Miss me?? And Anna's Wedding!

Um, so, I haven't posted much in like six months.  Ooops!  I really suck at this whole blogging thing.  I constantly tell myself to just post little things each day a la tumbler, but I forget.  And I have some draft posts that have been sitting around for.ev.er. that continue to sit.

In my defense, I've been busy living life.  Making friends, home at least twice a month, trying new experiences . . . it's been a ball.  But, now that the summer is winding down, I'm feeling the itch to communicate with the outside world. I have some projects I want to tackle, plantings, and a plan for my wardrobe (I'll get to that later).

But for now, let's check out my awesome friend Anna's amazing wedding.  Anna is one of my closest friends, even though it seems like we always struggle to be in the same place at the same time!  I am so happy that she met and fell in love with Mike; they are an amazing couple.

Nick and I have the opportunity to help with their wedding the day off, and the amount of work they put in, plus Anna's amazing creativity, plus the stunning location, plus two wonderful people taking vows made for an awesome night.  Just awesome.

Here are a few pictures from before we started the ceremony.  Just beautiful.

NOLA Highlights

I'm home!  And finally starting to feel back to normal.  :)  Our trip to NOLA was fantastic, and I cannot thank Sam and Kait more for planning their awesome wedding so I could finally get to this city!

As most of the world has heard, KCMO was hit with a HUGE snowstorm on Thursday.  As in, send people home, get stuck on the road, trucks sliding off the highway huge.  So my flight out was canceled.  Wah wah.  Thankfully I was able to get out on Friday, and even made my connection (so happy to not have checked luggage!).

Once I got to NOLA, I headed to the hotel and checked in.  Nick and I had reservations at Restaurant August and it was FANTASTIC.  So good!  Afterwards we headed to Bourbon Street and met up with the rest of the bridal party.

Saturday was busy!  We hit a walking tour of the Garden District (highly recommend Free Tours by Foot!) and then grabbed some lunch on Magazine Street (because I REALLY needed a Roast Beef Po'Boy!).  Nick had plans to get a shave with the other groomsman for the afternoon - was I surprised when he walked in with no goatee!

Saturday night was the welcome soiree, and boy did we soiree.  Never seen more oysters on a half shell in my life.  We were pretty pooped at that point, so we headed back to the hotel to grab a drink at Bellocq, the awesome associated bar.  It was well worth it.

Sunday morning we got up and did the Jazz Brunch at the Court of Two Sisters.  Yummy!  Then I wanted to sightsee in the French Quarter.  Nick was a good sport and participated in my scavenger hunt until it was time for him to head off to the groomsmen lunch and to get ready for the wedding.    At that point I rolled on my own.  I'm pretty self-sufficient, so it was fun.

Finally it was time to race back to the hotel and get ready.  I may have cut it a little close in the end, as I had hair issues and was almost late to the wedding.  But I was there, and I was not the last one in.  :)

Sam and Kait had the coolest wedding ever.  Over the top and amazing.  I didn't take any pictures on my phone that night, and I wish I had.  Nick has some, but I've only seen the ones I was tagged in so far.  It was just amazing.  Of course, after the wedding we headed out, and then out again.

Monday morning came too soon.  But we made it to the brunch, and were amongst the first there.  At least we didn't embarrass ourselves!  Afterwards we went back to the hotel, packed up our stuff, and checked out.  We had enough time to grab lunch and do a quick tour of the WWII museum, so we grabbed lunch at Mother's.  So darn yummy!

Of course, at lunch I learned that my flight had been cancelled AGAIN.  Kansas City was getting hit with another blizzard.  Thankfully I was able to make all of the necessary arrangements and check back into my hotel.  Then we hit the museum, which was really amazing.  Highly recommend if you are ever in NOLA, especially now that they are expanding.  Our only complaint with the main museum was that it got congested in spots because there was so much to see and so many people.  I can really see how the new spaces will help with that.

Nick left.  :(  And I went to Cochon for dinner.  :)  I seriously ate so much good food that weekend, I cannot even begin to tell you.

