our day in one year

One year from today (the date, not the day) I will be marrying my best friend, my love. I am so, so geeked!

We'll be tying the knot here, the Bay City Country Club:

With Bryan & Mae to document the day.

Sometimes our day is the only thing I want to think, talk about, look for inspiration for and plan. I'll probably be sharing some of our planning process and lots of APW links.

Our next step is to talk food, invitations and flowers.

Get geeked along with me, won't you?! ;) 365 days

August

Do you ever feel that the beginning of August brings with it the beginning of fall? It's no wonder with the Target aisles full of dorm room swag, Mead 5 Subject notebooks and pencils. As a kid of educators and a lover of school myself, August quickly ramps up with back to school festivities and then the fresh start of school itself.

This year I don't want to rush into fall, because there a great few weeks of summer still ahead of me. TWO vacations! a birthday! a wedding! another boating weekend! delicious bbq & racing pigs! in seasons foods! it's all gonna be so good and I want to enjoy it all. I want to continue to work on my summer list. Look, we have yet to walk to get ice cream! There's lots yet to do.

vacation with matt to the upper peninsula
buy a bicycle and ride it. 
camp
pick blueberries
have a cookout for friends
picnic in the park
purge and organize the craft room and main floor closet and library
rock boat weekend
mini vacation with momma
do a picture a day
spend most of a day floating on a lake, at least once
fireworks
celebrate birthdays with love and fun and we still have matt's coming up
fresh, local, simple foods and dinners, hello lover august
grow our own stuff
wrap a light string around the apple tree
chicago in the midst of it
get out of the house once a day
walk to get ice cream
visit as many great lakes as possible
make a list like this
make a book to record it all

I'm not the only one trying to hold on to the last bits of summer. Sheenas' beautiful canola background calendar is now gracing my desktop.

Wanderlust is something I'm enjoying a few little bits of this summer. I enjoyed Port Huron and views of the Blue Water Bridge with my momma two weekends ago. Cheboygan last weekend was fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun on the boat, boa-!

heading to hack-ma-tack via the cheboygan river.

Next week I'm off to visit my bestest in ChicagoOak Park. We have grand plans of a real girl's weekend with wine and cheese on the porch, junk food and movies, wandering her town and two full days to catch up!

Then it will be Matt's turn. Five uninterrupted days of vacation in the Upper Peninsula, visiting family soaking ourselves in the lake, a trip to a waterfall or a mine may be in store, definitely some beers and really good food. Much needed relaxation, for reals. Then we'll be home to celebrate his birthday the next weekend. Plans are brewing.

Matt's birthd-eve 2011

I really want to enjoy every bit of it and make the most of the 23 days we'll both be home throughout the month. Make it my goals to enjoy the house, cook fresh food, open the windows and work in the yard a bit, sit outside and enjoy the last few weeks of summer. I think it can be done.

goodness, i love that font. found on elise' blog

her august list.

blanks + senses + links + insta

  link up with lauren

 

1.  The best surprise ever would be if someone had invented a publicly available teleportation machine before this weekend and I could have stayed home and had a mostly relaxing yet productive weekend but also spent a couple of day eight hours away in Houghton with family. It mostly would have been the best surprise ever so that I wouldn't have stressed over the decision for weeks beforehand. I felt 50/50 the whole time.

 

2.  I'm feeling a bit removed from memories so I'm having a hard time thinking of my most favorite memory .

3.  The hardest, but most worthwhile thing I've ever done was moving to New York and being on my own for 18 months. It was hard because I was alone. It was worthwhile because I was alone.

4.  The best part of my day is the downtime in the evenings when Matt and I get to hang out, sometimes we veg hardcore, sometime we make dinner together, but we're together laughing about something, usually the cats. 

