The Big Harumph, continued

Isn't Georgia great?  My step-sister is totally awesome and you should buy all of her work.  It's all hand-cut and one-of-a-kind, and made with 100% love. Here's some more examples of her talent.  Go check her out, she's featured on the front page of Etsy all the time!

Georgia also plays beautiful music.  Check it out here.

Another preview

Ok guys, here's a preview of the crazy wedding weekend we had in Calistoga, CA.  It was wonderful!  We rented a sebring convertible so we could ride around wine country in style.  And here we are, post-wedding license application fill out at the county clerk's office, but pre-camping adventure (we didn't know what was coming to us for that...more details later, it definitely deserves its own post).

My older brother walked me down the aisle.  I knew I wanted him to do so ever since our dad died.  He deserved to do so 100%.  And you know what? I didn't cry during the ceremony but that brother of mine made me do a lot of tearing up right before the ceremony.  It was sweet.

Post-kiss, just introduced as Mr. and Mrs. David and Meagan Badger!  The ceremony was held in front of a pond and as guests were staring at us they could also stare at the Mayacama's mountains.  It was very intimate.  And hot.  Hence the parasol's.

While we were busy taking photo's in the garden with the bridal party, guests got to mingle and enjoy wine and champagne and yummy hors d'eouvres in the tea house. 

The seating cards...and my bouquet.

A preview of the wine cave where dinner was held.  We had everyone gather around the doors and David gave a cute thank you toast on our behalf.  And then we got to open the doors together and reveal the cave all decorated and lit up.  It was breath-taking!

Our best man, Alex, made this amazing cake topper.  He's good, right?  My heart melted when I saw it. 

Cutting the cake.  We got so many compliments on how great the food and cake were.  Mmm, custard and fresh berries.

I guess this is kind of hard to see but Alex is giving the single most epic best man speech ever.  EVER.

Lots more to come - I just like giving these sneak peeks! 

America in color

I know many of you have already posted about these amazing images from the Library of Congress, but I can't help but feel the need to share some of my favorites from the collection. The photographs depict rural America and the effects of the depression.

Aren't they just amazing?  They look exactly how I wish I could take photographs now.  And most of these are from 1940 - 1942.  I can lose and have lost many hours looking at these. 

Photobooth Fun

I can't resist...these pictures are too funny to not share.  It's just a little preview of all the wedding photos to come!

It was really awesome and kept us all seriously entertained (especially the children, tee hee).  The props were great and Magnolia Photo Booth even makes you a coffee table book of all the photos!

Lusting

For these:

And these (I think I need these or something similar for Italy, no?):

And these, because I'm obsessed with all things ikat:

I think I need to go shoe shopping, pronto. 

Tea Cups

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Last Wednesday, I went to Disneyland with my brother, sis-in-law and their three adorable kids.  It was EXHAUSTING but fun nonetheless.  Needless to say, my sister-in-law, Gina, was excited.  You could even go so far to say she was more excited than the kids were!  And I found it very cute.  Anyway, the day was great.  I took turns riding rides with the kids which provided a LOT of laughs.  My nephew, the wise guy that he is, had this scream that started when we rode Thunder Mountain.  It had everyone on the ride in tears from laughing so hard.  There's no way I can portray it in words but it is funny.  

My youngest niece, Ally (who is 5) is a bit on the small side and couldn't ride all the rides, nor did she want to.  So we also took turns sitting out with her while some of us rode the big kid rides.  Her and I got to do a lot of hanging out just the two of us which is rare and super awesome.  

After a very long day, the park started to rope off some areas so that everyone could enjoy the fireworks display.  We noticed the tea cups were still running so her and I hopped on right before the fireworks started.  And these following words that she said to me made everything 1,000 times better.  She doesn't like fireworks, they scare her.  And so when they started, we were mid-tea cups and having a great time.  And here's what she said, "Mimi, I'm too happy to cry!!".  

It was so amazing to hear her say that, especially because we started her day off with a roller coaster ride on Space Mountain, which may or may not have completely traumatized her.  

While I missed my husband badly, honeymooning with Mickey Mouse was pretty cool and I'm glad I did it.   And I would show you pictures but my Mac Book doesn't want to read my usb for the camera anymore...booo!

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(we got to ride this one first and made it a point to do so again.  At one point the ride came to a halt but you could still blast the astro's, racking up a mighty fine score).

Also cool? The Indiana Jones ride.  And space mountain.  Yep.

The Versatile Blogger Award

Hooray for awards!  Sarah B. of Sarah B. Says Hello recently awarded Mo Pie, Please with this lovely award and well, we're honored!

The Award Rules:
1. Thank the person who gave you this award.
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you've recently discovered and think are awesome (and be sure to let them know).

15 bloggers is a lot for right now considering I'm still on Pacific time (or as I like to say to the kids, specific time) and transitioning to life after a two-week vacation, so I'm only going to do a few like Sarah did.  So here goes:

My 7 facts:
1.  I am missing many teeth.  The baby teeth were all there but the adult teeth are somewhere in space I guess.  So I had surgery in 7th grade (during spring break, thanks mom) to move my canines closer to not have a gap next to my front teeth.  Some people find it charming (like my husband).  And, my father-in-law is an orthodontist.  Hah!

