The Big Reveal...GRANNY STYLE!

So as the whole entire world knows.... my sister just got married. I have been talking about this wedding for a year. My girls were two of the four prettiest flower girls ever. I got a kicking dress and my hubster actually wore dress clothes. Much fun was had by all. I was so busy playing Matron of Honor (why does that sound old? I'm no matron!!!) that I forgot to take pictures most of the day... so you'll have to wait to see us in our wedding finery.

I decided a mere two weeks before the wedding that I needed to whip up a gift. Not just a small gift either. That's not how I roll. I made a mad dash to the yarn store and decided I was attempting a granny blanket. My other granny (the ugliest, awesomest granny in existence) is sitting forgotten in my yarn box because all my time and effort was spent on this new granny. After two weeks of 4 hours or more a day crocheting, I did it! Yay!

I'm pretty proud of this sweetheart as it's the first full size blanket I've ever completed. It was my first foray into blocking a crochet project too. Which of course happened at 10pm at night in my mama's basement the night before the bride arrived. Again, are you surprised? 

See all the little pins sticking out the sides? This is to make the square look... well... square. For the first time in too long in my life, pinning meant actually using pins, not Pinterest. (Haha, you know you laughed.) I sprayed the whole thing down with water and let it dry. It's one of those things that helps with shape and is made for people who are OCD. 

Now this granny isn't technically a full afghan. I also learned that there is such a thing as a "lapghan" out there in the crochet world. It's apparently a blanket that is smaller than a traditional afghan, but larger than a child sized afghan. I just thought it was a cool term to use so that people thought I made a small blanket on purpose, rather than the excuse that I ran out of time and my hands and wrists were all hurty. The finished size was 54 inches by 54 inches.

I also found a cool scallop edge to do courtesy of the lovely Lucy at Attic 24. If you are at all a fan of the hook and yarn world, check her out. She's amazing! 

Rather than do millions of single grannies together, I did one giant granny. I loved it. There was no rhyme or reason to the color choices. Just whatever I felt like at the time. I love random things and this was a perfect project for that. The colors were selected to match my sister's living room decor. For those of you that are really interested, I used Caron Simply Soft Yarn in seven different colors: Chocolate, Bone, Dark Country Blue, Light Country Blue, Country Blue, Light Blue, and Ocean. 

I am SO pleased with how it turned out. I was a little sad to see it go, but it was a fantastic gift to give. I'm thinking that rather than a million scarves for Christmas, this year, everyone's getting afghans. Excuse me, "lapghans!"

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Five years ago, I had the best day.

My five year wedding anniversary was a bit wonky this year.

It was spent on planes, traveling home from Virginia. Oddly enough, Nic and I have had several anniversaries spent on vacation with my family. We have only had one or two where we did the traditional dinner or whatever.

This year, since five years is kind of like a first milestone, I decided to do something neat.

I found a wonderful lady who was able to recreate our wedding cake top layer for us.

See, my wedding cake was the best wedding cake ever. Seriously, I'm not joking.

Yep, those are mushrooms and ferns and acorns and mossy green loveliness. Nic loved our cake as much as I did, which made it even more awesome.

Here's the recreation, five years later.

Pretty close, no? If you have need of a cake, contact Julie. She's amazing.

Also, it was delicious.

My wedding was so fun and simple. We had it in my mother's back yard, a perfect setting for a small ceremony and reception. I decorated the arbor set up myself. On my wedding day. I'm a detail oriented type person, so it wouldn't do to have had anyone else do it. Plus, how fun is it to decorate for such a happy day?

The hubster and I are not formal issue type people. We wanted to be comfy and wanted the same for everyone else. The groomsmen wore shorts and my ladies wore flipflops! Casual, but beautiful.

Remember how I said I liked details? My bridesmaids had contrasting flowers against their tops. Then the ribbon contrasted the flower and the top. I did that on purpose. Hehe. Assigning flowers probably drove the ladies crazy, but it was worth it.

Lily was so excited to be in my wedding, I had her walk me down the aisle. Look at her chubby little cheeky face! Awwwwww! She looked gorgeous. I had made her a ribbon headband to wear in her pretty hair and she thought that was so neat. I also let her carry my tossing flowers as she walked down the aisle with me. Being two at the time, she thought she was pretty special.

Our food was fantastic, we made it all ourselves. (Thanks mom!) We had a candy bar that was a super big hit with all the kids that were there. We had to have a wedding in fast forward because it rained. We also had the sounds of a rock concert serenading us since I forgot that it was taking place on the same day and less than a mile away.

I would have changed a thing. It was perfect for us. Now that my sister is engaged, it's fun to compare how she wants her dream wedding. Totally opposite from mine and it will be just fabulous. I love weddings!

Happy anniversary husbandy face, love of my life! Here's to 500 more years of being married to the best guy ever!