5. Something I like that most people don't is ranch dressing on my pasta & rice, no doubt.

6. Something I am willing to fight for is peace & quiet & calm in my home.

7.  Something you might not know about me is my house had an ant infestation on the porch. It was the in the top 10 the bug guy has seen in 10 years and 3,000 houses. TOP 10.

good morning, these cups makes me nostalgic for new york.

Seeing: sunshine and a quiet house. thankful. the yellow pages that guiltily remind me i did not get a property line survey lined up for next week.

Making: 

Watching: three episodes of Glee, earlier today. I think three is my max.
Hearing: songs in my iTunes, i'm trying to clean out the music I don't like.

Quoting: 99% of life is mundane, so it's important to remember to enjoy the everyday.  -Amanda's dad.

Anticipating: Matt getting home and deciding what to do with the rest of our day, out and about or lazing about. and then the rest of our weekend. I have a to do list to tackle.

Loving: this lazy day. i needed it.

Feeling: ready for a shower.

 

 good afternoon, making the switch from coffee to beer on a holiday weekend.

elise's summer vacation book.
sheen is making jealous of summer foods that grows in (not even) June and not October!
beca of tumbleweeds will be featured on fab in two weeks, i can't wait!
Koubachi gives your plants a voice, I downloaded this app as soon as I discovered it! thanks swissmiss.
After reading this it was fun to see this Marc John's illustration a few blogs down. It's so true. I'm also basically allergic to "big talk too."
Um, yes: Win A Free Wedding!
There is some serious stamp love and developing going on out there.
This. Gorgeous lady. (bonus, a new blog to follow!)
Great cover. I was so proud to be supporting President Obama on my car that day. Reading Meg's reactions on twitter really brought it home too. (one reposted on the blog)

15 Great Tips for making a marriage last 15 years remember this gem too.
already prepping for the holiday season. 
I've never paid for a photo app, but I'm excited to try out VSCO cam after Amanda Jane's recommendation.

I'm going to need to remember this. This is a great post about working with vendors. It annoys me to now end that there are only two Michigan vendors on A Practical Wedding, and both over three hours away. I mean there have to be vendors out there, close by, that align with a Pactical and sane wedding. Right?! I mean, I hope so. I certainly concerns me.... side track.  So, I love that they end with:  

And if you find a vendor that totally has APW values but doesn't know about us yet, do us all a favor and have them apply for the vendor directory! Trust me, we all want to know their details.

Read more: http://apracticalwedding.com/2012/05/how-to-hire-wedding-vendors-photographers-caterers/#ixzz1vuuIUteM

good day, spent the day reading blogs (the reader had gotten out of control once again) and posting links here. 

the cats embraced the gloriously lazy day as well.

Budgeting: What works for us

Following on the tails of some discussion of budgeting in relationship on the interwebs I figured I would post what worked for us. I know it helps me when I read what works for other people.

This is my comment from Rachel's post, {living in sin} The Joint Checking Account.

When Matt and I had our budget conversation, partially assisted by your original post, thanks!, we sat down with our two paychecks for a month each and all of our bills (student loans, cell phones, car insurance/payments), plus adding to our savings. With that information we were able to figure out what we each were able to contribute towards the monthly bills (mortgage, utilities, cable, house taxes and insurance.) Because what we spend each month on groceries fluctuates we decided Matt would save receipts when he bought groceries and we’d total that up with what I spent* and we’d split the percentage.

One of the things that makes a joint checking account a hard sell for me is I use a Rewards credit card that I really like, I’ve had it for a while and racked up quite a few point. I can’t imagine changing from accumulating rewards to just using a debit account. (I’ve never not paid of my credit card in full at the end of a month.) Matt’s not as sold on the credit card rewards as I am, plus he likes the credit union he uses. I can’t change banks because of the mortgage, I received a discount when I purchased my (our) house.

I also learned that while I love playing with numbers and budgeting it can make Matt a bit uncomfortable. I was excited to sit down and budget last year, this year I’ll be more reserved and make less of a geeky deal about it.

