Milwaukee Sea Salt Caramels! Wahoo! January 23, 2009

OK, I want everyone to google “Milwaukee” and “Sea Salt Caramels.” Seriously, go ahead. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

……….

And now you see my conundrum. There is one purveyor of sea salt caramel gelato (Pacuigo) and Amy’s Candy Kitchen, whose apples covered in chocolate and sea salt caramel sound delish, but are not exactly what I am looking for.

I am a big fan of supporting local business. The business owners around town are trying their best to compete with the WalMarts and Barnes and Nobles of the world, and I like to help them out when I can afford it. So I really wanted to find a sea salt caramel here in Milwaukee, but I have really been struggling. Even Kehr’s doesn’t carry a sea salt caramel. Is it possible I am a little bit too trendy/ahead of the curve for my quaint adopted hometown?

When I was just about to shrug my shoulders and give up, I hit upon a totally random link on Yelp, to a little place called Times Bistro and Pizzeria. Even though their name doesn’t indicate it, their owner is also a magnificent candy maker, and, lo and behold, one kind Yelp reviewer happened to mention their sea salt caramels. Naturally, I had to beat it down to Times Bistro and check it out for myself. At first I couldn’t find it, and then I realized they are part of a gas station complex! This really is just the most random link up ever. But the caramels were awesome (NOM NOM NOM!!!) and  my adventure was well worth it. I was not disappointed.

These caramels are lovely! They are blessedly a bit more gooey on the inside than what you usually find from a store-bought caramel.  I thought they could use a bit more sea salt myself, but Sergei thought they were absolutely perfect. I think I might have found my wedding favors!

Real Simple Wedding Planner

OMG another wedding planner that I want. Looks like my favorite magazine in the whole world, Real Simple, has published a wedding planner for 2009 . You can only get it at Crate and Barrel only until the end of January, and then it will be going mainstream to other stores. (Guess where I’ll be stopping tonight?) And, like Russell+Hazel, Real Simple loves us and has posted their checklists online to print for free.

One of their editors, Margit, is getting married in July and has started a Real Simple wedding blog entitled Nearly Wed.  She has some cool ideas, and I will be watching her blog for sure.

Anyone else a fan of Real Simple?

And speaking of Crate and Barrel, they are also doing wedding registration events each weekend in February and also March 1. For more information, check it out here.

Wedding Invitations January 22, 2009

I love stationary. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I love stationary. When I got engaged, one of the first things I started searching for was invitations. And I found at least 100 that I just love. Seriously.

One of my favorite places for just about anything, paper products included, is etsy.com. If you haven’t heard of etsy, it’s a website where people handmake items and post them for sale. And it’s almost all very chic, up-to-the-moment items, from knitted caps to glass rings to soap.

There are so many gems on this site when it comes to stationary, including some of my favorites:

Amelia by Evapaul. Isn’t this just a gorgeous, bright, fun invite? Evapaul is one of my absolute favorites for invitations- they just have a ton of cool ideas.

Sarah, also by Evapaul. I love the simple design and gorgeous colors. I love that the brown has a wood pattern to it.  

 

The simple design and colors of Pear Vine by Blackbird Press is lovely. Plus it’s letterpress, so let’s face it- I’m automatically in love.

This one was a custom print by Whimsical Prints. I just love the pattern and the colors.

Whimsical Print’s Mosaic Flowers Save the Date cards are wonderful. I love the Art Deco font.

These are just a few of my favorite finds at Etsy. I will share many more in the months to come and you can all give me your vote as to which you like the best!

Do you have any great Etsy finds to share? I’d love to hear from you all!

Color Palette Creators January 19, 2009

One of the first questions you get as a bride is “What are your colors?” AAARRGG!! All I can answer is brown, orange, with a bit of green. My inspiration is my pysanka that my fiance and I purchased at the Ukrainian Museum in New York City. Here it is with my ring:

Photo taken by my creative fiance in the windowsill of my vintage apartment.

But how do you create a palette from an egg? Turns out there are some computer website I have to say are just magical. They will take your photo and create a palette for you.

