carly & doug’s very first email to me about their august 25, 2012 backyard wedding included the following three facts — “we met in high school, we are nineteen years old and we both love slurpees.” ha! i love it. carly’s first memory of doug is in a ninth grade bible class, he was confident [i was not in the least]… and he smelled good. doug’s first memory was the same year, noting that he was very talkative and carly was a little harder to draw out of her shell. by tenth grade, their groups of friends became the same, and these two started a relationship. they’ve been together ever since and despite a “rough beginning” knew they wanted to be with one another for life. one more tidbit before we move onto the pictures — doug wrote that his favourite things about carly are: the way she treats people around her, the way she treats me, her values and morals & ravishing good looks. so great. ;) excited to celebrate with these two in a few months!

a blog reader once described me as having a zest for self improvement. i’ve never forgotten that — and it makes me giggle. it’s very true. i was home alone for two weeks [longest time i have stayed alone at home] & oh-boy, i loved the challenge of keeping this home. i calculated that it takes a minimum of four full hours of cleaning a week—this doesn’t include “tidying”—to keep a house up to snuff. that is quite overwhelming. of course, the time required would increase with more square footage and likewise, decrease with less. i caught a little glimpse into my future life [wife and mother?] and to my suprise & joy, i found “home life” more fulfilling that ever before. there’s something about having your own place. there’s a pride in it! a good pride. i got excited about the incredible value a home has & the value mothers and wives have. a clean, organized, functional home carves the path for productive lives of our own as women, as well as our families. it’s a neat truth. i like it. spring cleaning is a fun season.

keeping with this theme of home, my bedroom closet organization is ready for its reveal. i blogged about my bedroom a few weeks ago, but i kept the closet half hidden — there was some leftover painting to be done. good thing i waited. not only is the trim now painted — but my clothes are recently colour coordinated. ;) okay, are you ready for this? BEFORE. brown, ugly, gross. we took off the closet doors after we moved in [but before we took this picture] & cut a whole in the dry-wall to expand the width. pretty nasty.

AFTER. ahhh, white makes my heart so happy.

left side of closet: organized & pretty. in the hanging bins [from ikea] i have folder skirts, casual t-shirts & “fancier” t-shirts. beside that, in the hanging space, i have all shirts/blouses colour coordinated. the hangers were purchased from ebay. the bins on the top shelf are from target — and the farthest left holds “seasonal” clothes. [bathing suits, cover-ups, sundresses, shorts] the bin to the right holds scarves + clutches.

this side of my closet has extra hangers in the middle [for new clothes, duh] jackets on the left, a row of cardigans, and my favourite: dresses. almost forty of them. the two bins on the top shelf [target, once again] hold sweatshirts and my years of journals.

shoe racks below are both from IKEA. definitely worth the $40 each.

hope you enjoyed the little tour! i wish i had more to show you. i did overhaul my bathroom today — complete reorganization but somehow it doesn’t quite feel photo-worthy. hairspray, toothpaste & q-tips aren’t that pretty. happy tuesday!!

and so it begins.

april 27: the first wedding of my 2012 summer season. [technically, i had roxy + diego's january wedding in australia, but it was "our" winter.] amanda + james were married [for the second time] at the UBC boathouse on a sunshine-filled friday afternoon. married for the second time? you heard right. amanda is a friend of mine from way back when, and her mom & fiance got in touch with me the day before their first [surprise] wedding on christmas eve. you should hop on over to this link to check out that adorable story — as well as see it featured on green wedding shoes! amanda and james were equally excited to celebrate their vows with family and friends this time around.

amanda got ready at her mom’s house in the morning [as well as the guys in a separate part of the house] — and she looked breathtaking. absolutely amazing. from her vintage pearl necklace [found at an antique mall for $20!], blush pink BCBG shoes, a lace dress that fit her like a glove… everything was perfect. the blush pink bridesmaids dresses were completed with white sequinned sweaters from H&M, that the girls happened to pick up the day before the wedding. the ceremony took place at 3:00pm on the back dock of UBC Boathouse. the venue is located only a few minutes drive from vancouver international airport — the officiants took two 60-second pauses to let a jet fly overhead. it would have been impossible to hear anything! pretty neat to watch the planes fly so close.

after the ceremony, the bridal party quickly sped over [as best we could through friday afternoon vancouver traffic] to stanley park for portraits. the light was incredible, the park was not the least bit crowded [advantage of friday vs. saturday wedding] and i love the photos we captured. beautiful group! the UBC boathouse reception included fabulous food, a candy bar, vintage birdcage centrepieces and lots of time spent relaxing with people amanda + james love oh-so-much. it was a treat to have been there on both of your wedding days, amanda + james. blessings on your future!