A Weekend Away…

This past weekend I was in New Paltz, NY for a weekend get-away with Mark’s family. It was such an amazing mini-vacation.  Feather pillows, fires, yummy food, hikes through the woods, and my favorite second family :)

Here are a few pictures from the first part of the weekend…

On Friday night we ate at a  pub called The Gilded Otter. It was SO SO loud inside, so we sat out on the heated porch. And of course the boys made us laugh the entire time and never stopped quoting Dumb and Dumber. After dinner we went to the house, sat in front of the fire until it died, and then fell asleep on feather pillow tops mattresses which huge duvets.
It was heavenly.

The next morning we sat in front of the fire reading and drinking coffee. The house was decorated SO beautifully. I drooled the whole weekend. Mark’s bedroom was my favorite. It’s messy in the picture, but the sage green/grey walls with the dark four-post bed and crisp white Pottery Barn linens was to-die-for. The bathroom was also divine. That bathtub… Like I said. I drooled.
And Mark was such a happy camper through all the pictures haha ;)

The best thing about this house was how calm and relaxing it was. The color scheme was cool and very neutral. The beds were amazing. The couch was comfortable. There was plenty of firewood to keep the fire lit whenever we were in the house. Everything just worked together so perfectly – and nothing seemed rushed. I decided after this weekend that having a mountain house is now on my life bucket list.

Having a house like this to go to every weekend to rejuvenate would be amazing.

More pictures to come this week!!

Favorite Friday

*grey afghans*

*this door turned coffee table*

*her hair color*        

*wicked*

*pumpkins gourds autumn*

*felicity – I need Netflix or the complete series on DVD*

*hp*

*fun crayon art – not sure if a hairdryer really melts them that well…*

*this pumpkin. my inspiration for the weekend*

*sjp.hair.pants.colors*

*cheetah – saved the best for last*

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

A Woman’s Hair is Her Glory

One of the elderly men at the home told me that a few weeks ago. I seriously LOVE the things they say. They make me laugh every day. And it happens to be the perfect title for this post, but you needed the back-story. That title would jus seem like I was bragging about my hair. Which I wasn’t. And I’m not. So there it was. Totally awesome, right? Right.
Ok here we go forreal.

I am constantly going back and forth between growing my hair out and cutting it all off. My hair has been changing lately and it doesn’t get as curly as it used to, its not as thick as it used to be – blah blah blah – all girls hate their hair. We wish we had somebody else’s and they wish they had ours :) I was going to color it darker, but decided to spend that money on a quality pair of boots. And mostly because I chickened out. The last time - the only time - I ever colored my hair it turned out really bad. Here’s a look back…

Senior Year: Long, long, long hair that had never been colored before

In March, I donated it to locks of love:
 

And I let it grow through the fall of my freshman year… Until I decided to color it.
I was going for a deep deep deep red, almost brown red.

 
And it came out like this…

And by Christmas it had faded to this…

So, as you can see. I was much more willing to buy a pair of boots.
We still joke around about the time I dyed my hair red. And it was horrible.

But I still go back and forth between hacking it all off and letting it grow out. I want it longer, but I feel like growing it out is taking forevvvvver.

Which do you think looks better: my long hair or my short hair?
Do you ever go back and forth between hair changes?

“Bec - You got mail”

Those are three words that I love to hear.

And usually it’s something lame. One lame envelope.
Today it  was 3 things. Three awesome pieces of mail.

1. TeenVogue which I’ll probably receive until I’m 65 because of some awesome renewal thing I did three years ago… I have to say I really don’t mind paging through it…

2. House Beautiful which was a birthday present from my parents this year. LOVE IT. Makes me want a house so so so bad. I drool.

3. A sweater that I ordered online. That was back ordered until December 10th.
But it came. Today. And it’s perfect.

Oh and my boyfriend drove an hour to come see me and eat with me on my lunch break. And my sister got a teaching job and a new car.

BEST.MONDAY.EVER.
I have to say I really love Mondays. There’s no baggage.
By Thursday you’re dragging from everything that has happened since Monday. Or rather, everything that hasn’t happened since Monday – all the stuff you haven’t finished. So Friday is like the best thing ever because you’ve had it. And you’re ready for the weekend. But Monday is a fresh start. A clean slate. Nothing else forgotten. No catching up to do. No post-its in your mail box with notes from the day before that you put there before you clocked out so you’d remember the next morning. And that you’re shocked to see at 6:53AM until you realize it’s your own handwriting and you’re the only person who puts stuff in your mail box. Yes Monday morning is a clean slate.
And with perfect weather like this. I really can’t complain.

