Another great Philly wedding

Courtesy of Laura Novak. Isn't this wedding amazing? The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts (and in this instance the Perelman Theater) is the perfect background for a dramatic fall wedding.

Funky wraps

In addition to great stationary, Seltzer Goods also has awesome wrapping paper. I'd love to open a gift wrapped in a sheet of any of the following. Good prices and fun eclectic designs!

Cool thing of the day

We HAVE to get one of these for bedroom! I know it's not related to the normal tedium that I post about (he he) but would this be a great Christmas present for ... ME!?

Paper Stories

If I could do anything today it would be own a business like Paper Stories! Paper Stories & P.S. Press is a letterpress & design studio based in the Chicagoland area. Using vintage presses and modern technology, they are able to create anything they can dream up: From baby announcements and wedding invitations to stationery and even rock posters!

Craft time!

Here are a few of my favorite things from Martha's Christmas Craft line:

Cookie Envelopes ($6.99/8 ct)

Acorn Ornament Boxes ($8.99/3 ct)

Dessert Boxes ($14.99/6 ct)

Paper Ornament Kit ($14.99/makes 20)

Why didn't I wear this?

Vera is a god(dess)! This reminds me of filo dough. {Courtesy of Brides.com}

Decorating with Black and White

Since my husband won't support my addiction to damask (the black and white variety), I'm trying to think of other ways to satisfy the urge to black and white. I was looking at Better Homes and Gardens today, and fell in love with a few of their ideas! See above and below. Fab, right? (oooohhhhh toile!)

Darcy Miller shout out

Not for me, but for my favorite green chocolate company, John and Kira's, that I've previously posted about. Check it out: Darcy included a shot of the fabulous lady bugs!

My favorite time of year

Did you all get your new Pottery Barn catalog? I'm so thrilled with their seasonal products this year. Just flipping through on the train home today gave me a TON of ideas for how to decorate our new house!

Work is Hell

Today I am thinking of the Matt Groening's (of Simpson's fame) cartoon "Work is Hell". I don't think I really need to explain this one, but it is my excuse for being a little MIA lately. You know it's a bad day when I don't even have time to browse through my favorite daily reads. Oh, sad, sad day.

Holiday Ornament Swap!

I am thrilled to post about this year's holiday ornament swap, courtesy of Nicole of Freshly Blended and Kathleen of Cake & Pie. The deadline to sign up is November 9, so hurry, hurry! I can't wait to start crafting and to receive my first ornament this year, as well!

Martha, Martha, Martha

I love her. That's no secret. My friends and coworkers call me Martha. The first book I ever remember getting was her very first cookbook. I was in grade school. I grew up with chows as pets and was thrilled the first time I saw a photo of Paw Paw, Martha's golden chow. I have a framed picture of her on my desk at work (my mother sent it to me as a surprise one day). Clearly, I'm not exagerrating my affections for the domestic goddess.

So, imagine my *delight* (understatement) when I was doing my daily read of Liene's Blue Orchid and found the link to Martha's actual blog! A million exclamation points might give you some idea of what I was feeling, but probably not fully.

Here is Martha with David Rockefeller:

And here she is with her daughter Alexis, who I just think looks stunning in this photo:

And I just love seeing Martha's actual photographs from trips all over the world. LOOK, it's paw paw!

I feel like I've looked directly into her world, and I love it.

I can't get away from Damask

I don't know about you, but I like knowing the origins of all the things I'm obsessed with. And so I took it upon myself to find out all about Damask, because I just can't seem to get away from it right now.

According to Wikipedia: Damask (Arabic: دمسق) is a figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Made with one warp and one weft in which, generally, warp-satin and weft sateen weaves interchange. Twill or other binding weaves may sometimes be introduced. The term originally referred to ornamental silk fabrics, which were elaborately woven in colours, sometimes with the addition of gold and other metallic threads. Damask was first produced in China, India, Persia, and Syria, then the Byzantine Empire followed. In the West, it was first known as diaspron or diaper, the term used in Constantinople. In the 12th century however, the city of Damascus, famous for its textiles, so far outstripped all other places for beauty of design that it gave the cloth its modern name.

Fascinating, isn't it?

So, with all that said, here are a few of my favorite damask products:

Paper products from PlatesandNapkins.comCoin purses from Etsy

Belts from Home Grown Market

And fabric from Wharehouse Fabrics Inc




And a few of the fabulous blogger-ettes who've posted about this pattern lately:

• Exit, Pursued by a Bear



• With this ring...



• Jasmine Star's photo blog

Pockets for wedding dresses too!

Oh my! If you've been reading Chere Amie for a while, you know I'm a HUGE fan of dresses with pockets. There's just something comfy about shoving your chilled hands into your dress! Now, I'm totally thrilled - and completely pissed that I already had a wedding and a dress and I can't have one of these - to see the latest craze is pockets for your fancy frilly frocks as well!

{Source: all photos Brides.com.}

Happy WEEEEN!

When my cousin was two she didn't know that it was actually "Happy Halloween" and thus the family cheer resulted, "Happy WEeeeeen!"

I'm home early, thrilled to be in place to distribute candy from our nook of a house for the first time. I'm crossing my fingers we get just a few ghosts and ghouls. The pumpkins are lit, the candy's set out, and I'm roasting some winter squash to get me in the festive mood.

Here were a few of our inspirations for pumpkins this year. Pics of what resulted (minus the accompanying blisters on our knuckles ... doh!) will appear tomorrow.

{Source: All photos from my fave Sunset}