I’ve been using PaperBackSwap for a couple of years now and have really enjoyed it. The premise is simple – you send a book you no longer want to a member who does want it and you get a point deposited into your account. Then you use that point to request a book you want from someone else. It’s not quite as cheap as buying books at the thrift store, but there a whole lot more books on PBS than at the local Goodwill – and you can even set up a wish list so that you’re notified when a book you want is entered into the system!

This week I started using PaperBackSwap’s sister site, SwapADVD. It’s equally as simple to use as PBS, and the points are transferable between my accounts at both sites! I can send out a DVD I no longer want, and then use that point to get a new book. (My husband still can’t figure out why I need more books.)

I haven’t really used SwapaCD yet, though I do have an account there. For each CD you request, you pay a point from your account (also transferablebetween PBS or SwapADVD), and $0.49. It’s still a good deal, but I haven’t gotten around to trying it out.

Each site offers members 1 credit for the initial 10 items they post. They also offer 1 point for each valid referral (10 items posted on PBS and SwapADVD, 10 items plus money for trades at SwapaCD).

I have gotten rid of a quite a few “extra” books through PBS over the last couple of years, and I’ve acquired some nice ones in exchange. This is definitely one swap program I like a lot.

{Please note that the links listed above are referral links. If for some reason you would rather visit those sites without the referral, type the names of the companies into your address bar, followed by .com.}

• Holiday with Matthew Mead, a book-azine all about the winter holidays (mostly Christmas, from what I can tell), is ready for press. You can order on their website and your issue will be shipped straight to you in October.
• I don’t have a pantry, but this armoire-turned-pantry idea looks like a great way to add some storage space in the dining room without having to fudge on design/decor.
• Amanda of Sweet Bella Bakery made beautiful cookies for us to use as favors at the wedding. Gorgeous (and tasty!) wedding cakes and monogrammed cookies. Mmmm.

The picture of the week:

{Photo copyright SixFourteen Photography}

I think I may have to try this out whenever my sister, Anna, gets engaged. She has at least 16 pairs of Converse in her closet.

These are some of my favorite photos of Michael, captured on our wedding day. I do so love my husband.

{Photos copyright Caroline Ghetes Photography.}

{Image copyright Honey and Cheese – this was taken at Historic Kinloch, where we were married.}

“Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” {Psalm 95:1-7}

{image copyright Annie B}

I don’t know about other parts of the country, but peaches are currently $0.50/lb at the Wal-Marts around here. This week I just bought a handful – mostly for eating, but I also attempted homemade peach tea this afternoon and I’m going to try baked peaches for dessert tonight.

If they’re still that cheap when I go shopping next week, I’m planning to stock up and freeze a bunch. I’d also like to try my hand at canning. Home-canned peaches will be good when peach prices go back up, and peach butter or honey, and peach preserves sound yummy. Hopefully the prices stay that low until I get back into town!

We didn’t assign seats for our reception but, in order to get 200 people through the buffet in some semblance of order, we had to call them up by tables. Instead of the traditional table numbers, we gave each table a song title and instructed them to listen carefully to what the deejay played, because when they heard their song, it was their turn to get dinner.

Everyone had to really be on their toes because the songs weren’t in any particular order, they bounced from one corner of the tents to the middle, to the front, and so on. Some people sang along when they heard “their songs,” but when “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” started playing, nearly everyone joined in!

{Photo copyright Caroline Ghetes Photography.}

The Sunday List is back! Here’s what I’ve discovered in the first week since we’ve had internet access again:

• Whoopie Pies. An entire book devoted to them. And a yummy post at Bakerella (accompanied with pictures, of course) detailing her first batch. Mmmm.
• While we’re talking food, I’ll go ahead and mention Canelle et Vanille, a stunning food blog I stumbled across this week. Former Ritz-Carlton chef Aran Goyoaga is now a stay-at-home mom, but still nurtures her love for cooking. Her recipes look tasty and her photography will make you drool. I think I want to be a food stylist/photographer now, thank you.
• Every Friday, Julia of Hooked on Houses posts about houses from movies and tv. My favorites are Meg Ryan’s dwellings as Annie in “Sleepless in Seattle” and Kathleen Kelly in “You’ve Got Mail,” as well as Barton Cottage in “Sense and Sensibility.” The bad real estate photos are also great entertainment!
• I didn’t just find this dress this week, but I absolutely love it. I bought it at JCPenney just in time to wear to my bridal shower – and then to our rehearsal dinner. (Okay, and I’m wearing it now.)

The photo of the week is from our wedding. Thank you, Caroline!

{Photo copyright Caroline Ghetes Photography.}

Food Lion currently has Ronzoni pasta on sale 2/$1.48 and Ronzoni has a mail-in rebate for $3 when you buy 6 boxes. This breaks down to: $1.48 x 3 = $4.44 (plus tax).

Add in $0.44 for your stamp to mail the rebate in, and you’re at $4.88 (plus tax), but you’ll be getting a $3 rebate, making those 6 boxes of pasta only $1.88.

Now, if your Food Lion has the Quick Cook pasta with peelies on them for $0.50 off, you’ll be able to get an even better deal. Buy 3 of the Quick Cook pastas, and then 3 more boxes of Ronzoni and your total will be $4.44 – $1.50 = $2.94 (plus tax).

Once you mail in the rebate, you’re at $3.38 (plus tax), and then you’ll get back $3.00, making your total for 6 boxes of pasta just $0.38. Not bad.

If you can find the $0.55/1 printables from Coupons.com, you’ll be able to get an even better deal!

{Note that the 2/$1.48 is for the regular Ronzoni pasta, not the Smart Taste or Healthy Harvest. These are not whole-wheat pastas.}

The morning of the wedding, I got up early to head to Wal-Mart with a couple of my bridesmaids. We bought whatever flowers we could find that were in the basic color palette I was looking for, then took them by the hotel we were staying at and left them in ice buckets and trashcans in one of our rooms. Then off to another grocery store for the second batch. When we arrived back at the hotel we discovered that all the corsage pins and floral tape had gotten left at the wedding site, so one more Wal-Mart run was in order.

With just over an hour left before our (already late) check-out, we started in on the 11 bouquets, 4 corsages, 2 boutonnieres, and 1 flower girl basket. All the bridesmaids made their own bouquets, and I made my bouquet as well as bouquets for the junior bridesmaid and the flower-girl-who-decided-in-the-midst-of-all-this-that-she-wanted-a-bouquet. The mother of one of my bridesmaids took on the task of making all the corsages and boutonnieres.

{My bouquet}{Photo copyright Caroline Ghetes Photography.}

We had a grand time working together, 13 of us all smashed into one hotel room, working around and with each other. The bouquets were finished in time for checkout, but we still hadn’t cleaned up the terrible mess we’d made.

My mom called down to the front desk and asked if we could get just another half an hour – and if we could purchase one ice bucket and one trashcan. They gave us the extra 30 minutes and probably wondered what our living room decor must look like if we wanted a hotel trashcan. But sell them to us they did and the flowers made it safely to the wedding venue, fiercely hydrated against the 107-degree weather outside.

Our DIY bouquets really weren’t that difficult, and we were able to keep the cost for all the wedding flowers very low. Our After Breakfast Bouquet-Making Session was probably my favorite part of the wedding prep. I love how each bouquet turned out so differently, and yet still looked like they went together.

{The bridesmaids’ bouquets}{Photo copyright Caroline Ghetes Photography.}

I borrowed my grandma’s pearls for my wedding and Caroline Ghetes captured this beautiful memory of Grandma fastening them around my neck.

{Photo copyright Caroline Ghetes Photography.}