our one year anniversary photos are featured in utterly engaged magazine {page 82}! how exciting!!!!
it’s a feature called he said/she said! the editor of the magazine asked us to answer the questions separately, honestly, and privately to really have some fun around comparing answers! we did, i promise! no cheating on our replies!
it’s so much fun to read our individual answers. i’m quite succinct and hubby charming was very verbose! it makes me smile to read our responses and feel the connection through our words. of course, jen huang did an amazing job capturing our love through the photos we took in central park this past fall. i’m so happy with how they designed the spread and so ecstatic to share our story with the world!
[photos by jen huang]
i hope this happy article helps brighten your day!
i got up early {gasp!} and did many tasks! it’s always so satisfying to check things off my list {i know, i’m a list kind o’ gal!}. i think i was trying to fit too many tasks into my morning, as the clock was ticking, i was feverishly rushing to get things done. i needed to get out the door before noon to go see my dad! yikes! i’m so tenacious and steadfast, i let my determination get the best of me!
i finally completed my projects and rushed to get dressed. ugh. i still had to throw out garbage, recycling, and carry some obtuse items down to my car! i finally made {just a little past noon!} and was on my merry way to the ‘burbs.
i picked up lunch for thuy and my dad. we ate, we conversed, and then we just hung out. it was fantastic to be able to lounge around outside in the warm sun! after lunch, thuy left back to work and i just hung out with my dad for the rest of the afternoon. i waited for my mom to come home to say hello and then off i went to meet kim for dinner. of course, you can’t let a day off go by without a stop at target!
i met up with kim at her place, hung out for a bit, and then we headed on our way to dolce to meet up with thuy and then eventually terry and the boys {reagan had his first baseball lesson!}. drinks, apps, pizza for the boys, and delicious meals for the adults. it’s always a pleasant and relaxing time here!
[we didn’t even realize we all had a nautical theme going on until terry pointed it out!]
[the rich and delicious mushroom, spinach ravioli]
reagan and bennett just love being there! it’s like they own the place. they are too funny and cute. they totally get lost in their own world. it’s so cute to see them so engrossed in their conversations…and most of the time you just can’t understand b! but always too cute to watch!
well, it was another successful and fulfilling warm day! tootles.
this past saturday, we participated in service day at st. clement!
it was an all day event that turned out amazing!
we started out by heading out to st. clement, by 10:30 am. team captains were required to get there early so we could greet all our volunteers. we walked inside and found our sign and assigned pew. we waited, patiently, for all our teammates to arrive. one by one, we greeted everyone. it was great to chat and get to know one another before we started our prayer service.
fr. ken started our short prayer service and reinforced our thoughts for the day. how important it is to pray, serve, and give, st. clement’s mission statement.
after that, we headed on our way over to bishop conway residency. we piled ourselves into two cars, jaimie {who so graciously volunteered} was our second driver. the traffic down fullerton was obnoxious {as to be expected!}.
what felt like forever later, we finally arrived at our destination. we walked in and jaimie, kelly, and jen were already waiting for us. we received a cute little wooden box {painted and decorated} as a gift from the residences, which was so nice!
we headed downstairs and i found aixa, the head cook, and introduced myself to her. we needed to eat lunch, so she showed us a room we could sit down in and eat. after, lunch we headed back into the kitchen to start working! aixa had us clean up. we cleared plates, glasses, food. some of us did the dishes, a few swept and mopped. the boys took out garbage. we set the tables for dinner. we prepped food for later. after all the clean up and prep, we then played games with any of the residences in the game room.
there was uno, dominos, and rummy going on! kelly and i joined a group playing rummy. we watched, we learned, we asked a lot of questions. our group was so funny. especially robert and linda. oh, did they love to bicker! linda felt robert made up his own rules and robert was always eagle eyeing everyone to make sure they weren’t cheating! bernadette seemed to be sleeping the whole time {although she wasn’t and was funny and kind}. charlie was a serious player with a knack of not enunciating any of his words and rosita, who i sat next to as well, was so stinkin’ sweet! she constantly smiled at me and always included me in everything.
