How Terrible Tuesdays redeemed themselves

Leah and Amy contacted me all the way from Massachusetts. I was thrilled when they googled Barn Yard invitations and a picture of my barn yard invitations came up, and they loved them! So happy and honoured to take a part in your special day !!

xxoo Jenica

Here is their Engagement Story..

One Christmas, Leah promised Amy that she would plan a picnic once a month. She then took Amy to Baker Beach where they enjoyed their first ever picnic with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Leah (mostly) made good on that promise and planned regular outdoor meals and dates throughout their time in San Francisco. This became slightly more challenging when the couple relocated to Boston. Although summer months lend themselves to picnics, chilled and snowy days do not. Picnics were scarce, until February 8th, 2011.

Knowing that Amy would not like a public engagement, and knowing that Valentine's Day and their anniversary were also off-limits, Leah was limited when she decided to propose on a Tuesday. Why Tuesday? Amy had made it her personal mission to convince the world that Tuesdays were the worst day of the week. Nothing fun ever happened on Tuesdays, it wasn't even 1/2 way through the work week, and there weren't any Tuesday holidays. Proving this theory true, Amy's job in Boston also required her to work until 9PM one night a week. Amy was assigned Tuesdays. This benefited Leah who needed to prepare for a very special welcome home.

Leah set up an ice cream sundae picnic in the middle of the dining room. She cleared out every piece of furniture. She spread out a traditional red and white checkered picnic blanket. She hung photos, holiday cards, and old ticket stubs on the walls - a mosaic of their last two years together. There was a huge sign in the front hallway saying "Romance in the Ordinary." Leah began by retrieving a bottle of Coquelicot wine from the picnic basket. Coquelicot was the first winery they ever visited together in Los Olivos. Leah had the wine illegally shipped to Massachusetts. Then came the ice cream, and every topping under the sun. But it wasn't time to eat it yet. Leah had a few more tricks up her sleeve. In the privacy of their own home, Leah got down on one knee and revealed an engagement ring that she had designed herself. Before Amy could say yes, Leah asked Amy to take one last look in the picnic basket. The final offering was not an offering from her, but instead one from Amy's parents. It was a letter giving their blessing, stating their excitement, welcoming Leah to the family, and expressing their sincere eagerness to receive that jubilant call from Amy. Amy said yes.

Engagement Photos by Summer Street Photography (http://www.summerstreetphotography.com/)

A Morning Surprise from my Daughter Ava

Brian and I have talked about marriage here and there, we are a very sarcastic and fun loving people, we are not mushy, we did talk about if Brian did propose how he would do it. He always said he would never do it in public and get down on one knee cause he thought I would laugh at him.  I might of, but he knew if he ever did do it that I would want it to be on a ordinary day, no holiday and no big proposal. Think it was a Monday, Brian had the day off, cant remember why so I was still sleeping in the morning, Ava and him got up early and planned there master plan. lol. Ava came up stairs, with the ring box, actually tapped me on the head with the box to wake me up. and when I was awake, she handed me the ring box. At first, I didn't think it was a ring but when I opened it and Ava told me it was a ring, well that was perfect. Ava and I then went downstairs and Brian asked Ava if she asked me, Ava then said, mom we are getting married . 

It was an ordinary day, I had to go to work that day at 3pm, we made our phone calls, I went and saw my mom and told her and then went to work. Was perfect the way they did it.

Brian and I use to date when I was 16 and he was 18, we dated for maybe 4 months and then went our separate ways. 8 yrs later, I decided to take my mom out for supper for mothers day, went to Crabby Joe's. and Brian had the same thought that day, he took his mother out for mothers day too, for 8 years Brian and I never ran into each other and that was the first time we have seen one another for that period of time. I didn't recognize him at first, in passing I did say hello but didn't want to disturb them during supper. That night I went on Facebook, cause everyone has Facebook, to see if I could find him. Sure enough he had an account, I sent him a message, he got back to me right away and that night we went out for coffee and have been together ever since. He gave me a beautiful daughter and I'm so greatful for what we have :-) 

I was delighted to meet Jennifer and Brian and their daughter Ava. Their wedding colours were black and teal, and i wanted to give it a kind of vintage look, so i used a lace across the bottom with a pearl. I used a real peacock feather as well as a white feather to give this beautiful invitation some dimension. Hope you love it ! Thanks for letting me take part in your special day !

xxJenica

The wedding that was never supposed to be....

