THIS TIME LAST YEAR

It's hard not to feel a little sentimental and reminisce today.  Last year around this time, on a rainy Friday like today, we were decorating our wedding reception spot and looking forward to our rehearsal.  Our rehearsal dinner was held in the Mr's parents' magical backyard. Under a tent strewn with white lights, were tables covered in kraft paper - topped with blue ball jars filled with daisies.  Carolina BBQ goodness... an homage to the Mr's few years spent living in NC, and our upcoming honeymoon in Charleston, SC. 

While we were at the church "rehearsing" for the wedding, my future mother-in-law's best gals were coming up with a solution for the rain soaked kraft paper on the tables {which they did}... and praying for the rain to stop {which it did}. 

What followed was one of the best evenings I can remember.  For once we had all of the Mr's friends and mine in one spot; in from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, NC, Miami, and all areas of Ohio.  It was a giddy combination to have our friends and family around us + to be excited about what was to follow the next day.  I think we were both a little high on happiness.

While our actual anniversary isn't until Monday {July 23rd} I feel that we should celebrate the anniversary of our wedding weekend all weekend. Right? Friends, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Do something silly.

{L-R: James, Nicole, Cynthia, and Graham... with one of the Martin's gnomes. You guys are the best.}

DESTINATION UNKNOWN 2

I hope you are all having a wonderful fourth of July.

I woke up before the Mr. {and managed to sneak downstairs without waking him, which never happens}. 

I had grand intentions of making blueberry pancakes, but realized we were out of eggs.

Darn it all.

So... our fourth began with delicious pancakes at Bob Evans 

{our visit there - inspired by our Saturday stop at the home of the late Bob Evans himself}.

DESTINATION UNKNOWN

How about those storms over the weekend? The Mr. made it home from work Friday right before the sky turned black and looked all "Wizard of Oz" outside. I feel so bad for all of the people without power, especially in this heat. Some of the folks in Columbus aren't scheduled to get power back until July 7th! And all of the stores with all of that wasted frozen food. Ugh. What about you? I feel oh-so guilty to say that we never went without power. We were are very lucky.

We had discussed taking a little road trip Saturday, and decided to stick with the plan despite the storms and heat. We didn't have any specific destination, just lots of possibilities swimming in our heads. Our only plan was to stop when one of us saw somewhere we wanted to go... antique shops or whatever else we landed upon. When we got to our first exit, we picked East or West, and off we went. Just us and one small straw tote packed with the essentials {like our toothbrushes} in case we stayed the night somewhere. 

We started with lunch in Circleville... and ended back in Columbus by 8pm. Straw bag and packed toothbrushes unnecessary because so many of the towns did not have power, which meant lack of places to eat or shops open. To make it sound like this dampened the day in any way would be wrong though {well, if you don't count feeling awful for the people in those towns}. 

It was a wonderful day spent exploring without any plans or any place we had to be. Like those carefree days of summer when we were young. Gosh, I miss those. 

In Rio Grande, we stopped so I could take pictures of storm damage... trees completely uprooted and blown over. It made me feel sad, and I actually felt bad taking the pictures {but I obviously did it anyway}; it was just too crazy not to!

THE END...

for today anyway. 

Friends, I took too many pictures to not split this up. 

A fun day spent learning to use my camera, indeed. 

SUMMER DAYS

As we get ready to start another weekend, I thought I would share a little about last weekend before this weekend becomes last weekend. Pretty profound for a Friday... yep.

Last weekend we spent a lot of time outside, which was wonderful. We spent two afternoons at Comfest - a big Community Festival in the park which started in 1972 and involves: multiple stages set up with local bands, lots of food vendors, artists selling their wares, and beer. Beer in giant bright plastic mugs. 

On Sunday our good friend, Megan, had a cook-out. It was a wonderful way to end the weekend. There isn't much I enjoy doing more than sitting outside, sharing good food, and having meaningful conversations with friends. I hope the summer is filled with many more evenings like this one. Don't you think cook-outs are just the essence of summer?

I made those 3-ingredient cookies that I blogged about here {they are so easy and so good}, and a corn salad I had for the first time a few weeks ago at my cousin's high school graduation party. Also so good! There aren't many pictures of that because the Mr. had retired to the living room.

Megan's son, Mason, is so cute and is full of so much personality. Ah... those faces he makes. The Mr. was saying on the way home that he could have just sat and watched him all night. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. It's going to be a hot one here - high 90's - Eek! The Mr. and I were originally thinking of spending a day hiking, and breaking in our wedding gifted picnic basket, but I believe we might need to re-think that one.

And... drumroll... It's a very special lady's birthday today -

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother-in-law, Margie!!! 

I love you, and I am oh-so lucky to call you my m-i-l. The luckiest.

BAILEY + THE REMOTE... THE MOVIE

If you follow L&R you've seen past examples of Bailey's love for the remote here and here.

This 8mm video is just a little snippet of what has become part of our nightly routine.

He makes us laugh, this cat of ours... just a little furry bundle of joy.

The Mr. ended up having the day off today, so that was a happy surprise + wonderful start to our weekend.

Happy weekend, friends!

