New Years 2012

I always love the start of a New Year. So much promise, anticipation. Excitement. 2011 was amazing - we got married, moved to DC, took lots of trips, and generally settled in to married life. We had several hard losses as well, which I suppose will become a part of life as we get older. 

Sorry the blog has been a bit neglected - lots going on this past fall! Hopefully life will settle down soon.

 

I am looking forward to seeing what 2012 brings. I am ready.

Insert Massive Squeal Here

...Urgent blog-cast...

You guys. You guys you guysyouguys.

I interrupt my cake postings (you needed a break from drooling over the rich lusciousness anyway), because I am so incredibly excited that the fantastic Sarah Rhoads has posted a sneak-peek of our engagement pictures on her blog!! Gaaaaah!!!

You can and should check them out HERE! Seriously, click the link. Immediately. In case you refuse to click the link (if you refuse, you might be an alien, because they are amazing), here is a little taste.

I heart this picture. Because it is so us. Cuddly. Laughy.  And because I am whispering sweet nothings in J's ear (or maybe just saying I feel awkward being cuddly in front of a camera). And because he looks so dang dapper in his gingham shirt and tie. And because there is a teensy heart on his cardigan. What is it? I have no idea. Some sort of sun flare, maybe? I just know it looks like a cute little heart. 

I am obsessed. Seriously, truly obsessed. Okay, it might make me sound a bit vain to be that incredibly obsessed with pictures of us, but seriously?! Her images are ridiculously amazing! I am in total awe of Sarah's photography skills - she has more talent in her little finger than I have in my entire body. For real.

And she is awesome. So nice. So stylish. So fiery. So full of excitement for what she does. It's inspiring, really. And her photographs? They make me drool. More than cakes make me drool. And that is saying a lot. They are so dreamy. I mean, look at that gorgeous buttery light. We look like we might be a little bit in love in these pictures. Just a little, though. 

J is a huge fan of her images that focus on architecture. And lines. And curves. And more modern-y things like funky statues and buildings. Like this one.

I like the more nature-y images, and the ones that are close-ups of us and our love. You know, trees, flowers, cuddles. But, I love them all.

Sarah sent me the link today while I was at work, and I literally spent 20 minutes just staring at them. And, of course, emailing the link to everyone. I then proceeded to walk around the office with the goofiest, sappiest smile plastered on my face for the rest of the day. I don't care. The pictures rock. There are more over on Sarah's site, so please be sure to check them out.

They seriously made me excited for our wedding. Like, I really can't wait. I mean, I was excited before, but now? Yeah, I want to get married right now. I get an entire day of sweet pics? Yes please. I am so glad that we have these amazing pictures of J and I, because we really don't have many recent good ones. I think we might have 3 images of just the two of us in the past few months? There aren't many, that's all I know. 

My favorite picture, you ask? It's this one.

We're super uncomfortable, cold, lying on a picnic table, our arms and necks at strange angles, shivering, and I am laughing hilariously at J saying make sure you tilt your face so that you don't have a double-chin. Ahh, love sweet love.

Did you freak out over your engagement pictures like I did? Did you go crazy and decide to purchase a million massive canvas wraparound prints like I am going to? Okay, maybe not a million massive ones, but we definitely need some canvas prints in our lives. Did your engagement pictures make you stoked for your wedding?!

All images courtesy of the amazing, the magical, the wonderful Sarah Rhoads Photography!! She seriously rocks!

E-Shoot

Engagement shoot, that is.

Let's be honest, I was slightly terrified of our engagement shoot. Don't get me wrong, I am obsessed with our amazing photographer, and had absolutely no doubt in my mind that she would take gorgeous pictures of Mr. Candy Apple and me but, frankly, I don't photograph well. I mean, I don't consider myself hideous by any means, but for some reason, photographs of me just never end up turning out how I would like them. My smile can be semi-awkward, too. Forced, I guess. Turns out that those millions of pictures my family took of me when I was little didn't prepare me for the camera. And forced canoodling? As fun as that sounds, I thought I was going to feel a bit out of my element having someone photograph us interacting in public.

