a happy list

 1.  Breakfast in bed.

It's official, people.  The hubs is super

handsome AND the sweetest!

2.  Sunshine.

I've been loving these magical

late summer days - the crispness of

fall plus the bright cheer of summer

is the best mixture!

3.  Weekend trip.

We're heading north to see my

parentals this weekend.  Hurray

for happy family visits!

4.  Birthday love.

Nothing like a million texts,

calls and fb messages to make

a girl feel totally loved.  Thanks,

guys...you're sweet!

Hope you find some happy things 

in your day today too!

*image

true generosity

 Isn't that the best? 

We could just trudge along, 

you know.  But I never get very far 

on my own joy or strength, 

so I'm grateful that we serve 

a God who is generous with

the good stuff!

*via this cute shop

stormy sunday

 It was a bit of a wet weekend around these 

parts as the not-so-ladylike Irene blew through 

New England.  Our little neighborhood fared

very well with very minor damage and no real

flooding to speak of, so the hubs and I enjoyed

a quiet, cozy day inside.  We spent lots of time

in the kitchen together making yummy things,

but the whoopie pies were by far the best!

 

Making them brought back many happy

memories of Saturday baking with Grammy,

which was neat.  Isn't it funny how tastes

and smells hold so much memory?

Hope your weekend was safe & dry!

 

 

friday!

 I'm feeling pretty darn good about

today being Friday...aren't you?

*image

bite-sized

 A confession:

I spend far too much time dreaming

up fun ideas for dinner parties, 

birthday bashes, and holiday fun.

My latest obsession is the idea of 

an appetizer party... where everything

is bite-sized and adorably presented. 

Sounds fun, right?  

And then at end of the evening, 

wouldn't you want to have one 

(or two!) of these darling little 

doughnuts with a shot of cold milk?  

*image

it's the little things

Last night was one of those blissful, 

quiet evenings that makes me love being 

married to my best friend.

The hubs made us a fun dinner, then we

snuggled on the couch and watched Once.   

If you're into music, this movie is sort of 

magical...we were both mesmerized!

Then we realized that the leads from

the movie have made several lovely 

albums together as  The Swell Season.   

(Jackpot!)  The hubs had great fun 

downloading his faves and playing along 

on his guitar.  And as every girl knows, 

sitting and listening to your man play 

music is always amazing!

So to make a long story much shorter:

we had a quiet night which was happily 

filled with good music.  My ability

to ramble even amazes me sometimes...

more summer, please

 Mornings and evenings are rapidly

adopting that undeniably crisp feeling of

fall, but I'm still not quite ready to let

go of summer.  I still want to grill a few

more fabulous meals, have a couple more

lazy naps in the sunshine, and I still want

to make this easy ice cream cake!

How about you?  Are you clinging to 

summertime like me, or are you ready

to embrace fall in all it's glory?  :)

*recipe here

happy weekend!

 Some days you just need a nap...

Hope your weekend has room 

for a little snooze!

*image

strengthened

Ever notice how sneaky the enemy is when

it comes to stealing our joy and peace?

Over the last few days I've been slowly getting

more and more overwhelmed with work and 

the busyness of life.  It happens gradually...with
just a few things here and there until suddenly

it all adds up to complete stress and panic.

  This morning as I sat on the couch in tears,

my amazing hubs encouraged me to spend some

time clinging to God's promises - which was
precisely what I needed to hear.  And when
I flipped open to Isaiah 40 and 41, I found
precisely what I needed to read. 

It's refreshing to hand over my worries 

to the Creator, and so energizing to put my hope

in his power.  When I do, I realize just how

inadequate my power is, and how much
better life is when I'm letting the Spirit lead.

If you're running low on your own strength,
or trying to do things without the peace
and joy of the Spirit, take a few minutes
to read these incredible promises.  

It's sure made the difference in my day.

*via

pinterest inspiration

 Anyone else love playing around with Pinterest? 

There are so many good ideas, pretty pictures, 

and yummy recipes - it's a little addicting.

I noticed a common theme today on one of 

my boards...fun wrapping ideas!  Which if you 

have ever seen my giant bin of wrapping 

paper & ribbons, isn't really all that shocking.  :)

How lovely are all these little beauties in 

brown paper?  The top one is just a strip of

glue with confetti - which I think is genius!

I also love this one with the balloons - 

so cute and cheerful! 

Are you on Pinterest?  

What fun things are you finding? 

rainy day color

 We're having a couple of lovely,

rainy days in these parts.  Although

the sunshine is my favorite, sometimes 

a quiet rainy day just hits the spot.