I decided to give it a try, using the above photo.

My first website: DeGraeve.com Here’s the palette they gave me:

dull
	#221111
	#664433
	#aa5533
	#dd9955
	#ccbbaa

vibrant
	#221100
	#773311
	#dd1100
	#ff7700
	#ffddbb

I think that I am definitely a more “vibrant” type of bride! I am not so sure about the reds or orange (hello pumpkin!) but I do like the brown. I need to find a pysanka with orange, brown and green, because of course there is very little green in this photo!

There is also a color palette generator at Color Hunter but I am apparently too computer-unsavvy to figure out how to post what it gave me, although I liked it. 🙂

And then, there is Colr.org. You can download your photo and it will generate tons of palettes based on different parts of the photo. It will also pick out individual colors from the photos, and you can save the colors and palettes as your favorites. Totally cool.

Here is a list of 25 color palette creators on the web. Have fun! I’d love to see what fun palettes y’all can come up with in warm autumn oranges, browns and greens- or your own palettes!

I love this dress! January 18, 2009

The WEDDING DRESS is that big, looming question mark for me. It seems that everywhere I look, all I see are strapless dresses and those are just not for me. They would *not* look good on me and, frankly, it seems like brides that have strapless dresses are constantly pulling up their dress.

I would really like to find a dress that isn’t strapless, and yet stylish. I really love this one from Lela Rose. I love the vintage feel and all of the beautiful detail work on it. Gorgeous!

Sea Salt Caramel Wedding Favors- NOM NOM NOM! January 17, 2009

One of my favorite food groups candies in all the world is sea salt caramels. And I am no snob- any sea salt caramel will do. Case in point: Choxie from Target makes a sea salt caramel that was probably created months ago and is covered in a waxy preservative coating. No matter. I will nom them like I am downing bites of popcorn.

What is a sea salt caramel you ask? I am surprised how many people have not heard of these! Sea salt caramels are caramels flavored with sea salt. See? You already knew that.  They are amazing– a taste of sweet and salt in the same bite. I know it sounds weird, but trust me, they are so tasty.

I am thinking about having sea salt caramels as my wedding favor. I know the candy thing is kind of overdone at weddings, but I really love these little buggers and I want to share the glory of sea salt caramels with the world! So it’s one option.

They can be a bit tricky to find, however. Which is why this article at thenibble.com has been like finding a goldmine! After reading my new wishlist the article, I went ahead and ordered the Grey Caramels and Smoked Caramels at Fran’s Chocolates. Besides the fact they are GORGEOUS,

they  have won some prestigious foodie awards and are a favorite of President-elect Obama. When my order arrived, I discovered that, at least when it comes to caramels, Obama knows what he’s talking about! The caramels have just the right mix of sweet and salt, the caramels have just the right firmness, and the  extra little sprinkling of salt on the outside ties it all together and leaves a delightful taste lingering on your tongue.

They are *amazing.* A bit expensive at 8 of them for $11.50, but that’s not too out of line for wedding favors. Fran’s are truly unbelievable, but I will keep up my search! (After all, that’s part of the fun, right?)

Anyone else out there share my love of sea salt caramels?

SeeJaneWork.com Coupon January 14, 2009

OMG – See Jane Work has come to my rescue! In my previous post I mentioned my cheap, yet fashionble idea for a wedding planner- namely ordering SJW binders and filling them with the yummy Russell+Hazel wedding planner sheets.

SJW has answered my plea for a good deal and now has a 25% off coupon, good until January 31st. Just enter 25off09 at the checkout.  WOOHOO!! Now do I want one in ‘grass’ or ‘moss’……

Whimsical Beaded Cake Toppers

One of the most interesting design elements of a wedding cake, of course, is the topper, or lack thereof if you are so inclined. I am not sure if these will be too whimsical for my wedding cake, (who knows at this point!) but they sure are adorable!

