Location, Location

Location was a big consideration as we were making nuptial plans. In the open air? In a familiar favorite venue? On a scenic site? It seemed to make the most sense to wed in Iowa as we and our families are from there. However, we have made our home in various places since leaving Iowa, and most of our close friends are in Chicago, Seattle, Boston or beyond. I wanted to be married somewhere that reflected an important connection for us. There were beautiful places we loved in the Northwest, but that would ultimately be difficult to plan or ask others to attend.

Once we finally made the decision to be married, the correlation to a city hall wedding fell into place. City Hall may not seem particularly personal, but it may have been that universality that attracted us. You see, it had obviously taken us a long time to reach the consensus that we wished to be married. Through the years Nathan and I have come to share what feels, is, a marriage. We simply lacked the terms that made this recognizable for others. So, once we finally decided to buy into the idea, I wanted that. Marriage, is as granted by our shared society. The fact that Massachusetts offers this right to all citizens made us feel even stronger about our city hall decision.

We live outside Boston, but we wanted to be married in the city…perhaps because we already generalize our location, or because of the grandeur, or because it seems more iconic. The current Boston City Hall has a contentious architectural reputation. Many think it's ugly or ineffective, others see it as an important symbol of modern architecture and civil structure. I tend to like that sort of thing, but I had to check it out for myself to make sure it was for us.

It turns out, I love it! It was constructed in the 60s and stands out as an exemplary Brutalist building. Yes, it is firm and blocky, but the repetition, smooth concrete, and the natural light inside is incredible. I was moved, imagining us in that space on our anniversary and wedding day. I walked through and took these photos. I called Nathan from the steps outside and told him it was THE place.

Once we found our spot, everything else started to come together. The warm gray of the concrete, the soft light and shadows cast inside, and the midcentury modern feel inspired the rest of my styling choices. (Which is to come next!)

1 Month of Marriage

Goodness, gracious. It's been a while. It seems like when there's finally something newsworthy I don't leave time to post! Apologies. However, I imagine those who may read this already well know what has been keeping us busy over the last couple months:

One month ago, Monday April 4, 2011, Nathan and I were married!

Happy (9 years+) One Month Anniversary, my Love!

Nathan and I discussed possible wedding plans for months--engaged 2 years!--but the actual decision making came together within just 3 months.

After much contemplation we chose to be married intimately just the two of us. We felt that the difficulty of gathering everyone we cared for in one spot, finding a meaningful location, and staying true to what the day was to us (a day 9 years in the making) was too much. We chose to keep that moment to ourselves and are making plans to celebrate the joining of our families this summer. This was a tough decision, and it affected everyone more than we wanted, but it is what we needed to do.

It truly was the most beautiful day. I will be gleefully daydreaming about it today and am excited to share it with you this week! I hope to recap our planning, wedding, and honeymoon for you over the next several days, so stay tuned.

25, I am!

Last Saturday, I turned 25! Very exciting, I know.

Thank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes, cards, and thoughtful gifts. :) I had a fabulous day. This is how it went:

We slept in, for starters, and then took a leisurely walk (it was warmer but overcast, a little moistness to the air--it's been feeling like Seattle!) to our favorite breakfast spot, Deluxe Town Diner. Nathan had the blueberry pancakes, and I enjoyed Eggs Florentine. So delicious.

Just look at those flapjacks! Fluffy perfection.

Hello, hollandaise sauce! For the record, Eggs Florentine is poached eggs, spinach, and tomatoes on an english muffin drenched in hollandaise sauce. I'm a recent convert. And a side of potatoes, yum.

We decided to host a party this year, something I haven't done since starting high school! So after breakfast we found a zipcar and zipped around to pick up all of our party foods. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the house and prepping for company. That might sound like a chore, but it was quite relaxing.

Here is Nathan waiting at a bus stop on the way home. The sun peeked out and shone so warmly in the afternoon!

Later that evening, all my friends showed up and made it such a fun birthday. Now that our fireplace is working, we thought nothing could be better than testing it out by toasting marshmallows--hence, the s'more party! I made invitations to hand out earlier in the week. We stocked the dining table full of interesting chocolates and toppings, and Nathan whittled some sticks into skewers. It was a big hit, and a sugar high!