2.  I was the editor of my high school yearbook for two years.  Only seniors are technically allowed to be editor but I was both my junior and senior year.  I guess because I rule!

3.  I had my picture taken with Miss Universe when my dad took me to the Miss USA pageant when I was 8.  Had I not been wearing my coat, it would have been in the Wichita newspaper...

4.  I eat candy like I'm a kid, and I'm totally ok with that.

5.  I have never mowed a yard!  My mom and brother used to fight over it growing up, they both loved it so much.  And I've been a renter ever since I moved out, so...

6.  I have been kicked out of a strip club before.  The Outhouse outside of Lawrence, KS.  I was caught drinking and I was only 20.  But come on, I was one of about three girls in the whole club and clearly I was talked into it by a bunch of dudes.  I didn't want to be there.  But I think it's funny to say I've been kicked out of a strip club.

7.  My dad was an architect and a good one at that.  We got to live in a giant house where all the rich doctors lived in Wichita that he designed.  No one had bought it so we lived there for 2 years until it sold.  It had secret passageways in my brother & I's bedrooms!  If he was around today, I know he'd be designing the sweetest buildings ever.

MY NOMINATIONS:
Here are five blogs that I discovered recently (by random chance or because of a comment left here) that deserve more love.

1. Acquainted With the Night 
2. The Lazy Designer
3. Calm Canary
4. Concerning: Pancakes
5. Quindome Eats Cake

I'm back!

It feels sooooo good to be home and free to relax, relax, RELAX!  I've been living out of a suitcase for two weeks, on the go everyday and rapidly running out of money.  But it's all over now and I'm soooo happy to be a wife to the most wonderful man in the world.  That's right, I'm a married woman and I'm so incredibly happy!  See?

The wedding was PERFECT (although it was kind of a blur to me since I was swept off in so many different directions).  The photobooth was the hit of the century - everyone loved it and I mean LOVED it.  Thanks Magnolia Photobooth Co!

The rest of the trip was pretty spectacular as well.  We started off in chilly San Francisco and had some really good times with friends.  Then we journeyed up to Sausalito and enjoyed a quaint stay at the Gables Inn Bed & Breakfast.  We went camping at Point Reyes National Seashore and boy, what a trip that was.  9 city kids hiking 3 hours deep into the woods and camping in a cloud by the ocean.  Incredible.  We spent many days in wine country and it was so incredible to have so many friends and family/loved ones join us for the trip of a lifetime.  Everything was wonderful....the rehearsal dinner, wedding, brunch, etc. was all so awesome.  After the wedding-o-rama ended, I made my way south with my brother, sis-in-law and kids.  We went down highway 1 and saw the ocean, breathtaking views of the coast, elephant seals galore and spent the night at Pismo Beach.  We went to L.A., walked down Hollywood Blvd, saw Andy Dick making an asshat of himself in an alley behind the Jimmy Kimmel Live show and strolled through Beverly Hills.  Then we finally made it to Anaheim and spent about 15 hours riding rides and seeing shows at Disneyland.  It was really fun but very exhausting.  I could barely keep up with my seriously excited sis-in-law!  I made it home very late last night and am still rather exhausted today. So I'm not leaving the house...and that's a promise.  But I am very excited to see everyone - especially you, Hadley.  I'm glad to be back in blog-land, but I have a LOT of catching up to do!

Eat, Sleep, Eat, Sleep

So as Mo and Badge have done run off and got hitched, I've been hanging around Chicago, anxiously waiting for pictures and news of the lovely nuptials. I've watered Mo's plants and fed her (extremely vocal and sometimes violent) cat, Gus. I've also tried to keep A-M's fish alive, but with slightly disastrous results. Sorry, A-M.

Anyhoo, I've also had a chance to try out some amazing new recipes. And since I eat 20 bajillion calories these days (hey, thanks, miracle of life!), I have polished off every last morsel. Let's see some of these beautiful creations, shall we?

Peach and blueberry cobbler from Smitten Kitchen. Holy, wonderful worlds of wombats, this is so good. I poured heavy cream all over it and ate it standing up. So there.

Whole wheat pancakes with strawberry rhubarb compote from Two Peas and Their Pod. And they're made with whole wheat, so they're healthy! Right? Right???

And lest you think that I am only interested in sweets (which I pretty much am)....

Fettuccine Alfredo from A Cozy Kitchen. I know it's a little boring, but there's a reason this stuff is so popular. It's just plain GOOD. I actually used heavy cream and a little lemon zest in mine, and made sure to use FRESH pasta (the dry stuff can't stand up to the rich sauce).

Well, all this food talk has made me a little peckish. I'm off to feed my gullet with sugar and heavy cream (and prenatal vitamins and healthy stuff too). I know we all can't wait for Mo and the gang to return!!!! I'll be sitting on pins and needles (with a plate of spaghetti).