spring yardwork

What's more fun than yardwork?!  Everything.  But it has to be done.

This past weekend Chase and I tackled some clean up in the backyard and some prep work for flowers to be planted.  We spent most of our time raking out the beds and bagging up all the leaves and dried ugly leftover mulch.  We also did some weed pulling for good measure.

The yard is looking much better but we have lots of work left.  We still have to top seed the grass where the sod didn't take hold last year because it was too shady.  Plus its time to really start watering and fertilizing so the yard comes back nice and green and full.

In the meantime Chase planted some beautiful flowers in the flowerbed by our bedroom window.  He surprised me when I came home yesterday.  Planted flowers are so much more romantic than a vase full.





Don't you just love the Spring?

something Irish

In honor of St. Patrick's day I thought I would pay tribute to the shamrock or clover.  The clover is a huge part of Chase and I's relationship, its sort of our symbol.  We registered the symbol as our married last name, ya know...like Prince.  Not really.

But it really is something we have had as a part of our relationship since the very beginning.  It comes from our song which is The Luckiest by Ben Folds and the fact that we are both predominantly Irish.  It even ended up being a big part of our wedding.  I thought I would share a few of the shamrocks that exist in our homes as an ode to our relationship and our heritage.

This was the symbol that our friend Liz created to use on our wedding save the dates, invitations, signage etc.

Vintage jar we found at an antique store and used to decorate our wedding reception


Stained glass that Chase gave me for Christmas (hangs in our office window)


Greeting card that I framed (in our living room)


The most permanent of all our clovers, Chase's tattoo


Clover on the collage that Chase made when he asked me to marry him




Happy Saint Patrick's Day everybody!

friday five

Welcome to the very first edition of the Friday Five.  I am going to share 5 things, plans, events etc. that I have going on for the weekend.  Unfortunately I did not pick an overly exciting weekend to kick-off this new topic but what can ya do?


St. Patrick's Day 2010


So here it is...this weeks Friday Five:

1. Annual Greenville St. Patrick's Day Parade (since 1979)- Chase and I, along with my friend Patti, made our first appearance at this parade last year and were totally unprepared.  This is no small neighborhood parade.  It's intense.  So this year we are going decked out in our green St. Paddy's day attire along with drinks and snacks to make this go-round even better than last year.
2. Yard work- Its that time of year again.  Spring is indeed springing and we have lots of cleanup and prep work that needs to be done.  Time to tackle it.
3. Pedicure- My toes are begging me for a nice relaxing spa pedicure.  I will be indulging alongside my friend and neighbor for some much needed me time.
4. Spring cleaning- Our closets are about to bust at the seam!  Clothes and shoes have gotten out of control.  Its time to get serious and toss/donate the items we are not wearing.
5. Book our honeymoon- Yes, we still haven't been on our honeymoon. It will be almost 5 months after our wedding by the time we finally hit that hot sand.  Punta Cana here we come!!

So thats my weekend breakdown.  What is your Friday Five?

all about the challenge

While I am not a very religious person I do still like to participate in Lent every year.  Its mainly about the challenge of trying to give something up that you really have a dependency or addiction to.  None of this, I am giving up walking backwards kind of stuff.  I am talking serious fasting of things that I really enjoy doing on a regular basis.

So what am I giving up you ask?  I put a few things on my plate this year.

#1- Facebook.  Yep, you heard me right.  I am giving up Facebook for 40 days!  I don't know what I was thinking.  This one is going to be very hard.  I have a severe addiction to semi-stalking my friends through the internet.  The worst part...I think this one is going to the hardest to give up!

#2- Alcohol.  I have given up alcohol in the past before for various reasons.  It's definitely a challenge but its something I can overcome.  The worst part is having to pass on happy hours or sit and watch other people enjoy an ice cold beer.

#3- Simple carbs.  This is something else I have abstained from before.  Its hard, its really hard.  I LOVE carbs. This time around I am allowing myself complex carbs that are good for me like sweet potatoes and brown rice.

#4- Caffeine.  A close tie with Facebook for the most enduring of my fasts.  I don't drink a ton of caffeine but my morning ritual contains a nice warm cup of Starbucks that I thoroughly enjoy.  The first week will be tough because I have a physical dependency that results in a mind numbing headache if caffeine doesn't hit my system by 9am.

So there you have it.  40 days and 40 nights of no Facebook, alcohol, simple carbs or caffeine.  Whew.  Can't wait for Easter Sunday!

a quiet moment

Chase and I made the decision not to see each other prior to the wedding ceremony.  We wanted our first glances of each other on our special day to be as I turned the corner and started walking down the aisle towards him.  Because of this we really had no idea how each other were feeling or what was going on, which made it all the more fun to look through the photos afterwards.

On the last disc of our photos I came across a picture that made me smile more than all the others.  It is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding day.  Its a special quiet moment caught of Chase right before he walked out into the ceremony.



He looks so nervous but so at peace at the same time.  He told me later he was just trying to collect himself.  Which didn't work because he teared up through the entire ceremony.  One of the many reasons I love him.

bathroom upgrade

Since our big backyard project and our living room paint mishap Chase and I haven't been tackling too many house projects so I decided I needed to change something, anything. When we bought our house it had been updated...some of the things we like and some of the things we really don't.  One of those things is the bathroom mirrors and light fixtures.  First step in upgrading these spaces, new mirror for the master bath.

During one of our married couple Sunday errand running adventures Chase and I came across a mirror we really liked at Crate&Barrel.  It was exactly what I was wanting- modern, clean lines, minimal.  And BONUS, floor sample sale!  So we snatched it up and did a little mirror swapping.

Before (confession-we forgot to take a before so this is the guest bath but they look exactly the same):

After:


As you can see we need to update the light fixture now, it doesn't quite match.  Hopefully we can hit up Home Depot this weekend and find something we like.

In the meantime I am loving the new mirror!