SIMPLY HOLIDAYS: Gift Guide for the Cats + Dinosaur Lover

Today I interrupt our regular wedding & bridal blog posts for a very random post that is kind of related to Ivory + Beau in the sense that we love cats and dinosaurs. I mean really love cats and dinosaurs. That being said, do you love cats? We love cats. I mean really love cats. I mean we love cats so much that on a day when we are avoiding work you can probably find us looking at funny cat pictures or videos. Love love love cats. Love cats so much that if you were to friend me on Facebook you would probably find my feed filled with my friends posting funny cat pictures all over my Facebook. Its a real serious situation. We just love cats. But the thing is we also love dinosaurs. And I may have started this gift guide focused on cats but then I kept running across the most adorable dinosaur lover gifts and just had to make this for the cats AND dinosaurs lovers (i.e. Adrienna and me). And I mean if you have ever been to our shop you will know we love dinosaurs considering Wilbur is our mascot and we have gold dinosaurs everywhere hidden. So today here to share my Christmas wish list, I mean my gift guide for the cat + dinosaur lover friend. We all have one. And if you're friends with Adrienna and myself well then, you are just so lucky because you don't just have one you have two. So here are my top picks that I love. Meow. Rawr.

1. Cats Enough for Now Wine Stopper from ModCloth? See the thing is I love wine and I love cats. So I love this. And want this. And if it doesn't magically appear in my stocking well I may be buying one for myself. Just saying...

2. Year of the Critter Cat Calendar. We must of course continue the tradition of having a cat calendar in the shop. Last year we had an I Could Pee on This calendar but this year I'm thinking this one would be the perfect one for our wall.

3. Paleo in Comparison Cookie Cutters. Cutest cookie cutters ever. Rawr.

4. Born to be a Wildcat Pillow. I love funny statement pillows and think they are so fun when in small doses. Such a surprise. Maybe for that guest room or on the couch with all those other fashionable throw pillows. Or maybe just a special pillow designated for your cat so that your cat doesn't get fur over every other pillow the way mine do. But really? Ask any cat owner and they will tell you that you can never have enough pillows.

5. Jurassic Perk Socks. I don't feel like you can ever have enough socks. Especially when you are a skirts & boots girl like me. I love all my high socks that I rock under my Frye boots. They are just the best. Especially since my toes are always cold. I guess its a ginger thing supposedly, being sensitive to temperature and all. But yeah, I love my socks. And I also find it hilarious to give my nephews funny socks. I don't know if they think its as funny as I think it is but thats okay. Smiles are contagious.

6. Brunch-osaurus Shaker Set. Okay you don't even know how hard it is for me to stop myself from buying these right now. No really, they are in my shopping cart on ModCloth as we speak. But I keep telling myself, no Nicole. Now is not the time of year that we buy adorable brontosaurus salt shakers for ourselves but rather this is the time of year we think about giving our friends and families gifts instead. Must. Not. Purchase. This.

7. Fine Dino-ing Bowl. Who can ever have enough bowls? I use bowls for everything from cereal to feeding my cats to put jewelry in to eating spaghetti.

8. Don't Mew Look Cute Earrings. I am all about wearing jewelry that is doning my favorite 2 animals and these earrings are no exception. Adorable, pretty and meow.

{Shopping Guide} Cats Enough for Now Wine Stopper via ModCloth // Year of the Critter Cat Calendar via ModCloth  // Paleo in Comparison Cookie Cutters via ModCloth  // Born to be a Wildcat Pillow via ModCloth  // Jurassic Perk Socks via ModCloth // Brunch-osaurus Shaker Set via ModCloth // Fine Dino-ing Bowl via ModCloth // Don't Mew Look Cute Earrings via ModCloth

THOUGHTS TUESDAY #6: Ivory + Beau Dinosaurs

Why dinosaurs? This is a question we hear pretty much every single day. I guess my first reply is why not? Why not have a mascot that makes absolutely no sense at all and that are hidden all over your store. From underneath the dress racks, to the top looking down on you, to our desk, to our bar cart filled with accessories. They are everywhere. And Wilbur. Don't even get me started on Wilbur. He adorns the wall as you walk into our shop. So back to the question, why dinosaurs? I guess why not really isn't a very valid answer at all. So I guess today I am going to explain, why dinosaurs. Here goes...

I've always liked dinosaurs as a kid growing up. I can remember having a big picture book with dinosaurs and I can remember watching Land Before Time all the time on television. I had a little boy friend (not boyfriend, I was definitely that super awkward ugly ginger kid who none of the boys ever liked you can trust me on that one.) But anyway, so I had a little boy friend and we used to play monster trucks and dinosaurs together. And I just always liked them. As I grew up I guess I got away from it but when back in the wedding industry I became enamored with the little gold dinosaurs that I had seen on wedding blogs and I just was drawn to them. When I got my first real girl place I went out and bought some dinosaurs, sprayed them gold and they hung out in my living room and I loved them.

Fast forward a few months when Adrienna + I started decorating the shop and I was also in the process of moving from my home to a new home downtown. I had all these crazy dinosaurs with no where to put them since I was moving to a smaller place. So like most of my inventory stuff for weddings that was taking over my house I brought it all to the shop. Including a box full of gold dinosaurs. We loved it. It made us happy. We put them around the shop in all the nicks and crannies you can think of. Adrienna found a large t-rex golden head dinosaur, Wilbur, online and we oohed and aahed over how cool he was. We agreed that after we sold our first gown we would buy Wilbur. And we sold our first gown and we did just that. We bought Wilbur. And we gave Wilbur a home on our wall. And it slowly transformed into our mascot.

The meaning behind the dinosaurs has transformed and evolved, unlike dinosaurs were ever able to do since I guess unfortunately extinction is forever. The dinosaurs in our shop have evolved and to us they now represent our mission as a bridal shop. We strive to make shopping for your wedding gown a happy and fun experience. We don't want to be a stuffy bridal shop. We want our brides to be comfortable and feel at home when walking in. With the vintage furniture, which feels like a living room to the gold dinosaurs everywhere we want brides to feel like she is in a fun and comfortable environment. And so the dinosaurs serve as a daily reminder of what we want, what we stand for, and what we want every bride's experience to be like. Mascot is born. And mascot will stay.

{Photo Credits} All images via Nicole's iPhone