GRADUATION CELEBRATION

Hello there! I had every intention of posting a blog on Friday, but the day got away from me. I spent it running around getting last minute items for the Mr's graduation party, cutting fruit and veggies, mixing up dips, blowing up balloons, and making a burlap banner. While I was flying about the house like a crazy lady, and the Mr was writing his graduation speech {he was chosen by his class}, I walked into our bedroom to see Bailey fast asleep looking quite angelic. It made me pause for just a moment... grab my camera... and take a break. 

Saturday, the Mr's graduation day, came so fast.  It does not seem that long ago that he was making the decision to go back to school for his Master's. Time goes oh-so quickly. In the two years he was in school, we got engaged and married. What a busy two years! And the Mr handled it all without ever getting very stressed... because, well - that is his nature. And thank God for it, because I have enough anxiety for us both.

I can't sum up the emotion I felt listening to him give his speech, or watching him walk across the stage to be "hooded". I would say - it was second only to seeing him in his suit on our wedding day. 

Saturday was a day packed full of celebration. It started early when our families arrived for the ceremony, and didn't end until the wee hours of the night spent with friends. It was a day split into two celebrations. Since it was also our good friend Stu's 30th birthday I bought {I cheated} 30 cupcakes, and the Mr decorated them with little flags with funny sayings. Stu came down from Cincinnati, and our good friends - Laurie-Beth and Brian - came from Cleveland. Our apartment never feels small until its packed full of family and friends, but then again... I suppose I can't complain if that is the reason.

A slight disclaimer: I feel the need to mention some of the pictures of the ceremony are blurry, but I had to post them anyway. It was really darn hard to take good pictures in there! When I used my flash it just lit up the people's heads in the row in front of us, but on manual I could not get the settings to work without the photo being blurry. So - I went with blurry instead of bright heads. I figured it was the lesser of two evils.

MISS ZOEY

Is the weather as perfect today where you are as it is in Columbus? Perfect, I tell ya.

How was your weekend? The Mr and I had a wonderful Sunday. We spend the day outside... playing, eating yummy food, and soaking up as much time as we could with the Mr's sister {April} and our niece {Zoey}. I got a little camera happy... playing with a new lens and marveling at how precious my niece is. It's amazing when you don't get to see them often... how they seem to turn into little people over night.

I have always felt constantly lucky for my family. My Mom, Dad, and sister are my favorite people and best friends. And now I always feel constantly lucky for my husband's family, too. There is a phrase I love - my cup runneth over. I feel that way a lot... like my heart is just going to burst. When I'm with the Mr, when I'm with family, and Sunday when I was taking pictures of my niece. How did I get so darn lucky?

HAPPY WEEKEND, FROM BAILEY

Bailey...

Just checking out a photo of his Mom + Dad.

This week was a long one for me. You?

I didn't sleep well, and the consecutive days of no sleep + stress was not a good one.

I am looking forward to June and what it will be bringing with it...

One thing will hopefully be a return to my normal blogging routine.

The weather is supposed to be gorgeous this weekend!

I am excited for a Saturday off, and much needed quality time with my Mom.

We're off to the Springfield Flea Market... the big extravaganza.

 I hope you all have a happy, wonderful few days!

WEEKEND ACCORDING TO INSTAGRAM

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had a great time at home visiting our families. 

Here is just a little on our weekend, according to Instagram...

It involved way too much bad for you good food;

including ice-cream three times. Yes, three. 

{A sundae + shamrock shake + blizzard. This is not a normal occurrence.}

I feel like by admitting it + telling all of you, I can start feeling less guilty. Or not.

The above...

...antique stores with the Mr. and my parents Saturday morning

...Coney Island for lunch: where I hate to say, they messed up every one of our orders {the Mr.'s twice}!

...my few vintage finds: two ties for the hubby {one is Yves Saint Laurent!} and turquoise mugs

...my sister helping me out of my "bored with my hair" slump {it's a lot darker!}

...one of my favorite meals growing up - tacos! No one does tacos like my Mom

...ice-cream trip #3 - the Mr. eating his DQ blizzard Sunday evening

...an old tv stand of my parent's = our new bar

...a lovely surprise upon arriving back to our little apartment... something I ordered from Zara arrived early!

...we finally got what we needed to hang our wedding reception guitar "guest-book"

{not pictured: a yummy breakfast of biscuits + gravy at my in-laws... because I was too busy eating!}

BITS + PIECES OF OUR WEEKEND

How was your weekend? I hope it was wonderful!

Friday night date night with the Mr. was popcorn + pizza at Studio 35. We had a great time despite the horrible movie. We love Studio 35. 

Saturday morning trip to Cincinnati. The Party Source across the border in Kentucky... where you can choose from hundreds of single beers. Ryan Adams concert = amazing. He can do no wrong in our eyes. Out on the town in Mt. Adams... such a cute area! My first trip to Cincinnati also brought a new favorite beer... Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. Thank you to Stu for being a gracious host. We had a wonderful time.

Upon arriving home Sunday, we were greeted by my Mom and sister {who had also just arrived from Shelby}. Lunch for our birthdays {which were Jan 10 + 16) because we haven't seen my family since New Year's. We were spoiled with wonderful gifts {among them the vega studs by paper + chain, this alarm clock and iphone case}, and a delicious lunch at The Jury Room. Upon their departure, we napped on the couch for too long... and could have napped longer.

It was a good weekend.