A Look Back on 2013

2013 will undoubtedly be a year to remember for us. Here are some highlights from our year!

January
I kicked off the year with trips to Pennsylvania for my first dress fitting. We also mailed our wedding invitations!

February
P and I had our bachelor/bachelorette parties the same weekend. His was in NYC and mine was in DC. My amazing bridesmaids, mom, and MIL threw me a gorgeous bridal shower!

At my beautiful bridal shower.

My favorite girls!

March
Unfortunately March brought the loss of my dear Grandfather. We also had a pipe burst in our apartment building that caused a lot of damage to our apartment and forced us to live in a hotel for 10 days!

My sweet, handsome grandpa

Water damage to our bedroom

Apartment living

April
Of course April was my favorite month this year when we became Mr. & Mrs. and then spent an amazing week in Jamaica on our honeymoon!

On of our favorite pictures!

Soaking up the sun

May
We kicked off our first month of marriage with lots of fun at the Sweetlife concert in Maryland, celebrating my sister's graduation from her master's program, and a trip to NYC for P's 30th birthday!

Sweetlife festival!

Congrats Mere!

Birthday boy with Manhattan skyline!

June
Life finally slowed down for us in June. Our big excitement was tracking down the Great Food Truck Race trucks in Arlington, Virginia. We even made an appearance on the finale episode when it aired in the fall!

The winning truck!

July
In July we celebrated the 4th of July at a Nationals game and on the rooftop of P's law firm, we took our annual trip to Baltimore to see the Red Sox play the Orioles, and we bought a new car!

Red Sox game!

August
We were busy this month! P started a new job at a general practice firm, we saw the Book of Mormon at the Kennedy Center, attended the beautiful wedding of our friends Jess & Joe in Virginia, and I had a fun filled weekend in DC with my best friend Aubrey & goddaughter Taylor!

Kennedy Center!

Jess & Joe's wedding!

DC fun with Aubrey & Taylor!

September
September was another busy month for us! Family came to town for a Nationals game, I traveled to Florida for a work trip, we spent a cold, rainy weekend at Penn State, I ran a 5K, and celebrated my 28th birthday!

Nats game with my cousin!

In front of the Allen Street Gates at Penn State, our favorite spot on campus

Crafty Bastards with my sister on my birthday

October
P and I both worked a lot of long days in October. But I still managed to squeeze in a trip to the pumpkin patch with Aubrey & Taylor, P and I celebrated our six month wedding anniversary, and we cheered as the Red Sox won the World Series!

Farm fun with Taylor!

November
This month my mom, sisters, and I celebrated my older sister's 30th birthday at a winery, we cheered on Navy football with my sisters, dad, and step-mom, and had a nice Thanksgiving in Richmond.

Perfect fall day with my mom and sisters

Sisters and I at the Navy football game

December
We have spent the past month attending holiday gatherings and celebrating Christmas with lots of friends and family!

At P's holiday party

First Christmas has husband & wife!

I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for us! I hope everyone as a safe and fun NYE! See you in 2014!

Five on Friday!

One last Friday post  before the holidays! Here are five things I'm looking forward to about the next two weeks.

1. Christmas celebrations with all of our family kick off tonight with dinner and a gift exchange with my older sister. We head to Ohio on Sunday to celebrate with P's family and we'll stop in Pennsylvania on our way home next week to see my Grandma. Then over the following week we'll continue the celebrations with my mom and then my dad and step-mom. I love that we celebrate Christmas all season!

2. Sleep! It's so nice having a whole week off and not having to set the alarm for anything.

3. Snow....maybe. It is supposed to be unseasonably warm throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic this weekend but they are calling for snow in Ohio on Monday. I would love to have a White Christmas.

4. Our first Christmas as husband and wife. Sure we've spent many Christmas' together but there's something extra special about celebrating it with my husband.

5. Of course and most importantly, celebrating the reason for the season, the birth of Jesus! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14).

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and because in all likelihood I won't be back, a Happy New Year!

Tuesday Tidbits

Just a few random things to share today....

• Last night I baked 18 dozen spritz cookies. Most will go to a work function tomorrow but I'm also planning to share with family over the next week. My sisters and I used to make these with our mom when we were younger so I was ecstatic when I received the cookie press off our registry. 

Oxo Cookie Press

• P has made it to the "Superbowl" for his fantasy football league. This is his first year participating in a league and his only goal was to not finish last. He's pretty pumped about it!

The Shiva Trophy  for all of The League fans!

• I can't believe we still haven't watched the movie Elf this year! I'm hoping to watch it one evening this week. We usually save Home Alone and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for when we're home in Ohio with P's family.

• Nine years ago today P and I had that awkward conversation that took us from friends to dating. I can hardly believe it has been that long. While we aren't celebrating this anniversary anymore it is still a meaningful day to us and the perfect excuse to have dinner at the new French restaurant in our neighborhood.

P & I in April 2005 when I was 19 and he was 21!

Three more work days until vacation!

5 on Friday

Happy Friday! I can't believe there are only 12 more days until Christmas! We have lots of fun Christmas activities happening this weekend.

1. This afternoon is my project team holiday get together. We chose to go to a restaurant/sports bar with shuffle board, pool, darts, etc. versus the typical sit-down lunch.

2. Tomorrow is P's firm's swanky holiday party and I can't wait to get dressed up for it. It is the first time I'll be meeting all of his coworkers so I'm a little nervous but I know we'll have a great time!

3. Sunday is the fifth annual cookie decorating party that my friend Jenny has hosted. She has all of us girls over to decorate the dozens of sugar cookies she pre-bakes. We all bring some snacks and spend the afternoon eating, drinking, and decorating. It is always a fun time and I'm happy my older sister will be joining in on the fun this year!

