Meet the Future Mrs. Brooks!

It's true! Devin finally asked me to marry him!!! And look at the beauty of a ring he gave me :)

 

Prettyyyy

 For those of you just longing to know, here's the story:

Devin had been wanting to go hiking for weeks, since there are days when the weather is almost perfect at this time of year.Unfortunately, to our dismay, every time we would plan to go, it would rain the day of... and the days it was perfect to go out, we were busy.

Well, on Friday (April 15th) Devin said that he really wanted to go hiking the next day, but they were calling for rain again. So our plan was to A) Go hiking, weather permitting B) Go to Easton (an outdoor/townlike mall) or C) See a matinee movie and get dinner.

Plan A

And so, Saturday morning came. I was horribly awoken by my mom who desperately wanted to know what my plans were for the day while I was also trying to comprehend the weird dream I had. I wasn't sure what Devin wanted to do (since it was 9am in the morning...3 hours earlier than I normally rise) but mom insisted I call Devin and find out; so she and dad could plan their day.

After Devin had texted me back, saying we were going to Easton... my mom told me that I should go ahead
and get ready...UGH. It was only 10am!!! I wasn't in the mood to put on makeup or to curl my hair.... but mom, however, was not too fond of my makeup-less idea. She looked at me and crankily said "Amber. You have to look nice for Devin" (something she's told me time and time again when I don't feel like looking nice) and shoved the curlers at me. Reluctantly, I curled my hair and put on my face. Soon after Devin arrived and off we went.

On the way, we stopped to get a quick bite to eat. I told him about how mom hadn't been very nice to me that morning and told him about the weird dream I had. In my dream, Devin proposed to me and pulled out 3 HIDEOUS rings, one by one, each uglier than the one before it. He laughed and said that it was an odd dream, then we changed the subject. I didn't think anything more of it. We set off again for Easton.

An accurate depiction of the rings in my dream.

We finally got to Easton and went straight for Barnes & Noble, our "Home Away from Home." Devin found some books he'd long wanted to buy and I found the Star Wars Craft Book; smiled like an idiot; found my page and gloated to Devin about how cool it is that I'm in a book. Devin bought the books he wanted while I glanced through the wedding section and we both decided to put the new purchase in the car so we wouldn't have to carry it around the whole day.

Once we got outside, we regretted that we hadn't brought our umbrella. It wasn't raining hard, but the rain was cold and almost horizontal. O.o We trudged back the car, laughing about our lack-of-umbrella-ness and wincing with each raindrop. After what seemed like 10 minutes of trudge-ment we reached the car. I decided to check the weather on my brand new iPhone.

Basically what I was staring at so intently...

I sat in the car with the door open, looking intently at my wee little screen and debating whether we would need the umbrellas after all. And then there was a ring right in front of me.

It took a little time for me to comprehend, as my brain was saying "Umbrella, or no umbrella? Umbrella or no---that's not an umbrella!" I looked up and Devin had the same look on his face as when he asked me to be his girlfriend in high school. Then he said, "I was going to wait until the end of the day, but I couldn't. Will you marry me?"

We'll just say this is what Devin's face looked like.

I was still dumbfounded and after giving him a hug an smiling like an idiot for a while I remembered that I had to reply. Of course I answered YES.... I knew I was going to marry him before we started dating.... but that's a post for another day :)

Me and my Future Hubby

Now I get to start plannin' a weddin'!!!

I'm in a BOOK!!!

Hello friends, I wanted to announce that I have been blurbed about in an official Star Wars Book!!

OOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo!!!!

 In Feb 2010, I was interviewed via email, by Bonnie Burton, to be featured on the Official Star Wars blog. I had been checking that blog every day for 9 months and was somewhat disappointed that I hadn't seen anything on there yet. Then I got the email that perked up my spirits... She had chosen to put me in her newest book, The Star Wars Craft Book! It came in today.....and here I am!

AAAHHHHH!!!!!!

If any of you get a hold of the book, I'm on page 102 and am featured for my General Grievous. As a Star Wars fanatic, I can't tell you how honored/excited/awesome it feels just to have that little blurb in there :)
Aside from me, there's some awesome crafts that I think I may do in the near future. My faves are the Cantina Band spoons and Ewok Hat. AHHH, I want to make them noowwwww!!!! I was like a nerd at Comic-Con. ( BTW, I will attend in the near future). Other features include blurbs about Sammi Resendes, Kayla Kromer, and Amanda Jean Camarillo. All of which have made some pretty awesome things. 

All in all, the book is a great book for adults AND kids, I highly suggest you purchase it.

P.S.
Speaking of Star Wars, I have a new shirt to show off:

DAWWWW.

A surprise gift from my friend Travis of Debugging-Life It has become one of my favorite shirts of all times. Thanks man!

Phew, What a day... What. A. Day. :D

Early Regency Dress, start-up

For my first Regency Dress, I have chosen to do a really simple style to be as a "basic" dress for my wardrobe.

It's a simple cotton print and I believe it might be mattress ticking, but it's awful thin. The fabric is pretty sheer and wrinkles easy, as you can tell. I've got 14 yards of it, so if I mess up, there's more to use! My only fear with the fabric is how stiff it gets when you iron it. I washed it twice to get the sizing out and break it down a bit. It turned to a lovely drape, but the ironing is kind of worrisome. Darn stuff.


For the style, I turned to one of my favorite movies. I really love the dresses in the 1995 Sense and Sensibility. Most have the slightly lower waistline and very drapey fabrics that make my heart go a flutter.

I love the drawsting neckline and sheer fabric

It will be more full like this gown,
and will also have 3/4th sleeves

The entire dress will be handstitched; like the short stays and petticoat I made to go under it.