We’ve moved!

Hello!

We’re in the process of creating a new website and have moved our blog to a new home.

You can find our new blog here!

Happy Easter!

I saw a segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight where he asks children what the meaning of Easter is and their responses were all chocolates, eggs and bunnies. It was really cute, but when it was explained to them what Easter was about, the children definitely had no idea and it made me a little sad. I know we often emphasize the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day, but personally to us, Easter has even more significance and is a vital element of saving faith. As we say hello to spring, we cannot help but often associate spring with Easter. So, with Easter Sunday fast approaching, and amid the  pastel colors, bunny ears, egg hunts and chocolates, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on what Easter is really about…

Luke 24

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Resurrection

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵ And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” ⁸ And they remembered his words, ⁹ and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, ¹¹ but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

¹³ That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles^[a]from Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷ And he said to them,“What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹ And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,²⁰ and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. ²¹ But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. ²² Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³ and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” ²⁵ And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” ²⁷ Andbeginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

²⁸ So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, ²⁹ but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening andthe day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. ³¹ And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. ³² They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while heopened to us the Scriptures?” ³³ And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

³⁶ As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” ³⁷ But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. ³⁸ And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹ And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish,^[b] 43 and he took it and ate before them.

⁴⁴ Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and^[c] forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰ Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.⁵¹ While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and were continually in the temple blessing God.

On another note: Here is a fun Sequin Easter Egg DIY from Kelly at studiodiy.com! She has the cutest ideas!!

*Click on the link or the picture for instructions ~ Happy crafting!

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Merry Christmas!

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

We hope you have a very merry Christmas!!! 🙂

gleeful weddings

A few weeks ago, we tuned into Glee‘s episode “Furt” and watched the wedding scene on repeat! Yes, we admit we are gLeeky fans and have a love for Bruno Mars’ song “Marry you” (which is also on repeat). We thought the episode was very cute and fun! And yes, we do know there are anti-Glee fans who argue that the entrance is so unoriginal since it stems from Jill and Kevin’s wedding intro (which The Office copied for Jim and Pam’s wedding as well). Despite all that, we want to know….. What did you think of the Glee wedding entrance??? Did it come as a surprise?? Or is it now played out?

“Surprise” wedding entrances, dances and performances are no longer really a surprise…. or at least to me they aren’t, especially after seeing it done at weddings attended, heard about from others or seen on youtube clips. However, I definitely do not think it is played out! Even if it may not come as a complete surprise any more, it has become more like a special treat. It’s nice to know that the couple, wedding party and/or family want to make the special day a little more memorable by putting in the extra time and effort to give something even more enjoyable back to their guests and loved ones. Since each “surprise” performance is so unique and personal, it makes it that much more gleeful to watch or take part in.

AND, another thing that the Glee wedding and Jill & Kevin’s wedding entrances show is that the celebration doesn’t [have to] start at the reception, it begins with the ceremony!

“Marry You” -Bruno Mars

It’s a beautiful night,
We’re looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Well I know this little chapel on the boulevard we can go,
No one will know,
Come on girl.
Who cares if we’re trashed got a pocket full of cash we can blow,
Shots of patron,
And it’s on girl.

Don’t say no, no, no, no-no;
Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah;
And we’ll go, go, go, go-go.
If you’re ready, like I’m ready.

Cause it’s a beautiful night,
We’re looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

I’ll go get a ring let the choir bells sing like oooh,

So whatcha wanna do?
Let’s just run girl.
If we wake up and you wanna break up that’s cool.
No, I won’t blame you;
It was fun girl.

Don’t say no, no, no, no-no;
Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah;
And we’ll go, go, go, go-go.
If you’re ready, like I’m ready.

Cause it’s a beautiful night,
We’re looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Just say I do,
Tell me right now baby,
Tell me right now baby. x2

Cause it’s a beautiful night,
We’re looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

“Come over to the dark side…we have candy.”

trick or treat, give me something good to eat!

“Where there is no imagination there is no horror.”

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

We don’t know about you, but we love Halloween!!! It’s fun to be creative and dress up, gorge in endless amounts of sweets and to be scared out of your wits (sometimes). 😛 Not only is Halloween fun but it also marks the string of anticipated holidays to come.

We love seeing all the different ideas that make the holidays a little more unique than they already are! Flipping through magazines and surfing the web, we were enthused to incorporate the things that inspired us into a few of our own Halloween displays for our trick-or-treaters to come!

R.I.P. rice krispie treats, “BOO” brownies, deadly drinks and more…

Inspired by MarthaStewart & live.love.create events

Freedom and Fashion

Most of the time we’re unaware of the affect our actions and decisions have on others, much less, others who may be thousands of miles away.  As Americans, we become especially absorbed in the capitalistic, consumerist mentality of society.  We barely ever stop to think about how what we purchase and where we spend our money directly affects the people involved in the production of these goods.

The reason we bring this up: On November 6, 2010, Freedom and Fashion will be having its 2^nd Annual Fair-Trade Fashion Show, in Irvine, CA.  Their mission:

“Freedom and Fashion is dedicated to educating society about the global social issues of modern-day slavery, sex trafficking, child labor, and human rights violations. FnF addresses these injustices through the purchasing power of conscious consumerism, by increasing the demand for socially responsible and ethically produced goods and ensuring they are readily available to consumers.”

“At the core of Freedom and Fashion’s values is God’s love. We believe in the call to action — to love the poor, the needy, and helpless, as exemplified in His word. At our events, we want to create an atmosphere that empowers guests to act, not out of hatred, but out of an understanding that power in the wrong hands can produce injustice. We want all attendees to become educated about their own purchasing power and how it can be used to make a statement beyond just fashion.”

Support this cause and purchase your tickets here! And read more about what they’re doing!  See you there!

lilikoi

A wedding invitation is the first clue as to what your wedding will be like and who you  are as a couple. From the first save-the-date card to the last thank-you note, the choices you make in design, wording, font, and color, make a big statement!

So, why all this talk about invitations?  Well, we had the privilege of meeting Andria of lilikoi design + letterpress, located in Venice, California.  We met with her at Larchmont Bungalow and immediately fell in love with her and her work.  She clearly has a passion for letterpress design (her press is 120 years old!), and after hearing from her about how the printing method works, we’ve also come to believe that letterpress printing is one of the most precious arts.  Not only were her designs amazing, her eco-friendly approach is quite inspiring.  She’s so awesome!

Don’t forget to save one invitation for yourselves!