nom.

one aspect of getting married that i didn't give much thought to until recently is the whole name change thing. i know some people will say, "don't change your name just 'cuz you think you have to!" i don't view changing my name as a chore or as an old tradition i feel i must adhere to. i actually WANT to take alex's last name. i think there's something romantic about it. i just feel a little sad to bid adieu to my name that i've uttered and written thousands upon thousands of times. i'm sure i'll get over it in no time...but for now i will mourn the loss of "marie antoinette gabriel" and welcome with (somewhat) open arms "marie antoinette awn."

beautiful handwriting by my future sister-in-law.

in one week...

...i will be getting married...

(image credit)

beauty faves

from left to right:

my daily fragrance. it smells like cupcakes! pink sugar by aquolina eau de toilette. $59 nordstrom.com. an amazing tan in a moist towelette. tantowels $29 for a pack of ten @ hanan cosmetics. this is the best cheapo topcoat that i buy from meijer. liquid glass nail laminate $3.99. one of my go-to nail colors. "the thrill of brazil" by OPI usually $8.00 but you can get it cheaper here. the BEST eyebrow filler ever! looks very natural and doesn't smudge or wipe off. soft taupe superwear brow definer $20 @ hanan cosmetics. the body shop chamomile eye makeup remover is one of the best removers i've tried that's also a great deal for the amount of remover in the bottle. 14.50 @ the body shop. this moisturizer makes my skin feel extremely soft and refreshed. love love love it! starting over moisturizer by origins $45. this thin cream is a great (inexpensive) face highlighter. a tiny bit goes a long way..put it on your brow bone, cheekbones and anywhere else you want to look glowy. boots no. 7 high lights illuminating lotion. 12.99 @ target. do you want an easy way to disinfect your brushes without having to wait for them to dry? use brush cleaner...this is the best i've come across. smells citrusy and cleans your brushes in an instant. japonesque brush cleaner $16 @ hanan cosmetics. i am VERY particular about lip balms and this is my favorite. it has a light pink tint as well as vitamin c and spf 15. $25 @ hanan cosmetics. 

spring cleaning

i've been packing up my clothes to start transporting them over to my new closet at alex's house. (my house, too, i guess. weird.) we are turning the third bedroom into my closet/vanity/computer room. my goal is to make it look like a vintage inspired boutique! as i was going through my clothes and shoes trying to figure out what i won't need for the next couple weeks (which was a little difficult considering the schizo weather we've been having) i got into the picture-taking mood. :)

 slight black boot obsession.

 yes i love shoes.

 my favorite summer shoes by marni. 

got them on sale at neiman's last call.

my absolute favorite jeffrey campbell boots that i wore almost every day this winter.

my chanel wallet on a chain that was passed to me from aunty fatin. 

i love knowing that she once carried it and put her belongings in it.

flashy & diaphanous.

on a wedding note:

my mom really didn't love the idea of having the flower girls carry pinwheels down the aisle, so i told her i was open to hearing her suggestions. she had a cute one..she made these flowers out of fabric we had lying around and she's going to attach each one to a string which will be attached to a basket. so when the girls go to throw a flower, it won't fall on the floor and instead will hang off the side of the basket. too cute! now how to get a two year-old and a nineteen month old to walk down the aisle is a different story.

i finished my bracelet for the wedding! i love it..it lays on my wrist exactly how i envisioned it. i strung twenty-two strands of freshwater pearls, clear quartz and moonstone. i also took a jeweled clasp from an old bracelet i had either found or bought from an antique shop (i can't remember) and restrung the pearls. in all, i'll have twenty-five strands on my wrist. :)

celeb

one of our clients at the salon bought a pair of my earrings and wore them to the scream 4 premiere! :) (she's dating rory culkin..they met on set since she worked on the camera crew. very sweet girl.)

photo credit.

absent

bueller. bueller. bueller.
i swear, i'm here. i'm just really busy. and kind of losing my mind. but in the best way possible! (is that possible?) it's just all fun stuff like getting all the wedding details in order, preparing alex's house for my arrival and trying to get some jewelry making in somewhere between everything. and somehow in between all of that, i learned how to plant flowers! (too bad the gorgeous 80 degree days disappeared and gave way to MORE 40 degree dismal afternoons.)
here are some things i've come across in the past week that i thought i'd share with you, my devout readers. (all three of you...jk...i hope.)

