a meal without wine...

i completely agree with this sentiment from Keep Calm Gallery.  that is why the hubby and I are meeting up with my mom and dad for 4 days in Napa this weekend.  we're crazy about wine (and food, natch) and have never made the trip to Napa.  i know, it's tragic.  so we're making up for lost time.

we're staying here.  they bring baskets of of pastries from Bouchon Bakery to your room every morning.  i'll take a nice golden croissant every morning please.  and coffee - you know to help with the wine induced morning groggies.

we're going on a bicycle tour of nearby wineries, the ladies are getting massages while the gents take cooking classes (yes, my mom and I both lucked out by marrying amazing men who love to cook), and we're spending our entire sunday on a private wine tour complete with a picnic lunch.  I don't know if i'm more excited for a few days off, seeing my family, or drowning myself in delicious Napa varietals.  let's just call it a three way tie! cheers!

a golden opportunity w/brides.com

when we returned from our honeymoon a fwe weeks ago, i came home to an email from brides.com asking if I'd like to submit a gold cake for a fall home page feature.  uh, yes, please!  I had just 24 hours to come up with the golden concept, whip it up and snap some photos of the sweet and stylish treats.  I really like how they turned out and am thrilled to see cuppielove in it's first homepage feature!

here's a peek at some of the other set ups i did, but in the end i thought the simplicity of the first shot really let the cuppies shine!

check out the entire brides.com 24-carat cake feature here

thank you

i am overwhelmed and so incredibly thankful for all of your words of support and sympathy for our family's loss.  it's hard to say goodbye to such a loving, fun and innocent creature after 16 years.  kelsey will be deeply missed by all of us, but i feel incredibly grateful she was a part of our lives for so long. 

thank you for the love.  xo

in loving memory

1993-2009

i love you kelsey.  say hi to tiffany for me. 
be well.  be happy.  know you are loved.

oh no!

courtney just let me know that the succulentLOVE site is down.  looks like we surpassed our bandwidth allowance and we're being punished.  should have it back up and running later today.  fingers crossed. 

to make up for the inconvenience, here's another little sneak peek at the florals from linnea + john's wedding....

linnea + john: sneak peek

i can't wait to share this wedding with you.  and not just because it's yes, please design's very first event (but that's pretty exciting, no?)  here's a little sneak peek at the seating card display all decked out in succulentLOVE (and built by my super handy hubby).  we used our camera to set up a photobooth for the guests, so I'm so thankful the incredibly talented derin thorpe was there to capture this stylish (and fun!) evening.  more to come!  xo

dead tired

(disclaimer: please excuse typos, or nonsensical thoughts.  it's been a loooooooooooong day after a very busy & exhausting week) 

i now understand the saying "asleep on my feet".  i've spent the past 14 hours on my feets making lovely floral designs for Linnea + John's wedding tomorrow.  i'm so excited to see everything come together.  but not too  excited to sleep.  trust me, i don't think i'd notice if a marching band came through my door right now. 

wish me luck tomorrow! night night.

and giraffe makes three

although this lovely zoo wedding has already made its way through the blogs this week, i had to post this for my mommas - who's never met a giraffe she didn't like....

photo courtesy of max wanger

a well-designed guide to caffeine

perhaps i'll make my way through every type of caffeine this week.  trust me, i'm off to a good start!

via swissmiss

a store room. a green house. a labratory.

it's almost here! i'm doing the florals, decor, coordination, and sweets table for a wedding on saturday evening at Campanile.  In preparation for the beautiful event my house has turned into a trifecta of the three things above - resulting in what is basically a big 'ol mess.  a structured, organized and efficient mess, but a mess none the less.

unfortunately, posting will be sparse the rest of this week as i finalize all of the lovely design elements for the day and get to work on the florals.  for now, i leave you with some of the succulentLOVE designs that we've been working on lately.

fish.bowls are the new hotness apparently and i couldn't be happier!

perfection.