Shawn and I met through work in March, 2007 but it wasn't until an emergency services dance in May of that year that we really got to know each other. We spent so much time together that night that many people assumed we were already dating! From there, a really close friendship began. We didn't want to get into a serious relationship, however, because we were going down completely separate paths in life: I wanted marriage and kids, and Shawn was pretty sure he didn't want to do either again.
After months of hanging out and becoming almost inseparable, we realized we were both developing strong feelings for each other and we were faced with a difficult decision. Would we stay together and make this a go, even if one of us has to change paths, or would we have to stop seeing each other all together so we could move on in our separate directions? Shawn did not want me to sacrifice my dreams of being a wife and mom, and I did not want to force him into beginning a life with me that he wasn't comfortable with, for fear one of us would regret our decision later in life.
And so, 'Plan Breakup Date' was born. That's right, a breakup date, a predetermined date in the future that would end our relationship. Of course our friends thought we were crazy, but we knew that neither of us would actually break up with the other if we didn't have a plan. We set the date for two months later and spent even more time together leading up to the date. We actually became closer during that time. However, as the date lingered nearer and nearer, we both realized we couldn't go through with it. Instead, we decided to continue to date for a few more months and revisit the issue at a later time (Avoid, avoid, avoid. Deny, deny, deny!). I refused to talk to Shawn about kids during that time because I didn't want to pressure him or guilt him into making such an important life decision. I didn't dare to hope that he would ever change his mind, and I didn't want to start a family with someone who wasn't 100% on board.
Then, one day in May 2009, almost one year since we started to hit it off, Shawn said the most amazing thing. He told me he could actually see himself having a family with me, and the thought no longer gave him heart palpitations (LOL!).
From that day on, things just got better. I got to meet Shawn's amazing son, Alex; we started going on family vacations together; and in early 2009 we all moved in together. We could finally start talking about our future together. I couldn't be happier!
But of course, I am a woman. I began wondering when the heck Shawn was going to pop the question! We had talked a lot about getting married and even discussed specific details of our wedding day. We just didn't have any formal plans yet. It only took him 2 more years to propose....talk about dragging your feet, LOL! However, since he DID spend a lot of time and effort planning a surprise engagement trip to Ireland for me, I have decided to forgive him his tardiness ;-)
Our engagement trip was nothing short of amazing, although when he actually did propose, I put him through a bit of agony. He had pulled over on the side of the road at the ruins of a beautiful old church. When we went inside, Shawn turned, got down on one knee and pulled out the ring, asking me to marry him. As soon as I saw the ring I forgot the question, focused on the ring, and exclaimed "that's awesome!!" A few moments later he actually had to tell me I hadn't answered his question. LOL! I laughed at him and said "of course I'll marry you!"
And here we are, planning our wedding. We got engaged May, Friday the 13th, 2011 (by accident), so it was only fitting that one of the only days available for our venue in 2012 was July, Friday the 13th! We were super excited for it to work out that way and we can't wait to spend the rest of our lives as husband and wife!

This was a first for me at taking the pictures for the wedding invitations. Allison and Shawn are such a fun and funky couple, they wanted to do something different, so we went outside and took some fun shots with a piece of slate with the writing we're taking the plunge on it! (thankfully we have a great property to take pictures as i am no professional at this) but I think they turned out great!!

A Poolside Surprise

Michelle and Matt Engagement Story:

I had just graduated medical school, and my parents had thrown me a huge graduation party with about 100 of our family and friends.  It was a pool party in my parents' backyard.  Apparently Matt was nervously waiting to propose all afternoon, but was waiting for a few of my friends to arrive.  When they finally did, he asked me to get out of the pool and get dressed, and I was so confused, I still didn't catch on!  He started thanking everyone for coming and I thought he was just doing a thank-you speech for my parents for throwing the party.  But then he got down on one knee and pulled a ring out of his pocket!  I was so surprised!  But it was the perfect proposal because all our family and friends got to be there with us!

Michelle and Matt were such a "sweet" couple, they explained that they wanted something with the M&M monogram, as well they were having turquoise and orange M&M's at the tables for the guests! They wanted soemthing abstract and for all the elements to tie together with their colours and theme!

Here is what i came up with hope you like it

xxJenica

Capturing Moments in time (Captivating Photography)

I may be biased because one of my best friends is truly talented, her photography is such an inspiration to me! Sarah has such a creative artistic side, that shows through on her photography! So this post is dedicated to her!

If you are looking for someone to take wedding photos, engagement photos, capture those first moments with your new baby, or just everyday family shots she is a great choice !

Here are a few of her amazing pictures! Also check out her Blog to see the rest of her amazing work !
http://captivatingphotographybysarahwest.blogspot.com/

xxJenica

Rolling in the New Years with a Special Offer

After the hustle and bustle of the christmas season, it's time to start thinking of that upcoming wedding that you have been putting off! I am booking into the New Year and wanted to start it off with a bang ! That's why I am offering FREE envelope printing with your invitation order! Offer expires Feb 20th, 2012! So book now!

Fresh new designs, whether it be Weddings, Wedding Showers, Baby Showers, Birth Announcements or Birthday party invitations... we are your one stop shop for all your stationary needs !

