Celebrations

Oh that's why everyone is wearing green!

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via martha stewart

Yep, I completely forgot today was St. Patrick's Day. It wasn't until J. and I went to lunch at my uncle's restaurant did I notice (and only because everyone was wearing green. My uncle even had a green hat and bow tie!) Thankfully, no one pinched me :)

But with all of the rainy weather here in Atlanta, it just doesn't feel like St. Patty's Day- let alone March. Normally, I'd already have a dozen or two shamrock cookies in the oven, a green dress on, and the table set with green napkins etc, but instead, I am curled up on the couch with my computer working on my taxes. Luckily though, my blanket does have green in it so I don't feel too badly.

and who knows. maybe by dinner tonight I'll get into the spirit and break out the green. If nothing else, I'll at least put on my favorite green dress...(Being Irish it seems only right!)

Hope everyone is having a fantastic St. Patrick's Day! Enjoy the festivities and be safe!

Daylight Savings

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Forgot to share this fun tidbit.

I completely forgot about the time change this past weekend. With the time difference already messing with me all day Saturday, I completely forgot to change our clocks. Normally wouldn't be a big deal, except we had a birthday party for our friend's daughter (she turned one!) I was talking to my mom on the phone when my cell started to mess up and I had to hang up. For some reason, I decided to check the time on my phone as opposed to my bedside clock and I saw that the party was to start in 10 minutes.

I thought it was starting in an hour and 10 minutes.

My hair was still wet, I was in my robe, and our friends live 40 minutes away.

To say the least, I've never gotten dressed and wrapped a gift so quickly :)

Whoops.

Love stories (ours.)

in ,
our wedding photo via tim will photography

I promised our story, so here it goes.

J. and I met by chance the fall semester of my junior year in college. I was running late for the first day of lab* & by the time I got there only two spots were left for me to sit. One by a really cute guy (J.) and one by a guy who seemed like he wouldn't be very much of a conversationalist. Of course I picked the seat across from J, and rushed over to it before another latecomer could beat me to it. It took a few days of talking before he started to open up, but once he did we instantly bonded. I felt something with him that I hadn't felt with anyone- not even my then boyfriend of 2 years. It was as though I had known him forever- like he was the best friend I'd always been looking for. And much like Melissa, I thought a "taken" girl could still have guy friends, right? When I thought about it, almost all of my friends were guys, so having J. as another felt completely natural. Of course something was different with him- and even though I wouldn't admit it to myself, I knew he was special. I think I even told my roommate at the time that I'd made a new friend. Seriously? was I six? Who announces their new friends? :)

Anyhow, soon lab wasn't long enough for our conversations and he began walking me home. On other days he'd ask to copy my notes from class when he had miss a day so we'd get to catchup then.** Like I mentioned, at the time, I was dating someone else so J. never asked for my number or asked me on a date. He didn't want to push anything and kept hoping I'd break it off with this other guy and he'd get his chance. Luckily his patience allowed us to become amazing friends & really get to know each other.

On the day before winter break, I ran into him before our final & asked if he wanted to sit with me during the exam. He did, & before it started he handed me his number. Knowing I might actually never see him again- I was an art major, he was studying biology/pre- pharmacy- I actually got sick during the final and had to leave early.*** It really caught me off guard because it was one of the first times I realized how much not seeing him would actually bother me.

The next 3 months I didn’t see J. as often as I would have liked, but we still talked almost every day. When I was sick he’d bring me soup and chocolate & he’d call and wish me luck on art critiques I was stressign over. Overall, he was the perfect best friend & although I still got butterflies talking to him, I wanted to believe that was all he was. It wasn’t until the weekend before spring break that I realized he meant so much more to me. I woke up vomiting & barely able to stay conscious & I called my then boyfriend. He told me to take a Tylenol, lay down, and I believe something about "shaking it off." Well this wasn't going to just "shake off," and not knowing what to do I called J. He picked me up within 10 minutes, carried me to the car, & took me to our university’s clinic- waiting outside until I was done. 3 shots and at least an hour later, the doctor helped walk me out to him. It was then that I finally saw the look of relief & love in J’s eyes. I fell in love with him right there. I didn’t say anything, but I knew what I had to do.

