One year ago today we got approved for our house in the afternoon and engaged in the evening. It was a big day, huge day actually! Not only did we finally find the place we wanted to live and on the path to purchasing it, but we were also getting married! Now, two months from yesterday, we will be at our wedding, it’s wild.
A lot has changed in the past year, but I wouldn’t change it. I still can’t believe the wedding is only 2 months away…ah so much to do!
xo – J
Well…we’re getting more snow today…again. On top of the already 12 inches or so on the ground it’s starting to pile up. I don’t remember ever having such a white winter. It’s awful!
(don’t think we will be bbqing anytime soon)
The good thing about being stuck in the house is I have around 4 million things to do for our wedding! If I am not working, I’m doing wedding things. If I’m in the shower I’m thinking about things I need to do, if I’m online I’m looking up ideas for the wedding, if I have a 20 second break from working I’m making lists of things to do…but I love it. I wish I could plan weddings always….it’s an organizers dream!
(our dining room table is wedding central)
(my first trial attempt for a sign)
(went to jay’s parents house and rondo was very confused about why they weren’t there)
(angry with me for putting the swiffer box in his couch spot)
Tomorrow we are going to spend Valentine’s day with friends and have a sleepover. Looking forward to a fun night! Rondo’s bff is there too so everyone will be happy!
xo-j
This weekend we had our details appointment at our venue. I still can’t believe how much there is to do. When I get one thing done, four new things appear! June is going to be here before we know it. My parents met us in CT to see the Barns, our hotels, and have lunch. I really miss having them close by so it was really great they came up!
Our invitations are basically all ready to be mailed out, which was a massive project. They are addressed and stuffed, now all we need is for the actual stamps to come in the mail. I’m really happy with how they turned out and will share some pictures once they are sent/received (don’t want to show what they look like until everyone has seen in person!).
I’ve also been getting a lot better at knitting! Each thing I make is a little better than the one before (and with wayyyy less mistakes). This past week I made a headband and a little hat for our Nephew (who comes in JULY!!!! ❤ ❤ J+D)
And of course since it is Valentine’s this Friday, I have been downing all kinds of treats…
Just 9 days until we are out of this cold in Florida! Thank God…it’s so cold here I don’t think I can take it much longer.
xo-j
Come Sunday…
Jay and I will be getting married in 6 months! I can’t believe it! We’ve also been together 4 years, which is crazy. In the past 4 years we went from living a block away, to moving into our own (tiny) apartment (again, so tiny), we got a puppy, we got engaged (!), we bought a house, and now we are just half a year from being married. So many things have changed, and with each step, everything has gotten better. I can’t wait to see where we are in 5 years, and 10, and 20…
(just a few weeks after we started dating – our first new years eve together ringing in 2010)
Next week I will be in NYC working, visiting friends and family, and enjoying the season in the busiest/scariest/wildest place on earth to be at Christmas time. I’m really looking forward to being there, though I will miss my boys :(. Poor Ron is so used to having me home all day!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
xo-j
Well, it’s been a couple weeks and I’m still obsessing over the idea of making a “vintage” door for our wedding. I decided this weekend, before going out an buying a door, paint, and spending money I don’t have, I should do a test run to make sure it is even going to work out. I thought I would share what I did because you can basically do this to any furniture, shelf, door, etc.
Some side notes to this project: 1. make sure you are well ventilated. 2. don’t clean your brushes in really hot water because you will breathe in the chemical steam 3. once you have breathed in the chemical steam make sure to freak out and call family members and poison control…ha seriously, I’m a mess!
WHAT YOU NEED:
Brushes – I got some 99c ones
Paint – I used acrylic since it was a small project. You need white and whatever color you like
Wood Stain or brown paint
Sandpaper
Tea Candle
Optional: helper
DIRECTIONS:
1. Sand your surface. I used both medium and fine paper.
2. Paint the white, allow to dry, and then paint the brown, or use stain.
3. Make sure you have allowed both layers to dry, then give it a bit of a wipe, here is what mine looked like after paint and stain:
4. Take the tea candle and rub the wax off on any surface you are going to want to look old and come through the color. I did this on the edges, by the clasp, and throughout the box in different places.
5. Wipe off excess wax bits lightly with a clean brush, and then paint your color.
6. You want to then take either a small butter knife or sandpaper and rub off where the wax was, this will make the white/brown come through. I ended up sanding this a bit too while it was still drying which came out nice.
