A Little Wedding Magic

We had such a fun weekend!  

Saturday morning we had an early start and took a very long train ride 

down south for a beautiful British wedding! 

Such excited newly weds!

Look at the groom in his morning suit - soooo british right?  

Beautiful old stone church.

Big white tent reception.

Nick is friend's with the groom, Ed, from college where they studied technical theater.

He sure didn't skimp on the lighting design for the wedding!

Oh hey and there's us.

How cute are they?

Welcome to married life Keeley and Ed!

ps.  Remember the other day when I said the groom had his eyebrow shaved off?  Yeah well understandably the bride was a little pissed off, so what do you do when you work in theater and are missing an eyebrow before your wedding day?  Call in the make up artist from Harry Potter of course!  Yep that is why both his eyebrows look intact, what a great story huh!

Double Birthday Madness

Yesterday was Heidi AND Nick's Birthday!  

Woo hooo double birthday fabulosity!  

I tried to make it Nick's best birthday ever.  

I'm pretty sure his ideal wife is an all singing, all dancing type of domestic/career goddess who gets up in the morning before him, runs him a bubble bath, cooks him breakfast and sends him out the door with a kiss.  Then this woman goes to work making lots of $£$£$£ but not more than him, and manages to cook him dinner and keep an impeccable house at the same time.  

She also irons his shirts.  

Clearly, this is NOT me.  But hey, for one day I can try right...?

At 7:00 am the alarm went off and I jumped out of bed to put these in the oven...

Pumpkin cinnamon buns... mmmm....

While they were cooking I whipped up some icing AND ran him a bubble bath 

(perfect japanese housewife - no?  fyi our current house does NOT have a shower)

After we had breakfast he put on a well ironed shirt and headed out the door with this... 

A pretty sloppy looking Carrot Cake,
and I'll never know if it tasted any good since his colleagues ate it all, 

but considering the fact there is 1.5 pounds of powdered sugar and 2 packs of cream cheese in the icing alone - I'm guessing it tasted alright....

After he went out to work I decorated the house and wrapped his present. 

 Unfortunately, at noon I got a call from the restaurant I was trying to make reservations at to let me know there was no room at the inn.  

boo.  

Massive wife fail.  

We did go out to eat but the food was wack.  

Hello restaurants of Sheffield - why do you all suck?

I thought I'd finally managed to get him a present he'd actually like that was a complete surprise...

but when I gave it to him, he held it for a minute and asked if I got him a tent.

Yes that would be it. 

Do you think that counts as a surprise?  

Because getting him a surprise bday present that he likes is on my bucket list -

 and I don't know if I succeeded or not.

This picture makes me laugh...

Oh there we go Doodle, now you can see!  

She's not allowed on the couch because she is always dirty and couches aren't washable like sheets are, 

but she is convinced that she should be allowed on the couch, 

and we didn't have the heart to kick her off / miss the photo opp.  

Besides, it was her first birthday afterall!

Sideways puppy kisses!

I love this little dog sooo much.  

And I love him too.

Even if we do take the most god awful selfies together... 

Those cinnamon buns appear to have been stuck straight to my chin.

Oh well, enjoy my doobler, internet. 

If only Heidi had a keen eye for photography and opposing thumbs - 

I swear were really not that unattractive of a couple.

Well that's all folks.  

I know I skimped on Heidi in favor of Nick, 

but truth be told she didn't actually know it was her birthday.  

I plan on fixing her up some pupcakes on Monday though.  

I hope you have a fabulous weekend!  

We're off to a wedding tomorrow morning which is sure to be fun!

A Fall Weekend Photos and Flavors

Hi Friends,

How was your weekend?  I know it's Tuesday but it feels like Monday to me because I don't work on Mondays.  My weekend was fabulous and very busy. Nick went away for the weekend to a rowdy bachelor party, he came back intact, but the groom is missing an eyebrow!  They get married this weekend - how mad would you be?!  I would be soo mad!

The Doodle and I had a much less crazy girls weekend enjoying a little much needed sunshine.

And playing with lots of friends.  New and old....

This is Heidi's new friend Chili.  

I really liked the way she matched the fall colors.

Such a model, no?

I also did lots of DIY and cleaning and baking!

Like this delicious loaf...

