Squeeeee!

Look at this adorable little box:

And the perfect treasures inside:

Sooo happy with how they turned out and excited to label and stamp them all up!

Special shout-out to the USPS for upping the price of stamps just in time for us to buy 300 forever stamps and 150 postcard stamps.  Gulp.  At least I got to pick a cool design? 

Oooh, and look at all the awesome junk mail I get everyday! 

So much for avoiding an awkward conversation with Don the mailman who knows way too much about my personal life.

Thanks Buddy

This past weekend was a little tough because I was feeling a lot of worry and uneasiness about some medical concerns.  I am an A-Z thinker and can jump from one conclusion to the next thinking of worst case scenarios and vividly imagining outcomes in my head. 

My thoughts are not good company.

But gratefully I have Dan, who is great company and a perfect comfort in uncertain times.

He kept me distracted, helped me talk through some of the irrational thoughts I was having, assured me that we would figure things out and get through whatever it was, together.  He snuggled me up good and tight, and offered meaningful prayers of encouragement and love.

Thanks Buddy, it meant a lot.

Oh, and I got one of his sweet creations 

Favorite Pastimes

So Stephanie has done the last few posts and it is probably time for me to contribute.

Anyways, since starting to date over 1 year and 4 months ago we discovered a lot about each other. However, one that we truly both enjoy is something so simple and easy.  It is getting to snuggle up next each other on the futon and watch TV, netflix and even some sports (Stephanie so sweet to watch bball and football with me)!

For both of us there is something special about slowing down from the busy life of the city.  Instead we get to be still and laugh, enjoy, jump and yell (I'm the only one that yells but sports plays can be exciting).  I am so glad that we are able just to slow down and it is so helpful to me!

Love you Stephanie.  Thanks for spoiling me with all those delicious dinners that we eat as we watch a show.

So guess one of my favorite pastimes is slowing down and being with Stephanie.

Dan

Tiny Treasures

Sometimes I find little notes laying around my apartment from someone who sneaks around while I'm not paying attention.

I do not consider myself someone who hoards paper and never throws anything away.  In fact, sometimes I get in these tossing frenzies where my closet will be cleaned out and suddenly everything will be slimmed down from what little managed to be saved for whatever little amount of time.

BUT, I am also an archivist and I have always treasured the value of small mementos that when saved bring back big memories.  So that's why I always kept a shoe box under my bed as a kid and why I have photo boxes on my shelves now.  They are neat and tidy but packed with a punch of laughs and tears and whatever my third-grade self found important to keep. 

Now I have a little box dedicated especially for things and moments shared by just Dan and me.  That's where you'll find treasures like this:  

And what you are seeing here are just the ones I have photos of!   I always wanted to be that little old lady with boxes of love notes that my grand kids could look at someday.

When I was in college I did an oral history with an elderly woman for a project about WWII.  She had hundreds of letters saved from her husband when he was off at war.  They were so beautifully tied up in ribbon and wrapped in tissue.  I thought it was so neat and so romantic and such a genuine display of love.  In that moment I secretly hoped to have my own collection some day!  And while my box is filling up with post-its and scrap paper, they are still full of just as much love.

The best part about these little notes and all the others I have stored away is that I never asked for any of them.  Just random tiny treasures that make my heart smile. 

Coming to a mailbox near you

Save the Dates!

We are pretty happy with how these look, at least in digital form!

It's Starting to Come Together

January 9, 2014 (yesterday) happened to be our 16 month anniversary AND the day that a lot of pieces to this whole wedding planning business turned over!  I'm feeling pretty excited about it now. 

We have a date

Saturday, August 30, 2014
Afternoon ceremony
Evening reception

We have a place 

As previously posted, we will have the ceremony at Fair Oaks Church in Oak Park

The reception will be at the 19th Century Club, just a quick drive from the church.  We have the whole first floor from 6-midnight.  

We will have favors

Custom designed squished pennies!!! I realize this is a minor part of the wedding and not the most important in the planning scheme but they are perfect and now that box on the to-do list is taken care of well in advance. I thought about posting a picture but then again I kind of want it to be a surprise.

We will have pictures

Since last week was a major weather fiasco, we had to reschedule our mini photo shoot to get some pictures for our Save the Dates.  Now that we have a date and the weather looks to be nice this Sunday, those will be ordered soon. 

