el templo

we love that the DC temple is 'our' temple now.

p.s. m said that it was ok we kissed in front of the temple bc we are already married. just sayin.

we also love that Ashley & Jared live 10 minutes from the temple and cook us dinner when we go :)

Jazz in the Park

 on the last friday of the free jazz in the sculpture garden on the national mall, we had a picnic of au bon pain sandwiches, utz cheetos and farmers market peaches {which i'm missing so much right now!}

oh yea and a walk down to chinatown for a nice cold DC :)

the end :)

lets take a few seconds to breathe

taken on the day we got our marriage license. {when I was still very much breathing}

So many of you know that when we moved out here to DC M started grad school {which sidenote, he LOVES!} and I started a job at the CFPB {or Consumer Financial Protection Bureau}. Phew. Ok.

I didn't even begin to know what that meant when I accepted the offer. I had an inkling of idea of what the day-to-day duties might be, but nothing solid. You want to know why I agreed to quit a job that I loved and move across the country {and not just because it was obvious I needed a job and M was going to school near}? Because I believed and felt a passion for what the CFPB was all about. The mission of helping the american people. The drive for making sure the 'big bad banks' don't fool us all again. The epic idea of transparency! {you're kidding!} I wanted to be a part of all that.

Well I am, and have been for almost 2 months now. I can't believe its only been that long. Literally its felt like 6 or maybe even 9, but definitely longer than 2. And it has been a series of up & downs {hello, its a startup!!} {and also hello, they changed my job duties drastically- in a good way!!} but I can honestly say how grateful I am for that mission, the very reason I accepted this job - because without that I don't think I could justify 10 hour days {leaving when its dark and getting back when its dark!?} and endless projects and to-do lists and long phone conversations with bank executives. but I do, because I think it is worth it

it also doesn't hurt that my husband doesn't get home until 9 PM and so I don't even have to start cooking dinner until 8, :)

But sometimes I need a few seconds to just breathe. To sit and think and laugh with my husband. To do the things I love outside of work. To just be. 

There are several ways to do this I think, and everyone is different, but I am employing 3 methods over the next week or so:

1. COOKING and BAKING! - On the menu this week: mini chicken pot pies, chicken tortilla soup, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and chocolate silk pie! mmmm, fall!
2. a mini getaway & time with friends - this weekend the hubs and I are going to go to the Annapolis Sat/Sun to look around, eat good food and do whatever the heck we want. Just an hour away and free nights stay and we've got that mini getaway {seriously, I didn't mean for the rhyming, just go with it} and then pumpkin carving/pumpkin seed baking/scary movie watching with our fave couple Ash & Jared! wooooo!
3. exercise! - my darling husband created a {reasonable!!} workout schedule for me, and I'm going to STICK TO IT, dangit.

So here's to breathing!

Adventures in DC

On Labor Day we decided to explore the city with some friends {who we didn't get pictures with/of, oops} and even though M & I have already seen all of the sites, Cate & Wyatt just moved here from Boston and hadn't had the chance to {and the new MLK memorial was open too, so what the heck.} 

It was supposed to rain and ended up 1) not raining and 2) being hott! We also went to my very favorite place in DC for milkshakes - Good Stuff Eatery - so I was a happy camper. It was a lot of fun, we definitely love DC!

:)

Let's just get it out there - I'm not a sailor

So M has an aunt and uncle who live in Baltimore and they also happen to have a sailboat. So last weekend they oh so graciously invited us out for a weekend of sailing fun. Now, neither of us has ever been sailing before, and let me just say this: M was excited, and I was terrified I would vomit. I have terrible motion sickness, in that I have to take a {non drowsy} dramamine every morning when I wake up because I take the metro to/from work. I also get sick on car trips, airplanes, and... boats. But since the dramamine seemed to be working for me on my metro rides {i could read the Express!} I let myself get a little excited.

And it was awsome right about this time.... 15 minutes in

And then the wind decided to kick it up to 30 knots and that's when my dramamine also decided to stop working.

So the pro-sailors {Aunt + Uncle} so graciously decided to change our course and stop off in Annapolis, halfway to the desired destination.

They had this amazing friend there who let us raft up {sailing term!} on calmer waters. We walked around downtown Annapolis, had dinner at this great italian place and had a bonfire.

After a calm night's sleep on the boat {1st for everything!} we had pancakes in the morning and had a verrrrrry much calmer sail back to Baltimore.

So, although I am not a sailor, M definitely got the hang of it. Looks like a hobby he will take up on his own! ;-)



part V: {details}

{uber warning: I should have split this post up, but it sort of spinned out of control and I couldn't stop myself from typing and posting pictures and more typing, and so it looks like youre just going to have a deal with a monster post. enjoy!}

there was so much that went into planning a wedding I had no idea about, but good thing for me I have an amazing partner-in-crime {morgface} and 2 moms {and lots of other helpful peeps} to help me remember everything and to pitch in to make M & I's dream become a reality.