I decided to take advantage of my extra day in New Orleans and see the things that had been planned for Friday.  I rode the St. Charles Streetcar and then headed out to Bywater, which is more of a local neighborhood.  After another great meal I strolled back through Bywater and Marigny to the French Quarter - which was completely different on a Tuesday, and in a good way.  :)  I ended up riding the streetcar as far as I could in the other direction and seeing the BIG houses past Garden District.  At that point I was pictured out, but it was nice.

I was so nervous about my flight that I headed to the airport nice and early.  Thankfully we were delayed, but not cancelled.  What seemed like an impossible long time later I finally landed and fought my way through the snow to get home and crawl in bed.  

I'm still recovering from you NOLA, but I hope to see you soon!

New Orleans is awesome

And my husband is hot.

Ummm, is this thing on?

It's almost March 2013 and I'm in serious danger of repeating my thirteen year old self and losing my diary (or hiding it under the bed so that I don't have to write in it anymore).  Seriously, not one post in 2013 yet?

All I can claim is that I've been living my life.  BUT, it would be nice if I could also document it for the three people who made the effort to add this blog to their Google Reader.  Mom, I'd say that was you, but you don't even know what Google Reader is.

I'll give you the highlights, with the hope that I'll get around to some of these things in the future....

1. Joined a new gym!  Gotta say, I lurve TheGymKC so far.  The gym at work just wasn't cutting it.  And I've been doing well - just need to get through this week and get back in the groove!
2. Started Tae Kwon Do!  I've always wanted to do a martial art, and I've told more than one person that I thought this would be my chance.  I am supposed to test for yellow belt in March!  Eeek, need to work on my stances.
3. Started taking the Megabus to Chicago!  It's so dang cheap, and much easier than getting to the airport.  I've even got Nick doing it now!
4. Had my annual Christmas get together with my female peeps in January (we're late...it happens).
5. My first (non-Nick) visitor!  J'son flew out from DC for the weekend...it was fantastico!
6. Deciding that I should learn how fashion works...an attempt to rebuild my wardrobe the RIGHT way.

Now I just need to get my bags packed, because I'm (supposed to be) heading to NOLA tomorrow.  Of course, Kansas City is predicted to get a bunch of snow, which could screw me.  Fingers crossed!!!

Sam and Kait, I am just so.darn.excited for your wedding!!!

And now, since I feel guilty for not posting for the past two months...a picture from this past weekend.  Aren't we cute?  If only this was not the first photo of the year; I'm slacking on more than one resolution this year!

NYE in the KCM....O

Yeah, that didn't quite work the way that I hoped, oh well.  :)

It's New Year's Eve, the last day of the year, and I have seen so many friends and loved ones post recaps on Facebook that I thought perhaps I would take a stab at it myself.  After all, 2012 was kind of a big deal for N and I - and as usual we have not done our Christmas cards.  I swear, we intend to complete them every year.  This year we even went as far as starting to design a card (N really wants a photo card and won't even considering using any of the cards that I have in storage) only to realize that we really didn't have any good pictures of the two of us together!  Ruh roh.

Anyway, what to say about 2012?  It was a year of accomplishing goals, that is for sure!  I finally graduated law school after four grueling years, and N managed not to kill me.  It was a wonderful feeling, if a bit anticlimactic.  I went on my first "girls" vacation as an adult to celebrate my thirtieth birthday, and no one went to jail!!  N and I slugged our way through the bar, and again, no one died.  I even passed!

N was offered a new opportunity to expand his horizons at work, which was a major accomplishment and (I personally believe) a sign of how valued he is there.  Finally.  :)  And me?  Well, I started my first "real law" job.  I'd say real job, but let's be honest, I've had a string of "real" jobs that brought me to this point, so let's just hold on here.  I proved myself to be the diva of flexibility and packed my life to transition to Kansas City, without N, and so far we're thriving in our unconventional arrangement.  After all, we hit the five year marriage mark in September, the thirteen year together anniversary in October, and no one is trading up for a new model yet.

We've celebrated many new additions as our friends have expanded their families, and I could not be happier to be an honorary auntie all over again.  Even though it means that I spent significant portions of the year drinking alone, as sitting next to a pregnant lady while you chug wine just makes you look like you have a problem.  I have watched my nephews blossom into charming little boys, watched my sister overcome amazing odds through sheer grit, and realized just how awesome so many of our friends are.  It's a damn accomplished group, that is for sure.