Thank you for this post. It kickstarted a couple of questions for Matt and I as we enter our second year of living together and will be revisiting our budget again soon. This budget conversation will bring practical discussion of traveling, growing our family, wedding costs, possible business ventures we’re dreaming of, really where we want our money to go in the future and how to start that now.

One more thing, reading the Practical Wedding post this statement caught my attention,

“Second, marriage is about pulling together. It’s about building a life together, through thick and thin. When we don’t let our partners pay down our debt with us, not only are we not letting them love us and support us, but we’re also not letting them help-us-pay-off-the-damn-debt-so-we-can-save-for-a-downpayment-together (practical considerations, says the woman working hard to pay down her husband’s law school loans).” http://apracticalwedding.com/2012/03/combining-finances-marriage-wedding/#ixzz1qqQ9lDqs 

While we’re working to individually pay down our debt now I can definitely see our conversation next year moving towards the joint checking account and working together to chip away a debt to make those plans above become reality.

lovey pins

hi.

this post was supposed to go up eight days ago, but then my grandma was in the hospital and priorities changed. priorities. i haven't been much of a blogger these past couple of months and i'm okay that. i'm loving reading my old favorite blogs and my newest favorite. i've been pinning more and that's fun. it's not even as dangerous as i thought it'd be. my love and i went on vacation. it was warm. my mum and i went skiing. life has happened, and it's been mostly really, very good.

click here to see the full board. 

oh and there was a treasury too. 

THANKFUL

As I {st}rolled through my reader this morning I enjoyed reliving many Thanksgiving celebrations and taking note of what others are thankful for. So before I start gushing about how excited I am for Christmas-time I decided to take a moment and share what I am thankful for. 

I'm thankful for my wonderful boyfriend Matt who bought me a glass blowingworking groupon, rode with me two hours to Dearborn, drove when I couldn't handle the lights anymore (bad reflective glasses?), was ready to just kill three hours waiting for me during the class, then drove us back home staying patient even when my shotty navigation kept taking us out our way. I'm truly thankful for all that he offers me and the love he brings into my life. 

Last year I did a bit of sharing what I was thankful for each day on blog posts in November. I'll bring that back next year for sures, because as I was trying to remember all that I am thankful for on Thursday it was hard to list everything.

   

Here is my list from last year. I am thankful for my cozy home. amazing, creative people like those who've made these videos. my orange boots. [not being afraid of color, wearing five different, solid blocks of color today. maybe too much of good thing.] hope. dreams. adventure. hope. this new beginning. a fresh start, the perk of a monday.  the sunshine streaming in. warming my heart and home! feeling whole and goal filled! having hair that i usually don't hate.

    

I did a quick search of my blog and found these things that I shared my thanks for, Lauren at the little things we do does a good job asking you to fill in the blank of what your thankful for the whole year through.

I am thankful for new love, family, the holiday season, a great meal, my wonderful home, sweet kitties, a good job, loud laughter, ridiculousness, friends, honesty, caring, silliness, happiness and seeing the beauty of everyday.

I am so thankful for the love and support I have in my life. The good health of [most] everyone I care for. I'm thankful that I'm strong on my own as well. 

The best things catch me by surprise and then I'm thankfully reminded how beautiful the world is.

Today I am thankful for an hour long chat with intelligent co-workers from a different workgroup.

This is my list from this past Thursday 2011:

Thankful for: Matt, family, kitties, friends, sleeping in, good food, my health, coffee, the Olympics, apple cider, the holiday season, laughter, family and friends x2, tights, color, travel, my job, football, dog shows ;), music, television, sunshine, snow, oranges, apples, hot showers, a roof over my head, the silly kitties, and once again Matt! That's a ton of stuff, and I'd come up with more but it's time to take a hot shower and put on some tights and spend the day with Matt and his lovely family celebrating all that we are thankful for!!

What I'm trying to say is, there is SO MUCH to be thankful for. 