We still have so much chocolate in our cupboards, but most of the other sweets made it back to the breakroom at the store. Unfortunately we were having too much fun to take photos, but I did snap a pic of our fire on Sunday. It's still chilly enough to enjoy those cozy after-dinner hours in front of the flickering glow.

A superb beginning to 25. Thanks everyone!

De Vivre La Langue

These videos have been making blog rounds, for good reason. The typography is such a keen way of integrating language into travel fantasy. Of course I'm partial to Paris, but all of them are wonderful.

I haven't been putting any efforts toward that longing to learn French, but that video certainly alights the desire. Sigh. Just another member of the collective wanting to jet off to more exotic places this dreary time of year.

Here's one more video to exalt the joys of le Francais. ;)

My Valentine

This week brought us a mini February heat wave--40-50°! People are a little giddy and carried away by the warmth, so appropriate for this week's end. I'll call it Valentine weather, a love-induced flush.

On Monday my sweet Valentine left work early to meet me for a quick bite and a showing of Casablanca at a little theatre....I guess that was many-a lovers' plan because it was completely sold out....we'll remember next year. Instead, we grabbed cappucino and hot chocolate from LA Burdick to sip while waiting for the bus. At home we watched When Harry Met Sally. A wonderful Valentine's Day...a vignette of the simple loveliness of my life with this fellow.

*

My mom sent a sweet Valentine package: a cutely quirky bee-girl valentine, favorite sour cherry balls, and a little bundle of family heirloom silver spoons. A reminder to create small and lovely moments daily, and to create special occasions rather than wait for them. <3 This day's special occasion: chai and girl scout cookies. After all, those darn cookies are only around once a year. So coveted.

My mom and pop went dancing for Valentine's Day this year. Isn't that great? :) Did anyone else celebrate?

Seeing Hearts

Happy Valentine's Day!

Are you celebrating this year? Do you have special plans today? In past years I maybe didn't like Valentine's Day so much, but nowadays I rather like it. Not because of my relationship status (it's been a long time since I wasn't in a relationship!) but because of the commercial, cheesy romance aspect of it. But as one of our customers remarked the other day about her favorite holiday, "What's not to love about pink, pretty things and chocolate?" I quite agree!

I got a late start on handmade Valentines as I was sparked by inspiration just days before I needed to send them. That said, I made a very limited edition, so my apologies if you didn't receive one from me this year. Beginning with the idea of "seeing hearts" I decided to make a series with iconic eyewear! Each Valentine features a favorite bespectacled icon with a coordinating phrase "eyechart" on the back.

To show you the whole set and make it a little more fun, I've created a little matching game below! Take a stab at matching the eyewear to the appropriate phrase. Answers will be at the bottom! ;)

1. Buddy Holly 2. Edith Head 3. John Lennon

4. Noam Chomsky 5. Woody Allen 6. Kanye Wet

7. IM Pei 8. Andy Warhol

A B C

D E F

G H

However you may (or may not) be celebrating, have a lovely Valentine's Day! I will be holding tight to my own all-year-round Valentine and most likely enjoying some chocolate. Really, I barely need the excuse.

<3

how'd you do?

Answers: 1H, 2G, 3E, 4F, 5A, 6D, 7B, 8C

You, Me and the Weekend.

I've been getting a lot of weekends off over the last month. I'm certainly not complaining. In fact, I'm coveting them...I try not to say much, keep it quiet, just in case it is an accident and they could be taken away. shhh.... :)

I love having my weekends to spend with Nathan. Aside from dinner with my good friend Ashley on Friday night (the Red Lentil is becoming 'our spot'...we both go gaga for the beet latkes), Nathan and I had the whole weekend to ourselves. It was fantastic...one perfect long date weekend. Saturday was chilly, so we stayed in doing household things and watching Arrested Development most of the day. We only left the house that evening for dinner (Tommy Doyle's...funny thing: we tried to eat here our first night in Cambridge, but the kitchen was already closed) and to finally see Black Swan. I loved it.

