisingly warm days here in Nebraska and this morning I woke up feeling what the coming of spring light is like--one of my favorite, favorite things. So soft, full of hope, just delicate. If I ever got the chance to marry S again, I think I might have to go with an early spring yellow and pink blush ceremony...!





Image Sources: Lulu Paper via Snippet & Ink, James Carrier via Santa Barbara Wedding Chic, Stardust Pastry, JCrew, Martha Stewart, Nordljus, Eva Lindh, Christine Rudolph.

Home Is Where the Art Is: Tony Fitzpatrick

Looking at the latest copy of Poetry, I found myself completely enamored with the cover art by New Orleans artist Tony Fitzpatrick. The events of Hurricane Katrina are something I care deeply about--watching the documentaries, reading various writers experiences, taking in the photographs. I don't have any direct ties to the community--no family or friends, never traveled there--but, years after the levees broke, I still feel this great empathy for the people of the region. In an interview with the Times-Picayune Fitzpatrick was quoted as saying: “We love in poetry but, unfortunately, we live in prose. Sometimes the two are not congruent. What we remember of love is usually a fiction. What we aspire to is haiku: short, sweet, perfect.” Aren't these collages doing just what poetry should? The music of the words, the energy of the images, the vital remembrance.

{Click images to enlarge and see all the wonderful detail.}

Into the Kitchen: Valentine's Sweet Treats

When it comes to Valentine's Day, I just love breakfast--something slightly sweet (m'm french toast!) with a nice rich cup of coffee. Of course, I admit, I won't turn down dessert at any time of the day...! What are your favorite love-inspired culinary treats?

Recipes: vanilla-maple french toast with warm berries, amaretto and cranberry kiss cocktail, Lulu's Bake Shoppe linzer cookies, Amy Butler's red velvet cupcakes via d*s, cranberry coffeecake, caramel pecan cakes.

I Have a Dream

"At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love." Monday is Martin Luther King Day--this new year is flying already! I'm excited to enjoy the long weekend and give back on the National Day of Service. S and I are going to spend some time at our local women's center assembling HIV education kits. More information about opportunities near you on the Obama's USA Service site and the MLK Day site. Volunteering really feels like a great way to get geared up for the inauguration festivities!

Valentine's Day Dreaming

I'm already starry-eyed for my favorite holiday a whole month in advance. There's just so much to love about Valentine's, don't you think?





Personalized 'postcups' from Bailey Doesn't Bark--one of my faves.
Gorgeous satiny gala clutch from JCrew.
Chain, chain, chain--bracelet from bario-neal (how brilliant is their gift packaging?).
Merino moustache gloves from Jack Spade for your favorite handsome, hilarious gent.
Puppy-love from Fauna via DesignPublic.
Je t'aime--why not wake up to these instead of giving chocolate this year?

Home Is Where the Art Is: Eliza Jane Curtis

I'm just in love with the colors of Eliza Jane Curtis' house in Buenos Aires. Is there such a thing as muted jewel tones? Everything feels so rich and faded in the perfect ways. Plus, the view from the kitchen and the delightful courtyard eatery--such great architecture. You can check out Eliza's sweet stationery, Morris + Essex, here. I've tucked a card in a wedding vision here as well. To sum things up in a word:



(Via d*s.)

A Pause for Poetry

There are some times when nothing satisfies more than a love poem. Here are two sides of the coin, the being together and apart, both by Matthew Rohrer, a wonderful young poet living in Brooklyn:


Credo

I believe there is something else

entirely going on but no single
person can ever know it,
so we fall in love.

It could also be true that what we use
everyday to open cans was something
much nobler, that we'll never recognize.

I believe the woman sleeping beside me
doesn't care about what's going on
outside, and her body is warm
with trust
which is a great beginning.



Poem

You called, you're on the train, on Sunday,
I have just taken a shower and await
you. Clouds are slipping in off the ocean,
but the room is gently lit by the green
shirt you gave me. I have been practicing
a new way to say hello and it is fantastic.
You were so sad: goodbye. I was so sad.
All the shops were closed but the sky
was high and blue. I tried to walk it off
but I must have walked in the wrong direction.


