TBT: Our Honeymoon!

This time last year, I was on the most amazing vacation. My husband and I celebrated our honeymoon in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for ten glorious days. We were married in April but due to my schedule, as a teacher, we had to wait for the summer to take our honeymoon. I'm so glad that we did because it was really nice to have something to look forward to after the wedding. Of course, we were thrilled to be married but wedding planning is so time consuming and then it is over in one day. This way, we still had this trip to look forward to even as life began to settle all around us. 

Jeff planned the entire honeymoon and told me on the day of our wedding, in the limo after we were married, where we were going. He could not have picked a more perfect place. It was the best mix of adventure and beach bummin'. People told us not to leave the resort but we did and every time we did, we had the best time. These pictures are just a teeny tiny fraction of the pictures that we took but looking at them brings me right back. Here are some highlights from our trip...

First day @ Macao Beach

We rented dune buggies and had to spend $10 on bandanas to keep the dirt off our face.

Bad.ass smoking a Dominican cigar

Swimming in a cave with the locals

Ziplining {and I forgot sneakers!}

We swam with this guy

Borderline terrified

Shark Week enthusiast

We survived :)

Saona Island

We spent a lot of time doing this, too.

Our honeymoon suite :)

Hibachi? Don't mind if I do!

Catamaran cruising.. drinking that Mama Juana

My handsome hubby catching starfish in the Blue Lagoon

Dreams Punta Cana

last night

Celebrating one year! {wedding highlight video is working now!}

This weekend we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It is so crazy to think that we have already been married for a year. We were engaged for two and a half years and that seemed to last forever. Though, the closer we got to the wedding, the faster it all seemed to go by. Now it feels like we blinked and we were seeing that same date on the calendar again. We had a low-key celebration but we spent today doing my most favorite thing, spending time with my husband!

This morning, Jeff did his usual Sunday morning grocery run but when he came home he made a delicious breakfast and we spent time opening the cards that we received in the mail this week. One of our sweet friends even gave us a beautiful bouquet of flowers!

Then we headed out to walk a local lake with Rocky. It was a gorgeous day, 70 and sunny!

For dinner, we had reservations at The Melting Pot. Jeff chose the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant, because he knew it would last a long time and we could just sit and enjoy ourselves. We loaded up on spinach artichoke cheese dip, entrees that included lobster, filet mignon, duck, pork, and chicken, followed by a heavenly peanut butter chocolate dessert dip. It was seriously a pregnant woman's dream!  Since we made a reservation, they knew it was our anniversary and put us in "Lovers Lane", a section of the restaurant that was very intimate and secluded. It was perfect but so dark and we couldn't get a picture :( The waitress was amazing and she brought us our dessert tray with a candle in the cake and said, I know it's not a birthday but an anniversary and a baby are definitely something to celebrate! She was so sweet. We toasted to us and made a wish for our baby. It doesn't get much better than that.

Everyday, I am reminded of what an amazing relationship I have and how lucky I am that I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. Even when things aren't going the way we want them to, I can still say that I am lucky that Jeff just gets me and that he knows how to love me for better and for worse. These past six years have been better than I could have ever dreamed and marrying Jeff one year ago was the best decision I ever made. If I could do again, I wouldn't change a thing.

Happy First Anniversary to the love of my life! xoxox

Sarah & Jeff - Highlight Video

from Curtis Weddings on Vimeo.

6 weeks!

Apparently this is the year for... not blogging! Typical of me to post a resolution that included "blog more" and then literally not touch my blog for over three months. Woops!

Life is passing by at an unbelievable speed and while I really want to document more of it on my blog, I need more hours in the day and more days in the week. Ironically, I am GLUED to my computer but have not had a chance to update. Really, I have no idea what I used to do before I had a wedding to plan & grad school.

Our wedding is in 6 weeks. SIX WEEKS!! How in the world did that happen?!?! Most of the big stuff is done & now there are lots of little things to plan. Who knew there were so many choices?? Linens, paper, ink, stamps, music, transportation, jewelry, the list goes on. I have never been a huge fan of wedding planning but my current favorite thing to do is check things off the list and get RSVP's back. It all feels so much more real knowing that people are actually attending the wedding. My second dress fitting is tomorrow and then I have 104 things to cross off the list this weekend. This 6 week mark is making me nervous!

I am so grateful for this time and cannot wait to be married to my very best friend in 6 weeks!

Bling Bling Linkup & Engagement Story

In an effort to blog more in 2012, I could not pass up this opportunity. C Mae is having a Bling Bling Linkup and since we just celebrated our engagement-versary, I am all in! We've been searching for wedding bands and I can't wait to browse through all of the gorgeous engagement rings and bands and get some ideas.

Our engagement story

Jeff and I were engaged on December 26, 2009. I swore I knew it was coming and since Jeff is such a Christmas-lover, I was sure that it would happen by the Christmas tree. I was wrong. Christmas came and went with no sign of a ring. It was Christmas night and we were opening our gifts with his family. I was already over the potential engagement because I figured if it were going to happen, it would have been done already and privately. Jeff handed me my Christmas card and said it was the last one. Inside were tickets to see Blue Man Group for the following night. I was SO excited because every year we go to a Broadway show but I have been dying to see Blue Man. I really put any hopes of a proposal behind me because he had already spoiled me at Christmas.

The next night, we went out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. At dinner, we talked about how much our lives have changed and that all of our friends were starting to get married and how strange it all felt. We started talking about our own wedding dreams and I said I wanted an October wedding and he said he wanted April. When I told him how many bridesmaids I was thinking of, he nearly fell out of his chair. He seemed relieved that we were not engaged and wouldn't have to worry about any of that yet.