Sunday had a lazy start. The good ol' Sunday-sleep-in, followed by a batch of homemade pancakes and veggie sausage.

single flapjack.

the whole delicious stack and fake sausages.

After the big breakfast we bundled up and went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. Nathan and I haven't done too much exploring off the green line yet, so we enjoyed seeing more of the city. The museum is remarkable. First entering the museum, walking into the loggia and seeing the inner courtyard, is breathtaking. How one woman could dream up such a place and collect so much over her lifetime is amazing. This one goes on my list of favorite museums.

enormous! this place was her house...can you imagine drinking tea in your own private courtyard amongst ancient roman statues, or entertaining in a parlor decorated with Titian and Giotto? Or letting Sargent use a room for his studio? I couldn't take any interior photos, but it's definitely worth looking up.

Renzo Piano is building an extension. Oh Mr. Piano, prince of museum expansions.

We had a short warm-up over coffee and chocolate croissant before taking the train home. Taking the T through the city with this fine young man is one of my simple pleasures.

We capped our weekend with dinner at home and Alphaville. Godard is a stylish filmmaker, but he may be too much for me. I better brush up on my French theory and New Wave history. yikes. A little more Arrested Development before bed.

More perfect Boston weekends, please.

The Blizzard at Our Door

Happy Groundhog Day...

Take a look at this and tell me what you think, Phil.

Winter. Forever.

We had another several inches yesterday (who's counting anymore?) and freezing rain this morning. There's now a crispy sheet of ice covering all that fluffy snow. Alas, there's nowhere more for the snow to go! I tried to help out with the shoveling last night, but the snow I threw onto the piles just rolled back down to the walk. hmpf

2 conclusions:

It's not too late to get snow boots after all.

Next year we may need to schedule a warm weather vacation into our regular holiday planning.

And no, I have not gone any farther from my house than this today.

In the words of Al Roker, I hope you're staying toasty, in your neck of the woods.

Seasonal Crafting

I mentioned in the last post that I had been attempting to squeeze in some holiday crafting, one of my great joys of the season, and I thought I ought to share them! Sometimes I can save a little moola by making my own gifts or decor, and sometimes I end up spending too much--it's the fun and inspiration that's indispensable.

First off, there were Christmas cards to be sent. It was a very limited run this year--very sorry if you didn't receive one in your mailbox! (New Year cards are in the works for those left off the list, so send me a message if you need a handmade card!) I was inspired by the new Peacock color at PS--it adds a fun punch of color to the holidays and complements nicely with so many colors. I layered snowflake scrapbooking paper, small paper bag business cards, and die-cut snowflakes with a little faux aging. A shiny snap holds them together.

Some of the ladies at the shop put these cute paper snowflakes together one afternoon, and it became the crux of my imaginary-Martha-Stewart-holiday-fantasy! In my head I made oodles and strung them together in garlands to hang from doorways and the mantle. In actuality I only got around to making these three one afternoon...sigh. I cut text weight shimmery paper into 1/2" strips, created loops, and double-stick taped them together. Easy! They'd be even lovelier with quilled details for intricacy.

Lastly, I knew I wanted a wreath on our front door. The front door is a very important place for me as a designer and a domestic person. Unfortunately, wreaths are quite expensive! Have you noticed? There were all sorts of tutorials for various holiday wreaths online--real and fake greenery, fabric, pompom, paper. I ended up finding a basic metal wreath form at Ben Franklin for $3 and the bundle of boxwood branches at Home Depot was $6.

My advice....if you're too impatient to wait and pick up the floral tape and wire at the store tomorrow (like me)--don't be. The right supplies would have made this so much easier and more fun, but instead I used thread to wrap/tack on each branch. Bah. However, in the end I am so happy with how it turned out.

I'm glad I didn't make excuses and let this one go by the wayside as I often do when it gets busy around the holidays. Some people may never understand why the effort is worthwhile...but this makes me happy when I walk up to my door.

I hope your 2011 is full of creative pleasures--I'm planning mine!

