It's been a whole year since Garrett and I got married! Can you believe it?! 

Our wedding, like many others, was a total blur. However, most of it was due to my flu like symptoms that proceeded to gradually get worse as the day went on. Ending with changing out of my wedding dress and throwing up in between taking pictures with people and dancing. 

I'm a real class act. Truly. 

Anyway, here are some of my favorites photos from the wedding!

My dad bringing my dress to me. <3 

My bridesmaids had such good taste. So cohesive and still unique. 

My sweet Kaitlin's reaction as I put on my wedding dress. 

The best accident Morgan has ever made. 

Oh, Val. 

The Vows

 Happy one year, Garrett!
Much love.

Morgan Judge Photography 

The Friday Haps: Capsule Edition

Props to the lovely main street out our window and my husbands photo skills.

The Haps:

SO many questions about capsules!!! So exciting. I had a ton of fun helping Cassandra with her capsule. Since working with Cassandra I have gotten plenty of updates on her capsule endeavors, and I have to say, she is really killing it. 

Here is the first step for YOU!

Getting rid of clothes is crazy tricky. For this reason, it is good to have someone with you when you go through your closet. You can convince yourself of anything when you are alone, however, it is pretty hard to justify keeping your Uggs from middle school to someone else. I also recommend taking a break with said person and going to get coffee so you can come back with a clear perspective and some more energy! Okay, here we go!

Make piles.

Keep

Donate

Maybe

Keep: would be anything you LOVE. You feel like a babe in it or a real handsome man. The best advice I have ever gotten is that if you put something on and don't think "I feel AMAZING in this," then why keep it? The keep pile is ONLY absolutely, no doubt in your mind, I am obsessed with this...clothing. Nothing else.

Donate: if it fits you weird or you think bad thoughts about yourself every time you put it on. This includes, but is not limited to, thoughts like: "I just need to sew this part and then I will wear it." Let's be real, you've been saying that for months and have not done it. Donate that ish. Or perhaps: "I always hate the way this stretches out after one wear." Just give it away. You can buy a more quality white v-neck someday.wink emoticon

Maybe: would be anything that you don't want to give away but you don't really have a good reason as to why. You put these items into a box and store it under your bed (or somewhere you can't see them) for a month. If you do not think about the things in the box during that month, you donate what is inside WITH OUT revisiting the contents.

My experience with myself and Cassandra is that once you are looking at your three separate piles, it will be very clear what your style is and what your style is not. Cassandra ended up with mostly neutral plain tops in her keep pile and mostly busy blouses in her donate pile. Once Cassandra had a clearer picture of what her style was it was very easy for Cassandra to go back to her maybe pile and get rid of some more things. It is also good to cross reference your Pinterest. See what you have been pinning and then look at your keep and maybe pile. Do they match up? You may be able to put more maybe clothes into the donate pile after that.

Your keep pile should end up looking cohesive.

Start there! I am seriously still going through this step every time I start a new capsule. Obviously, the donate pile is a lot smaller now that I mostly own things I love.

Ask more questions and I will answer a few every Friday for a while! Let's get one step closer to living a life with less meaningless distraction and more fruitful creativity, starting with our wardrobe.

Now go here where Caroline will explain all of that, but much more simply.  ;) 

Good luck, people!

Cassandra's Capsule

Cassandra's closet when we started.

Making Piles.

Cross referencing her latest pins to catch the vision for her desired style.

The "give away" pile.

Cassandra's Capsule:

1. Why did you want to do a capsule?

I was interested in the capsule after moving to my new apartment. I could barely fit all my clothes in my closet and had three bins under my bed. I knew I didn't honesty wear a lot of them and I was needing new clothes anyway. When Shea told me about her capsule experience of minimizing her wardrobe, I knew that I wanted to try it.

2.  What were your fears in capsuling?

I think I was nervous about giving away clothes that carried sentimental value or ones that I spent a lot of money on but never wore.

3. How was the actual process for you?

The process was so freeing. After I started adding clothes to the donate pile I realized they didn't even represent my style. I was holding on to clothes from high school, and that's just ridiculous. The pile of clothes that I kept made more sense to who I am.

4. Was it hard to define and capture "your capsule"?

Looking at Pinterest with Shea helped. I realized I had been pinning a lot of black, burgundy and olive green. When we went through my clothes we evaluated each item to see if it fit my style. It also helps with knowing what purchases to make next. I want to buy things that represent me instead of anything that just fits.

5. How are you feeling now that it's done?

I honestly don't miss the clothes I got rid of. When I look in my closet I just love everything in there. It's so me! It makes getting ready so easy and I'm excited to be more creative when it comes to putting together outfits.

Photos by: Cassandra Lour

Cassandra's fall capsule, complete.

Michigan Weekend

Get it, Dev. 

These two guys helped us lead worship and also performed as TAMAS. Go check them out. There will be no regrets.

I know it has been forever since I have posted. However, turns out that people just DON'T have time to blog everyday. They just don't. So I will post as life allows, and right now, life says go for it. 