We will have bliss

Dan coordinated and we have our paperwork in order to do the per-marital counseling assessment and sessions at Redeemer in the next several months. Joy! for hard things.

We had burgers

To celebrate this date and finally getting some things to click, we got us some delicious burgers with fries last night from a favorite local burger bistro.  I got us a Crumbs cupcake to share later in celebration.

A few more old ecard captures

Before they are lost in the abyss of my computer:

The one below was from me.  I've sent many more but I didn't think to capture the outgoing messages.  Oops. 

Snow Hike

So the East Coast got it's first big snow storm last week which means the media over dramatized the impact of the storm and both Dan and I still had to go to work on Friday.  We got over a foot in Bay Ridge but it wasn't as bad as anyone predicted.

On Saturday my day plans fell through so Dan and I decided to walk 4 miles along the Promenade to Kohl's in Ceasar's Bay.  Crazy?  Maybe.

The first half of the trek was smooth, the path had been plowed and the wind off the water was mild.  Once we reached the Verranzano Bridge, however, it turned into a tundra hike. 

The drifts of snow were 3 feet high in some places and the rugged path blazed by crazy people before us was iced over so that it was like walking on rocks but it was just hard bumpy snow.  Dan wasn't wearing boots, so he got a little bit wet.  

 

It was a fun adventure and Dan treated me to a well deserved lunch at Wendy's.  Classy and delicious. 

Then we went to Kohl's and got new sweaters to wear for our Save the Date photos.

Rather than trekking back we decided to take the subway and made it home in time to watch the Chiefs lose in an epic Colts come-back.

Happy New Year!!!

2013 was pretty good to us.  2014 will be even better!

On New Years Eve we broke-in the Scrabble game, ate pot pie and pumpkin pie, rented a movie and turned off the TV approximately 10 minutes after the ball dropped.

 

We started the new year by being total slugs and not stepping outside for one second and watching TV and movies all day.  It was bliss.  We played more scrabble, ate pickled herring to celebrate Dan's half birthday, and started on the wedding info website (will post when it's ready).  

World's smallest jar of pickled herring that supposedly serves 4?

As for resolutions, I usually pick a word to keep as my mantra and a goal to keep in mind.  I'm never very strict with sticking to the word or goal but that's okay.

After 4 years at failing to live the essence of the word "savor," I decided to pick a new word.  This year it is the word "save."  For the wedding, for the apartment, for being a responsible adult.  We'll see how long I can wait before oldnavy.com and amazon devour that word.

My goal for the year is to "be more available."  I have lots and lots of people in my circles who I feel terribly guilty about rarely being available for them.  Mostly I'm lazy and just tired but this year, NO MORE.  I'll try to be a better friend.

Cheers to a snuggly new year filled with possibility and things to look forward to!

Meet the Family/Engagement gathering

So for Christmas vacation this year, we went to Chicago to visit Stephanie's mom side of the family. As Steph mentioned in the previous posts, we did a lot. 

However, for me the most nervous part of the trip was meeting Stephanie's extended family.  I had met Stephanie's mom, dad, and Mandy before, but this time I would meet the extended family and spend lots of time with her parents and twin sister.

Thankfully as far as I can remember I did not stick my foot in my mouth too many times.  After arriving in Chicago, Steph's mom, dad, and Mandy picked us up which went good.  I was still getting over being sick and they were all so nice and hoping I felt better.  I did observe from this trip that Stephanie and her sister do like to go shopping and so all four of us did some quick shopping before taking it easy the rest of the day.

On Sunday we went to Mandy's church which was sweet and then we went to Stephanie's grandma's home.   Stephanie's grandma was very warm and welcoming.  Later in the afternoon, we had a a small gathering that Mandy and Stephanie's mom organized for Stephanie and me.   This was a little nerve wreaking and I was hoping I wouldn't forget people's names.

Thankfully everything went well and it seemed like Stephanie's extended family on her mom's side liked me and were interested in finding out more about me.  For me, the football game on tv made things more casual and some delicious snacks/desserts also helped me feel more comfortable.

About midway through Stephanie's dad, Al, got up and gave a toast to Stephanie and me.  It was very welcoming and nice.

 

Further, when came to Christmas it felt like I made out great on presents, but also I had a new family that wanted to spoil me a little and was glad to have me there.