I drove to my then boyfriend’s hometown & told him I couldn’t be with him anymore. It wasn't exactly a surprise- the guy and I wanted completely different things from life, and he didn't really support my life decisions. To be honest, I think we had stayed together for so long because it was easy. Between date nights and football games, we never really had to discuss the "big topics" such as whether or not we wanted kids, where we wanted to live, what our careers would be etc. Naive I know, but when I finally forced the conversation, I was met with the harsh reality that I was heading towards a life I didn't want, with a person I wasn't in love with. And not only was that unfair for me, but it was really unfair to him as well. So I ended it and haven't looked back since.

When J called that night I told him what I had done, but not why. I was scared he didn’t feel the same way I did, and I didn't want him to think I had done that simply for him. Before I could finish telling the story though, he stopped me & said “I’ve been wanting to take you out for 8 months now. Will you let me this week?” (I did. of course :) )

So, fast-forward 8 1/2 months. It was Dec 17th & a fresh blanket of snow had just fallen on NYC, where we were spending a few days to celebrate our graduations from college. The first night we went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center & barely 5 minutes had passed before the guy standing next to us dropped to his knee and proposed. J seemed a little nervous after that- saying something about cliche’s and not being a surprise, etc. I figured something was up but tried to let it go & just enjoy our time together. We took the carriage ride in the park & saw the sights- but our most favorite times were spent just walking along the busy streets at night. I remember holding his hand in front of Saks as we stood watching the snowflakes light up to Carol of the Bells. He squeezed my hand & looking at him slightly shivering from the cold, I knew he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

On Dec 20th, the day after we got back to Atlanta, he took a detour on our way home. Next thing I knew we were standing in the exact place we had picnicked at on our first date. It softly started to rain as J knelt to one knee & asked me to be his wife. He said he knew by the end of our first date that he wanted to marry me, & after our trip to NYC he wanted to bring me back to the exact spot he realized that and make it official. We were married exactly a year later in my hometown.

It was a crazy start, and caught a lot of people off guard, but we both knew this was the real thing. I know not everyone agrees with me on this, but I truly believe in soul mates and can never stress the power of destiny enough. I think we were meant to meet that day in dissection lab and have never questioned- not even for a second- the decision I made. The journey we've had thus far and will continue to have has brought us such joy, and I feel so lucky to have found him.

I hope you all enjoyed our story and had a fantastic Monday!

*dissection lab. If you can still fall in love despite the smell of formaldehyde and the sights of a dissected animal, you know it's something special.

**It wasn’t until after we started dating that I learned he would walk 2 miles out of his way to walk me home and that he never missed a class so he would always be able to talk and walk with me.

*** Apparently I wasn't the only one. I found out later that J was so nervous about the possibility of never seeing me again and then sitting by me during the final that he couldn’t concentrate & completely failed his final.

Some of my favorite (Valentine's Day) Things #7

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I love homemade "coupon books." I think they are such a sweet, creative idea to give someone you love. Whether it's to take over a chore they hate doing (dishes anyone?), giving a 30 minute back rub, or promising a marathon night of chick flicks, they are always appreciated by me! And these books from the spotted sparrow are so unique and beautiful! They've sold out (of course) but, how awesome are they? Oh, and did I mention they were available in both naughty and nice? Super cute.

Some of my favorite (Valentine's Day) Things #6

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J loves coffee. (We even stayed on a coffee plantation during our honeymoon!) Sadly, I can't even brew it. I know, I know. But I don't drink coffee so I've never really had to figure it out. (another I know. I'm probably the only artist in the world that doesn't drink coffee. Did I mention I lived in Italy for 3 months? Yea, and still don't like coffee. Good thing I like wine though- kept me from a lot of funny looks over there :) )

Anyhow, back to the point. So in order to make up for my lack of brewing skills, I buy J awesome coffee. Costa Rican coffee, Ethiopian coffee, Jamaican coffee- you name it. And since I can't brew it, I just try to be helpful. It's a test day and he'll be drinking 8 cups? Reach for the low acidity bag. Maybe having 2 cups at most? Here sweetie, enjoy this full bodied blend. So imagine how I excited I was when I saw these cute sugar hearts. Perfect for Valentine's Day coffee. Now if only I can find a place where I can buy just 1 or 2... since I don't need 64 for £20!