I've been loving this series of prints

on Etsy for a while.  Don't these colors 

seem particularly luscious and 

cheerful on a grey day? 

*via

home again

We spent our weekend away in the 

oh so fabulous town of Newport, RI.  

 It was great fun to be cute little tourists 

and explore the glorious "summer cottages" 

of the Vanderbilts and their pals from back 

in the day.  If you've never seen them, it's 

definitely worth the trip!

 

We took loads of photos (with our

Polaroid baby of course)...so here 

are some fun highlights!

 

 (1)  Fabulous grounds at The Elms

(2) Romantic gardens at Rosecliff

(3) Kisses at Chateau-sur-Mer

(4) Chinese Tea House at The Marble House

 

 (1) Chateau-sur-Mer

(2) Lounging at The Breakers

(3) Fabulous lawn at The Breakers

(4) Grand entrance at The Elms

(1) Rainy Boston on the way home

(2) Kicking butt at the arcade

(3) We loved Rosecliff!

(4) Our strange little B&B

*The Breakers

roadtrip

 In an effort to soak up every possible

second of summer, we're hitting the

road this weekend for a little adventure.

I'm looking forward to exploring and 

spending time with my handsome guy.

Everything is just more fun together!

*image

just because

In my humble (and kind of dorky) opinion,

this is the best office skit ever.

Happy Friday :)

happy things

 1. Gorgeous day.

It's one of those clear, sunshiney

summer days that slyly hints of

the crisp fall to come.  Glorious!

2. Breakfast chats.

I got to start off my day by hanging

out with one of my lovelies.  I adore

our time together, and always come away

encouraged by her heart & friendship.

3. The hubs.

Doing life with my best friend is so 

fun.  We've been enjoying our summer

evenings with lots of grilling, walking, 

swimming...and ice cream, of course!

4. Cake stand cuteness.

Another of my lovelies just gave

us the most adorable cake stand as

a wedding present...and I'm so

excited to go home and frost a cake

tonight just so I can use it!

5. Worship music.

Thanks to the magic of Pandora, 

I've been enjoying a great mix of tunes 

at my desk.  On stressful or super 

busy days, it makes all the difference

in my perspective and attitude!

*image

his & hers

 

I'm loving these "His & Hers" diptychs.

Makes me want to carry our little 

Polaroid clunker around everywhere 

and be more creative!

*found here

deep breath...

A confession:  When I get too 

much on my plate and start feeling 

overwhelmed, I just want to run away.  

I know I should roll up my sleeves and 

just do my best, but sometimes it's very 

tempting to believe that I'll never get it

all done perfectly and just check out. 

Today I'd much rather go find a spot like 

this than deal with the mountain of stressful 

projects on my desk, but instead I'm

going to take a deep breath, say a little 

prayer, and try to be more like the woman 

described in Proverbs 31:25...

She is clothed in strength and dignity, 

and she laughs without fear of the future.

*image

anticipation

 After working on it all weekend,

we finally ordered our wedding photo

album this morning, and now all

either of us can think about it getting

it in the mail to ooooh and aahhh over!

Thanks again to Matthew Lomanno 

for capturing our day so wonderfully.  

It was almost impossible to choose

which pictures to include because

we love all of them!  :)

*Matthew Lomanno Photography

everyone loves a sale

 Last week the handsome guy talked me

into buying the most gorgeous white

coat for winter.  It was priced pretty darn

well but we used our mad deal-making

skills to talk them down another 20% 

due to some missing buttons.  Sa-weet!

So now the search is on for cute 

buttons...and my supermodel pose

since apparently that's what you do in

a white coat!  ;)  Happy weekend!

*via

adorable

A happy little video for your Friday!

 

*DESIGNLOVEFEST from Dan Addelson on Vimeo.

pretty

 I'm loving this bangle bracelet lately.

Isn't it sweet?  There's about a million other 

nice ones in her shop...go take a peek!

*etsy, of course

day tripper

Here's a peek at some of our fun excursions from 

last week...all by our funky little Polaroid!

 

(1) In the White Mountain National Forest, (2) Lunch at the Mount Washington Hotel, 

(3) Morning at Newfound Lake, (4) Veranda at our B&B, 

(5) Mini-Flume near Franconia Notch, (6) Riding the train in North Conway

purpose

Isn't it easy to get wrapped up in what's going

on in our lives and forget our purpose?

I'm not talking about the tasks on our 

to-do list or the stuff that often defines us.  

(i.e. jobs, relationships and titles...)  

 I'm talking about something bigger than 

myself...and I think this verse really sums it up.

 Thoughts?

*via