A Day at the Zoo and a Grown Up Field Trip OOTD

Matt starts his new job next Tuesday, so this week we have been taking advantage of his last free week (and a few days off work for me) to do some much needed exploring of our new city.  Monday, we headed to the Brookfield Zoo to take advantage of a free weekday and temperatures in the mid 70s to low 80s.  (As a native Texas, I just can’t believe its 75 degrees in JUNE.  Crazy.)  I’m a huge fan of zoos (I might even call myself a zoo-connoisseur if I thought it wouldn’t cause you all to mock me, call me a loser, and stop reading my blog immediately.)  So to avoid having no friends or readers, I’ll just leave it at, “I really love zoos.”

First, here is what I wore for a day of braving shrieking kids, oversized strollers, and large crowds.  Oh, and wild animals :)

Wrap Cardigan: Forever 21

Tank: the Gap

Jeans: the Gap

Shoes: Converse

Hat: Dillards, gifted from my little brother

Necklaces: from my trip to Toledo, Spain a few years ago

Earrings: my wedding day gift from Matt

Ring: David Yurman

Bag: Urban Outfitters

Sunglasses: Prada

And for those of you who are contemplating sending me money for a new pair of jeans, don’t send a check just yet.  I swear I have a bazillion pairs of jeans, though from this blog, you’d think this is the only pair I own lol.  They are just so perfect for summer, I can’t help it!  Lighter in both fabric and color, they are much more appropriate for sun, heat, and humidity than my typical dark wash long denim.  I’ll try not to wear them so often, but I can’t make any promises :)

Though we weren’t super impressed with this zoo in particular, we still had a fun afternoon.  The weather was great and the company was even better.  And can I just say, going to the zoo as a young married couple without kids is the best form of birth control ever.  For realz.  I love me some kids, but my goodness, I am so not ready for what I saw on Monday.  I was literally adding the years in my head with each temper tantrum I saw.  Eeesh.

Matt and the penguins :)

Three things making me very happy in this picture: no kid chasing after me with a runaway stroller, a patch of shade over me, and a Lemon Chill in my hand.  Does it get any better at the zoo?  Not for this zoo-connoisseur, err, I mean, zoo lover.  Yes, zoo LOVER :)

PS: Just wanted to say a big thank you to Kinsey Michaels who featured me as one of her favorite lifestyle bloggers!  She has a fab blog herself, so go check her out if you have a second.  And if you’re visiting from her blog, hey there, so happy you hopped over!  Feel free to sit and stay a while :)

Hope your Wednesday is fabulous yall!

Be

 {we heart it}

I don’t think there are three greater qualities in a person.  Truly.

Anniversary “Surprises” and a Giveaway Reminder

{we heart it}

Hey there lovelies, happy Monday!  Before I type another sentence, I just want to say a huge heartfelt thank you for all your sweet words and anniversary wishes this weekend.  You all are beyond amazing!  Saturday was super wonderful, and I am so grateful for not just a special day, but a fabulous husband who worked hard to make it so.

A quick funny story about our celebration and attempt at “sneaky” thoughtfulness…Matt and I were expecting the top tier of our wedding cake to arrive from our baker on Friday morning.  (It was part of our wedding cake package that they’d recreate the top tier for our 1st anniversary.)  Well, the baker sucked, forgot to send it, and failed to call us to let us know.  Umm, awesome.  I was semi fine with it; Matt was definitely not.  As I left the house that morning for work, I Googled the number for a local baker in Chicago hoping they could pull a miracle in a few hours.  I found someone who had a few cakes similar to our top tier, but as I got off work, I got a text from Matt saying, “I know you’re probably going to go get a cake after work, but don’t worry about it.  It’s fine, we’ll get one later this week to celebrate.”  Dang, he knows me too well.  So instead, I walked to the restaurant where we had reservations for the night (its down the street from where I work) and talked to the owner about making our dinner special.  They let me pick out a specific table and then arranged for whatever dessert we ordered to come out with a little something special to surprise Matt.  Perfect.  Sweet, thoughtful, and budget friendly (we didn’t do gifts this year due to our recent move.)  When I got home, I coyly mentioned to Matt that I had looked at the restaurant’s dessert menu online and that I couldn’t wait to try some of their yummies.  He replied, “I don’t think we should get dessert.  It’ll be too rich and filling, plus I’d rather just save the money and not order dessert.”  What?!!  I was stunned.  “Are you kidding?” I asked.  Too filling?  And too expensive?  What a cheapskate!  Was he for real?!  He looked serious, so I just gave up and frustratingly spilled the story about how I’d been to the restaurant earlier and they were going to do something special, etc etc.  I then proceed to tell Matt that as much as I loved him, he made it next to impossible to do sweet things for him.  I pouted into the other room and said, “I’ll be over it by dinner, just give me a few minutes.”  A few minutes later he walked into the bedroom with his hands behind his back laughing.  “No, YOU make it hard to do special things in secret.”  Then, from behind his back, he pulled out a cake stand with none other than a homemade, hand decorated mini cake resembling our wedding cake.  I was speechless.  “I really wanted us to have our cake,” he said, “so I just made one from scratch.”  And there, on the cake stand, was a four layer Italian cream cake, with butter cream frosting, and hot pink gum paste flowers.  Yes, my husband handmade hot pink gum paste flowers.  For me.  To make our day special.  There was nothing to do, but laugh, squeal with excitement, and hug.  It was too funny, too sweet, and beyond memorable.  So that night, we both got our way; the server brought out a special dessert at dinner and Matt served his version of our wedding cake when we got home :)

