Kara and I… we’re back from the BlogHer conference in Chicago. {Kara writes our Mommy Blog  Notes from the Nest which I shall shameless plug as the warm and witty blog about pregnancy, parenting, and products that it is..

Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from BlogHer… I’d never been before and I’m more of a “hang back” and “check it out” kinda girl rather than “hopping the fast track to networking” kinda girl.  I was impressed!  The BlogHer team did a fine job organizing us, putting together informational and inspiring break-out sessions, swagging us, feeding us… and I HAVE TO give an extra shout out to the Sheraton Hotel beds…  c-o-m-f-o-r-t-a-b-l-e!

{Here we are goofing around in front of that silver bean in Millennium Park}

One of my favorite parts of the conference was the Speed Dating, BlogHer style where ALL of us women {& there were lots of us} were either part of an outer circle or an inner circle.  Then, every minute we rotated~ met and exchanged business cards.  It was great  fun!  MY ONLY COMPLAINT… we only did it once.  I wish we had had “sped met” again because it was a unique way to network~ especially for us non-social butterfly types.

A few stander outers from speed meeting… humor blog writer Kathy from The Junk Drawer {Summer of 1000  Legs post is hilarious!}, Tara from Lijit with her cute hat and oneheckofa handshake as well as Erin who got my attention with her blog $5 Dollar Dinners.

And, I met Corvida from SheGeeks literally on the way out of the hotel {what a sweetie!} and Jen Frugal, Freebies & Deals, and there was Angry Julie, and Linsey from the finance blog Wisebread.  I could go on and on…  it was fun and time well spent!  That said,

Have a great rest of your Monday!

And, tomorrow on the blog… a visual wedding planner that you’ll be able to download!

our designs YOUR WAY… where we get to show YOU off!

This time I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with the groom-to-be regarding their choice of Save the Date!  So thanks Anthony for sharing yours and Erika’s Save the Date story with us…

We chose this Save the Date {Perfect Promise} because it already had our favorite colors (Erika’s is red and mine is black). It is a lot like our personalities put together… racy and edgy but still elegant and tasteful.  Most importantly, the Design Studio allowed us to design the Save the Date by putting together some of our favorite pictures into a collage and design the STD ourselves.

RE: their Valentines Day wedding date I proposed to Erika on Valentines day!  We enjoyed using your templates and creating a memento for our special day. Thanks!!!!

Awww! And thank YOU guys for sharing!  I love how you chose a design that fit your personalities yet~ looked even further outside the box … and added the additional photos in a film-strip style.  You did a great job and I look forward to seeing your wedding photos!  {hint hint}

Here’s another Save the Date {Devoted} that caught my eye… the brilliant contrast  between the green grass in the background and the orange is just fabulous and oh-so fun and cheery.  Too sweet!

From darling Brittany, the bride-to-be…

We recently received the magnets in the mail and my fiance and I absolutely ADORE them! The colors are a perfect match for our wedding.  I’m so thrilled. The design tool on the website was excellent and so easy to use! Far better than any other website I visited for my Save the Date magnets. I really loved how I could personalize each part of the original design to make it more of my own.  Magnet Street did an amazing job and I certainly will do business with them again.

Play inside the Design Studio at MagnetStreet Weddings re-designing and creating your own Save the Date or Invitation suite that fits YOU and YOUR personalities…

Enjoy the weekend all!

Wanda June Koch from Wanda Koch Photography is the world-traveling freelance photographer behind the sweetness and southern charm that graces these engagement photos!  This North Carolina couple is simply adorable and I just love the locale for most of these shots… the historic Duke Mansion in Charlotte!  The marble floor, the gorgeous grounds… there’s something so relevant about stepping back in time here.  Enjoy!

Such a clever, cool shot!

Love it in black and white too!

Thanks for sharing your beautiful images Wanda and warm congrats to Katye and Rusty and best wishes for their April 2010 wedding!

Visit Wanda’s site to see more from this talented photographer!

I was browsing Etsy and searching up and down the internets yesterday looking for pre-cut Dove cards for one of our readers.  {I did find a few options but please leave a comment if you’ve got resources you can recommend too.  Thanks!}

Anyhoo, as I was getting lost on Etsy, I happened upon these terribly sweet French Lavender sachets from French seller Lamercerie.  I adore them plus they remind me of the year I tried to make lavender sachets for Christmas gifts~ although mine looked nothing like these!

Hand-embroidered designs on vintage cotton lace… a satin ribbon hanger… mother of pearl button… with lavender from her garden… to hang as decoration or to sweeten a drawer or closet.

I think they would make lovely hostess, bridesmaid, MOB and MIL gifts too!

What do you think?