January Jones (aka Betty Draper) stole the show last night.  that dress is bah-nan-as!

succulentLOVE hits the road

well, sort of. i recently realized i haven't officially let all of you know that we are now shipping succulentLOVE designs within the US! i've been procrastinating and waiting to assemble some lovely photos of our succulentLOVE kits before i spread the word. but as luck would have it our most recent customer, stephanie, has been kind enough to do it for me. thank you stephanie! stephanie ordered our threes.company design to brighten up her office. check out her blog post here to see how a little succulentLOVE is brightening up her workday in Portland.

she even named her new succulent friends!  how sweet is that?

photos courtesy of concerning:pancakes

hello, palm springs

this week has been a flurry of craziness, so i'm thrilled that we're hitting the road for a much needed overnight in palm springs.  our dear friend Nikki is turning 30 and we're celebrating her old age with good times at the Ace Hotel.  I can't wait to toast the birthday girl with a spiked sno cone in the desert heat.

enjoy the weekend lovelies! xoxo

photo via mary ruffle

practice makes perfect

i'm doing the flowers (and lots of other fun things) for a wedding next weekend. in preparation, i took a scouting trip to the flower mart bright and early this morning to see what they've got. so many beautiful things to choose from. i'm a sucker for dahlias and thankfully they were bright and beautiful this morning. here's a little sneak peek at what i'll be working on this time next week...




it's going to be so lovely, i can't wait.

j.crew owns my heart

dear j.crew,

you really know the way into a girl's heart. blind impression letterpress? on a direct mail piece? i'll never stop loving you.

xoxo, me

cuppielove on Brides.com!!

yippeeee!

our first event!

this summer I worked with the lovely Danielle at Samantha Smith Productions. Danielle contacted me with an interesting request - could I recreate the style of my own wedding for a fun and modern retirement party she was planning for a client? yes, please! who wouldn't want to re-experience the elements of her wedding regardless of the affair? (I mean, my house is still covered in yellow craspedia and succulents and i don't see an end in sight!)


the party, held at Seven Degrees in Laguna Beach, was a decidedly modern and vibrant affair. we created succulent seating card favors in the same yellow zig zig design, scattered white vases filled with happy little craspedia blooms on bar tables, and created custom bubble bowl succulentLOVE designs as centerpieces. Danielle also asked me design their menu cards and create boutonnieres, corsages and bouquets for the honorees and their spouses.



i was very lucky to work with such a great lady on succulentLOVE/yesplease design's first "official" event. not only is she a total sweetheart, but she's pretty damn talented herself. check out her amazing stationary line, tallu-lah, here and here.

all photos courtesy of greg piche photography.

well done you: dana cowie

a one time window dresser and stylist, dana cowie injects each of her paintings and illustrations with a knowledge and appreciation of what makes fashion spark.

she blends color, texture, and pattern together in delightful ways that bring her subjects to life. her pieces are both attractive to the eye and the spirit.

they make me want to play dress up and spin around until i'm dizzy.

the weekend {in photos}

fri.day i baked up a storm for a birthday party order.


friday.night erin joined the mister & I for jazz night @ LACMA with some wine and goodies alfresco style. (photo via)


satur.day.morning the mister and i dusted off our rackets and hit the courts for a game of tennis followed by the city's best bagels. (lessons learned: i am in desperate need of some cute tennis gear. i really need to work on my backhand. i heart toasted everything bagels)


satur.day at home, i finally christened my brand spankin new gocco printer! we had some trouble getting acquainted with one another at first, but in the end we made nice and became friends. i printed 200+ favor bags for sweets tables for my upcoming weddings in a few weeks.


saturday.night the mister and i snuggled in with our new obsession: TrueBlood: Season One.


sun.day many failed attempts at being productive. i know i'm a little late to the party, but i've just caught the nasty summer bug that's been going around. ugh. succumbed to multiple cups of tea and more snuggling.

forgive me?

it's been a jumble of a week this week and my head is spinning. between acclimating to life-after-honeymoon and taking on lots of fun succulent, cuppie and design jobs this week - i'm just a pretty little mess these days. certainly a happy mess though. i love absolutely everything that i'm doing. so no complaints here. this is more of a plea for forgiveness for being a negligent blogger this week. i'll get it together soon enough - promise!

for now i wish you an absolutely lovely weekend! xo

i'm on minted!

a few weeks back i shared my excitement over being chosen as one of minted.com's design challenge winners. now the fun part comes - my design is featured on their site for sale! i'm just so thrilled! check it out & see what your yes, please personal stationary would look like with their fun "personalizer". you might just be tempted to by a set for yourself. :)

home sweet home

well, hello there. we just got back from our honeymoon and truthfully I'm still adjusting to things (i.e. why isn't breakfast waiting outside my door in the morning, and why isn't anyone making my bed while i head out for a walk? this is going to take some time) anywho, this week is looking to be a hectic one and I'm playing major catch up, but i promise to post some photos from our week in paradise very soon.

for now, i am beyond excited to share this with you. our little home was featured as part of design*sponge's sneak peek series. i'm beyond thrilled and honored to be a part of this inspiring blog.


check out the post here.