After dinner we went to the show and had such a blast. I would go back again and again. Thinking back now, he was adamant about me sitting on his right side but I didn't think much of it then. When the show finished, Jeff asked if I wanted to take a walk in the Boston Common. Since I love the city and Jeff doesn't, I'll take any opportunity I get to enjoy it, even on a cold December night. Jeff didn't have a jacket with him and said it wasn't a big deal if we went for a walk or went back to my apartment and got a movie. We decided on the walk and held hands through the park as we admired the Christmas lights and talked about how we should go into the city more. Again, as we walked, Jeff made sure to keep me on his right side. Jeff started looking back constantly and for a minute, I thought we were being followed. I started looking back, too, and getting a bit nervous. All of a sudden, he said... "April and October, huh?... 9 bridesmaids??" My heart literally dropped out of my chest. I was suddenly aware of what was going on. My usually cool, calm, and collected boyfriend was checking over his shoulder and saying random wedding-related things out of the blue. He stopped walking and said, "I have a question for you... will you marry me?" I was 99% sure this was a cruel joke because he wasn't down on one knee (his excuse was that it had just rained!) and I was totally blindsighted. All of a sudden, he pulled out a ring and was holding it out to me.

I don't remember too much else besides lots of crying and saying "Are you serious?" over and over. He started to put the ring on and asked if this (the crying and smiling) meant yes. I said, "Yes! Yes! I will!" He put the ring on and I didn't even look at it. All I could do was smile and cry and kiss him and hug him. It was all so surreal. I came back to reality when he said, "Do you want to call your parents? Because my parents are probably sitting by the phone going crazy!" We called our parents and then headed over to my parents' house where they had champagne waiting for us. It was such a fun night! My roommate had left wine out for us with a message and we celebrated again and again. I do wish we had spent more time just the two of us before telling people but I was afraid it would leak out on Facebook and I didn't want my best friends or family to hear the news over the internet. The best thing was that my family Christmas party was the next day and we got to announce it to everyone in person. It such a fond memory for us and I will cherish that time forever.

{ps. he was keeping the ring box in his left pocket, which was why he was apparently trying to keep me on his right side!}

He picked out the ring himself and we had never gone ring shopping. I did tell him that I wanted a princess cut diamond solitaire. He decided to go with the three-stone ring but with princess cut diamonds on a platinum band. I love that he chose the ring and was so proud of the clarity and quality of the band and diamond. I really have no clue what any of it means but the ring is gorgeous and I love it!! I am SO looking forward to our wedding on April 28, 2012!! Four months to go!

{So sparkly!}

My first Pinterest inspired craft

Like the rest of the blogging world, or maybe even the regular world, I've been pretty much obsessed with Pinterest for a while now. I endlessly pin crafts I don't have time for, home decor that I don't have the space for, baby pictures that I don't have babies for, and wedding inspiration that I don't have the money for. It is a beautiful way to de-stress. It has really been a God-send while working on my grad school work because it is the perfect way to unwind in between assignments. It is so mindless that it's genius. Not like my reality TV addiction because my DVR is too full for it to be an in-between-assignments thing.

Anyways, two of my very best friends in all the world got married this year and since I save every invitation/thank you card/note card/etc on my french memo board, I knew this would be the perfect Christmas gift for them. We don't usually do Christmas gifts but I knew I would make an exception for this craft.  Here is the Pinterest version...

Here is my version...

{thank goodness for Burt's Bees hand creme for Christmas!}

While some might say they may not be as lovely as the original, I thought they came out fabulous. {There are more pictures of the cream one because all of the other pics show last names & I don't think my friends want me blasting their last names on the blog} I love that you can see snippets of important information.

I did have a couple of issues, which would be something to consider if you are going to try this. First the ornament is a standard sized ornament, which ended up being kind of small. I searched everywhere for a larger one with no luck. Second, every ribbon I used look ginormous (probably due to the small ornament), so I left it out. I think that the fact that I did this craft around Christmas, when all the ribbons are mega sized didn't help. I wanted to find a charm that said "2011" but that was hard to find, too. Since I'm kinda OCD with this stuff, if I find a charm, I will totally ask for the ornament back to update it. :) This was super easy, though. Here's what I did.

1. Cut the invitation into strips, keeping the important info. intact.

2. Curl the strips around a pen to give it some body.

3. Insert the strips into the top of the ornament (after removing the metal piece, which pops right off) strategically. I kept "less important" information in the middle and then wrapped the names and dates around the edges. I also didn't use every strip, but used all strips with information on them.

4. Put the top back on. I wanted to use ribbon and charms but I put it on my tree with a hook and it still looked awesome.

I plan on doing this with my own invitation and it was such an easy craft that I can see myself making them with birth announcements, wedding invitations, first birthday invitations, and any other important document that you would want to highlight at Christmas time. My friend Kristin said it was the best Christmas gift that she got and considering she also got an iPad, I'd say it was a success!





Wedding Week: The Reception

We had a blast at the reception. Cocktail hour was great because the weather was fab. The food was delicious and the DJ was a lot of fun. What more could you ask for?!? I really wish I could link up to the photographer's website because some of the pics from the reception are downright hilarious! Here's some of the pics I do have.

Mr. & Mrs!!

First Dance: Rascal Flatts - I won't let go

One of James' friends performed the song.. live acoustic.. *sigh*

Cutting the {gorgeous} cake!!

The happy couple before all of the dancing broke loose!



That wraps up wedding week! Hope you enjoyed the pics! In 9 days, another one of my bff's weddings is taking place and I hope to have pics to share.. my camera is just so tempermental these days.  SO many weddings lined up for 2012. Love is definitely in the air!