Then, there was also the issue of what to wear. I had my mind set on wearing an adorable dress, because I love dresses: they're comfortable, cute, and I wear them all the time. Turns out I had to rethink since our e-shoot was in the middle of February. In seattle. Hey, at least wasn't in Princeton, where it was 10 degrees the weekend of the shoot, but it was still cold! So yeah, a dress wouldn't really be appropriate. Sigh

So, no more dress. I culled through my closet (what the hell, why don't I have any clothes? I need to go shopping), did some searching around online for e-shoot outfit suggestions (because clearly I can't dress myself), and decided on this

{from here, here, and here}

If you have had an e-shoot, or any other type of photography shoot, what did you do to prepare? Any suggestions on clothes/ styling? Pearls of wisdom on how to act natural?

68 & 73 - done!

68. visit 3 of the 21 us states that i haven’t been to yet
73. go on a road trip through at least 4 states (no more than 1 can be a new england state)

yes, i am completely and utterly behind in blogging. i suppose i just haven't felt up to it lately. too busy, perhaps, but it would be good if i could get back into it.


this summer, after the bar, j and i went on a little trip. i flew out and met him in san diego. we were there for a few days, soaked in the lovely california sun, then flew up to seattle. from there, we got my car, and drove across the us to boston, where we promptly packed up, and moved down to new jersey.


it was a hectic summer, to say the least.

 anyway, the itinerary was:

san diego, california (doesn't count for the road trip, but i'm including it here to show how much we traveled)
seattle, washington
coeur d'alene, idaho (stopped and saw m and w, which was really fun)
big sky, montana
yellowstone, wyoming (best part of the trip. so amazing)
jackson hole, wyoming
grand tetons, wyoming
casper, wyoming
mount rushmore, south dakota
crazy horse, south dakota
rapid city, south dakata
the badlands, south dakota
(didn't stay in minnesota, but drove through)
madison, wisconsin
chicago, illinois (two days. chicago is awesome)
(drove through the tip of indiana)
(drove through michigan)
niagara falls, ontario, canada
(drove through new york and ended in boston, massachusetts)

phew. so that was a total of 12 states, and 1 canadian province.

it was a really sweet trip, and let me tell you, it was tough going back to work after that!

also, just one little plug - if you ever, ever get the chance, go to yellowstone and the grand tetons. chicago rocked, as did niagara falls, but yellowstone was seriously one of the most awesome places i have ever been to, and the tetons were incredible as well. everywhere you turned in yellowstone, the ground was bubbling, steaming, spewing. the colors were out of this world - rusty reds and oranges, azures, lapis, aquamarine, mossy greens. honestly, it looked like we were back in time on primordial earth. it was really, really cool.


sorry i'm not going to write too much about the trip, but there's too much to tell, so i'll just let you look at some pretty pictures. i took a ton of pictures, and it was fun going through them and picking out some of my favorites. enjoy!

this valley of the buffalo was ridiculously awesome. we also saw a momma grizzly and her cubs a little later (they were pretty far away on the other side of the valley, though). stupid buffalo, though. when we were coming back from the yellowstone grand canyon (pics below), they were all migrating across the road for the night, causing a two hour traffice jam. perfect.

tetons. gorgeous.

.cheers.

.yum.

.cherries!.

nothing means 'summer' to me more than fresh, yummy fruit - cherries, peaches, watermelon. so good.


i went a little bit nuts at the grocery store after j left; fruit really is my achilles heel. but hey, it's a good weakness to have, right?

and, some pretty spray roses.


in other news, jeff finished the bar today!! yay!! i finally have a fiance to hang out with. until he starts at the law firm in another year. but let's not think about that now.

.cheers.

.lisianthus - a study.

.my new favorite flower.






flowers always manage to make me smile.

.cheers.