December in Pictures

That came and went in a flash! Strange as it sounds, I feel like I was saturated in Christmas yet nearly missed it altogether. Something about working in retail, I guess... Anyway, Christmas stressed me out this year. December was a busy month and the few extra challenges that come with making your own holiday cheer put me under. I caught cold for a few days a week before Christmas; it passed quickly but made me slow down and calm down a bit.

It wasn't all bad though. In fact, there were a lot of highlights. As I mentioned in the last post, I started going to my friend's gym as a guest, and I've decided to keep going. It will be a change of pace, but I think it will be worthwhile. I tried as much as I could this month to work on holiday traditions and festivities...baking, making cards, holiday crafts. A couple weeks ago, thanks to Mom and Dad, we attended The Nutcracker ballet. It was beautiful, all of it--the opera house, the music, the dancers, the sweet children, and having Nathan there for the first time.

Our Christmas itself was relaxing and cozy. I worked until early evening Christmas Eve, and at home we made spinach lasagna and chex mix then settled in for a movie. Christmas morning we slept in, had cinnamon rolls and coffee, and opened our stockings and packages (thank you, all!) We bummed around the house the rest of the day until we met up with Christie and Kevin for Chinese food and cinema (True Grit, thumbs up).

Phew! That brings us to now, the day after Christmas: I worked today but was sent home early because we're having a blizzard--perhaps a foot of snow! So here we are, warm in our house, enjoying leftovers and playing with new toys--for me, a new MacBook (xo Nathan) and for Nathan, an Xbox 360 from yours truly. And what did Nathan bring home this morning before the storm hit? A television. We were good to each other this year.

I hope you were good to each other and yourselves this year, too! Love from New England.

xo

first cookies of the season: mini hazelnut sandwiches

Night out to The Nutcracker ballet

Our first big snow and the twinkling lights on Lewis Road

O Little Tanenbaum

Our cozy Christmas Eve at home

The annual spinach lasagna tradition continues at our house...delicious

Christmas morning cinnamon rolls, hot from the oven

Bacon Spread, a salty stocking stuffer from Seattle!

I love my new MacBook Air! Thanks Santa....uh, Nathan!

Blizzarding in New England, the day after Christmas

December

Well, we've made it full circle! Does anyone else get that feeling about December? The last month of the year, a month of festivity, the month we are all shocked that we've arrived at yet again?

I like December. I like the plans, the busy fingers, the cozy nesting, the nostalgic ache, the small lights in the dark. December is a reflective month. You can't help but think about what you were doing a year ago and what you've been doing since. I think this brings about rotating feelings of peace and anxiety. Oh, the holidays!

And if it weren't simply enough to let December usher in these magnitudes of time--my niece and nephew turned 18 yesterday! Criminy! My family is growing up. Lots of change.

In other non-related news, I am working out again. I'm not sure I can fairly say this yet because I just started on Sunday. My friend shared a monthly guest pass to her really nice, pricey fitness center, so I'm going to give it a fighting chance this month. Unfortunately I don't know what I'm doing...

Though athletically inclined in my school days, I never really learned about fitness, just sport. I know how to play for a team, but aside from jogging (which I do not love to do), I never learned what I could do on my own to stay healthy. She and I have been going to some classes, but hopefully I can also get some instruction on the self-service gym stuff. I am certainly weak, but I will thank my body for being so forgiving. It seems like after just a couple sessions that firm heart-shaped bulk in my calves is already returning (thanks Dad). Or maybe I'm just sore and want to believe!

Anyone out there know what I'm talking about? Do you know how to navigate yourself through a gym?

Happy December, all.

FIVE!

seal wrestling at the Seattle Aquarium

A great big Happy Birthday to our favorite little dude!
Christopher turns the big 5 today!
We hope you have a day filled with fun.
xoxo
love, Uncle Nathan & Callie

Happy (day after) Thanksgiving

I hope you were all well fed and in good company for Thanksgiving. We had a couple friends over to spend the day preparing and eating the big meal. We got started early; shopping over the week, preparing dessert on Tuesday, making snacks and mushroom gravy Wednesday. We cooked all Thursday, got in a few card games, and settled our full bellies with a little dessert and a showing of Tron. All in all, a very good holiday.

