{new traditions}

For the most part Chris and I tend not to give each other extravagant gifts for holidays or milestones. Rather than buy each other something, we have usually taken a trip or purchased something together that would benefit the both of us such as an item for our home.  We never had an official date for the beginning of our relationship so our one year wedding anniversary was the first opportunity we have had to celebrate this kind of milestone. 

We decided that our first wedding anniversary would be a great chance to start a new tradition that we could honor every year on our wedding date.  We agreed that rather than getting gifts*, we would purchase a small print or piece of framed art each year in hopes of creating a memorable gallery wall years later.  We also decided to write notes to each other and attach them to the back of the frame to be read on our anniversary five years later- meaning we won't read year one's note until the fifth year anniversary and year two's note until the sixth year, etc.  

Originally we decided on this beautiful photo of a Palm Springs sunset available on art.com, but when I went to purchase it two weeks ago it had mysteriously disappeared from the site!  In a scramble to find something we loved just as much to replace it and ultimately coming up empty handed, we chose instead to select a photo from our wedding and have it enlarged to 12' by 16".   Our photographers captured this beautiful image of a pair of lawn chairs that were nestled near the dinner tables at our reception at The Cree Estate and something about this image just felt romantic and private (plus the light in the photo is gorgeous)!

*chris broke this agreement by surprising me with a trip to The Parker for 4 days!

{amaryllis & paperwhite bulbs for the holidays}

Growing up I always remember my mother putting together amaryllis and paper white bulbs around late October/early November to display around our house for the holiday season.   When I moved out into my first place in San Francisco, my mother sent me care package filled with bulbs and all the supplies needed to plant some for my new home.  Every year since then, she sends along all the supplies for what has grown to become a long time holiday tradition.  Today I wanted to share with you the very simple yet rewarding process of planting these bulbs for the upcoming holidays.  The cost of these bulbs is low and you should be able to find them at your local garden supply or Home Depot- I have also spotted them in "kits" at Target or Trader Joes.  The ease of putting these together makes them a great hostess gift throughout the holiday season as well!

The process for planting either paper white or amaryllis bulbs is basically the same.  You can use practically any ceramic pot or glass vase you might have around so long as the bulb/bulbs can fit their width in it.  The key with bulb success is making sure not to completely submerge the bulb in water or dirt, but to plant it so that the majority of the bulb is visible above the moss in your container.  If need be place rocks or pebbles in the bottom of your container to get the bulb as high as you would like.  Use moss to anchor the bulb in your container.  Fill the entire container with water, let it sit for a few minutes and then drain all the water out by holding the bulb/moss/pebbles while tipping the container to its side.  This should be the extent of watering your bulb will require.  These potted bulbs can be placed anywhere in your home- they do not require a specific amount of sunlight!  You may want to add water and drain it once more in a few weeks if your home is very dry from air conditioning or weather.

Paperwhites and amaryllis make for great hostess gifts since they are pretty and require little effort on the part of the person you are gifting them to!  Simply plant the bulb into a nice ceramic container following the directions above and attach a cute tag like this sticker tag from Rifle Paper I recently picked up on a trip to Paper Source:

While normally I would show you the end result of planting these bulbs, if I waited that long to share it with you then you wouldn't have time to plant some for yourself!  So here are some photos of what you can hope to achieve.  While the amaryllis is my favorite because it is so dramatically beautiful, I also thoroughly enjoy the strong scent that paperwhites will fill your rooms with:

 {amaryllis}

{paperwhites}

{2012 balloons}

On a recent trip to the fabric district, I wandered into one of the many party supply stores that are also in that area and picked up some festive number balloons for New Year's Eve.  Since you can deflate and re-use mylar balloons, I thought it might be a fun tradition to take a photo every New Year's Eve (especially since I will only have to purchase one new number each year).  You can find these balloons here in a variety of colors or at any local party supply.