robert wagner & natalie wood. 1957.

i really liked the shoulder/back detail of this black dress. 

photo taken from refinery29.

love the effortless updo.

photo taken from refinery29.

so i've kind of given up on the idea of possibly being able to own a chanel bag in the near future. listen, i am not a label whore by any means..i shop at target and forever21 more than any other place. but i do love nice things here and there and chanel is just as classic as you can get. but, i will take these ysl imperiale pumps in the meantime. i guess i can learn to settle. ;)

photo taken from kisforkinky.

tweet tweet.

sorry for the delay in posting. i've been getting lots of things done for the wedding which is now almost three weeks away!
i bought boxes for peeps to take their cupcakes home in case they don't want to devour them on the spot. (i will not be needing a box.) in keeping with the bird theme, i bought a bird stamp and stamped 100 boxes with the cute little image.

i finished michelle's earrings to go with her dress for the wedding :)

aaaaand, henry is too cute:

just a note!

i was thinking about it and i don't think i'll be able to put up my etsy shop until after my wedding. there's too much going on and i don't want to add one more thing to my list of things to do until everything settles. it would also make me feel bad if i couldn't really devote the time needed to it.
just letting you guys know! :)
have a great thursday!

deep blue sea

i bought these beautiful lapis stones last week..i love the flecks of gold in them. i imagined them dangling with a thin gold wire hoop of some sort. i came up with these today:

look at my jewelry table. what a mess! i am working on three or four things at once at all times. this is what happens as a result.
it's almost a month until our wedding and i'm getting really excited! i'm also excited to be getting all the little details out of the way. (i say that in the sweetest, nicest way possible.) it's just been a complete mess with projects lying all over my work room. i also can't wait to get all the boxes containing vases out of there!
since most churches, including the one we're getting married at, don't allow flowers to be thrown on the aisle by the flower girls, i tried to think of something creative to have in place of those balls of flowers (i can't remember what they're called right now.) i decided to make pinwheels*! i thought it would be appropriate for the little girls and i wanted to incorporate paper crafts somewhere in our wedding. my mom gave me a funny look when i told her my idea, but i don't care..i love them! (for the record: my mom thought they were adorable.)

*to learn how to make these, click on this link. just fyi, i didn't follow the pushpin idea exactly. i kind of altered it a bit, but you'll get the idea. also my pinwheels are just for show..they don't spin! my push pins weren't long enough. oh well, they're cute.

lists.

i love getting things done. i love writing (or typing) to do lists and crossing things off when i've completed the task. it gives me a really nerdy sense of accomplishment. :) i worked on a bunch of things today including jewelry and wedding details. here are a couple bracelets i made with my new strand of the milky, dreamy agate i bought last week. 

agate bracelet with copper beads and gold plated toggle.

 stretch bracelet with agate and black swarovski bead.

(i hadn't cut the elastic off..so that's not supposed to be there.)

i bought these cute faux rose hair clips from h&m for my flower girls and i glued pink feathers to them.

i found a bird nest basket with fake eggs and fake flowers in the easter section at home goods a few weeks back. i went to work on ripping out all the fake crap that was inside it and i cut the handle off which left me with a cute little empty bird nest. i decided this would be my ring boy "pillow." so i glued moss inside it and then i topped that off with two rings tied with a lace bow. i made the rings out of copper wire and i bought the spool of ribbon (it's double the width) at michael's for 1.99 today. :)

okay i promise this is the last time you see my hair comb (until the wedding pictures of course) but i changed it a bit. i decided i didn't like the hint of blue feathers so i ripped them off and i replaced it with an ostrich feather which i think will hug my head better.

i was rummaging in the basement for something and i found an old cigar box filled with fun sequins and vintage findings and feathers. talk about a treasure! i ended up making this comb today out of some of the findings in the box. i'm probably going to make a bunch of feather combs for my etsy shop. (which will probably not be up this week...so much to do!)