after several rounds, robert asked if i wanted to play. i was still confused because it seemed like they made rules up as they went! but i was biddable, so i agreed and here i went with my first game of rummy! it was great, rosita helped me out a lot. time really flew by and before we knew it, we had to leave and head back to st. clement for the 5 pm mass. it was sad to go, we had so much fun!
we then went upstairs and had our time for reflection. i led the prayer and provoked our thoughts. how did we feel? how did we see the lord’s goodness in today’s events? i quivered a bit while reading, it got a little emotional for me! as we left, the officer in the front handed out little handmade thank you cards from the residences! it was so cute!
our trip back was quicker and we got there with plenty of parking left {smallest parking lot for a really big parish!}. we all sat together for mass and the group volunteered me to walk in the procession! ha, no one wanted to, so of course, they said, ‘you’re the team captain, you do it!”. so i went to the vestibule, grabbed our sign {each sign had the location of the place we volunteered at} and waited for the procession into the church to start. all the little kids, who participated in service day, went first {they planted their ‘fans’ into the pots around the alter} and i led the group of sign holders into the procession.
after the wonderful mass, that was led by fr. manny, we heading into the school for dinner {beer, wine, pop, pizza, pasta, bread, salad, + dessert}! it was so great to mingle, see everyone, and really revel in the day’s activities.
[cinco de mayo decor]
[sweeping and mopping! kelly..rich..tammy..jen]
[allison + jaimie doing the dishes]
[allison, eric, + jen playing dominos]
[bridget + jaimie playing uno with perl // she was sassy!]
[kelly watching the rummy game // linda is to the left and bernadette to her right]
[rummy]
[handmade thank you cards from the residences]
[dinner at the school]
[rich + i are dead center, three rows down from the top!]
it was such a wonderful day. it was so fulfilling, fun, happy, joyous, and a very humbling time. the biggest service day to date, 400+ participated this year!
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1thessalonians 5:18
on this beautiful tax day, many years ago, my lovely hc was born! yay! one of the best days in the history of the earth.
happy day to my hc who is my best friend, my confidant, my ultimate love. he is the most caring, patient, loving, most understanding human being alive. we are like ying and yang. a match made in heaven.
i love him to bits and i am so lucky to have found him…or did he find me? or did technology find us?!
anyhoo, happy birthday to the most loving husband alive. you. are. simply. the. best. muwah!!!!
tonight was his fabulous night to party like he is 4-0! well, almost! his birthday is on monday but we were ready to get festive! i was so excited to have this day finally come into fruition! after months of planning + creating, it was a complete welcome to have it all come together this very night!
it was a very relaxing day to start. hc dropped me off at st. clement for my meeting {as a team captain for our upcoming service day!}, after a short informative meeting on our upcoming duties, hc met up with me, again, and we walked to a favorite after mass brunch restaurant, frances!
we went home and relaxed {time well spent before we parrrrtayyyyyyed!}. i actually got ready for the night and hubby charming and i went on a little errand run! balloons, cake, decorate, oh my! we picked up a few goodies {hubby charming was not allowed to peep at the cake!} and he dropped me off at the party destination to get ready whilst he went home to get all gussied up himself!
there i was, cake in hand, balloons in hand, and ready to decorate. i’m sure the patrons inside the bar were eyeing me all funny…who’s this girl who came in with this party package in hand?! hehehe.
away i went, commencing all the details to add to the festive mood for the night. i was super excited and on track. then, in came our first guests of the night and away we goooo!
[the beginning of the end]
[menu + favors]
[the delicious meal]
[party favors]
[tassels + 4-0 balloons]
[laughter]
[kt + me]
[buttons celebrating hc]
[matt, johann, + travis]
[ken + pete]
[thuy, lan, + kim]
[sistas]
[kt + kar]
[posse // dan, pete, kim, + terry]
[wild things // o, dana, kt, matt, johann, + kar]
[don’t make faces you don’t want me to post! ha! heart you O}
[thuy, lan, leyla, + charlie]
[beautiful people // chaz, courtney, janice, + johnny]
[this was the riot table // ruth, dave, ken, pete, carrie, jody, + lisa]
[pabst beer cake!!!]