Life is good.

Traverse City // Mission Peninsula // November 5 & 6

Traverse City // Mission Peninsula // November 5 & 6


You know it's going to be a good weekend when your waiter says, "I don't normally say this, but you know you guys are ordering a lot of food, right?" Oh, we knew it and it was and it was so totally worth it.

This weekend was total decadence. As much as we loved the food there's no photographic evidence, but here it is in drinks and scenery.

2 lads winery

the views at 2 lads

A walk. The colors were STUNNING. 

Thankful for micro-climates!

We're adorbs. per ushe. ;)

The Jolly Pumpkin

Right Brain Brewery

Bowers Harbor

Finally, the view from our room at the Tesoro Inn a beautiful, contemporary bed and breakfast!

nostalgia

I broke out my old Babar pillow case the other day.

Matt came home with his Transformers sheets soon after.

We're adorable.

a loVe story

Evey & V

“but you cannot kiss an idea, cannot touch it, or hold it… ideas do not bleed, they do not feel pain, they do not love… And it is not an idea that I miss, it is a man… A man that made me remember the Fifth of November. A man that I will never forget. ”

Valerie & V/Evey

“It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place, but for three years I had roses and apologized to no one. I shall die here. Every inch of me shall perish. Every inch, but one. An inch. It is small and it is fragile and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must NEVER let them take it from us. I hope that whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the worlds turns, and that things get better. But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that, even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you, I love you. With all my heart, I love you. Valerie.” movie still.

Valerie & Ruth

“I met Ruth. The first time we kissed, I knew I never wanted to kiss any other lips but hers again. We moved to a small flat in London together. She grew Scarlet Carsons for me in our window box, and our place always smelled of roses. Those were there best years of my life.”

Anniversary Retrospective

Our anniversary was at the beginning of October, but since we were busy with festival Matt waited until the next weekend to pull this celebration together.

{blurry} dinner table overview / lots of planning / demolished sushi / oreo stuffed chocochip cookies / books* / the most important part of the fort that wasn't. forts are hard. what's the secret? / pumpkin margaritas

all of the things Matt did for this night were things that we'd enjoyed together over the past year. i absolutely loved it. good job bebe.

*I asked Matt "what would David Foster Wallace have thought of this combo?" He said, " I hope he would be proud."

hello fall colours: red

How and why do I always miss the start of color week? 

I love colour week.  

I didn't take any pictures Monday, but I have this funny, red tinged one from Sunday. Thanks kitchen.

I am going to eat your face.

It will be fun to be on the lookout for photos simply based on the colors they capture over the next few days. Yellow here I come. 

reminder via hula seventy

it's Friday!

hello hello! design / via swiss miss

1.   The most selfless thing I've ever done is escaping me. Maybe I'm not a selfless person. I am, I just got nothing for you.

2.   When it comes to working out I am trying to establish a lifelong routine. I've learned that I'm better off when I have someone to hold myself accountable to, a friend to swim with, classes with teachers that motivate me. 

My October goal of "Work out three - four times a week, plus at least once with Matt." is going ok, I've worked at least once each week but not at all with Matt. I'm thinking this weekend I'm going to change that. You ready buddy?

3.  A woman should always, I've got to go with Lacey's here, respect herself. "You can't expect someone to respect you if you don't respect yourself." 

Did you know it's domestic violence awareness month? I've found making jokes about it is a great way of letting people know. Which sounds worse than it is. I happen to have this giant bruise from giving blood last week (10 days and counting) and so I tell people Matt and I are doing an experiment to see if anyone notices my "injuries" because it's Domestic Violence Awareness month. People roll their eyes and laugh, but then they know.

4. I wish I could sleep in until I was ready to wake up and then I'd get a few chores done around the house, then head to work, but still get out before it was dark out or in the summer by 5 or so.