4. We only have a few more presents to get and then we are done. Thank god for online shopping. Of course the concierge in our building looks at us like we're crazy when we have 5+ boxes to pick up everyday.

5.  This week we have been receiving lots of Christmas cards. I bought a card holder from Pottery Barn this fall and love displaying our cards on it. The picture below is from the website.

Hope you have a great weekend!

2013 Christmas Card

I love sending and receiving Christmas cards. For the past 5+ years I have handmade our Christmas cards. It is something I have enjoyed doing especially while watching Christmas movies. This year we decided that we would order Christmas cards and use one of our wedding pictures (got to get our money's worth!). While I missed designing layouts for the cards and hand picking which card would go to who, it was also nice to simply have to stuff envelopes and address them.

There are so many great companies available for picking out the perfect Christmas card, but we ultimately went with tinyprints. Not only did they have amazing deals that saved us lots of money, they had the classic "Merry Christmas" that we were looking for. P's only request was that the card was mostly red. I wanted a flat card. After looking through lots of options and several debates we eventually found one we both loved.

We're both really happy with how it turned out and hope our friends and family love them as much as we do. I even picked up a frame to display the card with our other Christmas decor. I think it will be fun to frame our Christmas cards to see how we and our family changes each year.

Do you send Christmas cards?

Christmas Tunes

I don't start listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. Just like I won't put up a tree or other decorations until we've given thanks and feasted on turkey and pie, the music must wait too. I always look forward to putting my favorite Christmas albums and songs on repeat for the month of December.

Here are my top picks from my Spotify Christmas playlist:

• "Tiny Tree Christmas" - Guster
• "Christmas Lights" - Coldplay
• "(Simply Having) A Wonderful Christmastime" - Paul McCartney
• "Step Into Christmas" - Elton John
• "White Christmas" - Bing Crosby
• "Do They Know It's Christmas" - Band Aid 1984
• "We Need a Little Christmas" - Glee (I know there are other versions, but I like this one)
• "All I Want for Christmas is You" - Mariah Carey
• "The 12 Days of Christmas" - Straight No Chaser
• "Little Saint Nick" - Hanson (don't judge!)
• "Just Like Christmas" - Low
• "When I Get Home for Christmas" - Snow Patrol
• "Baby It's Cold Outside" - She & Him
• "Christmas Time is Here" - Vince Guaraldi Trio

What are your favorite Christmas songs?

Five on Friday!

Happy Friday! Linking up for the Five on Friday today!

1. P has been working super long hours again so I've been keeping myself busy in the evenings. This week I worked on addressing our Christmas cards while watching Love Actually. I'm hoping to get the cards mailed next. We went with a square design which means extra posta - we won't make that mistake again!

2. At this point there is only a 10% chance I'll actually be running the Jingle All the Way 8K on Sunday morning. They are calling for lots of winter weather (ice, sleet, snow) for Sunday morning!

3. Tomorrow we are checking out the Heuric House Museum with some friends. The museum is hosting its annual open house and Christkindlmarkt. We can't wait to check it out!

4. Tonight we have dinner plans with two of our favorite couples. We're going to Graffiato which is owned by Mike Isabeela of Top Chef fame. I went once several years ago and am looking forward to going back.

5. Last night I refused to watch the live version of Sound of Music and from the comments on Facebook I think I made the right decision. Instead we watched Scandal. It was so intense! #mamapope


Hope you have a great weekend!

 

Favorite Things Link-Up

Time for the third and final installment in the Favorite Things Link-Up with Cheers Y'all and Down with the Dearmores. Today's link-up is all about your favorite gifts to give for under $100. While all of my gifts are geared towards the ladies in my life, the fellas in their lives can enjoy at least two of them too! I included the links for these items today in case you want to pick them up for any of your friends....or maybe yourself!

 

1. A Passion for Blue & White. I got this book as a gift a few years ago and absolutely love it. I think it would be a great gift for any fellow Penn Staters.

2. Kate Spade Mr. & Mrs. Darling Hiball Set. These are so cute and are a great gift for any recently married friends.

3. Kate Spade In a Twinkling Pave Necklace. This a beautiful and classic necklace that would go with anything.

4. Pottery Barn Monogrammable Throw. This blanket looks so soft and cozy and could be mongrammed with first name initials or last name initials for recently married friends.

5. Jcrew Garnet Flame Plaid Shirt. I love that this plaid shirt isn't the typical colors but still has shades of red and green to be festive over the holidays.

6. Kendra Scott Danielle Earrings in Cobalt. I love Kendra Scott's jewelry. I think it is reasonably priced and perfect for dressing up any outfit. This cobalt blue is stunning but the great thing about Kendra Scott is you can pick and choose the color stones and settings.

Hope you've enjoyed checking out my favorite things the past three weeks! Thanks again to Elise and Jen for hosting such a fun link-up! 

Hello December!

 

I cannot believe it is already December! This year has gone by so fast and now there are only 29 days until 2014. I love this time of year and the wonder and magic it brings. We have lots of fun things to look forward to this month.

 



Over the next four weeks I will be.....

• Having dinner with great friends at one of our favorite restaurants
• Running the Jingle All the Way 8K (so not ready for this one)
• Seeing Catching Fire with girlfriends
• Sending our first Christmas cards as Mr. & Mrs.
• Attending a swanky holiday party at P's law firm
• Watching Love Acutally, Elf, Home Alone, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for the 100th time
• Having fun with some of my favorite people at our 5th annual cookie decorating party (excited for my sister to join in one the fun this year!)
• Taking in the sites and sounds of the holidays in the city
• Celebrating Christmas with our families
• Hoping for snow
• Sipping hot chocolate while enjoying our tree
• Ringing in the new year

It's the most wonderful time of year!