Not all of 2012 has been perfect.  I miss my husband, cats, family, and friends.  We've suffered personal loss, and grieved with others near and far.  But I'm hoping that what we pull out of that loss is the continued reminder that we need to grab and cherish what we have.  Which means we definitely will have pictures worth sharing in 2013.  Next year, I want to be able to show you what happened, so that eighty years from now when I am no longer here our friends and family will also be able to remember.

So raise your glass.  Have a blessed 2013.  May your challenges be few and your blessings great.  May you fail - because it means that you tried.  Hug your loved ones, and remind them why they are loved.  I will see you on the flip side!.

The Bedroom Closet

The apartment is old, like from an era when people really did not have closets.  The largest closet, and the one where I keep my clothing, is in the dining room.  I actually think that it was built in when the apartment was switched from radiant heat to forced air.  There is a "closet" next to it that houses the furnace, and the closet continues behind the wall.

The wall in the bedroom is TINY.  I mean frighteningly small: less than twenty-four inches wide at the back, thirty-six inches wide at the front, and only twenty inches deep.  The previous tenant used it to store some of her craft materials.  I decided to use it to store my shoes and purses.  In the condo, even though we have sufficient closet space, I never had an effective storage area for my shoes.  This time, I wanted something that would encourage me to keep them organized.

After looking at what seemed like hundreds of shoe racks on Amazon, I ordered this shelf.

All of the traditional shoe racks seemed to have huge design flaws (like crashing to the floor) or were too small.  This was the correct width, and looked like it would be a good height.  But when I first set it up, it seemed too small.  It didn't go high enough in the closet, and I wondered if I needed more shelves.  I had enough space for my shoes (once I put my summer sandals into storage) but there was not enough space to put my purses and other accessories.  But then I had an epiphany, and this was the result.

I realized that I could hang my purses off of the rod, and bought a box to keep small hand held purses and my umbrella.  The top shelf (which you can't see here) has my suitcases, my nice purses that need to be stored flat in their bags, and some random totes.  My scarves are also on the rod.  It's a great accessory closet, even if it would make an AWFUL real closet!

:)

Living Room "In Progress"

More pictures, aren't you excited!  This is how the apartment looks right now.  Well, almost right now.  It is definitely a good feeling to be getting to the point where I feel that I can live in and enjoy my home, and where I would not be embarrassed if someone were to come by to visit!

The living room was one of the reasons that I rented this apartment.  Nick and I really loved the French doors and the exposed brick.  Now, however, it looks less like the second hand shop that we first saw, and more like me.  The furniture is a mixture of family pieces, craigslist finds, and hand me downs.  I am liking the vibe in the space, although there are a few things that I would like to change at some point.

This is the leather chair that I purchased on craigslist.  The pillow, lamp, and stool are from Ikea, although the stool has since moved on.  I think that I'm just going to skip a table because the space is a little tight.  I also have since placed some additional art on the wall with the arch.  Going forward, I would really like to replace the lamp with an arched reading lamp, which would add an interesting architectural element and also take up less visual space on the wall.

These bookshelves came from Nick's grandparents.  The rug is one of my favorite pieces.  It was a splurge purchase from CB2 for the condo that moved to Kansas City with me to hide from the cats.  The coffee table came from Nick's aunt.  I was not initially certain that it would be something that I wanted to keep long term in the apartment, but when it arrived it just worked.  

The couch is the original pullout from our condo.  The pillow on the left was the one that I recovered with the green patterned fabric, but I have not had a chance to take new pictures yet (I mean really, my house hasn't been clean enough!.  The poster above the couch may move on shortly.  I like it (it's an old nineties Aaron Chang print) but it doesn't seem to fit and I think I need something with some color.

I had to hang the curtains from the ceiling because of the crazy plaster walls.  I finally got a television that has taken its place of honor on the media stand.  The speakers are from Nick's uncle, and although they may seem old, they have a fantastic sound and I love the look.

Projects Remaining:

• Art on the arch wall Tweak art on the arch wall (I'm considering embroidering it!) .
• Replace art above the sofa
• Build a table for behind the sofa
• Recover the pillow for the sofa 
• New lamp for behind the chair
• Buy pouf ottoman
• Paper the back of the book

I think that over all it's going really well, but I'm still excited to see how it may start to develop in the future!