lauren's wedding!

 [this was the perfect setting for my friend lauren's wedding to the love of her life, chris]

all but one photo are taken by my friend beka watts. please visit her blog. she's amazingly talented and so fun to be around. she made the photo-taking really special and just look at these shots!

 

 all the bridesmaids wore beige dresses of our choosing. and cowboy boots. clearly.

 the handsome groomsmen dressed all classy-like.

 <3 these two!

to end the night we sent them off to mexico with a parade of sparklers!

DIY custom bookshelves

(all hard work done by my husband. i take no credit, except for the low-quality photos.)

so our bedroom has this little awkward nook which we think used to be the closet. since we moved in, that space was wasted. we just put a too-big set of drawers in front of the nook and joel used it as a bedside table.

his parents gave us a bookshelf that we never put together so joel cut the pieces to use as the shelves. it turned out to be a long, frustrating process because he had to try all different sorts of tools to mount the brackets.

 eventually they turned out great! joel filled one shelf and let me do my thang with the others.

i think they look SOOOOOOOOOO awesome & i'm grateful to have a handy husband who can do fun projects around our house.

(this shelf holds some of my absolute favs. only missing: a tree grows in brooklyn.)

some o' summa

july has been a full month. after our trip to washington, i was a bridesmaid in my friend lauren's wedding. those photos deserve a post for themselves. so i'll write one. tomorrow.

in the meantime, joel and i have had a few adventures at home and around town... like fan coming to visit. and feeding joel twizzlers because his hands were all paint-y.

 and BYOP lunch (build your own panini, duh...)

 and dressing up to go on a date to a new thai place. that turned out to be take-out only. oops.

 and going to a phillies/giants game with our BFF couple. <3

 these two joels were having a serious conversation on the subway.

 then we went on a hike!

 and i got an old child's bench from the antique store. NOW i love love love our front porch.

 and tonight we had flowers/candles on the dinner table.

i love my life & my husband & our home & summer vacation.

a knowing grin

yesterday joel asked me how my day was. i replied that i'd just sat around and read while the boys played at the pool. i'm baby-sitting this week.

joel asked me what i read. i replied, "a tree grows in brooklyn."

and joel got this knowing grin on his face.

and my heart melted.

he knows that's my favorite book. he recently asked me what it's all about and listened to my far-too-long explanation. he knows i've read it at least six times.

that grin was an outstanding gift. and what it meant is a gift in itself...

to be known by the love of my life, my best friend, is the most amazing feeling.

second annual trip to washington state

last summer our friends flew us to visit them in washington for a week. it was gorgeous, relaxing, and so fun.

this year joel got accepted to a educational leadership conference and they covered his ticket to washington. we decided to buy me a ticket, too, and go for our second annual trip. who knows what next summer will bring?!

i didn't take pictures until the last day of our trip. that was the day we borrowed an inflatable kayak and took it out on the bellingham bay. the weather was perfect, completely extraordinary for washington state.

 that was also the day joel sat next to the two little ones in the car and cared for them so sweetly.

 these two darlings are melt-your-heart adorable and so so sweet.

 on my way out of washington i got a nice glimpse of mount rainier.

July: 10 on 10

 8:00 waking up in the guest room because my bed is too big without joel

 9:00 admiring my almost finished (free from the neighbor's driveway!) dresser

 

 10:00 sad to be back on the job market

 

11:00 cupcake prep for our friends' wedding reception

12:00 gripping reading for my summer class

1:00 oh, awesome, a flower on my pepper plant. i'd rather have an actual pepper.

 2:00  admiring my bridesmaid outfit for saturday

3:00 maybe it'll be easier to read for grad school on our cozy gray basement couch

4:00 remains of a peachy snack

5:00 thawed chicken marinating.
[little did this chicken know it wouldn't be going on the grill since i left it on one night last week and the propane tank is 100% empty. darn.]

linking up:

Ireland 1: Dublin

We arrived in Dublin, Ireland around 8am on a Monday and took a bus to our hotel... where we stored our luggage until we could check-in at 2:30pm. That first day was a total blur. We wandered around (a lot!) and tried a couple restaurants recommended by our guide book. We ate a "traditional Irish breakfast" for 5 euros at a place called Flanagans (on O'Connell street).

I took a couple pictures at Trinity College. We didn't get the full tour till day 2 but it was sunny and lovely as we walked around. Old buildings are cool. We stopped to have a scone & coffee at Bewley's which was recommended by our guide book. It's on Grafton Street right near TONS of shopping.

Tons of houses and apartment buildings had Irish decor all over them in support of the soccer team who happened to be playing Italy on our first night. Joel watched the game but I fell asleep for 90% of it.

 Other sights we saw in Dublin are St. Patrick's Cathedral:

 Christ Church:

 Anddddddd the Guinness Factory. We took the full tour which was intriguing & interactive. Plus they give you a free pint at the top-level bar...

...which has glass on all sides and provides a sweet view of the entire city:

 Apparently our hotel was near James Joyce's home so we wandered around looking for some sign of him. All we found were ivy covered homes. Still pretty rad.

One thing that shocked us was how late it got dark. We went out for a beer at 10:30 and it was still completely light!

The best food we ate in Dublin was at The Black Sheep on Capel Street. We found it by mistake and stopped in because they advertised craft beers. Most places in Dublin serve Guinness & not much else so I was pretty pumped for some variety (aka: something I might actually like!). Apparently The Black Sheep is affiliated with a bunch of other places and gets their beer from a brewery in Galway. On our last night in Dublin we went back for an amazing dinner & to share their "trio of beers". Here are a few shots of their decor:

Recommended hotels:
Best= Hotel St. George (the room was slightly small but the shower water pressure was really good, so it gets high ratings in my book)
Not best but still good: Castle Hotel (Both hotels are part of the same group & both had excellent reception services. Their staff were SO helpful!)