Happy Monday Everyone :)

Without You

Life has been really crazy lately. Very stressful at home. But family sticks together.
Apology is important. Forgiveness is important. Changing is important.
Showing up and seeing it through is important.
Change is hard. Changing with change is hard too.
But that’s life.

There’s always sun after the storm. And sometimes a rainbow too.
A great reminder of God’s promises.

Last night Mark took me out for a nice dinner and some shopping to relax and just not think about anything. We saw this rainbow on our way to dinner. The weather turned out to be really nice. It had been in the 70s all week, but the rain brought a cold front and I think fall might be here to stay. We had dinner at Duck Sauce in Newtown and then walked to Starbucks and sat in the window watching traffic go by. It was exactly what I needed.
I’m so thankful for him.

When we were driving home this came on the radio and it was the first time Mark had heard the song. I think it might become one of our favorites.

Hope you’re having a great weekend!!

The Saga of the Mean Monks Cafe

Last week Mark said he had a surprise for me and I was scared it was going to involve something requiring special footwear or a shady restaurant. Ironically our day involved both of those things – but they weren’t quite planned.

After church we went downtown to eat that this restuarant Mark found online. We had looked at the menu and thought it seemed like a reputable place. Unfortunately it turned into the saga of the mean Monk’s Cafe. First of all – Mapquest is stupid. I like google maps. I like google maps. I like google maps. After walking about 17-20 city blocks (I regretted my shoe choice and was in so much pain I was almost crying) because parking was crazy since everyone and their grandma was downtown to enjoy the beautiful weather, we got back in the car and finally found it using the gps on my phone. Then we spent ten minutes trying to find a parking space  and Mark parallel parked like a pro. FINALLY. With grumbling stomachs we walked to the restaurant JUST to be asked for ID. We looked at each other totally confused. I asked her, “Oh you have to be 21 to EAT here?!?” and then she nodded yes. So we backed up and we turned around and we walked out. Now our feet hurt, we were starving, and we felt like idiots. I guess if they don’t want to serve 20 years olds lunch and get our money that’s just fine. So we decided to drive home and get Primo Hoagies and call it a day. And the hoagies were DELICIOUS by the way. They hit the spot at 3:30 :) Then Mark brought out the real surprise. A pumpkin. He’s never carved his own so it was a big deal. And it was his idea to carve our initials - I felt like we were in middle school. I carved his and he carved mine- HAHA!  I don’t think his parents believed it was his idea and thought I was super lame. But I’m ok with that. It was sweet.

So the saga of the Mean Monks Cafe ended with a really good hoagie and a cute pumpkin.
Next weekend we’re going up the mountains and then we’ll each have our own.
Mine will be better than his ;)

Sundays are the best…

Wanna know why?

Because it’s the one day out of the week that I get to spend legit time with Mark. It’s the most fun-filled busy day of my week. I always look forward to it. And I always fall asleep with a smile on my face on Sunday nights.

AND ALSO because it was fifty-something degrees outside and it finally felt like fall.
Yes – it was mostly that. I could wear a scarf and not feel like an idiot.

This past week consisted of church, Mark’s brothers soccer game, watching the Eagles dominate despite their lack of urgency, cheese steaks at half time, watching Andy Reid let the Eagles lose, going to the mall and Wal-Mart, realizing my ankle is bleeding from a blister I had no idea existed, watching House Hunters, giving Pugger a bath, eating Carrot Cake, and the driving home in complete silence. Basically – it rocked.

Poor Pug has fleas. Which totally grosses me out and gives me something else to add to my list of reasons why I can never own an animal BUT Mark loves this dog more than anything so I choose to have compassion instead of disgust. The cutie got tired of trying to escape the bath, that he finally just sat himself on down and put up with it. Sadly, he was awake all night scratching. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

He really was the cutest puppy ever. And when his family comes home he’s the happiest dog in the world. Also that cheese steak was delicious. And I love Mark’s shirt.