#465: oh em gee.

i think i found my centerpiece. mercy me.

step-by-step instructions on once wed. (twice in one day. seriously, emily's awesome.)

imagine all the wonderful table conversations that are waiting to be had around these rock candy (!!!) centerpieces.

"i wonder if this is crystal."
"maybe they're rough cut diamonds."
"i don't know why but i feel like licking one."
"it tastes like candy."
"sweet."
"dude."

oh. and i've also decided to DIY our guys' bouts.

inspired by the uber crafty chelsea of oh my deer.

p.s. i didn't know i would end up wanting to DIY so much. but with 5 months left, and having seriously caught the crafty bug, i'm more than ok with taking these on. in fact, i'm really excited to have found these projects...projects that will definitely help us make the wedding more "us". the aesthetic as it is right now (aka BLANK) leaves much to be desired...so i'm hoping these little handmade bits will infuse a whole lot of us-ness into the day.

it's getting personal.

#464: more idears.

thank you jd.

a felt garland? i think i can.

*step-by-step instructions on the purl bee.

LONDON - on the street, soho, 12/18/08

#463: garland love.

via frolic.

maybe i can make my own version in shades of white. or something.

edit: closed this post too soon.

because here's another beautiful garland that i can make.

via once wed.

********************************************

i've decided. it's garland day everyday until i decide which garland to start working on for the ceremony space. and of course, your two cents is always appreciated.

this is a DIY project i can get behind. can't wait.

Principle # 1: People face tradeoffs

Two Views of Housing Policy

Glenn Hubbard and Chris Mayer:

Recent news articles suggest that the Treasury Department is considering a plan to offer a 4.5% mortgage for home buyers for a period of time. Let's hope it does. It would help arrest the decline in house prices that is at the base of the ongoing financial crisis and recession.

Ed Glaeser and Joe Gyourko:

Encouraging everyone to make highly leveraged bets on housing was patently a mistake. Housing policies of the past also erred by aiming at amorphous, often contradictory objectives, including higher homeownership rates, more affordable housing units and, most recently, higher prices. Those policies then mistakenly applied the same policy medicine to every housing market, whether housing was abundant and inexpensive or scarce and unaffordable. The problems of old-style housing policy are well illustrated by the unwise proposal being considered to provide subsidized loans to home buyers at 4.5 percent interest.

Art Laffer agrees with Al Gore

...and confirms his membership the Pigou Club:

The Obama team's chatter about creating jobs in alternative renewable energies is hollow to say the least. Here's why: Any serious attempt to reduce carbon emissions must ultimately rely on a very large tax on the use of fossil fuels. And a very large tax on fossil fuels as an add-on to the taxes we already pay would drive the economy deeper into the ground -- with or without alternative renewable energy jobs.

The only real solution is Al Gore's proposal to offset a carbon tax dollar-for-dollar with either an income or payroll tax reduction. If a carbon tax increase were offset dollar-for-dollar with an income tax rate cut, I for one would strongly support the policy. The economy would benefit because the progressive income tax does far more damage than a carbon tax would, and we'd use less oil. It's a win-win situation. Yet this perspective appears to be totally outside the Obama team's ken.