Hope everyone had a great christmas

xxJenica

" A Night to Remeber" - Silent Auction for Lipedema

I know this has nothing to do with wedding invitations, but i wanted a place where i could share with my friends and family who all came out to my fundraiser for Lipedema!
With your generous donations I was able to raise $4372.00 to go to the Lipedema Foundation
http://www.curelipedema.org/

Here is my speech from the Silent Auction Night

Welcome everyone, and THANKYOU for coming out to support this cause. Your love and support means so much to me and it really gives a warm feeling to know that so many people care.

For those of you who may not know what  Lipedema is, I will just share with you what I know. You may even know someone with the same body description and the same complaints about pain and therefore this night will all have been worth it if you can make somone else aware of this condition.  It's a very misdiagnosed condition in Canada and the United States, and therefore treatment is nearly impossible to get here. In General Lipedema is a painful fat disorder which affects the andipose tissue of the skin and it occures exclusively in women. Swelling often extends from the waist down, almost in a distinct line towards the ankles.

Some of you may look at me and think " there is no way that she could have a fat disorder" but you would be amazed what pants can hide when you are in Stage 1 of the disease like I am. Some of you may have noticed that I don't wear skirts, dresses, bathing suits etc. as I am very self concience of my lower body image.

If Lipedema is untreated it can cause a multiple number of health problems leading to mobility issues. I have some information printed out and if you will take the time to read it,  you will know what I am talking. The pictures on the pamphlet will tell the story. Most cases generally develop during puberty which is where MY story begins.

Having started puberty rather late in life at about the age of 18, I noticed that my legs were a bit swollen and mentioned it to my doctor and was told "you just have thick legs". At that time I didn't have any of the pain associated with Lipedema, so I tried to ignore that it was there. Because Lipedema is brought on by hormonal changes, I didn't have the next run in with it until I was pregnant with Quinn. My legs became huge and again asked the doctor about it and was told "it is just pregnancy fluid and it will go away" once you have the baby.  

A year later the swelling was still there and increasing and that's when the pain started, I remember going to the family doctor and telling him I  felt like I had the flu "you know when your body aches" but just from the waist down.  I told him my legs were very restless, resulting in me not getting a descent night's sleep. He told me at that  time to take vitamin B and that I was probably lacking it.... but he did not give me anything for the swelling. So off I went to take vitamin B.

Well that didn't seem to fix the problem, so I went to see a specialist in internal medicine and he diagnosed me with Lymphedema. You see, Lipedema is not well known to many doctors here. The specialist told me to wear compression stockings and it would go away. Well, that didn't happen. Also with Lymphedema it is not painful and there is pitting if you press the skin in, where as Lipedema is painful and non pitting.
So after that not being of much help, I looked into seeing a Lymphatic massage person who told me that I have Lipedema not lymphedema. !! So she gave me massages which helped with the pain management.

My Aunt also had Lipedema and Lymphadema hers had worsened over time as she had Lymph node cancer as well and the Chemo does not spare the Lymphatic system. She passed away a year ago and I could really relate to her as she had this same condition as I do. She had not gotten any treatments for her Lipedema and she always said she wished more could have been done.
I will be travelling to Germany in May to get a tumescent  liposuction procedure done which is performed on  Lipedema patients there. It consists of taking out those fat nodules that are causing pain and swelling. Studies show that it is supposed to take away 95 percent of the pain and help a bit with the visual effects. It can arrest the sysmptom from going to stage two and three for up to 10 years. Altough Lipedema is Chronic, and there is no cure for it, this seems to be the best long term treatment thus far. I will have to go to Germany three times this year as they can't do it all at one time. I am hoping for the best and that this will work for me.

There are a few people I would like to thank tonight. The first being my husband who has stood by me and supported me thoughout this process. He has helped immensely in making this auction happen. Thanks honey, you're the best!

As most of you know my mother in law Pat has come in and learned how to preform lympahtic massage and has been giving me treatments of up to 3-4 times a week now for about 1/2 year. She has been such a great support system for me ! I am so thankful to her for all she does. You are truly an amazing person.

I also want to thank Uncle Tony and Aunt Margo for genuinly being so intrested and looking up research, this support means so much to me.. to know that someone cares that much to go out of their way is something to be thankful for.

Also to Becky and Ron for bringing the PA system.... without their help you probably would not be able to hear me !!

Thank you to all the family, friends and businesses who have donated for tonights auction.  People  have come out of the wood work to help out which has made me feel so loved and grateful. And a big thank you to all of you  for coming here tonight to learn about what lipedema is, which was  the main reason I wanted to host this auction. All proceeds will be going to the Lipedema Foundation by Beau Dunn and Dr. Karen Hurst for research and to spread awareness. We hope that someday Canadian and American doctors will ALL know about Lipedema so people can be properly diagnosed.

Go to http://www.curelipedema.org/ to find out more info on Lipedema