From The Flirty Bride:

Glassybaby = WANT! January 13, 2009

Wow! Check out these gorgeous, handblown votive cups by Glassybaby Forever.  They would make the perfect wedding accessory, or bridesmaid gift, or luminary…or who-cares-I-just-want-one. They come in over 70 colors! They have an entire page of greens and oranges and browns… oh my… check out the one named “Keith” below. Even though I am not doing the Tiffany blue/brown motif, I still might order one of these for myself.

“Keith”, aka my new boyfriend.

Sunset Orange. oh yeah….

Green Lake— OF MY DREAMS!

I even love the two tones. These speak to me of my childhood and fabulous 1970s fondue parties.

Root Beer = yum.

Wren. I don’t like birds in general, but this baby could nest in my cabinet anytime.

You can even buy them in sets of 3 for the color-matching inhibited such as myself!

Orange You Glad

Got To Have Them Greens

Calm. Wouldn’t this be perfect for a lake house or seaside motif?

AND you can create a wishlist. AND you can sign up for a “Glassybaby-of-the-month club”. Creator Lee Rhodes even has special editions that proceeds are donated to charity. I am totally in love with these! The are pricey though- a whopping $40 each to purchase, although you can rent them for your event for $5 a piece. (Which  is totally brillant!) I still might have to order a Keith or two with my leftover birthday money……

Ukraine?

I am finding out that not everyone knows where Ukraine is located. That is understandable, and as this is a blog about a Ukrainian American and his bride, I figured I’d give y’all a bit of info on Ukraine. (And for those that don’t want to hear me yap about a foreign country, but still want the info, the wiki is here.)

Urkaine is a part of the former Soviet Union. So yep– I’m marrying a Communist, it’s true. Although he’s been slightly reformed. (But boy did he look cute in his Pioneer day pictures.)

Official Language: Ukrainian. Yep, they even have their own language, although to my ears it sounds very close to Russian. Russian is commonly spoken in Ukraine, a holdover of the Soviet years. The Ukrainian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet (same as Russian), so don’t even think about trying to read it, but at least it looks pretty. And it sounds pretty- if you’d like to hear some basic Ukrainian phrases, you can go here.

Ukraine is in Eastern Europe, here:

It is an ancient area with a long history, including COSSACKS!

Sergei’s great-great-great grandfather? The world may never know…

In case you don’t know, Cossacks were horseriding asskicking warrior thugs of the 15th-18th centuries. You did not mess with these folks. Their historical influence on shaping Ukrainian identity is demonstrated by their inclusion in the Coat of Arms of Ukraine:

See that dude in the baggy pants and the RIFLE on the right? He’s a COSSACK! That funky fork-looking thing in the middle is the trident, which has been a symbol of Ukraine for centuries, and no one really seems to know why. Not that it matters- you can’t debate that trident=teh kewl. On the left is a lion, which kicks almost as much ass as a COSSACK! but not quite. (Wouldn’t COSSACK! be a great 1970s style disaster movie? But I digress.)

The flag of Ukraine looks like this:

It’s not really clear, but it looks like traditionally the blue stood for the sea (or apparently the sky- see this post’s comments- thanks Mariya!) and the yellow stood for the fields of wheat. Ukraine was at one time known as the “breadbasket of Eastern Europe.” There’s lots of farming, and it has traditionally been known for it’s harvests. Well, that and Cherynobl is in Ukraine, but again, I digress.

The capitol city is Kiev, which is also where Sergei grew up. It has about 2.7 million inhabitants and is located on the Dnieper River. We will be visiting Kiev on our honeymoon! I can’t wait to see where Sergei grew up, and hopefully to see some really old stuff. I love history, and Kiev is over a thousand years old. It was blown to bits during WWII, but I still look forward to seeing such sites as the Vydubychi Monastery, the Golden Gate, Independence Square where the 2004 Orange Revolution took place, and last but not least….. LUSH KIEV!!!!!!!

OK that’s enough about Ukraine for the moment. At least now you’ve got a bit of an idea about where Sergei is from. I’ll be adding more about culture and customs (especially wedding customs!) of Ukraine as this blog progresses, so stay tuned!