happy weekend!

don't you just love summer weekends? i am really looking forward to this one. i finally am beginning to feel a bit more settled in our newlywed digs. we only need a few more things, some photos on the walls, and one big dinner party with friends. it's been completely wonderful to feel 'home' even among the mess just because m comes home every evening after work, and i get to run up and plant a big, wet one on him. i love that.

so the weekend started with the Harry Potter premier last night at midnight! did anyone else go? wasn't it awesome? although i feel a bit sad - it's the end of an era! i remember reading the first book lying in a hammock one summer at our summer house in Wisconsin. those books are the kind of reading you can just fall into for an afternoon - just magical (!). i'm headed to Wisconsin next week actually (sans m so i'll be a bit sad), and i think i'm going to reread HP 7.

tomorrow i am throwing a little soiree for my dear little sis who is sadly leaving us to finish school in Illinois. you go, girl! one day, kirby is going to be traveling the world, caring for the impoverished, and making a difference - all while cooking incredible meals. at least that's what i think. we'll be celebrating her in style with some cornhole in our backyard and some sweet summer foods (i've been obsessing over watermelon this year!).

hope your weekend is full of popsicles and slip n slides!

joyeuse photography

happy monday, dears! over the weekend, m and i pretended to be models for a bohemian-styled photoshoot with joyeuse photography. (isn't m handsome? and the light!) it was so much fun to work with tahni - photographer, stylist (she handmade the boutonniere and headpiece!), world traveler, visionary - the girl is a powerhouse. and, ahem, her own wedding was none other than Green Wedding Shoes most popular wedding of the year! we were so glad to help her business, and i think it helped us feel more comfortable in front of a camera (less than 3 months until our big day!).

if you are a creative, vintage, or bohemian bride-to-be and would like to work with someone who shares your unique vision, i cannot recommend tahni more! head over to her website to check out more of her work (and to enter her anthropologie giveaway!).

some love

happy valentine's day! here's to hoping your day, whether romantic or not, is a bit brighter. it's 65 and sunny in charlottesville, and that fact alone is enough to make me feel loved.

have you written any valentines? as much as i love receiving them, i think i love writing them even more. this year, i bought some cards from rifle paper co. and last night i set to work writing small notes of love and gratitude to some key people in my life: sisters, mom, soon to be mom-in-law, co-worker, friend, and of course m. it's good to remember how blessed i am.

have any fun v-day plans?

the civil wars

are you a fan of The Civil Wars yet? i started listening to this duo last year, and i am still wholly obsessed. their new album, Barton Hallow, came out this week and was #1 on iTunes (if my opinion alone couldn't convince you they're worth a listen). i love the new tunes, but my favorite song continues to be Poison & Wine (see video above). this song causes me to stop. literally. stop what i'm doing. and just listen. it moves me. rich, soul-quenching melodies. the combination of Joy Williams' (previously of CCM fame) haunting birdsong with John Paul White's folksy vocals is intoxicating.

in a recent article, Joy says of her music: "Beauty can be bittersweet and truth can be hard to swallow, and I think we inadvertently write within that tension with what we do—though it’s never actually discussed. It is different, but it seems like such a good space to be in." as if i needed another reason to believe, the girl expresses what i hope all art might: that tension.

and, joy upon joys - m surprised me (or, he tried to surprise me... i guess i am more difficult to surprise than i had thought) with tickets to see them this Friday in cville. this may be my favorite Valentine's Day of all time.

are any of you fans? have you seen them live? i've heard they are even more incredible on stage than on my iPod.

dance. dance. dance.

i can't get over these photos taken of me and m at a friend's wedding. can you tell how much we like to dance? truth be told, one of the things that most attracted me to him was his ability to bust a move on the dancefloor (one of our first dates ever was a salsa lesson - so fun!).

and though we often have very different music taste (me: indie and sometimes girly; him: rap, country, and beach music), we'll dance to just about anything. and we do so (obviously) with quite a bit of abandon. m grew up shagging (a Carolina dance set to beach music), and his parents actually fell in love while on the dancefloor (i know, cute). it's in his blood, and i'm so thankful. dancing always makes life a bit more fun, wouldn't you say?

when we sat down to plan our wedding, m and i discussed what mattered most to us. and both of us agreed that dancing was one of the top priorities. come june, my dancin' shoes are on!

if any of you are planning a wedding, i'd love to hear what you decided would be your priority! flowers? food? do tell.

taking a moment

hello dears, i'm so sorry i've been quite m.i.a. and inconsistent lately. the past week or so has, quite frankly, been full of wedding planning and decision-making, and my energy has been exhausted by it. i am beyond excited to marry m, and i feel incredibly blessed by the generosity of our families in the wedding planning process. there are so many fun, good things to look forward to (not least of all, actually being married !!!).

sometimes, though, i must admit that wedding planning can rear its ugly head and cause me to become a stressed, unfocused crazy person. if you've witnessed this, i do apologize. i think a lot of the anxiety that i allow to creep in comes from my tendency to lean on perfectionism as my defining state. and, big news - i'm just not perfect. my wedding will not be perfect. and my wedding planning will not be perfect.

i won't be able to make my perfected, shiny original vision for the wedding come to life in every single way (for instance, i originally envisioned everyone sitting at one long barn table together... but hello! we are expecting 250 people. one table? not happening.)

also, m and i disagree. this has been perhaps one of the most surprising things about planning a wedding for me (i'm not sure why, as m and i tend to have different tastes and make decisions in different ways). it's not always easy.

so this week, full of decision making and to-do's, has been messy. and yet, it has been wonderful.

it's been wonderful because i finally allowed my perfectionism to die. and i received the best gifts - grace and love. my parents graciously told me i would never be perfect but i was still beautiful and very capable of making good decisions. m affirmed that it was ok we disagree, that it did not mean we were less excited to marry each other, and that the wedding is about so much more than our decor and desserts. it's about celebrating God's provision in our lives and for bringing glory to His goodness by committing our lives to each other.

i've been thinking about that a lot this week - how profound it is that when i'm wrinkly, gray, and weathered by life's difficulties, i will still be committed to the promise i made when i was 23. i will still be committed to m, in his mess and in mine. at the end of the day, no matter what happens at my job or how miserable my day is, i'll be coming home to m, my best friend. the wedding will be amazing. i'm so excited. but marriage will be life-changing. my life for his. laying down my desires (even my perfectionism), in order to love m. i've hardly a clue what that means in real life besides what i've experienced through Christ's love for me, but i am anticipating a life of adventure and fierce, fierce love.

ps - i love the above picture, taken at our surprise engagement party. such joy.

featured on united with love

i'm so excited to announce that some of our engagement pictures were featured on United With Love, a blog about weddings in the DC area! i've been shy to post these pictures but since they are already exposed to the greater web world, i thought i'd share them with you.

the post where our pictures appear is one in which our talented, amazing engagement photographer, eric kelley, and his wife, lora elaine (my makeup and hair stylist) share some tips about what to wear for engagement sessions! i'm incredibly flattered that they chose our photos to showcase their work. m and i have been so blessed to call eric and lora friends, and i just about fell over when they offered to take some photos of us around town. both of them are insanely talented and have gorgeous websites. i loved working with them because they are both laid back and made the shoot comfortable and fun, but above all, they are incredibly committed to their craft - which comes through in the photos.



ah, isn't m handsome in his suspenders? he was a great sport for the shoot. i can't wait to marry him!

i highly recommend eric and lora for your engagement or wedding photos! but book early - these two are in high demand! and check out United With Love. the post has some great advice for looking good on camera.