Here are a few pictures from our FIRST anniversary as hubbie and wifey :)

I had to work Saturday morning/afternoon at the store, but before I left, Matt treated me to heart shaped waffles, rosemary scrambled eggs, and mimosas.  A perfect start to our morning!

Posing outside of the restaurant.  I’m usually all for restaurant paparazzi-ness (yep, that’s a word), but this place was so chic with its dim lights and perfect ambiance , I couldn’t bring myself to bust out a flash.  So I snapped outside :)

Dessert #1 for year #1.

Matt’s fabulous creation :)  I mean seriously, how many husbands have made hot pink gum paste flowers by hand?  He’s a keeper :)  PS: If you want to see the real version of our cake, you can see it in my last post about two-thirds of the way down.

It was a fabulous first year, a wonderful first anniversary, and I’m looking forward to many, many more!  Thanks again for all of your sweet wishes.

PS: If you haven’t entered my giveaway, don’t forget.  It ends TOMORROW!

Lucky in Love

June 26, a very special day indeed.  Its the day Matt and I said “I do,” the day we danced the night away with friends and family, and the day Matt and I began our life together.  I remember my dad saying at our wedding, “Tonight is a celebration, and a chance to share this occasion with all your friends and family.  But tomorrow, the tuxes will go back, your dress will be put in a box, and friends and family will return home.  Tomorrow your life together begins, tomorrow you start a new journey.”  He was so right.  Our wedding was insanely fabulous and beyond what I’d always dreamed (thank you Mom and Dad!), but our life together is even better!

Thank you Matt for sharing this life with me.  I am so blessed to have such a supportive, hilarious, and loving partner by my side.  Happy Anniversary, love!

*If you’re never read the story of how Matt and I met, you can read it here.

*And because I love reliving our fabulous and special day, here are a bazillion of my favorite pictures from our wedding day :)

 

 

*Photography fabulously done by Rachel Robinson.

This Time A Year Ago…

This weekend is one of celebration at our house as Matt and I are celebrating our one year anniversary tomorrow!  Its crazy how fast time flies.  It feels like only a few months ago that we said “I do” surrounded by so many wonderful friends and family.  So today, I am remembering this time a year ago, when we were preparing for the big day, gathering at the church, and sharing good stories with friends and family at the rehearsal dinner.  And luckily, I have some fabulous pictures to remember this day.  I’m sure I’ll post a ton of wedding pictures tomorrow (I mean, who doesn’t love wedding pictures?) but today, I’m posting some of my favorites from our rehearsal/rehearsal dinner.  And by “some” I mean a lot, so if wedding pictures aren’t your thing, you may want to come back and visit the blog on Monday :)

It feels like this night was yesterday :)  We were, and still are, so very blessed to be surrounded by such fabulous people who love and support us.  I’m sure I’ll post 940 wedding pictures tomorrow, but until then, I’ll be smiling thinking back to about how fun and joyful this weekend a year ago was :)

*All of our wedding photography was done by Rachel Robinson.  She is incredible and if you are in or near Texas, she is totally amazing and worth looking into if you have any kind of event or family photos in the near future!  You can check out more of her work here.