Love Stories (Melissa + Sean)

in ,
the happy couple via Melissa's personal collection

When I started sharing love stories this week, I automatically thought of asking a few of the people who have been incredibly supportive and inspirational to me through the "blog world." Today's story is from Melissa of the beautiful boutique, Reverie. Melissa was one of the first people to leave comments on my blog, and through them (and both of our blogs/emails) we have gotten to know each other despite being on opposite sides of the country. She is such a sweet person who exudes such love and passion for her family and life. Because of this, I knew I'd like her and Sean's story to be one of the few I share. Luckily for us, Melissa agreed to my request! With all of that said, I will let her take it from here.

Our Love Story

Valentine’s Day 1997:

I was working in a bank as a customer service account manager. 

Dating a guy who just proposed to me a few months before and gave me a sweetlittle pug puppy for Valentine’s Day.

A tall, dark and handsome guy walked into the branch and asked to open achecking account.  I fumbled with my words, my thoughts became all cloudy,and I was breathing heavy.  He never stopped looking me in the eye, smiling,a gentleman in every single way.  It wasn’t right to have these feelingswhen I knew I was to be married in a year. 

Fast forward a week:

The tall, dark, handsome guy asks me to lunch.  I accept.  Girls can haveguy friends right?  Of course, he had to notice my engagement ring, so he isjust being nice and taking me to lunch as a thank you for helping out withhis new accounts and relocation woes.

Lunch is great.  He makes me feel like I’ve never felt before.  My stomachis about to explode with butterflies.  My face hurts from smiling andlaughing so much.  I cannot get his dreaminess out of my mind.  I’m smitten,but we are only friends.  Keep telling myself this – just friends!  (Eventhough, my heart is on fire!)

Three Months Later:

My sweet Valentine’s pug goes into the veterinary hospital to be spayed.Tall, dark, handsome guy sends get-well cards and gifts to the pug.  Done.I’m head over heels in love!

Four Months Later:

Mutual break-up with fiancé.  We knew it wasn’t right from the beginning,but our families didn’t want to hear it.  Young, influenced, and naïve.  Wewent our separate ways and never looked back.

Five Months Later: 

Still best friends with tall, dark, handsome guy.  He never made anyromantic advancements….just a great listener with an incredibly warm, lovingsoul!  We were ‘buddies’, not looking for anything else. 

13 Years Later:

Blissfully married for almost 9 years to Sean (the tall, dark, handsomeguy), still adoring the sweet Valentine’s pug together, and created our ownadorable crumb, Gaia Miette born 7 days before Valentine’s 2008.  Februaryis definitely my month of love.

Love Lesson 101:

Never underestimate the power of two souls meant to be together.  Love is anamazing thing – don’t ignore it!

Thank you so much for sharing, Melissa!! And I completely agree about the power of soul mates. Happy Valentine's you two!

Some of my favorite (Valentine's Day) Things #5

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I saw this over at Martha Stewart and fell in love with the idea. (I actually might do this for some of my engaged friends!) It's supposed to be placed in the hotel suite of newlyweds so they have something to eat after the wedding reception. (I don't think J and I were ever so happy to see someone more on our wedding day than my sister when she arrived at our door with a picnic basket full of food. Between dancing and chatting, we didn't have time to eat and were famished after the reception!)

But why only for a wedding? I think it could be a perfect Valentine's Day present/activity! Think of sitting by a fire all cozied up and opening this little baby to share. Add a bottle of champagne and this would be my perfect dinner! Well, minus the caviar. I'm just not a big cavier person. Switch that out with some proscuitto and a cheese wedge and I'd be all set :)