The Handmade Wedding Blog

I haven't been writing as much on this blog, because Joe and I are starting a wedding blog, The Handmade Wedding!



We're so stoked about our new endeavor, which will feature real weddings, DIY projects, a segment by Joe just for the groom and his groomsmen, food ideas, dieting and fitness segments, giveaways, and much more! The blog is set to officially launch on New Years Day, so we're working hard right now to get it up and running. We've got the layout and pages up, and now we're on the lookout for content.

So if you have a DIY idea, real wedding submission, wish to sponsor us or a giveaway, let us know by emailing us at: thehandmadeweddingblog[at]gmail[dot]com.

If you get a chance, do check it out, become a follower and support us!

What endeavor have you been working on loves?

Moving Forward

I feel motivated this week. I got a sewing machine as an early Christmas present from my husband's family that I'm stoked about, I'm working on a Heartsy deal so we'll soon have a good chunk of promotion for ZoiShop, we did well on print sales during the Black Friday weekend, I am still on the running to be featured in Reed Literary Magazine, and Joe and I had a great Thanksgiving weekend visiting our families. Here are some of the photos from the weekend:





What did you do this weekend loves? I hope it was wonderful.

Two Year Anniversary

What did you do this weekend?

Besides celebrating having made our 50th sale in our Etsy shop, Joe and I celebrated our two year anniversary this weekend. We went out for sushi on Saturday to one of our favorite restaurants in South Lake Tahoe, The Naked Fish, and on Sunday we had our first Thanksgiving meal of the month. Joe made an array of really amazing food including a whole turkey, mashed potatoes, and corn bread. I made sweet potatoes with marshmallows melted on top, which were the perfect dessert. It was a relaxing weekend, and what is one of many anniversary celebrations to come.







What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women, after lung cancer. According to Komen.org, there are approximately 2.5 million survivors today. I am hoping that my most likely future mother-in-law, who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer, will soon be to that survivor count. The fact that someone so close to my sister is currently suffering from breast cancer has definitely brought to mind that it has been breast cancer awareness month. It's definitely helped open my eyes to how amazing survivors are to have endured so much.

Joe and I have kept an eye open toward all possible ways to help raise funds for breast cancer research from purchasing participating groceries at Safeway to submitting Yoplait cap pins to making treasuries on Etsy.com that link back to Komen.org. I'm also hoping we have a bit to donate at the end of the month.



This is the really the first time that I've tried to be active in raising awareness and funds for breast cancer research, and it's felt really good. As the year goes on I hope to be able to do more, maybe even join a race.

What are your breast cancer awareness month stories loves? What are ways you've found to help?

Joe's Birthday & Disc Golfing

Loves, have you ever been disc golfing?

Disc golfing consists of throwing a discus with a funky name like The Orc or Valkyrie until you make a throw into that hole's basket. South Lake Tahoe and Nevada have several extensive disc golf ranges, some of the world's most renowned.

Yesterday was Joe's 25th birthday and he took the day off from work, so we decided to take some of the disc golfs we had bought last weekend at a garage sale (we love South Lake Tahoe garage sales!) and try out the course located just across the Nevada border from us.

This disc golf course turned out to be a mountain range course that consisted of climbing several hundred feet to reach hole number nine and to see a great view of the lake. It turned out to be more of a hike than we'd expected, but it was pretty fun nonetheless. And it really opened our eyes even further to how much beauty is around us in our new home. Fun time ended when Joe lost his discus, and we couldn't find it. But by the 9th hole, and keep in mind that there is at least 18, we were pretty beat.

Here are some photos.










What did you do this weekend?

Weekend Wonders: Vintage Hunting & Kayaking

This weekend Joe and I explored a lot of elements of our new town, South Lake Tahoe, for the first time. The weather was perfect, so it allowed us to go kayaking at the lake and vintage hunting at the weekly flea market not far from our home. We also found a great place to eat breakfast, the Red Hut Waffle Shop.

We both came out with vintage cameras and happy tummies, so I would venture to say the weekend was a success. I hope we have a few more weekends like this one before it starts snowing.










You can find some of the vintage finds from the weekend already for sale on my Etsy shop.

What did you do this weekend loves? Hope it was a fun one.

23

I turned 23 today. And although I'm to the age where birthdays are just like any other day, today was the first time in the past two years that Joe and I got to spend one of our birthdays together, which has given it that special factor that I so miss from when I was a little girl.

Joe made us cinnamon buns in the morning, and I guess you can say I love those things because before I knew it all that was left were frosting smudges. He also got me sunflowers, my favorite. And I get a homemade burger dinner. Can you say yummy! Joe is a great cook, and an amazingly sweet husband.

I think I can get used to this every year.




We don't have any flower vases, so I took our wedding idea, and used some of the mason jars we're using as drinking cups to hold the flowers. A great DIY idea that looks great.



We're going home for the weekend to celebrate my birthday with my family. I'm excited to go back to the Bay Area after three weeks of being away.

What are your plans for the weekend loves?

Labor Day Weekend

What have you all been doing for Labor Day weekend loves?

Joe and I spent the day outdoors yesterday after a sports heavy Saturday. It was a nice change from being at home trying to organize our apartment. Joe had to take photographs for a wine tasting festival that his work sponsored, so it meant free tickets to our fill of alcohol and good food.

We also saw something that I hadn't seen in forever, fireworks. We went to Reagan Beach to watch South Lake Tahoe's Labor Day firework event. I've never been a fan of fireworks, but this year it was something special. It was the first holiday weekend I spent with Joe as my husband, and it was wonderful.

New Chapter

It's strange how it doesn't feel strange starting this new chapter in my life.

On August 13th of last month, surrounded by all of our loved ones, I married my college sweetheart, one of the most wonderful people I have ever had in my life, Joe Proudman. Our wedding was medium-sized at a beautiful barn location in a small Central Valley town in California called Lemoore.

The following our some of our wedding photographs taken by two of our friends, Michelle Gatchet and Stefan Armijo.




























Since then, we have packed up as many of our belongings into Joe's Jeep and headed to our new home away from home, South Lake Tahoe, where Joe has begun working at theTahoe Daily Tribune as their new sports editor.

We both love the idea of living in a tourist drawn location, seeping in the benefits of living in such a beautiful location year round.

We are excited to see what adventures the future has in store for us and documenting those adventures.

I also look forward to having more time to work on my blog and all my photography as ZoiShop, my Etsy Shop, starts to grow.

Much love, loves.