5.  A best friend is the person who knows all the good and bad and weird things about you and it makes them love you even more because that's what makes you you.

6.  I can't get enough of whining that it's not Fall-like yet, soon to be replaced by whining that I'm too cold.

7.  This weekend I am cooking squash if I make it to the farm on time, making sundried tomatoes (see below), finishing up my Fall clothes transitions, rethinking my Halloween decorations (see inspiration below),  CLEANING!, watching the Michigan State v. Michigan game, watching the Tigers try to beat Texas, more vegging and watching the tube while hanging with my love, blogging, reading, probably seeing parents, and that about sums it up. 

 hopefully there's lots of this. 

{which is weird to say because I used to be a Michigan fan. It's questionable I'm sure to change sides, but I'd rather root together than have a split household. Each of us would have to claim a cat as a fan of their respective team. That'd be hilarious. Michigan's fight song is still better.}

Blanks via Fill in the Blank Friday

LINKS

Matt & I were featured on Free Crappy Portraits: film festival. so silly. Aren't the internets great?

There's some serious Halloween/crafty/Fall inspiration popping up, with just 17 days until that spooky night. oragmi bats, festive wreath made of ties, impressive mantle (from Rachel D's link up), holy crapy how beautiful is this family and the photos from Arrow & Apple? I've definitely found a new blog to follow.

Arrow & Apple

I follow Sheena from the little red house because of her beautiful photos, yummy foods she cooks up for her sweet family. This week her I am. post stirred controversy, and I have to give her props for sharing her Mormon faith. I'm not a religious {apparently, I don't even know how to spell it} person in the slightest and consider myself agnostic, but I think what she shared has a space and a weight that I wanted to share with you. Religious or not, be kind to yourself and others.

I am glad that Sheena blogs. Today she's sharing her senses, and I'll be happily making sundried tomatoes thanks to the reminder. I am also stealing the senses prompts.

SENSES

Craving: the Mandarin House sesame chicken we'll be having for dinner. mmm. It's going to be such a good food weekend.

Seeing: fall colors vibrant on the trees.

Dazzling Luxury  

{I have a whole post planned about how much I love this tumblr.}

Smelling: the imaginary delicious aromas of pizza I decided we should make this weekend. I'm thinking tomatoes, zucchini, onions, squash, bell pepper. reminiscent of this.

Making: sundried tomatoes, squash smorg, fried eggs for toast.

Watching: football, Knocked Up, Parks & Rec

Wondering: Are you enjoying my blogging? I've done it every day this month.

Quoting: "I have looked down the long days of our lives together, she said & in all directions, there is no future without love" -storypeople

Anticipating: A relaxing and productive weekend. I had been planning to go away, but forgot to actually make the plan, so it's like we have a ton of found time and I hope to make the most of it.

Loving: that today is the first day I'm wearing tights. hello Fall.

Feeling: chilly but ok with it. I need to invest in some legwarmers.

There is something I really love about this post. Sharing bits of life and what I'm excited about.

lucky kitty glass

 Hello Mr Awesome...

Tonight brings us another episode of How I Met Your Mother. Do you think he will ever meet her? I'm not sure. I think he will continue to just Mosby up the Lily & Marshall story. That is something Matt likes to refer to when we watch. I'll have him find some links to share just what that means.

I'm really posting this to ask you a question or maybe ask a favor. Have you ever seen these kitty drinking glasses? They're the lucky Chinese cats you see in Asian restaurant. There's one at our favorite sushi place.

Incase you missed it.

 So... Chinese lucky drinking glasses, any leads? Thanks friends.

PS. A funny story. When the scene first started I noticed the glasses right away and had already rationalized to myself that we really didn't need these and we might never use them. Then Matt noticed them, looked at me and said, we need those. Do you see what they are?! :) I love him, no doubt about it.

Saturday at the Masonic

great films / new shoes / beers (that brought us together) / leslie sisson

Sunday \\ Anniversary love.