Where you can find me....

I am so sad to admit that I have totally abandoned my blog here at A Blog by Shannon. The truth is, I took a break, while going through some major life changes. I got married!!! Quit my job in D.C! And moved to Richmond, VA! That is a lot of stuff.

I can not say that I will be back just yet, but I am still blogging. You can find me here:

Thirsty Richmond

Shannon and Evan's Wedding Blog

The Uniform Project

I just came across this site and am totally inspired. This fashionista has challenged herself to wear just one dress for a year and to accessorize daily in order to raise awareness for the Akanksha Foundation. This organization funds education developments in India. Not only does this generate some buzz for this great organization, you can donate right on the site. So far she has raised almost $6,000 and she is only in day 76. Here is the quick synopsis from her site:

“Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade's boudoir.”

I am extremely impressed with her accessorizing skills and will be checking in daily to see what she does. A lot of her accessories come from etsy, ebay and other second hand type of retailers. Her statement with this site is also about sustainable fashion. I have to admit that although moved by her efforts to promote some wonderful issues, I am just excited to see what she is wearing each day. And in the end, I guess that really is the point. If I’m on this site 289 more times (checking in daily), that is a lot of opportunity to learn more about and possibly donate to this Foundation.

Wedding (Web) Sites

Now that we are officially engaged there are magazines pilling up on the coffee table, new folders on my desktop and new favorite sites adding up like crazy. It has been a lot of fun researching and reading wedding stories of do it yourself brides. At first, Evan and I were having anxiety about the cost of a wedding, but after a week of research I think we can get creative, have the wedding we want and not go into debt. Still no date, place or anything really, but it has been a lot of fun looking for inspirations and new crafty projects. I am going to use my side bars to keep track of my wedding finds and crafty projects, but here is a list of the favorites so far:

Style Me Pretty

One Lovely Day by Project Wedding

Wedding Bee

Martha Stewart Weddings

Hostess with the Mostess

Love, Mom

I just came across this blog that I’m sure everyone has already heard of. I thought I would share it anyways in case anyone hasn't seen it. This is the funniest blog I have ever read. Postcards From Yo Momma, is a collection of emails, text messages and IM chats between mothers and their adult children. I sat reading this site on Friday afternoon for about an hour and was hysterically laughing aloud to myself, trying not to fall out of my seat. I can see my mother in so many of these messages.

The ladies that put together the site are publishing a book coming out in a few weeks. You can preorder on Amazon.com. I just did. Brad did the author’s photo for it and I think my brother shared some of our mom’s notes. I can not wait to see it. I spoke to my mother about it and she had a guess of what email he would want to share with this site. A few years ago she sent my brother a message something like this, “I am so incredibly proud of all that you have accomplished and am so thankful for such a wonderful daughter.” The actual message was much longer and intended for me. She accidentally typed in my brother’s email address. Oops.

I sent in one of the emails that Evan’s mother sent a week or so ago. The email was quite clever and perfectly accurate of how she conducts day to day life. Now it is immortalized online. (I hope you don’t mind, Jane.)