[happy birthday hc!]
[everyone loved the fondant beer can!]
[enjoying our beer]
[hc + kt comparing their height! yes, kt is a tall skinny lady!]
[token]
[getting creative]
[what’s left of the big 4-0]
there you have it! although the pictures definitely don’t encompass all the joy, laughter, silliness, deliciousness, happiness, fun, energy, and love that we experienced tonight!!! it was the best time ever with friends + family, and hubby charming was as happy as a kid in a candy store. he was so ecstatic!
thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate hc’s birthday!!!! we are all so very thankful for each and every single one of you!
it was a whirlwind week! gosh, it went by so fast! i was so happy hubby charming was home {yay!}. i was excited it was almost easter. i was glad it was holy week. it was a whole lotta church this week {whoa}!
not much else going on this past week but going to mass every night. the easter vigil was a beautiful service and it is always so exciting to see people baptized or confirmed into the catholic religion.
our easter sunday was filled with a lot of eating + traveling. first on our agenda, picking up miss grace. we traveled up north, got the little lady, and traveled back down south to meet my family for brunch.
the brunch was delicious! we ate at the reel club. a brunch buffet filled with a variety and copious amounts of eats {what it should be like, right?!}. from endless amounts of seafood, kids food, breakfast, lunch, and yummy desserts choices {the chocolate mousse cups were divine!}. i personally chose a menage of breakfast treats. the croissants were delish! so buttery and flaky! who can pass up bacon and flavorful breakfast potatoes?! not moi!
after a fun filled time {crazy nephew antics included!}, we headed back to kim + terry’s for some more family time and photos. after a quick hang out, lots of gifts for grace {holy easter baskets! lucky gal!}, we embarked on our next adventure ~ to hubby charming’s parent’s house we went!
we met up with the fam as they were enjoying their brunch meal. we sat, we chatted, we nibbled, we hung out. it was relaxing and calm. it was great to catch up with hubby charming’s side of the family. grace played with daniel, aj, jake and she ate a lot of candy {oh boy}, there was no monitoring of that! it was a free for all {hey, it’s the holiday for the kiddo}. after much imbibing + noshing, the family soon trickled out one by one.
as everyone dissipated, aunt wendy really wanted to play farkle. yes, that wasn’t a misspelling, you read that correctly…it’s called farkle. i’m sooo not a game player. it’s not because i don’t have fun, it’s because i just don’t like learning how to play, amongst other reasons {hehe}. lazy, non? anyhoo, aunt wendy assured me that it was easy, and yes it was! i was completely amused and had a lot of fun!
soon, it was just the four of us; me, rich, dick and jane {grace’s step-dad so graciously picked her up from grandma’s, phew! one less road traveled for us!}. we chit chatted until the early evening and finally hit the road to our journey back home…a long, traffic filled journey {ugh!}.
all in all, it was a marvelous day! a day filled with family, laughter, fun, yummy eats, tons of candy, and lots of love. i hope everyone’s easter was just as great!
[flowers from daddy // basket by us // hat by grace]
[soeurs]
[bros]
[opening frenzy]
[r’s clown hair]
[leather sperry’s + b’s chubby feet]
[silly b // he kept asking everyone “can you see me?!”]
hubby charming came home the other night after being gone for a really, really, really long time! yikes {no bueno}.
well, i’m very excited to have him home for holy week! to get festive, we dyed easter eggs! it was a cozy night in, pj’s and messy hair required! of course, i’m speedy like water and hubby charming is slow as ice dying our easter eggs. i wish i had made the dye more potent {next time}! we tried ombre, one color, double color, and added spiffy decorations to our eggs {well, mostly hc…he got a little more creative that me!}.
it was a lovely relaxing night in and i couldn’t have asked for anything more!
comb yer hair!
