Wednesday, August 31, 2011

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!



Tuesday, August 30, 2011

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!



Monday, August 29, 2011

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, August 26, 2011

friday!

 I'm feeling pretty darn good about
today being Friday...aren't you?



Thursday, August 25, 2011

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?  


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

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...


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

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?  :)



Saturday, August 20, 2011

happy weekend!

 Some days you just need a nap...

Hope your weekend has room 
for a little snooze!




Thursday, August 18, 2011

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.



Wednesday, August 17, 2011

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? 


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

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? 



Monday, August 15, 2011

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

Saturday, August 13, 2011

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!



Friday, August 12, 2011

just because



In my humble (and kind of dorky) opinion,
this is the best office skit ever.

Happy Friday :)

Thursday, August 11, 2011

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.
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!



Wednesday, August 10, 2011

his & hers


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

Makes me want to carry our little 
Polaroid clunker around everywhere 
and be more creative!




Tuesday, August 9, 2011

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.



Monday, August 8, 2011

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!  :)



Saturday, August 6, 2011

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!



Friday, August 5, 2011

adorable



A happy little video for your Friday!
 

Thursday, August 4, 2011

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!



Wednesday, August 3, 2011

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

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

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?