New Colors!

Have you noticed the two new colors in the shop?
Chai Latte and Olive.

They're really soft and luscious. 
The colors are earthy and warm. 

I named them after my favorite things. 

So really, they're quite spectacular. :)

Oh, and both are in extremely limited quantity. I could only find one hide of each, so they may not stay in the shop for very long!

Happy (Early) Holidays! :)

Remember to place your order in time for Christmas arrival!

Holiday Shipping Deadlines:

US Orders
Made to Order bags by Dec 5th
Ready to Ship bags by Dec 19th

International Orders
Made to Order bags by Nov 25th (this Friday!!)
Ready to Ship bags by Dec 9th

Wedding: Photos (Part III)

Last of the wedding photos!

In this series, you'll see:
Me receiving some money money moneeeey. And an orange.
Us feeding the fire with ghee.
Us circling the fire pit and me burning puffed rice.
Us saying our vows as we step on piles of rice (ouch!).
Me crying.
My parents-in-law happy to see that I'm crying.
Boy comforting me and holding my hand and saying something sweet that makes me cry more.
Me getting a mangalsutra (equivalent to a wedding ring), which is presented with the married women of Boy's side of the family.
Said women whispering something to me in Sanskrit...probably some advice on dealing with my new husband.
Aparna trying to untie our little love knot.
My brother pinching Boy's ear and telling him to take care of his little sister (hilarious!).
Us as a married couple!
The end!
















I hope you enjoyed all the pictures from our wedding.
It was so much fun sharing all of them with you! :)

Love,
Jenny

p.s. Revisit Part I, Part II and The Details (including our budget and how we spent it!)

Wedding: Photos (Part II)

Part II of III, my friends! And Part I if you missed it.

Here's where you get to see lots of colorful outfits, my brother walking me down the aisle, unveiling of the bride (note Boy's reaction), garland exchanges, and lots of rice stuck in my hair.  It's not lice.  Just so you know.
















Stay tuned for Part III on Monday! :)

Love,
Jenny

Photos by BellaPictures.

Wedding: Photos (Part I)

The professional photos are here! Yay!

I had to separate it into 2-3...or 3-4 parts because there are lots of them. And I kind of love them all. :)

These are the photos we took before the ceremony. Even though we're not supposed to see one another before the ceremony, I did my own hair and make-up, so who knows what I would have looked like after a 1-hour wedding ceremony with rice chucking, walking, fire burning and crying.

So. Yeah. We took pictures before to assure that I wouldn't look like a hot mess with colored rice stuck in my hair, my bun falling out and my mascara smeared all over my face. Which is kind of what happened, actually. Good planning, right?

Plus it was early morning and slightly gloomy, which makes for really pretty pictures. :)













Can you spot Boy's name in my mehndi? :)

Photos by BellaPictures

Gift Guide: All That Glitters

I have this obsession with gold (the color, not necessarily the metal).  The glitzy glittery kind.  Around this time of year, all my glittery stuff comes out of the closet!  It only seems appropriate. 

Do you know someone who loves glittery gold?

a. Aidan Mattox Cold Shoulder Sequin Top, $195, Neiman Marcus

b. MCINTYDE Platform Pumps, $100, ALDO

c. Deborah Lippmann Boom Pow Nail Laquer, $20, Neiman Marcus

d. Revamped Gold Star Burst Sweater, $48, Wear the Canvas

e. Gold Sequins Dress, $115, Th3rd Palac3

Hint: you're reading her blog right now!

These are great gifts for the gold glitter obsessed.  Like me.  These are great gifts for me.

My shoe size is 7.  And I wear an xsmall or small.

Thanks!

Love,
Jenny

p.s. These are great glittery DIYs to try this season:

Glitter nails, LoveMaegen

Glitter eyeshadow, beautylish

DIY Sparkly boots, LeFanciulle

p.p.s. A cool gold glitter tutorial for Photoshop from Pugly Pixel.

Gift Guide: For the Man Cave

I'm pretty sure it was a bad idea to introduce Boy to HGTV, but he's excited to claim his man cave in the new home.   He has requested a "Hubert-and-Jenny-Free Zone" where he can shut the door to read, listen to music and drum without interruption.

a. Lion Silhouette Paintings, $240 (set of 4), Ricky Colson
b. Vintage Poker Chip Carousel with Chips, $178, ReFindery
c. Vintage Travel Bar,  $75, 5th Street Bazaar

Considering how annoying Hubert and I can be when we want his attention, it's a fair request, I guess.

I shall grant it.

d. Vintage School Clock, $46, GoreeLane
e. Vintage Leather Briefcase, $78, SmallEarthVintage
f. Vintage Porcelain Bulldog, $14, KissaVintageDesign

But what's a man cave without some manly essentials like a boss lion painting, travel bar and some man-cessories?

It's not a man cave at all, my friends.

Not at all.

You can see more manly additions here.

Gift Guide: For the Holiday Hostess

We never made a wedding registry because I (impulsively) buy everything I want need for the kitchen and home.  I'm a little obsessed with kitchen gadgets and kitchen decor.  By little I mean a lot.  Now that the wedding is over and we have a little cash to spend, I'm we're compiling my our post-wedding registry to gift myself ourselves after our move to the 'burbs.