7. Enjoy! All done!
I’m really glad I tested this out on a smaller project. When I do this next I will use a full brown paint instead of just the stain over white, and I will wax in a lot more places so I don’t have to sand as much after the color layer. I do think it came out great though. I’ll use it for Christmas cards!
xo-j
Julie just posted the second half of our engagement photos, and I’m in love with them! These were taken on the Brooklyn Bridge, and though we look happy and lovely in them it was quite an adventure. It was over 90 degrees, the balloons were the bane of Julie’s existence, and no one had eaten. Silly problems I know, but not ideal for when you are supposed to look insanely happy to be together (ha!). Here are some of the photos, the rest you can see at Julie’s full site here.
I can’t wait to frame all of these all over our house! Julie, you are amazing, thank you thank you thank you! You can see our first set of pics here if you missed them!
xo-j
I couldn’t be more thrilled to share with you the first set of our engagement pictures! Julie shot these throughout our neighborhood and we couldn’t be more in love with them. You can check our her full site here and blog here.
There are more on her site and more to come from other locations. I feel so lucky to have Julie not only as my future family, but to know such a talented photographer! Thank you again Jules for doing these, we never would have without you!
xo-j
This was a wild weekend!
Friday night was my best Bug baby’s birthday! We even got a surprise burlesque show out of it…who knew that was coming?!
Then after a late late night, we did our engagement pictures with Julie all day! I can’t wait to see them all!! Check out her amazing photography here. She did send me one and without ruining her getting to share her work here is one…
After the long, hot, hot, hot, day of picture taking, we were off to dinner at 1 or 8 and out with friends for another late night.
Sunday, I got up and met Mom for some shopping in between Brooklyn and Flemington…little did I know we would end up finding my wedding dress!!!!!! I wish I could share pictures of it…it’s beyond perfect and I’m obsessed. Mom (Dad too) thank you so much…so much. I wish I could wear it everyday!
Here are some other pics from last week…
(my mug from england and amazing tea from pukka)
(grown men & girly drinks)
(he has always loved this chair, but lately it is the main place i find him…weirdo).
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!
xo-j
I can’t believe it…we are engaged!! How did I get so lucky?! I wanted to share the story of how it happened on here since it has been hard to find time to call and share with everyone (I’m so sorry friends & family…I love you all so much).
Tuesday is Jay’s work from home day, and it was the warmest day we have had so far this year, so he suggested we take the dog on a walk down by the river after I got home from work. I thought it was a bit funny that he wanted to take a walk so badly, but figured he wanted to get out of the house and enjoy the sun (finally!).
So, we head down to the water with Rondo. We’re walking along, enjoying our neighborhood, and right by the pier were at least 30 young kids playing on their bicycles and scooters. We love Rondo so much…but children and bikes are not his thing (at all)…we hadto scoop him up to walk through the crowd of kids. At this point, Jay must have been internally freaking out…all these kids, rondo barking, so much noise!
We get through the mania, and make it to the water, where it was basically just us. We were looking at the city, enjoying the view, and Jay starts to talk about how we have a wonderful life here, and how even when we make our way out to the burbs (eventually) I won’t have to miss the city because we will still be here all the time. I wasn’t thinking anything at this point, just thought he was being reflective while looking at the skyline! He said he can’t wait to start life together and then…..asked me to hold the Rondo’s leash…ha! I take the leash and still, didn’t think anything of it. I was looking down at Rondo and the city, and then I turn around…
“And I have something to ask you…”
This would be when I totally lost my cool. Jay was down on one knee! I couldn’t believe it was happening! I was, and still am, beyond excited. I can’t believe that I get to spend the rest of my life with Jay! It is the most amazing feeling in the world, and the proposal was so…us! Dog barking and all! Absolutely perfect.
Here are some pictures from right after it happened…
(strangers took this one for us. they thought we were tourists at first and didn’t want to. but then i screamed “we just got engaged!!” and then they were more than happy to help!)
We are both so excited! The ring is more than I could have asked for…it’s so beautiful. I’m obsessed with it, and terrified of hurting it!
To our families…I think I speak for both of us when I say we feel so lucky to join the other side. We love you all so incredibly much.
Kate, thank you thank you for helping Jay find the ring, and keeping the secret when I kept telling you it wasn’t happening for a while. You are my baby angel and I can’t wait for all of the fun planning we get to do together!!!
Jay, I love you so much! I can’t wait to start a family and life together….you’re my favorite person in the world and always will be (promise).
xo-j
forEVR and always 