engagement photos

[Thanks for all your votes for our apartment in the Small Cool Contest! Sadly, we didn't win but had a great time competing. Maybe we'll enter again next year!]

In other news, Kurt and I had some engagement photos shot! Weddings are expensive, so I was honestly prepared to skip engagement photos and direct that money towards the BIG day. Luckily, I met Karen Kristian at NYC's Big Fake Wedding back in February and won her giveaway for a free engagement session in May. How exciting is that?! Karen is a FANtastic photographer based in Brooklyn (and Missouri). Kurt and I had such a fun time with her and she made us look pretty damn good (if I do say so myself). We shot at a few of our favorite spots in Prospect Park and Park Slope in our beloved Brooklyn. It was freeeeezing and drizzly that day, but I got my first blowout at Drybar, so that sort of made up for it :) I hope you enjoy lots of photos of our goofy grins. 

Thanks again, Karen! You are a rockstar!

berkshires wedding weekend

Back in May (oy, where does the time go?), Kurt and I went to a friend's wedding in the Berkshires (I gave a quick instagram rundown way back when). Sometimes life without a car is complicated and expensive, especially when trying to get out of the city. We thought we would be clever (i.e. cheap) and take a Metro-North train to Poughkeepsie and rent a car there to save some $$. The train ride along the Hudson is fantastic but we ran into some complications with the rental car. After some cursing and stressing, it all worked out and we sped to get to the wedding on time in our minivan :)

The wedding was at Jiminy Peak in Western Massachusetts. It's a cute little ski resort that seems pretty sleepy in the summer months. We dashed for our hotel room and changed into our fancy clothes just in time to beat the couple to the ceremony. The wedding was small and sweet; the crowd mainly family and a few friends. We ate and drank and even did some dancing. After the main festivities, the groom fell asleep and the bride demanded we party it on. Being a small hotel in the middle of nowhere, we convinced the restaurant bartender it would be worth his while to stay open late for us. I think everyone went to bed happy.

The next day we had to return the rental car to Poughkeepsie but on the way stopped in Hudson, New York for breakfast. The town was very cute with lots of shops and restaurants in the historic downtown. I want to take the train back sometime and do some antique shopping!

points of interest: Jiminy Peak Resort, Hancock, MA // Half Time Beverage (fun beer store!) Poughkeepsie, NY // Le Gamin Country, Hudson, NY

weekend [via instagram]

I haven't had a chance to download all my photos from the weekend, but here is an abbreviated version of the wedding Kurt and I went to in the Berkshires thanks to instagram. I promise more details and pictures soon!

eric and jess get hitched!

Well, folks, it's been over a month since Kurt and I traveled to Alabama to see our friends Eric and Jessica tie the knot. I'm obviously way behind and had some major dental work done today, so I'll keep the words limited while I'm doped up on pain medicine. Lots of pictures!

I'm so happy for the lovely couple! Congratulations, E+J!

quick swing through bham

After our day trip to Atlanta, we drove through Birmingham on our way back to North Alabama. Kurt's camera is in the shop, so he stole mine and took waaaaay too many pictures of Railroad Park. It is a really awesome park, and he took some very lovely shots, so I had a hard time editing. Feel free to breeze through the photos, but there is a fun bit at the end!

k+p got hitched, day two

The day of the Keely and Patrick's wedding was jam packed with activities. In the morning we were celebrating Jen, a new momma-to-be, and her bun in the oven at a lovely baby shower.

What a gorgeous group of architecture ladies! I loved Jen's dress! Maternity wear is looking good these days.

k+p got hitched, day one

A couple weekends ago, Kurt and I were lucky enough to head back down south to Birmingham, Alabama to see Keely and Patrick get married. It was a busy weekend packed with lots of activities, but I was so happy to see lots of old friends from architecture school. We were so lucky to stay with my dear friend Jessica who was the ultimate hostess. Not only did she take a half day off work to pick us up from the airport, but she and her boyfriend Eric proceeded to chauffeur us around all weekend. Thanks so much!

Kurt and I arrived on Friday and had plans to make a tour of all the new breweries that have been popping up in Birmingham recently. Our first stop was Cahaba Brewing Company. Each of us got a flight of the several beers they had on tap. They have an awesome Alabama-shaped tray for each flight. Absolutely perfect!

ohio wedding

Last weekend, I traveled with Kurt to his hometown in Ohio for a wedding of a childhood friend.

We flew Jet Blue out of JFK and were pretty impressed with the fancy new terminal.

Dinner of champions

Luckily, our flight was delayed and we were able to enjoy the terminal for much longer than we had planned. Leave it to stormy weather to delay our plane and crew, so we didn't arrive in Pittsburgh until super late and didn't get to Casa Martig until 3am. Needless to say, we were pooped. 

The next day, Kurt was supposed to meet up with the groom for a few holes of golf the morning of the wedding, but with our late arrival the night before, he might have slept through the first few.

Once Kurt returned from his golfing expedition, we headed to downtown Salem for some exploring. 

We stopped at the local coffee shop for a few cups. Three cups of coffee in Ohio costs about what one costs here in NYC. Jeez.

After coffee, we visited a few junk treasure stores downtown.

I go back and forth between a desire to simplify my life with very little stuff and a hoarding mentality. Lately, I've swung to the side of wanting to acquire things. I saw so many pieces of furniture that I wanted to salvage and refinish that were insanely inexpensive. Good thing we flew. If we had driven, I may have pulled a Beverly Hillbillies move and brought back way too much stuff for my teeny apartment. It is nice to brainstorm about all the creative things I could do though.

We spotted this dishware at Goodwill. I grew up with this pattern at home. Mom, if you need some new pieces, you know where to find them!

After our fruitless shopping trip, we stopped by to visit Kurt and Erik's friend Nick. His family owns a metal working shop and we got the grand tour of all the happenings.

Some pretty major stuff!

Then it was time to go to the wedding! We met up with the groom for a couple pre-game beers behind the church to calm his nerves.

Alan and Christina

The ceremony was short and sweet. They picked some fun music instead of the very traditional, Classical options that you normally hear. I'm glad they put their own stamp on their day.

The reception was held at a banquet hall/restaurant. It wasn't exactly my style but was definitely a fun time.

The requisite "YMCA" portion of the evening (although I've never seen a DJ bring along his own props before). I was out there on the dance floor somewhere, I promise :) We had such a fun time and I'm glad we were able to share the day with Alan and Christina. Congratulations!

After the reception, Kurt and I headed over to to see Nick again at his house to hang out and play ping pong. So fun! It blows my mind that he has an entire house to himself with an enormous basement filled with games! 

Name a bar game (darts, foos ball, pool, ping pong etc) and he's got it! He even has a workshop down there and exercise equipment. Sigh. Square footage envy.

The next day we drove down to Columbus to tour around but first hung out with Kurt's parents for a while.

We took a trip to their garden and gathered some goodies for lunch, including lots of corn and tomatoes.

After lunch we hit the road. The drive is pretty reasonable but we decided to make a coffee pit stop in this cute little historic town called Roscoe Village.

The coffee and wine bar we stopped at had lots of wines from Ohio. They looked a little cheesy. I guess we should have picked up a bottle to try though. Everything from Ohio is amazing, right Kurt?

Stay tuned for more details of our trip to Columbus!