Soon after we got engaged I began what infamously came to be known as "the wedding notebook". it started out innocently enough, just a collection of inspiration photos and a place to keep all the info related to the wedding. It turned into a complete documentation of every detail and to-do list, down to every day of the week before the wedding. {can you tell I'm a PLANNER?!?}

anyways

we had a lot of projects. most of them happened, some of them didn't and a lot of them got changed during the course of our 7 month engagement. all of them were very 'us' {and money saving! boo ya!} and everyone pitched in! yay! so here goes a {very wordy} list {that does not by any stretch of the imagination include every DIY project we did, but alas}

1. first off, our entire invitation suite. I joined a site called OneHeart Weddings and got some inspiration, and some clip art, from their site and designed our main invite, sealing invite, RSVPs & directions insert. Oh and I used postcards.com for our save-the-dates {way easy}. we bought our paper at a local wholesale paper store and ordered our "pockets" offline, which saved a bundle. we printed everything at our FedEx store where Mr. Shawn thought I looked like Zooey Deschanel and only charged us for the printing {boo ya!} The stickers were from Michael's. and the little photo stickers on the back of each and every invite were from Michael's too - but the labor was all mine {and M's. yep, for reals.}

shout out to mrs. jenn fearnley who helped me stuff all of our invitations one night while M and Levi painted their nursery {which is now filled with our godson! woohoooo!} there are no amount of words for a "thankyou!", but "thankyou!" 

2. the wedding party:

So our official wedding party consisted of Maid of Honor: Stephanie Bennett {my sis!} and Best Man: Austin Canfield {M's bro!}. They were seriously so awesome at being helpful and calm and awesome and did I mention helpful? Steph made my garter [with a KC Chiefs insignia! boo ya!] and I got her this. For Austin we got him these.

Then there were our very best friends that came out and supported us, and we wanted to include them too. So for the girls I had my very crafty and best friend Ashley help with little gifts that I thought up but could never do myself. She created a pair of sequined heart shoe clips and a cream felt flower clip for each girl. For the boys we opted for suspenders and M picked out each one for each guy!

And then of course - Us.

The Mrs: I never really grew up dreaming of my wedding and what it would look like, least of all what I would wear, so when it came time to shop for a dress I only had an inkling of what I wanted: lace and not poofy {and no train! and no vale!} Long story short I found this dress, which actually didn't end up looking like this dress at all, and changed it to how I wanted it. There were some bumps along the road but it ended up exactly like I wanted - and I felt so beautiful in it. For my accessories I kept it simple since the dress was so intricate. I bought the earrings from etsy and then bought all the moms the same pair with a different color 'gem'. and then shoes I found at Target for $10.

The Mr: We actually bought M's outfit while my dress was getting made but we went with a tan suit and this amazing tie we found on a super sale at Macy's. He picked everything out and I just said yay or nay, so I'm glad he's good at picking out. Also, those cuff  links were his gift our first Valentine's together {and little did we know it would be the last time he wore them, we got back from our honeymoon and they are lost!} For the beach he went way more casual and he just bought some darker dress pants and a white linen blend button down. I also made both their boutenniers {M didn't want flowers and found a picture similar to these online. He came to Hobby Lobby with me and picked out the leaves and pins and I found the starfish from Oriental Trading}

3. the flowers: 

So everyone seriously thought I was crazy for deciding to do all the flowers for our wedding. But I didn't want to pay for all that crap I didn't want when I thought I could do it myself. So I did a bunch of online research of flowers, figured out what color scheme we wanted and even watched some YouTube videos on bouquet making. Since the whole event was in 2 cities over 2 days it was a little more complicated so I opted for an easy, simple bouquet for the day of the wedding {hydrangeas we found the day before at the same place I got boutenniers for my proms! ha!} and then the more fun, jumble of flowers I had the idea for in my head for the ring ceremony/reception. My friends helped me the night before the wedding in  my parents kitchen making me and Steph's bouquets and actually they were really easy! It was so fun to learn how to do that with them.

I ended up finding {seriously 3 weeks before the wedding} a wholesale florist in Wilmington, who was this awesome old British guy who was so helpful and honest and even shipped in stuff for free for me... it was awesome. The day of the reception M and I went and picked up all the bunches at his warehouse and then I put together all the centerpieces while everyone was decorating and our DJ {our friend Lara} was learning the sound equipment we rented. Then after everyone left and everything was set, I made {with the help of my husband[!]} mine, Steph's and the toss bouquets with all the leftover flowers.

I remember right after we finally finished that we only had a few hours before the ring ceremony started and I was going to get ready with my friends and I didn't want to forget in all the craziness to show M his groom's cake - so I made him close his eyes and I opened the fridge they were being stored in. Almost 9 of the cake pops actually melted in the trip from Winston to the beach {remember, 107 degrees on wedding day!} so he ate one of those {and said they were still good!} and was really surprised and happy. I remember loving that moment. {note: that was the only one he got! everyone devoured them, haha}

this was after 2 hrs of taking pics and they were wilting by then ha.

this is the 'after' it had been thrown, hit the lamp and exploded. ha.