We have had some rough days recently. This last month has been one of the most painful times of life. Once I have processed the pain, I will be sure to blog about it. As for now, I will tell you about this one time...three weeks ago? Gosh, where did June go? 
Anyway, this one time we went to Michigan to play worship at a music festival. Of course there are no pictures of us playing but, you can only be in one place at a time so i'll give myself a break just this once. Garrett and I went with some other musicians from the area who also happen to be some really great people. 

Overall, it was a success and we even got to stop by Grand Rapids on the way home! Well, not really on the way at all, but it was worth it. We stopped in at Madcap where I had a surprisingly bad interaction with the baristas. I guess when you buy their company's shirt and then take a few pictures, your looked at as that weird Madcap fan girl. Which is valid because I have been there all of two times. Ha. So ridiculous. Never the less, I will wear their t-shirt around because their shop is aesthetically pleasing and so is their black on black tees. We also stopped at Founders Brewery where the guys decided to eat the remainder of the appetizers left from the people before us. Agian causing a weird customer to waiter interaction. Worth it. 

Vacation for the Soul

Finally getting around to blogging about my vacation in North Carolina!
My best friend Alex and I had always dreamed of traveling together, and when I got married, I thought that dream had surely died. Ha. Turns out married people still hang out with other people besides their spouse...like all the time. So when Alex bought a flight out to NC to visit our friend Chrissy for cheap, I hopped right on that bandwagon. 
So alas, Garrett and I spent 6 months of being married on separate vacations. Each of us fulfilling dreams that need to stay alive, even inside of marriage. So off I flew to NC and off he drove to Kentucky to go backpacking for a few days. 

Here are some highlights:

Happy Feet. A day spent at the beach for Alex's birthday. The first birthday of either of us that we have celebrated together in many years of being friends. It consisted of fresh fruit, mimosas, sun burns, and lots of pictures.

New apartment decor and Nasa. I looked at cards and posters just like this one for probably a full hour before I made my decisions. Because you never regret spending too much money on cards for people. 

The hostess with the mostest.

Durham: these cute little cars with amazingingly designed hardwood stores. Because, why not?

Hiking at Eno's State Park. Because when you live in Durham, there are amazing trails only 10 minutes from your house. It's totally casual. 

To the most refreshing two people on the planet. Thank you for renewing my soul, refilling my mimosa, and reaffirming my hope in humanity. May the sun shine on your summer plans always...but don't forget the sunscreen. 

The Sun Found A Home

...and, we did. 

Printed photos by Blair Stevens

Midwest winters are sad. We could have used a bit of sun the past few months. Now, we don't have to look far! My mom bought these letters last 4th of July because she HAD to have them. Ha. It has been sitting under their couch ever since. So, it's ours! 

It was really fun to put this up. We only have a few more months of our lease, and we don't know how long we will be here for, but I would rather patch a few holes later than stare at a sad 15 foot wall for the next few months. It feels like home more and more.

Also, we have REAL sun these days. Which has been wonderful for everyone's soul.
Walks to the ice cream shop down the street have already begun and sitting outside at our favorite mexican restaurant is right around the corner. I CAN'T even wait to take my high waisted shorts and bike for a spin. Calling for high 70's next week! #blessed

Dresses & Coats

     So you may have noticed my lack of dresses and coats in my "spring capsule reveal" 

(That makes it sound like a party. If I ever have a party to reveal clothes, please slap me.) 

Anyway, I do plan on wearing them on occasion. I have bought so many dresses for special occasions and dates, but really that's the only time I wear them. I didn't want to limit myself to only a few in this capsule but I also didn't want to cut them out of my life completely. The capsule is all about making it fit YOU and YOUR lifestyle. So, I will hang my dresses in my closet and pull them out as necessary for wedding season and a few dates.

I also don't plan on cutting coats out of my life completely...because...cold. I just didn't count them into my numbers because Indiana's weather is just too unpredictable to have only a few. 

So here is one date outfit that I can use down the road with maybe some nice flats...or sneaks I guess. You know, incase we go to the zoo or something.

P.S. I do have days where I just wear a hoodie or crew neck. Like I said, I want this to work for me and allow me to feel free. Sometimes free is bringing the 90's back hard with a oversized crewneck, light washed baggie jeans, and some birks. That's just the goodness of life.

Garrett's Corner

Welcome to Garrett's Corner. 

This is where art happens. Garrett comes alive as a painter, barista, and musician. It all happens here. 

Being married to an artist...it's an interesting life. It's a messy life. It's an inspired life. 

Often times, I love it. Garrett is always thinking WAY deeper than I ever will. He challenges me to look at things in a new light. I have grown to appreciate our conversations and processing of new creative ideas.

I have also, at times, become exhausted by his "gear" obsessive winter months or his never ending attachment to his guitars. 

This corner is a mess. It's the least photogenic place of the apartment, but it's a huge part of our lives. Having this unorganized corner fuels creativity for the rest of our space.

It reminds me that marriage and the pursuit of creativity often times looks less than perfect, but those are the times when something beautiful is being resurrected. 

These "things" that sit in this corner are fruitful to our life and daily routines.

"If you're not creating, you're dying."