Step by Step

Because the house is ready for us to move in, I've been loading up my car and dropping the items off each time I stop by the house. It's so exciting to start bringing things in! I'm really starting to imagine everything in the kitchen and can't wait to unpack all the wedding gifts and to FINALLY start using them.

I'm madly in love with all of our wedding gifts (particularly the KitchenAid mixer, thanks Mom! Such a dream come true) but there are a few items that are especially meaningful because they were made for us. Normally, I'm not a fan of receiving home decorations as gifts because, as most people who know me well would testify, I'm very picky about style and would rather pick things out for myself. But these items are the exception to the rule and I really can't wait to find a place to put them on display in the house.

The first one is the most beautiful painting I have ever seen. Our family friend is an incredibly talented painter and painted this scene of CJ and I on our wedding day. It's amazing how he was able to capture our feelings on our wedding day and make it look exactly like us (even down to the flower on my sash)! This was given to us at our reception so he painted this all even before seeing us. He had a little help from my mom so he knew what my dress was going to look like and I'm so glad my mom showed it to him. This is something that we will keep the rest of our lives and can't wait to put it on display.

The second one is an adorable cross-stitch (I think that's what it's called) of a wedding dress, our names, and our wedding date made by my lovely mother-in-law. It's SO cute and I love that she personalized it with our names and wedding color (purple, duh). I'm still brainstorming where to put it but I'm thinking that maybe we can do one of those picture collage walls (like this one on Young House Love) and include this in that medley of frames. It really depends on how everything looks when we move in but I think that would be a fun way to incorporate it into our decorations.