 

3. the entire reception. {ok sorry I'll try and break it down a little more}

a. the tables:

burlap table runners with ruffles on each end were made by my mom Lisa. all of them. Also the burlap bows on the back of every other chair were dreamed up and created by her. centerpieces were a collective effort across the country. I wanted a mismatch of vases and candle holders, based on some inspiration {before we M & I were even engaged} I had while helping Mrs. Jenn Fearnley move their new bed from her great grandmothers house who had recently passed away. While roaming I found some adorable milk glass vases and her grandmother let me take them {along with some hat pins, which helped during the bouquet making}! So I kept them and then shared my idea with my mothers and my friends and after countless goodwill, salvation army and flea market trips our centerpieces were almost finished. The last bit of fun was added later in our engagement when we took a trip to Alabama to help with the tornado relief effort. We did a lot of tree removal and at this one particular house we asked if we could take a part of their tree home with us {yes, we got many weird looks} and M cut them up in slices, sanded and stained them. We put one on every other table and used the rest of the stump for a place to put 'our' cake. Oh and I also used my stepdad's woodburning kit and woodburned "M <3 J" on all of them. {and then of course I arranged all the flowers in the vases}

you can kind of see the ruffle by Madeline's foot :)

b. the cupcake tower & groom's cake:

being the cupcake lover I am we opted for an un-traditional {but still done a lot} cupcake cake with our own little layer {on our tree stump}. We ordered the cupcake tower online and then bought a few vintage maps {one US, one world} and covered the tiers in that. I used some paint from another project with a little matching ribbon for the connectors. My MIL Karen bought the cupcake liners which I found on this website. The groom's  cake were cake balls {red velvet + cream cheese frosting} decorated like tuxedos. {didn't make those - they were ordered from this place} the cake stands I made by buying  plates and stands from goodwill and epoxing {made up word} them together. {also, the whole grooms cake was a surprise! boo ya!}

c. the sweet shoppe:

these were also our favors and we wanted to incorporate all our different sides, so we  asked random people in our family what their favorite candy was. {and of course we chose our own} At the same time we were gathering our centerpiece stuff we were looking out for larger glass containers which ended up housing all the delish candy. {we also borrowed some from family}. We bought most of our candy in bulk from a local wholesale place in Memphis, as well as Sams & Target. The banner {which says 'sweet shoppe'} was made by yours truly, and was definitely a project that tested my then-nonexistent sewing skills, but it ended up looking great with a lot of advice from others. We also used a bunch of Lisa's Christmas village props to help add dimension. I bought the bags and stamps at Michael's and Lisa stamped all of them with our initials. I also found some frames at goodwill and printed off some signs on our extra wedding invite paper for some "instructions" for the guests. For the labels I spray painted chalkboard paint onto a black posterboard and then glued them on wooden squares I found at Michaels. Morgan screwed little holes in the top corners and I tied them on the containers with twine. The night before the sealing we set everything up on my parents table in Winston and with all the candy in and Morgan and I wrote all the labels {hence: ROCK MANIA for rock candy}

d. the guest book & other deco

I already had a polaroid camera so that's where the idea came from, but I ended up finding a good deal on a bigger one and film so our guestbook was born! I bought a cheap-o scrapbook from Hobby Lobby and put black corner stickers on all the pages so every one could take a picture, put it in a slot and then sign their name/message. It was really fun to see everyone so interactive, and since I had so much extra film {from the deal!} our friends just started taking pictures of everything going on and so we have those throughout.

So some of the 'smaller' details were among my favorite - like the burlap covered J & M hanging outside the doors coming in. I had the idea and Lisa and Ashley made it happen. We also had strings of pictures of Morgan and I {and everyone in between} on twine with little clothes pins from Michaels/Hobby Lobby hanging on all the huge vintage doors that I loved.

My mom Cindy also cross stitched this amazing picture that had a lyric from our first dance {I Can't Help Falling in Love - Elvis Presley} and our feet on the beach and initials. We put it on our gifts table and it got kind of covered up by the end of the night, but its hanging in our apartment now!

see the cross stiched pic in the back??

4. the beach ceremony:

Cindy was a huge help in everything beach ceremony - essentially the entire set-up - and then she also got these fans from Oriental Trading that came in handy, for realz.

For the end of the rows I bought raffia from Hobby Lobby and essentially just looped it and tied  it with twine so we could easily just hang it on the end of the chair. For every 3rd row I found some big starfish to tie on it as well, bringing in that beach-y feel {more than being on the beach? idk} Other than that we kept it really clean and simple.

 

So, like I said, we had a lot of details and a lot of DIY projects but it really made it a team effort between M, my family and friends and I and I'm really glad we did it that way. It became a wedding that was completely us as well as them, and it was perfect.