We're moving? Why, yes. I forgot to tell you. 

a.  Organic Batik Table Runner, $50, Margot Bianca

b.  Vintage Crystal Ice Bucket, $38, Rhapsody Attic

c.  Glittered Pinecone with Custom Sash, $9.75, Potter + Butler

d.  Farmhouse Cutting Board, $65, Red Onion Woodworks

e.  Vintage Mid Century Modern Bowls, $24, Solstice Home

f.  Winter White Handprinted Linen Napkins, $40, Giardino

If you saw my recent post on my Facebook page, you'll know that we've been preparing for our move into a house!  We didn't buy it, sadly.  We're renting it.  It's actually Boy's family home in the suburbs near Pittsburgh.  His parents moved to Chicago (for work) shortly after we moved to Pittsburgh. While it was really sad news, I kind of really extremely love their cottagey home and was overjoyed to move in.

For practical purposes, it was a good decision because our one-bedroom apartment in the city kind of turned into Jenny N. Design studio rather than a home.  Boy and Hubert don't have any space to themselves.  We moved Boy's drumset to the house because I needed the space for my leather and equipment.  We moved Hubert into a small nook under one of my sewing tables because I needed his space for another drawer set for tools.

Poor boys?  Fine.  Pity the boys...

But what about my growing business? ;)

Well, there's a large unfinished basement in the house (about the size of our apartment), which means I get to renovate it and make it my studio! You know how much I love renovating.  And claiming space.  :)

Are you wondering about this gift guide, by the way?

I am wondering why I wrote a novel before even mentioning it.

Well, moving, in my mind, means "time to make a list of things to buy for the new home!".  So I put some items on the list to get for our new home.  My if-I-had-made-a-registry-for-the-wedding-this-is-what-I-would-have-put-on-it kind of list.

This is the first of many lists -- this one is for the kitchen and entertaining.

You can see more things on my list for the kitchen/entertaining here.

Wedding: The Details

When Boy and I discussed wedding details, this was our genius plan:

Drive over to the court house and pay $2 for parking.  Get a PA marriage license for $75.  Pay whatever officiant fees associated.  The end!

That didn't go over so well with the in-laws. 

We fought the idea of spending our future-home savings on a party.  Paying for a venue, tables and linens, food, booze, decor and a photographer is not a small expense.  We were well-aware of the business of weddings and we didn't want to contribute to it. We also knew that 100% of the guests would be from out of town (and out of country), and we didn't want them to feel pressured to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to attend just a party.

After being forcefully persuaded by the in-laws into having a wedding, we set a date, set the guest limit to only immediate relatives, and set rules on what we were willing to contribute financially (invitations, photographer, decor, reception). Then, I was off to make the wedding invitations.

Once the RSVPs started coming in and my mom and future mother in law started receiving phone calls from our relatives planning their cross-country and cross-world travels to attend our wedding, we had a big realization. Our wedding wasn't just about going through a ritualistic ceremony and throwing a big expensive party...

Our wedding was about uniting two groups of people with two different cultures into one close family. 

We then embraced the wedding and all it would offer to the two of us and our families. It was the only reason these two groups of people would ever travel to the same destination at the same time to celebrate one event. The response to attend was overwhelming and we were really starting to realize how special our wedding was going to be.

I bet you're wondering what our budget was and how we spent it? Well, here's the breakdown...

Budget
$3,000 (Not including guests' gifts, which we totally splurged. :) I won't divulge.)

Invitations

Printing + Envelopes: $75

Stamps: $22 (RSVPs online, no return postage)

My Outfits

Mehndi outfit + jewelry: gifted by MIL

Ceremony dress + jewelry: gifted by MIL

Reception dress + jewelry: gifted by MIL

Boy's Outfits

Ceremony outfit: gifted by his grandmother

Reception outfit: $210

(blazer from Banana Republic - $150 on promotional sale from $250,

pinstripe pants from Banana Republic [2 sizes too big, but I altered them to fit him] - $20 on clearance from $98,

button-down shirt from Express - $40 on sale from $60,

tie he already had from ALDO)



Mehndi
My manicure/pedicure: self-done
Decor: Used lanterns and fabric purchased for ceremony and reception
Mehndi artist: gifted by in-laws
Catered appetizers: gifted by in-laws
Dinner: lovingly cooked by in-law family (it was yummy Indian food!)

Ceremony
My hair, make-up: self-done 
Venue + Officiant: gifted by in-laws
Mandap: used my canopy from craft shows
Fabric: $120 + some borrowed from Aparna's wedding
Flowers for garlands: $120
Breakfast catering: gifted by in-laws
Lunch at Indian restaurant following ceremony: gifted by in-laws

Photography
$800 (promotional offer from $1,400 for 4 hours ceremony coverage + digital negatives)
Our photographer told us that in 4 hours, he took more pictures than he normally does for 8 hour weddings because there's so much to photograph in an Indian wedding. Yay! Photos to come in about 2-3 weeks!

Reception
Venue: In-law's home :)
Paper lanterns: $70
String lights + flameless candles: $50
Cocktail tables/linen rental: $180
Fancy disposable plates/utensils: $80
Appetizers/Dinner: $1200 (from Jimmy Wan's)
Desserts: $200 (Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake, Tiramisu Cheesecake, Burnt Almond Torte)
Alcohol: $200
Servers (for serving appetizers, alcohol and clean-up): gifted by in-laws
Music: $0, mixed CDs made by Boy (lots of Bollywood music, lots of Bollywood dancing)

Total spending
$3,327

Fine, we went over budget, but we had fun doing so. :) We had a ton of help from family to cook food, make the garlands, decorate all the venues and help clean-up. We are extremely grateful for all the help we received!

Now that it's all over, we're pretty lonely without the commotion of 50 of our closes friends and family in one house. We're yearning for the next family reunion!

{All photos courtesy of our friend Harry Chou. Thank you!}

See Mehndi/Sangeet photos
See Ceremony/Reception photos
Professional photos coming soon!