I can't help but think the short poem form here is a little bit like a lucid, lyrical polaroid (maybe with a little stitching...!). For more, read on on poets.org.

Gratitudes: The Gift of Poetry

Over the past couple years, I've spent some time working for Ted Kooser and seeking out poems for his weekly newspaper column, American Life in Poetry. Here in Nebraska, Ted is a celebrity: the first Midwestern poet ever to be honored with the title of U.S. Poet Laureate. He's also just a sweet, funny, caring, down-to-earth guy. S and I were so honored when he accepted our wedding invitation and showed up for our party--dressed to a tee with a finely patterned bowtie, no less! His gift to us? An anthology of love poems, of course.

A couple of weeks ago the ALP column had this most wonderful poem by Veronica Patterson (for more on what a senryu is click here) and I can't help but share:


Marry Me
a senryu sequence

when I come late to bed
I move your leg flung over my side
that warm gate

nights you're not here
I inch toward the middle
of this boat, balancing

when I turn over in sleep
you turn, I turn, you turn,
I turn, you

some nights you tug the edge
of my pillow under your cheek,
look in my dream

pulling the white sheet
over your bare shoulder
I marry you again


How perfect would this be for a ceremony--whether your wedding day or a vow renewal? We've only been married for a couple months now and already I got misty!

For weddings I also recommend checking out Ted's book of Valentines. For over a decade, he's been writing these sweet love poems and sending them out on a postcard to all his favorite people. Let me tell you, it's quite the feeling to find one of those in your mailbox!

(Photo by Allison Garrett.)

Hitched!

The first photos are coming in! Very, very exciting.

Didn't we just luck out with the weather? It was 85 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

(This shot was taken by my very talented friend Ben and can be found here.)

'I Do'? We Did!

Well, it's official: we're married!! At the end of the night I finally got to be the one behind the camera to take a few photos of the festivities (the sunset was remarkable!). I can't begin to express all my love and gratitude to our friends & family. The day was perfect. We're so excited and, yes, a little tired--BUT more pictures and updates soon!

Wedding-wise

Life lessons from the wedding front:

It never hurts to plan ahead--really, months ahead.

Look once, look twice and check in early.

Beautiful things can happen suddenly and unexpectedly.

This past week we had three near disasters:

I had dropped my dress off at the cleaners to be steam pressed and, when I went to pick it up, I found a decent sized stain on the back. Thankfully, we noticed before driving off and the folks were nice enough to clean & press the whole thing again for free. Plus, they turned it around in a day.

On top of that, I called my florist to see about confirming the last minute details and schedule and found that the designer I had been working with was no longer working there. In the end, it seems the new person is much more detail-conscious and everything seems to be settled. For a few hours there I was--to say the least--a bit concerned. Just a little.

And just today my salon called to tell me my stylist is in Puerto Rico and couldn't make it to the appointment we scheduled two months ago. But, thankfully, I'm in three days before the big one.

The wonderful surprise: Our neighbors have really been so kind in helping us out with the party--lending linens & tablewares, making food, lending us refrigerator space. Originally, when we decided to have our reception at home, I thought about just this kind of coming together. I don't imagine there is any greater feeling of love than your family, friends and community celebrating this specific occasion and sharing with you in their own unique ways. It's just amazing how these kinds of gestures can make one feel! Our first peony bloomed this week and it seems to me the perfect symbol. They grow so vigorously in this neighborhood and, to me, represent such generous blessings.

Now, after that emotional break, back to my chores! Got to keep on schedule!

Saint Valentine's

Thinking about Valentine's Day: what if we kept Neruda's words in mind?

Laugh at the night,
at the day, at the moon,
laugh at the twisted
streets of the island,
laugh at this clumsy
boy who loves you,
but when I open
my eyes and close them,
when my steps go,
when my steps return,
deny me bread, air,
light, spring,
but never your laughter....

Happy Freedom to Marry week--have a good one!