In the past I've given Thanksgiving the backseat to Halloween and Christmas, but it may easily become my favorite holiday. It may be the most relaxed and genuinely holiday of holidays. A feast to celebrate union and gratitude. A day of delicious eats leading into a 4-day weekend.

Nathan and I have been blessed this year. We are very much living the lives we together hoped for, though here and there the vision has changed. It can be easy to take these blessings for granted, yet I still look around with amazement on a near daily basis and wonder how I got here.

I am recently thankful:
-for Nathan's job that brought us to Boston.
-that Nathan likes this job and does it so well.
-that my job secured me work in this new city, a built in support system, and fast new friends.
-for the love and support of family and friends, new and old.
-that we live in an age where moving away doesn't mean leaving people behind.
-for the delicious meal we shared and the reasonable metabolism to enjoy it.
-for puppies, and the hope we'll have one soon.
-for you!

Have a wonderful long weekend.

The feast laid out in our dining room:

turkey, tofurkey, herbed corn, mushroom gravy, rolls, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes

Nathan's Birthday Weekend

Nathan turned 24 this past Thursday! His mama flew in late Wednesday evening to celebrate with us. Thursday was a beautiful, sunny New England day, so we headed down to the waterfront and finally checked the Aquarium off our to-see list. We took Nathan out to birthday tepanyaki for dinner, and they even surprised him with a birthday gong! I worked through the weekend, but I hear they had a good time traipsing through the city and checking out Boston together. Of course, I only remembered to take photos at the aquarium.

Thanks for celebrating with us, Melinda! Happy 24 years, and a good 25th year, Nathan!

Of the Spinach Lasagnas

Dear Mom,

Although you already make a mean spinach lasagna (there's a reason we have it for Christmas Eve), if you ever feel like switching things up a bit, I recommend this one. Same spinachy idea, sans sauce.

love, Cats

Funny story...After what felt like an already busy day, I decided I should put a hot meal on the table, hence the lasagna. Only later did I realize Nathan would be at a kickball game tonight and would miss out on fresh-out-of-the-oven lasagna. So that gigantic piece that is missing? Yep, I ate that. By myself. Bam.*

Also, sorry for the pathetic lack of blogging. Stuff has been going on, I just haven't been writing. My bad.

*In my defense, that dish isn't quite as big as it looks, not a standard 9x13...if it matters.

Staycation

I'm so excited because my parents are going to be here to visit tomorrow night! :) They packed up the van with some furniture to bring us and are driving through. Today they were in Montreal, tonight they are in Vermont, and tomorrow night they'll be with us. I'm still deciding what fun things we will do. I took 3 days off work next week for their visit, and in addition my boss gave me the whole weekend off just to be nice! It's like I'm on vacation!

Today Nathan and I got a zipcar and went to Home Depot. I have been wanting to do some gardening and this full weekend seemed like the right opportunity. I loaded up on tools, bulbs and pots of mums....and tonight I'm reading up on what the heck I'm supposed to do with those!

Yesterday it rained and rained, drizzle then downpour. Fortunately we're not flooding like much of the East Coast, but it sure made things soggy. Nevertheless, we braved the rains to go out last night and see Portico Quartet in Cambridge--so worth it! I have followed up here and there on this band ever since I saw them playing outside the Pompidou in Paris in 2006. When I saw their name in this week's concert listings I knew we had to go. The sound in the intimate venue was great.

Nathan's heard me say it enough, but if you're British, play unique jazz and travel the world with your buddies, can you really get any cooler? I think not. You can hear "Clipper" below....definitely worth a listen.

Secret Agent Woman

My good buddy out in Seattle has gone back to school for a graduate degree in Criminology. I decided this merited some special encouragement and sent her a package with a few helpful "secret agent" tools. It was really fun making this little themed package. I love how mail can make people so happy.

I typed up a mini document and put it in a mini file folder (with photo of her partner in crime-fighting, Paddington). Stuffed into a padded envelope were: this totally awesome vintage kids book about the secret service; red string for blood spatter analysis (Dexter fans?); a trail mix bar; a small notepad and pen; glassine bags for evidence; a mini magnifying glass; and a secret agent id.