around here

around here I turned 29 on Wednesday. Matt and I went out for dinner at a famous Italian restaurant in Georgetown called Filomena. I ordered a glass of wine and got carded. I didn't think much of it until Matt pointed out that I just got carded on my 29th birthday. I've been having some sort of crisis over turning 29 (it's so close to 30!) and had been feeling kind of old, so that was nice. :)

around here Matt and I saw the new Star Wars movie last night. I won't spoil it for any fans, but we were both pretty pleased with it. It definitely left us leaving the theater with some questions though. I think we'll see it again soon.

around here the weather in DC has been incredibly warm. The cherry blossoms have even started blooming! I had been gearing up for such a cold fall and winter after living in the South for so long. It's nice that we're getting a gradual taste of cooler weather, though I think this weekend it's supposed to be colder.

around here the end of the year has been creeping up on me, and I would like to sit down and intentionally think about some goals that I would like to achieve in 2016. I was late to the game in ordering Lara Casey's PowerSheets, but there's no magical method for goal-setting. I'm just going to make some goals for this year and also for January and see if I can stick to them. If I can, that's great. If not, then I'll figure out what works for me. But that's another post. :)

around here we've been gearing up for spending Christmas and New Year's in North Carolina. I have a running to-do list in my head of all the things that I would like to get done before we leave, and also  what I want to do while we're visiting family. Most of the things we want to do involve eating at restaurants we miss. (Matt took me to a North Carolina barbeque restaurant the second week we moved to DC and I cried at dinner because it made me miss North Carolina so much, ha!)

around here I've been flying through the Lunar Chronicles series. This series is giving me such mixed emotions. I feel most of the time like I don't really enjoy it, but then I find myself thinking about the characters and wondering what their fates are going to be...? All I know is I'm a little sad at I'm nearing the end of the series.

around here The Knot Carolinas issue that our wedding is featured in is on newsstands! So, if you live in NC or SC, pick up a copy. :) One of the reasons I stopped sharing so much about my wedding on the blog is because of the feature, but I feel like now I can share more here, since it's out. I am so excited and proud that our wedding was one of the few chosen. I worked with a great team of vendors who have become like friends, and worked so hard to make my wedding beautiful and personal to Matt and I. If you don't live in NC or SC, our wedding was also featured online at The Knot here.

december: currently

looking forward to spending over a week in North Carolina for Christmas. The move has been a bit hard for me, and it will be nice to see familiar faces and sights. 

needing to purchase a new pair of jeans, since I am down a pair (they completely split one night while I was sitting on the couch - at least I was at home!). I'm thinking either these or maybe this pair?

gearing up for a new year. 2015 was a big year for me (wedding, honeymoon, move to DC) and this time last year I was in full-on wedding mode. It will be nice to come up with a list of goals and work towards them in 2016, which I think will be a lot calmer.

feeling like I'm starting to get into a rhythm with the kids I nanny.

wearing leggings and boots. Every. Day. 

thinking a lot about the future and the possibility of purchasing a home (well, a condo) in DC or Maryland(!)

reading the Lunar Chronicles series. I know these books are for YA, but they are really good. I'm on the third book right now and trying to savor the story a bit instead of flying through.

loving that my schedule allows so much time to read.

making all of the Christmas cookies. Hoping to get a recipe up on the blog sometime soon.

watching Parenthood. I'm on season two and think I cry every episode. Matt and I will be seeing Star Wars opening night, of course.

enjoying the Christmas season. Matt and I have been trying to take part in all of the holiday events that DC has to offer, and every weekend is an adventure.

our 2015 christmas card

This may seem kind of corny, but I was really looking forward to creating a Christmas card this year - our first married Christmas! I knew I wanted to go with Minted, since I had our save the dates created with them, and they turned out wonderful.

Minted has SO many options for Christmas cards, ya'll. Did I want to do gold foil? A "married" Christmas theme? One photo? Multiple photos? After a lot of back and forth, I picked the "Snowy Love and Joy" design, along with my favorite photo of the two of us. Side note: you guys, my bouquet - heart eyes for days. I can't say enough good things about Heather Miller at Eclectic Sage.

On the backside I left a good amount of space to write a personalized note, and included Luke 2:10-11 as a little reminder as to why we celebrate Christmas. I opted to do express service, which does not include a digital proof of your design before printing - and then proceeded to worry that there would be a typo (there wasn't).

I mailed them off a few days ago, and I'm excited to see if we get a few Christmas cards of our own!

Photo by Emily March Photography