You should definitely try this New York times No Knead bread recipe - right now.  

So easy to fit into your day, and whats better than fresh bread?

Nothing else can make your house smell that good.

I've been getting SO busy in the kitchen this week.  

I can't wait to show you what I've been making, 

but its a birthday surprise so I can't reveal it just yet!

It's Heidi and Nick's birthday on Thursday.

I'm sooo excited!

More on that later, but rest assured, Thursday will be mouth wateringly delicious!

Things That Make Me Happy : Starbucks

Confession : I'm not that good at being a wife.  It took me about a year to figure out that being married wasn't just a state of being, like being alive or breathing.  But being married is a skill.  It's something you have to learn how to do.  Like sharing or algebra.  And I'm learning.  Sometimes I think maybe I'm learning too slowly.  I get tired of compromise and collaboration.  And considering Nick and I were dating long distance for 8 years, it's no surprise that some days I miss my independence.

Yesterday I threw a temper tantrum.  To be honest I was just tired of having another person infiltrate all of my being.  I just wanted to not have to ask questions like...

"What do YOU want for dinner?"

"Can WE go to bed now?"

"When are you going to do that DIY project that

I've been nagging you about for a week so we can stop living in chaos? 

Or answer questions like...

"Have you done the laundry?"

"Have you ironed my shirts?"

"Where is my ____ ?"

And then there is the always looming even bigger question -

When can I peace out of this country?  

Because God knows if it wasn't for this (big shiny) ring on my finger I would have done so SO long ago.
In fact, are long distance marriages possible?  And do people judge you for that?  Because I met someone on Thursday whose wife lived in DC and he worked at the University and I couldn't help but wonder if that is the best or the worst relationship ever...

Long story short: I went to bed in a horrible mood, and then I couldn't sleep because I was in a horrible mood, so I was in an even worse mood in the morning.  All of these things being my fault.  Plus I was REALLY tired.

Then I passed Starbucks, which is the point of this post, I'm trying to identify 100 things that make me happy for Day Zero.  And I would like to say  - Starbucks, you make me happy.

This freestyle is for you.

Starbucks, you warm my cold fingers.
I like the way that peppermint mocha lingers...
On the tip of my tongue, that caffeine's got me sprung.
Elizabeth and James, we think the same.
A delicious mocha, twins come on ova.
Mary Kate is great, but I think Ashley is more like me...

Gee.. I really feel cooler when holding this recycled tree.
Just sippin on a latte, walking through the fray.
Whatever country I'm in - in each Starbucks that I have been,
Everything is the same,
and while some hipsters think that is LAME
I totally disagree, you see
Because even in England,
you look the same as my main S-bucks location,
in my homeland, a great nation.
It is a good thing I must say
to have a place where I can go on any given day,
That doesn't feel so foreign.

I hope you enjoyed my rhymes.  Anyways after my Starbucks I felt much better and called Nick and apologized for my temper tantrum.  This is the truth.  I'm lucky he holds no grudge.  Someday I'll be a good wife.  I just wonder how many soy peppermint mocha latte's later?

ps.  If my obscure pop culture references were lost on you MK and A like Starbucks.  And I like MK and A.  Hope you are having a good Friday! 

Dani's First Half Marathon

Hi Friends,

I just wanted to tell you about my pretty sister, Dani. The tall tan one.

I mean, my mom and Lizzie are pretty too, but I wanted to tell you about Dani.

Dani was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis this year.  It's a disease in which your immune system attacks your colon, resulting in painful ulcers in your intestines.  It's not a very nice thing.  She has to go to the doctor a lot now and the steroids she is on to treat it don't work very well, plus they make her gain weight - every girls worst nightmare right?

Well anyways she is running a half marathon in Las Vegas in December, for Team Challenge - an organization that fund raises for crohns and colitis.  I really wish I could run with her, to support her ( read : party in vegas with her...) and because it's on my bucket list!  But unfortunately I can't be there.  

She is so close to reaching her fundraising goal, but she needs about $200 more.  So I told her I would enlist the help of the lovely people of the blogosphere.  If you feel inclined to donate a lil something something to help my sister and to help find a cure for her disease, you can do so on her fundraising page.

I know she'd appreciate any tips from you hardcore runners out there as well!  This is her first half marathon!  Thanks guys!