easter egg flair
i love decorative bowls
rainbow o fun
hubby charming at work
patience
working so diligently on dyeing my eggs
pretty watercolor paper towels
ta da!
my favorite ceramic ‘carton’ from anthropologie
i hope y’all are doing something fun + festive for this easter! i’ve got baskets made, eggs dyed, + family time planned. it’s going to be a good one!
yes, our wedding day has come and gone but that does not mean my love for the loveliest day ever dissipates! i love all things weddings {really, i do!}. i only wish everyone could experience such a euphoric day as we had experienced!
the moment you become engaged, your mind races with ideas {yikes!}…what colors will you choose? who will be your bridesmaids? what will your dress look like? when will the date be? which photographer will you hire {kate headley, of course}?!
once you settle on the big question…the date! your brain starts to brew a slew of ideas. what kind of save the dates will you choose? you definitely want to set the tone of your wedding with your save the dates. it doesn’t have to be all encompassing or completely idyllic of your wedding theme {your ideas will evolve so much, what you originally thought you were going to do or have will probably change 10x!}. it just has to represent the both of you in the moment. no more, no less. make it fun, make it quirky, make it unique!
here are some fun, lovely save the date ideas…
[decoder // ruffledblog]
[scratch off // ohsobeautifulpaper]
[tea towel // weddingchicks]
[canvas on an easel // bklynbride]
[trinket box // my favorite // michiemay ~ etsy]
[pencil us in // blueenvelope ~ etsy]
[viewmaster // melangerie ~ etsy]
[hankies // weddingchicks]
[paperdolls // happinessisblog]
aren’t these ideas just adorbs?! it makes me want to get married all over again {hee}! it’s not just for weddings either! transfer these great concepts to your party invites and voila! snazzy invitations for your guests!
i love how wedding styles have evolved so much; that it’s more about you and your fiancé’s style than so much about the tradition you should carry. the old school stuff that might not really suit you or really mean that much to you and your partner. don’t get me wrong! i love a clean, classic, all american traditional wedding. but adding your own twists and quirks can make it really stand out and truly represent the both of you! that’s what it’s really about, right?!
today is the first day of arguments in the supreme court around equality for all. sounds strange, doesn’t it? that we have to debate equality for all. the subject? prop 8 and DOMA.
i {and i’m sure many of you} are personally affected by this highly debated, heated topic. i believe in equality for all. my friends and family, who are gay, deserve the right to be seen in the eyes of our government as equal people in marriage. this fight is passionate for me. this subject holds dear to my heart. we need to open up our eyes to understand that human rights, human dignity must be given to everyone. where there is life, there is God, and we must respect every being in our midst.
it baffles me that we still live in a world where something like this is still in debate. you would think this mindset {equal rights} would be more ubiquitous. i have seen progress, albeit, slow progress during my life span. i have seen more and more people opening up their minds and their hearts to this very subject. i have seen more and more people become comfortable with the gay and lesbian community. i have witnessed more and more celebrities affirm their sexual orientation to uphold and support this very fight we are in. i have experienced gay couples in stronger relationships or marriages than my straight friends. gay or straight, my friends and my family are the most amazing people in my life. they add joy + love to my life; they are all unique individuals but never less than one another. never will any upstanding citizen be less than another.
millions of people corroborating on this idea of marriage equality cannot be wrong. i only hope that the decisions made will only propel our nation’s progress, not impede it.
jodi + matt had their baby on monday! baby s came on march 18, 3:02 am, weighing in at 6lbs 8oz! almost right on time to his due date. he is so precious! so teeny, so tiny, and so adorable.
i am so happy for them! of course, they are calm and collected as usual and already demonstrating great parenting skills! little baby s is so sweet and just makes you smile from ear to ear.
isn’t he so cute?!
i can’t wait to visit some more and watch little baby s grow! he looks a lot like his daddy {for now!}. it’s a miracle to see this come into fruition. it’s amazing what the human body can do and that the outcome is just a bundle of joy {until they grow up, right?! *wink*wink*!}.
